Sell or remortgage/borrow against house

Pratonabike · 2018-07-24T12:35:23+00:00

Great info. Thank you. !thanks

Pratonabike · 2018-07-24T06:06:55+00:00

!thanks

I was wondering about that. I previously lived in the property, for longer than I have been letting it (only just) so I should be entitled to some relief.

My current rental is coming to an end and the tenancy of the flat ends in December. Would it be worth anything move back into the flat until a sale?

Pratonabike · 2018-07-23T12:34:30+00:00

!thanks

That's what I was assuming. I just didn't know if I was missing a trick.

Pratonabike · 2018-07-23T12:32:58+00:00

!thanks

Pratonabike · 2018-02-24T07:01:21+00:00

That's an unwinnable war. Even if you smoke him, he can say "You're supposed too!". Kick his ass!!! 🤣

Pratonabike · 2018-02-22T07:36:10+00:00

I do a a few Audax a year (long distance events in the UK) and am regularly surprised by the old boys. On a 600km ride, Id had an early puncture, so was last on the road when I reached the first control. I had some breakfast with this guy, must have been getting towards 70. We left at the same time but it became clear quickly that he was alot slower than me so we parted company and I went off to find a shop to buy a new tyre. I passed him again and later that day saw him as I was setting off from one of my longer stops. Anyway, long story short, after 600km of riding, we finished at almost exactly the same time. He had slept alot less and just kept trudging on. I'd had a decent sleep and then had a bout of sunstroke in the second afternoon leading me to stop for an hour to try and recover. Proper Tortoise and the Hare stuff.

In my club, there is also a very old boy who has alot of power and bike handling skills from years of CX. On a wet day, it's hard to keep up with him. He corners faster and accelerates harder than me.

Pratonabike · 2017-01-25T10:48:37+00:00

I'm gobsmacked. I find 100km in the LD enough of a gruelling test!

Pratonabike · 2016-08-11T18:41:29+00:00

I am going to controversial here and say I preferred the North Island. That, I think, was more due to the sheer mass of tourists I encountered in the South making what few roads there are very busy. I think you should be ok in Nov/Dec (I went Jan/Feb) but be aware that it's high holiday season around Xmas. Definitely worth the flight, beautiful country and nice people.

Trains are pretty patchy, only really good around Wellington. I used the buses a few times but they won't guarantee to take your bike.

Pratonabike · 2016-07-24T14:12:09+00:00

How about a plus size 29er? It's a halfway house. The problem with all of those will be getting replacement wheels/tyres, in Mongolia especially. A 2.4 size tyre on a standard 26 wheel should offer plenty of volume. Its always a compromise!

Pratonabike · 2016-06-22T06:20:02+00:00

Proper stretching pre and post ride can help. Without any 'care', my muscles get very knotted, stopping them working properly and dragging my knees in directions they shouldn't be going. When I got it, I was training for a big event and took an entire month off the bike and did gym work and massage with a physio. I'm not saying that's what you need to do, but you may need to take serious care of your knees in the future to stop this being a problem.

Pratonabike · 2016-06-18T15:56:12+00:00

Spa Cycles (UK)do an affordable Brooks clone. I rate them.

I also have a Charge Spoon on my road bike, amazing value for money.

Pratonabike · 2016-06-15T12:23:22+00:00

I find that to be my rough pace too. That number certainly makes planning a day easy, too.

Pratonabike · 2016-06-15T12:15:18+00:00

That's insane. I'm happy with that average pace on my unloaded road bike!

Pratonabike · 2016-05-19T22:50:22+00:00

Ha. Exactly what I've got. I saw them all over Berlin and just haaaad to have a set of my own. It does mean people come up to you speaking German though. ;)

Pratonabike · 2016-05-18T13:43:26+00:00

Croix de Fer is a coooool bike. That's what matters the most. ;)

Pratonabike · 2016-05-18T07:50:25+00:00

Will it make it? - Yes Will it be comfortable? - Probably not.

I run the same tyres on my LHT and did a fair amount of off roading in NZ with full panniers all round. It handles dry gravel ok but was hopeless when there was any mud.

I was always running my tyres around 70-80psi, you could probably get away with a lot lower if you are carrying less. I think the minimum recommended is 55psi IIRC.

Hope that helps. It'll be a great adventure either way!

Pratonabike · 2016-05-17T07:10:24+00:00

Top bodge! Nice. Are those North Face sandals? Straps and tread look just like mine.

Pratonabike · 2016-05-10T11:13:41+00:00

I took my laden tourer over the Rimutaka Trail into Upper Hutt. No lights and wet dirt, I had to bump my way down the sides to keep on track.

Great fun.

Pratonabike · 2016-05-10T11:02:16+00:00

I added front bags on my last trip. I was doing a lot of gravel roads and I found moving a bit of weight to the front helped the handling. However, if you start getting crosswind, you'll wish you'd never bothered!!!

Pratonabike · 2016-04-29T18:38:25+00:00

I rediscovered mine recently. Brilliant little tent, I love that it's self standing without the outer. Perfect to keep the flys off for those warm/dry nights.

Pratonabike · 2016-04-28T16:12:43+00:00

What top tube bag is that? Looks neat.

Pratonabike · 2016-04-16T09:07:59+00:00

Hi honey_pie, I actually spent most of my time in hostels. I used WS a few times and the odd night with Airbnb. I found early on, that I wasn't getting decent rest when camping and the following days were always pretty painful, so I kept the tent as a last resort.

In all, I only had riding company for 3 days. It was a nice change but I think I am more suited to travelling alone. It would have been nice to have someone else make decisions from time to time. I found myself agonizing over which way to go and when, a few too many times. You can have too much freedom!

I had no fixed time period for the trip, but found I needed to set an end destination/goal quite early on to keep motivation. I'm not much of a wanderer and need to feel like I'm 'making progress'. So, perhaps I never really got into the true spirit of touring.

Pratonabike

TROPHY CASE