They don't even pay road tax Joe. **Off topic thread**

tomasrojo

I had dental insurance as an employee of the University of California, so I got my wisdom teeth out. The emerging teeth were starting to push my other teeth out of line, so it couldn't wait. I mentioned to the dentist at my first visit that it was a pity it couldn't wait, as I could have got it done for a lot cheaper at home. He froze and gave me a look of hostile incredulity: "You have socialised medicine in Ireland?!?"

I expected to come to after the anaesthetic with no teeth at all, but he did a great job, the right-wing wallet-emptier.


On the many positives of the USA: they are quite good at running a single currency, which is not something we can be said to have got the hang of yet.

Wishbone Ash

Tracker down on PBP since last night. At least one Boardsie has posted a pic from Brest on FB so fingers crossed it's going well for everyone else.

CramCycle

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Tracker down on PBP since last night. At least one Boardsie has posted a pic from Brest on FB so fingers crossed it's going well for everyone else.

The tracker has always been problematic from memory, I would be quite surprised if NamelessPhil wasn't on the way back to Paris by now, phenomenal increase in mileage in preperation for this.

I know NamelessPhil is also raising funds for the little ones school if anyone is interested in sponsoring her. I can't find the details right now.

Wishbone Ash

CramCycle wrote: »

The tracker has always been problematic from memory, I would be quite surprised if NamelessPhil wasn't on the way back to Paris by now, phenomenal increase in mileage in preperation for this.

I know NamelessPhil is also raising funds for the little ones school if anyone is interested in sponsoring her. I can't find the details right now.

She left at the same time as our club man but was an hour ahead at the last posted control on the tracker!

The details of her fundraising are from her "A Thousand miles from Comfort" thread in the training logs page.

As I will be riding an obscene amount of kilometres (1228) in 90 hours I thought I might as well try and raise some funds for a charitable cause. In this case it's my daughter's National School. It's a small school on the outskirts of Dublin and it's undergoing renovations at the moment, there's going to be a new classroom extension and a new rubberised playground surface.

I'll be trying to stay "rubber-side down" for the duration of the event and I'd like to raise some money for the school, for the playground and for other essential items such as special needs support. Any parent reading this will know the horrors of school fundraising, bag packing, sponsored walks and their ilk! I reckon I'll be riding this event anyway and even if we got a tenner it would be better than nothing.

If you would like to help you can donate directly to the school's PTA bank account.

IBAN IE58 AIBK 9332 9537 2070 79
BIC AIBKIE2D

Whitechurch National School PTA
Whitechurch National School
Whitechurch Road
Rathfarnham
Dublin 16


Thanks for any help, it'll be much appreciated.

manafana

rollingscone wrote: »

Always worth remembering this alternative when someone talks about cutting welfare.

Welfare vampires are ****, but everyoneelse is still a net beneficiary of SWA

agreed welfare is in a way a crime reducer, and end of day you have to give a little to everyone no matter what circumstances are

Lumen

manafana wrote: »

agreed welfare is in a way a crime reducer, and end of day you have to give a little to everyone no matter what circumstances are

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owI7DOeO_yg

Chips Lovell

That and the one about the Apprentice are my favourite Mitchell & Webb sketches.

seamus

ThisRegard wrote: »

Was lucky enough to work in California some time back with everything fully funded by my company including a top of the range world wide healthcare policy taken out specifically for my placement. But the one time I needed to see a GP, jesus, you would think I made up the policy, nobody wanted to know me. Even the guys on the insurance company's assistance call centre were useless. I didn't bother in the end.

Hah. We were in San Francisco on Honeymoon and the wife was having awful pain with her wisdom teeth. Asked around hotel desks, rang local doctor's offices, etc to find out where we'd find a walk-in dental clinic or a GP for some pain relief.
Nope, nobody had a clue what we were talking about. If you're not booked in for an appointment with a private doctor you've already registered with, then apparently you go to the ER, sit there for a few hours and wait to be treated. Then you get a referral, and then you can start seeing the non-hospital doctor.

In our hunt for a walk-in clinic, we did end up in a medicinal marijuana clinic, which was funny. Full of people there for "medicinal" marijuana.

In the end my wife had no desire to sit in an ER, so we took advantage of the "good" side of the US medical system: buying strong painkillers over the counter in containers of 1,000.

CramCycle

Jep Gambardella wrote: »

That and the one about the apprentice are my favourite Mitchell & Webb sketches.

Has to be the homeopathy one for me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMGIbOGu8q0

Skrynesaver

Wishbone Ash

seamus wrote: »

Hah. We were in San Francisco on Honeymoon and the wife was having awful pain with her wisdom teeth. Asked around hotel desks, rang local doctor's offices, etc to find out where we'd find a walk-in dental clinic or a GP for some pain relief...

Back in the 1980's a work colleague had to get a tooth extraction while on holiday in the US. It cost the equivalent of IR£900 at the time. We were in shock when she told us. We were on about £80 per week at the time.

ford2600

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Tracker down on PBP since last night. At least one Boardsie has posted a pic from Brest on FB so fingers crossed it's going well for everyone else.

Two Irish lads look like they might break 50hrs. A rare breed.

seamus

This was always my favourite; a perfect pisstake of Sky Sports:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MusyO7J2inM

CramCycle

seamus wrote: »

This was always my favourite; a perfect pisstake of Sky Sports:

Can't beat a bit of Alan for the auld sports commentary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D568_-2E2Uo

Wishbone Ash

Tracker running again. Nameless Phil clocked in Brest at 11.35am today (French time). :cool:

Mefistofelino

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Tracker running again. Nameless Phil clocked in Brest at 11.35am today (French time). :cool:

Still seeing a lot of errors in tracker times so I wouldn't regard anything as definite. Several of the Irish riders have completely disappeared since Brest.

BTW - the first rider was home in 42 hours 26 mins:eek:

CramCycle

Mefistofelino wrote: »

Still seeing a lot of errors in tracker times so I wouldn't regard anything as definite. Several of the Irish riders have completely disappeared since Brest.

BTW - the first rider was home in 42 hours 26 mins:eek:

The last time we had people with no updates after the second control and then only updated as they came back through the second last control, so definitely, no one should panic. Ireland has had a strong record in recent times of completion with everyone finishing last time and only one rider out of time (but still crossing the line) IIRC.

ford2600

ford2600 wrote: »

Two Irish lads look like they might break 50hrs. A rare breed.

Maybe not 50hrs but very close

1090km 47h:43m

tomasrojo

Wes Anderson bought a Citbike membership in the summer of his forty-sixth year.
http://gothamist.com/2015/08/18/wes_anderson_citibike_nyc.php

wanderer 22

Guardian article about cycling in Eritrea, worth a read - http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/aug/17/eritrea-cycling-team-rwanda-tour-de-france

Qualitymark

Went into a noted bike dealer and asked what I needed to do to get the right size & shape bike. "You need to ask me" said the young lad behind the counter. "What do I need to do to get the right size & shape bike?" I asked him. He looked at me and said that from his experience, I'd need an XS.

I'm in a bit of a quandary here. His type of guesstimate is probably not really what I want - I can guess that much myself. On the other hand, paying €90+ for a full machine workup à la racing cyclists seems like a shameful waste of money - I mooch around on the bike and occasionally mooch for slightly longer distances. But is there any middle way? Sorry to bring this up again… I really want to get a bike that fits and works well for me this time; it'll probably be my last bike.

seamus

I'm in a bit of a quandary here. His type of guesstimate is probably not really what I want - I can guess that much myself. On the other hand, paying €90+ for a full machine workup à la racing cyclists seems like a shameful waste of money - I mooch around on the bike and occasionally mooch for slightly longer distances. But is there any middle way? Sorry to bring this up again… I really want to get a bike that fits and works well for me this time; it'll probably be my last bike

How's the fit for your current bike? The main issue with fit is the frame. Anything else can be easily changed at a later date, but if the frame is the wrong size, it's messy.

Have my own question...

Having been working in the city practically all my working life and cycling in the wicklow hills all the time, I've realised I know virtually nothing about cycling routes around the rest of the city. Moving to a job in Blackrock in a couple of weeks and trying to find the best route from Knocklyon. Anyone know anything about this route?
There are a few obvious choices but they seem to involve going north or south first to get to the right road before heading east. I've no doubt there are a couple of shortcuts you can take though that a car can't.

Qualitymark

I don't really know how the fit of my current bike is, Seamus - I've cycled it for 10 years or maybe more, and so it's just… there. But if I get a new light bike, it would be nice to know that it's perfect. To expand, I feel a little scrunched up on the current one sometimes, but the saddle height is set correctly. I'm wondering if Giant's 'women-specific design' might help.

As for Knocklyon-to-Blackrock, a genius on this forum, indeed maybe on this thread even, gave a wonderful tip some weeks ago, which was to set Google Maps for a walking route if you want a really direct cycling route. That seems to work for K-to-B.

lennymc

i used the bike fit tool at competitive cyclist and found it good.

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/Store/catalog/fitCalculatorBike.jsp

OldBean

Qualitymark wrote: »

Went into a noted bike dealer and asked what I needed to do to get the right size & shape bike. "You need to ask me" said the young lad behind the counter. "What do I need to do to get the right size & shape bike?" I asked him. He looked at me and said that from his experience, I'd need an XS.

I'm in a bit of a quandary here. His type of guesstimate is probably not really what I want - I can guess that much myself. On the other hand, paying €90+ for a full machine workup à la racing cyclists seems like a shameful waste of money - I mooch around on the bike and occasionally mooch for slightly longer distances. But is there any middle way? Sorry to bring this up again… I really want to get a bike that fits and works well for me this time; it'll probably be my last bike.

If it's going to be your last bike, maybe it's just worth getting the bike fit?

Doctor Bob

seamus wrote: »

Having been working in the city practically all my working life and cycling in the wicklow hills all the time, I've realised I know virtually nothing about cycling routes around the rest of the city. Moving to a job in Blackrock in a couple of weeks and trying to find the best route from Knocklyon. Anyone know anything about this route?
There are a few obvious choices but they seem to involve going north or south first to get to the right road before heading east. I've no doubt there are a couple of shortcuts you can take though that a car can't.

Not sure where you're starting in Knocklyon, but the newish cycle track that connects Grange Road to Barton Road along the old road reservation might be the type of shortcut you mean?

https://www.google.ie/maps/@53.2862504,-6.276074,550m/data=!3m1!1e3

From there, it's a pretty straight run using Lower (not Upper) Kilmacud Road, Stillorgan Park and Carysfort Avenue (make sure you have somewhere to park your bike- I hear Carysfort's a b1tch ).

OldBean

I'm admittedly a big Velo-Orange fan, and I don't use toe straps, but these are just so nice...



http://velo-orange.blogspot.ie/2015/08/toe-strap-buttons-are-cufflinks-for.html

Qualitymark

OldBean wrote: »

If it's going to be your last bike, maybe it's just worth getting the bike fit?

Good point. But my increasing decrepitude may make the fit change.

Lennymc, I can't find the bike fit tool on that site. (Does it work for the wimminz, by the way?)

Edit: found it, it does; have to wait till tomorrow when I can ask my buddy to help me with the fitting. Direct link is http://www.competitivecyclist.com/Store/catalog/fitCalculatorBike.jsp

Mefistofelino

First two Irish riders back in Paris -Paul O'Donoghue and Jim Fitzpatrick - in about 55 hours. Nameless Phil passed through the Loudeac control (782km) about 2 hours ago.

...and the bloody tracker is playing up again

OldBean

Qualitymark wrote: »

Good point. But my increasing decrepitude may make the fit change.

But you'll have a better start and can plan ahead as needs be - shorter stem, springs in your saddle, one-bidon-in, one-bidon-out...