Articles and advice on cycling, technology, home efficiency and more - 2016

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These pages are written and managed by John & Julii Swindells, and we take every effort to ensure their accuracy, relevance and engagement. If you don't think this is the case at any point, please contact us and explain where you think that we're going wrong. Otherwise, happy browsing!

East Anglian CC Xmas Day 15-km time trial

Time Trialling

Phil Hollingsworth and the East Anglian CC faithful put on a superb Christmas morning event, with hot drinks and seasonal snacks on offer after ...

Spot Price Check: Broadland fuels

Heating Oil: A Buyer's Guide 20 Dec 2016

Broadland Fuels are best reached by telephone for a heating oil quote. Their number is 01493 748888 and they operate between 08:30 and 17 ...

Push Sport Cross - Southwold

Cyclocross

Flat, fun and fast in the grounds of St Felix School, Southwold! There were a few short descents and climbs, but the races were won and lost ...

Stow Scramble

Cyclocross

A fun day's racing was had at Chantry Park in Ipswich, as the sun shone and just a gentle breeze blew. The grassy course held up nicely, and ...

National Trophy 2016, round 4

Cyclocross

Ipswich BC hosted an excellent day of cyclocross racing for round 4 of the British Cycling National Trophy. The course had a lot of flat sections ...

Diss CC Suffolk Supercross

Cyclocross

Diss & District CC hosted a fun event on the playing fields at Redgrave. Without the road this year the course was entirely grass-based ...

Hempton Cross

Cyclocross

The heath was quite damp after a lot of rain during the week, and riders had a lot of off-camber mud to contend with. Conditions didn't really ...

West Suffolk Cross

Cyclocross

Hardwick Heath has been used for CX racing, many years ago, and West Suffolk Wheelers did an excellent job of returning to this venue for lots ...

Colchester Rovers CC Cross

Cyclocross

Colchester Rovers did a fantastic job with the classic Furze Hill course at Mistley. It was still run anti-clockwise, with the start running ...

The effect of currency exchange rates on heating oil

Heating Oil: A Buyer's Guide 18 Oct 2016

Exchange rates amongst developed nations are usually quite stable, and their fluctuations are typically only of interest to financial traders ...

Norwich ABC 25-mile time trial

Time Trialling

Scattered showers managed to stay away during the event, and there was only minimal dampness on the A143 bypass between Bungay and Harleston ...

Lack of thought in UK "Hang Back" campaign

Road Safety and Motoring 05 Oct 2016

The UK's Department for Transport released a "left-hook" video ad as part of its Autumn THINK! campaign, and the video shows a lorry overtaking ...

Revolution Cross

Cyclocross

A fine day's racing on a mild and sunny October morning - although it did start spitting with rain as the women's/vet50+ race started up! ...

Push Sports MSG 20:12 Cross

Cyclocross

The terrain was always going to be the biggest challenge at Hadleigh Park, the venue of the 2012 Olympic MTB events. Despite missing out on ...

CC Breckland 50-mile time trial

Time Trialling

A brisk SW wind was about as good as could be hoped for in this mid-morning time trial on the A11, as the wind was blowing pretty much straight ...

Amis Velo Hilly Fields Supacross

Cyclocross

The course was almost bone dry and with lots of long dry grass, despite a lot of rain two days earlier. The younger riders raced first in ...

CC Breckland 12-hour time trial (District Champs)

Time Trialling

A 15mph south-west wind created problems for the 40 starters as we headed down the A11, 10 miles at a time. There was no sun or rain, so only ...

VC Norwich 10-mile time trial

Time Trialling

Conditions were pretty much perfect for the full field of 120 riders on this dual carriageway event between Attleborough and the Snetterton ...

Hopton Men's Road Race

Cycling

This Sunday's Iceni Velo club run headed down to south-west Norfolk, so that we could cheer on the racers in Diss & District CC's Hopton ...

2016 Worstead 5-mile run

Recreation 30 Jul 2016

Here are some photos of the Worstead '5, a running race on rolling back lanes starting in the village square and finishing on the playing field ...

Fun in the Summer sun for Iceni Velo

Cycling 24 Jul 2016

Iceni Velo had a great club run down to the Angel Cafe in Diss, returning to the York Tavern in Norwich for the club's Tour de France prize ...

CC Breckland 100-mile time trial (East District champs)

Time Trialling

This was a good day for fast times on the A11, with dry and warm weather, although a rising westerly breeze was causing problems later in the ...

The durability of Altura pannier bags

Sports Gear: Under Test 14 Jul 2016

Altura is renowned for making bike-mounted bags that last, and my experience of them fits that description exactly. The pannier bags pictured ...

It's all go with Pokemon Go!

Fun Stuff 14 Jul 2016

I see Pokémon Go as a massive opportunity for keeping my kids busy over the Summer holidays! Read on to see how it's going to work... ...

My Round-Norfolk Ride!

Cycling 09 Jul 2016

This ride was a bit of a tester for this Autumn's 12-hour time trial, a discipline that I haven't ridden for twenty years. The distance I ...

Gas Hill Gasp 2016

Cycling

Lots of enthusiastic crowds cheering on the racers tonight! There were road categories for youth, women and men, plus BMX, MTB, Cycle Speedway ...

Godric CC 50-mile time trial (district champs)

Time Trialling

Fifty riders faced showers and puddles on the A143 in the Sunday morning 50-mile East District Time Trial Champs. Air temperature was mild ...

Chasing after the Women's Tour

Cycling 15 Jun 2016

Iceni Velo and VC Norwich had a fabulous time chasing around after the Aviva Women's Tour as the racers raced between Southwold and Norwich ...

Riding in the Peak District

Cycling

I took part in an amazing three-day riding challenge in the Peak District, organised by Simple Cycle Tours. The challenge was all road-based ...

Godric CC 10-mile time trial

Time Trialling

Calm, muggy conditions had a bit of a dampening effect on riders' times, but it was a relief to be riding with a bit of sun and warmth! Riders ...

Tour of Cambridgeshire Chrono

Time Trialling

After a fortnight of cold, gloom and wind and rain, the skies finally cleared and the 800 time triallists enjoyed the 16-mile event in mild ...

CC Breckland 10-mile time trial (East District Champs)

Time Trialling

Multiple last-minute roadworks in the area made things difficult for CC Breckland's Geoff Muller, but he and Don Saunders worked hard to lay ...

Calories used according to the gadgets

Sports Gear: Under Test 27 May 2016

Does the Poolmate 2 calculate calorie expenditure correctly? As soon as you have two plus gadgets you can start testing whether they agree with ...

Gt Yarmouth CC 25-mile time trial

Time Trialling

Paul Groombridge and I comfortably won the 2-up competition in the Gt Yarmouth CC event on the sporting BS13a course between St Olaves, Somerleyton ...

Long ride for lunch at Mum's

Cycling 07 May 2016

To make the most of favourable weather conditions I decided to spend the day away from the family and ride down to my Mum's - around 90 miles ...

Iceni Velo Road Race

Cycling

What a great afternoon's racing! Bright sunshine, enthusiastic supporters and marshals, and top organising :) Fergus Muir has published a ...

GYCC Spring Road Race

Cycling

This was a very fast and twitchy race that saw a few breaks make a few seconds gap before being reeled in, until mid-way through when Dougal ...

Wolsey RC 25-mile time trial

Time Trialling

People struggled to get going on a chilly morning at the Norfolk/Suffolk border. It was sunny and there was only a gentle southerly cross ...

North Norfolk Wheelers 10-mile time trial on the Holt Road

Time Trialling

There was a high quality and quantity of riders at NNW's first evening club TT of 2016, on the Holt Road. The sun was setting as the last ...

Delivery of logs from Richardsons Sawmill

Solid Fuel Stoves and Central Heating 03 Apr 2016

Richardsons delivered a large load of very dry logs, mostly hardwood, on the agreed date, and I carted away 33 wheel-barrow loads; 1 of those ...

Garden pond coming to life in Spring-time

Gardening 03 Apr 2016

After relocating our garden pond late last Autumn, we were a bit concerned how the wildlife might adjust. Well, we shouldn't have worried ...

Diss & District CC 25-mile time trial

Time Trialling

Paul Groombridge and I managed a comfortable win (with a time of 54:54) in the 2-up event of the Diss & District CC 25-mile time trial ...

Lotus League 2016 is taking pre-entries!

Cycling 02 Apr 2016

The all-new Norfolk Cycle Racing website is now taking "intent to compete" entries for the 2016 edition of the Lotus League, run on the super ...

Fakenham Town Centre Crits 2016

Cycling

A strong southerly wind and bitter icy showers made things extremely unpleasant for the youth riders in the early races, but for the later ...

Gt Yarmouth CC Good Friday '10 (10-mile time trial)

Time Trialling

A brisk northerly cross-wind breeze didn't stop some excellent times being posted on a sunny and relatively mild morning. Feat of the day ...

Horsford '10 time trial

Time Trialling

Rolling stop/go roadworks on the Holt road put a stop to the 2016 edition of this extremely popular early season event. It looked for a short ...

CC Breckland 10-mile time trial

Time Trialling

Conditions were tough in this early season out-and-back event on the Watton Road between Hingham and Watton. A strong, chilly north-westerly ...

NorDevCon 2016

Web Hosting 28 Feb 2016

Lots of interesting topics covered at this year's main tech conference for Norfolk. More topics could be covered as it was spread over two ...

Iceni Velo mid-week sunshine ride

Cycling 24 Feb 2016

A few of the Iceni Velo crew had a pleasant ride out in the chilly February sunshine, heading out from the cosy Kofra coffee house in Norwich ...

East Anglian CC 75-mile reliability ride

Cycling

Lots of keen riders turned out for this 75-mile ride into North Norfolk, despite overnight rain and forecasts of more rain and high winds. ...

The 2016 Freethorpe '10

Recreation

This was my first (and probably last) 10-mile running race, starting at Freethorpe Village Hall and meandering down to the Reedham water-front ...

Trinity Cross (round 18)

Cyclocross

This was an epic course put on by Steve Grimwood and the Elmy Cycles crew (with a little help from some cycling buddies). It featured two ...

Going the distance on Strava

Free-to-use Strava Tools 10 Jan 2016

How many days have you gone a certain distance when running, cycling, etc? This page shows you your aggregate distance counts, which means ...

Iceni Velo Duff Morgan Chris Cross (round 17)

Cyclocross

A mild, dry morning greeted the early, young racers for the Eastern Cross League's penultimate event, the Chris Cross. Plenty of recent rain ...

Car Performance Readings for VW Touran

My Car Costs 01 Jan 2016