Articles and advice on cycling, technology, home efficiency and more - 2019

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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!

2019 Diary

Cycling Performance Programme 31 Dec 2019

This was my plan and diary for a structured, quality year of cycling in 2019. My targets were based around time trialling, with some ...

Late December 200k

Cycling 28 Dec 2019

Steady ride around Norfolk with a few friends, clockwise from Norwich and going as far west as Sandringham.

VC Revolution Hilly Fields Cross

Cyclocross

A fairly fast day's racing on the grass plateau and slopes of Hilly Fields in Colchester, helped by dry conditions and mild temperatures. ...

Diss CC Suffolk Supercross

Cyclocross

Leaden skies threatened the organisers, helpers and racers all day at Redgrave, butwe got away with it and enjoyed fairly dry conditions. ...

Smart meters and Solar PV

Solar PV Electricity 14 Nov 2019

The Smart Meter rollout in the UK was much maligned in its early years, with issues over compatibility and switching suppliers. We are now ...

Preview of the Iceni Velo CX on Jan 19, 2020

Cyclocross 08 Nov 2019

Plans are firming up for Iceni Velo's annual cyclo-cross event at World Horse Welfare! The 2020 edition (part of the Eastern CX League's 2019 ...

West Suffolk Cross

Cyclocross

An overnight forecast of high winds put the event at risk, but these fortunately didn't happen - although it was quite windy in the afternoon ...

Neil Pears Memorial Cross (Mistley)

Cyclocross

Great conditions for this event, and the course was improved to give a longer stretch before the hairpin turn into the woods. Hopefully all ...

Shining the light on Solar Equity Release

Solar PV Electricity 18 Oct 2019

I received a letter recently from a company offering to pay me a lump sum in return for the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) for my solar panels. It was ...

Spectating at the World Road Race Champs in Yorkshire

Cycling 30 Sep 2019

Friday: Under-23 men's race I rode up from Holbeach, saw the race pass through Thorne, then rode through afternoon rain to see them at the ...

Godric CC 25-mile time trial

Time Trialling

A brisk south-easterly breeze blowing across the out-and-back course on the Suffolk border did little to dampen times, especially with sunshine ...

A tick on the move!

Animals 19 Sep 2019

This little critter was far from done after we got him off one of our cats!

Load of logs from North Walsham Firewood

Solid Fuel Stoves and Central Heating 19 Sep 2019

This was their standard trailer-load (a 10 x 5 foot trailer) and came out at 27 barrow-loads when shifted into storage. It cost us £ ...

Iceni Velo 10-mile time trial

Time Trialling

It was a fast afternoon for my club's 10-mile time trial, between Attleborough and Wymondham on the A11. With warm sun and a mild SW breeze ...

Amis Velo Hilly Fields Supacross

Cyclocross

It was a warm, dry and dusty affair in the grassland and wooded trails of Hilly Fields in Colchester. Despite the favourable weather conditions ...

Round Norfolk Ride - for a young'un!

Cycling 29 Aug 2019

Having realised that eleven was plenty old enough to be riding fifty miles in a day, my youngest son Michael set himself a challenge of riding ...

Using the Mac Migration Assistant

Web Programming 08 Aug 2019

Upon ordering a new Macbook, I decided that the simplest option for migrating my apps and data would be a Time Machine backup (using a USB ...

Coast-to-coast in a day!

Cycling 03 Aug 2019

After months of planning, worrying and gnashing of teeth, seven souls set off on their bikes from the slipway at Whitehaven. Destination: ...

CC Breckland 50-mile time trial

Time Trialling

Serious heat and sun put paid to many people's hopes in this event, with an astonishing 26 DNFs. Combined with 15 DNS, that reduced the start ...

National Road Championships & Sportive

Cycling

There were two very hard races in the fabulous Norfolk sunshine. The men's race in the morning was extremely fast and whittled the bunch right ...

National time trial champs

Time Trialling 27 Jun 2019

The GB road championships were in Norfolk for 2019, and I rode over to beautiful West Norfolk to spectate at some of the time trial races going ...

CC Breckland 30-mile time trial

Time Trialling

Riders had good conditions for the 30-mile East District Champs, with one person (Lloyd Chapman) averaging more than 30mph and the top 3 times ...

Dragon Ride

Cycling

This was a hilly sportive in south Wales, with Margam Park as the headquarters. It was all extremely well organised, from the car parking ...

CC Breckland 25-mile time trial

Time Trialling

There were a few fast times on this calm evening, but a tough last few miles into a wet, rising headwind put paid to many people's hopes of ...

Tour of Cambridgeshire

Cycling

The exposed, straight, flat roads of the Fens provided the ultimate test of endurance for riders on a hot, windy day. The early rolling roads ...

SOLVED Cleaning a dishwasher's water inlets

House and Home 13 May 2019

Our trusty dishwasher (Bosch Exxcel) had recently been getting worse at the daily job of crockery cleaning, and today it simply did no cleaning ...

Ixworth Crits 2019

Cycling

Photos from the early races at Ixworth Crits, 2019 event info Closed-road circuit racing in Ixworth village! More info on the BC ...

Iceni Velo road races 2019

Cycling

Photos from Sunday's event on the May bank holiday weekend. event info A men's race in the morning, and a women's race in the afternoon ...

Crivit Smart Bike Helmet

Sports Gear: Under Test 19 Apr 2019

Lidl has rolled out its own "smart" bike helmet. It is competitively priced at £39.99 (as of April 2019) and features a rear light and ...

FOR SALE: Bikes, wheels, power meter!

Cycling 16 Apr 2019

These items are all well used, but kept in good working order too. Thorne Voyager child-back tandem bicycle £400
We've ...

Bulb: energising your home!

House and Home 12 Apr 2019

After a long series of domestic electricity price rises iver many years, we decided to try our luck with a new supplier that doesn't appear ...

Broadband auto-compensation really rolling out?

Internet Access: UK Broadband 01 Apr 2019

Back in November 2017 Ofcom (the body responsible for regulating UK communications tech) announced that there would be automatic compensation ...

Back on the bike after a shoulder operation

Cycling 31 Mar 2019

After being stuck on the turbo trainer for a few weeks after having corrective surgery on one of my shoulders, I finally couldn't resist the ...

Are speed-limiter devices the answer?

Road Safety and Motoring 27 Mar 2019

The European Commission today announced its intention to bring in mandatory speed-limiting devices for all new cars, from 2022. For road safety ...

Beware of free health checks for Solar PV

Solar PV Electricity 25 Mar 2019

Have you had an unsolicited letter from a company you've never of, offering a free health check for your solar PV system? My recommendation ...

CC Breckland 10-mile time trial

Time Trialling

Mild, sunny conditions with a brisk south-westerly wind blew the early-season cobwebs off the riders' time trial machines. On a revised course ...

Milton Cross

Cyclocross

A lot of recent rain turned the park into mud for all the riders, and it was slippery and slidy even for the under-10s and under-12s on their ...

Iceni Velo Snetterton Cross

Cyclocross

We enjoyed amazing blue skies and almost no wind all day (unheard of in this exposed location at the World Horse Welfare centre near Snetterton ...

Stow Scramble

Cyclocross

Stowmarket & District CC hosted round 14 of the Eastern Cross League in Haughley Park near Stowmarket, and created very challenging conditions ...

Little cat bossing the big cat!

Cats 03 Jan 2019

Nero got cross with his big brother Claudius, for no apparent reason, and backed him into a dark corner!

CC Breckland New Year 10-mile time trial

Time Trialling

This was a great way to start the year for the 20-odd time trialists. A mild northerly wind proved to be great for shelter on the run up and ...