Running, Cycling and Swimming - Maybe it is time for a bit of commitment.

Approaching a milestone age tends to give one thought for what should be achieved in the following decade. In my case there is a constant reminder that I will be fifty in less than a month, due to the flow of 'interesting' life insurance mail that has been arriving for the past few weeks.

However I am approaching this birthday with a sense of purpose, viewing it as an opportunity to make some commitment to my random fitness regime. Fortunately my natural build allows me to stay in shape quite easily, it also causes people to inform me that they were like this until twenty, or thirty, or even forty. Well I am about to be fifty and there is still no sign of me putting on any weight, so it seems to be genetic. 

The point about this is that I look like a long distance runner and have indeed dome some half marathons in the distant past, but none in the past twenty five years or so. I do get out and run sometimes, but it is intermittent, a couple of five kilometre days, then nothing for a week. My intention has been to put this right and start a proper schedule for a while and I am determined that this will happen.

I have also always been quite a keen cyclist, although the tatty mountain bike that gets used at present is probably not ideal for what I have in mind. You see training for and completing a triathlon has always appealed to me, there is one point which worries me though, swimming. It shouldn't really, I can swim, it just does not seem to come naturally. Obviously my genetic gains did not stretch this far as my parents were both fine swimmers, unlike me. However it may be that practice and training could me the key, when analysing my swimming it becomes clear that lazyness is the main problem.

So I shall make the effort, firstly by getting my running back on track, as it comes easily to me and will improve my fitness levels. The mountain bike will start to get a lot more use and I will venture down to the local pool and try and improve my distance and technique. There is no intention here of breaking any records, just the feeling that this could be a great personal achievement if I can manage to complete the challenge. Also my stock of excuses as to why I have never taken part in a triathlon has run out, so know is the time, probably.

Andy

Balancing Freedom Against Parental Control Syndrome.

This is the big one if like me you have children approaching their later teenage years. It is that period where your natural instinct to control and protect your children has to be tempered by the fact they they are closing fast on the time when the decisions they make will be theirs alone. 

Without doubt this is a learning process, possibly more for the parent than the child in many respects, and is one that will be littered with mistakes as both parties search for that crucial balance. Parties are a prime example where you either have to collect them late in the evening or trust them to behave if they stay over and of course there is always the alcohol factor. Lets be honest there is no doubt that sixteen year olds are going to have a couple of beers at these events if they feel like it, they will get hold of it somehow anyway so is it better for parents to control what they are drinking be providing a limited amount, or is there a blanket ban, in which case they will drink it outside or before arrival. 

Actually there is probably no real one size fits all answer to this problem, some children will not drink and others will, all parents will have different ideas and solutions to dealing with these things. I am under no illusion that knowing where my older children are, is any guarantee as to what they are getting up to, this is the time when they start to push the boundaries of the parental bubble, which is disturbing but inevitable.

We were treated to a prime example of this yesterday, receiving a late call from one of our boys to inform us that he would be staying over, rather than getting a lift home as promised. This is a no win situation as a parent, either you say no, pull jeans on over your pyjamas and head out to bring them home, or you let them stay and deal with it the following day, by which time they will have though of a watertight, in their mind, excuse of why they stayed out.

In this particular instance no real harm was done, but at this post GCSE pre A level age there are still rules in place, in my mind at least. The fact that this two month break before starting sixth form is being viewed as some kind of mini gap year is not really helping my sanity actually, trying to find that mysterious balance, does it really exist I wonder, between a bit more freedom or letting them run wild seems even more difficult as the holiday goes on. 

I suppose that trust is really at the centre of this, how much do you trust them to behave as young adults. It has been mentioned to me by the older children about the amount of freedom that I had at this age, unfortunately for them while I remember having quite a bit actually, there is no way that I would trust my sixteen year old self now. However that does not mean that they are not far more responsible than I ever was and therefore why should they not be allowed to explore their freedom a bit more.

There is, for me at least, no absolute answer as to how this should be dealt with, maybe a combination of going with the flow, but not to fast. In the mean time I shall flex my dad muscles and ground him for the week I think, just to get a bit more thinking time if nothing else.

Andy

Camp Bestival - Where To Camp

The map has now been released on the official site, which gives you a good idea of where everything will be set up this year and a chance to plan some of your time at the festival. In all honesty most of the attractions are fairly close together, once you have walked in from your tent.

Where to actually camp though always presents a bit of a dilemma. I am only talking about bringing your own tent here, although there are other options with yurts, teepee's and other solutions offered on site.

This gives you two options, either the main camp site or Camping Plus, which costs an additional amount, but is much closer to the festival attractions. Dealing with the main camp site first, it is obviously large and not entirely flat. In fact the first thing you will see from the car park is a hill in front of you. This is in fact relatively level on top and a popular place to set up camp, if you walk further across this it leads to a steep down hill slope, at the bottom of which you pass into the remainder of the camping area, for the sake of argument I will call this the 2nd area.

There are a number of factors that influence where to camp, if you are arriving late on Thursday it will be a matter of fitting in where ever you can find a gap as most areas will be pretty well populated by then. The primary choice to be made is how far you want to carry all of the camping gear against how far you want to walk into the festival each day. If you are happy to do the long walk with all of the gear, then the second area is my advice. Turning left into after coming down the steep hill leads you to a flat area which is close to the toilets and showers, top tip with the showers is to use them in the afternoon when there are small or no queues. There are also normally food and drink stalls here which is very handy after a long day. Camping in this area also leaves you with a much easier daily walk, making it easier to pop back for an afternoon siesta if required.

Camping in the first area, closer to the car park, means that you have a shorter distance to carry all your equipment, it does mean a longer walk in each day though. Also to get a good pitch, flat if possible, then you need to have arrived early, the car park opens before the gates and there was a queue of campers last year waiting to get in.

Alternatively as I mentioned you can pay for Camping Plus which gives you a guaranteed pitch and is much closer to the festival being located in the area behind the Freesports Park. Unfortunately I think this is all booked for next week, but worth remembering for next year, because you will be back.

Andy

Formula 1 - Hungarian Grand Prix

This weekend is the mid-way point in the Formula 1 season and sees the teams visit Hungary. With the tragic death of Jules Bianchi in the past week the event is bound to be tinged with sadness, a feeling that will be felt by the teams, drivers and fans. Once again my sympathy goes out to his family and friends, as with so many in the history of the sport he has left us before his time, which is truly tragic.

The race itself though is normally very interesting, it has been pretty good for British drivers in recent times, Jenson Button won his first Grand Prix here in 2006, driving a Honda strangely enough, and also won the 2011 race. Lewis Hamilton has won four times, a fifth would make him the most successful driver at the track, certainly in modern time. Damon Hill also had his first race victory in Hungary in 1993 and who can forget the time when he almost managed to win in the Arrows in 1997.

So, onto this weekend where with Mercedes current domination it seems that the main opinion is that Lewis Hamilton or Nico Rosberg should wrap up yet another win. Certainly on the face of it that seems a likely scenario, as while this is not a real power circuit the Mercedes car still has such good handling and drive that it will still hold an advantage. However there have been some surprises here in the past.

The question is then who will challenge Mercedes. Well the obvious candidate is Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari, the circuit is often compared with Monaco where he finished second, albeit with a bit of help from a badly timed Mercedes pit stop. Also though the Ferrari seems to be closing in, although it is not there yet. Kimi Raikkonen has the same car, but does not seem to be able to get the same performance out of it so far this year.

Williams have been competitive, but unless something has radically changed the track is unlikely to suit their car, using the Monaco comparison again they finished 14th and 15th and never looked like they were on the pace all weekend. Obviously having written them of so easily they will probably prove me wrong, we shall see.

Most of the other teams would probably require Mercedes to have problems, or maybe some help from the weather. Nevertheless the new Force India car combined with Nico Hulkenberg current form could spring a few surprises. The Red Bull certainly has good aerodynamics and the lack of power from the Renault engine should be less of a problem here and Toro Rosso seem to have a genuinely good car, so who knows what the two rookie drivers can produce.

As for the rest, Lotus have had the odd decent race but don't seem to be threatening a big haul of points at the moment. Sauber started the season well, but seem to have tailed off a bit now, they do have a problem normally with keeping up on the development front, although Felipe Nasr has certainly impressed with his performances this year and the team announced today that both drivers were being retained for next year, which may give them a boost. Manor are still a long way behind, it would be lovely to see them have a good race this weekend though.

Which leaves McLaren. Now I have followed Formula 1 for longer than I care to remember and one thing that I have learnt is that Ron Dennis and Honda do not like losing. Have they turned the corner yet, probably not entirely, but qualifying might give us a clue as to whether the engine is producing more power, reliability will have to wait for the race. A solid qualifying session, through to the second part would be good to see, getting into final qualifying would indicate that great strides have finally been made. I do hope so because seeing Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso struggling around at the back will certainly not be doing Ron Dennis's sense of humour much good.

Anyway lets hope for a good race.

Andy

Dad Decor

The term 'man cave' seems to be quite common at the moment, however for most parents the chances of having a spare room/shed/cave which has not been invaded by the clutter that follows children wherever they go is quite slim.

However even when your property does not extend to the kind of proportions that Bruce Wayne's mansion offers, it is still possible to inject some dad decor into the building. Now don't get be wrong here, you are unlikely to get away with sticking up that poster of the tennis girl's bottom from the seventies, but there are many other things that can be displayed in an acceptable manner.

Metal advertising signs, or porcelain if you can afford them, are probably best displayed in the garage, unless you have the sort of internal warehouse or industrial look to your house. These are widely reproduced and available at reasonable prices. If you are after original signs with that lovely worn look then eBay is a good starting point, although there are some specialist sites, particularly for motoring related types. You also have a choice of metal or porcelain, which are very sort after, all of which are available in single or double sided versions.

Picture source eBay

Alternatively framed posters can also look rather good. I have a series of Grand Prix copies of classic 1950's and 1960's race advertisements, which are nicely, but inexpensively framed displayed in the hallway. These are also very easy to get hold of, though you do have to watch the quality if buying from some sources as people do purchase disks of the images and print them off on a variety of printers, some of which are very good, others less so. Probably the best are from the specialist poster shops, of which there are several on line. I have skipped over originals as their price ranges from expensive, to absolutely astronomic for some of the earlier travel posters.

Of course it may be that your tastes run to something a little more artistic, in which case the local auction house is the place to go. Sure some of the pictures will be sold for serious money, but it is always possible to pick up a bargain. We have a large gilt framed oil painting of a continental street scene which is appreciated by everyone who spots it, which cost the grand sum of £5 at the my nearest auctioneers and was actually just one of several in the lot.

So there we have it, no man cave, no problem, well at least as far as the wall decor is concerned, you may have to work a bit harder if you fancy slipping a barbers chair and a couple of antique petrol pumps into the house without somebody noticing.

Andy

Tents - Vango Avington 500

Camping is as we all know a very cost effective way of managing family holidays, fair enough you are at the mercy of the weather to some extent, but generally speaking it is a great method of getting away on a budget. As a child almost all of our holidays were taken in a large frame tent, around Europe and the UK and I still have fond memories of these, even though we were jammed into a VW Beetle for most of them.

We certainly have not spent as much time under canvas with our children, partially due to the availability of package holidays and mobile home sites in France, but we are planning more trips. Actually we now own two tents, the primary reason for this being that our two oldest children have informed us that they are no longer coming on all of our family holidays, they are old enough to remain at home now being sixth formers, which has given us a good excuse to upgrade our tent to a better and smaller model.

Obviously there are a vast amount of tents available from a variety of manufacturers, so some research was in order. We had a list of basic requirements which were that it needed to sleep up to five, have a decent amount of living space, be a tunnel tent and to come from one of the main manufacturers. For this reason we settled on a Vango model, for many years I owned a Force 10 backpacking tent from them which served me well during hiking trips in the National Parks and abroad. I did weight up the choice of inflatable versus standard pole models, but in the end went for a normal model with flexible poles, partly because of the price difference I must admit.

The model settled on was a Vango Avington 500 which is a reasonably priced tunnel tent with a built in ground sheet and a small porch area. So what do you get for your money and how easy is it to put up are the main questions.

Firstly it comes rolled in a bag that will actually fit into the car boot, it weighs in at just under 20kgs, but is manageable to move around as the bag is small enough to get your arms around on carry on your shoulder, it does have carry straps but I certainly would not like to carry it any distance with them.

The tent is tightly rolled, I will never get it to look like that again, with the inner bedroom, curtain, poles and pegs inside it. There are also pitching instructions sewn into the bag or they can be accessed on the Vango website.

Pitching the tent is pretty straight forward, but needs to be dealt with in an methodical manner as with most tents. Once the poles are fitted together they simply slide through the corresponding seams on the flysheet and one end is located into the metal pin system which is attached to the ground sheet. As the tent is erected the same system is used on the other side which should give an equal amount of bend to the poles. Depending on how many people you have available to hold poles you may find it useful to temporarily peg some guy ropes as you go along to keep the structure up. Once it is standing it is just a matter of pegging down everything, clipping the lower parts of the flysheet to the poles with the clips attached and tightening the tension straps for the poles. The bedroom is easy to put in place with a toggle and clip system, a dividing curtain is also supplied. Vango quote a 20 minute pitch time, which might take a bit of practice, but is probably possible. The only problem we cam across was that one of the poles had caught on the seam meaning that it would not bend enough to fit into its metal pin. After some head scratching we realised what had happened, released the caught piece and everything fitted fine, worth watching out for though as it seems like quite an easy thing to do.

The interior is quite an impressive size as you can see and even with the bedroom in place there is still plenty of living space. The straps visible are tension bands which can be tightened in windy conditions to stabilise the tent. They are not required in calm weather and can simply be unclipped and stored it the tent pocket.

Overall then it seems to meet our requirements well, there are side and front entry points, large windows and ventilation flaps, which will all hopefully be beneficial when it is put to the test at the end of the month with its first outing being to Camp Bestival.

Andy

Cars - Top Trumps

Without doubt I firmly fit into the category of a car guy, having been obsessed by vehicles almost since my first steps were taken. My parents retain a photograph of me standing on the seat behind the wheel of the family VW Beetle in the late sixties, practicing driving the car. Apparently I had left the garden and proceeded down the drive to the car when nobody was watching me and this is where I was found. Family folklore perhaps, but it is an indication of how early my love of cars began.

However for me it was the seventies when my interest in all things motorised came together and became a hobby that will undoubtedly last my entire lifetime. During that period I would spend hours in my friend’s boarded out loft playing Scalextric, we had a few Formula 1 cars, a couple of Mini’s and his dad’s old Vanwall racers all of which we pressed into service. Then there were the Grand Prix highlights, as it was back then, shown on the BBC which we never missed. I also had an old Observer Book of Cars which would always come with me when we travelled on holiday, just in case I spotted something unusual, but there is one other defining item, my Top Trumps cards.

This was simply a great game, with pictures and statistics that appealed no end to young boys of my generation. The object of the game was to win all of the cards by a beating your opponent on a particular statistic each time. Ferrari’s and Lamborghini’s were obviously particularly good cards to have particularly for their top speed, but also for their all round ability, fuel economy not being quite such an issue at this time.

Picture source: eBay

The joy of this game though was that it was a great source of the kind of information that an 8 or 9 year old boy needs about cars, speed and power mainly, which sounds very like a famous motoring presenter and is probably why so many of us loved his show, Top Gear/Top Trumps there is an obvious connection. This was also the only game in existence where a Cadillac Eldorado, maybe Fleetwood, was able to beat a Ferrari BB, this was on cubic capacity, not weight, due to its massive eight litre engine.

Picture source: eBay

I also seem to remember there being some pretty obscure prototypes amongst the pack, as well as some more ordinary models and of course the Monteverdi Hai 450 SS which was the top card for BHP, not exactly a common model as they only built two originally, although they did make a couple of replicas from spare parts in the nineties.

There were plenty more in the pack as well, the Citroen SM, Maserati’s, Panther, Porsche and the Sbarro Tiger amongst others, all of which still seem to be fresh in my memories, truly a defining game of my childhood.

Andy

I was also very saddened to hear of the death of Formula 1 driver Jules Bianchi today, my sympathy goes out to his family and friends.

Technology - Mobile Phones

There is no hiding from the fact that mobile phones are very much a part of everyday life and that the change in what they are used for has been rapid to say the least. Obviously as a dad I still make phone calls on mine, a Nokia Windows phone as I only use a limited amount of 'apps' and because it doesn't break when dropped. 

My older children also have phones, we made the decision that when they started High School they would need one to be able to get in touch as the school is not in the village. The eldest in fact started off with some kind of sliding Samsung pre-touch screen phone, which is still around somewhere having survived all sorts of adventures including being dropped into snow. Now of course they all have android phones, from a variety of manufacturers, with large screens just waiting to get broken at the merest sign of approaching the ground, actually one of them is shattered meaning that one of the old models that I keep in my drawer is now in use until the contract is due for renewal. 

Actually the phones are changed every two years, which given the speed that they evolve and the fact that the batteries have normally had it by this time is about right. Renewal time is a very amusing period from a dad point of view, you see however grounded your children are in real life there are two phrases that come out eventually at this time, 'my friends have all got one' and 'iPhone. These are to be ignored or/and treated with derision, depending on your mood.

This can turn into an ongoing conversation that drags on for several days, explaining that although Apple make very nice products the fact that they are very expensive and also £30 a month more than the current tariff that you are paying for does not seem to put them off. Neither it seems does relating stories of payphones or even pointing out that the only reason that they have a phone is so they can ring you, not that that ever happens, and that the additional advantages are just a bonus.

Eventually though they will understand, normally when presented with a box containing their new bought to dad's budget phone and they will be happy. Actually they will, new phones are nice, shiny and work well, so they are grateful, well for around 24 months when the whole game gets played again. 

I am sure there are plenty of people who will say that children should not get everything they want, correct by the way, or that learning the value of things is important, also correct, but if you find yourself in this situation just sit back and admire how much more advanced their skills at presenting a rational argument have become and of course never give in.

Andy

Cycling - Tour De France

This really is one of the greatest sporting events of the year with its combination of athletic ability, changing terrain and variable weather making it a joy to watch.

In Britain having two recent winners of the Tour has helped to raise its visibility and popularity enormously and with Team Sky and Chris Froome leading once again there is no sign of this resurgence in interest ending anytime soon. Actually the knock on effect of this, and the British Cycling Teams successes at recent Olympics, seems to have been to bring more people out onto their bikes. Certainly up here in rural Suffolk there is a lot more carbon fibre and lycra whizzing around at weekends than ever before and for the fitness of the nation that is probably a good thing.

The Tour itself is into its second week and yesterday saw the first serious mountain stage in the Pyrenees. Chris Froome won the stage yesterday by giving what the commentator described as 'a masterclass in mountain climbing', if that was meant to convey that he completely and utterly destroyed the opposition then he was right. In fact the three minute lead he now holds is already being described as unassailable, which it might well prove to be, although there is still a long way to go yet. But however good Froome's ride was yesterday, and it was truly impressive, the highlight was surely watching his teammate Richie Porte's smiling assassin impression, as he caught and passed Nairo Quintana for second place within sight of the finish. Actually it turned out to be rather a good day for Team Sky with Geraint Thomas finishing well, alongside fellow briton Adam Yates of the Orica Greenedge team, moving up to fifth place overall.

Another mountain stage is in progress as I write, with a breakaway group of riders out in front, whether they can hold on until the finish with the main contenders in pursuit will be interesting to see, unlikely, but it does happen sometimes. But obviously if you are watching or discussing the race with children then it is important to have a few classic dad facts for them, so hear we go. 

The highest ever stage finish was at the Col du Galibier, 2645m and had to be scrapped from this year's race because of landslides.

Largest margin of overall victory was 28:17 minutes in 1952 Fausto Coppi from Stan Ockers. Although in earlier years the riders rode individually and in 1903 the gap was over two hours.

Smallest margin of overall victory was 8 seconds in 1989 Greg LeMond from Laurent Fignon.

The most wins by a rider is five, (It was seven by Lance Armstrong but these have since been removed due to drug offences), a record held by four riders, Miguel Indurain, Bernard Hinault, Eddie Merckz and Jacques Anquetil.

Hopefully that will keep you going for a while.

Andy

Holidays-Camp Bestival

Choosing holidays of any length can be a complex exercise when you have children, particular when there are a spread of ages or the family size is greater than four people. Additionally the financial aspect has to be taken into account and let’s face it while there are some fantastic options available many of them would hardly be described as cheap, particularly during the normal school holiday period.

To be honest though the selection can be somewhat bewildering, hotel, villa, camping, specialist such as Mark Warner Holidays or Club Med, UK or abroad, there is something available for everyone, at a price. This year we are planning to fit a couple of breaks in the first of which is Camp Bestival.

We have actually been to Camp Bestival before on two occasions and from a dad point of view it has been pretty good, although to be fair the weather was in our favour on these visits, quite how pleasant an experience it would be if it poured with rain all weekend is not something that I care to dwell upon, fingers crossed for the sun again this year.  As far as accommodation goes it is camping, although you can pay more for posh camping in a Yurt, Airstream or such like if you wish, although as the vast majority of your time is spent around the festival it seems like a bit of a luxury to do so.

Obviously as this is a family friendly festival there is plenty to keep the children busy with outdoor activities, which includes plenty of nature based activities in the fabulous Dingley Dell area set in the trees, which is nice, cool and calm. There are also art, science, sports and many other activities to keep a good spread of age groups amused.

The kids therefore are going to have a great time which is the main thing, but what about dad. Well if you are feeling energetic how about a nature run, there is also a Freesports Park but I warn you now it is normally full of seriously fit teenagers. If food is your thing then there are plenty of stalls scattered around the grounds the centre piece of which is the Feast Collective, catering for most tastes including seafood, Caribbean, Asian street food, DJ BBQ and much more, all of which was very good last year. Prefer to cook for yourself, then there are also supplies on site including a Farmers Market.

Music, well it is a festival after all, there is a large line up including Ella Henderson, Kaiser Chiefs and Clean Bandit, whom my daughters assure me are awesome, and many others. Alternatively if you come from my generation Level 42 and Bob Geldof, who I have assured my daughters was good before awesome became an expression.

Highlight from last year, well there was a shower one evening which 'forced' us into the Lego area, unlimited bricks to build with, fabulous, just hope they are back this year.

Books

There is no denying that I love to read, be it for knowledge or just entertainment, old books or new, it makes little difference to me, if the first few pages catch my interest then I will read it from cover to cover. My children would no doubt love to point out that I grew up in a period where there were only three television channels available and had no other choice than to read for entertainment. However they are avid readers, well most of them as one considers You Tube to be a better use of his time, so maybe books are not dead yet.

The idea of including books on this site is to hopefully provide some interesting reading suggestions for anyone searching for their next book. It goes without saying that anybody wishing to contribute would be more than welcome, just get it touch.

Recently I have read several books which will have a synopsis provided on this page in the near future. These include:

Thirteen: The Apollo Flight That Failed by Henry S.F. Cooper, Jr. 

The Riddle of the Titanic by Robin Gardiner and Dan Van Der Vat.

Stone Cold by David Baldacci.

I have plenty more stacked up ready to work my way through, which are a variety of fiction and non fiction, plus of course a list of books which I would like to get my hands on including The Last Pilot by Benjamin Johncock which only came to my attention yesterday.

Dad Land

The definition of 'dad' is a difficult one, we are after all individuals so there is no one size fits all description available. Certainly the general idea is that we are always there for our children and will love, support and teach them to the best of our ability. 

However despite all of these responsibilities there still remains a place in our heads that is probably best referred to as Dad Land. This is where a plethora of ideas rattle around, fun, childish, exciting thoughts, things to do, pipe dreams, theories, it's all in there waiting to be released. Obviously 99.9999% of the time this is exactly where all these ideas remain, but occasionally something slips out and comes to fruition.

Skydiving, road trip, trekking, well yes possibly, or it might be something much more straight forward like buying a new shed, making a fantastic kite which may, or may not, fly, taking a course in butchery, book repair, scuba diving, the list is in fact endless and probably in a large part just fantasy, but it is still all up there just waiting to escape into the real world.

Then of course there is Dad Stuff, power tools, gadgets, maps, compasses, bikes, toys, games, again a huge list, which is probably not exclusive to dads, and contains everything from our childhoods through to the present day. Scalextric, video games, board games, yes please and we are always happy to play. Compass or GPS, either or both and we know how to fold the map as well. Swiss Army Knife or Gerber Multitool, well I'm sure you get the idea, if we have it then we will attempt to use it and if we don't then we need it.

Finally for now there is sport, watching it, supporting our children and advising them on how to to it better, (part of our make up is that we do know better than our children, a theory that becomes harder to prove as they get older), and of course taking part. The last is possibly the most difficult as age does catch up however hard you try to ignore it, nevertheless this does not prevent a kick about or game of tennis with the kids, training for marathons, or squeezing into Lycra for a Sunday morning ride on road, or off.  Armchair or actual, it doesn't really matter, there is something that draws the majority of us to sport and all the paraphernalia that goes with it and there really is no point in explaining to the children how at their age you used to wear the same thick cotton football shirt for all sports if you have a collection of breathable tops for every possible situation cluttering up the wardrobe.

Andy