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Our previous flat was picked up for major refurbishment works which we didn't know about when purchasing although I knew the roof required replacing (I'm a Building Surveyor).

When they came round to do the survey I made sure I was there and had a chat with the surveyor. It turned out that the value of the works was capped at £15k which was split between us and our upstairs neighbour who were social housing tenants (social housing were also our freeholder).

I estimated the roof works would take up much of the joint liability which meant that anything else was free. I managed to squeeze the surveyor for 2 new front doors, a new back door, render repairs, window replacements (the majority) and full external redecoration (only the bottom (our) half of the property was previously decorated). The total cost of the works was circa £35k so we managed to get £20k or so of free work done which obviously completely transformed the appearance of the property. Repayment was staggered, interest free and we cleared the final amount when selling with the profit we made.

Basically, major refurb works can be a very good thing if you're savvy/lucky.

Very true. 'Only' another 4 to match Merckx. I'd guess his biggest aim left is to surpass him.

On the subject of sprinters, just had a look through Cavendish's stats for the season, he doesn't look to be in any kind of form at the moment based on results. Although he has at least got through California and Slovenia unscathed (I assume?)

Vets league only apparently, no training or track league next week...

Yeah some discussion at track league last week that maybe this wasn't the best way of getting those who use it onside. It seems excessive to say the least.

I stupidly snapped my cable guide whilst doing maintenance last summer and everywhere was out of stock (until March or so this year). Managed to use part of the snapped section and two sets of cable housing including end caps that narrowed to cable width (not sure of the technical term) to essentially bodge it. It worked absolutely fine and I managed to race the rest of the season on it without noticing any issue in shifting at all. So there are alternatives if they've sold out once again...

Always found I could identify my stupid Cannondale BB creak by putting force on the cranks when they were horizontal and holding the bike (ie not sat on it). Might help to isolate the cause.

He's a very strong rider (obviously) but his bike handling sucks. He was testing out his phantom aero bars in a crit I was riding last year, which obviously went down very well with the rest of us. That and general swinging about all over the shop. It's very possible that the break thought it might be safer for all concerned if he went off on his own up the road...

A dpc for penetrating damp? Good one.

I'm at the Penge end of Beckenham which is more London/less Tory. Crystal Palace 5mins up the road with a few decent places to eat/drink, also a short hop (15mins again) to Herne Hill/Brixton for some decent food and drink.

Once you get the other side of Palace, rent/buying wise gets very spendy.

Me and @andyp I believe. You're in the countryside after 15mins riding, racing at Palace (on my doorstep) and HHV also within 15 mins. Kent House 19mins to Victoria. It's pretty decent and close enough to Croydon to get there easily (17mins on tram for me) but far enough away so you have a healthy distance from Croydon!

Interesting how the team has fallen apart though, everyone (the decent racers), with the exception of Tom has left. Which was then followed by in club doping accusations...

Yeah maybe.

But that means giving up beer and bread...to much sacrifice. Also, you then become what my Kiwi mate refers to as glutards.

The rider we were talking about was already doing that workload though (500/600km weeks).

In terms of the training load yeah some of those guys were doing the same as some of the domestic pros with regular 20hour weeks. You're right that if you can manage it you're always going to have a distinct advantage over most other amateurs who just don't have that time/will to train that much.

The ironic thing was that the doping chat last year/year before was about another RPR rider who went from being a very much below average rider to riding everyone off his wheel in about 6 months...

Ideally yes. You'll have some repair covenants and most likely a service charge so you'll want a decent idea of the property's condition before purchase. You may also be able to use anything that pops up in the survey as leverage in terms of reducing the price, particularly in the current market.

The homebuyer survey reports I've read look like they've been knocked out by someone junior with a list of typical defects of a property of that age and construction. Not particularly informative and not particularly useful.

What type of property and what age? The vast majority of homebuyers survey reports I've reviewed have been fairly generic back covering exercises (reviewed for mates, I'm a Chartered Surveyor, no PI so can't survey). I'd always lean towards a full building survey where possible unless the property is pretty new.

He's certainly getting some attention. Went to Regent's after and did a 5:37 lap (fastest in 2018 apparently) at 365watts too which is pretty amusing.

I've only heard of a couple of riders who have had the same impact at his age in the last few years; Andy Critchlow and Nick Noble, both of whom were knocking around the GB National team in their youth. Andy's comeback has been far steadier too. Being a former downhill MTB racer doesn't really match up to be honest.

Recommended Glazer Delmar for my brother after they were great for me and...they've been pretty shit; causing delays due to slow responses, sending emails to the wrong people, incorrectly asking for money to be transferred (and then trying to correct this error but sending an email to the wrong person).

As a mate put it; his performances are without precedent given his age and especially given his level of experience. Very difficult for him to exonerate himself.

Pretty sure he was reported (by one of them) after attacking Rory Townsend, Rhy Howells etc in the break last year. Apparently they weren't completely convinced by his performance being a likely one either.

Quite possibly. That said I've got very little doubt that you can get away with it at amateur level. They're not exactly going to pick up micro-dosing or if he's been smashing every substance known to man in the off season.

He's done back-to-back Nat B races the last couple of weekends. Picking up a win and a 3rd place in the process. Apparently very active in all 4 races. That's some impressive recovery for a man 10 years younger...

Instagram links deleted I think.

Yeah Steve Cockshall, who's threatened legal action in the strava link, hence the deleting I assume...