Manchester - Llandudno Saturday 18 May 2019

[SteCenturion]

It will come as no surprise that I am a late retiree from @nickyboy epic Welsh soiree !

I had fully intended on joining in this time however, an unexpectedly astronomical electricity bill has just landed that in all reality I can't afford to pay £898 !!!! *yes, you read correctly*.

I am on all electricity in a 2 bed apartment & only myself there, apart from when Junior stays over 2 nights a week + other days she comes for tea etc.
I have suspected their is something wrong with how my boiler/heating system is set up & this confirms it.

Anyhow, with the room £80, train £35 ish & beer tokens + diesel, I reckon that would be approaching £150 I now can't afford.

After all the hoo-ha of deliberating which train to book too. Ah, well, better luck next year.

 

[Prometheus]

For all you that like your comfort
on this adventure there is a cafe at
Delamere railway St, and a mile+
on at the Forest centre, “Bacon baguettes”
and of course at Connans Quay

PS just extended the route around The Great Orme

 

[Littgull]

It will come as no surprise that I am a late retiree from @nickyboy epic Welsh soiree !

I had fully intended on joining in this time however, an unexpectedly astronomical electricity bill has just landed that in all reality I can't afford to pay £898 !!!! *yes, you read correctly*.

I am on all electricity in a 2 bed apartment & only myself there, apart from when Junior stays over 2 nights a week + other days she comes for tea etc.
I have suspected their is something wrong with how my boiler/heating system is set up & this confirms it.

Anyhow, with the room £80, train £35 ish & beer tokens + diesel, I reckon that would be approaching £150 I now can't afford.

After all the hoo-ha of deliberating which train to book too. Ah, well, better luck next year.

Hi @SteCenturion
Crikey, that is one hell of an electricity bill for a 2 bedroom apartment. Even by today's rip-off prices!
Have you queried it with your Supplier? There can be a number of reasons for a much higher than usual electricity bill? The meter reader could have misread it (easy to do even if it is a simple digital dial). If the meter has recently been changed the removed reading on the meter that was exchanged could have been entered in wrongly by the meter fixer. How does your usage compare with the corresponding period last year? Have you checked all these possibilities? Mistakes happen quite a lot.
You do have the right to ask for the meter to be checked for accuracy. That process begins (on request) by a representative calling and carrying out a standard load test on the meter in situ.

My advice is to follow up on this before paying the bill and phone the Supplier to express your concern. Their administrative staff are trained to talk you through the process and identify any obvious billing errors or reasons for excessive usage.

Hope this helps.

 

[Domus]

A few people are joining at Eureka, what time do you expect to arrive and depart?

 

[nickyboy]

A few people are joining at Eureka, what time do you expect to arrive and depart?

Depends mainly on the weather on the day. Tends to be about 1pm arrival. Depart is entirely down to individuals. By that I mean if people want to press on the can, if they want to hang around and take it easy they can do that too

 

[Domus]

Thanks for that.

 

[nickyboy]

So we are a couple of weeks away from the ride so some housekeeping...

The ride is a social ride and anyone taking part agrees that they do so at their own risk. The organiser can in no way be held liable for any incidents that may occur during the ride.

I will PM each person who has expressed interest in the ride to (a) get confirmation that they are coming (b) that they agree with the above

Having said that, I have ridden the whole route and I should let all participants know of any particular areas where I think more caution should be exercised.

This is just after Hardy Farm where we cross the Mersey. You can take the steep, cobbled ramp off the bridge or the more gentle one to the side. Up to you

This is the entrance to the new canal stretch near Chester. We go down that path and then double back under the bridge. Go too fast down there and you will end up in the canal

This is the new descent to Rhyl. There are about 200m of steep, twisting descent near a place called "Bwlch Farm". You need to take it steady down there. Go too fast, particularly if it's wet, and you may have problems

That's about it. Usual stuff about crossing Manchester tram tracks reasonably perpendicular of course.

 

[KneesUp]

Hi @SteCenturion
Crikey, that is one hell of an electricity bill for a 2 bedroom apartment. Even by today's rip-off prices!
Have you queried it with your Supplier? There can be a number of reasons for a much higher than usual electricity bill? The meter reader could have misread it (easy to do even if it is a simple digital dial). If the meter has recently been changed the removed reading on the meter that was exchanged could have been entered in wrongly by the meter fixer. How does your usage compare with the corresponding period last year? Have you checked all these possibilities? Mistakes happen quite a lot.
You do have the right to ask for the meter to be checked for accuracy. That process begins (on request) by a representative calling and carrying out a standard load test on the meter in situ.

My advice is to follow up on this before paying the bill and phone the Supplier to express your concern. Their administrative staff are trained to talk you through the process and identify any obvious billing errors or reasons for excessive usage.

Hope this helps.

Exactly this. Something is wrong here. Assuming that's come out of the blue I'd suggest:

a) they've been estimating very badly for some time
b) the meter is broken
c) somehow all the other flats have been connected to your meter
c) all the other flats are connected to your boiler

Query it. I've had a massive bill in the past because the estimates were hopeless (somehow they estimated I should be paying less than the standing charger, which obviously is impossible) I paid it off but got a good chunk of it back in compensation.

 

[nickyboy]

One other that I forgot to mention...

When you come off the canal section you're faced with a 200m stretch of busy dual carriageway.

That's the canal exit on the left. However, there is a cyclepath that starts just after the bridge so don't go on the road at all. Just before the brow of the hill we go off left onto a little lane and all is good again

 

[Soltydog]

Finally got my work roster for end of this month & i'm off, but unfortunately I've double booked myself on the Saturday So I'll be unable to join this ride this year, but will keep my eye out for it next year & I'll make a note in my diary once the date is out to avoid a repeat Have a great ride all

 

[nickyboy]

Although there is a little while to go, the weather forecast can be officially described as "encouraging"

Anything like that and you'll be able to freewheel from Rhyl to Llandudno

 

[Adam4868]

Now for the stupid question...I've got a garmin,could anybody tell me how to put the route on it ? Do I download it to a computer first ?
Be patient with me !

 

[nickyboy]

Now for the stupid question...I've got a garmin,could anybody tell me how to put the route on it ? Do I download it to a computer first ?
Be patient with me !

1. Using your computer, click on the www.ridewithgps.com link in Post #1 (choose either the hilly or flat version)
2. That will open up the routefile in the website. Click on "download" and choose what format you want (it is usually .tcx)
3. Download the routefile to your computer
4. Attach your Garmin to your computer
5. Go and find the file you have downloaded to your computer. Click on it and select "copy"
6. Go to the "Garmin" drive on your computer, find the directory called "New Files". Click and then select "paste"

Job done. When you arrive at Piccadilly, select the route on your Garmin. It may say "do you want to navigate to the start" .... Select "no"

 

[Adam4868]

Thanks !

 

[Kestevan]

Make sure you turn off the auto navigate/recalculate route option on the garmin... It can cause some "odd" results if you slightly miss a control point