First road bike ride of the year this morning. Clocked up 37 miles at a very pedestrian pace. Weather was great but chilly wind from the east. De-greased and lubed the chain and cassette yesterday, gear changes were slick and positive. The Park chain cleaner is the best cycling accessory I've ever bought!
My mate had a lovely bike built for him a couple of years back which, because I stopped riding with him when Covid hit, I saw for the first time today. Carbon Trek frame with Ultegra DI (electric) shifters. It's a beauty, ludicrously light. Very jealous. Can't see me changing the Giant anytime soon though, not when it's riding so well. Still looks great too, gets a wipe-down after every outing.
Went for thin tights over shorts, two top layers, overshoes and Sealskin gloves. Just about right but a bit cold after stopping for an energy bar. Looking forward to warmer weather and getting the legs out.

Quote from: Slim on March 18, 2022, 10:39:02 AMNot really, I used to have them when I was 15

Important safety feature, much more so than a helmet.

Can be used to see how many stitches you're likely to need 

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Southern Accents

I first owned CoS via Archives. If you consider it against the debut, the difference is almost unfathomable. Of those two, CoS was most definitely more listenable. I've probably listened to 'Rush' less than a dozen times

Quote from: Jonners on March 17, 2022, 01:41:44 PM

Quote from: David L on March 17, 2022, 01:23:21 PM

Quote from: Jonners on March 17, 2022, 12:42:13 PMI love the cover,

Doubt the band did. Second cover art to get screwed up by the wrong colour in less than 12 months - unbelievable!

Caress Of Brass 

Being a bit literal arent you?

What was wrong with FBN? Not supposed to be blue?

Wrong type of owl   

My bad. Should've said less than 2 years 

Quote from: Jonners on March 17, 2022, 12:42:13 PMI love the cover,

Doubt the band did. Second cover art to get screwed up by the wrong colour in less than 12 months - unbelievable!

Caress Of Brass 

That's waaaaay too much of too much!

Spot on dom.
 For me the production on CoS is a little 'flat' too. Bastille Day could've sounded immense (as on ATWAS) but is just so.....polite! The guitars need to be more forward in the mix with more bite IMHO.
FoL is a bit of a muddled concept but has a few good parts, nevertheless.
Standout for me has always been The Necromancer. That works as a concept piece because it has an intro, a middle (conflict) and a resolution/conclusion and the music is perfectly matched to that narrative.
I've always preferred Fly By Night. Better songs and By-Tor is awesome and beats anything on CoS. Of course, Rivendell is rubbish.

Due to the wife's operation she will not be able to ride for another four weeks. So, for the first time in a couple of years, I joined my two buddies for a ride out on Sunday morning. Wet roads meant it was the mtb. Pete and Adrian were on their hybrids with much larger wheels so I was doing extra work (or so it seemed). Coped quite well with a fairly steady pace. No computer/phone between us so it was a guess as to distance but we agreed we must have gone around 28 miles in just over two hours. managed to keep warm, just a few spots of rain. Legs a bit tired later but looking forward to doing it again next week. Fingers crossed we will be able to take the road bikes out.

Quote from: Slim on March 14, 2022, 06:40:07 PM

Quote from: David L on March 14, 2022, 04:10:30 PMThe first point is that although you suspect that now covid is "only less lethal because so many people have been double and triple-jabbed", that's not the case. There are other acknowledged reasons for it causing fewer deaths.

That's not quite logical; it may be inherently milder than Delta but we can't say that it is inherently less lethal than flu, which is the proposition I addressed.

No. You made a statement and I said it was incorrect.  Anyway:

https://www.news24.com/health24/medical/infectious-diseases/coronavirus/covid-19-now-less-deadly-than-flu-in-the-uk-analysis-shows-20220314

Might be a different story in other countries but seems to be the case in England.

The first point is that although you suspect that now covid is "only less lethal because so many people have been double and triple-jabbed", that's not the case. There are other acknowledged reasons for it causing fewer deaths.

The later point explores the methodology behind the research you quoted to determine that vaccine-acquired immunity is more effective than naturally-acquired immunity (https://www.devon.gov.uk/news/study-shows-vaccine-immunity-is-stronger-than-natural-immunity/)

I could be wrong but reading the piece below leads me to think the limitations of the PCR test makes the conclusion, from this study at least, far from definitive

https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/pcr-positives-what-do-they-mean/

Quote from: Slim on March 14, 2022, 11:20:36 AM

Quote from: David L on March 13, 2022, 10:12:59 PMNo, that's not correct. We know it's considerably less lethal because Omicron is a less pathogenic variant. Witness the reduced fatalities in countries with low vaccination rates. The vaccines may play a part but difficult to assess how much of a part due to the weakening virus. It is a lot more contagious than flu, and that has helped people to quickly develop natural immunity (important when vaccine-induced immunity is short-lived)

I don't think we know that it's inherently less lethal, a study in Japan (news item from this month) suggests that it's more lethal than flu:

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/03/03/national/omicron-deadlier-flu/

Vaccine immunity is stronger than natural immunity (I've heard Chris Smith make this point several times)

https://www.devon.gov.uk/news/study-shows-vaccine-immunity-is-stronger-than-natural-immunity/

But most importantly the critical point about the degree that Omicron is contagious must surely be the risk it poses that very large numbers of people will be infected. We're still living in dangerous times I feel and although the pandemic has been overshadowed by other events recently, I suspect it will make its presence felt again in a few months.

https://news.yahoo.com/in-england-covid-is-now-less-deadly-than-the-flu-but-what-about-in-the-us-100016672.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10598195/Covid-deadly-flu-scientists-say.html

https://gulfnews.com/special-reports/covid-19-omicron-now-less-deadly-than-flu-1.1647011926766

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/968553

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(21)00676-9/fulltext

The link you quoted re: immunity explains the methodology in determination:

Antibody testing was conducted on those who had tested positive for Covid 19 I can't see whether it says if that initial positive test came from LFT or PCR. We know that PCR is not a reliable diagnostic tool for detecting illness due to the amount of cycles used in testing (which can detect fragments of virus DNA due to 'hyper-sensitivity)'. Many people testing positive cannot be described as suffering from Covid 19. Likely that these people's immune systems would not have produced any significant antibody response... hence no symptoms. 
I would guess that vaccination always results in antibodies being produced.

The Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) says:

"PCR detection of viruses is helpful so long as its accuracy can be understood: it offers the capacity to detect RNA in minute quantities, but whether that RNA represents infectious virus may not be clear."

You won't have any fear of needles by the time this is over 

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/598026-pfizer-ceo-says-a-fourth-booster-shot-is-necessary

Quote from: Slim on March 13, 2022, 09:53:25 PM

Quote from: David L on March 13, 2022, 02:53:09 PMUnlikely now the dominant variant is mild. It's now been classed as less lethal than flu. I've never spent any time worrying about dying of flu.

 Also - I think it's more contagious than flu, and I suspect it's only less lethal because so many people have been double and triple-jabbed.

No, that's not correct. We know it's considerably less lethal because Omicron is a less pathogenic variant. Witness the reduced fatalities in countries with low vaccination rates. The vaccines may play a part but difficult to assess how much of a part due to the weakening virus. It is a lot more contagious than flu, and that has helped people to quickly develop natural immunity (important when vaccine-induced immunity is short-lived)

Quote from: Rufus_the_dawg on March 13, 2022, 02:39:10 PM

Quote from: David L on March 12, 2022, 11:51:03 PM

Quote from: Slim on March 12, 2022, 11:08:53 PMI have the impression that most people are done with the virus now, but a more important question is whether it's done with us - and unfortunately it isn't.

Caught it in March 2020. Been done with it since then tbh

You can catch it again and it can be worse second time around.

Unlikely now the dominant variant is mild. It's now been classed as less lethal than flu. I've never spent any time worrying about dying of flu.