House somewhere nice!

13

Comments

  • joncomelately
    joncomelately Posts: 660
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    Man Of Lard wrote:

    Apart from the fact that you need to make sure you have enough vitamin D3 in your diet, yeah, you are perfectly acclimatised...

    If 60 - 70% of the population are "deficient" in vitamin D without overt symptoms, maybe we don't need quite as much as you think.

    On a more serious note, the recent NICE update looking at vitamin D deficiency says:

    "In the UK, people at higher risk of vitamin D deficiency include those:
    With limited sun exposure, for example people who:
    Cover up their skin for cultural reasons (for example Muslim women) or for health reasons (for example people with skin photosensitivity or a history of skin cancer).
    Spend very little time outdoors (for example those who are housebound or institutionalized).
    With dark skin (for example those of African, African-Caribbean, or Asian or Middle-Eastern ethnic origin).
    Vitamin D deficiency can also occur in people who:
    Are at increased risk of nutritional deficiency, for example vegans and those who do not eat fish, or generally have a poor diet.
    Are pregnant or breastfeeding.
    Are elderly (65 years and older).
    Have certain conditions(such as a malabsorption syndrome) or are taking certain drugs (such as some antiepileptic drugs) that may increase the risk of vitamin D deficiency.
    Are obese (body mass index greater than 30 kg/m2) or have had gastric bypass surgery.
    Have a family history of vitamin D deficiency."

    Which would suggest that most Northern Europeans who cycle are indeed perfectly acclimatised to live here without worrying about vitamin D levels.
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    meanredspider wrote:
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    Man Of Lard wrote:

    What can I say, I'm a northern European - I'm mostly suited to my climate, apart from the once in a decade heatwave (except for viewers in Scotland who have their own dreich)

    Apart from the fact that you need to make sure you have enough vitamin D3 in your diet, yeah, you are perfectly acclimatised...
    The 2017 report features the happiness score averaged over the years 2014-2016. For that timespan, Norway is the overall happiest country in the world, even though oil prices have dropped. Close behind are Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland in a tight pack.

    Beyond that are Canada, Sweden, NL and NZ amongst others. Clearly climate is everything :wink:

    It's the economy... social democracies always score well in those games... as well as having high rates of suicide over the long winters.

    Everyone I know who went to live in Sweden left within two years... clearly not a place to aspire if you are not a native.

    You're clearly not much of a fan of the UK so maybe it's just that most people don't stay places away from home more than a few years. Denmark and NL are clearly bad places to cycle :wink:
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,311
    Joncomelately wrote:

    Which would suggest that most Northern Europeans who cycle are indeed perfectly acclimatised to live here without worrying about vitamin D levels.

    Those who cycle in shorts in February yes, the others who are still wearing long sleeves in May no
    left the forum March 2023
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    I see Chris Froome is enjoying hIs cycling near his house somewhere nice :wink:
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • bernithebiker
    bernithebiker Posts: 4,148
    No way would I go to Scotland to cycle. Sorry, but I just really don't like riding in the cold and wet.

    Rural France is super cheap for housing. Sell your 2 bed semi in Surrey and buy a 6 bed manor house with acres of garden in France. Simples. And tele-work.

    I think Brittany is a great mix of great riding, (mostly) good weather, empty roads, beautiful scenery, zero crime, (13 years and still not so much as a spade nicked from our totally open garage), good food, great beaches, nice people.

    If you want hotter, Majorca is lovely if you pick the right part. I'm hoping to spend all next winter there, and eventually swap our Palma apartment for a house in the Soller / Deia area.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,311
    bernithebiker wrote:
    I think Brittany is a great mix of great riding, (mostly) good weather, empty roads, beautiful scenery, zero crime, (13 years and still not so much as a spade nicked from our totally open garage), good food, great beaches, nice people.

    It's OK, I didn't find it outstanding for riding, but I've only been riding there 3-4 days. I'd still rate the South of France better over anywhere in the north, but admittedly Brittany is the best part of the north...
    left the forum March 2023
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,311
    meanredspider wrote:
    I see Chris Froome is enjoying hIs cycling near his house somewhere nice :wink:

    Whereas in the north of Europe accidents are unheard of...
    left the forum March 2023
  • bernithebiker
    bernithebiker Posts: 4,148
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    bernithebiker wrote:
    I think Brittany is a great mix of great riding, (mostly) good weather, empty roads, beautiful scenery, zero crime, (13 years and still not so much as a spade nicked from our totally open garage), good food, great beaches, nice people.

    It's OK, I didn't find it outstanding for riding, but I've only been riding there 3-4 days. I'd still rate the South of France better over anywhere in the north, but admittedly Brittany is the best part of the north...

    No idea where you went exactly, but I probably should have been more specific and said Finistere, which is the best department in Brittany (29). I don't like the Morbihan that much (56) or Cotes d'Armor (22).

    S.France is nice too if you pick your spot, but it's too hot to cycle for much of the summer, can be very busy, and the towns like St.Tropez and Cannes are awful. IMO.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,311
    bernithebiker wrote:

    No idea where you went exactly, but I probably should have been more specific and said Finistere, which is the best department in Brittany (29). I don't like the Morbihan that much (56) or Cotes d'Armor (22).

    .

    We stayed just out of St Malo'... there are lovely villages, like St-Suliac... it is OK, but I'd like to be somewhere closer to the mountains or to beaches that you can enjoy most of the year.

    In Sardinia you can swim in the see from April to November without a wetsuit... of course there are brits that swim in the Channel in January coated in goose fat, but that's not my cup of tea
    left the forum March 2023
  • bernithebiker
    bernithebiker Posts: 4,148
    OK, St.Malo is a nice town, but the coast is the Channel and not great.

    Head SW to the Atlantic; photos here! www.frenchberry.com
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    bernithebiker wrote:
    No way would I go to Scotland to cycle. Sorry, but I just really don't like riding in the cold and wet.

    According to the data I found, Inverness has only 75% of the rain Brittany does and is, on average, a massive 4C cooler - winter and summer. But we shouldn't let the facts get in the way.... :wink:

    I actually like Brittany - I'm from that generation that grew up with camping holidays in Brittany. My brother also farmed 5 years in the Loire Valley near Sancerre (my sister-in-law is French). Pretty much anywhere in the world has better food than the Scots normally eat (I'm 100% English) and the French certainly know how to cook.
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,311
    meanredspider wrote:
    Pretty much anywhere in the world has better food than the Scots normally eat (I'm 100% English) and the French certainly know how to cook.

    Even on this we disagree. Food in Britain and Scotland is not bad at all... I rarely had a bad meal in the UK. Meat pies (whichever name you want to call them), fish, steaks, casseroles... all very nice, whereas I had plenty of terrible meals in the north of France... an obsession for slugs, offal sausages, pates of pure fat and tough as a boot entrecotes
    left the forum March 2023
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    meanredspider wrote:
    Pretty much anywhere in the world has better food than the Scots normally eat (I'm 100% English) and the French certainly know how to cook.

    Even on this we disagree. Food in Britain and Scotland is not bad at all... I rarely had a bad meal in the UK. Meat pies (whichever name you want to call them), fish, steaks, casseroles... all very nice, whereas I had plenty of terrible meals in the north of France... an obsession for slugs, offal sausages, pates of pure fat and tough as a boot entrecotes

    You haven't been to Scotland enough :wink:

    To be fair, during the last 10 years or more, the U.K. has woken up to the fact that good food needs good ingredients. Inverness and surroundings has some fabulous restaurants. But haggis is, effectively, just a giant offal sausage (and, done well, its very nice). It's the deep-fried everything (Mars Bars, pizza, haggis etc) that's so bad.
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • haydenm
    haydenm Posts: 2,997
    meanredspider wrote:
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    I think to keep taking about Scotland is off topic, personally

    Don't see why. The OP only suggested a temp range with a question mark.

    Cheap housing. Less (homicidal) drivers. Easy access to airport. Not too hot. Not much rain (on the East Coast). Stunning scenery. Low crime. Clean air. Good schools. Most importantly fantastic all-year cycling of all sorts.

    I know I'm not in the Highlands here but I'm certainly not jumping to relocate (unless it was to BC). Great cycling, cheap houses and the GF and I have great jobs in our fields. If I wanted to buy a similar house as we have here at home it would be double, if not more, and I'd have to put up with packed roads and all the knobs I went to school with in their financed white BMWs and polo shirts with turned up collars pretending to be millionaires.

    Being that my house was dirt cheap I could afford to go on holiday to ride bikes in the winter but unfortunately I am an all weather mountain biker and I live near the best trails I've ever ridden so I have no money or free time...
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    I do believe we were all born in Africa... we struggle to grow meaningful crops, we have to spend humongous amount of resources to keep us warm... it's basically like hitting our balls with a hammer and want more of the same

    As far as I know nobody has ever struggled to grow enough food in Africa :roll:

    Don't know what you mean about struggling to grow meaningful crops though, I have ~30,000ha of trees growing very well :wink:

    I'm not going to pretend I don't relish proper weather, but when the weather is good up here it's one of my favourite places on Earth
  • bernithebiker
    bernithebiker Posts: 4,148
    meanredspider wrote:
    bernithebiker wrote:
    No way would I go to Scotland to cycle. Sorry, but I just really don't like riding in the cold and wet.

    According to the data I found, Inverness has only 75% of the rain Brittany does and is, on average, a massive 4C cooler - winter and summer. But we shouldn't let the facts get in the way.... :wink:

    I actually like Brittany - I'm from that generation that grew up with camping holidays in Brittany. My brother also farmed 5 years in the Loire Valley near Sancerre (my sister-in-law is French). Pretty much anywhere in the world has better food than the Scots normally eat (I'm 100% English) and the French certainly know how to cook.

    I remember going on a boating holiday in and around Loch Ness many years ago, in August, and the weather was dire. And there were midges. Never again.

    And I follow a few riders on Strava that live in Scotland and their photos / ride temps are enough to scare me off.....!

    Currently 21'C and full sun here today!
  • Beatmaker
    Beatmaker Posts: 1,092
    South Tyrol for me after spending some time there recently. Dolomites one way, Lake Garda not too far and you can follow the Adige bike path all the way from Verona to Munich.
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    bernithebiker wrote:

    I remember going on a boating holiday in and around Loch Ness many years ago, in August, and the weather was dire. And there were midges. Never again.

    And I follow a few riders on Strava that live in Scotland and their photos / ride temps are enough to scare me off.....!

    Currently 21'C and full sun here today!

    I was going to mention the 4 wet and miserable days that me and Mrs MRS spent in my bro's VW camper in Brittany in August but it's just one data point. 13 years on the Black Isle and never had a single midge bite.

    Stuck in Cambridge, I've been looking at my neighbour's Strava pics and rides and I'm properly homesick - utterly stunning scenery and weather. Scotland's a very big place - from Cambridge, it's a shorter drive to get to the Scottish border than the drive from there to my home.

    17C on the Black Isle today so the 4C difference seems accurate.
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • Tiesetrotter
    Tiesetrotter Posts: 432
    Vancouver. They have everything.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,311
    HaydenM wrote:

    As far as I know nobody has ever struggled to grow enough food in Africa :roll:

    Half of the vegs you buy in supermarkets come from Africa... of course there are very arid areas and there are wars and bad governments, but by and large it is a very fertile land.
    left the forum March 2023
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    Tiesetrotter wrote:
    Vancouver. They have everything.

    Now it DOES rain there :shock: :D My bro lives there. His carbon frame WAS killed by moisture.
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • bernithebiker
    bernithebiker Posts: 4,148
    meanredspider wrote:
    Tiesetrotter wrote:
    Vancouver. They have everything.

    Now it DOES rain there :shock: :D My bro lives there. His carbon frame WAS killed by moisture.

    We considered moving there when we sold up and left Geneva in 2004. Spent 3 weeks there.

    Nice, but felt too far from home and was quite wet. Also, the ocean remains very cold, even in summer. Sushi's plentiful and cheap though....

    Anyway, too late now, property there has gone through the roof, Asian buyers it seems.....
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    HaydenM wrote:

    As far as I know nobody has ever struggled to grow enough food in Africa :roll:

    Half of the vegs you buy in supermarkets come from Africa... of course there are very arid areas and there are wars and bad governments, but by and large it is a very fertile land.

    Dunno where you shop, Ugo, or your geography is a bit shaky. Spain is the farthest afield anything in my fridge or fruit bowl has travelled from (with the exception of the bananas - but they didn't come from Africa either). I was interested to look because normally I'd never buy anything that had travelled further than it needed to - but I've been buying on-line recently.
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    bernithebiker wrote:
    meanredspider wrote:
    Tiesetrotter wrote:
    Vancouver. They have everything.

    Now it DOES rain there :shock: :D My bro lives there. His carbon frame WAS killed by moisture.

    We considered moving there when we sold up and left Geneva in 2004. Spent 3 weeks there.

    Nice, but felt too far from home and was quite wet. Also, the ocean remains very cold, even in summer. Sushi's plentiful and cheap though....

    Anyway, too late now, property there has gone through the roof, Asian buyers it seems.....

    Yup - my bro took me around some of the more pricey properties. Nice houses but you could touch your neighbour's house from yours. And silly money.

    I've never quite got the Vancouver bug despite a few visits. Agree about the sushi.
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,311
    meanredspider wrote:
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    HaydenM wrote:

    As far as I know nobody has ever struggled to grow enough food in Africa :roll:

    Half of the vegs you buy in supermarkets come from Africa... of course there are very arid areas and there are wars and bad governments, but by and large it is a very fertile land.

    Dunno where you shop, Ugo, or your geography is a bit shaky. Spain is the farthest afield anything in my fridge or fruit bowl has travelled from (with the exception of the bananas - but they didn't come from Africa either). I was interested to look because normally I'd never buy anything that had travelled further than it needed to - but I've been buying on-line recently.

    Lots of stuff comes from Egypt... stop buying only broccoli... :wink:
    left the forum March 2023
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,311
    Vancouver is a posher version of Liverpool... not sure what is the attractiveness... grey skies?
    left the forum March 2023
  • joncomelately
    joncomelately Posts: 660
    Thought I'd have a look at Africa on some satellite images to see how much was green (which appears to be about a third). First up was Google maps, and I found it highly amusing that over 1000 people have been kind enough to leave a review of 'Africa'...

    Mostly 4 or 5 stars, so I imagine Africa will be pleased.

    But none of the first few said anything about cycling.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,311
    Joncomelately wrote:

    But none of the first few said anything about cycling.

    The biggest sportive in the world is held in South Africa... :wink:

    Probably not much going on in neighbouring Zimbabwe...
    left the forum March 2023
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,308
    Look at places that are expensive and/or busy.
    If somewhere is cheap and quiet then there's a reason.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • bernithebiker
    bernithebiker Posts: 4,148
    PBlakeney wrote:
    Look at places that are expensive and/or busy.
    If somewhere is cheap and quiet then there's a reason.

    Like the centre of St.Tropez in August?
    I'd rather slit my wrists.
    I guess it depends what you're looking for in life.....
  • joncomelately
    joncomelately Posts: 660
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    The biggest sportive in the world is held in South Africa... :wink:

    Well, they should have the decency to review it on Google maps then shouldn't they? :wink:

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