Converting all the Practicalli books
Another heatwave is over so I was able to focus on getting more work done on migrating the Practicalli books to Zensical.
The main Practicalli books are now using Zensical to build the site (locally and via CI workflow). However, due to challenges with the Zensical theme the books sill use the original mkdocs.yml configuration.
The root Practical.li website is still built with MkDocs and will remain so until Zensical supports blog sites. I could separate the blog site out of the practicalli.github.io repository, but as this site is so small it is not worth the effort.
Entertainment this week includes:
- Silo: season 3 of the excellent post-apocalypse Sci-Fi show with Rebecca Ferguson as a person desperately trying to save the people who live in their silo.
- Lucky: a new crime thriller mini-series in 7 parts, with Anya Taylor-Joy trying to survive the wrath of a crime syndicate whist not getting caught by the FBI. A smart and fun joyride.
Practicalliλ︎
Converting books to Zensical, mainly so they will build faster. The Zensical theme is a little different but nicer in most regards.
The Navigation seems to be constrained to two levels in the new Zensical theme, which is a limiting factor for the larger books. The new theme can have 'tabs' for the main sections which show as a top level navigation across the top of the page.
This top level navigation is nice but it does limit the number of sections before the top navigation becomes to wide for the page.
Practicalli Cycling is a new book for 2026 written using Zensical from the start.
These existing books have been partially converted. They use the mkdocs.yml config but are built with Zensical
I have started adding docs to the Clojure-CLI-Config and dotfiles repositories, to add greater understanding to these projects.
Cyclingλ︎
I may need a new cassette at some point.
Looking at the ZTTO cassettes give about an 85 gram weight advantage over the Shimano Ultegra R8000 cassette, for the 11-32 ratios.
Unfortunately the ZTTO cassettes are significantly more expensive than the Shimano Ultegra models and durability is a concern. Most of the weight is saved around the largest rings, which is fine when there are only a few hills, but a significant concern for a rider of my weight going up the Kent Alps.
Sigma Sports Ultegra R800 11-speed cassette is currently 45 GBP and seems a reasonable price.
The rear derailleur cage continues to feel too loose, assumingly from wear or some damage. Unless there is a way to fix this then a new rear derailleur will be required.
Spatzwearλ︎
I really like their cycling socks. The silicone grips on the base ensure my feet dont move around. The socks are a little snug for my big feet, but I assume after a few rides then each pair of socks will be a perfect fit.
I've asked a question about the design of the ShiftR 3 short-sleeved Jersey. The description on the website claims it has 3 traditional pockets, but actually its a single cargo pocket with 3 short dividers at the top to give the impression of three separate pockets.
Taking a closer look at the pictures of the ShiftR 3 jersey on the Spatzwear website, it seems this is what the manufactured product looks like. It is strange that the description describes a traditional design, when actually its a different design.
In practice, as the jersey is tight against my body then items shouldn't move around much when I am cycling, so I probably wont notice that its one large pocket during a ride.
Thank you.
Practical.li Website