south downs

no words required

sometimes things don't work out

things that are totally beyond your control


our dear friend is back in hospital, hopefully starting the long process of recovery, even though Jan knew what to expect she was still shocked at the physical state that the cancer has left our friend in.

the planned ride this evening kind of melted away into insignificance, and given that I'll be riding all weekend for a long time I'm not really bothered (although it would have been fun to heckle my mates), maybe next time

well the weekend

came and went without a pedal being turned, Sat saw an early start out to he coast to photograph the great crested grebes with their youngsters, I'm pleased that I got the shot I've been after for a while now. I also had the sublime experience of being less than 6 feet away from a Kingfisher :-)

Sunday saw a visit to Liverpool to see a Gustav Klimt exhibition, didn't float my boat but the birthday girl enjoyed it..

on a seperate note the Albert Dock area was "just another" shopping centre, I don't know why I'm surprised at this really ?

Monday saw a quick spin down the river on the way to work, then the short way home and tonight I managed 2 whole hours of turning the pedals over, once again its nice to be riding in the warmth of the sun :-)

anyway enough about me, now here's a turn up for the books, previously I held quite strong views on drug taking in our sport, I always had the opinion of intolerance, 1 fuck up and you're out, no question regardless of your excuses...

but having just read David Millars interview in Rouleur I have changed my mind, there's a million and one reasons why he took the sauce and he's now quite ashamed of that, but far more positively is his respect for the culture in which he has immersed himself and that he wants to help it get better, in my eyes this is very commendable, more people like him are needed, and importantly he's put his money where hs mouth is as part owner of the team he's racing for.

on the other hand I've also just read the VeloNews interview with Fillip Meairhaeghe, thats not quite so cut and dried, there doesn't appear to any remorse shown there ?, of course that impression could have been exactly what the editor of the mag wanted ?

more riding, less drinking

more of this next week please,

Thursday night was a wash out due to issues at work, by the time it was resolved I was tired and fed up and it started to rain, another ride lost to lazynessssss

Today looks brighter all round, no problems on the horizon, blues skies up there, road bike just waiting patiently in the office

Must get over to the valley next week for an evening ride, it seems like an age since I was last there (actually only 3 weeks) but in the meantime I've missed a fair few rides including Alecs last ride before he moves on down south, and today I got a text message from Piers asking if I was going to be a Mountain Mayhem, cant remember the last time I saw him, but I can remember vividly the stair snake episode from the 1st ever Northumberfest :-)

Friends hey, who needs em :-)

Last night

suffered from sore tired legs, no idea why ?, its happening a lot just lately, plus I've had sore and aching shoulders and back which I put down to either sitting in front of a computer screen all day or sitting in an economy seat on an plane all the time...

need more massages :-)

anyway, just did an hour and a half, just spinning my legs out enjoying the warmth, then home

woke up today to pissing down rain and my resolve to ride was instantly washed away, the older I get the less inclined to ride in the rain I get, I know that once I'm out in it I usually enjoy it but getting my fat lazy arse out is the hardest hurdle

anyway, tomorrow looks more promising so we'll see how that goes.

Some plans are starting to take shape now -

next weekend will be down south, ride Friday afternoon, Friday night heckling at a local crit, Saturday seems like a good day to celebrate a small childs birthday with the godfather and a bad uncle, then Sunday should hopefully see a gaggle of old friends out and about riding and drinking tea and eating cake.

Unfortunately there will be one dear friend missing, she's doing some tin pot race in America called the GDR or somat ?

I dunno what she's thinking about, but one things for sure we are all thinking and hoping and sending good vibes across that there ocean :-)



After all that there's a small break in the calendar until some american bird turns up again, then there'll be more driving round, snoring loudly, picking up, dropping off, riding bikes and tea drinking

then looking even further ahead there's a weekend of bivvying somewhere rather cheeky coming up around the August bank holiday

and then again even further, there's a possibilty of a trip out to the alps to catch up with Rob, Lucy and Phil

we'll see how all that goes ;-)

30 miles along the river

is what I rode yesterday, in sunshine as well, it were ace, trails dusty, people on trails were smiley, even the horse riders

if only there were some hills nearby

Trek 69er was very good again, the more I ride it the more I like it, the Maverick Duc's seemed to have lost some air pressure ?, topped up just fine however

tonight will be much the same although looking out of my office window right now suggests that rain is not far away so we'll see how that goes.

Tomorrow is predicted for heavy rain so the Kona will be recovered from the cellar (the same cellar where the photographs in this http://www.theridejournal.com/ magazine were produced)

2 week summary

Coed Y Brenin with work mates, which was a lot of fun, the new IF rode exactly as I thought it would, cleaned all the climbs in the middle ring, descended faster than I have for years, rode some new trails, enjoyed the new facilities.

Didnt manage to get to Penmachno on the Friday afternoon as planned due to traffic jams but did ride down the Mawdach trail and along the coast for a few hours, getting over to the cabin for abnout 530, just in time for beers and food.

Saturday saw us riding from the cabin down to the trails, did the beast and some extras, enjoyed the sunshine and the best ever bacon butty, then headed back to more beers and food.

Sunday saw some tired legs in the crew, so we did the MBR trail and followed on with a leg stretcher down the Mawdach Trail again and then home.

This last week has seen no cycling activity at all, and to be honest I didnt mind, it was the 18th birthday weekend of number 1 child so a relaxing weekend (mostly).

This weeks plan has already gone to shit as I found out today that I'm on call all week, so its down the river for me I fear, then at weekend I'll get out on the Kona road bike on Saturday and then a river run on Sunday.

Its a shame really as everyone will be punishing themselves at Mountain Mayhem this coming weekend, its the first one for 8 years that I'll have missed, but also the first weekend of Janets birthday that I'll be around for !

I love my wife :-)