Going down the track

Not riding this time (actually, most of my visits to the track nowadays seem to consist mainly of sitting there watching rather than actual riding).

Madison national championships plus some sprinters for small name people who you might not of heard of, Mr Hoy, Miss Pendleton and others were all riding. I anticipated it being packed but the velodrome was more than half empty, bizarre. Anyway, a thoroughly splendid day out. Pretty much continuous racing, loads of exciting stuff going on. The Brits totally wiped the floor with everyone else, we’re still clearly the world champions in this field. Chris Hoy made it all look so easy, he’s clearly a very smart rider as well as being awesomely fast. Victoria did similar.  Most of the rest of the pro brit riders just walked it as well. Very impressive. The Germans, it has to be said, were trying hard.

Anyway, well recommended and I took thousands of pictures fromwhich I selected a few for publishing. Enjoy. More on my flickr stream.

More snappage

This pretty much sums up my entire week.

That’s my litespeed roadbike snapped. Just got it out to get it built up and found that. Maybe I should buy a brand new road bike for once. Bit skint at the moment though. Not sure what to do right now. I am seriously pissed off though. No riding since Sunday.

Got home on Thursday after not doing any exercise whatsoever up North, no time to ride a bike then. So I figured I would work till about 2 on Friday, recover some hours out of the mountain I’ve built up and go for a ride Friday afternoon. IT WAS CANING IT DOWN! All day, it never stopped. So I figured I’d use the time to build up my roadbike and sort out the chain on my chameleon. After finding that crack I was so disallusioned I just gave up, had a nap, played on the xbox for a bit.

Off to the velodrome today not to ride but to watch Sir Chris and Miss Victoria. I’ll be taking my camera but don’t expect any decent shots. And then back home by about 4-5. No riding time then either. And the forcast for tomorrow is more heavy rain. PISS OFF!

Homeless Night

Another week in Newcastle. Ho hum. Up at 5, in work by 9:30, do a full day and then drive to the hotel. My first night is always an early one because of the early start but i’m so knackered this time I think I’ll have a nap and maybe go for a swim afterwards, it’s not so bad.

No record of my booking. But I’ve had the confirmation email! Not got it with me though have I? Shit! OK, just book me one now. No rooms free (I don’t believe this for a second, the hotel is fecking huge). I ask if there’s anywhere else in the area, girl just shrugs her shoulders. Great. Sit in my car for a few minutes getting angry. Try the pub at the end of the road, that’s full too. Drive around a bit, see a premier Inn, that should be OK, after all, Lenny Henry goes there.
Sure enough, there’s Lenny in the foyer, he’s not moving much admittedly. Yes, they have one room free. It’s the disabled room, no problem for me as long as they don;t try and kick me out when someone in a wheelchair turns up. Obviously I’ve forgotten my credit card PIN so I have to pay by debit card (130 quid!).

Get to the room and here’s where the real fun starts. It’s for disabled people so every thing is really low. The beds, the bath, the sink, the desk, the cupboards, I feel like going around on my knees to make it easier.

Now here’s some proof that the people running the hotel are nasty bastards. The telly, which it should be pointed out was a massive 14″ portable, was right up there on a top shelf where I had to stretch to reach on the on button. How someone in a wheelchair would be expected to do that I don’t know. I get my ASDA pasta and fruit out and start up my laptop and decide I’ll watch ‘The big Lebowski’ while eating my dinner. i’m already wrapped up in the quilt because the room is ice cold despite the thermostat saying 25 degrees.

Well that was a load of shit. Oh, I also found out that the wireless is chargeable so no internet for me.

I decide to drown my sorrows by going to the pub over the way (which doubles as the resturant for the hotel). Beer is ok priced but the staff are all as miserable as fuck so I sit in the corner with a gob on for a bit and then go back to my room for an early night. The bed has been made for a dwarf! My feet hang over the edge and my head bangs on the headrest (it’s lucky I’ll not be having sex in it), pus it’s so soft my back is going to be killing me in the morning. As I go to turn the lights off I realise the light switch by the bed is *right* next to the alarm call button for when I fall out of my wheelchair, that’ll be fun when I’m grouping around for it in the pitch black.

At least the breakfast was nice, if a bit slow. I get to work, find the booking email and rant away down the phone for a bit. The guy did actually sound hugely apologetic especially when he found out I’d had to drive around a strange town looking for somewhere to stay. He said he’d give the hotel a kicking.

Only one more night there. Not looking forward to it. I may delay my arrival, go and get something to eat from somewhere nice first or something. Somewhere that has wireless so I can actually read my emails and play imobsters.

I was only saying how it wasn’t that bad last week.

Oh, and if you fancy buying me a present, get me a pair of these. I’ll look like a cock but I like them.
Dromarti Shoes

Ride Entry – 21st February 2010

Bike: Van Tuyl
Distance: 30 miles

I LOVE riding at the track. What I dislike, it has to be said, is queueing for over 40 minutes in post football match traffic. I should sue manchester city for the loss of time I experienced by not arriving in time to start the session at 6. I’ll never get that time back you know.

Good session although there was an extraordinary wide range of abilities there tonight. Normally Sunday nights are for fast and experienced riders but tonight it was clear some riders had never done an SQT before. Ho hum. Still good though.

Ride Entry 21st February 2010

Bike: Pimpino
Distance: 28 miles

Started out pretty poorly. A fresh dump of snow overnight meant for some mountain bike fun but then I realised the chain was way too long. The problem with the chameleon in single speed mode is there is only a limited number of positions the wheel can be in where the brake works. This time by removing a couple of links the wheel was too far forwards and was rubbing against the caliper. Ho hum. I need some half links to sort that out.

Anyway, so I got my pimpino out and went for a ride on that. Fun fun fun. nice snow. Loads up Rivington.

You’ll notice fromthat picture that I learnt a valuable lesson about white bar tape on offroad bikes. Don’t do it kids.

Then it started snowing quite heavily so I decided to call it a day and rode home. Sleet lower down. Got home, wife out. I;ve not got a key so I end up having to ride down to the leisure centre where she’s at an antiques fair. I leave my bike in the foyer (without asking), walk through to the hall, blag my way in, find my wife and get a key. (All this in full on cycling gear with a very muddy face). Get back to my bike to find it’s leaked a lot of black water onto the floor. Ooops, make a quick exit and finally get into the house.

Splendid.

No riding today, see what my boring life holds

Bah!

took my son to the drome in the morning, sat there doing fuck all for three hours although I did go out for a coffee and then got back and chatted to an old bloke who had come down from middlesborough for the weekend. Nice bloke. We talked about cycling and that for a while, and then he took his kecks off to get ready for his SQT. JEBUS! His legs were skinny, shaved, very dark brown and literally strewn with veins and knots of muscle and stuff. He’d suggested during our conversation that he’d spent so much time taking his kids around the country to riding events (one was there with him, a 40 year old 6 foot one bloke), that he’d not got chance to ride as much as he wanted to. His words were ‘I’ve not got many miles in my legs this year’, and then we watched him power round the track like it was all downhill while he whistled away like he hadn’t a care in the world. Proper character.

Also, this lady turned up for the SQT. Highly classy, rather sexy and had a habit of marching around the D talking to people she knew on a very direct fashion (including the old chap I was talking to). She was rather exciting to me. Lots of hair all over the place. Splendid.

Came home, had some dinner and then intended to go out for a ride but lawks! The computer broke. So I spend a few hours fixing it (new power supply) and by the time it was sorted it was too late to go out without lights so I canned the idea.

In other news I’ve got 537 in flight control on my ipod. Not bad eh?

I also spent a fair bit of time afterwards playing Borderlands. It’s a great game, get it.

Ride Entry – 19th February 2010

bike: Chameleon
Distance: 25 miles

How much fun is mountain biking? I’ve drawn up this chart to help you.

Hope that clears it up. I must admit, I’d forgotten but today I got my Chameleon out, fixed the broken spoke and sorted the squeeky brake out and then when for a mega-fun ride. The chain snapped half way round and that’s when I found out my chain tool had seized solid but a couple of jumps onto it sorted that one out. Some frozen fingers later and I was back on my way. Rivington had plenty of snow on it and indeed, it started snowing while I was up there.

Brilliant ride!

Ride Entry – 14th February 2010

Bike: Pimpino
Distance: 44 miles

Valentines day ride. My son left his coat at the Velodrome after yesterdays session so I dedicaed to make todays ride a trip into Manchester. I anticipated it being very dull and dangerous but you know what? It wasn’t bad at all. I decided to ride in via normal roads and then ride back using as much canal as I could, that being the only offroad route possible, but more on that later.

Anyway, trundled in quite happily, right through the city centre, nice and quiet, clearly the best way of photographing the city is riding in early Sunday morning and snapping away before it gets busy, I’ll have to do that one day. Right through the centre, past Piccadilly, meandered around in the back streets behind the station, some cool looking alleys round there, proper old school. Then up the main road and left into the big Ardwick estate. It’s a bit dodgy but it’s nice and early, all the wrong’uns will be in bed after a long night’s causing mischief…. Nope. Rode round a corner to find a couple of big prestige cars parked across the road and a selection of what can only be described as ‘ganged up’ gentlemen stood around in poses of hardness. As soon as they saw me one started walking towards me in that wibbly wobbly walk with his hand near his crotch (I felt like I’d ridden into a  gang film of some description) and told me to eff off.

Right you are. I quickly turned it around and did a nice big loop onto Turing way and reached the drome without further incident. I collected the coat and made my way to the canal (which regular visitors will know, runs right next to the velodrome). I’d looked on the map and this canal ran right into the city centre, then a bit of a gap and then all the way back home. Sweet. Nope. It’s impossible to get onto the canal. I rode round the back of the ASDA and further up towards denton, every single access point is blocked off. Hmmm, head back towards manchster and don’t find any way of getting onto the canal until I get to Canal street. Ride through the centre on the really rather nicely done up towpath through to castlefield where it got so laborious going over bridges and doubling back that I gave up and rode out to old trafford where I pretty much rode the canal all the way back to Leigh.

Splendid. Travelled a lot further than I thought mind and I did that thing where I forgot to eat any breakfast or take any food with me so felt ever so slightly[1] drained when I got home.

[1] This may be an understatement.

Ride Entry – 13th February 2010

Bike:pimpino
distance: 24 miles

Nice enough ride. A bit sharp to be honest but suitable clothing sorted that one out. I’m certainly gaining fitness again now, charged for quite a while n some places. just up to rivy and back. Brakes playing up a bit, ho hum. I’ve taken my track bike to the track for storage now, need to get the chameleon down for riding duties sharpish and then swap out all my ultegra kit off my crosslight onto my road bike again. I need a new road rim.

In other news my old company has stumped up my desperately needed overtime which was nice and has suspiciously told me I’ve won the water aid lottery on my very last pay packet after being in it for 8 years. Only 25 quid mind. We’re back in the money now I think, just. (Old company only paid two weeks in advance plus I only worked two weeks into the month so we actually had a full month without any pay to muggle through, the specific month being december, not the easiest one to choose.) Plus obviously the bank seeing that I’d not been paid on the 15th killed our overdraft. Thanks.  25 fucking years of paying them a lot of money (mortage, wages, savings, ISA’s) and the instant my pay doesn’t go in as expected and Lloyds TSB the fecking stealing bastards turn the overdraft off, right when we needed it. It’s all automated too. No humans in the process whatsoever frm observing your account to issuing the letter.

If I could find a bank that says ‘we use humans to make decisions, if they’re not sure what’s going on, they’ll phone you and ask before doing anything, because at the end of the day, we’re all humans (although obviously in the case of bankers this is debatable – leeches aren’t human last time I looked) . Anyway, what a bunch of fucking cunts Lloyds TSB are. Other banks are certainly just as bad but there you go.

Ride Entry – 11th February 2010

Bike:Pimpino
Distance: 20 miles

That didn’t go as well as planned. Nice and fast night ride but within about 2 miles my front brake sounded like it was metal on metal. Lived with it and went a bit further. Then my right cleat started feeling loose. Which is when I found I had no allen keys with me. Few more miles and my front lamp starting rolling around, again, no allen keys.

I soldiered on for a few more miles and then just gave up and came home. It wasn’t to be.