samuri.co.uk

Well, that’s it.

It’s a horrible drizzly day today so I won’t be going out riding but that’s just fine. Total mileage is below.

Totals for 2011

chameleon(17): 608 miles
Roadlite(48): 2000 miles
pimpino(17): 555 miles
dayone(91): 2837 miles
CAAD(3): 64 miles

Total Distance: 6064 miles

That gives me a fine mileage target to beat next year, lets say 6500.

I’m bored of this website now, at least I’m bored of updating ride entries on it so that’s going to stop. I want to completely revamp it and do other stuff with my website. I’m enjoying getting back into drawing at the moment (not very well mind but I’m hoping to get better, we’ll see), and I’d like to start writing again. Facelift for a start, then we’ll see what happens next.

As far as my 2011 challenges went, I rode over 6000 and I do have a slight six pack but that’s it really. I already have some cycling challenges set for the next year but won’t be making a list or anything.

Happy new year.

I’m liking it. New bike solid at the moment.

Levers need attaching to the bars a bit tighter, they’re not up to samuri tightness and move about when I’m pedalling. Apart from that, it’s pretty nice. It was an alfine hence the disks but I wasn’t interested in that. I bet it weighed a ton with the alfine hub on. Much lighter surley hubs and nice strong rims on now, hopefully this will last me a year.

More on flickr.

Statistically anyway. It’s your own fault though because you drink too much and eat too many macburgers. Before you die screaming in agony though it’s time for you to help those people who are trying to put a stop to all that nonsense.

The wonderful chaps at The Ride Journal have teamed up with Howies to produce a quality T-shirt which will make you look you look just that little bit better as you waste away your fetid days on the way to your grave.  At least 15 quid from each sale will go to Cyclists fighting cancer, a cause dedicated to helping young people fight cancer. A noble cause, very generous and these will be very good T-shirts.

Buy one or even more now here. http://www.theridershirt.org.uk/

Bike: pimpino
Distance: 32 miles

Better than yesterday, not much rain and less wind, lots of sun and light. Sweet! Bike is running super smooth now after some fine tuning, beautiful!

Got home real late, about 7:15 or something. Then the properly bad news came in. My wife’s neice has collapsed, no idea yet why althgough I have my own theories. She’s been having a very tough time of it recently. I suspect a stress plus excess alcohol diagnosis is on the horizon. ANyway, turns out we’ve volunteered to look after all her kids. Five of them I think although it’s hard to keep track. They’re all here now, the last has just gone to sleep. The youngest who is 10 months old has been crying a lot. I reckon people should be banned from having kids before they get to 30. It may just be because I know it’s not my kid but now I’m over 40, it’s *very* easy to just tune the noise out.

And sleep. God almighty. I reckon I’ve slept 3, maybe 4 hours in 3 days. I am so tired but my head is going crazy. I’m now at defcon 1 as far as mental state goes. We’re approaching a whole new world right now, this is pretty much as far as I’ve gone with so little sleep. Stephen King once wrote a book about insomnia. You can tell he’s a sufferer, it’s a fairly unique experience. Tomorrow is going to look very, very odd indeed I think.

In other news my book, 3 Bent links has remained at the number one spot in fictional sports books in the uk on amazon since Wednesday, I think that’s something to be a bit proud of, despite it only being 38 sales.

Ooh, I’ve not said much recently.

I’ve not been riding very much, that’s probably why.

I did set off the other day, rode 6 miles in the snow, had three punctures within a mile of each other and then had to push the bike back in the snow after losing my spanners. Not even tried since then.

So over the christmas holidays I got my bike out, gave it a good wash and wipe, and found this.

Which is a bit annoying. 1700 miles, just over a year (and really only 6 months of proper riding).

So i’m waiting to see if the warranty is good. Otherwise I expect I won’t be doing any commuting till mid January when i get back from skiing.

SKIING! i’m going skiing! I can’t wait. bet something goes wrong.

Bikes all ready.

All kit and food stored neatly.

B&B booked.

We are sat here in our cycling clothes waiting to go but it’s absolutely chucking it down. Now if it was just me I’d just go but it’s my son too and I know if we set off in the rain it’ll probably put him off, so we wait.

11am is cut off point for the big part of the loop (90 miles)  to the B&B, this passes with no let up. 1pm is the cut off point for the small part of the loop (60 miles), still no let up. At 13:15  I phone the B&B, apologise for messing them around but sorry, we’ll not be able to make it. We change out of our clothes, pack the bikes away, stand down.

At 13:30, the rain stops and the sun comes out.

Thanks god.

Mike showed us a bike tonight and I’ve fallen in love. I’ve no idea why. It’s nothing to do with all the Titanium, it just looks better than any other bike I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s a very simple bike. Track. the creator has made it all titanium so I should imagine it’s insanely light but I’d be perfectly happy with it being steel as long as it still looked like this.

More here.

A man could bankrupt himself chasing that bike. And I may well do this yet.

5:00 – Jon gets up, looks out the window. If it’s raining hard, then he’ll ditch the commute and get an extra hour in bed. It’s dry so he continues.
5:30 – Ablutions completed, Jon goes downstairs to prepare his dinner and make a cup of coffee, this is the last bug out point but it’s still dry.
5:45 – Feed cats, let dog out, get bike out of storage and pack bag.
6:00 – Throw a leg over my bike and set off riding.
6:00 (and 5 seconds) – It starts raining, properly hard.
6:03 – Stop riding, get raincoat out of bag, carry on riding.
6:10 – Stop riding again, rearrange buttie box so it’as not trying to pierce my kidney. Check buttie box hasn’t grown a knife edge like in termninator two, nope, it has smooth round edges.
6:24 – Hit offroad for the first time. Obviously it’s just a mud bath, endure a constant spray of mud in my face and up my arse.
6:57 – Roll onto the work campus, gently roll round the edge of the estate cooling down.
6:59 – Put bike into bike shed, lock up.
6:59 (and 3 seconds) – It stops raining.

I’d really appreciate it if you could donate a couple of quid to Christies for when I do the Manchester to Blackpool ride in July.
Normally I’d restrict asking for money for charity to people I meet in real life but since my son has already been round every single person we know and raised about 150 quid (plus I can hardly ask at work since I’ll be gone in a week or so), so I’m asking you lot.

justgiving.com

As I say, you don’t have to give much, just enough to make it look like at least some people care that I’m doing something.

As it says on the page, since 60 miles is actually less than I’d normally ride on a Sunday anyway, and it’s almost competely flat I feel a bit guilty about being paid anything so I’ve decided that if I raise 50 quid I’ll do the ride in the brightest disco suit, shirt, wig and moustache that I can find.

If I don’t raise 50 quid I’ll just bump it up myself and do it anyway.

Thanks.

Well, it’s finally arrived. And sweet it is indeed.

Mostly good anyway, lets have a look at it.

Very light, very stiff (yet surprisingly comfy), very very quick and proper new bike solid. I absolutely love it. Fits me like a glove, everything works great and I had a brilliant ride, really didn’t want to go home to be honest. It accelerates like no other bike I’ve ever ridden, like a scalded cat it is.

Bad bits? Minor things really. They connected the brakes up European stylee with the front on the left despite me emailing them about four times asking them not to do that. The STI’s are a little high on the bars too for my liking. They only had compact or triple so I went for compact and a tiny cassette which is OK but I wished they’d have offered standard.

Still brilliant though, very happy so far. I’m struggling for storage space at home though so until I get more secure/dry storage sorted out, the Kaffenback has had to go back in the attic. Plus on the way back through Wigan a complete and utter feckwit in a brand new RangeRover just drifted across a big roundabout forcing me into the outside lane where a car almost drove over me, I shot back over to the cock and hammered my fist on the side of the car then accelerated in front of him and gave him a big fucking finger right up close to the windscreen, he took one look at me and floored it off. Bell end. Hope I dinted it.