last days of the orange bike

i really like how this thing rides and i like the teeny tiny frame that lets my knees knock together, but there are two things that have sealed it's fate.

a) those fucking sliding fucking dropouts.
b) it's not easy to shoulder on the inevitable portage sections.

(available for purchase btw, make me an offer - dropouts aren't that bad, i'm just a klutz)

new bike is already here, just waiting for a respray. should it be:

a) jobbie brown
b) olive drab
c) tip-top blue
d) another colour

votes via comments. thankyoukindly.

twitter

yo! i be on twitter.

http://twitter.com/naegears

join me. you knows you wants to.

UPDATE: but mebbe not for long. seems updating by SMS is kinda expensive on three. who'd have thunk the isle of man is "international" from here? bah!

fifegonzo

so. finished my shopping early yesterday and headed off to the cameo for a panini, a pint of go-slow-juice and gonzo: the life and work of dr hunter s. thompson.

do i have to explain about HST? really? thought not.



a film well worth seeing, but watch the bbc omnibus show fear and loathing in gonzovision too. remember when bbc2 used to have interesting stuff on it? this is one of those shows. fuckcelebritycomefuckingdancing or somescotchhistoryshowwiththatlonghairedwanker.

anyhoo. it was this in mind that i approached christmas day in B to the I. there was booze, there was metal, there was a missed soup course. god fucking dammit.

then i did the dishes. but not with a gun or anything. hmmm, need to work on that a bitty more.

don't we all...

bug in my bassbin

very little riding for me over the past couple of weeks. picked up a throat infection which kicked in the night before the scottish cx champs. bag was packed , extra chilli flakes put in embrocation and "recovery" drinks chilling in fridge. bah!

few days off work and an early decision not to pack a bike for mull. still had a great time. two days of watching racing, mucking about with friends and a leetle nonsense. more weekends like this in 2009 please. just with a little less rum and a lot less spew (not mine...).

managed to get out for a ride last thursday. a windy, rainy, muddy squirt along the coastal path to the concrete beach and back. felt good. damn good.



back to commuterbike today. hoping for a tailwind...

poond premes

the tspc poond premes are back.

big money to be won.

you'd better try hard this weekend athletes.

try.

hard.

goatee of filth

Sunday 12th April 2009. burntisland-kincardine-rumbling bridge-burntisland, then paris-roubaix on telly. at least two off tarmac sections and some pave. bring extra thick tyres.

happy / sad / happy / sad / happy

s

away this weekend with friends from CVDG to mark the demise of the trailbuilding project.

happy - that a bunch of volunteers managed to deliver £120k+ of trails
sad - that a few misbehaving civil servants can derail a project and ultimately destroy a partnership that could have delivered so much
happy - that the trails are well used and in great nick, despite heavy use and little maintenance
sad - that no-one seems to give a fuck. even Ministers.
happy - that the group have remained friends and we had a great time over the weekend.

awesome weekend to be out and about in highland perthshire - very cold, a bit snowy.

met with pam/niall/daveL/carol/daveR/lisa for a bit of a wander before dinner. original plan was to get as far up schiehallion as we could before it got dark and then back down again. some late arrivals and spotting some folks on the slopes of craig varr above kinloch rannoch meant for a change of plan.

eight hardy souls set out in sub-zero temperatures and headed in the vague direction of where we thought that path was. slight fotwear issues meant that lisa and then daveR turned back. on and up. still not on a path. chasing deer (not in a bad way). quick stop for some champagne. carol, pam and sue turn back leaving daveL, niall and i to press on.

we attain the summit not long after the sun sets. a bit more champagne, breathing in the ciew, posing, down the other side and off the hill just as it gets dark. magic.

back to the hotel for a fine dinner, a few light refreshements, some idle chit-chat and before you know it, it is time for a cracking breakfast. we' head off to visit family in crieff on another unbelievably beautiful day.

viva CVDG!

more photos here.

more climbing

time to buy a new board?

or just get sue to book me a bed in a&e?

sk8 or die in B to the I
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