No riding due to showers of biblical proportions today, every time I thought about going out I was soon reminded that it'd be a mistake pretty quickly. After my soaking earlier in the week I decided that I didn't need to prove my capacity for self inflicted misery quite so quickly. Still Live and Let Die was on, you've got to love a bit of Bond Blacksploitation. Anyway surfing the internet I came across Flandrien a ook I should have purchased when I went to see the exhibition at the Host gallery years ago, but didn't for whatever reason, I still can't remember what the reason was for the life of me. It's since been out of print and I've continued to kick my self whenever I've thought about it. Today though I found appropriately enough a Belgian antiquarian book seller who had stock and has sent me one out, I'm proper happy!   Read the rest of the entry...

I have my share of the wretched things but this latest glut has now gone from tiresome to just tedious, in the past month I've had the following... Nail through tyre in Clapton on the way to work. Drawing pin through tyre in Hackney on the way to work two days after the first. Thorn in tyre on the Surrey Hills a day after the last. Mysteriously knackered leaky valve in tube on the Surrey hills, about a minute after the last one. Last Friday, huge thorn through rear tyre just by Caulke House. Mysterious small puncture at Caulke House five minutes after the last. Perished latex tube goes pope at Caulke House a bowl of soup and piece of cake later than the last. Second perished latex tube goes pop ten five minutes later. Yes still at Caulke House a patched tube goes pop, tea is ordered the rescue party is called... Three attempts to patch a tube and it finally holds after leaking from bizarre places but seemingly only having one hole.. Today front tyre goes down well the last half dozen or so issues have been with the rear, so I guess it's just gone out of solidarity... I've had enough now sense of humour has failed, if I ...  Read the rest of the entry...

I've not done as much as I should have done this summer which is slack of me really although it has been properly hot, I've had teeth out but mainly I've been enjoying my garden and drinking beer to be fair, still commuting though and getting the odd spin in. The more I think about riding the less I can be bothered to do it to be honest there's just so much faff and a long day out seems to need preparation that's both comprehensive and tedious, especially riding offroad. The process starts the night before chilling water down and assembling kit etc and on etc, so that I can have an extra half hour in bed rather so I can leave silly early rather than silly early. As a result my favourite riding now seems to be two to three hour jaunts on the cross bike into Epping Forest, I tapped out the best part of thirty miles yesterday with two bottles of water and pump and tube just faff free riding. This year I've also come to the conclusion that while I actually enjoy riding I enjoy being out in the countryside and reacting with stuff a whole lot more than ...  Read the rest of the entry...

I've had a chequered experience with suspension forks... Pace Hollowform Carbon - Very light really plush in the dry but would stop working in the rain. Rockshox Psylo - Gold, bling. flexy, they blew up, theyt got fixed, they were alright. Maverick SC - Never got them on the bike. Fox Vanilla - Just very bouncy and not very controllable. Magura Durin Race - Very good so far. So my new Durin Race 100mm forks seem really nice, no wheel deflection, very plush, perhaps some more air needed, lockout seems to work really well, light and good looking. i'm actually really impressed with them, don't know why I didn't get bounce sooner....   Read the rest of the entry...

Well despite spring doing it's best to run off and hide, I'm ahead of myself with my favourite rubber really. I stuck Kenda Small Block Eight's on my IF towards the end of last summer, and really enjoyed them in the dusty conditions that I rode them in. I guess I must have broken them out a month ago for this offroad riding season, and can safely say they're as good as I remembered them being. They're just about perfect for me being about the right volume for the size 2.1"s front and rear, with a nice rounded profile that just seems to keep leaning and gripping and leaning and gripping really quite unbelievable. What's even better is that with all that grip they're not too draggy certainly I don't resent dragging them across Town to stations to get trains out to ride. They're not heavy either yet seem to deal well with relatively low pressures and big rocks quite admirably, two front wheel punctures in the Peak District whilst running a rigid fork is testament to that. Overall just really nice tyres that adapt to way more conditions than they should do, I'm quite excited about the Slant Six tyres ...  Read the rest of the entry...

Well last weekend was busy with riding bikes and beer festivals, then the run up to Easter was mad busy at work, inevitably a pile of applications to process arrived at the last possible moment to actually be in a position to get the work done before the Easter break... As a result I've been pretty lazy although I have done some DIY bits, cleaned and loved some bikes and watched the Tour of Flanders, but mainly I've caught up on sleep. We went for curry last night round the corner at Rasa Mudra it was superb, not your usual bog standard Indian meal, rather perfectly cooked Keralan cuisine. The Dhal that I had was perfect a mixture of different lentils some toasted, and perfectly spiced with just lovely notes of subtle heat. I'll be riding bikes a lot later in the week so it'll be nice to go to it with fresh legs for the first time in ages. More laundry, tidying and chair building today I think with a dose of Radio 4, maybe a cold beer and some bacon sandwiches   Read the rest of the entry...

It's back for the first time this year I've ridden everywhere this week doing errands, no fun yet but that's for the weekend, just enjoying the feeling of it all clicking and actually feeling quite good everytime I ride, about time!   Read the rest of the entry...

I rode bikes for fun, on Saturday for the first day since November, I'm not sure why it's taken so long for it to happen to be honest, I guess Christmas drinking, beer festivals and the coldest winter for thirty years all played some part. I guess being slack may have been a contributory factor as well, last week I decided to not commute to see if that might enthuse me again, it did as well as the prospect of riding a new bike. A touch of a hangover and squally rain showers the precursor of the big storm ruled out Saturday morning, then the calm before the storm arrived about 2pm, I did some bike preparation, and left about an hour later. Spot on 20 miles at an average of 11mph, not too shabby for a cross ride in grim conditions. Bikes really are ace.   Read the rest of the entry...

It's lovely I might take some pictures of it, or I might just taunt you with tellimng you all how ace it is. My new cross bike is ace, posting pictures is too much effort so I've decided on the latter option, it fits just right and goes like a dream! A huge thankyou to Rob for chauffering me about the East Midlands to collect it and suggesting a stunning real ale pub for lunch, days don't get much better. Oh go on then.... [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Hmmm lovely, looks nicer in the sun though!"][/caption]   Read the rest of the entry...

Not ridden again, can't find the motivation or the want to ride at the moment, I did at least ride to pick my train tickets up on Saturday which is something. I'd planned to ride today but getting up to grey just killed the idea straight off. I don't think commuting is helping I seem to spend my time on a bike damp, cold, covered in road grime and that's with mudguards. I think the last time I actually enjoyed, really enjoyed riding a bike was in November last year, which is a bit worrying really, since then it's just seemed like two wheeled misery. Still time is only wasted if you've not enjoyed your time, eating reheated home made enchilada's and refried beans and watching cross racing isn't a bad way to spend a winter Sunday. I should probably stop feeling guilty about not riding as it's not making things any better, I'm rather suspecting that the worry of an impendinf flat purchase is maybe weighing large as well, I'm just hoping it all comes off so I don't have to drag bikes up and down stairs and that I can clean them in my garden...   Read the rest of the entry...