and angus!
after that last post I couldn't very well not get on my bike today. I had my first rehab ride yesterday, easy on the miles, very flat. so long as i'm keeping my cadence steady, the hills to a minimum and my breathing steady i'm more or less able to get my legs turning. no heroics on the ascents for at least a couple of weeks tho.
but, despite stupid levels of wind, a great wee circuit out the back roads and into angus and back. I never cease to marvel just how lucky i am - even on a bad day! - to have so many roads to get out and about on. and that in itself means a minimum of main roads which, even here, can only be a good thing. of course the sun was shining which made all the difference but I can't think, even allowing for rib related issues of anything I'd rather have been doing. after the winter deluge finally seems to be subsiding, the flowers are making their appearance, the trees are in leaf and the wildlife is out in abundance.
i was out with an australian guy a few years back and the thing that's stayed with me since then was his constant amazement at how green everything was. so green it'd made it worth coming halfway round the world. i can't argue. the more miles you have in your legs the better this area will be but even if not there's an abundance of places to go.
a rest tonight and then out again tomorrow. can't wait.
Wednesday, 22 May 2013
that's got to hurt
those lovely people at alpkit sent me this today. I didn't think lizarov frames got used much, if at all, any more. ouch!
fair play to joe tho and good luck to him. details of what he's going to be doing here
Wednesday, 15 May 2013
more giro
that wiggins should lose more time on yesterday's stage came as no surprise but it was a surprise i would've liked to have learned from actually watching the stage rather than foolish clicking open the guardian, a paper it appears that has no conception of the word spoiler. you should know by now says t and indeed i should.
not seeing the stage live was down to being in the shop where i was ensconced just in case i 'did anything stupid'. i'd intended some poetry type work but, it turns out, the shop is really, really noisy for that sort of caper so instead i got fired into a new mixed media thing that's been exercising my mind for a wee while. headphones on. grand fun. if i can get my room in the house cleared it'll be painting next.
it's tricky watching the giro as all i want to do is be back out on the bike but that's something that won't be happening for a wee while yet. i may sit on the trainer and turn my legs later but mainly to see if my chest is going to work. the reason for this being that i decided, not entirely of my own volition, to cycle into the back of a car last week. and while there were external factors involved really it was all down to me. stupid, stupid, stupid.
some broken ribs later i was back at work. two things should be noted. firstly that i was very lucky. i had two stories from a&e and the bike shop of people who'd had life changing injuries doing exactly the same as i had. the motto - no matter how cold, tired or hungry you are - look where you're going!
secondly, i had two excuses for going back to work. first, and least, there was no one else to do it and, as is my usual excuse, if i was to take time off everyone would think they could do it. they do anyway so so what? my actual cunning plan, which t was well aware of and not impressed by, was that if i could get thru my nights then i'd most likely be fit for a bit of bike. cue what can only be described as a bit of a collapse. the worst pain since i thought i'd broke my femur? i should coco. not nice!
so some sick time and a big cup of i told you so from t and many, many others. i still don't have it quite in my head that strava's 1000k challenge most likely won't be happening this month now but there's a glimmer of dawning acceptance.
and thence back to the giro. what a beautiful style roberto uran exhibited yesterday. i am liking too that kind of retro mullet thing he has going on. nibali is more conservatively tonsured but it seems to be suiting him. am i alone in thinking he's maybe shed a couple of pounds this year? after that last chain bother moment he was very spry going past evans.
and evans, who looks the most relaxed i've seen him in years. he must surely be in his twilight now but you'd need a heart of stone for the thought of seeing him in red at the end not to warm your heart. he's like the anti-wiggins and it's a joy to see all that effort right up front, face contorted, head to the side. you know where you stand with evans - he leaves it all on the road!
so the best i can do is watch the eurosport and read the blogs. there will be no imaginary giro climbs this year where i pretend (hey, it's my fevered imagination here!) that it's me who can climb and it's me who has that indefinable and graceful souplesse, even if just for an instant.
i'm gratified to see the legend that is robert millar writing for cycling news on the giro. he's kind of eased himself out of the woodwork these last few years, on his own terms as usual, and it's great to hear what he's got to say. at the opposite end of the scale there's cameron wurf's blog which is both entertaining and gets you right into the day to day of a young professional cyclist
not seeing the stage live was down to being in the shop where i was ensconced just in case i 'did anything stupid'. i'd intended some poetry type work but, it turns out, the shop is really, really noisy for that sort of caper so instead i got fired into a new mixed media thing that's been exercising my mind for a wee while. headphones on. grand fun. if i can get my room in the house cleared it'll be painting next.
it's tricky watching the giro as all i want to do is be back out on the bike but that's something that won't be happening for a wee while yet. i may sit on the trainer and turn my legs later but mainly to see if my chest is going to work. the reason for this being that i decided, not entirely of my own volition, to cycle into the back of a car last week. and while there were external factors involved really it was all down to me. stupid, stupid, stupid.
some broken ribs later i was back at work. two things should be noted. firstly that i was very lucky. i had two stories from a&e and the bike shop of people who'd had life changing injuries doing exactly the same as i had. the motto - no matter how cold, tired or hungry you are - look where you're going!
secondly, i had two excuses for going back to work. first, and least, there was no one else to do it and, as is my usual excuse, if i was to take time off everyone would think they could do it. they do anyway so so what? my actual cunning plan, which t was well aware of and not impressed by, was that if i could get thru my nights then i'd most likely be fit for a bit of bike. cue what can only be described as a bit of a collapse. the worst pain since i thought i'd broke my femur? i should coco. not nice!
so some sick time and a big cup of i told you so from t and many, many others. i still don't have it quite in my head that strava's 1000k challenge most likely won't be happening this month now but there's a glimmer of dawning acceptance.
and thence back to the giro. what a beautiful style roberto uran exhibited yesterday. i am liking too that kind of retro mullet thing he has going on. nibali is more conservatively tonsured but it seems to be suiting him. am i alone in thinking he's maybe shed a couple of pounds this year? after that last chain bother moment he was very spry going past evans.
and evans, who looks the most relaxed i've seen him in years. he must surely be in his twilight now but you'd need a heart of stone for the thought of seeing him in red at the end not to warm your heart. he's like the anti-wiggins and it's a joy to see all that effort right up front, face contorted, head to the side. you know where you stand with evans - he leaves it all on the road!
so the best i can do is watch the eurosport and read the blogs. there will be no imaginary giro climbs this year where i pretend (hey, it's my fevered imagination here!) that it's me who can climb and it's me who has that indefinable and graceful souplesse, even if just for an instant.
i'm gratified to see the legend that is robert millar writing for cycling news on the giro. he's kind of eased himself out of the woodwork these last few years, on his own terms as usual, and it's great to hear what he's got to say. at the opposite end of the scale there's cameron wurf's blog which is both entertaining and gets you right into the day to day of a young professional cyclist
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
colour
browsing down the work of tsuruko yamazaki was never going to find less than less than a whole bundle of favour with me...
i'm finding myself checking out spoon and tamago more and more these days.
even when i'm not broken...!
Thursday, 9 May 2013
no harmon on the giro
it's giro time and what little tv we watch is gravitating towards all things italian. for the last couple of years we've both found we can work away with the burble of cycling commentary going on in the background, t being esp found of the 'harmonism'.
so we'd noticed david harmon's lack of presence this last few races but the giro? surely not? bringing declan quigley on a sub is all very well but you need someone that can actually give some chat, esp on a dull stage, and so far quigley just isn't getting it. far too much repetition of what you can very well see for yourself and asides that sound like they're being read from wikipedia.
there are many who criticise harmon's commentary style from misidentifying riders, favouring english speaking riders and general witteriness. at least the first has some justification but harmon is far from alone in this - yesterday quigley, inexplicably couldn't recognise degenkolb at the finish, and the second, for me, while people may get tired of his banging on about sky - they're the dominant team! - doesn't really hold much water and at least harmon can actually speak the languages enough to translate at the end.
as for the witteriness - eurosport and no small number of cycling viewers seem to think that a bland description of what's going on onscreen is sufficient for cyling. this is to forget that, in contrast to most other tv sports, in cycling long periods nothing happens. harmon, whatever he's been about in the past, seems to have genuine enthusiasm for both the places he's in as well as the history of the sport. so he gets it wrong sometimes. so what? so he says some stuff the viewer may not agree with. a good cycling commentator should be challenging the audience, getting them talking.
i like listening to david harmon like i used to like listening to the cricket commentary when i was studying and sometimes he's just plain funny. him and sean yates have matured and engaged as a double act - certainly others can't get anything like as much out of yates who, let's face it, can be a bit taciturn at times. and while carlton kirby should never be used in anything but small doses some of the nonsense the pair of them come out with is pure entertainment - t's favourite being the stage where they were on about the gift of the cow.
commentary is a hard job that when it's done well is made to look easy. you need someone with a bit of personality otherwise it's just dull. david harmon may be many things but dull isn't one of them. eurosport would do well to consider this if there's some contract shenanigans going on. if he's off to pastures new i wish him well. cycling related tv rantery just won't be the same without him!
so we'd noticed david harmon's lack of presence this last few races but the giro? surely not? bringing declan quigley on a sub is all very well but you need someone that can actually give some chat, esp on a dull stage, and so far quigley just isn't getting it. far too much repetition of what you can very well see for yourself and asides that sound like they're being read from wikipedia.
there are many who criticise harmon's commentary style from misidentifying riders, favouring english speaking riders and general witteriness. at least the first has some justification but harmon is far from alone in this - yesterday quigley, inexplicably couldn't recognise degenkolb at the finish, and the second, for me, while people may get tired of his banging on about sky - they're the dominant team! - doesn't really hold much water and at least harmon can actually speak the languages enough to translate at the end.
as for the witteriness - eurosport and no small number of cycling viewers seem to think that a bland description of what's going on onscreen is sufficient for cyling. this is to forget that, in contrast to most other tv sports, in cycling long periods nothing happens. harmon, whatever he's been about in the past, seems to have genuine enthusiasm for both the places he's in as well as the history of the sport. so he gets it wrong sometimes. so what? so he says some stuff the viewer may not agree with. a good cycling commentator should be challenging the audience, getting them talking.
i like listening to david harmon like i used to like listening to the cricket commentary when i was studying and sometimes he's just plain funny. him and sean yates have matured and engaged as a double act - certainly others can't get anything like as much out of yates who, let's face it, can be a bit taciturn at times. and while carlton kirby should never be used in anything but small doses some of the nonsense the pair of them come out with is pure entertainment - t's favourite being the stage where they were on about the gift of the cow.
commentary is a hard job that when it's done well is made to look easy. you need someone with a bit of personality otherwise it's just dull. david harmon may be many things but dull isn't one of them. eurosport would do well to consider this if there's some contract shenanigans going on. if he's off to pastures new i wish him well. cycling related tv rantery just won't be the same without him!
Friday, 3 May 2013
the deluge
i'm so fabulously bored by the ongoing crap weather it's quite unbelievable. if i wasn't working tonight maybe i'd have been up earlier and got out for a morning ride but as it is i'm sitting psyching myself up for a trainer session while the rain (and possibly snow!!!) hammers down outside. it puts me in mind of this
a reference to which i've been looking for (in the wrong book!!) for the last two weeks. maybe the finding of it was waiting for some proper rain...
a reference to which i've been looking for (in the wrong book!!) for the last two weeks. maybe the finding of it was waiting for some proper rain...
Sunday, 28 April 2013
welcome to scotland
the guardian's sports pic of the day features the sky team undergoing a joyless passage of the col de croix in the tour of romandie, conditions not dissimilar to those i saw in amulree only a couple of weeks ago. unfortunately the road was too narrow to stop and take pictures - i've never cycled in anything like it. a shame for the pros tho - doing it old school. rather them than me!
friday this week i was supposed to be having a spin down to the borders but didn't as i had to work. fortunate as we had that typical early summer of pounding rain and hail. not nice! saw some sun yesterday but not enough that I'd pull my sleeves down. so far short sleeves once this year, no sunglasses and not even a hint of bikie tan. surely this cannot last1?
Friday, 26 April 2013
cycling ben lawers dam
not so far up the road is ben lawers, scene of many a hillwalking shenanigan when I was up for such things and the recent stranding of some german tourists who were foolhardy enough to try and drive over the wee road in inclement conditions this winter.
many times I've come off meal nam tarmachan (the hill at the back of this pic) and walked back across the dam towards lawers. and many is the time when we've looked down the slope and thought it'd be great to do something a bit mental on the face of the dam!
kudos to ben miller and adam flint for truly leaving their brains in the tool box. they even make the guardian. see the hand wringing in the comments here
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Tuesday, 9 April 2013
exit thatcher
how can I not write something about thatcher? even as I tried to avoid the blanket news today I caught a snippet from one of the 'demonstrations', filled it would seem by people who most likely weren't even born when the thatch was in power. but one of them got her time in front of the camera declaring 'that woman made my life a misery'. and in that was all that needed to be said.
a long time ago now but a time when it seemed to be about 'them' and 'us' as opposed to 'me'. I never, other than one brief paranoid moment, when it appeared the special branch were upon us, thought that thatcher had it in for me personally. that came later, a noxious by product of thatcherism, the all consuming individualism. there is, she declared, no such thing as society. and then set about making sure it was true. and, much like orwell's big brother, far from having it imposed upon us, the country lapped it up and demanded more.
I remember when word cam that she had finally left downing st. I was working in the states at the time and my flatmate phoned me. have you heard, he said, thatcher's resigned. I put down the phone. I had, it must be said, expected to be euphoric, as it was I was stunned. I need a moment I said to one of the others on shift. I went away and sat down for half an hour. thatcher was gone. it seemed like the end of an era. except really it wasn't, only the start of the process that would lead to thatcher's unofficially anointed successor, tony blair.
how do I feel about it now. strangely, with much on common with russell brand of all people. love her or loathe her there, surely, can be little debate that thatcher's domain changed the face of the country. and try as I might I can't quite unremember those days of strikes, blackouts, rubbish in the streets and general hopelessness that preceded her even as I want to remember something else, something that was about community. as the man in the article says - this demonstrates, I suppose, that if you opposed Thatcher's ideas it was likely because of their lack of compassion, which is really just a word for love. If love is something you cherish, it is hard to glean much joy from death, even in one's enemies.
she was such a dire person what with the support of the regimes, the total lack of support for other women, the cronyism and everything that went with it but I couldn't help but feel sorry for the wreck of a woman in her later years. I've seen way too much in the way of Alzheimer's, vascular dementia and the like to take any pleasure in seeing someone with it. poor thatch, escorted by the police to water flowers, banged up in the ritz with no-one to visit her. be careful what you wish for, sometimes you get it. unfortunately, with people like thatcher, so does everyone else.
a long time ago now but a time when it seemed to be about 'them' and 'us' as opposed to 'me'. I never, other than one brief paranoid moment, when it appeared the special branch were upon us, thought that thatcher had it in for me personally. that came later, a noxious by product of thatcherism, the all consuming individualism. there is, she declared, no such thing as society. and then set about making sure it was true. and, much like orwell's big brother, far from having it imposed upon us, the country lapped it up and demanded more.
I remember when word cam that she had finally left downing st. I was working in the states at the time and my flatmate phoned me. have you heard, he said, thatcher's resigned. I put down the phone. I had, it must be said, expected to be euphoric, as it was I was stunned. I need a moment I said to one of the others on shift. I went away and sat down for half an hour. thatcher was gone. it seemed like the end of an era. except really it wasn't, only the start of the process that would lead to thatcher's unofficially anointed successor, tony blair.
how do I feel about it now. strangely, with much on common with russell brand of all people. love her or loathe her there, surely, can be little debate that thatcher's domain changed the face of the country. and try as I might I can't quite unremember those days of strikes, blackouts, rubbish in the streets and general hopelessness that preceded her even as I want to remember something else, something that was about community. as the man in the article says - this demonstrates, I suppose, that if you opposed Thatcher's ideas it was likely because of their lack of compassion, which is really just a word for love. If love is something you cherish, it is hard to glean much joy from death, even in one's enemies.
she was such a dire person what with the support of the regimes, the total lack of support for other women, the cronyism and everything that went with it but I couldn't help but feel sorry for the wreck of a woman in her later years. I've seen way too much in the way of Alzheimer's, vascular dementia and the like to take any pleasure in seeing someone with it. poor thatch, escorted by the police to water flowers, banged up in the ritz with no-one to visit her. be careful what you wish for, sometimes you get it. unfortunately, with people like thatcher, so does everyone else.
Sunday, 7 April 2013
i could go miles and miles on this father....
make a rather lovely cup of tea, relax and see the world of bicycle manufacture as it never was in the days of yesteryear. top quality thanks to the ctc
Monday, 25 March 2013
Sunday, 24 March 2013
notebooks
it shouldn't need to be said that i'm particular when it comes to my writing materials. these days i use an ink pen I got from tesco's about five years ago. they don't make them anymore and i'm down to my last four or five with nothing to replace them. they're liquid ink - before that I had a box of ballpoints i got back in new York that lasted the best part of fifteen years. i'd hoped that my recent batch of muji 0.38's might have been the new pen but they have a scratchiness that just doesn't work for me.
and then there's the notebooks. for home use i've got a stash of a5 books i got in menzies - should've got more as they no longer do them. sturdy, leather bound, they're great. i do have a moleskin but I've never got on with them - the moleskin only serves as a training record. of late i've been using a very nice wee ordning and reda number. flexible, pocket sized with a horizontal band to keep everything in place. but, as with many things Swedish, there are times when I just don't want to be paying out that much money.
casting about i happened upon the leuchtturm1917. all the signs so far are good. beautifully featured with page numbers, stickers, index pages and tear outs and while it lacks the leather cover of the ordning it has a nice heft in the hand. I doubt it'll hold a pen as well as the ordning but that's the only quibble. certainly much better than an equivalent moleskin for me.
fixes vos pensees
aussitot qu'elles vous viennent a l'esprit
ou que ce soit
indeed.
now I just have to get a decent pen....
and then there's the notebooks. for home use i've got a stash of a5 books i got in menzies - should've got more as they no longer do them. sturdy, leather bound, they're great. i do have a moleskin but I've never got on with them - the moleskin only serves as a training record. of late i've been using a very nice wee ordning and reda number. flexible, pocket sized with a horizontal band to keep everything in place. but, as with many things Swedish, there are times when I just don't want to be paying out that much money.
casting about i happened upon the leuchtturm1917. all the signs so far are good. beautifully featured with page numbers, stickers, index pages and tear outs and while it lacks the leather cover of the ordning it has a nice heft in the hand. I doubt it'll hold a pen as well as the ordning but that's the only quibble. certainly much better than an equivalent moleskin for me.
fixes vos pensees
aussitot qu'elles vous viennent a l'esprit
ou que ce soit
indeed.
now I just have to get a decent pen....
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
memory lane
so i'm in the loft having a tidy (and discovering things are missing that really shouldn't be) when i come across a stack of 'old' tapes (remember them?) one of which included the above. from the days when all music in the future will be made by machines!
which lead me to reposting this
ah, the old days.....
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