Category: General Ramblings (Page 13 of 19)

Had some fantastic news yesterday. After nearly a month of riding around London on the totally crap Suzuki Bandit I was over the moon this morning when I had a letter from Bikers Legal Direct letting me know that they are going to repair my own bike.

I should have it back in about a week, which is just amazing. The biggest thing for me is how big a difference having a crap bike and having a stunning bike can make, even on a short 28 mile commute. I enjoy motorway, country lane, and heavy urban riding on my way into work, and a crap bike leaves me feeling naff when I get into the office and cramped when I get home.

See this is what comes of trying to upgrade your blog software AND trying to start a whole new blog about technology.

All the custom template work I did is dead…. bugger.

Backup? Paaa who needs backup.

I’ve just started reading Running With The Moon by Jonny Bealby – after reading the reviews over at Amazon I was a little concerned – some are amazing, but rather a few are a little derogatory.

It’s a revelation. I made the mistake of reading the first couple of chapters just as I was heading for bed whilst away in Swansea. Away from my wife and my family I read how Jonny lost his love as she died in his arms in India. Not what I needed for a good deap sleep, in fact it stirred the most silly dreams and I ended up calling Catheirne in the middle of the night to make sure she was okay.

Now the story is into full swing, it’s settled into a wonderfully woven thread that grabs you and refuses to let you put it down. So if you try to get hold of me over the next couple of days, forget it, my head is buried in this fantastic book

I’ve been very lucky with this small crash – I’ve escaped with relatively minor bruises and grazes compared to Patrick’s broken leg! But it still blasted well hurts!

I’m sure it will heal very quickly but I can’t wait for the shoulder bruising to sort itself out – It doesn’t look much but the whole shoulder hurts when I try to rotate my arm – I’ll give it a few more days and if I’ve still had no joy – back to the docs.

These accidents are playing havoc with our training schedule – and the fact that we can’t get out to write reviews for TrustedPlaces!

The ace is one of the few places left on earth where you can pull up a chair day or night, in a gang or on you’re own and still have a great time with people you don’t know. I wrote a review about the Ace over at TrustedPlaces

Just when I thought things were getting boring all hell brakes loose. Riding home this evening from Alexandra Palace I was stopped at traffic lights when a corsa behind me felt that stopping was optional.

I’m pretty much okay, nasty bruse on my chest where I went through my windscreen and my ankle is pretty sore – all as expected really.

The bike is another matter though – I reckon a good £1k of damage to the left hand side and front. The most irritating thing of all is that I was planning on going away this weekend, training for Russia.

Ahh well. Such is life.

Just been knocked clean off the bike sitting here now waiting for catherine to come and get me.

Nothing seriously hurt which is the main thing.

Yesterday I had to work in Central London, Shaftsbury Avenue to be exact. That meant riding into the heart of the beast, spending 30 minutes finding somewhere to part that doesn’t cost £10 per hour (thank you NCP) and then trudging in my kit to the office.

Nothing too bad there at all, appart from the cronic lack of bike parking in Camden Borough that is, but it amazes me how when I’m wearing my bike kit it’s like I’m from another planet.

Let’s take two identical tasks, walking up Shaftsbury Avenue, buying a sandwich and then going into the office building.

First of all earlier in the week I did this in my suit and tie, stolled into the sandwich shop grabbed lunch and got a nice smile from the girl behind the till, ambled up the road and into the office building where I got a ‘hello sir’ from the chap at the door and a ‘how can I help you sir’ from the girl on Yahoo! reception.

Scrub forward 24 hours. This time I’m in my bike kit. Stroll into sandwich shop and get followed by security, get a frown from the same girl behind the till. Wander into the office building and get stopped and searched by security. Get totally blanked by girl in Yahoo! reception until I point out that I’m a producer from the BBC and would she mind finding someone for me.

Why?