My hour of riding in the dark before work this morning was an entirely more illuminating and thought provoking affair than previous. Instead of varying degrees of loud music, I was treated to Stephen Fry'sPodgram musings on amongst other things; The constructionalist beauty of language, Chomsky, broken arms, Greek mythology (specifically King Midas having the ears of an Ass), hatred of Pedantry (a personal favorite)The BBC, "Compliance Defiance",Oscar Wilde and the inevitable descent into egocentrism that having any type of column or blog will lead to. Genius. Surprisingly I found myself at least as engaged as I have been when my morning ride has been sound tracked by any of my old favourites. Mr Fry's indelibly English voice was a refreshing aural treat, and the ideation conveyed by said voice a tangy mint for my brain, taking away the cerebellum's cranky morning breath. The man's turn of phrase is something else, unfortunately making anything which I have put down on paper today at work or here appear decidedly prosaic and staid...Sigh.
There is another Stephen, whom I am also decidedly enamoured with (for a considerably longer time).Mr Malkmus,like the above Mr Fry also has rather a deft turn with the English Language. Behold...
I spent a solid three hours in the garage this morning, tightening and footling with these...
And these...
They were the holding together bits on those silver sheet metal shelves that you see everywhere. we've had three of them for years, and while useful they coldly spit in your face as you believe the "Easy Assembly" tag line that is written on the box. As interim co-head of the family I decreed today that these shall NEVER be taken down again. My gall began to rise approx 90 minutes in that I was crouched in our dank garage cutting my hands on sharp metal and kneeling on dead cockroaches instead of riding, so a rather embarrassing public display of negative emotion took place...
This display of distaste erupted into frank hostility upon completion of the second..
I got a hold of myself however before I created the third, the reason being my lovely wife had asked me to complete this task to make space in the garage for our firewood. Now, Girly Sue stayed up late making me "Enduro Cookies" for The Highlander which is coming up this Sunday. These little babies have peanut butter, raisins, oats, unrefined cane sugar, love and some chocolate in them.. Whilst not astronaut sports food, I'm betting that they will get me to where I need to go, esp about the point of lookout rd. I felt some what churlish having a strop about not riding, so I happily applied myself to completing the task at hand, then retired into the house for a coffee and a sample of said Enduro Cookies....
Look delicious don't they???
With all this garage cleaning, space saving and arranging it turns out that I have a functional, bijou man cave-ette. Behold!
It's compact, clean and it's mine. And for this I am thankful.
I'm loving my bike more and more every time I ride it, as I mentioned before I've now completely eschewed the world of multi gearing and have never been happier (or lighter or faster for that matter). I started riding a rigid GT 17 years ago and damn it all if I'm not full circle..
Yesterday in my post I claimed that I was a reluctant mechanic. The above should confirm it! CAST YOUR EYES upon the sum total of all of my extraneous bike tools/gear that I have amassed in three years (save for my Allen key/chainbreaker thing I carry in my bag and a 15mm closed head wrench to get at me nutted rear axle)...Yup. That's it.. A pedal wrench, two brushes, some zip ties and a roll of gaffer tap. Genius. The silver four-drawer thing on the bench contains an Allen key graveyard (all unusable sizes), some spare cleats/screws, the instructions for my Thomson seat post (the bling-est thing on my bike)and a bunch of pegs (to hang fusky chamois up). Didn't I tell you I was a stone cold pro?/?
I'm lucky though, because I have These Fellows ably abetting, aiding, hooking me up and generally saving my ass from minor mechanicals and anxiety whilst I'm illin in Rotorua.
I'm doubly especially lucky however, because I have This Guy acting as my fairy god mother (no, that's not right.. He's more of a Hairy God Father)from across the miles, If I lived in Aux I would deal with no one else..Even though I'm a six hour round trip away, and can't just drop in any more for a service, brother man still hooks me up on so many levels and for that I'm eternally grateful. It's a full blown bromance ( possibly one sided but hey, I've stalked before*)
One final thing I'm thankful for is the opportunity to burn the new incense I got given..It takes away that whole "cockroach graveyard" smell.
mmmmmm stretchy-nice-zen-smell-licious.
And finally, Ladies and Gentlemen, the minutemen.. They're late, great and jam econo.. RIP D Boon
Bubbles, riding and more bubbles and riding. That's pretty much how the week has gone.
I'm a reluctant mechanic. I come from a line of engineers/carpenters/artisans, however it would appear that the apple fell far from the tree. Having avoided any type of mechanical work for my entire life, I find myself in my early thirties tinkering with bikes (anxiously). Today was momentous. I swapped out my rear brake pads, removed my chain, degreased, refitted, re-tensioned with a refreshing lack of the below.
I have a reoccurring nightmare, It usually happens about once a month, invariably I wake up and the dream bothers me for the rest of the day. In my dream I am either A) at my old college B)Auckland University (where I studied briefly) or B) Unitec (where I actually studied and got a degree). The general theme of the dream always remains the same, That I need to pass my final year to gain either a bursary or my degree, and that there is a class that I have not gone to all year. Not even shown up for once, and there are assignments due that I haven't completed, I don't know what the assignments are, what they are on or when they are due. It leaves my with the most horrible feeling of dread/anxiety/fear of failure/self loathing (at my natural state of incipient avoidance). This particular dream I was back at location A. I was walking down between a couple of the buildings having an uneasy conversation with two kids who used to give my absolute hell. The weather was cold, crisp and sunny. I was going to ? class, one of them turned to me and said "you've lost a lot of weight, your ass looks good, some definition but still one or two soft spots". Then I woke up. Awful.
I've been "Hooning (Ward 2009)" on the bike this week, because The Highlander is in 2 weeks and I need to climb some hills. I have done that the last two days, and can happily report that Direct Rd is now my bitch, my descending on a rigid fork is becoming faster and more fluid, and that afterwards the effort of blowing bubbles for the littles had me alternately nearly passing out from postural hypotension/leaving my body and floating around the garden. Awesome.
I've had three days off in a row this week, as it struck me on Sunday that A) I haven't had a holiday in over 18 months B)the month until my leave begins seemed A REALLY LONG TIME AWAY and C) I was at the point of agreeing with this very interesting gentleman's statement that "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats". So I did the sensible thing and booked a day off before my rostered "weekend". It's been just the ticket and I'm sure that the black flag will remain stashed in the back pocket for the time being at least.
My newsaddle rules. Light, stiff and very comfortable. After 3 odd hours on the bike Imagine to my surprise when I checked my nether regions to find a perfect imprint of the below embossed onto my grundle. It's just that good.
My birthday was the most perfect one I ever have had. It was amazing. I also found I shared my birthday with Someone Famous. Joy.
These look good? they're made with Fair Trade chocolate and cane sugar.. Hey National, Don't Corrupt Aid
I think the above little darlin's look absolutely killer, not that I'll be eating any though, as I'm doing The Highlanderin two weeks, which is 80km of THIS.I will be rolling Bare Knuckled as the kids put it, So wish to cut down on as much "rolling resistance" as possible. Take it off the gut before the bike I always say (since just now). Said Highlander should be somewhat testing, however I've been putting the miles in so it should only be Nausea-Inducingly-Terrible, Not Kill-Yourself-There-And-Then Terrible.
I'm gonna need to break this puppy in first though...
I've been doing this for one year (save the month I just had off)Not bad.
I took Mazdef's advice... I also got given a Totally Sweet Hoodie. This thing rules, I'm wearing it now.Thanks Krosch!
Oh yes...I've got psychobabble and discourse on coping mechanisms, maladaptive behaviour and insecure attachment out the yin yang..I can talk about this stuff for hours. And frequently have to at work. I approach it in a non judgemental and compassionate manner. Dealing with such people OUTSIDE of work however, whom aren't clients of the mental health service I have only this to say..... Fuck the passive aggressive. FUCK THEM!!! that shit get's truly, truly old...Despite the conciliatory text messages
