Autumn Classic.

I love riding in the forest at this time of year. Some of my favourite times have been on a late autumn afternoon by my self out amongst it and today was no exception. Riding to and from the trails makes it more better also in the riding more harder department.
In order; Challenge Red Tank Rd. Direct Rd. Frontal Lobotomy Billy T G Rock Chestnut Link Roller Coaster Old Chevy about 100m of Dipper Tokorangi Pa rd. Gunna Gotta Turkish Delight Exit jumps Old exit. By Gunna Gotta all I was thinking about was cake.

Grateful Bros.United.

Damian and I took our bikes and our beards for a zany type single speed themed adventure on Sunday. On the way we collected a librarian and proceeded to tear hither and yon for the next three hours, up hill and down dale in the forest. It was a fantastic (if not so cold I could feel my bad lung)morning and come midday I was left full of regret that I had to peel off and head home so I could get to work. My days have been somewhat hermetic at present as the family are back in the old country, however I'm catching a bus up on Thursday for a wedding. I can't wait to see wife and things one and two. I've said several times on this thing that for the last 6 months I haven't had access to a car for day to day personal use. However, with the family and our only car gone I really don't have access to a car for bugger all. It's liberating and forcing a shift in mind set with planning errands etc that I'm enjoying greatly. I've rode my bike to ride a bike then ridden home to ride my other bike to work and ride home from work more than a couple of times and it's feeling great. I've kept up with the running also, today the first time that I've felt there's been any flow to the ordeal, which is cool. It actually felt..mmm..good? In closing I would like to recommend
The Bike Show .Podcasts about Kraftwerk, Rolling interviews and a refreshingly multi dimensional view of cycling culture. Yes please.

Giving it to the man

With the other members of my family travelling to the old country for the Easter break Saturday after work looked ideal to venture back onto dirt and Give it To The Man in the process. The ‘Man’ In question whom I was going to “Give it to” were in this case two men. One, an actual ‘Man’ known here as “The other Weinberg brother” (who in a parallel universe kind of way ISNT a past SS champ and gets around on an xc dual suspension bike). The other, not really a ‘Man’ at all but a mountain, Mount Ngongotaha to be exact. If it was an actual man or a metaphorical man-mountain I didn't care. Whatever the case there was going to be some giving it to going on.

As this was a casual ride I dressed appropriately and headed off towards ‘the man’ er, men. To give it to them. My first act of non conformist defiance upon arrival at our rendezvous was to immediately suffer a flat, thus holding up the ride (scheduling be damned)and showing The other Weinberg brother just how we do things one speed. Suitably patched and booted (hey, bitch..In my world UST stands for Unattached Sidewall Technology, ok?) we headed out. What followed was a pleasant spin up Mt Ngongotaha, with it's stunning vistas of the caldera (no real camera to speak of, though so no photos)we wound up and up, through farmland then into calming and cool native bush which did the job admirably of erasing the terror of my day, we carried on going until finally our destination was reached.

Now, you can imagine my excitement when the other Weinberg brother suggested riding a trail named Jubilee, right. I mean, you know..Jubilee means PAAAAAARTY, right? As gutted as I was to realize at the top that there was no actual party going on (apart from the one in my head) I was consoled by the fact that the little guy riding a bike in the picture had a line through it, so whilst not actually being a party it was illegal and even if we met no men on the way down (we didn't..ladies either for that matter) I was assured that my very act of getting rubber side down would be giving it to someone, somewhere..who was probably a man. With that cheery thought in my heart we got amongst it, what followed were 2.4km of twisty, tight, technical, rooty downhill goodness. About two thirds in the trail smoothed out some and got some more flow on and spat us out minutes later at the base of the mountain. Feeling suitably victorious in giving it to the man(mountain) the other Weinberg fellow and I headed our separate ways. I had meant to "give it to" my geared compatriot in some form or another however I couldn't bring myself to as I've known him for 10 years and the man is a Hessian. Knowing that I'd have points deducted for "colluding with/not giving it to the man" I headed off, spinning madly with my head held high, not giving a damn (which, strangely would have cancelled out the points taken off as my act of not giving a damn was giving it to the man. Even if this "Man" was the SS nation) Next time, perhaps.

This Just In: Still Chock Full of Hate.

I'm bordering on hating. No, I'm totally hating. I'm hating on how ZANY everything is getting around here.... Novelty afros and celebrating nearing 666 friends on farce borg is getting me down.... As someone quoth in the comments section the other day;

"I must say that the 'dress up and play an alternative singlespeeder for the weekend' ethos witnessed at a number of Singlespeed events shits me to tears."

I couldn't be more down with this sentiment. I'm "boring passionate" (thanks, Dad) about the single speed. Both my bikes are single speed (1x shit bike all weather commuter and 1 x rigid 9r) and I don't really have any interest in riding a bike with gears or suspension (at the moment). Do I like bikes with gears? sure. Is the Nomad a good bike? Yeah, They're mean as if you ask me...just not my cup of tea. Is this trieste potentially a means of putting off writing an essay? Damn skippy. Do I wear a Tutu when I ride my (Single speed) bike with my friends? No. DOES ANYONE I KNOW WHO RIDES A SINGLE SPEED dress up in fancy dress when they ride or race (apart from the SS champs)? No. Am I dour? No. Overly serious? No (ask anyone who knows me). Like beers? yes. Like riding a lot? yes. Like racing? Love it. Mediocre at it? at best, yes. Feel misrepresented by all the SSWC10 marketing hoopla? Yes. Hating on the event? No. Excited as all get out by it and already entered? Yes.

I guess the point is this; Reductionist or overly simplistic, one dimensional representations of groups/things/people/ideas gets me down. I was listening to Dan Carlin the other day discussing an option for the USA addressing their somewhat tenuous relationship with Iran and the causes of this relationship (Clue: the Theodore Roosevelt quote "He's a son of a bitch, but at least he's our son-of-a-bitch is particularly germane).* He said something really interesting to the effect that in keeping with perhaps apologizing for supporting a regime which some would say terrorized Iran's people for years that the USA should adopt a more self effacing and humble approach. "The elephant in the room doesn't need to tell everyone he's big, and everyone will resent him if he does" was the passage that stuck in my mind.

I think that if the elephant that is the SSWC10 stops telling everyone in the room how big (or zany) it is, the better it will be. I mean, this event is going to be amazing and I'm so excited to be part of it and racing and being around hundreds of other people from around the world all of whom love the single speed is going to be a peak for me. We'll be balls deep in zany antics I'm sure, and the costumes, beer, shenanigans and tomfoolery that will be on hand will satisfy everyone to some level. I'm hopeful that if this japery does take place (and I have no doubt it will) that it's in a natural, beer fueled (or not) manner of the like minded mob..rather than the unnatural "ZANY ZANY WOW WOW WOW, I'm-on-a-single-speed-freak-bike-just-this-once-look-at-me" manner which I'm hopeful won't permeate the event to a great extent. Yeah, that's about all I have to say on the topic and totteringly boring as it is I'm at the point that I'll explode if I don't get it off my chest..so there you have it. Rant over.

In other news,I started "cross training" today with a running program. It was pretty shit, but alright and a challenge, so we'll see where this takes me.I'm okay with copping to training (I'm just not very good at it) and am hopeful that having a riding/running thing up on the go will help when the winter series roles around. Running itself was no challenge from a cardiovascular stand point so that's good, just muscles being used differently(MENTAL PICTURE OF ME RUNNING- A starved, slavering walrus chasing a bucket of herring down a gravel road). I've commuted via bike all week which has been surprisingly pain free. The lung appears fine now, I'm off antibiotics,pneumonia free and staring down the barrel of my first off road ride on Saturday after work. I'm going to try something different and will no doubt post some shoddy photos on here after the fact.

In Closing.
I'd be really sad if anyone reading this gets up and arms because I'm ragging on the SS champs. I'm not. I just don't reckon this battleship grey, proud buttocked elephant needs to shout "I'M A BIG, ZANY MOTHERFUCKING ELEPHANT...LOOK AT ME. WOOOOOOOOOO" etc. It just needs to hang out, eat peanuts, get brushed with a yard broom and go on a terrifying yet humorous rampage through the circus at the appropriate time**. Much cooler. Oh, yeah. on that Iran thing, I'm not saying that the current regime is any better either. Just sayin'.

*Whilst riding my single speed (drunk+ and in a tutu#)

** Hopefully killing as many clowns as possible. I hate clowns. Laughing-on-the-outside-crying-on-the-in-no-business motherfuckers. Hang them all.

+ This is a lie.

# I may as well be, I look reeeediculous in riding gear.

Player Hater Plater/

Is it wrong that I feel despair on some level when the organizer of SSWC10 is continually raving about how great riding his NOMAD is?

HEY GUYS! WOOOOOOO!!!! SINGLE SPEEDS!!! YEAH!!! ZANY FUN! RIDE IN COSTUME!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! sigh.

And what about the Single Speed club that you can't join? man...

It's grunge man, grunge. (that makes me Tad Doyle)

Resumption

The lung and I are back on speaking terms. The ride in this morning was okay. Washed out from first day back in 10. Pleased that the hospital scales a week ago added 11lbs to my weight that didn't exist. That's puzzled me. Now off to watch The Wire (so last year, I know).

Whirlwind (whirl WHIND?) pt 2.

I awoke at four in the morning in agony. It was as if Rebecca had finally snapped and shanked me in my sleep. Also, Rigors. RIGORS RIGORS RIGORS (Rye-gorrrrs), It's like burning to death and freezing to death at the same time. By this time I was pretty sure that I'd caught a dose of H1N1 and was fretting that my pregnant wife was gonna get the swine, I was acutally quite reassured by the whole thing, swine flu is not that big of a deal, some water and rest with some panadol and I'll be fine. By seven am things had gotten worse. A back and forth with Rebecca regarding a Dr's appointment (At this point Rebecca's call was "man flu") was settled by a spectacular display of vomiting and then immediately coughing up blood. It was my finest moment in a "I told you I was sick" kinda way. My GP. Who's stone cold excellent immediately called "Pneumonia" on my ass (lungs) and it was off to hospital for a feverish 24 hours of "Stat" fluids and IV antibiotics. man, what a drag.
Long story short. It was shit house. Stay the fuck away from pneumonia, kids. Seriously. Give it a wide berth. Now, as of a week later, I'm all anxious to get back on the bike, however worried that I don't wish to push my luck too soon. Monday I reckon, and I'll be back at it. For now? just sitting around.

Whirlwind (whirl WHIND?) pt 1.

I could feel things getting out of control at the beginning of the month, my workload stacking up with family, study, actual work, sleep and trying to ride would indicate that this thing would take a hammering. So be it.

Tuesday last was setting out to be a good (great) day. I'd had my front hub serviced, wheel re spoked and fettered with strong, good spokes and had also finally amassed the needed infrastructure to ride sans camel back (little under seat bag, mini frame pump and jersey pockets). I had a grand 2 1/2 hour ride, hither and yon in the forest, 38km, lots of trails, lots of fun. Home for some food, swap kit, bikes and ride to work for the PM shift, all good so far. Get to work and about four pm start to feel achy in my quads and calves. I'd put this down to the reduced amount I've been riding off road this year (1-2 weekly vs. 3-4 times a week this time last year) and managed same with paracetamol. Long story short by nine pm I'd spiked a 38.5 temp and was rather down-at-heel. It was a busy shift and I stuck it out to the end and copped a ride home rather than ride 16km home in the cold. I remember leaving the car and saying to my work mate "I'll no doubt feel better in the morning, see you at work".

The Numbers for February/2010 totals.

Days worked in February = 20
Days commuted by bike = 18 (576km)
Days commuted by car = 0
Off Road Rides = 6(156km)
Races = 0
Road Rides= 1 (41km)
===================================
Total Km's for February = 773

Total Km's for 2010 = 1539
Total Commuting Km = 1092
Total Dirt km = 406

I need to ride more harder off road.

For Liam White

Like Charity Said.

I would like to invite 2010 to calm down. It's been one of them weeks, riding continues unabated and the list of things that I have to do at work just continues to grow and grow and grow. I have my first round of class in Auckland next week, which has presented somewhat more of a challenge than ever as I do not have the personal use of a car. Long story short I'm cadging up and busing back. Busing. Hah! I haven't really caught a bus in years. And never inter-city. Truth be told I'm excited as all get out to be utilizing some form of public transport that isn't a personal car. I have a goal to ride up once this year, and planning for that excites me also. For the bus trip I figure I'll just load up on some Dan Carlin and I'm sure the three and a half hours will fly by. I also have a fancy for Kurt Vonnegut at the moment, and wonder if I will be unaffected by motion sickness then I can plow through Slaughterhouse 5. I'm raging an inner war to blow off work tomorrow and just go riding. Responsibility however, appears to remain a total bitch.

Two Hundred

It sure is dark as hell in the mornings.
Yesterday found hospital bike club reduced to myself, Jean Phillipe and my Dad (who, in a bizzare reversal of sorts, now flats with us four days a week as he works away from his home). Three guys. Three gears, One broken chain, the invention of Chainless XC. Some climbing over trees, the drop on Old Chevy, Humid. Humider. Beers. Riding with Dad again (61 years old. Rigid SS 29er) Chicken and slaw Tortillas. Mint.

Trees and Water

I saw Cabin riding his totally hot niner to work today, out by where we live as I was dropping Thom off from school. It confirmed to me that I've been a bit precious with riding my green bike on the roads, I read blogs innumerable where guys ride bikes of all sorts to all places. I have a friend who converted his track bike into a go anywhere bike packing rig and I recount with glee that Garth Weinberg rides a Raleigh 20 to devastating effect on 100km rides. A modicum of getting over myself was required. A cross check (or other type of bike of this type) is, frankly, years away. But I'm not doing too bad. with the weather clearing and myself bored and over caffeinated I resolved to head left out of my gate for a couple hours on the road before Rebecca went to her trust meeting so that I could get some exercise, have a bit of a cruise, take in some beautiful country and take some photos. It was grand. 2 hours with lot's of stops. 32x20 (nuts on the flat, happy on the climbs) and 41km.

I headed out first to Lake Okataina, where we shared the best Christmas we ever had with Nigel, Kate, Isaac and Georgie.




The water was dead still. It was rather eerie, even from a distance. Keeping on for another 15km towards Whakatane I came across a little jetty, side of the road, poking out into Lake Rotoiti.





Lovely

PSA

We've been lucky that Rebecca has been so healthy with both her previous pregnancies. There's been some problems this time around, however a scan today shows that both her and little pre-baby are doing well. There's still some pain and other things, but at least so much has been ruled out. The whole "Cancer" thing springs to mind alarmingly, along with a million other possibilities, all of them unpleasant,distressing and quite unthinkable. I want my egocentric invincibility back, please. Knowing that to all intents and purposes things inside are fine makes everything feel marginally more doable and far less stressful. 14 weeks on Thursday and on track to August and for this I am thankful.

Off Shore Off Shoot

Zing....

Sunday (Redux)

Audax

I like the idea of Randonneuring. Even the bicycles have begun to appeal.

Five Days Passing.

I Don't understand how busy this week has been. The past two weeks of afternoon shift late commutes coupled with early rising to help pregnant-kidney-stoned wife to wrangle kids + dirt rides + school enrollments ='ed a Dizzy headed ride home on Wednesday night. In fact, I could honestly say that I got home in the dark (despite my lights) via olfactory cues, the smell of the lambs in the huge fields that parallel my trip home, the tin like tang of rain. Madness. Whilst the legs felt good I was sure that if I coasted to a halt I could have fallen sideways and been asleep before I hit the road. The next day I did soak my feet in the thermal baths at Kuirau park though. That was nice.

My war with enrollments at university is OVER. I'm in. Officially in. About to get all post graduate and junk again. March 1 here I come. Although If I'm honest I'm more looking forward to a sneaky pint with an old friend after class. Nailing my entry into "ASSESSMENT AND DECISION MAKING IN MENTAL HEALTH NURSING" was a pleasing end to the work week, as was Hospital Bike Club on Thursday. Man, I had intended to take photo's but what with my eyes being blurry and hands tremulous the whole time it would not have worked out well. The reason for my shaky blurriness was that we were joined by Jean Michelle and Stealth Mode, two proper quick SS riders. It was a blast, and Jean Michelle and I played the game where the guy who was trying to follow the guy following Stealth Mode crashed and crashed hard. It was one each, with JP taking it out with a spectacular triple roll on the first down on Old Chevy. It all ended with me contemplating some hill sprints with guys 5 years younger and 30lbs lighter than myself(I sat up. Totally). Marinate that in two hours of hot and dusty and I'm a sweaty, dirty, bloody mess. Happy though and more inspired than I have been in a while to ride faster. Which is awesome. Riding with people who push you is real helpful I reckon.
In other news I fear I've started somewhat of a trans-Tasman incident. Liam White? Yeah. Liam. I'm calling you out. YOU!

Home Alone

Tuesday.

To Do List.

Get up

Eat

Drop Thom at school/Lola and Rebecca at play group.

RIDE

Get picked up

Eat

RIDE

Work

RIDE

Power Lunch

New Trail Day Is The Best Day.

It was just on dawn when I hit it this morning. One of the nicer things about being on a bike all the time is that I feel no pressure to "cram" when I ride in the forest. It was two hours of no pressure fun. The highlight being the new trail that is just bedding in at the bottom of Pondy New.

Today Was A Good Day (redux)

What a day. Seriously, if any of you Single Speeder types read this and live overseas and are considering coming over for SSWC10. Please do. There are many lakes just like this one (Okareka) real close to Rotorua.

Vegas PR notices aside, we were informed today that our house in Auckland has been re tenanted, which is a major financial strain off our shoulders. All in all a solid win for friday thus far. Dirt ride planned for the early am. Mint.

Keep it Hid

This week has been exhausting. Getting home from work via cycle each night at half midnight, then up by 0630 to help Rebecca with child wrangling has taken it's toll throw in the totally-not-unpleasant daily commute and additional dirt rides + a somewhat demanding full time job= recipe for fatigue.Yesterday morning was filled with shaky euphoria, easy chatting at my favourite place whilst my spoke done got fixed and a terror filled shopping trip. Today is a day off and will likely be as sneakily sedentary as possible. With the added bonus of pale ale if I'm feeling clever.In new wheel related news I'm Thinking about a Stan's Flow Rim for the front (if they do black) mated to a Gold hope pro 2 hub. Also thinking about the possibility of being a (second) home owner. Lots going on.

Sweet and Low

Monday passed in a blur of thunder storms, commuting via bike and working late. Lola was beset all night with vivid dreams of large insects buzzing around her cot. "Bees!! Bees!!". It didn't help that her pillow has a large flower on either side. At 0300 this was swapped out for a brown pillow, Lola was able to rest. All members of the household suffered broken, fitful sleep. Seven o'clock came very early.
Yesterday morning, with the the trails likely saturated, the children returning to school and play group and two hours up my sleeve I headed out on gravel roads around Rotokakahi and Tikitapu. It was a humid, green and very pleasing 39km of sandy, gravelly undulating double track
Plans to commute in were put aside as we had the 12 week scan an hour before work. All good on that front, with a funny, lovely, little skeleton-y pre baby kicking and swimming away blissfully. It goes without saying that seeing said creature makes everything "all the more real (ibid)" and last night, as I sat there at work, I found myself looking very much forward to August 11 2010.

Another spoke snapped on my front wheel yesterday ( tight, lefthand downhill switch back). It was annoying to have it happen at such a random and innocuous moment, however entry level wheels are as entry level wheels do. The apparent nessecity of having some new wheels built continually reinforced. I'll see what the professionals say, I'm leaning towards Hope hubs, however the ratchet-y plague of locust type noise that eminate from the rear are somewhat off putting. We'll see.

Sunday.

I'm drinking coffee and waiting for some pancakes. It's either raining here or just about to. School starts for Thom on Tuesday, so this is the last real day we all get to spend together. It's been a slow paced morning,with everyone relaxing and enjoying each other's company. Rebecca and Sue alternately reading the paper and setting the world to rights, Thom and Lola playing at chefs. Work was a hard road last night and I'm grateful to not be travelling anywhere today.In the back of my mind I'm already planning round two of dealing with the university, but hopefully I can push that aside and just enjoy the day. I have a ride planned for the early hours of the morning tomorrow, and this gives me even more to look forward to.

Just so.

I like this. It's just so.

The Numbers For January.

Days worked in January = 17
Days commuted by bike = 16 (516km)
Days commuted by car = 1
Off Road Rides = 8 (225km)
Races = 1 ( 25km)
===================================
Total Km's for January = 766

Mr. Brown's Law.

The equation "I don't ride x I don't work= We don't eat" is somewhat comforting as volition flys out the window. Concomitant stiffness and exhaustion after four days teaching be damned. If I'm working, I'm riding.

Insect Royalty.

True to form of the last few days the grey sky of evening was replaced by a high blue in the morning. I took the green bike to work 32x20 spinning like hell on the way in. Podcast on the history of children and XTRMTR keeping my interest levels high.
Hospital bike club after work, 25km trail ride with four shiny young Dr's and myself,neither that young, shiny, or a Dr. It was great. Spun home in the twilight sunset, slightly late and feeling like a naughty kid, out playing on his bike too long. Muddy, tired and happy. 59.29km in the bag.

Thunder? Flash...

I stood outside with Dad and the kids, listening to the thunder and watching the roiling black clouds. Now it rains, when the promise of a dirt ride tomorrow after work with the hospital club beckons. I've got a new computer and am excited to put some Kms under the wheels. In the 12 months I had the other it had clocked up 5000 something of single track, double track and dirt roads. Here's to a bumper year.....

Quiet Industry

Rising Damp.

Despite the grey inclement skies the ride in remained damp but not wet. I played the weather lottery and lost. Sauna suit.

Spoiler Alert

Tomorrow
26 Jan


MAX 23°C
MIN 15°C
Showers, some heavy and thundery. Northeast breezes.

should be fun..least it's not freezing

2nd Letter

Today was all about the second letter

Lab Cabin

Who can map a short course real nice?? Cabin can.

Some wrong turns saw me 2 minutes off the pace for a place. Thinking I may stick to the short courses this year because A) Going as hard as I can for an hour and a bit is real fun B) I like not carrying stuff like a pack C)It's all about the stolen moments this year as it's gonna get really busy D)It's a pleasant change from the anxiety provoking death marches.

I found myself with the following song on repeat in my head the whole way round. which on balance wasn't at all unpleasant.

Jan. 2010 Deconstructed.

I have a debt of thanks to this guy (whose blog I stumbled upon and was hypnotized by most of my shift last night)for the idea, which I will now duly "appropriate"

Days worked in January so far = 12
Days commuted by bike = 11 (352km)
Days commuted by car = 1 (last night)
Off Road Rides = 7 (200km)
Races = 1 ( 25km)
==============================================
Total Km's thus far in 2010 (577km)

Neat! more at the end of the month. With some guesswork included therein as I lost my computer during today's race. Gah. Death to the short, steep, bottleneck geared pile up.

To Do List 2010.

In no particular order (except number three)

1. Post Graduate Study
2. Full Time Work
3. (My wife is going to) Have another baby in August
4. Build nu Wheels (with help)
5. Race some Races
6. Explore burgeoning love of short track events
7. Get some wool
8. Continue to be car-free and commute as much via bike
9. SSWC 2010
10. Write more, Take more photos.