Plenty to say

Took charlie out for a spin in leverhulme park on saturday, first time off road since his first ever ride. He doesn't like the fast bumpy bits (downhill with a kicker at the bottom) but he likes getting sideways round gravelly corners :-) Brand new hope hoops don't like getting sideways on gravelly corners, managed to put a bit of a wobble on them. Not sure how much is the rim and how much is the not so good halo ust tyre. We went down to the river and he walked straight into it and had a splash around, then we went for a run around on the footy field, nice.
A rather nice commute on monday, the baby bunnies and geese were out, the trails were dry, the sun was shining, few people about on the way home so got a lot of use out of my bell (which I've just noticed has n+1 written on the side :-) ) everyone friendly having a nice day, top stuff. Bagged myself a pair of oakley MX goggles on the way home too, might be useful for wet downhill days. Tuesday was a bit grim so back on the road. Now stabiliser has almost scared me off riding dual carriageways I think his report on how normal inoffensive drivers gang up with their collective stupidity to kill cyclists is bang on. I've had a couple of 4x4 drivers swerve round me at the last minute and the person behind (too close behind) come passed incredibly close. I've been dodging the 50mph DC on my commute but the alternatives aren't great. A slow cycle route which has 1 chicane and 6 slalom gates within a quarter mile. A road route, extra 1.5miles, a section of narrow 30 limit rd which often has speeders rat running, a roundabout where I turn right and often get drivers (also turning right) going round it the wrong way to over take me followed by a fast downhill heavy with traffic and lots of side roads for people to pull out on me. After trying various routes I'm back to the DC but totally hogging the left lane to prevent the above. But instead of just primary I'm between dead centre of lane and the right of centre, 2 mornings of that haven't been too bad, no attempted kills, no beeps either (yet) tho I have noted a few drivers muttering to themselves whilst passing me. See how it goes.
No-one else could make tuesday night ride and my mrs looked tired so I stayed home, went out for a ride last night instead. Got a bloody flat again down wildeswood (ust tyre+stans), pumped it back up and it stayed put for rest of ride (and overnight) dunno whats going on there, burping, badly applied rim strip (that'll be me then) or just crap tyre. 2lads, wildes, pike, san marino, quarry, home through eagly and hall ith wood. Very tired at the end, fish, chips, cake, strawberrys and a bucket of tea to replenish energy.
Might have bagged myself a bargain, dt240 wheel, mint condition rim, totally shagged bearings, much cheapness. Will have to see how much it costs to get it up and running before I decide if it was bargain or bust, I did a full bearing change on my very similar 440 for £25ish so fingers crossed.

LMAO

"JENS’ BIG RING IS 56. HIS REAR CASSETTE IS 11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-12.

JENS NO LONGER HAS A SHADOW BECAUSE HE DROPPED IT REPEATEDLY UNTIL IT CLIMBED INTO THE SAXO BANK TEAM CAR CLAIMING A STOMACH AILMENT AND RETIRED." Funny roadie related stuff, cheers Lowey. Also check out the track rider overtaking a crash using the advertising boards.

LOL

Stupidest thing I've heard in ages, guy just came into our office,
guy "is the server down?"
colleague "which one?"
guy "the one I'm trying to access"

(Getting to the)...Stage rage

Went to see Rhod Gilbert last night in Huddersfield. The man is a fecking brilliant, the night however was not. We set off with an hour to get there in time for the publicised start time (but who ever starts on time) Getting on the M61 there were 20mph restrictions and signs saying all lanes closed so I took a chance and diverted onto the east lancs as it looked clear. WRONG! Slip road onto east lancs was chocca and the M61 was actually clear as they had finished clearing up after an accident. Eventually got onto the M60 at around about the time we should have been ushered to our seats. I barreled down the Mway and made it into huddersfield quick sharp where I promptly got lost in town centre oneway hell. Eventually found the sign posted theatre parking but as we left the car park absolutley no directions to the theatre Aaaaargh! Anyway Rhod doesn't do the standard gig stuff, he started on time (so we missed 30mins) and only did a token encore i.e. he didn't wait for 5 minutes applause before coming back on. He just came straight back on talking about what a wierd custom it was. If it was upto him I think he'd just do his full set then leave but then all the regulars would be sat around for ages waiting for him to do his encore.
Check out his myspace, looks like there are quite a few clips. Oh and the LBT in huddersfield seems pretty decent, not too big so even if you're on the backrow of tier 2, like us, you still get a good view and no big qeues at the bar, I wasn't drinking but the bar didn't look over priced and parking is only £1. Just don't get stuck in traffic on the way and check your directions first, it's actually pretty easy to find.