....haggis update....

After a short delay by Don King's apprentice Master Carr (well who else talks as much?) I completed the first leg of the haggis challenge. Last night we ate copious amounts of neeps and tatties so tonight i accompanied the haggis with another traditional Scottish fare, chips. It went pretty well and I'm feeling slightly smug as i managed to bury 2 plates of the stuff leaving only a pittance in the sheep's belly. Of course I'm not going to get complacent I know the importance of the last 20% as it's invariably the most difficult of any task so I'm not going to underestimate the potential pitfall. The only question that remains is when and how to finish it all off, tomorrow for tea? At work in a sanner? Suggestions welcome.

burns victim

After accusations of my posts being both dull and far too focussed on cycling Ive decided to relate my other major hobby - eating. Last night was Burns night (a celebration of a Scots poet for all those from the Sarf) and as a result we had haggis although of the vegetarian persuasion as our guest is that way inclined. However, I'd already bought a haggis (the meaty kind ie the best kind) the day previous and as my good lady is away this weekend and my good friend and neighbour is also otherwise engaged i have endeavoured to tackle the sonsie faced chieftain alone. This is not for the faint hearted, as in true solo 24 hour racing style ill be tackling it unsupported. (well it wouldn't be my blog withot a cycling reference would it) Some would say that eating a haggis alone is no great achievement but the sheep's stomach in question is a bit of a brute. If you look closely you can see from the picture that it weighs close to a kilo! This will be no mean feat particularly as it will take forever just to cook the bugger. There will be tears, hard work and hopefully some sense of accomplishment but with a bit of luck it'll go better than my 24hr solo attempt which to coin a phrase, was pure shite.

carbon fun

we're all made from it so maybe it's no surprise that carbon is such an amazing material. Yesterday i had the pleasure of riding one of Trek's 9.9s that had been converted to one gear. I thought it would be a great bike, its over a grands worth of frame after all, but i hadn't ridden a 26" wheeled singlespeed before and was blown away by how fun it was. Sure it doesn't crush things as well as a 29er but it scoots along nicely and being carbon it rockets away when you put the power down. Im sure over the course of a 2 hour ride, and particularly a rocky trail, it'll be a hard ride due to the stiffness of the frame but by christ its fun.

turn it around

After a week that seemed to bring nothing but annoyances Im feeling pretty positive. Probably attributable to getting shexy new cranks on my Rig and a special fat boy gear courtesy of the Bike Whisperer (the same dave from Alpine mentioned in Dr. Jon's blog) Looking forward to getting out riding although my snotters were yellow this morning which is not a good sign, still a wee blast on the Lemond can't hurt....

man cold (like bird flu but worse)

I missed Hogmanay this year because of an infection i can't shift and now I'm missing Tommy's birthday bash. I haven't seen some of my friends at all this year because I've been moping about the house feeling shite. I can't wait to get out on my bike or go for a run or see mates safe in the knowledge i'm not infecting them. Endless. Enough of feeling sorry for myself though, have a look at this:

star wars kid

Aw bless, he's very, very special.

start again

First of all let me just say how nice it is to see snow, even if it is nearly the end of January. It's not so nice to wake up with yet another sore throat, that makes 3 in the last month. Got an appointment to see my GP though so hopefully i'll get rid of it this time. Yesterday i sat, and failed, an entrance test for the Foreign Office. I thought at the time it was the hardest test i'd done but also thought i'd done enough to get through, clearly not. I had had misgivings about the job for a while (bizarrely the main character in the book i'm reading out of nowhere started talking about becoming a diplomat and how you would have to do what 'fuckwit politicians' told you) so perhaps it's for the best i didn't pass but it's still gutting to fail rather than decide not to do something. Still i thought it'd be interesting and give me the opportunity to see how governments operated with regard to other nations interests the long term plan being to work for an NGO. However, it's not to be, at least for now as i can apply again next year but it has been a bit of a wake up call and my numerous potential plans for next year have recieved a kick up the arse as a result.

the future is now

In a day that included someone telling us they're a cultural agnostic, 'it never gets better or worse, it stays the same,' and sitting an example professional entrance test I started wondering about, well, the future. I don't make New Year resolutions because i never keep them but I do always think the same thing every year-I really should see my friends and family more. And every year I know I'll never see them as much as I want to. Obviously it's impossible to see ALL your friends ALL the time but I feel every year there is at least half a dozen people that every month for a year I've had the intention of seeing and never have. It's made all the more gutting because you seem to spend so much time seeing people, specifically incompetent lecturers and inept retail managers, more in a month than you'd like to in a lifetime.

Anyway. I'll try to keep the rants to a minimum in this blog but I'd like to say a massive 'I will try my best to see you this year I promise' to several people. You know who you are and writing a list would only emphasise how bad I am at staying in touch.

virgin- be gentle

Ah my first post and I can't think what to write. I can assure you, however, it won't be as thought provoking as Master Ga Ken Wan's. Hmmm, well I've been ill again for nearly a week but managed into work today spurred on by the thought of getting to ride my singlespeeded buenos aires. So so much fun! Bit of a big gear at 46:16 but it'll help get me fit again for riding offroad and it's a blast to ride even if I am shitting it about busting a wheel. I won't go on about the simplicity, purity nonsense of singlespeeding-it's just fucking great fun.