SSEC

Prompt as ever it's been a week since the euro champs and already it seems far, far longer. My only reminders are whats left of a bottle of Jura whisky and saddle sores on the inside of my thighs, a complimentary pair if ever there were some.

I'm relatively close to the race venue so only had a 4 or 5 hour round trip as opposed to the other 2 who had double that at least. I organised a barbeque for their arrival and after my course mates had sickened alec with talk of babies and faecal matter night and I managed to avoid an impromptu mohawk, they spent the night on the inflatable palace.

We got there Friday pitched and headed off on what has the be the slowest group ride ever, more time spent stopped than riding but at least we got a flavour of the trails. That night was cheese flavoured-over a hundred different types to sample and the middle of the night saw Chris amongst the portaloo relay racers all vying for a dark hole in which to relieve the stomach cramps. It also saw us pay 8 quid for the privilege of eating the worst meal I've had, even though we had missed lunch none of us could finish it.

By race time all was clear but the start was marred by yet more waiting although it gave us plenty time to get our whisky heads on. Before we knew it we were off and first impressions of the new assos kilterse were good-it seemed to sit under me well and the gooch was fairly intact even after a few climbs. Sadly over the course of a lap (it was 10 miles mind) all was not well and more than once I got the kilt caught on the front of the saddle as I moved over the back wheel not to mention the amount of time I spent bare arse to saddle. I yo-yo'd the boys, catching up as they waited and inevitably watching them pull away again soon after. I caught them for the last time as they sat at the top of a pretty decent climb and whilst they sunk a bit more from the hp flasks, I dropped in a heap. We sat for a fair bit and then pedalled off to find the end of the lap about 5 minutes away! Should have just pushed through but never mind, the best brownie I've ever had some water and then some beer made up for it. An hour in the sun, more beer and then being told there was loads of beer left prompted us to discard the paper cups and fill our water bottles with ale. A few more trips to the beer tap and then a trundle home (albeit getting a bit lost on the way) before a shower and more beer.

Plenty more beer and whisky saw off Saturday and we were kiboshed in the tent by 11! Sunday we skipped the group ride and instead explored the forest, watched some DH weasels make a descent look hard (even I could ride it FFS) before a cafe stop and another pootle (I was properly blowing out my arse by this time and was thankful Chris had to fire off to try and find his misplaced head camera) and then a grind upwards to the campsite. (punctuated by an ice cream stop at halfway)

And then it was over as quickly as it had started, jobs returned to, lectures attended and lab work mused over. Until SSUK.

Looking and feeling gubbed whilst Alec has his permagrin intact

Had enough

Singletrack is a wonderful place mired in endlessness.

Bring on the cheese!

It's close, really close.

Short circuit

I couldn't for the life of me switch off my brain last night. It didn't matter that I'd had a bath or that I'd had a drink or that I read before trying to sleep I simply couldn't drop off. I heard Carla come to bed and drift off and still couldn't get my head to shut down. Nothing and everything swam past my mind's eye, a continuous torrent of incomplete ideas and thoughts, each bleeding into the next until I thought perhaps I was asleep. It was quarter to 5 when i last checked my phone, after that I finally settled into something resembling sleep. Not sure why it happened, ended up doing very little today as result just got to hope that doesn't throw the big old guilt trip and start the process all over again.

Back at the coalface

Or visiting at least. After a 2 day holiday in carlisle bookmarked by 5 hour train journeys I went back into uni this week to sort out more notes for revision. Whether I should have been actually revising rather than simply making notes to that end is debatable. Anyway the sun continues to shine, my backside is raw from getting a few hours in on the bike and I haven't managed to get up early in weeks. Must be almost time for the SSEC, mmmmm cheese and prizes....

Riding!

At flipping last. Dug out the cross bike (fly still in disrepair) and headed off to a local woods. I'm still not sure about public access down here but I practiced my blank look so if stopped I could plead ignorance. In the end I didn't see anyone. Well not people at any rate, I did watch 15 dogs cross my path and disappear into the forest. Riiiiigggght. That'll probably be a shoot then. I turned round and took the long way round before finding myself facing a path I hadn't encountered before. With time and light on my side I ploughed on and ended up on some back road, it was lashing down but it felt great to be out on the bike especially as I didn't have a clue where I was at that point. A short while later I recognised where I was-right back at where I enter the woods! So I dropped back in to rattle around a few trails before setting off home. Felt pretty done in when I finally got back in the house but totally worth it. Just wondering how many more I can fit in before term kicks off again...

not a pretty picture but the only one I have

tubeless my arse

The front tyre from the Superfly has been flat for ages and I've not had time to sort it so yesterday I decided to take action, washed it, soaped it and headed to the garage to use the air compressor. No joy. Bugger. Now do I scout for another garage with a better compressor (not had this issue before) or tape it up and pop a tube in so it's good to go? Probably the latter, I don't have rigid forks for the 'Fly so it's not the end of the world not being tubeless nice as it is and the amount I've been riding this year (Sod all) means I'll be happy with anything.

Just need to work out how to sort the forks now...