What should be 2 posts squashed into 1

Finally got out for a pedal after a 3 week hiatus, trip home for SSUK was followed by a cold which led to me losing my voice (see whinging post below) then Carla's mum was out, I headed back to the UK for a 2 day surprise visit for my mum's 50th (yup she had 2 kids by my age) then my Dad was out for a few days.

Visitor whilst Dad, Carla and I sat in a cafe near the palace.


All fun but I was itching to try out the jones bars and make sure my second attempt at changing the brake hose had worked. It seemed to but the lever has since gone all limp :( The jones bars, however, were awesome. Need another ride to confirm it was them rather than excitement at being out on a bike but they seem to have negated the steep head angle on the ferrous- almost 73 degrees I think. Your weight is placed further back but it always feels like you can get upfront and aggressive on the climbs. Right up until the point I used them I was prepared to hate them and concede they were the emperor's new clothes but pending further rides they seem great. Obviously they're never gonna make me a good rider but they make a good bike feel even better.

Alex (astride a shiny new bike) and I mulled round a lap of the world cup course before giving it a second more concerted bash and both managed to clean 2 of the pretty steep consecutive climbs on both laps. Both failed to grind beyond two thirds of the proper steep climb on both attempts, however. Apparently world cup racers had installed grannies specifically for that climb, some were even carrying, although admittedly they were doing about 10 laps in a couple hours while we managed 2 in a time not far off that *ahem*

[gratuitous bike shot]


Plans (well ideas at least, actual plans seem a bit far off) for an event of some description have taken a back seat while I try to sort out work for the summer, doing the job I'm doing now again next year (which is proving hugely endless due to no-one knowing what the hell is going on in the school) and beyond that the very scary decision/falling into by mistake of what I'll do until the day I can start drawing my pension. Family, friends, banter, bikes, books, biscuits and beer (or wine) are all I really need to tootle along in life. Yet, I have to do something proper before too long, not necessarily because that's what you're supposed to do (something I've never been good at following) but because more and more I feel an urge to move onto something more substantial. Getting to the end of uni was enormous for me, a friend commented after we graduated on how many cards I'd received from family and longstanding friends congratulating me. The simple truth was that most thought I would have stumbled into something else before I'd finished. They weren't without justification.

Now I need to stop thinking about what to do and do it. What it is I have an idea. More than an idea, I know what it should involve or at least consist of: Challenging, rewarding, interesting and positive I just don't know what form it should take. I flirted with psychology but I think I'm being drawn back to the beginning despite this years setback. I need to bolster my credentials so I'm hunting for a volunteer project and trying to find a way to refresh my knowledge of the sciences without having to enrol in a massively expensive summer school.

But if anyone has any other ideas I'm always happy to change my mind.

pirates 'n' pedals

and I've got dibs on this tee (not available for another month sadly) don't wanna rock up somewhere to find another weasel sportin the same top, that's so '93

welcome to the darkness

Yum! Hidden on the twinsix website (can only find a link on bkb site), the genesis for the weasel jersey and covering the backs of some damn fine riders.


more here

how Carla keeps me in line

listening

It's just me in the flat now and it's probably for the best. Still got no voice, well strictly speaking I can talk but on the evidence of last night where I uttered less than a few sentences and woke up with my throat worse than yesterday morning then it's not a great idea. This makes it annoying for those I'm with-they see that I can sort of talk but it seems like I'm choosing not to and am simply sullen about being ill. This is only partly true (I'm a terrible patient) the real reason is that I am terrified of making my throat worse and prolonging my inability to speak properly; it is the most frustrated I've felt in a long time and I've been living in a foreign country for 3 months! That I have 2 flights in the next 3 days also makes me very nervous. Things are made even worse when I'm trying to communicate to someone with gestures or writing something down; people think I'm being endless or annoying when really I'd like nothing better than to squeak the syllable that would end my arm flailing and the misunderstanding it generates. However, every time I come close to relenting I realise it will only hinder me further in the long run and either continue gesticulating or resign myself to the fact no-one knows what I'm trying to say. Then it looks like I'm an ungrateful bastard who is in a huff, which again is only partly true. People telling me it could be worse and making comparisons to far, far worse illnesses are of course correct but are kind of missing the point, it's not the fact I'm ill that frustrates me as much as the fact I could be ill for longer if I did try and speak. That and the fact that however annoying it is to those that are forced to interpret my drowning man impression into relevant concepts it is infinitely more frustrating trying to make even the simplest contribution to a conversation without almost certain failure. I thought it would get easier with time (I lost my voice a few days ago) and it sort of is, it just means I resign myself to not contributing at all.

all quiet

Unbelievably it's been raining since I got back to Madrid :( This has been compounded by me having a cold, this isn't why we moved to Spain! I didn't sign up for this! I thought I was shedding it yesterday, felt much better and thought a good nights sleep would sort it out. It may have done except I kept waking up with a sore throat getting some water then waking up again when desperately had to pee, repeat until morning. Still it didn't seem so bad after clearing the yellow shit out my nose and a cup of tea this morning although my throat did seem weird when 'telling' the kids to listen all morning. Then after lunch it became clear something wasn't right, my voice seemed to be thinning and Nuria, the teacher I assist, sent me home to rest my voice. Since then it has gotten worse if anything :S although Carla is lapping up the silence she does resent having to everything while I point to my throat and make faces at her when asked to do anything. Well every cloud and all that....

jones'd

Finally got the new hose in, if only I'd had a vice, and though it's still a bit long I might play with stem lengths. Just need to ride it now.