Street

Rollerburn- the event.

 I'll let the pictures do the talking. It was a great day and a stroke of genius to combine skating with bikes in the presence of bands and beer; I mean what could possibly go wrong? It was a great success and I had a great time- stayed up til 3 talking with friends. Didn't feel so great this morning.

Roller Derby

Ben Part

Trawler

Mmm... Rollergirls....

 Guy Martin

Penny Farthing Fun

Conrad launches Johnny the Wasp

T-shirt

  Viola lee blues by Tcordastanley

I've got frustrated with the Internet recently. I go on, check my emails, check my Facebook, read my blog subscriptions. I do this every morning. 10 minutes later I'm sat staring at the screen thinking that there should be something else I should be doing. Oh yeah, shopping! All that technology just so that everyone can shop for anything, anywhere in the world. I mostly don't get it except when you come across someone doing something very cool in an artisan manner. This T-shirt arrived safely and lovingly wrapped from Patrick.

Thanks a lot Patrick, I love it.

Burger

I headed out towards the blue hole in the grey sky pushing some tall gears on my road bike. My beloved mountain bike has been sent away after the back brake finally and completely failed once I'd crested the top of a mountain last Tuesday. It's gutting when you have to walk the long way down after the hard slog up- zero reward apart from the wholesome feeling of health for having completed the climb. Today there was absolutely nothing in the diary until band practice later so I thought I'd seize the moment and get out to feel what I could of the paltry heat of the low autumnal sun. The roads were greasy and covered in mud from farm vehicles and fallen leaves, the sort of shit that gets up in every part of the underside of a motorbike so i was happy enough to be on a bicycle. I had the Black Keys plugged straight into my head and a direction purely dictated by where the clear sky was. I passed an angry old man driving too slowly in a big car and wondered what he what he got out of being so angry. I got home and squashed a handful of minced beef into a hot pan, melted some cheese on it and stuck it between two slices of home made bread.

Fire

The smoke of the fire mingled with the typical smog of bonfire night spreading the coloured explosions of the fireworks into more of a blur than sharp scattering of sparks. Most of the crowd seemed to be heavily laid back and getting into pattern and colour by that point of the evening. The sound of the double bass carried remarkably well as we experimented with different instruments, different styles and different wavelengths. It all worked well leaving everyone with a warm glow.

Rollerburn

Screw the bikes... I'm going for the chicks on roller-skates.

The Moon

I'd love to spend my whole blog talking about music and motorbikes but the plain fact is that I do many other things besides.
A huge portion of my time is spent on a bicycle. I live in the mountains so mountain biking is a bit of a no-brainer; it keeps me fit and it's a thrill buzzing down hills at speed. Mountain bikers are also a good laugh. They're not completely obsessed with fitness and they like a drink- my kind of people.
I've just come back from a week in southern Spain in the Alpujarra mountains. Its a crazy area of winding hairpins, precipitous gorges and the best mountain-biking I have ever done. I was a bit annoyed that I had to put gears on my bike (even though I could only get 6 on) but after the first day I was glad of it... before every amazing downhill there is usually a punishing climb.
This picture was taken after a gruelling 10k road climb from a ski resort to the top of the Valetta pass. I managed it without a stop but it nearly killed me, not least because the air was quite thin at the top. The payoff was a 40k downhill from the moonscape at the top, through sweeping double-track, into rocky medieval roads and finally to fast single-track through forests, scrub and farmland. I was shaken to bits by the end of it but was high on endorphins. Cooling off in the pool with a beer was the perfect end to the ride. There were four other days of equally awesome riding and a day spent abseiling through a canyon. I would recommend it to anyone... www.ciclomontana.com.