Back in the saddle

Last week and the beginning of this week saw me commited to the extent that riding was not an option. From Wednesday morning through to the following Thursday morning I was either training or doing family stuff. This meant 8 days without riding. Yesterday morningh I was up at 5:00 a.m. for work. getting back on the bike for a ride to the nick through the mist and developing dawn was ace. It was only 8 days but I was amazed at how I missed the ride. It doesn't look like I'm going to hit 300 miles this month though- bummer.

The Boy done good!

My youngest son is a bit of an artist. When he was succesful in obtaining GCSE's to allow him to continue in sixth form, we bought him a tablet laptop whicjh he spends hours on. The other day I saw him doing some art work on it. I asked him to send me the result when he had finished. What I recieved was 3 images which represented the progress of an Anime ispired digital painting he produced as follows-


Which became



and finished as



Any guesses as to which video game inspired this?

I'm quite proud of his ability!

The gloves are dead- Long live the gloves

These are my Specialized Equinox gloves which have served me well for a number of years-


(clicky for bigger image)

These are the best gloves I have ever worn for riding. Warm enough to see me through all but the coldest weather. Just enough padding to stop my hands going dead. Thick enough to prevent injury when things got a little out of shape. We have been through a lot together- 70+ mile round trips into London, chasing bad guys during my bike patrol days, the odd SMIDSY, getting shot at with pellets during a recent airsoft skirmishing evening my two sons persuaded me to join them on. Over the 4 years or so that I have been wearing them, I have become really attached to them but, as you can see, they are slowly giving up the ghost. It would seem that the time has come to retire the Equinox's and bite the bullet.

I have acquired these-

(clicky for bigger image)
Endura 'Singletrack' gloves. They feel like they are of similar weight and quality in their material, just perhaps a little snugger in their fit. I will wear them for the first time today. I have had them for about a month but, as I said earlier, the Equinox and I have been together for a long time and it felt like I was betraying them.

Daft isn't it?

Someone needs help

For a number of years now, I have been on the register of potential donors run by
The Anthony Nolan Trust

The trust was born out of the Anthony Nolan Register which was set up in 1974 by the family of Anthony Nolan, a young lad who was in need of a bone marrow transplant in his fight against an immunological disease. Sadly Anthony never found his donor. He passed away in 1979. Demonstrating great strength of character however, his families fight went on so that other people could be helped.

My involvement came as a result of a local appeal due to a child from my area needing a donor. The trust set up a registration day at the local sports centre. Potential donors attended and a small blood sample was taken for typing and matching. I was then placed on the register of donors. 4 times since then I have been contacted as a possible candidate. This involves further tests for more detailed tissue typing and matching. Unfortunately I was not a close enough match on those occasions.

Yesterday I received a letter from the Trust. I am back in line as a potential match. Apparently I have a 25% chance of being a donor this time. Someone out there needs help. Start thinking positive thoughts folks. With your help, I could end up undergoing minor surgery to donate marrow.

For those of you in the UK, the Trust is always looking for new members of the register. Visit their site and find out how you can help.

If you are from outside the UK, donor registers work internationally. There may well be a register for your Country. Do some digging and see if you can help.

Wind

If you gather together any size group of cyclists and ask questions about the wind, you will soon learn that in most- not all but so close to all that it makes little difference- cases, they have had to cope with the seemingly impossible situation of a bi-directional wind. Find a straight road with two roundabouts, one at each end and continuously ride the loop of this road. If the wind is in your face on the outward leg, common sense tells you that the wind will be at your back on the return leg. WRONG. The wind is in your face whatever direction you ride. Riders passing in opposing directions on that loop will both be riding into wind. It is an almost immutable law. Cyclists only ever find a headwind. What is that all about?

I don't know about other cyclists but, I suffer from another problem with the wind. I can't pass it whilst pedaling. Too much information? No. This is a public information message. If you were ever to find yourself drafting me as I ride (or wheelsucking if I'm in a bad mood) and you notice that a) I have stopped pedaling and b) I am standing up then start to react. I am either getting ready to deal with a pothole or other danger to cyclists OR I am about to relieve stomach pain by breaking wind. Either way, right behind me is definitely the wrong place to be. Public information message ends.

On a lighter but just as informative not, yesterday I discovered the blog of a friend of mine. A certain red haired Amazonian fixie chick acquaintance of mine called Charlotte blogs as
bicycleslut. A good read. Visit and enjoy!