wascally_weasel

12:34 pm: "You can set your watch by this f***ing rain!"
Although I often enjoy cycling, even my commute to work most days, today wasn’t one of the good ones.

It didn’t help that today was yet another day of pissing rain. I woke up tired after a restless night (mulling both some work issues and indigestion from the curry of the previous evening) so it was unwelcome to hear that it was raining.

I started late but resolved to ride in rather than get the train – when finally kitted up, with pannier packed, I noticed a wee problem – the previous night on the way home (in the aforementioned seemingly ever-present pissing rain) I had noticed some scraping noises from the front brake – I assumed it was some grit caught on the brake pad.

Nope. On inspection this morning it proved to be the brake pads having worn so thin that I was scraping metal on metal when braking – I haven’t done something like that for years – I usually check brake pad wear regularly but have somehow had a blind spot with my commuting bike. Noting that all the pads were excessively thin I replaced the lot (I usually err too far on the side of caution and replace them far too soon). I had to do so by changing them over fully from another bike as it’s going to be difficult to get the very thin pads out of the cartridges and I couldn’t be bothered this morning (I also couldn’t find the spare pads).

One of the front wheel rims is now decidedly worn so I changed that over too. Richmond Park being puncture central at the moment, I also pumped up both tyres fully with the track pump.

Off I set for work (in the rain).

About ten minutes later I had a puncture. I stopped, replaced the inner tube and pumped it up – being so close to home and already ridiculously late I went back pumped up the offending tyre with the track pump again (as this theoretically minimises risk of punctures). I also cleaned and oiled my chain since it was getting a little squeaky.

So I set off again, incredibly late for work – the only bit of good news was that the rain had dropped off to just an occasional smattering so I didn’t get too wet.

05:58 pm: Hooray for Jupiter!
Jupiter does it’s asteroid/comet attracting goodness once again:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/jul/21/jupiter-scar-comet-asteroid-crash

Nice bit of synchronicity for me was that a few days ago I was reading about Jupiter and how it’s gravitational mass and it’s position in solar orbit is one of the limiting factors on many of the larger objects in space that might otherwise collide with Earth and leave nothing left alive on earth bigger than the rats and the roaches.

Good work that planet.

It’s also nice to read a story that shows that there is still a place for the amateur astronomer (although, perhaps I shouldn’t use the word amateur as he must have some serious kit to be able to spot something like that surely?)

Once again though, reading the comments below the article is a helpful reminder on why I normally don’t read them anymore. Some cheerful soul, I mean troll, has posted:
“I wish the same would happen to this planet and eliminate our unequal, apathetic, money-obsessed miserable race from our graceful universe.”
We all have our bad days, but wishing ultimate doom on every living thing on the planet seems a bit of a harsh way out; at least wait until the hang-over subsides before posting in future maybe? Interestingly, the comment wishing for ultimate genocide is still on the site, someone’s more elegant solution to his problems was modded.

06:49 pm: New Blog
To avoid just spamming you all about my forthcoming bike ride, I have set up a temporary blog on Wordpress to write about The Race Against Time:

http://tinyurl.com/IHTRATBLOG

Please have a look and tell me what you think.

Cheers,

Iain

Tags: cycling, the race against time, training, trat

10:46 pm: My turbo trainer is borked, again
Was attempting to train this evening on the turbo, another (simulated) shot at Alpe d'Huez - only somewhere shortly after hairpin six (out of 21), the trainer died again*.

It was annoying as I was in to a good rhythm and was feeling pretty good too. I've worked out that I'm not going to lose a lot of weight between now and TRAT/La Marmotte so my salvation if there is any will lie in training to ride faster and climb better at the weight I currently am - possibly far too little far too late but I need to do what I can in the time left me.

So, not using the borked trainer as an excuse to quit training, I got back out to Richmond Park with the intention of putting down one fast lap - I managed an average of 19.5mph for the lap, probably my best in a very long time, especially as it was purely solo, there was no-one to draft.

It was a good day of cycling all in all - despite the busy commute this morning I managed a 16mph average on the way to work, and on the way home I slotted in behind a guy tootling along on his scooter on the Embankment and got a tow at the sweet speed of about 26mph all the way from Vauxhall Bridge Road to Chelsea Bridge, was great fun.


*It's not permanently deaded, it will just need a reinstall then endless firmware updates - these are s l o w, so it's a lengthy job best left for the weekend. Don't buy tacx turbo products kids.

Tags: cycling, getting faster again, richmond park, the embankment, the race against time, training, trat

09:28 am: "Won't you spare me over for another year?"
Last night I saw Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys at the Barbican in London. I was a bit surprised that it wasn’t a sell-out, considering that it was only the third or fourth time he has played in the UK in the 63 years he has been performing.

The support (Diana Jones) was ok, but I’m not sure that the space did her any favours, I think her act would have down a lot better in a more intimate space and probably would have fit nicely in to a more varied bill.

If you don’t know who Ralph Stanley is, you might recognise him from the soundtrack to ‘O Brother where Art Thou?’, performing the song “Oh, Death” – you would have seen and heard even more of him had you watched the companion DVD to the film. This is called ‘Down from the Mountain’ and is a recording of a live concert at The Ryman Theatre of a lot of the music from the film by the original performers – if you haven’t seen it but like that sort of music, I recommend it very highly, it’s one of the few live DVDs I’ve ever watched that actually capture the atmosphere of the live performance.

Ralph Stanley’s musical style is referred to these days as ‘Bluegrass’ but he has been performing since that genre label existed and himself refers to what he does as ‘Old time mountain style’ His band consisted of a banjo player, a fiddle, guitar and a double bass. In the traditional style they managed the sound mix by moving closer or further away from their microphones (all instruments were fully acoustic and unamplified as far as I could tell).

It’s a style from a different time, a gentler more respectful sort of show and it was a privilege to get to see it (I was lucky enough to see one such show before back when Steve Earle toured his Bluegrass album ‘The Mountain’ with the Del McCoury Band).

Last night was a great performance, as well as some crowd pleasers from ‘O Brother’ there was a lot of other traditional music including some gospel numbers. Late in the performance I was particularly happy to hear their version of ‘Orange Blossom Special’ a favourite of mine. My only complaint was that I would have liked it to have gone on all night.

Tags: barbican, bluegrass, diana jones, down from the mountain, freinds, gigs, live music, music, o brother where art thou, old time mountain style, ralph stanley, steve earle

04:09 pm: The Race Against Time
Been rubbish about updating recently, this is mostly because all of my efforts have been focussed on training and raising funds for The Race Against Time (TRAT) in late June and then the Marmotte a week later.

The Race Against Time (TRAT) is a fast, six day supported group ride from Land’s End to John o’ Groats. Yes, you read that right – the length of the country, by bicycle, in only six days – this means an average of 146 miles a day (it took me just over 12 days on my own last year).

It’s going to be very tough, both mentally and physically and is the most challenging thing I have ever attempted on a bike. Then, a week after that ride finishes I will be at the start line of the Marmotte in France, one of the toughest one day amateur cycling events in the world (about 108 miles in length with over 5,000 metres of vertical climb, taking in four Alps, including one of the highest mountain passes in Europe).

For once I’m doing all this specifically for charity. I’m doing it in aid of the Bishop Simeon trust who raise and apply vital funds to deal with the effects of the AIDS/HIV pandemic in South Africa. I’ll write a bit more about the charity in a later post, about what it does, were the money goes and how you can help. The one thing I want to assure you is that everything involved in organising this ride has been paid for already by the riders themselves and by a corporate sponsor , the support crew are volunteers giving up their valuable time to help – so any donation you are able to give goes directly to support the charity and it’s vital work. It also helps to motivate me to train because I don’t want to let down the people supporting me.

My training hasn’t gone as well as I would have liked – I’ve been dogged by illness and minor injuries this year, from an Achilles injury hanging over from last year, to flu early in the year, then a frozen shoulder/back problem quite recently.

This means that I’m nowhere near as fit as I had hoped to be and a fair bit heavier than I planned for. The weight will be less of an issue for TRAT as having ridden much of the route in a more leisurely fashion last year, I know what to expect and there is little in the way of extreme climbs on the way. So barring a few of the bigger, steeper hills I think I’ll mostly be ok. This will be less true for the Marmotte but again, I’ll post about that ride a bit later.

For TRAT I have had to train for a lot of different things. Speed and power so that I can keep up with the fast group pace (the quicker we are the less time we have to spend out on the road), endurance to cope with the six long days of cycling (we will be getting up at five in the morning every day) and climbing to help deal with what hills there are on the way (Shap Fell, Helmsdale and Berriedale being some of the main ones to worry about).

Also, as TRAT is a group ride, I have been practicing my group riding skills – this is an essential skill, both for the safety of other riders and to get the most aerodynamic benefit from riding in a group. To get better at this, I recently joined a cycling club and now regularly meet up for their group rides. I’m no longer in the slowest group on their Saturday rides round Richmond Park (and the ‘slow’ group are no slouches either).

I was pleased to (mostly) keep up on the club run round the Surrey Hills on Sunday – this was a 60 mile hilly ride. With me in the group, it may have been a slower ride for the other riders but for me it was the fastest I have been round those hills ever – I think I was almost an average of 3mph faster than I would normally expect to be on such a ride. I’ve got better at descending too, in days past, the group would have shot away from me on a downhill, now I’m keeping up and even overtaking a few of the others.

I’ve noticed on my commute that I’m getting some of my old power back – I managed a very creditable 32mph after a sprint from the lights after Vauxhall Bridge – as well as being great fun, it blasts me away from all the chaos and jockeying for position that takes place immediately after the lights.

More updates to follow soon.

Cheers,

Iain

http://www.justgiving.com/iain_houston

Tags: bikes, charities, cycles, cycling, cyclosportives, fundraising, justgiving, marmotte, sport, the race against time, training, trat

04:29 pm: Updating slowly.
I keep meaning to update this more. I have done lots - cycling, a stand up gig, some voice over work for a friends album. I will get round to updating soon, I promise.

I have also bought a canoe and may drown next weekend unless the paddles and bouyancy aids arrive soon.

12:34 am: Songs that give you chills
The above title question on the inimitable place that is yacf.co.uk had me plundering for some favourites on Youtube until about 3.15 last night.

As I think of them, in no particular order but one of 'em is by Woody by God Guthrie:

On The Nickel - Tom Waits* YouTube - Tom Waits - On The Nickel
Time of the Preacher - Willie Nelson YouTube - Willie Nelson - Time Of The Preacher
Don't let us get sick - Warren Zevon YouTube - Don't let us get sick - Warren Zevon (traducida)
Dixieland - Steve Earle** YouTube - Steve Earle - Dixieland (what you can sneak into bluegrass).
A Dance Called America - Runrig YouTube - Runrig Dance Called America
The Cutter - Runrig YouTube - Runrig - The Cutter
No Surrender - Bruce Springsteen (especially live) YouTube - Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - No Surrender
Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult YouTube - SV - Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear the Reaper
Ellis Unit One - Steve Earle YouTube - Steve Earle - Ellis Unit One
Down there by the train - Johnny Cash YouTube - Johnny Cash - Down There By The Train
Letter from America - Proclaimers YouTube - the proclaimers "letter from america" video
Fields of Fire - Big Country YouTube - Big Country Glasgow Barrowlands Fields of Fire
Dead Flowers*** - Townes Van Zandt YouTube - Dead Flowers
The Last of the Mohicans soundtrack - YouTube - The Last of the Mohicans - Promentory
The music in Excalibur, especially Oh Fortuna and Death of Siegfried YouTube - O Fortuna (Carmina Burana) - Carl Orff YouTube - Siegfried Funeral March
68 Guns - The Alarm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apERyZlTUZU&feature=related
Restless Natives soundtrack - Big Country http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0ztKXDSmYc
Market Square Heroes - Marillion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_Dn8n4851Q&feature=related
Moonlight Shadow - Mike Oldfield http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bbST4AqzUs&feature=related
Fade to Black - Metallica http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzK_EVul6dQ&feature=related
This Land is Your Land - Woody Guthrie YouTube - woody guthrie-this land
I'll fly away**** - Oh Brother Where Art Thou OST YouTube - Alison Krauss-Gillian Welch - I'll Fly Away]
Superman - REM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx8ZlbGYhw8&feature=related

I had totally forgotten just how fucking good Runrig were live.

* They can play that one at my funeral.
** Probably not the best live version of this song but worth it for the intro.
*** If they don't play that at my funeral I'm coming back to haunt people.
**** If this doesn't cheer people up nothing will.


Edit: Bollocks - a straight paste didn't work, will try and sort the links by the weekend, some cracking stuff there.

Tags: songs, yacf

03:57 pm: Why ruthless use of Snopes might be wrong sometimes
Like a lot of people, I can spot an internet bullshit story with ease, especially the urban myths. In fact urban myths are really easy to spot, they lack immediately verifiable details like specific dates and locations and the friend of the friend removes them just that little bit from you and anything you can check up on. So like a lot of people I check them out on Snopes and ‘out’ the sender as a forwarder of made up email rubbish.

Actually, I think it’s me that’s missing the point not them.

The urban myth structure often makes a story 'better'. How interesting would an urban myth be if preceded by "I've got a theoretically amusing/scary anecdote to relate about something that didn't actually happen to me or anyone I know but it's kind of a good story and might just have happened to someone somewhere if you suspend disbelief and strain the laws of probability..."?

It's simply story telling, adding a personal element brings you in to it so you listen more and get more out of it. It's the same with jokes, the personal element makes for a more involving story.

People are just telling campfire tales in the newest of ways and thinking about it, it's nice that they are sharing along something creative in a small way. I've therefore stopped ruthlessly snoping people's urban myths unless they are the dumb ones that cause unnecessary fear - like fake virus alerts or untrue warnings about stuff (like the 'don't flash your headlights at cars without headlights on as the driver will shoot you as part of a gang initiation' urban myth).

Tags: jokes, stories, urban myths

03:15 pm: "Use of armoured war elephants has been approved"
I was away for the weekend at Knaresborough (Yorkshire) where Bryony’s aunt & uncle live (well one set of them, there are many copies and they have a plan).

As well as a restful stay with good food, a bit of walking and being plied with good Belgian beers etc I had a day at the Royal Armouries museum at Leeds.

It’s well worth a visit with some great displays (including an armoured Indian war elephant). There’s a lot of stuff to get through, I spent most of the day there and didn’t see everything. Of the interactive shooting things, I was poor with a Lewis Gun, not bad with the Lee Enfield (couldn’t be exact as some of the targets seemed to fall without me firing) and good with a scoped hunting rifle. I scored nothing on the Bren but think that that one wasn’t working (I could see my strikes hitting the targets so don’t know what’s up with that).

The museum is fairly well laid out with a tower stairwell at the end, the inside of which is covered with mass displays of different types of weapons – impressive to stand at the bottom and look up. The different galleries are good as well – the museum has a very impressive collection of weapons – both in terms of numbers, type and quality of preservation – some fantastic stuff on show.

The shop was excellent and I had to resist temptation to spend far too much money (there was a good book selection too). I was saved from buying some of their ‘battle ready’ swords as they weren’t good enough – too heavy, no attempt at balance and a loose pommel on the one I tried. Some good kit for children, decent wooden axes, swords and longswords and some not bad leather armour and caps. Some good archery kit as well. Annoyingly I heard two different mothers explain why they couldn’t buy their kids a sword – “It’s pointy and dangerous”. Fancy taking a little kid to a sword museum and then not letting them have a toy sword?

I did say to one mother “My mum wouldn’t let me have a sword when I was little either, I’ve ended up buying five real ones as an adult”. I don’t think I got the message across.

On the way home today (via Leeds) I did nip back to the museum and buy a child sized crossbow, longbow and six padded arrows for each. A few quizzical looks at work today, I have promised not to shoot anyone unless they especially annoy me.

Tags: archery, beer, holidays, museums, swordfighting, swords