The Pyrenees are beautiful and while we knew we were in for a tough time with a few big hills, no one really expected to be staying at the bottom of a hors catégorie climb in Col du Tourmalet. Round the corner was the Col d’Aspin too which has featuredin Le Tour de France 66 times. So the climbing was awesome, tough, beautiful, painful, challenging, sweaty and required a lot of determination.

Climbing the Col du Tourmalet as soon as we got there on Saturday morning was difficult enough. Of course the next day, the riding an undulating 70km (via Lourdes and Bagneres de Bigorre) and climb the other side from the West to on Sunday was unbelievably tough.

On Monday we managed to fit 2 Cols into out ride, by riding a nice small road Col near Heches, then up the Col d’Aspin from the East. It was in between these two Cols that we discovered Richard G didn’t actually have the compact chainset that he asked for on his Specalized Roubaix S-Works. Which provided amusement, expect for the fact it just showed his strength while he beat me up most hills, or mountains!!

Tuesday was the last day so it was a straight sprint up Col d’Aspin from the West and back down again to pack up and head home.

What a fantastic few days it was and I absolutely want to do this again, only next time I want to take those hills by the scuff of the neck and keep up with the rest of the boys, if not bethe first up! Although as I was riding with 2 Ironmen, this might be more difficult  than it seems.

The Great British Bike Relay is a relay cycle with a group starting in Glasgow and a team starting in London converging on Manchester on September 10th (where I will also be playing football for GyroHSR London vs the rest of Gyro HSR) before sending the next leg on its way.

So about 250 miles in 2 days should be enough of a challenge for which I have to raise £1,250 – so expect plenty of events and so on over the next few months. More information will follow as I get it – anyone who wants to join my team – let me know!

It has been a fun few weeks! Last week I went to see Velvet Revolver, the super group made up of members from Stone Temple Pilots, Guns ‘n’ Roses and Wasted Youth, and afterwards in the private bar met Slash and Scott Weiland. Both seemed bloody nice chaps, although Weiland appeared to be the only person in the UK allowed to smoke indoors at the gig. Now that’s power.

I was extremely disappointed that while writing this I found that Velvet Revolver have parted company with Scott Weiland, Slash citing his “increasingly erratic behaviour” as the reason! Well I never!

Slash was a bloody nice chap too. And my f**king God was he good on guitar! Unbelievable in fact.

The Friday after the gig was my first sponsorship deadline, which I just about reached, with the rest on its way. Great news – I am definitely cycling to Amsterdam and Brussels in June then!! Hoorah! Speaking of which I did my first training ride on Saturday – only 20 miles, but it’s a start. This weekend I will do 40 miles and then the following weekend I will try all the way to Deal to see mother and Grandad!

The final update is possibly the best bit – for me anyway. Up there with meeting Slash! I was in .net magazine! Now it was only readers sites, but the site Griff designed for www.challengebee.org, that I built over a couple of nights a few months ago is one of the sites featured on page 18. Nice screen shot, blurb that I wrote and picture of me and the Griff. I am proud! Next up is writing a decent article for the mag, which I am sure I could do!! I’ll scan and upload to this post asap! Probably tomorrow!

Contents:

1. Fallen windows
2. Christmas parties
3. Sunday league
4. Chas n Dave

Fallen windows

Probably the most exciting, most inconvenient and most boring thing to happen lately was when our bedroom window fell off its hinges, smashing through Warren and Kathy (our downstairs neighbours) garden furniture on the way! Not only was it in the middle of the night, but it was also bloody cold and windy! So a nice cold night with my bike cover trying to keep out the elements was endured before a visit from a glazer – who couldn’t do anything, despite me suggesting to the landlord that a glazer wouldn’t fix the split frame. So next we had the carpenter round (not Karen) who very kindly gave us a warm plywood window. It has not improved the view unfortunately – but if only we had one in Leytonstone – it might have made that house quieter!

We are still waiting for a new frame, we do have our fingers crossed for a few double glazed windows, but I doubt that is on the cards.

Christmas parties

A couple of Christmas parties have already come and gone, both events organised through work. There was first the Virgin Atlantic client/Gyro party including (but not limited to) rubbish dancing (me), good dancing (everyone else), gin, cocktails, Pete Doherty’s hat, tiaras, Iron Maiden, Mercedes, loss of memory and a hangover. Excellent.

The Gyro staff party was even better than that. Starting with a meet in Balham where I looked a little strange as an English country gent at 2pm, half the digital team slowly arrived. Griff saving my embarrassment by being superbly worse (or better?) dressed as a Morris dancer, alone until the rest joined him at the main party. Next we had the Gryo digital meeting where a few things in the pipeline were revealed, which sound both promising and daunting. Only time will tell on that one.

I have to admit that from then on, memory lapses were all too common, although I remember Pangaea champagne, double decker bus ride, excellent meat, deserved awards (I’ll get one one day!), another bus ride, gin and tonic, karaoke (Snooker Loopy as standard), not liking George better, hotel room gathering, mini bar gin, tube home (7am), grab footy kit and straight to Sunday league with a small amount of alcohol in my system. By small amount, I mean I was completely hammered. The cold weather sorted me out though, and I got through the game, not even playing badly (we won 4-2, by the way).

Sunday League

We lost to Hightstone, bastards. Beat Wenlock though (as mentioned above!). This essentially still leaves it in our hands, since Highstone lost to Hoxton a few weeks ago. We know it’ll be hard and we will probably have to play like never before to win every remaining game and guarantee the title, but hopefully one or two results will go our way and we can keep the momentum going and finish the league in a promotion spot. Second will do, but Champions sounds so much better.

Chas n Dave

13-01-2008
100 Club
Oxford St, London

Chas n Dave live in concert.

Ticket bought, friends attending, braces yet to be purchased. But they will be.

Chas n Dave. I can’t bloody wait! I’m honestly more excited about this gig than I was for the Foo Fighters, or Cut Chemist n DJ Shadow (not quite got the same ring to it as Chas n Dave) in March. Rockney here I come.

Now I love the Len Price 3 and will go to as many gigs as I can, however I’m worried I’m getting a little too fanatic.

This is because I am seriously torn between going to either the Foo Fighters on 17th November at the O2 Arena in a box with my mate Smyth, or going to a gig in West London to see the Len Price 3. This is despite I saw the Len Price 3 a couple weeks back, and will be seeing them again on the 2nd November, and the fact that Dave Grohl used to be in Nirvana (my all time favourite artist, by far).

Could it be that the Len Price 3 are just a better band live with better songs? Very possibly.

But it’s gotta be the Foo Fighters for the experience. Bring on the music!

The head has split, so the only thing holding it in one piece at the minute are the machine heads.

So this guitar will be sent to the great music hall in the sky, but here’s a life story to send it on its way:

1. Bought in 2002 for £30 ON eBay
2. Used to compose most of the songs I have written
3. Played in my gigs with Parachuting Army Men and Hijack the Busker supporting The Modes in Durham
4. Died – 22/04/2007

Good bye, I’ll miss you!

Today I finished a web site favour for a friend of my friend Smidge. The web site is for a choir back up North who unfortunately lost the member that handled their web site. I created a wordpress managed site, using a theme which I heavily modified, new images, slight reorganisation and a lot of photoshop work. The site lives at www.northernspiritsingers.co.uk

I never saw the previous site so I am yet to find out if it is an improvement, I hope it is.

I took on the project after Smidge mentioned it in an email spurred on by what my friend Gareth created for the Ex-National Youth Choir of Great Britain web site. Thanks for the inspiration Gareth! Now after a few updates and some training on the use of the WordPress admin section, the choir can update and use the site to its full potential.

So last Thursday I went all Hip Hop on your ass and went to see Cut Chemist of Jurassic 5 fame at the Islington Academy with Ruf, Anun, Hufty, Ruf’s brother Rob (I think…) and his partner Dave.

I was pleasantly surprised and will definitely carry on listening to and buying more Hip Hop, just got to remember to steer clear of all the terrible Gansta Rap and all that rubbish.

Also adding to the quality night was spending time with Hufty and Ruf and managing to get a hangover the next morning.

Something interesting Hufty and I talked about on the way home, apart from much rubbish, was how good a photograph of hundreds of people queuing single file to get on a London bus or Tube train would be. With all the impatient pushy people, I thought it would be a fantastic image to behold. Now just to work out the logistics of creating it… erm… ahem…

I would just like to know if we are right, or completely wrong. So come on Monkeys! Tell us if you were a Modes or Hijack the Busker fan once upon a time!! It would be nice to have influenced someone that is successful!

So I suppose that makes me a worldwide artist? Should that go on me CV or something, or should I get James back down for more recording sessions and get an album’s worth recorded? Or should I stick to being a geek and save the guitar playing for retirement!!

I’m still in a bit of shock, but it’s nice to know that long recording period of my youth is being appreciated by someone somewhere. I am waiting to hear the reaction of James.