Finally things started to come together in a National Trophy race for me this year.  Whilst 27th probably doesn’t sound altogether impressive, it signalled that I’ve started to shake off the demons that have delivered me to three dreadful rides in the premier UK cyclocross series.

It was a superb course - the hardest I think I’ve ridden for a few years - with slippy corners leading into rutted muddy bogs and some classic off-camber twists and turns made nigh on impossible by the thick mud.   I was just in a much better frame of mind than i have been for most of this season’s races and i didn’t panic when I fell three times on the first chaotic lap, fighting for places in a packed, panicking string of riders.
What capped it was that Rob Jebb, my Wheelbase team mate, won ‘our’ first ever National Trophy race, on a course that was suited to the stronger riders.

Race report and photos here.

My mate James is living in Australia for the moment, and they do this thing every year - growing a moustache in support of a Prostrate Cancer charity.

To the right is James’ lovely slug.

And to the left he can be seen in a context he’d now find comfortable.

James Spitznagel enjoyed my latest experimental track ‘HB01′ so much that they remixed it!

It’s a pretty experimental bit of music to begin with but James has taken it to another level. Now it ebbs and flows, and drifts in and out like some tidal whalesong. I’m truly flattered and it whips the pants off the rushed original.

Listen to it here.

The term “travelling salesman” takes on a new meaning when you consider the tale of Peter Gilbert, a gentleman from the United States, who has just clocked up a million miles in his Saab over 17 years.

He drove the car seven days a week, racking up the miles as his work took him through rural Wisconsin.

“When I hit 600,000 miles, the car still wasn’t burning oil,” Gilbert said. “That’s when I thought it could go a million miles.”

But Wisconsin’s harsh winters took a toll on the car. Its sporty exterior still looks good, but road salt has rusted its frame. Gilbert realized it might no longer be safe if he hit another deer or had a serious accident.

“There was no point in driving the car any longer,” he said. “Even though it might have gone another million miles.”

Link here.

… that Mr Kirkup told the band to play.

December 6th, 1987 could well have been one of the big defining moments for the UK music industry, but it turned out to be just the day when The Doofers, undoubtedly the biggest thing in the Sedbergh School music scene that year, travelled to the Lindens studio in Rosgill, pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

We were so green, but just full of youthful confidence, and recorded two songs (pretty much live, with singing over-dubbed after). The recording sounds very dated now, as does most stuff from 1987, but I’m just so glad we did it. What a day to remember. We were glowing when we got back witht the tape to play our friends.
More Than You Ask For (MP3, 3.3mb) was my favourite of the time because it was a bit more up my rocky street, but Happiness (MP3 2.2mb) stands the test of time as the stronger song.