Category: Blog

Ever the one to blow my own trumpet (if only I could reach it), I thought it’s worth a cyclo-cross update. I’ve now won the North West cyclo cross league with still two rounds to go. Nice feeling. Warm glow, etc. But…. the icing on the cake came on Sunday 18th December, on a freeeeeeezing day at Beacon Hill park a few miles from Wigan when I managed my first victory of the season. Hooraaaaah! There was a slightly smaller field (46 signed on at the start) but I made it convincing, clearing off straight from the start and extending my lead on each of the seven laps of the woodland / hillside circuit. The slight down side was that it was so cold that there was a tiny gathering of spectators to see me come over the line in first place, but that’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Piccie courtesy of Ian McVety, from the previous week’s race at Ulverston.. (where I was second). Barrie Clarke struggles in the background…!

It’s a banana crown. What else do you want to know?

The only way I can think of to make some odd, personalised film in about five minutes without a camera: DFILM. Good honest Friday fun.

Quite simply the most original song of 2005, JCB song by Nizlopi brings a tear to my eye each time i hear it. Top video too.

I went past this village on Sunday and its name made me chuckle.

Ever since the Music Genome Project, people would ask, “Can you help me discover more music that I’ll like?”.

The Pandora Project is the next step on, allowing you, for free, to type in an artist or tune that you like, and listen to similar music, in a radio station type way. It works fairly well. Requires a reasonably quick (not dial-up) connection. Well worth a visit.

illegal-art.org is worth a look around – covering all sorts of artwork that has met copyright issues head on.

This is what happens when you mix Queen with 50 cent. You’ve been warned. Reminds me a bit of the Grey Album project, which shouldn’t have really worked, but most think it did. Alot better than this. i know it’s tongue in cheek (I hope it’s tongue in cheek0, but it’s still grating like mad.

It is shiny, black, gorgeous, and has arrived after just a bit of nagging friends. Aren’t I a lucky chap?

The third of three Cyclo Cross races at Otterspool Park this year and again a fourth place. Not much wrong with fourth place, but it’s just an annoying course for me because:

1. The first race there saw me break my chain on lap one and have to run for approximately 1km and start lap two in about 40th place – eventually finished 7th
2. Race two went relatively smoothly, but I had a really slow start and had to fight to pass people for the first three laps. Eventually got fourth on account of Rob Jebb turning up and Johhny McEvoy being on a flyer – Stuart Reid got me in the finale. Could be better, could be worse.
3. Race three was drier on the ground than the first two which was welcome because of the sticky mud that can clog your bike up. I did a good race (despite a sesh the night before) finishing one place behind Rob Jebb but we were nowhere near Ian Field and Ian Bibby (Trek-SIS) who were cruising round.

Interesting venue, but glad it’s all over for another year!

Matthew and I went to see Whole Lotta Led – a Tribute to Led Zeppelin, last Friday. Where do I start…? Firstly, tribute bands are not a new concept at all, but this is the first one I’ve seen. Secondly, I love Led Zeppelin. I love all sorts of music, but LZ are in my bones, as it were. I’m not going to review the gig too much – principally because I can’t be ar5ed, but it was a good night out.

Main observations:

• Bassist looked like Matthew’s dog, Merlin.
• Sound was pretty excellent – what other way could you hear ‘Led Zeppelin’ play live through a massive PA so that it thuds through your body?
• Drum solos will make a come back.

I like these weekends – where there’s a cyclo-cross race on both Saturday and Sunday, and I’m not sure why I like them. There’s something a bit manic about having to finish a race, wash down the bikes, put them back in the car, come home, wash them down properly, mend them, lubricate them, then get yourself in the shower, so you can do it all again the next day. I usually find ‘cross races fairly nerve-free, but if I’m ever nervous, it’s before a Saturday race when there’s two races in a weekend. It’s got something to do with surviving race one so you can do well at race two, or vice verse.

As it happens, this weekend’s races were both on really old-style courses [for old-style, read ‘crappy’]. Otterspool Park in Liverpool is a lovely place, urban parkland at its best in many ways, but the courses seem to be strewn with gnarly singletrack; slippy roots covered in leaves, etc. Now don’t get me wrong, singletrack is the off-roader’s bread and butter – it’s fun to ride and can be one of the true tests of skills – and concentration. But in a mass-start event like these are, with upwards of 70 riders, it’s not long before the people at the front end of the race start lapping people, and with that comes utter chaos on these narrow woodland tracks. It’s no good for the person doing the lapping or the person being lapped.

Sherdley Park in St Helens (Sunday) was no better – a load of fun to ride but utter chaos to race with so many people ‘in the way’. I loved the twists and turns and hidden bits of mud, but the open stretches of grassland and challenging uphill stretches were too few and too short. There is also a liberal dash of tarmac in the park, but stunningly NONE of this featured on the course. Olde World cyclo-cross indeed.

Still, packing up the car with muddy bikes for the second time in 24 hours for the journey home, you can’t help but be satisfied that you’ve done it all. Two flat out efforts of an hour or so (and in my case, two 4th place prizes that just and so pay the entry fees and petrol money), and yet you don’t really feel tired, you just feel recharged. That’s why I love cyclo-cross, and why these two-in-a-row weekends are so memorable.