No Tucson . . . .

Not going to Tucson this year to improve on my 4:59:55 from last year. Knackered back, broken shifter on my bike and a flu just waiting to break have culminated in my decision to take a year off and concentrate on riding through the winter months and get my base going early to blow out 4:40 or better in 2010, the tenth anniversary of my first ride in Tucson. Maw and Paw arrive soon for their two month winter stay in SoCal - it will be great to see them again over here as it's been a couple of years since their last visit. Still running the Miata, and have another in the garage with the engine and gearbox out on the floor waiting for rebuilds. Lots to do!

TOC and other things

Well the Tour of California finish was a-maz-ing. More people than I've ever seen in Escondido. Saw the race in two locations (or Bear Valley Parkway and the last corner) and somehow managed to get a spot almost dead in front of the podium for all the jersey presentations. My camera unfortunately had some power issues (charger hadn't been working - didn't know til too late; only brought one camera) so the pics I got on my phones were pretty lame. No pics to post :-(
Managed to do a front-end rebuild on the Miata over two evenings to fix a leak at the water pump (Miatas may be small and fun to drive, but the engine bay is small and no fun to work in!) and joined the San Diego Miata Club. Planning to join them for a drive to Borrego Springs this weekend - good chance to shakedown the car and figure out how to tweak the suspension set up as it's not handling right just now. Which reminds me - I need to go check tyre pressures adn such before I go to work.

This is getting ridiculous

So I yet again manage to not update this for ages . . . . and so much has happened lately! Left one job, started another, re-engaged a client and found at least one new client . . . and maybe that's why I haven't been on my bike in forever and as a result I'm turning in to a lard-ass.
Time to change. Going to watch the final stage of Tour of California tomorrow and hopefully find some fun gear to get me excited about riding again. I'm looking forward to getting my one-off custom bike kit from Sugoi (thanks to my wonderful Helen!) which will also no doubt inspire me to get out there and show it off . . . pics will be forthcoming :-)

Tis the season to be jolly . .. . .

.. . . although it's not the jolliest of seasons right now :-( Weather wet, Economy Slow, time short, weight high!

Platinum, Baby!

4:59:55 for 109 Miles at El Tour de Tucson!

I made the cut for platinum by 5 seconds - next year I'm training to hit 4:45 .  .

6 months and I'm still alive . . . .

Life got in the way big time since my last entry - quit a job, got another one, went to Scotland, came back . . . .
More of that later. Suffice to say life is calming down (if you can count 50 hr weeks at work and ~10-12 hrs a week riding a bike calm :-)

April Fools . . . .

So I posted a link to an (obviously) satirical piece about the Floyd Landis case to my cycling buddies today, and I got called out as being cruel for doing it. Link
I guess Americans don't get satire, sarcasm or wit. If April 1st is a day for pranks and jokes, then surely something like this (especially to cyclists) would be at least a little funny. It's been years since I've done anything on 4/1 (or 4/1) but this year I thought I'd found something that would be appreciated by many. Maybe us Brits just have a better sense of humour . . . . . .