Matt's Mechanical Misdemeanours

The sound of hammering, followed closely by swearing. I spot Matt with a BMX bike in the stand, bashing a ratchet spanner with a mallet...

Me: "What are you doing?"

Matt: "Just changing a tube..."

Dopers Suck!

We've known it all along really, but even though it's a half admission, at least it's something. But are we really supposed to believe this?

Meanwhile, this idiot is still trying to make us believe he's innocent. What will he come up with next?
He really does suck.


Funny... check out the t-shirt. Do you think Testosterone Boy noticed?
Next stop, Armstrong.

Blanket Man

I see this dude every day on my way to work. Yesterday I almost rode over him as he was sitting on the road at the end of Cuba Mall in the bus lane! He just looks up and pokes out his tongue and laughs. He's an icon in Wellington, even has an entry in Wikipedia and a Myspace page!

He looked like he was doing it tough this morning in the howling wind though. Didn't even smile....

Matt's Mechanical Pearls of Wisdom, Pt. 2

Customer: "Is that seat post bolt alloy?"

Matt: "Yeah, dunno, probably... If you leave it out in the rain and it rusts, it's steel..."

Ay Up Mt. Vic!

It was a night of firsts for me last night. First ride testing the Ay-Ups and my first ever ride on Mt. Victoria, host of a round of the '98 World Cup (Cadel won) and several National XC races. Marty was my guide, and we left from his place in Melrose, an area of Wellington I never knew existed. You drive through the grungy inner-city suburb of Newtown (just like Newtown in Sydney) and suddenly you're in an almost semi-rural setting, with views back over Lyall Bay and the Cook Strait towards the South Island. Pretty cool. We rode over Mt. Albert, through some parks, down sets of stairs with tight switchbacks, up roads and finally on to Vic. Some nice singletrack up there, lots of roots, pine needles, some steep bits, made all the more fun with the darkness and my unfamiliarity. The lights are pretty damn cool too, almost as bright as my HID's, but so much more compact and lightweight. The only negative is the beam pattern is a spot more than a flood like the HID's. My eyes took a little bit of getting used to that, but they could be good when adjusted properly. Will be giving them another run tonight.

Ahhh, music! (to my ears)

... a decent band with some real talent and an original sound (though I hear some cool influences in there, [eels]....) Read up on Cold War Kids here

and check out this, and other videos while you're at it.

Matt's Mechanical Pearls of Wisdom, Pt 1

He may be able to ride a bike (Olympian, pro roadie in former lives), but Matt is a self-confessed hubbard when it comes to anything remotely mechanical.
So I give you a new blog feature, 'Matt's Mechanical Pearls of Wisdom.' Matt says "I think this bike needs a bashguard!"

Here's today's advice on disc brake pad wear.

Customer: "How far can you wear down your disc pads?"

Matt: "When sparks fly out, that's too far..."

Good advice kiddies.

Stay tuned for more gems from the big Pommy git.

Weirdos

If you need any evidence that bike riders are freaks, here it is. Apparently Ross the Rad's been doing sit-ups. I think he's looking for a spot in the porn industry. In the 70's.

Check out the head on this guy...
This is a rare sighting actually. Matt NEVER cleans his bike, but I caught him, on a Sunday, at work when no-one was around, with rag in hand. He was changing his big ring from a 50 coz he got dropped on a DOWNHILL on his bunch ride. And uphill too, but that's to be expected from such a big Pommy unit.

Making hay

The sun hasn't shone much in the last week here in the windy (and wet, remember it always rains in NZ!) city, so any opportunity to get on the bike has been snapped up eagerly. Tuesday the rain abated long enough for us to get in a night ride at Makara.
The trails were still a little damp in places, becoming almost sodden on the higher sections, but in surprisingly good shape considering the amount of rain in the days before. Josh brought along Hadley from Crankworks, and his dog Drake, a black lab (I think) that halfwheeled everyone on the way to the top, then would sprint past out of sight before re-appearing looking you in the face a few metres later. Like a black ghost in the lights.
At the summit the fog was a pea-souper, and negotiating Ridgeline with 2 metres of visibility and soap-like traction was interesting and fun, until you ended up in the bushes. The lower half, when you could see again, was great fun. Luckily there is a bike wash station in the car park, and luckily Josh had brought a few beers.

The rain returned again later that night, and stayed around until Friday, which was a glorious, sunny day. Wellington when the sun shines is a beautiful city. Pity I spent most of the day inside at work, looking out into the street wishing I was riding.
This is the view over Evans Bay from my new flat.
I got to leave early though, so a road spin on the commuter bike was in order. There was just enough daylight left to head around the bays towards Seatoun and drop in on my mum, who is over and staying with my uncle and aunty (hey L & V!).
The air was just crisp enough to warrant arm warmers, and the breeze wasn't gale force... it's strange how around one corner you will be faced with a headwind, then make another turn and it's suddenly eerily calm, then back to buffetting you again, then propelling you forward effortlessly.
I wished I had my road bike here again, I need to feel the purity of a long spin, just tapping out the rhythm for a few hours. This would suffice for now though.
This is my beer of the week, I saw it in Spoke magazine (I think, or the Sunday paper...), but hadn't seen it in shops until last night. And what a little beauty it is. Reminds me of Little Creatures a lot, with a strong, hoppy and fruity flavour and 5.2% kick. Will be having a couple more with Lindsay tonight.

Ay-Up!

Check out these cool lights from Aussie company Ay-Up. They're sending me a set to try, they look the goods.