Alfine hub on it's way!

So, after much umming and arring (!) vie finally ordered the shimano alfine hub. The 11 speed version is going to quite expensive so I've gone for the current 8 speed version. That will be plenty enough gears for me around where I ride and I don't think a modest weight saving and 3 extra gears is worth not far off £250 more.

I didn't think I could order it yet but I had a result with some old gold I found in my drawer which ended up being worth a lot more than I thought. With a few other sales, I've got the cash together a lot quicker than I thought I would. So longer and faster rides will be the order of the day hopefully.

New frame next year? Hope so!



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Squeezing one in......

.....a quick ride that is!

Nice to get out this morning and blow the cob webs off. I usually don't suit going out early in the morning as sleep is a premium at the moment due to P not sleeping great. However, I felt ace this morning and could have gone far. Unfortunately, I only had around an hour to ride as I had to go to work. 12.5 miles in that time at a pretty good average speed. Lots of Rabbits, mud up Strelley approach and more dog shit ;-/

I belted up Strelley approach hill (i.e. fall off hill) but it seemed narrower than last week for some reason.

I think I'm going for the Alfine but the current 8 speed version. The weight over the new 11 speed won't be that much and I can cope without the 3 extra gears. 8 Speed is around £340 all in, 11 speed will be £600! Can't justify that for 3 extra gears. Looking forward to getting it, more to follow.....

S

Heading north - the M1 not me!

Hello my friends

Had a reasonable ride yesterday again at just over 20 miles. However, this was the first time in ages I've actually felt like I could have gone further at the end of the ride. Unfortunately, I had to get back to do some chores :-/

I managed both the hill upto Cossall from the canal (top cut) and the hill unto strelley village where I fell off last year. That was going down it so not as much danger going up other than it seems to get narrower and more rutted. Stopped at the M1 bridge at the top to admire the new lanes. I'm sure this will just create more traffic and more space for ever increasing numbers of accidents. At least the 50 mile an hour limit has gone. I digress.....

I'm keen to start stepping it up to regular 25 mile rides but I'm running out of routes and will therefore have to start to combine loops.

I really enjoy the single speeding but the hunt for cash to buy the new shimano Alfine 11 speed has begun. £600 all in including new rim! If only I could get plenty for my scrap gold!

S



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Hot, Hot, Hot!!

Lovely ride today. Managed 20 miles even though it was pretty hot at around 25c.

After the "dog shit" ride the other day, this was the "horse shit" ride. I'm pretty certain that horse shit is as dangerous as dog shit, so why don't horse riders have to pick up their shit? Annoying to say the least.

Power not bad today but legs started to ache towards the end. I'm certainly not back to 100% after a few weeks off, maybe 85% I need to ride more but you know, work, babies, band stuff.....

I'm still hanging my nose over the new Shimano Alfine 11 speed but at about £600 all in, it aint cheap. Once guitars are paid for, I might go for it. Would be easy to swap between SS hub and Alfine.

Time for a sleep at my desk


S

iPad review coming soon

Hello

I promised a review of my iPad experience last week. Unfortunately, real life has prevented me from doing it so far. Let's put it this way for the time being, it's far exceeded my expectations. Sometimes getting a new gadget can be an anti climax, but that has certainly not been the case here.

So, I shall return ;-)

S


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A great gig in Derby last Saturday!

Well, I was nervous about last Saturdays show at the showcase cinema in derby. I needn't have been though as it ended up being pretty cool.

I really wasn't sure what the PA would be like so I was relieved to see a proper system wheeled out together with a sound man.

We ended up playing for about an hour and a half, which is probably the longest set we've ever done, and it included loads of new songs including 2 ukulele numbers and the debut of my new stomp box. That sounded really ace and gave one of the ukulele songs a real "swamp rock" feel.

We got a great reaction after the gig and have had some messages from people since to say how good we were. It's always nice to get that and reaffirms that we should carry on whilst people are enjoying it. Even te covers we did (under duress) sounded pretty good and I hit my high notes in REMs Man on the Moon! Not sure about the Travis song though.......

So, onwards and upwards. We're doing a similar dual set thing next month at the Fishpond in Matlock so that should be fun, particularly as we are all playing.

www.myspace.com/3ringcircus for more info on this.

S



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Call that a football match,

What a terrible excuse for a football match that was last night, let alone a world cup final!

I actually began supporting the Dutch as spa ins tippy tappy football gets on my nerves, but after the first half hour of bad challenges, I started to go for Spain. But then I lost the will to live and went to bed.

Nigel de long even tried to replicate fat gazzas assault on Garry Parker from the 1991 cup final. At least he got booked but that was a straight red card. Howard Webb had a fabulous game in my opinion and the only reason the Dutch are moaning about him this morning is because they played shit. They are even worse losers than England.

I'm so glad the cheat that is robben hasn't got his hands on a winners medal. He typifies everything that is wrong about the modern footballer - constant whining at the ref, diving, niggling dirty fouls and regular arguing about decisions.

So Spain are world champions. Yes, they do pass it well but most of the time it goes nowhere. I'm not suggesting hoof ball that england play is superior or favourable, but you can pass it with purpose rather than for e sake of it like the Spanish. As a forest fan, I've been privileged to see Brian cloughs teams play some of the best passing counter attacking football ever played. We passed it but not for the sake of it.

I still maintain that the Germans were by far the best team and hopefully they can be the first European side to win it in south America. England certainly won't, that's for certain. Hopefully though it will be goodbye lampard, gerrard, Terry et al and we can blood some younger players.

Can we have a break from football for a bit now? At least for a couple of weeks.......

S


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At last a ride,

A lovely day for a bike ride and finally I've managed one.

My first post holiday last week was terrible, no power in my legs and lungs ready to explode. Today I wasn't back to how I was pre hols, but I certainly felt better. Managed 18.65 miles at a reasonable (for me) 11.7 average speed.

I really need to step things up now to regular 25 mile routes but I think I'd need to get out more to build strength up. We'll see how that pans out :-/

On a positive note, the asbestos sheets dumped off the A610 have finally been removed. It seems the council or Severn Trent have finally pulled their fingers out.




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To gig or not to gig

Hello

It's now over 8 years since my band, 3 ring circus, started playing. We got rid of our old pain in the arse drummer who made the whole thing little more than an annoyance towards the end. After we finally did that, I thought things would improve.

In many regards they have. We did the best album we've done so far, played some great shows and now have lots of new songs coming.

But I'm not feeling it at the moment. I still enjoy playing and writing but if I'm honest, gigging has become a bit of a pain. Admittedly it is better now I don't have to lug amps etc about and we do probably sound better now it's not all through a wall of noise.

But gig "getting" is becoming more difficult and when you do get shows, the promoters start demanding straight away that you bring along 500 people on a Wednesday night! Plus there is the age old problem of knob heads talking all the way through your performance, when you are trying to play delicate acoustic/folk songs. We have a gig on Saturday where I know we will not be heard at times but it will be good exposure.

I just wish audiences were more like they are in the states where they actually sit and listen without feeling the need to talk loudly over you to make their conversation about who is shagging who, audible over the music. Idiots.

So what is my conclusion? At the moment I suppose I'll have to keep gigging but could we become a recording only band? That could be e way forward as I'd love to be more prolific with our recorded output.

So if you are in derby on Saturday night, come to the showcase in the west field centre and come and hear some great music. Do not come for a conversation though. ..........

S


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Test from my shiny iPad,

Testing, testing!

This is my first posting from my new iPad (ooh, get me!)

I aim to now be more active with my blog as the iPad will let me do it on the move.

I'll also have my thoughts on the iPad ready in the next few days.

I bet you can't wait :-/

S


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