Sunday Cycle

Today was the day that I took Dawn out on her new bike.

I got a rusty old heap from the recycling centre and pumped up the tyres which seemed to hold despite the obvious age of the rubber judging by the cracks in all places. The first thing I tested was the brakes and I soon worked out that the left hand operates the back brake (safe) while the right hand operates the front brake (accident assist) then I oiled the chain and made sure that the cogs had a coating to cover all the obvious rust.

I have managed to get the 6 back gears working but the chain remained firmly on the smallest front cog, so I was able to go from slow to slightly faster, which is all I needed today. Sixth gear was plenty fast enough to keep up with Dawn, who did not dare use her gears until the journey home. She has now gained in confidence and is happier since I moved her chain to her smallest front cog. She was able to pedal uphill on the way home.

We both walked our bikes up the final steep hill back home but we hope that by the summer at least one of us will feel fit enough to cycle all the way up.

The Mill on the Exe was our cycling stop, where we indulged in a pint of diet coke each.

As a reward for all the effort Dawn put in, and on seeing her glowing rosy cheeks, I took her to the Double Locks for lunch, where we enjoyed an hour's wait for food (we were warned in advance) before enjoying a relaxing afternoon at home.

Now to look at that other cogset and see if I can get all 18 gears working.

I will have a much better chance of killing myself then.

:)

The Results

SO

England beat Tonga quite easily in the end.

Arsenal have gone 1-0 up away to West Ham (a bogey team in the last few years).

Portsmouth are beating Reading 6-3.

Wales are losing 25-3 to Fiji when they need to win to go through.

If you are reading this a week ahead or further all this will be meaningless, but today, at this point in time, a lot of people are living and dying (emotionally) by the results of these sporting events.

We went out for breakfast to a lovely place called Terry's which is rough and ready and cheap but the service is always fast and the throughput is what keeps them going. I have a bacon sandwich and then my wife, who had ordered the full breakfast, gave me one of her sausages and most of her toast, so I ate big this morning.

I have just picked up my suit from the cleaner's and am hoping to patch together the bicycle we picked up from the recycling centre so that I can keep an eye on Dawn as she rides her new bike for the first time tomorrow.

Now, Wales have just scored two very well worked tries and the conversion is bouncing off the post. 25-22 now. Wales are still in with a chance, and obviously have the upper hand at the moment.

Tickles is fast asleep (when is he ever awake?) lying just in front of my laptop. He is a great example of how to stay laid back in all situations. He would sleep through an earthquake.

Wales now lead 27-25 so it is up to them to lose it now.

Signing off to watch the rugby.

This is looking good.

Ciao

Cardiff Bay

Brilliant.

The song that first attracted Steve Knightley to the music of Martyn Joseph, set to pictures of Cardiff Bay and the surrounding area.

I particulalry like the way the images are used to give you a real feel of movement and life.

A great effort.

I love it.

Speedway

It has been a good week for me.

Monday night is Speedway night and Sky Sports were showing both Elite League playoff semi-finals so I was able to watch all the action all night.

Tuesday I finally got to see the Latvian Grand Prix thanks to an unseen friend who recorded it and sent me a copy so that I did not have to miss any of the action.

Wednesday night we took Dawn's nephew Sam up to Somerset for a Double Header as they rode against both Edinburgh and Newcastle on the same evening. A full evening of entertainment.

Thursday I took it easy and simply scanned the Bydgoszcz event but then there was World Cup cricket and World Cup rugby on at the same time. I kept flicking to get updates on the lot.

Friday I was going to go down to Plymouth to watch Allen Trump's Oxford side in action. Dawn is not feeling very well at the moment so we have stayed in and I have started relaxing ready for the weekend.

It is funny how getting older makes you appreciate the quiet times. There was a time when I would have tried to fill every second with some activity or other.

Ireland have just lost to France.

Unknown Friends

One of the advantages of forming friendships on the internet is that you sometimes receive gifts from friends you have never met and had no idea they were so generous.

One such friend who knows me as a Speedway fanatic very kindly enclosed not ONE but THREE DVDs covering three important meetings over the past three weeks.

I am now watching one of them, I scanned the third (very unexpected one) and I am looking forward to watching the third one another evening.

Thank God for Internet Friends.

Swindon v. Coventry

Coventry Bees have beaten the Poole Pirates and Swindon Robins have beaten the Peterborough Panthers in a great evening's entertainment on Sky Sports.

Next week we will get the first leg of the final.

Swindon v. Coventry

Speedway is about to reach its climax before we put it away for the winter.

I am preparing to put away happiness and develop depression like the rest of the English.

Today the weather is cold.

Ski-Gliding the Eiger

As a keen skier, and knowing the area around the Eiger like the back of my hand I would love to be given the chance to do this, although I can see that it is seriously dangerous terrain.

Barbecue Sunday

This was one very busy day for me.

I had to clear my papers from the lounge so that my wife could prepare the place for visitors. I gave her a hand by hoovering up the cat and rabbit fur and some paper and glitter from the girls attempts to produce some stunning art.

Next I set about the garden after strimming the lawn (more like a meadow) from top to bottom the day before. There were a few tufts that I pulled out with my hands and the back fence then needed to be trimmed as we have some rush fencing with brambles pushing through from the rough land behind. Protruding brambles were given the snip to clean up the fence and I also topped off the tallest bramble branches to prevent overhang.

As guests arrived I made the first pot of tea then set myself up at the barbecue as the first branch of the family arrived. Timing was good as the second family group arrived just as the first lot had finished eating. We has sausages, burgers, chicken kebabs and a few lamb and spicy beef kebabs to go with the assorted salads that had been produced during the morning.

The next door neighbours arrived just as the embers cooled so I had to do a relight to get the food cooked for them. The final arrival was just in time to catch the tail end of the second set of flames.

All this for a 21st birthday celebration. Happy Birthday Jessica.

In the evening (after I had driven one of our guests home - 30 minutes each way) we had our regular Sunday night guests round for a few (more) drinks and a chat.

I had absolutely no problem sleeping.

Through Exeter at Night

If you come to visit us at night please follow this route then turn left at the roundabout and first left after that.

See you soon.

Greenbelt Weekend

Memories of this event go back to the late 1970s and I remember back then it was a chance for church raised children to ask all the questions that were stifled in the indoctrinatory methods used back then to whip Christians into a "Christian Shape".

This year, having settled into a 'non-Christian shape' I am far closer to God than ever before. The indoctrination is still evident in some attendees and the freedom from doctrine is clear in the faces of the youth at whom the event was originally aimed. I will admit I object greatly to people of my own age complaining about the noise made by noisy teenagers as that was the whole point of the event for me over 30 years ago.

I enjoyed this year in a different way. Several people pointed out significant changes and I liked the idea of this year's theme. Heaven in Ordinary is so accurate as to be pointedly precise if you are looking for a direction to head if you want to experience heaven on earth.

Alcohol consumption was far lower this year than I can ever remember, which meant we went home with some undrunk bottles. Conversation with one internet friend suggested that we love the idea of being able to relive teenage years and just let go and enjoy the weekend. Maturity denies one that pleasure most of the time.

Music was once again a disappointment. Over the Rhine promised a lot but did not quite deliver in my opinion. The find of the weekend was, less surprisingly, Irish. Duke Special impressed the wife so much that she has gone and ordered an album from the internet. My call was that he produced a 99.99% performance but then "I was there when U2 performed in 1981".

The talk of the weekend for me was listening to another internet friend talk about the day she met her future husband. The emotions were full on as the mystical tale was woven and we were drawn into her complete and total happiness at the result of what happened. A group walk, with people dropping out, a mountain and talk of Scotland have never sounded quite like they did that evening.

Roll on the next one. Go if you get the chance.

Rachmaninov had big Hands

I have the same problem but now I know the solution.

Too Much Going On

There is so much going on that I just do not have the time to tell you, so to summarise:

Computer Network Updated to make it secure.

Plans afoot for a barbecue to celebrate Jessica's birthday.

The cats have just got new flea collars and have been fed flea pills.

The rabbits have dug a burrow at the top of the garden.

We have returned from an enjoyable weekend at Greenbelt.

We are booking tickets for a short trip to Germany.

The bills seem to have been all paid for the first time in years.

The 2007 Knockout Quiz has just been started.

I have to update the Fantasy Grand Prix tables now.

Farewell all those who browse this with a caring eye.

Fare badly if you are just a nosey bastard.

Ciao for now.