Fixed and happy

Well I've had the Langster for about a month now,it's undergone a couple of changes since I bought it. It now sports some very comfy bullhorn bars, much better than the very painful track bars it came with. I've ridden it every day since I got it and I love it. I am getting fitter with every week that passes and am starting to tackle some of the bigger hills around Plymouth. Last Sunday I decided to try a longer route:
Starting from home (Keyham) through Plymouth city centre and out on to the Embankment to Plympton, picked up the cyclepath to Yelverton then back on the road to Princetown, passing some tourers and swapping lead with a roadie and some pleasantries as well. From Princetown I headed to Tavistock past Merrivale (38.85mph on the way down!). After a coffee in Tavistock I took the main road back to Plymouth via Yelverton and back to the house. 15.6mph Average over the 47.6 mile route with some big hills. not bad for an old geezer on a fixie

Well that’s it I’m a total convert! I got a Langster in steel, have only rode it fixed since picking up and now I don’t know what I was worried about. Fixed is just the best way to ride on the road. I’ve listened to my best friend Jonathan wax lyrical about riding fixed, the “sense of being at one with the bike” and all that and to be honest I thought he mad (not the hacking your limbs off with a machete mad, more the “would like more fried squirrel with your hamster sandwich type mad). But here I am talking the same way with a fixed grin (pun intended) every time I think of riding my Langster. I opted for the feel of steel in the end; aluminium is just too harsh for my back these days. After a few hours riding around Plymouth in the sun trying out various coffee shops I packed it on the train and headed for Bristol. Jonathan met me at the station for leisurely ride back to his place through town (more coffee shops) my Timbuk2 filled with a weekends supplies. Considering I’d never ridden fixed until the Friday I found myself hammering through traffic and enjoying every minute of it. It seemed like we had only just got started and suddenly we were bad to his place and the ride was over. Definitely got the bug.
Now I find myself looking for any excuse to get out on the bike, and then I find myself checking my watch to see if I have enough time to go the long way every time I go out. I love the bike, Specialized Langster in steel. Retail is £499 but I just bought it through the NHS bike scheme and it works out to cost me around £340. That’s a real bargain for what is a really nice bike. I know there will those out there that turn their noses up at an off the peg fixie but this was always intended to be a cheap bike to commute to work on, I didn’t expect to be so affected by it. So now the mountain bike is locked up in my storage unit out of town and I find myself riding fixie everywhere and loving it.

Slow day, slow ride, legs like lead

Slow day, slow ride, legs like lead. Why is it that some days I wake up full of energy; I bounce out of bed get my riding kit on then jump on the bike and fly up the hills on the way to work. Everything feels easy and right. Then there’s days like today, all felt the same until I hit the first hill, my legs felt heavy and the bike felt like sluggish and tight like the brakes were on and bearing were binding. None of these things we actually happening; it was all just down to me. I still stood up all the way up that hill mind you, not easing myself into the saddle until I had cleared the brow and my speed was picking up.
And so the training continues, I know the fixie is arriving in a few weeks time and I want to be strong enough to clear all the hills on the way to work from the moment it arrives. So I find myself lugging my tank of a DMR Trailstar with its enormous Marzocchi Z150 suspension forks and 2.5inch knobbly tyres that seem to drag at the tarmac up the hills determined not to change gear, just push myself harder. From the ache in my legs I know it’s making me stronger. I know it will be easier on the fixie with its tiny high pressure road tyres not to mention the entire bike weighs about the same as the front wheel of my DMR!
Jonathan was down from Bristol last night for an evening of guitar playing and talking music and bikes. We talked about the whole steel over aluminium frame thing, the comfort that steel offers against the stiffness of aluminium. Whilst I agree in the virtues of steel over aluminium I will still be getting the aluminium version of the Langster as the geometry of the steel version is just to harsh for my first fixie, and let’s not forget the reason for getting this bike in the first place; it’s supposed to be a cheap bike for commuting to work on. If I become one of the truly converted through riding the Langster then I will look at buying a sleek steel framed fixie for purely recreational use. My dilemma now is to try to decide which pedals to fit to my new ride. It comes with some very basic but functional looking caged toeclip pedals, but I think I will feel better on some double sided clipless pedals. There are so many out there so now it’s time to trawl through the web reviews and find a set in my price range that match my requirements; oh yes and some shoes to go with them. My “Five Ten” boots are no good for this kind of riding.

The "Fixie" fixation

Well I’ve done it now; I’ve back flipped off the high board of cycling and landed in the world of the fixie. For so long I’ve ridden mountain bikes with all their cumbersome components making the hills and obstacles insignificant little rolling obstructions. But what do you really need to ride, and I mean just ride.
I’ve looked back at the road bikes I used to hammer the streets on in my quest for more speed and bigger distances. I can’t ignore the feeling that doing 60mph downhill on tiny little over inflated rubber tubes did for me, but now I long for something simple, something pure. Enter the “Fixie”; my honouree brother in Bristol went fixie last year has never looked back. He has repeatedly tried to extol the virtues of fixie riding onto me, but I resisted mentally compartmentalising him as “a bit loose in the marbles area” I mean surely we have moved on since the fixed wheel came out, progress brought us the single speed freewheel. Childhood memories of my first brand new bike a “Raliegh Rebel” single speed with a freewheel. I followed my older brother on his 10 speed racer everywhere (much to his dismay). I used it for everything from epic road rides to hammering in the woods. I probably had more real fun on that bike than any other I have owned since. And so there it was staring me in the face all this time, the simplicity of no gears, bare bones riding, all the fun without the complications.
Unfortunately the real world still has some influence on me and financial pressures of buying a house and supporting a family mean I can’t just go out and buy my dream bike, then the cycling gods did there bit to help and the NHS ran it’s Bikes for Work scheme. So I get to buy a new bike minus all the tax and have it taken directly from my wages over the course of the year so I won’t even miss it, suddenly a new fixie becomes affordable. So I’ve placed my order and now I pace around like an expectant father waiting for the notification to arrive, “your bike is ready for collection”. As my excitement grows and I start to tell friends and colleagues about my new venture I see the blank faces and glazed eyes of people who just can’t get it. “what you mean it’s got no gears at all, how will you get up hills?” my simple reply, ride harder. I can’t help but grin as I say it. It does however make me long for my old riding buddie, Mr Chuck Bodfish now living in the sunnier climate offered by California.
People here (UK) just don’t get it. I’ve not ridden with anyone that really just gets the whole riding thing in all its forms. I guess I miss those long summer days riding the woods, the lanes, the distance, the surreal conversations, sitting enjoying just being there. Boxing Day rides with a cold beer in the middle of nowhere. Andy aka “Chuck” always had a shed full of bikes of all descriptions and a memory for a great ride on each of them. I used to wonder at why one man should need so many different bikes, but now I can see each of them had a place in his life, be it past or present. I guess it’s a bit like a photo album in the way each bike like a picture contains it’s own memories but unlike a photograph, a simple snapshot in time; the bikes purpose remains.
So I’ve ordered my bike, a Specialized Langster 2010. The matte black paintwork and simple graphics match the elegant lines of simple chainline. I hope it lives up to my dream, I have only ridden one very briefly at Certini’s bike shop in Saltash, Cornwall. I now can’t wait to be powering it through the streets of Plymouth nipping in and out of traffic. This is me getting back to basics and loving every minute of it.
Cycling, it’s definitely a way of life not a hobby. Mmm Zen and the art of cycling, (I may start chanting soon). It rained so hard here yesterday but I couldn’t wait to be out on the bike on the way home, when I was completely soaked through I coasted and then took the long way home, just enjoying being out riding. Weather is inconsequential for the most part.

Live to ride, ride to live.. . . .

If you come across any good web sites for fixies or fanzines drop me a link.

Sasha Wardell - Ceramic Artist

I've posted this because I have admired Sasha's work for a long time. I was first introduced to her work by the technician (John Newton)whilst at art college in Plymouth. Sasha's use of simple forms combined with elegent and subtle colours and decoration have captured my imagination and inspired a whole range of my own work. She is without doubt a true master of her art.

Artist statement
Concepts
Sasha Wardell has been working in bone china since 1982 and, even with all its idiosyncrasies, it has remained her favourite material. Possessing qualities of intense whiteness, translucency and strength make it a very seductive, yet challenging, clay to work with. Architectural detail and sections of structures, combined with an interest in illusions, provide the starting point for the work whilst the inherent qualities of the clay do the rest....its whiteness offers a pure blank canvas for the application of colour whilst its translucency enhances any varying degrees of luminosity. At present, she is producing a variety of vases, bowls and wall lights, each of which are individually decorated.
Influences
interest in processes and materials plus architectural structures.

Career path
Since 1982 Has widely exhibited and lectured both nationally and internationally .
1980 Industrial training at Royal Doulton (Design Studio), Stoke on Trent
1979-81 MA. in Ceramic Design at North Staffordshire Polytechnic, Stoke on Trent
1978 Studied Industrial Ceramics at Ecole Nationale des Arts Decoratifs, Limoges, France
1976-79 BA Hons in Ceramics at Bath Academy of Art, Corsham, Wilts

Solo exhibitions
2001 Marianne Brand Gallery, Carouge, Biennial, Switzerland
1999 Contemporary Ceramics Gallery, London
Group exhibitions
2002 Antiques of The Future, Galerie Fusion, Toulouse, France, touring to Fishbourne and Exeter
2001 Wohnen und Kunst, Hamburg, Germany
2001 Expanding our Views, Loes and Reinier Gallery, Seventer, Holland

Details courtesy of Axisweb

Fender Blues Jnr (Limited Edition) Brown Tolex

Well it arrived safe and sound from Anderton's Music on Friday. This fabulous little amp packs a huge punch, it may only be 15w but it is a little powerhouse. Fender have produced a masterpiece here, rich warm tones that break up progressively in an easily controlled with the simple but very effective controls. I've heard others complain about the reverb, maybe I've just been lucky but the reverb on the little amp is responsive and sounds fabulous.
I have struggled for years to get the sound in my head out of an amp. I've compensated for the lack of tone with lots of different effects pedals but its never really made up for that little something that was missing. Well the Blues Jnr just filled the void, I have finally got the all the sounds I ever wanted, suddenly I am getting that good old blues tone, clean when I want it and gorgeously crunchy when I crank it up.

Excitement!

My new Fender Blues jnr arrives today. Pure valve amp sounds are only a couple of hours away!!!!

Pictures and a full review once I've had a chance to use it!

DMR Trailstar

DMR Trailstar

I've been riding this bike for a few months now and have got a good feel for it.

The Trailstar from DMR (made by Kinesis)is an agressive cross country bike that just begs you to point it downhill and give it some beans. It has a great ground clearance whilst maintaining good stability. Mine pictured above has a pair of Marzzochi Z150's up front, a bit on the big side according to the fact sheet but they work well and give a really good feel to the bike.
I have thrown this thing down steep fast rocky decents with absolute confidence. At the same time it's happy on an all day trek, I completed the Dartmoor Challenge (50 off road) on this bike.
Unlike previous DMR's the paint is still on this one (it usually falls off at the first sign of mud).
I ride this bike every day on the commute to and from work and it happily makes the transition across all types of riding (though it might not look so good on the track at your local veladrome!).

Keeping it together is a massive set of STEEL tubing, yep steal is still around and doing the business! The ride is strong solid but still supprisingly comfortable. 20-30 mile rides are easily taken in without enduring fatigue from the usual hard ride of a hardcore hardtail.

In summary this bike is a great all rounder that really comes good when you treat it roughly.

get yourself one, take up a good sized hill and throw yourself down it full tilt. It will suprise you in a very nice way.

check it out:

Fender Blues Jnr

Ok, where do I start.. .. .

Oh yeah I got me a very nice Gibson SG Menace a couple of years ago. I bought a little Marshall MG15MS practice amp to play it through. Initialled I liked the sound I got (much nicer than the Park amp I had before). Then as I really got heavily into playing I started to find a lot of shortfalls in the tone I was getting.

After visiting my best friend in Bristol (Joffan!)and playing my Gibson through his velvety smooth Fender valve amp I immediately knew where I was going wrong. I had to get a valve amp! But which one. Traditionalists out there would say “hey you got a Gibson, so you need a Marshall to play it through” but I’ve never been traditional or conformist for that matter. So I listened a lot (no I mean a real lot!!) to all kinds of amps (Vox, Orange, Messa Boogie and Fender) now I find myself looking at the Fender Blues Jnr (the tweed version with the Jenson speaker).

I play mostly blues but can’t help flowing into big rock riffs!!

Now I’m counting the days and the pennies till I have enough cash to go get one.
Thanks to the wonder of www.youtube.com/metalheadsgman I now know exactly what I want!

Roll on payday!

Ride Lite

Well here we are racing through the middle of January, the ground has finally thawed and is now so sodden the trails are starting to look like they have been ploughed!
Many years ago Chuck Bodfish enlightened me into the ways of riding lite in these conditions, it takes time and practice but the results can be amazing.

It is all about feeling whats going on with the bike and the ground you are travelling over. Try riding down a soggy trail in your normal way, then go back and look at the marks your left on the ground, those tyre marks will fill with water next time it rains, they then form channels as the rain water flows away, pretty soon deep gullies will form as the soil is eroded.

go back and ride it again, feel whats going on underneath the wheels, get yourself out of the saddle a little, let the bike sit loose and relax your grip on the bars. bring your body back slightly so there is just a little more wieght over the back wheel than there is over the front.
This way when you hit a soft piece of ground the front wheel does not dig in so much, you carry more speed and as long as you keep everything gentle and fluid you will find when you go back and look at your tyre marks this time they will be slightly shallower than before. There you just saved that trail for another day. Another day of riding without having to perform back breaking trail maintenance just to keep the errosion at bay.

Now try to ride everywhere in this style. you use less energy, can ride for longer, suffer less fatigue in your hands, wrists, knees and feel better and more relaxed at the end of the ride.

Ride Lite