Or this one!

Darren's new bike

A plan that nearly came together

Last night I was out riding with Darren, when he revealed one of his "special" plans. It started when I arrived at his, and he suggested going away for a ride the next weekend - but I would need a day off to do it. Mainly because it was a day trip to California.

Friday - Fly to San Francisco
Saturday - Ride Pine Mountain, Repack, and whatever else was to hand in Marin County
Saturday eveining - Fly back
Sunday - Arrive back in the UK

Travel light, hire bikes over there - it just could work. I could even fly in bike kit, camelbak and helmet on. I might get a few odd looks, but I'd be well protected if something fell out of the overhead lockers (which they always warn about but I've never seen happen).

By the end of the ride he'd more or less convinved me (helped by the offer of a ticket bought with his airmiles), I just had to check I had nothing else planned.

And you can guess the rest - I did. Bah. A "Grease" night, at a local hotel. How did that ever happen? I'm going to dress as a disgruntled mountain biker. I'm sure there were a few of those in the film.

Tomorrow I'm off to the bike show, so there might be a few pics of exotica appearing on here.

Baa bap ba, ba daaa, da da, da da da da daa!

It's been a filty weekend. My one chance for a dry ride was blown by thinking I was on the verge of a cold and been kept awake by someone who has a cold. So I ended up in the garage, on the turbo trainer, for the first time in ages. I was nearly scuppered by not having any clean cycling shorts (how did that happen? I've got seven pairs!) but I figured I'd worn normal shorts in the gym and not died, so I used some of them.

It was a bit odd being back on there, but at least I got to use my new laptop to watch three episodes from Simpsons series four. When we first bought a DVD player I purchased lots of stuff I thought I needed, such as the first four Simpsons series, Ghostbusters, all the Futuramas. Obviously I've not watched a lot of these - the fourth Simpsons series was unopened (after a good four years). I guess that as they are on TV every night I don't feel the need to watch them on DVD. So, being back in the garage might be a chance to catch up on all those boxed sets, and maybe buy some more.

Anyone want to buy me the complete Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

Playing Frogger

Last night's ride had a few things that added a sprinkling of nutmeg on the egg custard of normality. It was the first ride of the year that had that autumn feel to it - dark, rainy, wet, gloopy, windy and a distinct chill in the air. Also, I was riding my singlespeed off-road with mud tyres - probably the first time since my arm fell off. And then I was playing frogger. But not in a good way, being a frog. I was one of the bad guys.

For some reason that I can't be bothered to google, about this time of year the roads get dusted with dead frogs. At least, I like to think of them as frogs, as toads aren't as pleasant. They come out in the rain and the dark and sit in the road, waiting for a passing car or bicycle to turn them into flatfrogs. Some of them have the decency to face you as you ride along, so their light coloured fronts glisten in your bike lights. These generally get dodged. Others have less sense, and are playing a dangerous game. The third kind are already squished so avoiding them is more down to a desire to keep tyres clean than the preservation of froggy existence.

I don't think I squished anything that hadn't already been under a car, but it's going to happen one night, and it's not going to be pretty.

Especially when I photo it and post it up here.

It's 08:17

And I must go and sniff some GT85.

Why is bike DIY better than house DIY?

I really, really find house DIY tedious, stressful and pointless. It does nothing for me. My total DIY efforts in 5 years have been

• Fixing some concealed bolts on the door between the house and garage
• Putting up some shelves in the garage
• Putting up lots of hooks in the garage
• Fixing the back gate
• Fixing the front door lock
• Filling a few cracks in the plaster

Now, half of those relate to the garage - where bike fettling takes place. So if I find house DIY so difficult to get started, how can I spends hours in the garage stripping and servicing hubs, tweaking derailieurs, lining up brake hoses, replacing suspension linkages....? Maybe I'm addicted to the smell of GT85 in the morning.

This time next year I'd like to be...

...a vaguely qualified MTB guide. I've started by registering with Scottish Cycling on the SMBLA scheme, and I've read some of the manual. I've even got three friends who are interested too, and someone (who isn't me) to pay for the first course. Next is to assemble 20 logged rides (i.e. rides that I've written down), book on a course and go along. Oh, and I'm already a qualified first aider, paid for by work, which is nice.

On a completely different note I spent today visiting a call centre. As well as being astounded by how knowledgable and skillful these people were, I noticed that there were lots of large people. I'm not sure if this is because

• they spend most of their working lives sitting down

or

• it was an area of the country that has "larger" people

All I can say is the restaurant attached to the hotel was and "all you could eat" and packed out on a Wednesday night.

Mmm, wheels...

1320g of lovliness.

This time, the pasty shop

It's Darren, he made me eat bad food again.