30.8.06
SSWC06 - pics up
Lots of pics of the Singlespeed Worlds in Stockholm up on Flickr now. Looks liek a good time was had by all. Apart from James, whose bike and luggage was stolen, misplaced or otherwise pinched by BA, the bastards.
16.8.06
New phrase
...courtesy of S.
Chino People - dotcom throwbacks who inhabit the executive suite. Hardworking, chipper, businesslike and utterly ephemeral.
Chino People - dotcom throwbacks who inhabit the executive suite. Hardworking, chipper, businesslike and utterly ephemeral.
14.8.06
All Blue Bat, all the time
Allan's sent over some very nice images of the Blue Bat in action. Not sure whose they are, so let me know if they're yours and you'd prefer they weren't shown.
Allan's on the far right. Talk about laid back...
Typical bowman shot. Usually it's because we get our stuff done early and then wait for the rest of the crew to catch up...
Allan's on the far right. Talk about laid back...
Typical bowman shot. Usually it's because we get our stuff done early and then wait for the rest of the crew to catch up...
Dorking West update
Oli's been busy - despite yesterday's scheduled work on the pump track being rained off, he's been chatting with The Man about other improvements for Dorking West.
Been a bit busy
Apologies for the hiatus. It's because I've been working away on something else - the Redlands Trails blog. The blog sits beside the Redlands Trails web site - don't forget there's also a Forum, too. With the closure of bits of BKB, it's now looking like we're going to have a very, very busy autumn.
Next year will also be a bit hectic, as it appears that Swallow will be replaced with a shiny new race boat. More on those plans later.
10.8.06
Art commissioning
Commissioning meetings occur here every fortnight and involve the art desk, the writers and the back bench, also known as production or the sub's desk. As features ed, I'm obliged to give a potted summary of each feature we will be running, and answer questions from the audience about the direction and scope of the piece. Serious brainstorming and other creative things follow as we attempt to come up with illustrations for each feature and fix on a couple of ideas for cover images, headlines and slogans.
As hard as we try, it is impossible for any of us to take this seriously.
After all, it's a magazine, and we are eminently unemployable in any other industry. We might look and sound like a bunch of frickin' Soho creatives, darling, but pretension - or rather - any form of cod-serious thought - is not tolerated in our office.
Consequently, we end up with a lot of rejected ideas that are possibly a little less than... alright. This fortnight's favourites:
Suggested headlines:
Gratis gogglebox mongfest
Log on, tune in, trip out
Suggested illustrations:
'A field full of moneypigs!'
'We could nail pigeon's wings to the back of a squirrel...'
The last one keeps coming back to haunt us. As does a dog being punched in the face by a midget. You get the idea.
As hard as we try, it is impossible for any of us to take this seriously.
After all, it's a magazine, and we are eminently unemployable in any other industry. We might look and sound like a bunch of frickin' Soho creatives, darling, but pretension - or rather - any form of cod-serious thought - is not tolerated in our office.
Consequently, we end up with a lot of rejected ideas that are possibly a little less than... alright. This fortnight's favourites:
Suggested headlines:
Gratis gogglebox mongfest
Log on, tune in, trip out
Suggested illustrations:
'A field full of moneypigs!'
'We could nail pigeon's wings to the back of a squirrel...'
The last one keeps coming back to haunt us. As does a dog being punched in the face by a midget. You get the idea.
3.8.06
"Don't get me wrong--my years of crack cocaine and endless whores were endless fun."
Nice piece here from theBookseller.com - Felix Dennis: Money talks.
Sample quote:
"Don't get me wrong--my years of crack cocaine and endless whores were endless fun," he laughs. "You've no idea what it's like out of your box with 18-year-old girls all over you, spending £50,000 every night. But it literally kills you."
I worked briefly for Dennis in 1998, just before they sold the titles I worked on to another firm. My first experience of Felix was during a quarterly meeting a few months before my formal start date. As we sat inside the board room, with its glass wall onto the corridor, listening to ad sales explain why they'd sold even less adverts than the previous quarter, Felix came past, prancing like a madman when he saw he had an audience. This was during his crack-smoking days, you understand.
The room fell silent. Into the silence, our scouse rowing instructor editorial assistant uttered the words on everyone's minds:
'Who's that old wanker?'
'It's the guy that owns the company,' replied someone after a shocked pause.
at that point, I realised that Dennis was going to be a great place to work.
Sample quote:
"Don't get me wrong--my years of crack cocaine and endless whores were endless fun," he laughs. "You've no idea what it's like out of your box with 18-year-old girls all over you, spending £50,000 every night. But it literally kills you."
I worked briefly for Dennis in 1998, just before they sold the titles I worked on to another firm. My first experience of Felix was during a quarterly meeting a few months before my formal start date. As we sat inside the board room, with its glass wall onto the corridor, listening to ad sales explain why they'd sold even less adverts than the previous quarter, Felix came past, prancing like a madman when he saw he had an audience. This was during his crack-smoking days, you understand.
The room fell silent. Into the silence, our scouse rowing instructor editorial assistant uttered the words on everyone's minds:
'Who's that old wanker?'
'It's the guy that owns the company,' replied someone after a shocked pause.
at that point, I realised that Dennis was going to be a great place to work.
2.8.06
Pump track progress Pt 4
This should give an idea of the scale of this thing. Dorking in the background. Train for illustrative purposes only.
Pump track progress pt2
Looks like a shot from the Mars Rover, but it's the back side of the KOD pile.
This berm - to - tabletop is sweet. Even I was able to ride it slowly. to the right is another line - a small jump. This is the third corner on the pump track.
Fourth corner. That berm is about 15ft high. This is all in the process of being shaped at the moment, so the surface is loose.
Dorking West - pump track progress pt 1
Oli from Head for the Hills has been making solid progress on Dorking West, the jump spot just behind the railway staiton of the same name. Work on the track stalled last year, as most of the kids who had secured the funding with the help of MVCF stalwart Dave Maudell went off to university or, in one case, Hendon Police College. Valiant attempts by Crankslave to get things going faced abrick wall of apathy from jump kids themselves, which was pretty frustrating. Nothing like bitching instead of actually getting off one's bum, is there?
Anyway, Oli has sterling dirt experience, and he got things going again, including sorting out to get Paul back in with his JCB to reshape a freshly - designed pump track / 4x track.
The bund has now gone, replaced by a railtrack-funded fence. the bund didn't have planning permission, and Railtrack are obliged to stop small jump kids falling onto the railway line, apparently. The approach road is now graded and very smoof. As you can see, plenty of scope for parking here, should there be any proper events in future.
Enormous pile of dirt for a king of dirt compo - the shovel is standard size.
The view from the top of the start ramp for the KOD. Oli is above standard size. Absolutely massive...
The jumps are looking more bedded-in now - set like concrete, in fact.
Anyway, Oli has sterling dirt experience, and he got things going again, including sorting out to get Paul back in with his JCB to reshape a freshly - designed pump track / 4x track.
The bund has now gone, replaced by a railtrack-funded fence. the bund didn't have planning permission, and Railtrack are obliged to stop small jump kids falling onto the railway line, apparently. The approach road is now graded and very smoof. As you can see, plenty of scope for parking here, should there be any proper events in future.
Enormous pile of dirt for a king of dirt compo - the shovel is standard size.
The view from the top of the start ramp for the KOD. Oli is above standard size. Absolutely massive...
The jumps are looking more bedded-in now - set like concrete, in fact.
I don't know much about cricket...
..but the whole family enjoyed the Pro 40 match betwen Hampshire and Somerset last Sunday. We took picnics and beer and other booze along to celebrate Ali and Carolyn's wedding anniversary.
Ali lost control of the champagne bottle and blew the cork, so Katie got a backfull of cold suds, and a Somerset fielder was almost taken out by the flying cork. We all had hysterics, and luckily the rest of the crowd seemed to like it too.
Ali lost control of the champagne bottle and blew the cork, so Katie got a backfull of cold suds, and a Somerset fielder was almost taken out by the flying cork. We all had hysterics, and luckily the rest of the crowd seemed to like it too.
Last Thursday's power cut
A power cut in central London last Thursday pretty much wrote off our production for that day.
Luckily we were able to carry on with the art meeting for issue 222 outside. Martin's last art meeting. Aw.
The pubs stayed open, and did a roaring trade.
We sacked off early and started Martin's leaving do at 2pm. I think it ended at about 10.30pm with a bunch of us back in Golden Square, having smuggled pints from The Midas touch over the railings. Good times.
Luckily we were able to carry on with the art meeting for issue 222 outside. Martin's last art meeting. Aw.
The pubs stayed open, and did a roaring trade.
We sacked off early and started Martin's leaving do at 2pm. I think it ended at about 10.30pm with a bunch of us back in Golden Square, having smuggled pints from The Midas touch over the railings. Good times.
Good trimming
Monster primary winches on the muthaship after using the Harken 8Bs on Swallow for years.
Runnel Stones
We got this close to Runnel Stones on the way out and on the way back. Very quiet, apart from the mooing noise the buoy itself makes, which is damn eerie.
Runnel Stones is, apparently, a great dive.
It's worth remembering that this area is not always so peaceful. There was a documentary about the Penlee disaster on the BBC last night - Wolf Rock is not so far from Runnel Stones at all, and the Solomon Brown went out in 80 - 95mph winds that night. The Richards family - my dad's family - come from Lynmouth, and my great great grandfather was coxswain of the Louisa during the rescue of the of the Forrest Hall, and the Richards have always had something or other to do with the Lynmouth boat.
Jackass judge rules against fixies
Ignorance is one thing. But this ruling reported by BikePortland, suggests that the ability to follow rhetoric is also lacking in one Portland judge's case.
In short, a judge ruled that riding a fixed gear bike without a caliper brake was unlawful - despite the law requiring only a brake - not a caliper brake.
A fixie, or fixed gear bike, is a pretty simple thing. The rear cog is fixed in relation to the rear wheel - if the wheel rotates, so does the cog, and in turn, so do the pedals. This means that, to slow down, a rider can simply pedal slower, against the rotational force of the wheel. It's an incredibly simple and effective way of controlling a bike's speed. You stop pedalling, and the bike stops moving.
The Portland, Or. cop who ticketed a courier for riding without a caliper brake did not understand that the fixed gear she was riding had and incredibly effective brake already.
A brake caliper is OK, but think about how strong your legs are compared to your fingers. A fixie has the most powerful brake available - the rider. The nature of a fixie also means that it's impossible to ride wiothout a great deal of skill and experience - it's a self-selecting mode of transport, basically. You can't ride one unless you're really, really good. That's in contrast to the number of bikes I see in the bike shed every morning that have two brakes - two defective, unmaintained brakes.
Most fixie riders in London have a vestigal front brake on their bikes, and most people learning to ride fixie use a front brake only. This is fair enough - I tend to only use the front brake on my singlespeed road bike after all - but what is at stake with this case is the right to use the brakes you want to use, so long as they fall within the requirements of the law.
In short, a judge ruled that riding a fixed gear bike without a caliper brake was unlawful - despite the law requiring only a brake - not a caliper brake.
A fixie, or fixed gear bike, is a pretty simple thing. The rear cog is fixed in relation to the rear wheel - if the wheel rotates, so does the cog, and in turn, so do the pedals. This means that, to slow down, a rider can simply pedal slower, against the rotational force of the wheel. It's an incredibly simple and effective way of controlling a bike's speed. You stop pedalling, and the bike stops moving.
The Portland, Or. cop who ticketed a courier for riding without a caliper brake did not understand that the fixed gear she was riding had and incredibly effective brake already.
A brake caliper is OK, but think about how strong your legs are compared to your fingers. A fixie has the most powerful brake available - the rider. The nature of a fixie also means that it's impossible to ride wiothout a great deal of skill and experience - it's a self-selecting mode of transport, basically. You can't ride one unless you're really, really good. That's in contrast to the number of bikes I see in the bike shed every morning that have two brakes - two defective, unmaintained brakes.
Most fixie riders in London have a vestigal front brake on their bikes, and most people learning to ride fixie use a front brake only. This is fair enough - I tend to only use the front brake on my singlespeed road bike after all - but what is at stake with this case is the right to use the brakes you want to use, so long as they fall within the requirements of the law.
