The circle of life.

The Retard has served me well since it's inception last year. $10 for the frame, some elbow grease and a bit of imagination; it has survived hundreds of kilometres of riding (with some late night inebriated stair jumps and craziness thrown in).


However; it was a sad day last week when I was sitting in my office and saw a grease mark on the head tube. I wiped it off to find that it was in fact emanating from inside the head tube, it had cracked clean through!


On the brighter side of life, it couldn't have happened at a more opportune time; with the Wilier in need of a new purpose after it's role as training roadie had been taken from it.


Luckily it possesses a longer than usual rear drop-out, extending forward on a 45 degree angle and allowing chain tension to be adjusted. She rides like a dream and weighs practically nothing.

.....and so is the circle of life.

Frame: Wilier Triestina, Carbon Forks.
Wheels: Velocity Deep V rims laced to Velocity track rear hub and MTB Disc front hub.
Cranks: Campagnolo Centaur, 39t ring.
Cog: Dura Ace 14t. (73 gear inches).
Seat Post: Campag Record Titanium.
Bars: Truvativ Team risers.
Saddle: WTB Laser V.
Tyres: Michelin Lithion.
Brakes: Legs like steel springs.

Olmo.

Many months back I purchased a NOS Olmo frame from a particular internet action site. With a hideous colour and decal set, as well as a few paint chips and scratches, I decided to get it stripped and powder coated. After that I ordered some reproduction vintage decals from CycleMondo.

I was super impressed with the paint job and the decals, so all that was left to do was to get back onto the net and order some new juicy bits, then spend a night in the workshop swapping parts off the Wilier and creating a new monster.



This is what I woke up to the next morning.





Frame: Olmo, Dedacciai - CrMo Acciaio Legato Tubing (yes I know it has Columbus stickers, but they look so cool) Made in Italy.
Groupset:Campagnolo Centaur, '06 and '08 mixture. (With Campagnolo Daytona Brakes).
Wheels:Easton Vista.
Saddle:Fizik Pave.
Seat Pin: Campagnolo.
Headset: FSA (Will be Campag when I find one).
Stem:Nitto - Pearl 8, 90mm.
Pedals: Crank Bros.
Bar Tape:Fizik.
Tyres:Continental GP4000.
Bottle Cages:Elite Inox (48gms) as used by Chipo.



Took her on her maiden voyage today. I wouldn't race her, but I would ride her all day. So comfortable, the only way I can describe it is that it feels as though I dropped my tyre pressure by 20 PSI. More to come.....

Old Faithful.

Sometimes we take things for granted. I have eight different bikes. Mostly they are spotless and doted over, but the ones I ride the most are the dirty, raw and utilitarian machines that do the long miles day after day.

My most faithful machine is my training roadie. The Wilier Triestina.


I bought her in 2004 from a middle aged guy in Darwin who used it as his training/rain bike. It was well and truly over the hill. Fitted with full Campagnolo Daytona running gear, including hubs laced to Mavic CPX23s. I picked the bike up for around a grand and removed most of the drive train to sell on eBay. For a measly couple of hundred bucks difference I upgraded the bike to Centaur and replaced the wheels with the wheels that came on the Cervelo R2.5.


Over the years the paint job started to lift as a result of sweat and rain so I stripped it back and repainted it by hand with Killrust.


For four years it has been my training bike, rain hail or shine. Hundreds of kilometres a week.


When people say they ride a fixie because there's less to go wrong I laugh. She just keeps on going and going; the most I do to her is clean the chain and cogs, and replace the chain every time my Rohloff Caliber 2 tells me to.
Great lights from Ay-Up allow me to ride day or night, as is the way when your chained to a desk most days.



My Fizik Arione saddle is perfectly shaped to my arse bones, but has seen better days. The Campagnolo Record Titanium seat post smooths out the ride a little (or at least I think it does).


For an alloy frame she rides better than many road bikes I've ridden.


The shifters are worn shiny from constant manipulation, and show battle scars from encounters with cars and bitumen.

So why am i telling you this? Well here's a sneak preview of what is sitting in the workshop........

Whiling away my hangover.

Was a bit under the weather today, so headed out with the 50mm and the wide angle for some afternoon and evening shots on the Strand and Castle Hill.

Scandinavia Trip - Part 5 (Denmark/London)

Our plan to spend a couple of days in Amsterdam after Copenhagen fell through due to a complete lack of accommodation and a distinct lack of funds in our joint holiday account. So we decided to spend longer in Copenhagen; what a fantastic decision that was!!

Copenhagen is officially my favourite city.

It could be described as a much larger version of Amsterdam, but it has an entirely different atmosphere. The city seemed to revolve around making the most of the summer sun. Outdoor cafes, countless thousands of semi-clad cyclists and squares full of people just hanging-out. We hired bikes in order to see more of the city and make the most of the well appointed cycle lanes. I was immediately made aware of the feminine appearance of the step-through bikes we had hired when no more that a hundred metres from the station I was ridiculed by a local yelling, ‘Keep your legs together!!!!’




Our hotel was around ten kilometres from the city and we decided to join the peak hour cyclists on their way out of town in the evening. We picked up the etiquette relatively easily. It’s not too hard to figure out your doing something wrong when a beautiful girl in a short skirt and high heels urgently rings her bell from behind you before sporadically over taking you and speeding off shaking her head.




Keep to the right (the slow lane) or ride really fast, conduct hook-turns when turning left, use your bell generously to let people know you are there and don’t worry about cars, they are more scared of you than you of them. What kind of weird utopia was I in?











Situated in Helsingor (a busy little town populated by Swedish tourists making the most of the cheap alcohol, pushing around trolleys crammed with cartons of the stuff) Kronborg Slot it is the actual castle that William Shakespeare based Hamlet on and was a short train ride from Copenhagen. As we approached the castle the moat and draw bridge immediately made us feel like we were on a film set.






We lunched at a two hundred year old restaurant before we headed further a field to Hillerod to visit Frederiksborg Slot, another castle, this one spread over five small islands. The shear size was one thing, but the detail in the decoration blew us away. That was before we saw the immaculately manicured gardens!!!







We were impressed by the number of people socialising on the Thursday night in Copenhagen and decided that we make the most of the party atmosphere on what was then a Friday night. We had dinner and decided to buy some beer at the seven eleven, as it was quite accepted to drink in public, and it was ridiculously cheap (about $12 for 2 litres of Carlsburg)!!!


We started hitting the pubs until we found one that was serving super cheap mojitos. The bar girl took a liking to us Aussies and would constantly watch our every movement, having our drinks ready before we had even reached the bar and ignoring all other patrons. I whole heartedly blame her for our drunkard state as we left the pub.


We eventually arrived at a night club that seemed to be over populated with above average (that’s super super hot Australian standard) looking ladies. We enquired as to how much the cover charge was. The six foot tall, blonde and muscle bound bouncer replied in a strong accent, asking, “Gentlemen, do you understand the concept of this club?” We took a step back as numerous possibilities ran through our minds. Unfortunately none of our dreams would come to fruition as all he meant was that the cover charge was quite steep, but drinks were free once you entered. It also seemed that all the good looking young women were present as they didn’t have to pay a cover charge!!! Unfair? Possibly. Good idea? Yes.

The rest of the night was understandably a blur. We somehow entered another night club of a similar ‘concept’ but I can’t remember the journey. This one was five floors high and each floor was different, from dodgy mirror bound dance floors to secluded lounge bars.

According to the photographic evidence on our cameras we left as the sun was getting brighter in the morning. And I devoured a kebab on the ground in the town square.

We slept for less than half an hour before I had to force Tim out of bed to catch a train and then a plane to London.


London

Visiting London is always the same; a blur of subway trains, busy and mostly disgruntled looking locals, expensive clothes and average weather. We visited the sights, even though we’d seen most of them before, went clothes shopping and began to wind down after a month of planes trains and automobiles.















On our last night we enjoyed a last supper with some of Tim’s friends at the Long Acre pub. I explored on my own for the night and the next morning we were on a Qantas flight back to Oz through Singapore.

Statistics:
Countries - 8
Nights - 28
Planes - 9
Trains/trams/subway – 36
Taxis – 8
Buses – 19
Ferries – 6
Bikes – 4
Hostels/hotels – 16
Photographs – approx. 2500 each
Dollars – 7000 (each)
Visible G-strings under summer dresses - Countless
Hotdogs for Ty – Too many to count.

Notable quotes:
"LOOK AT ALL THOSE PLANE MARKS!"
"GAPPAGE"
"HELSINKI'S LAW"
"KUNSK"
"I,M GREATEST GIFT, GOOD LIFE"
"IF SHE ROCKS UP IN AN 'ACDC' TEE, I'M WALKING!"
"HAVE YOU EVER BEEN WHACKED IN THE HEAD BY A DECENT SIZED TIT?"
"GENTLEMAN - DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF THIS CLUB?"
"IT'S A WHOLE NATION OF 'MUFFINTOPS' "
"THE PEPPERSACK AND BIERHUS ARE THE GREATEST PLACES ON EARTH!"
"OOOOH IT REALLY HURTS, THIS IS TORTURE"
"HAS TO BE SOME 'G' ACTION"
"INSANO"
"YOU'RE A GAY HOMOSEXUAL"
"SPACIAL AWARENESS - ZERO"
"THE PINK CREDIT CARDS ARE JUST SO WE DON'T LOSE THEM"
"YOU ARE A SECRETIONLESS FREAK"
"STAY AWAY FROM THE CRACK WHORES"
"THEY HAVE BOGANS OVER HERE TOO"
"FEEL LIKE A HOT DOG?"