retro hipster bullshit...

i know i must be getting old(er).

i find myself looking in bemusement at the mass of old bits of crap dressed up as bikes on the streets of the GTA these days.

it wouldn't be so bad but i'm constantly amused at the prices people try (and i assume manage) to sell these things for.

its like Igor's warehouse full of old bits of crap bikes from the 80's has been looted, and some industrious entrepreneur has resprayed them with hamerite and flogged them on craigslist as "vintage Italian steel hipster: $600".

fuck, my parents bought me a piece of crap like that when i was 12yrs old, 3rd hand (maybe even 4th) and not because they were happening beatniks ahead of the game,

but because they knew even then, it was a heap of rusting archaic shit, that i was inevitably about to run into the ground and destroy, riding round the streets and over the forest (long before the world knew of mountain bikes).

now i watch all the "me too's" clanking down college st a little in bemusement.

fuck for $600 you could buy a new bike (well kind of) but i wouldn't pay $60 for that piece of crap, i don't care if it was hand crafted by elvin virgins in the forges of Mr Cinelli's back yard.


but being old now i guess i simply don't get it...

"but dude i like striped everything off it, shortened the chain and stuck a fixie on it???....and its black now whats not to like!"

"My (overpriced) retro chic, means i'm also an unique individual!.... so fuck off you old c**T, i'm off to go ride on critical mass and tweet witty anti establishment sound-bites from my iphone" or something like that.

Ha critical mass, i do that every weekend, its called "the donut", but we ride at 50kmph not 5, and scream obscenity's at each other, not the general public (for the most part). its been happening since the 70's (allegedly).

mutter grumble ..psst (fart)

....then i got up. I said "well thats enough - fck It!" [everything continues]

well for those of you (mum?) that have followed my rants for the past year, thankyou.

But with things and feelings slowly reaching a tipping point i've a feeling i'm about to throw the towel in on the season.

its been a great season, but i'm pretty wiped out. With work commitments taking up most my time and energy. And illness and injury peaking their heads round the door.

experience tells me its time to sit up, shout "uncle" and let go.

since the provincial championships (in fact before) i've almost no time to train consistently, which is probably a blessing as i have even less energy to do so.

In the last 2 weeks i've had an ear infection and an eye infection, and the other day i awoke at 5am barely able to move with a bad back.

luckily the pain only last 24hrs, but i think its time to sit back and enjoy the rest of the year without expectation.

Tomorrow i'm going to do the donut on my new bike, without my power tap and just enjoy the ride! Then I'm going to get my hands on a cyclocross bike and do some trail riding. Then make the most of the fall riding before kicking it all back into gear again for next year!!!

so thankyou and good night. its been a great year....

My new Gilmour.

So after many months fussing over this and that and scrapping together the parts for it my new custom made and sprayed Andy Gilmour bike is together at last!!!



made from Easton scandium tubing and built round a standard geometry, taken from my old favourite Bianchi San lorenzo frame.

Andy built in by request, S bend seat and chain stays and an integrated Ritchey WCS head set.

bought together with alpha Q10 full carbon forks and steerer, and Ritchey WCS alloy bars and Reynolds stem;.

With my past history of failures with carbon parts i don't trust anything but alloy in critical areas such as the flight deck.

And kitted out with campagnolo chorus 10 speed group-set supplied at an unbeatable price through Coach Mirek Mazur of Team Mazur. (thank you for coming through again!)

I went with the 10 speed for several reasons, not only the price but also for compatibility with my other road bikes as well, and so i could avoid having to pay $200 for a feckin campagnolo chain breaker.

For my butt i went for the old faithful fizik arizone saddle which seems to agree with me well on long rides, combined with a FSA slk light carbon seat post. I choose some reliable and light specialized water bottle cages and a set of campagnolo neutron ultra wheels and speed play zero pedals to round of the bike fit out.


And whilst it may not be as light as some of today mass produced carbon offerings from Taiwan, weighing in at around 17.5lbs its initial ride felt super smooth over the bumpy old crap of my usual training loop, and very responsive when i jumped out the saddle to put some speed out.

But best of all its mine..a one of a kind there is nothing else out the like it!

I always dreamed of having my very own custom bike built one day and now that dream has come to fruition.

so now i guess i can transfer my (seemingly) never ending desire for new bikes onto something else.

My girlfriend asked me not to get any more bikes until we lived somewhere bigger.

i said i couldn`t promise to do that....

desire is a terrible mistress....

The State of the Union is.....

Pretty feckin mullered overall...but content.

well its been a full on few weeks as the season draws to a close. Last weekend saw the team head up to elliot lake for a three stage race.

A crit, the Provincial Hill Climb Championships and the Provincial Road Race Championships.

And although we narrowly missed coming home in the medals we managed to get numerous top 10 placements, and scored three, 4th place finishes.

Even a fat boy like myself managed to come in fourth in the Hill climb! just 8 seconds off a 3rd place medal.

I also scored a 8th in the road race due to to some great team work, pulling back a some break only 1km from the finish line.

thats me bringing up the rear in the sprint!



anyway after my somewhat unexpected result in the hill I've had to reassess my season and cycling goals.

with the season almost over and cross season less than 4wks away, i've developed a new found interest in time trialling.

A sport once described as similar to punching oneself in the face continually for an hour to see who can endure the most pain. So now I'm all skin suits, overshoes and tear drop helmets.

the crazy train team TT is next week, followed by the provincial Crit race, and then god damn it the provincial TT championships. Oh and the queens park pro/am invitational where Ryder Hesjedal is going to beat us all to a pulp on the classic 2km down-town loop.

all of which is a lot better than last years calendar but the fact i'm totally knackered isn't really helping things much.

oh well guess we're going to see what comes to pass.

watch this space.

Its the weekend!!!

Well with the provincials just around the corner my pre race training is going well!

I spent it stuck down a hole digging up the foundations of a team mates house with +40's C humidex. its like working in a sauna but with out the same chic-ness.

I can drink 7-10ltrs of water in a day and still piss custard!!! (btw i don`t recommend doing a goodle search for images for that last Phrase). And this coming week will see more of the same...which is nice.

Oh well i guess its great training for the predicted 33C and rain at the race next weekend.

Well today i hit the donut! Taking it fairly easy and heading up Keele, instead of going with the big kids up jane st.

However i still managed to roll off the front and get a 20min solo break up the hills and the 2nd sprint! that`ll learn them to let me off the front!
Off course this was only dampened by the fact after the café break I was lead first over a large non de-script metal object, and then later at high speeds over what seemed like a small crater!! which killed my rim leaving somewhat of a flat spot that let me bounce all the way home...fuck!
Just what i need a wheel re-build a week out from Provincials!!!

oh well c`est la vie non???