The 3 Amigos Fight the Wind

 What a most excellent morning I had this morning. I mean not only did everything go to plan, I was able to find my bike kit, my bike turned on and connected to my phone immediately, my new Oakley Sunglasses with Trail Prism Lenses are awesome and I can actually see, and to top it off meeting up with my two compadres Lee and John who I have not been out for a ride with as the 3 Amigos in like what seems forever.

The 3 Amigos

From meeting up with the lads we were soon into  fantastic banter and reminiscing about the good ol'e days and some of the funny adventures we had previously been on, on our bikes. I really do hope this year we can make it another year to make some new memories and get out more together, as that is what life is all about.

Even though the weather man, or woman had said it was going to be windier than yesterday, and I think they were right, it didn't take away from how much we all enjoyed meeting up and spending time in one another's company.

  

Love my Orbea Gain

Bike isn't great in the slippy bits Whoooaaa!

Riding in the sheltered areas wasn't so bad, like going through South Moor Park, and parts of Chapman Wells. However going across from Maiden Law to towards Burnhope and then going down the old Peth bank was canny windy, so much so that I was only doing 9mph and having to pedal down the Peth. Normally I can do 30 to 40 mph down there no worries, and boy riding up the Lanchester Valley into a head wind was tough.

Not often Lee is behind me

Lee

As usual John and I were trailing behind Lee. Lee is like the Energiser Bunny and just keeps going and going and going LoL.

From the get go John had been informing us of his desire for a Cornish Pastie, not just any old pastie mind you, Oh No, according to John these are the best Cornish pasties in the world. As we got nearer to Knitsley and the farm shop, his hankering had not diminished and I actually think he sped up somewhat.

  

John and Me

Love been out with the lads

John came out of the Farm shop and didn't appear to dismayed that he had not been able to obtain the best Cornish pastie in the world (allegedly I don't want anyone suing me) instead he had gotten a corn beef pastie, it must have been good as he almost took his fingers off with the first bite Lol

 

Could this be the best pastie in the World ?

Off we set once more facing the wind towards Consett, John now packing "Pastie Power", we eventually come up past the old red Wagon on the cycle track near Hownsgill and we headed back towards Stanley. The ride home became easy as we now had the wind at our backs and it really did push us along.

A liittle bit of single track after crossing the main road at Greencroft and we came out at Dodd Terrace and then it was easy to get back on the C2C at Anfield Plain.

As we got to John's house he popped in to go and get his wee dog to show Lee. John's dog is a cute little fella, proper friendly. John, says he is called Bruno, but I call him Frank, I think he looks more like a Frank. I like to wind John up, however he knows what I am like and always takes it in good fun.

19.1 miles done. It was a fairly hard ride, due to the wind, but well worth it for the craic and hanging with good m8's.

  

Frankie... Err I mean Bruno

Frank n John

Ooh and the day hasn't ended just yet., more excitement with a little added nervousness, as the short film I was featured in is being privately screened at Newcastle tonight. 

 

I didn't choose the title `LoL

I have invited friend and family and hope it goes down well and they all think the film is something special. The film is still doing well having received 6 awards at various film festivals.

Well I had better head off and try and make myself look pretty Bye for now.

More Bike Porn

 As I am currently off work, yet again due to my leg not fitting I am trying to find stuff to do. Yes Like Bike porn...

Even though my old regular everyday socket is not fitting, which is the exact same design/size as my cycling socket, thank God I can still get out and go for a bike ride.  I have to wear two seals, plus a stump sock in order to try and maintain the air and prevent my leg from dropping off mid ride. This means I have to keep stopping and putting weight through my prosthetic leg, hear that all to familiar "hiss" as I expel the air and then I can more or less continue my ride in a stop start fashion.

I am sure I have also mentioned my BTK knee is also appearing as if it is worn, as it is rattling, but hey so far it is hanging in there. I completed a 40 miler ride yesterday with my friend Lee, riding my Orbea Gain Gravel bike. I am sore as hell today, however enjoyed the ride.

The way things are going with my everyday socket I am so grateful I can still get out and ride, as at the moment "everyday" things where I have too wear my limb are proving very painful, tiring and I am loosing confidence each time I wear my leg and it is really impacting on my mental health. No good making out that life is all hunky dory when actually at the moment to a certain degree it sucks.

I am currently on trying to decide what my next ride maybe. I have been using a pretty neat site called Geometry Geeks, the website really helps with sizing of bikes as you can compare bikes, without having to open numerous windows on manufacturers sites.

Looking at another two potential candidates for new rides. The only thing I am not really happy about is my budget has increased dramatically, well in my head. It all depends how much I can save up I guess. 

Okay one of the bikes is a Pivot Shuttle SL. 

I think I would possibly go for the Sram X01 setup and possibly in a size Large.  The Pivot runs 150mm travel up front and 132mm in the rear. Both bikes I am looking at run the Fazua 60 motors.

Colour wise not sure which colour I prefer, the Pivot comes in a Desert Sage Green or Denim Blue.

Pivot Shuttle SL Desert Sage Green

Pivot Shuttle SL denim Blue

The other bike is by Transition and it is the Transition Relay Carbon. I would opt for the GX setup. The Relay runs 160mm travel front and rear, and checking out colours the only one I can see online price wise is the Blue model. The bike does come in a grey colour, however appears more expensive ???

Transition Relay Carbon GX

Both bikes look awesome and both have got great reviews. I may possibly  be swayed towards the Pivot Shuttle, as it is slightly more trail orientated due to having less travel in the rear at 132mm. I do the odd jump and drop off, however not huge stuff so the 160 mm travel on the Transition Relay maybe over kill for an amateur like me.

A few more additions for the Abarth 124 Spider

 A couple of weeks ago I had managed to save up a few more quid, so took my wee Abarth 124 Spider down to see the Exhaust Doctor based at Shiremoor. 

Abarth 124 Spider

After doing some research on the Spider I had learned that the standard Crosspipe was quite restrictive, plus as my car is an automatic, no one offered a larger bore centre pipe.

Exhaust Doctor Abarth 124 Spider

I have already fitted a Ragazzon valved rear backbox, and although I like the look of the exhaust, the sound to me is just not as good as the standard Record Monza. My Record Monza's valve was stuck in the fully open position, and sounded a bit more "raspy". Anyhoo  I was hoping putting on a larger Crosspipe and centre pipe may help my car sound a bit better.

I don't really want to change the Cat to a race one, as this involves remapping the car, something I intended to do a bit later on, but not just yet.

So the new sound of the car, well it's better than it was, a little louder and a deeper tone. I suppose the good thing is the car can be driven and doesn't have a constant "Boom", unlike Grandma my VW Beetle GSR, which constantly drones and becomes creative on long journeys. Well I imagine it would in a long journey, what did I know, having just had "Grandma" for her MOT, she had only done 206 mikes last year.

Next on the mods list was a new set of EBC dimpled rotors and Green Stuff pads. I had been waiting what seemed like ages for EBC to get these in stock. I was chuffed to bits that I checked my Blue light card, as I got £75 off, which was a canny saving.

EBC discs & pads

My dad did most of the work removing and installing the new components. I'm currently off work on the sick yet again, due to my prosthetic limb not fitting. I've been trying to wear my new socket to do everyday things, but man the socket is really uncomfortable, causing me a fatigue like pain, and also causing phantom pain. It's like having a turnaquet in my stump each time I wear my leg.

Following fitting the new brakes, my dad and I tested my new OZ alloys, using the 5 mm spacers I bought, in order to clear the Brembo calipers in the front.

Once I get a bit more money saved and the weather improves I'll get the wee car back along to Performance 28 to get the coilover suspension fitted that has been sitting in a box at the bottom of our stairs.