“Those who dream by day are cognisant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.” Edgar Allan Poe
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
What to do when you just can't sleep
Just couldn't get to sleep last night, so at around 3:30 am I got up popped my bike gear on, filled my Camelbak and set off for a morning ride. I took my camera and GoPro, thought I might get some interesting morning shots, boy how wrong was I. The weather was a bit naff, a drizzly,damp and foggy sort of morning and the GoPro couldn't really cope with the low light conditions, so the footage looked terrible and as for my camera I didn't really see anything of interest. I only rode to the "Gill bridge" or Howsgill Viaduct to give it it's proper name. On my way back I popped into McDonald's for a Coffee and a sausage & egg McMuffin. I was soaked through by the time I got home. Gave my bike a quick hose down and blew the majority of the excess water off with the compressor. Ahh well it filled a bit of the morning in and to be fair even though my video and photo's didn't turn out I still enjoyed my ride out.......
Monday, 23 July 2012
An outing to Penshaw Monument
Penshaw Monument isn't too far from where I live, it's around a 22 to 24 mile trip by bike. It's somewhere I've passed quite a few times but I hadn't actually ventured up the hill to the top where the Monument actually sits. So today I looked out my bedroom window and even though I thought to myself "boy it looks quite windy" I decided to head off to Penshaw and visit the Monument.
Sunday, 22 July 2012
Fat Biking at Sunrise
Well reviewed yesterdays footage and put a small movie together. It was a beautiful morning and I think the GoPro has captured the scenes pretty well.
Hooked up with Brian and Laurie in Edinburgh
I thought I may have missed my opportunity to hook up with Brian and Laurie on their latest trip over here from the States. Brian is just so busy working flat out on his knee design the Bartlett Tendon. For those of you who aren't aware of what a Bartlett Tendon is, it's a universal sporting prosthetic and it can enable an above knee amputee to get back into doing a whole range of sporting activities.
Checkout the below link for more info......
www.leftsideinc.com
I had been out to the coast for a spot of beach riding this morning and when I got home my bike was covered in sand, so I gave it a quick wash down before deciding to go for another blast out locally. When I returned home my dad informed me Brian had been on the phone saying he had some free time if I was able to make it up to Edinburgh, where he had been attending the Human Race Exhibition. The exhibition was a look at the history of sports medicine and Brian's sporting prosthetic design the Bartlett Tendon was featured. This is a huge achievement considering how long the knee has been in production...
No probs I thought, Edinburgh is roughly about 112 miles away from us. Obviously my dad has heard so much about Brian from myself and he was real excited about getting the chance to meet him, so he decided he would come along for the ride. Both Brian and his partner Laurie are huge animal lovers so when I write an email to them I will always keep them up to date on how my dog Mr Hinks is doing and ask about their dog Bear so I thought I may as well take Mr Hinks along so as he could say "Hello" too.
It was really great seeing Brian and Laurie again as it's been quite sometime. We all decided we would go for some pub grub and even took Mr Hinks, he was allowed inside the pub. The pub was named Lebowski's after the famous cult movie "The Big Lebowski" starring Geoff Bridges.
Mr Hinks was very well behaved and got lots of attention, not only from Brian and Laurie but also the staff and customers. One lady and gentleman even gave him some crisps they had left over and one of the bar staff brought him a nice cool bowl of water. He then proceeded to help Laurie clear her mixed platter which she had ordered.
It was fantastic listening to Brian talk about his work as he is so passionate , he even drew a little sketch of his future plans for some new prosthetic designs, this was very interesting, but we won't talk about that as I have been sworn to secrecy lol.
After our meal we decided to take Mr Hinks for a quick walk and then head to another pub for a drink. We sat outside as it wasn't too bad an evening. Again the bar staff were brilliant offering a dish of water for Hinks and again he got more attention from passer by, one old fellow coming over to pet him and saying "hey isn't that like the dog from Oliver" in a lovely Scottish accent of course.
So all in all it's been a brilliant day I've now been up almost 23 hours straight and drove there and back from Edinburgh so now going to hit the sack.
Just like to say a huge thank you to both Brian and Laurie, it's what you do that makes you special...
Images courtesy of Brian and his iPhone
Checkout the below link for more info......
www.leftsideinc.com
I had been out to the coast for a spot of beach riding this morning and when I got home my bike was covered in sand, so I gave it a quick wash down before deciding to go for another blast out locally. When I returned home my dad informed me Brian had been on the phone saying he had some free time if I was able to make it up to Edinburgh, where he had been attending the Human Race Exhibition. The exhibition was a look at the history of sports medicine and Brian's sporting prosthetic design the Bartlett Tendon was featured. This is a huge achievement considering how long the knee has been in production...
City Art Centre and the venue for the Human Race Exhibition |
It was really great seeing Brian and Laurie again as it's been quite sometime. We all decided we would go for some pub grub and even took Mr Hinks, he was allowed inside the pub. The pub was named Lebowski's after the famous cult movie "The Big Lebowski" starring Geoff Bridges.
Mr Hinks was very well behaved and got lots of attention, not only from Brian and Laurie but also the staff and customers. One lady and gentleman even gave him some crisps they had left over and one of the bar staff brought him a nice cool bowl of water. He then proceeded to help Laurie clear her mixed platter which she had ordered.
Mr Hinks @ the pub |
Ern @ the Pub |
It was fantastic listening to Brian talk about his work as he is so passionate , he even drew a little sketch of his future plans for some new prosthetic designs, this was very interesting, but we won't talk about that as I have been sworn to secrecy lol.
After our meal we decided to take Mr Hinks for a quick walk and then head to another pub for a drink. We sat outside as it wasn't too bad an evening. Again the bar staff were brilliant offering a dish of water for Hinks and again he got more attention from passer by, one old fellow coming over to pet him and saying "hey isn't that like the dog from Oliver" in a lovely Scottish accent of course.
Sitting Outside the pub, thanks to the nice lad who used Brian's iPhone to capture this shot |
So all in all it's been a brilliant day I've now been up almost 23 hours straight and drove there and back from Edinburgh so now going to hit the sack.
Just like to say a huge thank you to both Brian and Laurie, it's what you do that makes you special...
Images courtesy of Brian and his iPhone
Up @ 3:45 in the am to catch a Sunrise at South Shields
After taking a few shots of the Groyne Lighthouse at South Shields the other week and them not turning out too bad I thought it may be a good subject matter when there was a nice Sunrise. So I Googled what time the Sunrise was due and also checked to see what sort of day it was going to be. It said Sunrise was 4:59 am and weather wise it was supposed to be going to be a pretty nice day.
Friday, 20 July 2012
A part ride, part hike starting at Fox and Parrot Wood
Set off for a little bit of a ride with my son Kyle today, me on my Sandman and Kyle on my Ibis. Decided to set off along to Craghead then cut through Fox Parrot Wood and up towards West Pelton.
Tuesday, 17 July 2012
A couple more acquisitions in tools & Accessories
Quite often I find my backpack is a bit disorganized so when I saw the Lezyne Smart Wallet I thought "Oh that would be handy to keep all my essential stuff in one place" you know bike multi-tool, a puncture repair kit, a place for a little bit of emergency cash and a nice sealed cover for my phone. Thing was when I looked for the Smart Wallet Elite I discovered it had been discontinued. I even contacted the distributors to see if they knew of any shops that may have had the odd one lying around, alas to no avail. Anyhoo I struck lucky on eBay and managed to pick up a brand new one for less than the original retail price so was well pleased.
I've since bought myself a new set of Lezyne alloy tyre levers and an alloy puncture repair case with glueless patches, all I need now is a nice Lezyne multi-tool. Quite fancy one of the blingtastic carbon affairs but wow are they expensive.
Visit below link for more details
http://www.topeak.com/products/Pumps/smartgauge_d2
I've since bought myself a new set of Lezyne alloy tyre levers and an alloy puncture repair case with glueless patches, all I need now is a nice Lezyne multi-tool. Quite fancy one of the blingtastic carbon affairs but wow are they expensive.
Lezyne Smart Wallet Elite |
I also got myself a handy little Topeak Samrt Gauge D2. Here's how Topeak describe there nifty little gauge....
"The second-generation digital gauge features a rotating SmartHead™ and
works seamlessly with Presta and Schrader valves without changing parts.
Precision digital gauge reads up to 250 psi / 17 bar and is designed
for use with tires, suspension forks and rear shock units. LCD display
can be programmed to show pressure in psi, Bar, or kg/cm2.
Topeak Smart Gauge D2 |
http://www.topeak.com/products/Pumps/smartgauge_d2
Camelbak Rain Cover
What with the current weather we have been having of late I'm finding my Camelbak back pack is getting covered in mud and it's a real pain keep cleaning it. So I have decided to treat myself to a Rain Cover for my pack. It's a simple case of just popping it over your bag and it keeps your bag both dry and clean, it's also handy as it's quite bright so helps you get seen on those murky days. There are a few different brands of covers on the market, some even come with built in lights, one of the Respo covers I think.
Camelbak Rain Cover |
Monday, 16 July 2012
Had a look down the Dene
I had to go see about getting a new leg made today at the Disability Services Centre in Newcastle. The DSC is situated just on the left hand side of the entry way into the Freeman Hospital.
Across from the Freeman Hospital is Jesmond Dene Park. This is a beautiful park and makes for a lovely stroll, there are some quite steep ups and downs, but the scenery makes up for the effort of venturing into the dene.
I had my camera with me so decided to take a few snaps......
Across from the Freeman Hospital is Jesmond Dene Park. This is a beautiful park and makes for a lovely stroll, there are some quite steep ups and downs, but the scenery makes up for the effort of venturing into the dene.
I had my camera with me so decided to take a few snaps......
The waterfall at the bottom of the Dene |
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