Down to Business

So with the Christmas/December break behind me and another year over it was time to move on and get things back to normal. 2009 was a helluva a year, not least because I chose to take redundancy in the worst economic crisis in living memory and then decided to set up my own event business, SIP Events Ltd, and organise a mountain bike race; but not just any old mountain bike race, I thought I'd go for something that had never been done before, an event that many said couldn't be done - a logistically challenging 100 mile single lap off-road race in one of the remotest parts of the country. By 8pm on Saturday 5th September 2009, 200 people had proven the doubters wrong and the Montane Kielder 100 was receiving glowing reports from all involved! I think the free beer and burgers was helping though. It was without doubt the highlight of my year, possibly even the highlight of my last 10 years!

2010 was supposed to start with a big fitness kick - illness and bad weather put pay to that so I used the time to redesign and build various websites. SIP Events had a makeover, Kielder 100 had a small update and I also added the all important, all new 24 Hours of Exposure to the family (a work in progress).

With that little lot up and running I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things including some quality ride time. I have a good feeling about 2010, and so far it's living up to my expectations.

Gym'll Fix It!

A year of working too much, not riding, injuries, eating poorly, drinking lots, DIY excuses and, well, if I'm honest, a smidgen of laziness, have resulted in my weight creeping up. I'm now a full 1 stone/14lbs/6.3kg (you have to be multilingual sometimes when writing blogs!) heavier than I was last November.

Now I'm not weight obsessed or anything and I've never been what you'd call svelte, but 14lbs is a lot in a year, and more importantly, I'm starting to feel it when I exercise. That's when I know something has to be done.

So thanks to the inclement weather, resulting in my only two rides of the latter half of the year being cut short, and there seemingly being no end to the current cold snap, I've joined a gym.

It's a Virgin Active gym near work and part of their cunning motivational strategy is the extortionate monthly membership fee they charge - you have to go every other day to get your money's worth. But so far it has been worth it. In six weeks I've been 8 times (not quite financially worth it but it's a good start), I've got a training programme, I've been to a couple of classes and I've been swimming for the first time in about 4 years. And the best part about all of this is I'm actually still enjoying going to the gym! Now there's something I thought I'd never say...

Merry Christmas?

I'm not so sure this year. It just hasn't felt like Christmas at all, despite the endless snow. It's the first year in a long time I haven't spent two weeks working solidly over Christmas - I was on night shift instead for three days. Coupled with the lack of decorations in my house due to the ongoing, er, decorating, there was a distinct lack of festive spirit.

I won't expatiate on Christmas day, it involved driving home from work in the morning, opening a couple of presents, sanding the bedroom doors, sleeping through the day and going to work again in the evening.

Boxing Day started off a little more exciting with the good intentions of going for a ride. It was a daring plan considering the still hazardous icy conditions on the roads. It's possibly my shortest ride ever and was brought to an abrupt halt at the end of my street with a loud "thunk". At least I think it was a thunk; it's that noise you and your bike make as you go from upright to horizontal in the space of a nanosecond, that strange clinking/thud sound, a "thunk". So it was back to the house for more DIY.

No work tonight so I hit the DIY hard all day. Well, at least until I set the carpet on fire with the paint stripper; I read somewhere once that in terms of driving and performing manual tasks, being awake for 24 hours has the same affect on thought processes and reaction times as being twice over the legal drink/drive limit. I can with some authority now say that that is indeed true. I put the tools away.

Glass of wine and a very early night for me...

Winter Wonderlands

So I've been away for a while for various dull reasons that I won't go into. I haven't been riding my bike that's for sure. Not until the other day anyway, the snow seems to draw me out from my cosy little hideaway. Maybe because it's not quite so cosy at the moment due to the lack of central heating, large gaps around the new windows and bare walls. Oh well, at least it's not cold, eh...


We've had loads of snow down here and I only just managed to get home after my night shift on Friday morning. It was my last day at work until tonight so I was desperate to get home no matter what the weather was. Unlike the last time it snowed heavily in London and I decided to take full advantage of ITV's hospitality...

Back in February, whilst still working in central London I'd driven home on the Sunday night through treacherous conditions and was due back in Monday morning. I left extra early, around 5am and started off down the M1 which was down to one lane. Luckily there was very little traffic, apart from the abandoned cars on the side of the road. Central London was even worse and I had a very surreal moment driving into the middle of a city, in a snow storm, passing a pair of giraffes!

Taking full advantage of the lack of traffic and the virgin snow in Regent's Park I attempted to write my name across the road using only my car. I was never very good at etch-a-sketch and failed miserably at the bottom of the 'R'. The rest of the trip was like a scene out of a disaster movie with cars (mainly BMW's) strewn around the deserted streets having had their journeys rudely interrupted by various lampposts, railings, buildings and other cars.


Conditions didn't improve throughout the day and I still had to be at work the following day. Chancing a third and then fourth journey in this weather, remembering the 17 accidents I'd passed on the previous two trips and having a vivid memory of ending up sideways between a set of traffic lights and sliding out into the middle of the cross-roads earlier in the day, just seemed to be pushing my luck a little. So as was the tradition back in the good old days of TV, the company stumped up for some hotel rooms - the last great perk of ITV.

So a snowy ride/slide/snow diving session, some mulled wine and a warm mince pie were the order of the day on Sunday and it was starting to feel like Christmas. (Plus a quick stop to build Bob the Snowman). All I have to do now is negotiate the black ice to get to work this evening and for the first time in many years I will be spending Christmas day at home.

Peace & Quiet

I did something I've never done before this morning. I woke up around 4am and was restless, my head spinning with a thousand thoughts. Suddenly the episode of Top Gear I watched yesterday popped into my head - Jeremy Clarkson had done a piece about how no-one just goes for a drive any more, so early in the morning he got up and hit the open road in a Mercedes.

Inspired by this I got out of bed and hit the open road on my ever so faithful Surly Cross-Check. It's been a long time since we rode together, too long. But no matter how long I leave her in the shed gathering dust, I can always rely on her for perfect gear changes and steady, reliable handling. So off we went into the damp, dull morning to do what was at one time a regular route, but is now almost forgotten.

There's a certain peacefulness at that time of the morning that I love but rarely get to experience, even missing out on it at 24 hour races this year. Yes I was at Twentyfour12 for a few days, but had to leave just after the race started on Saturday afternoon. It's around 2am at those events that the atmosphere shifts from an adrenaline pumped competition to a mellow camaraderie, every rider just trying to make it safely through the night into the dawn. For many it's also a unique experience, how many of your friends can you say you've sat drinking beer and eating bacon sandwiches with at 4am? How many of your friends have you seen sleep? It's not something that occurs in every day life and is actually a very personal and trusting moment.

Rolling almost effortless through the now familiar lanes, Surly was leading the way and my mind wandered back to the peacefulness of working night shifts at The London Studios. In a 22 story building bustling with thousands of people during the day it was rarely quiet - except during the early hours of the morning. I'd walk down the corridor to the restaurant on the 2nd floor that looked out over the South Bank of the River Thames; St. Paul's Cathedral and Blackfriars Bridge in the distance. For those of you that have ever watched the local London News it'll be a familiar view. London would be shrouded in serenity. I could stand for hours at that window in an oneiric state, looking out onto the world watching nothing go by. Once or twice I ventured down onto the stillness of the South Bank and just stood and watched and listened - I felt like I had the city to myself, I loved it. Too often I hear people say how much they hate London, when what they actually mean is they hate the people in London. Quiet and empty like that, London is simply breathtaking.

An hour later I was home, calm and peaceful. Last week was a strange week, but it seems so far away already. I think I might like bikes again...