ROCKY II

*Purple haze is all around,
Dont know if I'm going up or down,
Am I happy ,or in misery,...... *



Fisher HiFi Deluxe.Out the box,last night.F F Frresh.45rpm

Rivington/Winter Hill, Out of this world.F F frreezing. -2

Actually , I was loving it. My leg ,I dont like to mention it,was kinda OK.Up to about the strength of ,say , a labrador.An old one ,but not that old that it's legs have 'gone'.

It's difficult to be overly objective about the HiFi over a comparable bike , say , the Meta(which is dearer).Theyre both excellent bikes, i'd be splitting hairs.Theyre not exactly the same though.The Commencal seems to be happier going down,Arent we all,whereas the Fisher seems to be better at climbing.It's a geometry thing.You sit on the Fisher ,and sit in the meta.Well ,I felt ever so slightly more 'perched ' on the Fisher.

Bad leg that i dont like to mention notwithstanding,I felt good riding today. It was a bee ee ay yew tiful day ,which helps,as does a new bike.We (me+ Gareth+Stu)set out from the barn road and did a fairly standard loop up to the pike ,taking in Wilders Moor and the dog kennels ,finishing off with the 'ice cream run' to the caff.

The suspension never felt overly intrusive.Just get on and point it up and it gets on with it.No noticeable bob.I think the actual weight is the same as the meta ,it just'feels' lighter.Racier.

Downhill ,as I said ,doesnt feel as confident as on the meta even though the travel front and rear is all but identical. 'Manual-ing' the bike over gulleys doesnt come as easy and requires a bit more pull on the bars ,but it's merely a case of a minor adaptation of riding style.I got my weight back a bit more than i might usually do,arms outstretched ,and it was fine.The back end just does its job well enough.I looked down on a rolling easy bit with a few potholes to check it was working.I was surprised to find it was.You just dont notice it.

Theres no place to find fault with the componentry on the Fisher.Everything's good nowadays.It has them oversize bars I'm not keen on.

I'm a bugger for tyres me.The conditions were as close to perfect today ,so I didnt ask too much of them ,and they worked fine.Hmm.But we'll see.I've a feeling they'll be OK ,whereas on the meta it was crying out for bigger treads.Did I ever mention I have a thing for tyres?It'll be some freudian thing.I might swap em.Just in case.

This is sounding suspiciously like a bike evaluation.The bike's good.

If you'd like to arrange a test ride type demo thing ,and my bad leg i dont like to mention is up to it,-call,Email,smoke signal,carrier pigeon the shop and we can sort it out.

Cant guarantee you'll get a day like this though.

Other ride pics will be 'up ' at http://www.garethwoosey.fotopic.net/ ,I'm sure.

Jimi Hendrix song is a reference to the crazy thing going on in the sky.You had to be there.Come.

I feel I must mention that RockyII was the one in which he made a comeback,just in case.......

My new new last ride.A cracker.

I'll be sore tomorrow.

TIM

MY LAST RIDE

*So I sit here patiently. Watching the clock tick so slowly. Gotta get away. Or my brains will explode.*


Last week I went out on the GT .Trying out the leg,see how it felt.Going stir crazy.It was OK in the end,and was'nt killing me the day after, so it certainly did'nt do any harm.


DISAPPEARING TOAST

I went with a great friend of mine.We rode my favourite local trails,nothing too tech.The weather was fine,the toast was done to perfection,and we covered about 20 miles,taking about 4 hrs to do it,just pootling along.


It was perfect.

What more could you ask for?

That was my last ride.

'Til the next one.

TIM

*That'll be Green Day.Christie Rd.From before they sold out.


But who can blame them?

FSA Carbon Cranks on eBay

These were 365.00 retail - we have them at 99.99 starting bid, no reserve.

See auction here.

CARPE DIEM

This is dragging on a bit. My leg's still not right.It does seem a teeny bit better,but not so much. I'm doing everything that I can ,within reason,to get it right.I'm on anti inflammatories that are supposed to help.I'm not convinced ,but hey.I'm doing the stretches every day ,that definitely helps.I'm taking hot baths followed by a cold shower.Up to now I've been to the osteopath twice and I've been to the sports clinic twice for deeeeep massage.All very nice ,and it does help ,but it's still not better.The bottom of my foot still feels numb and my calf muscle still isnt 'firing'.Towards the end of the day ,because i'm not walking properly,my heel is killing me.It strikes the floor with every step. I can put up with it ,and I'm not moaning,but it is pissing me off.
What I'm getting at is this.I'm beginning to think I'm at a crossroads in my life.Something beyond my control has happened that is affecting almost every aspect of my life.Short of going back in a time machine and stretching my body to ballerina standard in between mixing in loads of different activities to minimise injury there's not much more I can do.
So what ever it is you enjoy doing ,get out and do it.The last mountainbike ride I had was at Llandegla.It was in great company on great trails and if it was my last ,as in last ever ,ride, I can live with that.
But I hope it's not.
I'm going to give it a spin over the weekend i think.See how it goes .Something local.Maybe that'll be my last ride.
And then next week........


TIM