Late night blast.

I've just returned from a quick 90 minute midnight bike ride. I left the pub (after drinking nothing but soft drinks) at about 11:15 and was on the bike about 11:45 heading out through the back roads to Basingstoke where I blatted around the deserted industrial estates making my own late night CCTV movie on a hundred security cameras for a while before heading back through Winchester and back to Andover. I had been looking at bikes during the day and talking about them in the pub and the temptation to go for a ride was too great. I had to throw on the lid and go. I feel so lucky to be able to live like I do with few responsibilties and the ability to just do what I want to do. Midnight ride, why not............


p.s. Thanks goes out to the taxi driver who flashed me to stop me getting into trouble with the rozzers whilst heading back through Andover. Police hiding down a hill behind some bushes nicking people with their little speed gun does not sound as useful as stopping drunken brawls in the town centre or catching some of the violent yobs who regulary cause havoc after the club kicks out.

Another year wiser.....

Yesterday was was my birthday. 28 years ago in Winchester my Mum gave birth to me after a 9 month period of uncomfort, pain and a major lifestyle change. I always use my birthday as a day of reflection and although I won't go into detail, this usually results in a very miserable Weasel. I depress myself whilst I think back over my achievements, or lack of them, over the previous year. The last year hasn't been that bad but I still didn't feel like celebrating. I spent it cleaning the bike, watching TV, talking with family and having a few beers at home and watching some crappy films in the evening.

But............My birthday's gone and a new year has started. I've got a really good feeling about the next 12 months. I don't know why, maybe it's because I think I can look forward to witnessing some friends and family going through some big changes and with a little effort I believe that overall most of the people I care about will have a good year.

My sister has arranged a gig to go see Thea Gilmore next month as a present. I first discovered Thea in a Southampton pub many years ago after she had recorded her first album. She had a brief popular period after her 3rd album when she entered the album charts (just) but has since slipped back into being a little known under rated folk/pop singer. 10 mins of your time is well spent checking out her songs. She's not everyones taste but you might just like it.

I've finally ordered a new pillion seat for the beast. It was a comical phone call which involved an old guy in the local bike shop trying to get to grips with an online parts management system that he obviously didn't understand or trust. It always makes me chuckle when the generation who distrusts technology have no option but to use always making the assumption that it won't work or break at anytime! I think this is because I can see a bit of myself in these people.

Grim oop North

Another 850 miles, another bit of gaffa tape on my bike.

I spent the weekend visiting my friend in Yorkshire. He is spending a year volunteering for the RSPB, not my idea of fun but he's having a great time doing exactly what he enjoys and getting into the field (literally) he wants to be in. I rode up on the bike without incident, through the Peak District (amazing roads if a little too tempting to blitz) and I managed to ride the 250 miles without going on a motorway. A challenge I set myself. Why I set this challenge is best left within my bored little mind.

After an evening listening to a moth expert talk about the common British species of moth I then..........ZZZzz ZZZzzz.

Sorry I fell asleep whilst I was trying to remember the night ! Ha !

Sunday was spent riding up to Croft circuit to watch the British Superbikes. Loads of fun even if the riding was terrible. The weather was wet, windy, cold and very Northern. (It rains everytime I go north of Sheffield). The crappy weather was the excuse I will give for not clipping my pillion seat on properly and losing it somewhere on the A1. Doh! That means a call to my local Kawasaki dealer this week for a new one and get my alarm fixed after it got soaked during the ride.

I decided to ride home via Wales where a mate drove up from Andover just for the craic. Again I rode through the Peak District and then headed over towards Manchester before plunging into north Wales and grabbing a pint in Betsy y Coed where I waited for my mate. We camped and attempted to cook burgers and sausages on a tiny camping stove after a few drinks.

The ride home through South Wales was amazing, blitzing traffic and spectacular mountain roads which surely must be some of the best in the UK. If you want to srgue with me, please try.

I'm home, back at work and haven't cleaned my bike yet. I'm feeling a bit lazy today and will tackle the job of sorting the seat, cleaning the bike and adjusting the chain tomorrow.

Keep on Trucking!

I've spent the day watching some Truck racing at Thruxton race circuit. I loved it ! It was hilarious. The sight of 20 big ass trucks barrelling around a track is sooo funny. The fact that the beasts are designed to be just an efficient way to move large volumes/weights of cargo up and down motorways but are being raced and thrashed at high speed is such a change of use it's funny. I love the idea of a group of people sat around thinking of ways to make a 10 ton diesel automatic faster. Great.

Another advert for biking is the fact that I didn't get stuck in any traffic getting in or out of the circuit past all the sucker car drivers creeping along at 5 mph onto the 303.

I am nicely burnt though. As a pale skinned Englishman, I reserve the right to get bright red everytime I spend a day outside during the summer. It's nothing a swift pint tonight with the boys didn't fix though.

Is good customer service that hard?

I have recently returned from a 5 day blat on my Z750 around the Scottish Highlands (very nice). En route back I noticed I needed a service and a new pair of tires, my rear tire having been wore square by using a little too much heavy acceleration around the M6.

Once back I have had 2 very different experiences with 2 different companies to fix these 2 problems. The first is from a company in Salisbury where my bike was serviced yesterday. They were very friendly, informal and generally nice people. They lent me a demo bike without question and sorted me out with some free stuff. They did take a long time to sort the bike and for me to get a receipt but I could cope with that as they were nice peeps.

The other company were super efficient sorting the tire order and getting prices and booking me in but were a very faceless organisation. I was left feeling like cattle being herded through a system being prodded at each step to get me to the end of the process. Not a very nice feeling.

I work in customer service and the last 2 days have left me talking to my team about this very subject as having 2 very contrasting experiences has left me completely bemused about what I do and how it affects people.

I don't claim to be in a job that changes peoples lives but I do think that a little thought put into what companies do can change a few peoples day for the better. If I can cheer one person up today I'll be happy.