I’m now coming up to 5,000 miles on the Surly Long Haul Trucker, aka my little Tank, and boy have they been my most comfortable 5,000 miles ever.
But, as there always is a but, the fecking LHT is the reason that I can’t ride my other bicycles any more. As my good friend at my LBS said … “Over the years as you get older you might find that you want to raise your handlebars a little bit as time goes on. You my friend have gone and done it, raised the bars by at least 20deg on your Surly and there is no way that you can go back again“.
And then there are the Brooks saddles, I do have a Brooks bum and there is no way I’m going back to other saddles.
Dirty Pia : My beloved MTB, which I have done umpteen miles on without any problems. Now I’m in agony after a few miles, too much weight on my hands and arms because of the forward leaning position. And then there is the saddle, how the heck did I manage all these miles before on that sharp brick ?
Chutney : My Speed Pro TT from …

Over the last year or so I have used my Ortlieb Bike-Packer Plus (Rear) a lot.
Mainly to carry my work stuff to and from and of course touring. I fondly called them “bags of evil” simply because you keep putting stuff in them, extra lock and a brick and some tools and a brick and extra layer as it might be cold tonight when going home and that brick you forgot, now did I take a lock might as well just put one in to be sure etc etc. And the pannier just takes it and you end up with all that stuff you don’t need to take.
Since I do carry heavy things in my panniers and rest my Surly Long Hall Trucker against the wall with pannier as the wall support I have already worn a hole in the pannier. Might resort to the classic repair job with some duct/gaffa tape to stop it wearing thin where it is rubbing.
For some reason the spacers or grippers (as Erin and Sam call them) are starting to fall out of the hooks, when taking the pannier of the racks.
Erin and Sam of “A honeymoon to remember” fame over on …

I’m totally against using drugs while cycling, though I do take them myself. I wrote about eating in my last post and how much it does help us up and over the various hill we encounter. But sometimes you just need that little extra thing.
Bananas: Just because they contain anti cramping agents aka potassium. And is not to sweet and just help with the fuelling of your legs. Pack it in with some peanut butter and jam in a sandwich and use it to nibble on while riding.
Chocolate bars: Plain chocolate, with nuts or fancy energy bars with chocolate is a great way to graze your way a ride.
Jelly babies: Simply the best little snack to keep the hunger/bonking at bay and will keep you legs turning that extra mile.
Carbonated drinks: I can’t normally drink this stuff, but for some reason I can drink Irn-Bru. It is as sweet if not sweeter than many other drinks, as an alternative to water or energy drinks.
Chocolate Drink: Especially the Danish one called Matilde Kakao Milk I have defined as the EPO of our drug intake while cycling. If you can feel you are running on empty but it is not time …

After I read a few of Anne Mustoe’s books and a friend asked me about what to do to avoid aching muscles after exercise, it got me thinking.
I can’t for the life of me understand how Anne managed to cycle around the world, over some of the highest mountains, through some of the driest deserts, on just some dried fruits, nuts and water. Her statement that a cyclist does not need a lot of food before a long day’s cycling just blows my mind, because we can’t do anything before we have a hearty meal.
We haven’t toured much but we have already fallen into a nice ritual while touring which pretty much is centred around food.
Breakfast:
Pretty much as soon as we got up our little Jetboil is busy with boiling water for our tea. If Britain could build an empire on tea, it will for sure get us 30-40 miles down the road. For then to cook some porridge, if we have we will add some raisins and bananas.
If we don’t have porridge we will have bread, mostly baguettes, with cheese, tomatoes and if we have peanut butter or Nutella.
Elevenses:
This is quite often just a banana or an …

After I read Anne’s book A Bike Ride, I just had to read one of her other books and got hold of Lone Traveller: One Woman, Two Wheels and the World.
This book is written in the same way as A Bike Ride, very witty and page turning. You get into the book and just can’t get away, not that you are looking for a “whodunnit”. But because you are eager to learn what’s next – not only the touring tips and tricks, but also the history about the location she is touring through.
This book is not really a narrative from start to finish about her second trip around the world. It is split up into parts, each covering what you will encounter en route, such as where to stay, obtaining money and dealing with bureaucracy. One of my favourite chapters is “Men and Other Animals” where she spends a page or so talking about the problems with wild animals and the rest about men. :)
When we are touring we tend to avoid the metropolis and enjoy the countryside, but I still enjoy reading Anne’s books. Even though she states that “The country, abroad as in England, has less to offer …

Recognize these ? I have now found a use for the “wonderful” Dahon Special Edition Schwalbe Stelvio tyres, a belt !
My friend Bettina of velo-re.com fame, got the tyres and turned them into belts, of which I got one. Pretty much the only use I have for these “great” tyres after only 1800′ish miles.
Bettina and velo-re take old bicycle tyres and inner tubes and turn them into belts, wallet and bags. Velo-re have just started to use inner tubes as belts too – they’re rather funky.
Velo-re not a bad place to retyre (see what I did there, ok getting my coat) your old tyres into something useful.
LINK : velo-re.com – We make belts from recycled bicycle tyres, inner tube and assorted stuff…

Sorry I have been a bit slack on posting about LEGO lately, so here is an update.
One of my all time favourite arcade games is Pac-Man and now someone have made this machine, so that you can play all your old 80′s arcade games. LINK : Lego Arcade Machine Overloads My Nerd Senses
For some reason it tickled me funny bone, no real use for this machine though many hours of fun I would say. LINK : The Most Useless Lego Machine
Not for the people who suffers arachnophobia, but now that is a mighty cool looking tarantula. LINK : Giant Lego Tarantula Grosses Me Out
NASA is about to pack up their space shuttles, I have been following them since they started (yes I’m that old) but they never really delivered what we kinda hoped back in the day. Ok there is the space station and the Hubble space telescope that they have serviced over the years. I never got the first version by LEGO of the shuttle but this new one looks very cool. LINK : Lego Designer Digs Into Shuttle Adventure Set
LEGOs board games and the up coming LEGO Universe just looks way to cool. So while we …

May the 25th is the best day of they year, a great day to celebrate not only DNA‘s life, your own and everything.
The great and slightly mad people at Google has brought the actual bath top that DNA spent much time in thinking.
And today I had the chance to see it :)
So please don’t forget your towel on the 25th of May and wear it with pride.
Always remember your towel