…cliff-hangers on the end of TV programmes. Like for instance the one at the end of Lost season 2 episode 1.

What’s more, I can’t really talk about it, because everyone else in this country is still watching season 1, and I have to wait another week before I’ll be able to get the next episode on t’internet!

GWAAARRGGHH!

…spending about an hour trying to figure out a Javascript error that came out of nowhere, only to discover that it was my own debugging code that was causing the issue.

GAAARRGGHH!!

First ride out on the new triple-two today. I think we’re going to get along just fine. I got on it for the first run down Leckhampton’s main DH track and instantly felt at home. It’s a fair bit slacker and plusher than the Azonic, which only serves to make it more friendly.

At first I didn’t think I was actually going any faster than I used to on the Azonic. But then I started arriving at corners carrying quite a lot more speed that I had done previously, needing all the brakes I could get hold of just to bring myself to a halt. I rode straight down steep slopes that had always scared the life out of me before. I can tell this bike is really capable. Now it’s just the rider that needs to improve…

Update: Now with added picturey goodness!

That’s the last time we’ll see my Azonic Saber in that particular build.

It’s been well loved over the past few years. It’s been almost the ultimate all-rounder. I’ve ragged it down world-cup level downhill and four-cross courses at one extreme, and done a 24 hour cross-country race on it at the other, not to mention the time I took the gears off and did the european singlespeed champs on it. It’s been ridden up and down hills and mountains in England, Wales, Scotland, France and Switzerland.

I’ve got some fantastic memories too. The trips to Glentress, Innerleithen and Fort William were fantastic. Those three weeks pinning it down the trails around Morzine, Les Gets and Chatel in the French Alps were awesome. Caersws at the end of last summer was amazing. That descent of Afan’s The Wall trail has to rate as one of my best-ever biking moments. Times like those, when it all comes together remind you exactly why you play this game.

Now it’s been stripped down to a frameset and a few associated bits hanging up in the garage. It’s served me well, this beastie, but it’s time to move on. Something bigger, badder (and with any luck, better) is taking shape…

Is it me, or are all pasta manufacturers lying buggers? Pick up pasta. Read packet. Ten minutes it says. Ten minutes my arse. It’s going to be at least fifteen, maybe even twenty. It’s the same with whatever pasta you buy. Buy ours, it cooks quicker! No it bloody doesn’t. Or if it does it’s that pathetic wafer-thin excuse for pasta you sell as “quick-cook”. You can always add five to ten minutes to the numbers on the side to get it anywhere near cooked.

There’s clearly a huge conspiracy against anybody who wants to cook the stuff. Forget your governments harbouring aliens, this one goes way bigger. It’s the mafia slowing the cooking speed of pasta. Perhaps they’re even controlling the boiling point of water. You can just see it can’t you? The Godfather, sat in a huge leather armchair, chewing on a fat cigar and surrounded by henchmen. If the Assozzione Manufacturi di Pasta does not meet our demands, water shall boil at 81°C! Penne shall forever take an age to cook! You will reach your grave before your Tagliatelle is al dente! MUAAHAHAHAAAAHAAAAA!

It’ll turn out to be true, you mark my words.

Prodigy, live on Radio 1, right now.

Very loud, very very good indeed.

That is all.

Yes, it’s another bike. Yes, I’m a silly boy. What can I say? It’s an addiction…

We [myself, Brett, Adam, Justin and Steve] visited Gethin, South Wales on Sunday, for the second weekend in succession. Despite some grey skies in the morning, it brightened up nicely, leaving us with a grippy, fun course on which to pilot our downhill bikes. “Alpine Olly” was back in force, riding the bike properly again. The top and open sections provided the most entertainment. They’re ace fun once you learn the right lines through the tight, twisting switchbacks. The rock garden is still a real challenge and shows what long-travel bikes are really made for. A great day all-round.

This was probably the last time we’d see Adam on a downhill bike for a while. There’s a short video of him too [AVI, 4.26mb]. This weekend he leaves Cheltenham to spend 12 months doing a digital effects masters degree down in Bournemouth. Good luck dude!