Halleycat 08

here's the halloween alleycat map, and first direction. great ride. if i didn't get lost multiple times, i would have like it even more. there were 4 checkpoints, with each being revealed by a clue in an envelope at the previous checkpoint. the order was sequential, and truth be told, the clues were not so much clues as the address clothed in a passage about a murder or death or somesuch halloween related event. first checkpoint was down at docklands. By the time i got my left foot (always the hardest) in my new toeclip, i was last. so i stopped at the lights on spencer st. not really a good idea, seeing as it takes ages, but by the time i made it to the bottom of the hill, and found the checkpoint i had caught up with the last 10 or so. the next checkpoint was the old melbourne gaol. which was somewhere i actually knew how to get to. i banged out a rapid route past the queen vic markets, down a'beckett st and up the side of RMIT to get there ahead of most everyone else. the next checkpoint was under the kings way bridge. i made up a lot of ground on the way, (downhill, through traffic, i go fast :) ) and saw the leaders coming back from the checkpoint past the exhibition building, if i hadn't gotten totally mixed up, i guess i would have been only 5 minutes behind them at that point. i think i lost about 10 minutes here, went the wrong way, and there were about 20 guys by the time one of them worked out where to go, i was well and truly confuzzled, so lucky they were around. next checkpoint was in a small alley, that agian, i probably wouldn't have found without a look at a melways. and then back to shifterbikes, where i got lost again looking for easey st, thinking i must have gone past it, when it was actually a block away.
i think this was the first alleycat i've been in where i had to find my own way around a fair bit, and i guess i did okay. next time i will try to stick with brendan and matt, who placed highly. i think i can keep up? maybe, and they know the way. the fastest on the day was miles, in a superman costume i believe.
only complaint i had was that it was too short, i was just starting to really enjoy it by the time we got to the end.

melburne-roobaix 2008

i took some film photo's of the melbourne-roobaix which happened a long time ago, it seems, as well as a 10 minute video which is on youtube here.

Omar's getting good

all the photo's are stolen from Omar, who's getting a stack of nice pictures (of me?)

cranking riding music: Gang Gang Dance - Princes

i'm back and i'm better

wednesday ride photo courtesy of Sarah, location Richmond Ikea rooftop

tough riding music: Clockcleaner - "Vomiting Mirrors" (box.net mp3)

crash with bike messenger in movie "pedal"

this is just weird

new bike day

planned obsolescence

A private taxi driver in Cuba, driving 200-250 miles

(300-400 km) a day, cannot do better than a mid-'50s Chevrolet sedan converted to diesel to cut his fuel costs.

The Chevy is the car that needs least overhauling, says Roberto Diaz. "A 1955 or 1956 Chevrolet is the most durable car. Some even have the original factory engine working."

"I never thought these cars could last so long, a whole lifetime," said taxi driver Reinaldo Armengot. "The makers must have made a mistake."