Now this is by no means an endorsement for drinking. Look we’re all human and falling off the wagon once in a while is always an option. For most a long training program can lead to a low tolerance to booze, as I don’t train enough to classify myself as one of the above I’ll just stick to the understanding that I’ve never been one to hold my booze.

Well this is something I have done for any and every frame/bike I’ve owned. The rules are simple, there is only one rule to follow - You cannot ride the bike until it is named. I think it goes back to the naming of a vessel before it is launched into the ocean. Although in this case I’d suggest not using a magnum of Champaign on the new carbon frame. I’m tipping the frame might take the impact but not willing to put money on it.

Most blokes will name their bikes after a female so as to express how hard “they” rode “her” today, Clearly an analogy to them not wearing the pants in their current relationship could be pointed out. This will in turn have the MRS roll her eyes whenever you speak of “insert name of your bike here”  or “The Darling” a name used by my father (this is no joke) for as long as I can remember.

I on the other hand I tend to go with a males name, this has and even more mysterious roots  - no I’m not gay… “not that there is anything wrong with that!” The two factors or rational to having a male name is that the bike will be, 

   1 -Low Maintenance
   2 – easy to work with!

This said my MRS still rolled her eyes at this comment, which was the desired result.
 

The things that friends give you out of the blue when they return from international work related trips is amazing. In this case I have become the proud owner of the following 2007 Tour De France sign. The 8 July 2007, Stage 1 was from London to Canterbury

In December last year I had the opportunity to have Robbie McEwen autograph it, as he did take out the stage after a heavy fall and had his team bring him back in the last few kilometres.

As the sign is no small item and I was spending the day in a VIP tent where alcohol was intended to be a big part of the day I opted out of dragging the sign around all day.
 

The System Six is now built total weight without pedals and bottle cages is 7.91kgs, not bad for a 63cm frame! The following components have made up the build. It rides like a dream and I’d say the review on broadbandracer.com hits the nail on the head. Total weight with pedals is 8.1kg and as the wheels set has 32 spokes per wheel it’s a good result.
 

After months of having a blog site and working in IT, I was having an informal chat to a fellow work mate and author of The Capslock Assassin when the conversation got onto increasing the hit rate on ones site (being the IT geeks we all claim not to be) in our workplace things tend to keep a tight line close to the geek factor. The – let’s just call him “The Assassin” – advised that I need to embrace the community in which my blog lived. As this blog has primarily no direction or service and real world other than my now famous catch cry “The fundamental adventurous journey of a cyclist” – not! I decided to do as directed and embrace the cycling community blogging world.

The initial Google search had me looking at a number of sites to boring to go on about until I hit the pay dirt. The mother load… none other than the aptly named fatcyclist.com. Now Fatty is an interesting read and has had me laughing away under my breath on nearly all his articles. As Fatty is US based I tend to get lost on the articles based magazines ad but I give full credit theat Fatty does understand the global readers and adds plenty of illerstration to keep you in the loop. I have embraced Fatty with my first visit. An outstanding writer and wit that seems to appeal to my own weird ways.

Fatty has recently put out a two part series that might just change the face of cycling as we all know it. How to be popular is an outstanding read that will educate you on the finer details of how to be popular in the bunch.