Just a word on Halfords...

Make up your own mind on this one: I took my bike to Halfords to have the rear hydraulic brakes fixed. First, the bike was in the shop for a long time as they didn't have the part to fix it. Remember, we're talking about a shop that sells and repairs bikes. Eventually, I got the bike back but about two weeks later – after only riding the bike twice – the rear brakes were suddenly non-existent. Remember also that, while my bike is a 'dirt jumper', it's only used on the road. In other words, not heavy usage.

I called Halfords and they said it sounds as if the brakes need bleeding. Well, okay, but surely it is something hat Halfords should have taken care of? Obviously not.

The thing is, I'm not prepared to pay more to Halfords to fix my brakes; I've already paid them £40.

I've made the decision to take the bike to a 'proper' bike shop. I've found one in Redhill, but there's also Bike on the Brighton Road.

At the moment, if I pump the levers, it will stop, but I've got a front brake, so it's not proving too much of an issue. I'll certainly be riding this weekend, weather permitting, although, with torrential rain on most days, I might have to consider going out in it.

Halfords recently announced that their profits had plunged. I wonder why?

It's just a thought at the moment, but...

A typical shot of the beach at Felpham.

.... on 22 July I'm free to do a long ride and was thinking of Bognor (Felpham). It's about 60 miles but an early start and a steady pace should see us there at a relatively decent hour, hopefully in time for a splash in the sea (that's optional and weather-dependent) and a meal in the caff on the beach (The Lobster Pot or the one further up the beach).

Like everything, this isn't certain, but it's more certain than normal, so worth considering. If I do it, I was thinking of the usual early start and heading through Woodmansterne, Kingswood, down Pebblecombe Hill, through Dorking, Horsham, Ockley, Billingshurst, Pulborough, done past Ford Open Prison, then head west into Felpham running parallel to the coast or dip south into Middleton-on-Sea and then head west, possibly going to Old Point and the beach there or simply heading for the civilisation that is Felpham.

I've done this ride before and it's not a walk in the park. It'll certainly mean the train back home, but let's  also remember that there are trains stopping at Purley, Purley Oaks etc so we don't need to go all the way back to East Croydon.

The other thing is the weather. Obviously all the usual 'abort' rules apply.

As I say, this is all just a thought. It might be that I just head further south on one of our normal rides, ie head down towards Edenbridge or explore unchartered territory, not sure, but a longer ride is on the cards and if I'm feeling energetic, a run to Felpham would, for me, be spirtually uplifting.

Federer beats Murray

Federer wins Wimbledon for seventh time. Murray was good... but not good enough. Maybe next year.

More rain...but not at the Tatsfield Churchyard!

I can't remember a summer like it: it's been on and off rain since May and yesterday saw some huge downpours in the South West of England (although there was serious flooding in Southern Russia).

It's Wimbledon fortnight at the moment – or rather it comes to an end today with Federer versus Murray and it's the first time a British player has been in the final since 1938 (except, of course, he's Scottish). The centre court now has a roof, which means that rain won't stop play, but unfortunately, NoVisibleLycra doesn't have a roof - just leaky crash helmets.

Unbelievably it looks like a nice day, but there's probably some dark clouds somewhere.

Right now it's bright outside, but over Andy's way it's raining still so we've decided to abort our ride. We were out yesterday, but just to the Tatsfield bus stop, which was pleasant. Yesterday, however, was another day of on and off rain so I'm amazed we didn't get a soaking. Andy said this morning that he DID catch a soaking, but I managed to get home just in time, having already sheltered under an awning in Hamsey on the way home.

This year, or rather this summer, has been a wash-out. Yesterday's ride and last week's were the only rides for about a month. I think the last one prior to last week was the teashop in Godstone (which was definitely prior to 8 June when I left my last job).

Two paragraphs ago I said it was 'bright outside', but now it's not; it's raining again, very fine rain, but rain nonetheless. This is, of course, England, but this is easily the worst summer in ages.

In the news: Serena Williams wins the women's final at Wimbledon (that was yesterday);  the aforementioned floods in Southern Russia killed 144; Libya has started counting the votes in its first election since the overthrow of Gaddafi, 

Belated pix of the Black Horse Ride

The organiser of the Black Horse Ride had a photographer floating around taking pix of the riders. Here's Andy and yours truly as we approach the first marshalling point. Note our pal David as the marshal in his high visibility vest. Quite a coincidence that this shot was taken with all three of us.

Here we are, note David in high viz vest (and my red leather Converses!)

Nearly caught a soaking in Westerham

Andy loves his bike, by the way... or so says that bell.

A good weekend of cycling and we managed to dodge the rain on Saturday. Chevening Lake was on the cards, but an email to Andy didn't get through so we met at our usual time of 0730hrs (I was hoping to meet at 7am so we returned home early, had we gone to Chevening). As it turned out, meeting at our usual time was a blessing in disguise as, the night before, I'd discovered, while flicking the channels on my TV remote, that BBC 4 was screening a documentary about the making of the album Quadrophenia, followed by the movie of the same name. I caught the last 15 minutes of the former and then I watched bits of the movie, starring Phil Daniels and Ray Winstone (not forgetting Sting and other actors who can now be found mainly in television dramas).

In all honesty, Quadrophenia the movie was absolute rubbish. Seriously. A load of complete tosh. Not only were there the well-documented continuity errors, such as blue and white trains, which weren't around in the sixties, and V-registered (1980) cars in the streets of Brighton, it was just generally a crap movie full of a load of second-rate actors (as I said, a lot of them appear today, much older, in run-of-the-mill soaps and dramas on the box). But still, I found myself sitting there, occasionally flicking over to Graham Norton (with Danny DeVito, Charlotte Church and Rhod Gilbert). Either way, I should have gone to bed, but didn't, until around midnight.

Still, when 6am rolled in, while I was feeling fine, I was beginning to realise that meeting at 7am would have been a mistake under the circumstances. Andy later confirmed that he hadn't received my original email so all was fine with the world.

We decided to head for Westerham. The weather was looking dodgy overhead. It was warm, but the roads were wet after rain in the early morning and through the night and there were moments when it started to rain and then stopped. We managed to avoid a soaking and reached Westerham at around 0815. As we set up shop on Churchill's statue it started to rain so we took cover under an awning in front of a chocolate shop and engaged a woman with a 'Cockerpoo' in conversation. A 'Cockerpoo' is a cross between a spaniel and a poodle. The rain poured down, the skies were grey and all we could do was moan about the weather - like true Brits.

Soon, shower over, roads wet, we set off for home, except that something was wrong. My rear brakes - recently fixed by Halfords - no longer worked. It looked as if the pads had fallen out but later, when I called Halfords, they said it might be a lack of hydraulic fluid, making me wonder why? Surely, if Halfords had fixed the brakes, they would have checked the hydraulic fluid? Obviously not so it's going back to the shop sometime this week after work. All very frustrating and another reason why I won't be using Halfords again after this last time.

Sunday saw us heading off for a short run to the Tatsfield Churchyard. The weather was much, much better and we sat there laughing and joking about a range of things, including the fact that we haven't really grown up.

The bike was fine, but there is (at the time of writing) only one brake (the front one) although I've found that if I pump it, it works. Still, it has to be fixed.

Generally - well, Spain won the European Championships, Nidal was knocked out of Wimbledon by a player from, I think, the Czech Republic, seeded 100, the chairman of scandal-ridden, scandalous Barclays Bank - Marcus Aguis – has resigned and Will.i.am's solo single tops the charts. Oh, and in Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto is leading the pack in Mexico's elections signalling a return to the old ruling party there - the PRI.

Archie passes away

Archie relaxing on Jon's kitchen floor.

I thought I'd make an announcement about my brother Jon's dog Archie, who sadly died this week. He was a 13-year-old Labrador. I admit to not knowing Archie that well, but I remember him as a lovely dog. Jon and his family will miss him and so will their other dog, Bruno.

Rain stops...and I ride to Woodmansterne Green

I hesitated quite a bit. I kept looking out the window at the fast-moving clouds travelling east and a puddle that had formed on the roof of next door's conservatory (well, it's probably not a conservatory, but some kind of flat-roofed extension) just to see if there were raindrops hitting the water. I paced around, looked out of the window, then stared at the wardrobe (which contained my cycling stuff) and then, when I noticed that nobody in the house seemed to need me I decided to head out.

Jon and yours truly relaxing on Woodmansterne Green, Sunday

June 24th 2012

First, I called Jon to see if he fancied a ride: he did, then I left the house at 0845 and reached the green at 0920. Jon arrived at 0930.

The weather had brightened up considerably, the ride was good - and much needed. We chatted about dad and how, while we both accepted that he'd gone, it was still pretty strange. I said I have difficulty working out exactly where he is; he's no longer on the planet, so where is he? Does he exist in any form? And of course, there are no answers to such questions. It's all very baffling. The key is to get on with life.

My Kona Scrap, rear brakes fixed and nice and clean too!

Reached home around 1110 feeling a little tired if I'm honest. Only got six hours sleep last night, having sat and watched Stewart Lee on YouTube – he's excellent. I also watched interviews with Will Self and a couple with Liam Gallagher and Ian Brown, not forgetting Morrissey on The One Show.

Hopefully all this on and off weather will cease and we'll start to get a decent summer. The longest day has been and gone and from now on it only gets darker – a metaphor for life if ever there was one.

...and the rain it keeps on fallin'

Sunday 24 June 2012: I went to bed late last night because I was watching Stewart Lee on YouTube. It was around midnight when I finally hit the sack, but I figured I'd be up early because it was summer and I was looking forward to a ride. Due to poor weather – over here in the UK there is no summer whatsoever – I haven't been out on a ride for over a month.

Rain hitting the birdbath around 7am this morning. It's not going to
improve by 8am so it's looking like an 'abort'. Maybe next week?

Yesterday was a wonderful day and I was up and thinking about going out, but with Andy not going and me loitering around drinking tea, I lost momentum and didn't go. Shame, but I thought tomorrow it would be game on. Andy was back on the scene and all was looking good, but sometime in the dead of night I was awake and I could hear the rain falling heavily outside. I drifted off, safe in the knowledge that by the morning it would be sunny.

How wrong I was! My alarm went off at 6am and it was still pelting down outside. Andy sent a text wondering whether we ought to abort. I texted back saying 'let's see what it's like at 7am' and sure enough, at 7am, it was the same, if not worst. Outside now the skies are grey, the plants in the garden are over-laden with rainwater and the bird bath is choppy. I called Andy and said it was looking decidedly like an 'abort', but that I'd check back again in an hour (at 8am). The weather is so changeable, it could easily be bright and sunny within the next 55 minutes – although I'm guessing it won't be.

Wimbledon starts tomorrow! Cue shots of black umbrellas and the covers going over the courts, not forgetting images of puddles riddled with raindrops and furrowed brows on skyward-looking officials. Let's just hope that Sir Cliff isn't there entertaining the already miserable crowd.

The bike's back home...and I narrowly miss a soaking

The worst thing about having your bike in the repair shop – in my case Halford's on the Purley Way – is that it's miles away from the house and unless I get a lift down there, I've got a long walk ahead of me. Factor in the reality of working all day, leaving only the evening to pick up the bike, and you have one of those situations: you're tired after a long day at work, the last thing you want to do is walk all the way to Halford's and then cycle all the way back home.

I badgered my wife for a lift. I told her I would drive down there and get as near as possible, turn the car around and then go and get the bike while she drives back home. Deal. So off we went last night. I picked up the bike and engaged in the usual chat I get whenever my bike has been in the repair shop.

People like the Kona Scrap for a number of reasons: one, it's a great-looking bike; two, it's sturdy and inspiring; and three, it's a Kona Scrap. And then there's the Spongy Wonder – always a conversation starter. So, after chewing the fat with the shop assistant (who thought I was in to dirt jumping – that's a cycling sport and the Kona Scrap is specifically designed for it) I headed outside to face the decidedly unsettled weather.

Remember, I was wearing a suit – fortunately an M&S washable suit – so I did the sensible thing and tucked my right trouser leg into my socks and then headed for home. All the way home it threatened to pour down. The skies were getting blacker by the minute, the wind was picking up and I was convinced that I would take a soaking. Fortunately, though, I didn't. I managed to get all the way home bone dry and now, as I write this, the bike is in the garage, I've just finished watching Graham Norton and I've got to hit the sack. Why? Because I've got to get out on the bike tomorrow – let's hope it doesn't rain.