So 'twas Langer's wedding on the weekend so me and Rach headed to Melbs. We experienced the best of the best as any good weekend in Melbourne should - city streets, neighbourhood cafes, Ackland Street cakes and great company; even if Tom makes us play Jenga into the early hours of the morning while sipping generous amounts of Gin based cocktails!

As the wedding was in the Yarra Valley I decided the Cooper S was to be the hire car of choice. Without a word of a lie I am now in the market for one!

I'm not much of a wedding photographer so ther aren't too many incriminating pics, suffice to say it was a great wedding in a great spot.

Sunday morning consisted of what may become the inaugural Richmond Coffee-Off. Three competitors, three vastly different machines and three celebrity judges. I was wide eyed and buzzing for the rest of the day! Needless to say, Phil and his fully automatic machine claimed the prize.

Lookin' forward to my next trip south of the border.

The inevitable happened last week when I dropped my iPhone a smashed the glass. If I hadn't tried to catch it, inadvertently forcing it toward the tiles faster, it may have survived, but that's life.

So I had a couple of options, get it fixed, or do it myself. Now, when I have the flu I don't go to the doctor, when I break a bike I don't visit the shop and when I the roller door won't shut I don't tell my landlord; so why would I get someone to fix an extremely delicate and expensive piece of electronics that I rely on every day?

I Googled it, pried it open, disconnected some cables, melted the glue holding the glass, pried of all the shards from the frame, whacked some double sided tape in the right spots and fitted it back together.

This may sound and look easy but it was actually one of the worst DIY jobs I've ever done. Yes I did save myslf over a hundred bucks in repair costs and a couple of days without the phone, but if I do it again it's going to the shop!!!

From FaceBook:

The ten pub ride follows in the gallant footsteps of Ty and Steve's brave efforts one Thursday night, during which I had the fortune to randomly witness the tail end of their mission. (See http://www.tydomin.com/1/post/2009/10/ten-pubs-ride.html for more details.)

Anyone thinking of riding must agree to the rules of engagement, to wit:
1 You must have a bike.
2 You must be proficient at riding same.
3 You must be able to hold your liquor.
4 You must be able to hold your liquor and ride.
6 One drink per establishment. No exceptions until the end. At the Phoenix. Where it always ends.

Convene at The Front at 1pm. Once we have some semblance of a group, we'll have our first drink, and then repair directly to the George Harcourt Inn. Further cycling and chaos to follow, ending at the Phoenix.

And so Ten Pub Ride version 2.0 was.

The first beer went down quite well as we sat on the couches out the front of The Front, the weather was picture perfect and it was promising to be a great day of riding. We headed on an indirect route to the George Harcourt Inn, the reason being that I wanted to take the scenic and most picturesque route. Upon arrival we found that a lot of other people thought the George was a good place for a Sunday arvo get together. The live music started to get to us so we promptly downed our Speckled Hen and were on our way to the Old Canberra Inn.

The highway was the most direct route and we literally flew back into town, ten minutes later we were seated and devouring Rech's from the tap. Then it was through the traffic and onto Trinity Bar where Kirin was the flavour of the day. Next stop was a new one to me, Wilbur's in Hackett. A surprising new bar/cafe situated in the suburban shop, with Little Creatures Bright Ale on tap! we were off to Edgars next for some Squires then we made a deviation to our plan and purchased some beer for consumption in Carroboree Park, supposedly a popular watering hole for Ainslie youth on any Friday or Saturday night.

On the homeward stretch we made our way into civic to enjoy German beer and pizza at Debacle followed by Rumpole Pale Ale at the Wig & Pen. Our final stop was sensational, the Phoenix pumping with live music. Far too many beers for a Sunday night were then devoured while enjoying beats before we sampled the finest kebabs next door and headed our own separate ways.

A big thanks to Eddy for puting the ride together.
 

The following SMS exchange occured late in the morning the next day:

Eddy - You going to work today? I'm c*nted. Just on the bus, but presently trying to decide whether it would be worse if I went to this thing looking like I prolly do, or worse pissing my boss off and blowing it off. Cloudy the future is.

Me - Too late, been here staring at my computer trying to look alive for a couple of hours. In the coffee line now, hope it makes a difference........

Headed to the bicycle swap meet/markets this morning. One day I'll get around to doing some swapping, but for now I'll stick to the hoarding.

Picked up some crazy bargains:
Vintage Campagnolo Nuovo Record derailleur
NOS Dura-Ace centre pull brake
NOS Woolen Concorde jersey
NOS Campagnolo cranks
Vintage Lucas lamp
Vintage Dura-Ace aero cranks with pedals (the one's with the bearings in the crank arm, not in the pedal)
NOS Sachs Torpedo multi-speed hub (unknown number of gears as of yet)
Vintage bike shop assembly posters for Sturmey Archer 3-speed and Shimano coaster hub
Old school Howe tricycle poster

All for $185!

Now to prepare for the 10 Pub Ride!

I've had the Pista Pro frame lying around for a while and thought it'd make a super solid commuter. Built it up on Friday arvo and it rides superbly. The cars better watch out........

On my commute home yesterday.

The Dirtworks 100 is one of the iconic mountain bike races in Australia, it was one of the first popular 'marathon' races  and because of it's proximity to Sydney, has always been well frequented.  I thought I'd give it a go this year........probably the first and last time.

I'm definitely not saying it was a bad race, but when you need to factor in travel, crowds and over $100 entry fee, you begin to think that there's a better way to get a race in. St Albans is one of the most beautiful small towns I've had the pleasure of visiting, but the fact that it's only accessible by ferry means you loose a lot of travel time to and from the race, I lost over an hour in a queue on the way out. Then there's the fact that it really is a SMALL town,  food and beer supply was minimal and lead to long waits - even so, the pub (the third oldest in Australia) was a pleasure to sit in, so much so that I devoured six pales the night before the race....questionable race prep.  

Race day was no exception when it came to disappointments.

A major factor in the race was the clientele, I like to put them into four categories:
1. Pro riders - enough said.
2. Sydney roadies - bright coloured lycra, new dual suspension Giants in perfect condition, questionable off road skill, massive ego.
3. Sydney bogans - middle aged men, teenage clothes, new dual suspension Giants, questionable off road skills, 'extreme' ego.
4. Weekend warriors - those genuinely interested in cycling, all shapes and sizes.

Waiting over half an hour to use the toilet isn't really my idea of race prep. Then the race organisers thought they'd keep everyone happy by issuing us with transponders, meaning you didn't have to scramble to be at the front of the bunch for the start - your time began and ended as you rode over a sensor. They then asked riders to honestly organise themselves into 5 bunches, ranging from Pro riders to those who would finish the race in over 8 hours. If only retarded Sydney siders could let their egos go, such a plan would have been brilliant - I spent the entire race stuck behind said retards who refused to accept that there may be someone quicker than them......

At the start line the claim was made that the course was one of the most picturesque in the WORLD. I took my camera - never took it out, enough said. There were trains of riders too arrogant to let others pass, then instead of stopping to let riders pass said riders would slow down and get angry when they were forced onto B-lines - why not just freakin' stop!!!

I suppose all was worth it once I reached the bridge. I did have fun watching category 2 and 3 riders fail - nothing funnier than wet retards.

Having said ALL of that, I did have a ball on the last 50km of racing once I'd passed enough of the slower riders. The course was fast and much more technical than I thought it'd be.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I would have had a great weekend out there with a few mates, riding the same trails and enjoying the benifits of small town country pubs. Live and learn.

Oh, and i did it in 5 hours and nineteen minutes - i