To Speculate and Procrastinate

I know this blog has been basically mothballed due to a combination of ludicrous amounts of work and what had been a long running, and conscious, decision not to have my computer, or internet, at home. Now I'm adding more work to that schedule, and it's called for connectivity from home. The result? As expected I've been trawling through the huge backlog of unread blogs, unresearched little factoids and so on.
One of the effects of this is that I've been reminded of one of the reasons I believe I wrote it in the first place: to share, vent and speculate. Not to friends via email or messages, not on facebook, but just into the general world around. Case in point:

BMW 6 series Gran Coupe.
Last week I drove down to Munich with a group of colleagues, along the way we were playing Leap Frog with an unidentified but rather attractive BMW (similar to above but Bronze with black wheels). Now that it has sprung to mind due to seeing something or other on a blog, I now know it is a 6 Series Gran Coupe and that it has a load capacity of 530kg.
530kg?! For a relatively big luxury sedan that just doesn't sound very high. I wonder if it's being sold in the US (or Australia for that matter). Add four account managers after a long lunch, a few bags with laptops and prospectūs, and there is barely capacity for the requisite clubs to tackle an afternoon round.

Meh, what do I care, I'm not an account manager

image credit

Urban Outlaw

URBAN OUTLAW - THE TRAILER from Tamir Moscovici on Vimeo.


I know this video has been passing around the blogs for a while now but I just got a moment to watch it, looks like it'll have some great shots and maybe some interesting info but the tidbit that stood out for me were the marks on the road at ~3:15....

Times Change

Wow, it's been nearly a year since the last post on here! Not that anyone will be reading anymore but it's odd the factors that collide to prompt me to break the draught: a rare spare moment on the internet, an interesting photo, and an empty office with no one to remark too.



This may speak about me more than anything else but the things I first took notice of in this photo of Times Square in '61 was 2m high "two trouser suits" sign and the amazing condition of the road. If you've ridding NYC recently I'm sure you'll share my astonishment.

The Atlantic

Update in absence

OK, here's a quick update which is essentially an email I sent to a few people, basically I'm too busy with life for the internet right now, but I don't want to turn my back on it completely:

"It's been pretty hectic here for the last few months, well basically since I started working in December. Now I have no internet and rarely get a moment to jump on a computer at work [I've just come in now after working in one of the other sights for the day]. But besides that what has happened?:

I bought an old steel road bike from a friend on the cheap and a few days later I went off to Belgium and the Netherlands for a week. I caught a train the night before I had planned to leave and ended up in Rotterdam. I say ended up as I wasn't intending to be there, it was the product of last minute cheap ticket offers and miscommunications. I decided to ride from there to Brugge for a hotrod/bike party i was going to [where I finally got to meet Chris, thanks mate!]. Did it over two days as I didn't leave Rotterdam until after 3pm and it was about 200km including about 20+km of distance covered while lost. Ended up riding from Rotterdam through Brugge, Gent, Brussels and to Antwerp to stay with friends for a few days [Thanks Chris and Ann, missing you!] before going to the Benelux polo Championships back near Amsterdam.

Some nice little memories along the way like rolling into a small town after 11pm, and within 10 minutes after eating, I had met people who introduced me to someone I could stay with for the night. I had a recumbent pass me like I was sitting still while I was spinning in top gear down into a tunnel under a river. Also got a nice slipstream tow and guide for about 40km from a friendly local road rider in western Holland.

I just had my sleeping bag strapped to my bars, a backpack with my bike bag, a few tools and that's about it. A decent map would have been very helpful as I was relying on some google maps prints and directions from locals, I also would have killed for some proper shoes and pedals [fixed that upon getting home and haven't really worn other shoes since].

There are some beautiful areas out there and as is my experience when travelling, most everyone was very friendly and helpful. I would seriously consider moving to Antwerp! Maybe I'll keep an eye out for jobs out there...

Back to normal life in Berlin now, which consists of German language classes from 8, then work from 12 till whenever I finish, usually after 7, then time with friends before sleep. Currently working mostly in an old atelier building where we are building a bar and restaurant that will open in about 2 weeks, and close 6 weeks after that. It's such an improvement to be working in a vibrant park rather than the dark cave of a club where I spend most of my working hours.

Polo has been very much on the back-burner lately due to being busy with everything else but I've been back out a couple of times recently now that that I can keep the swiss-army-bike as a dedicated polo rig. I might head over to Barcelona in about a month to see the European championships, not play, just a good time to go there to see the place and some old friends.

By the way, I just got told the other day that there are some photos of my beautiful new niece here

That the highlights for the moment, since I'm dedicating some time to internet usage now I've also put a few more recent photos up too but still many months behind.

As usual I regret that it's such a long time between contacts but it just the way life is right now."

Sorry for the lack of pictures, but just hit the links for some visual stimulation. Hope everything is great by anyone [will anyone read this, or has everyone got bored and tuned out by now?] and everyone reading this!

February

I would be remiss if I were to allow the month to pass without at least one post, so here's an assorted grab bag of things I've been meaning to, but failing to share:

A brilliantly executed tourist map

Crumpled maps on Core77

Bike shop from 1912, be sure to check out the large image for all the details.

via Kottke

Honda Dream after a few protein shakes?

Rocket garage

Ok, must be off, need to write an invoice, go to school, prepare for the monthly apartment move etc etc

Lid

I must have seen this image ten times so far, mainly from all the Tumblr image feeds I get sucked into, but the most recent time I saw it I decided that I really want the one in the foreground for riding around town on a chopped up mopped/tiny bike.
via Boomcheck


Tthis one found on Bubble Visor would be an expectable substitution.

Tab Clean out.

Time to shut down the surplus firefox tabs again, so here are a few of the pages I've been sitting on:

-Hotrod Havoc Trailer

via Slim' s Fabrication

-The Evolution of the Terrible One Barcode

This story on CycleExif included a link to this document about the evolution of the Barcode frame. It's a very interesting read that shows the slow and steady evolution of something as seemingly simple as a BMX frame.

-All about the details


Fantastic semi-subversive campaign for Amnesty International
via The Cool Hunter

-What to do when you out grow you XR50

via Death Spray Customs

-Rad Ball

This is amazing!
via Bike Jerks

-Doing as you're told

People Watching Plus from Rune Madsen on Vimeo.

Nice demonstration of the public's propensity to follow the rules.
via Wooster Collective

-Perfection


via Two Wheels +

I highly recommend checking out each of the links to the origin sites as they are all great and varied sources of inspiration and information.