EDIT Seems to be some sort of clash between vimeo.com and the rest of the universe in regards to video hosting. Anyway, go here to see the video in a player (which should be easy to embed but it’s not) and read about why I’ve only made one arts-related video in the past year.

Being offically ‘old’ this year, it’s my ambition to ride the route know as the coast to coast before I become thirty. As part of that ambition, myself, Alan, and Brian did a training ride today along some of the excellent cyclepaths in the area. We were riding into the strong headwinds on the entire trip out, giving us an average speed of about 10mph, and at one point one of those old gnarly cyclists with legs like granite sped past us.

(I think we got pwned, but Brian says it’s something to look forward to – being old gnarly cyclists, that is, not being pwned)

On the way back we stopped off for a beer and burger combo at a Lloyds sports bar on Newcastle’s Quayside. Although it was only midday, already there was a hen party wearing masks at the bar. I felt a little self-conscious in my cycling gear, but mainly knackered.

But no more! I went down to recyke-yr-bike on Saturday and selected him a bike. It’s a shiny yellow bike, with front suspension, and the best gearset I’ve seen in ages. I always get jealous of people who have steel chainset’s because they look fantastic…

Mmmm, baby. Alan got me a fantastic christmas present (and card), so I changed his street tyres over to his new bike, which now looks scarily sexy. In fact, I’m pretty jealous of his bike, and considering using it for a few trips along the Tyne.

Of course, that’s all for next year. This Christmas, I’m taking a break from the glowbikes project that I’ve been working with Brian, and I’m not doing any more work until the 28th. The past few weeks have been continual soldering in order to make a large number of SpokePOV‘s, for display on New Years Eve. Until that point… I’m going to eat as much food as possible, open presents, and consume as much coffee as possible.

So, yesterday I made it out on a “proper” bike ride, for the first time in ages. I was a bit worried, as what with my erratic sleep pattern and some general faffing about, I only left the house just after 1pm – about two hours before sundown.

The map above shows my route – although you’ll have to zoom in a lot! It might have been a mistake for me to go along the Gateshead side, as I’m not very familar with the route on that bank of the river. Plus, it seems that the Gateshead side of the river (the Keelmans way?) is not as well cared for as the Newcastle side, with some sections out-of-bounds owing to industrial pollution. Eek. There is, however, an amazing section of park opposite Wallsend which you can just whizz through, provided you avoid the dog-walkers.

Seeing as I didn’t know the route so well, I came back through the pedestrian tunnel.

This tunnel’s pretty scary in some ways – for instance, do they really need to have a permanent sign to warn them when there is a fire in the tunnel? Surely that should be a rare, dangerous event? But the style of the tunnel is quite interesting, and reminds me of that 1950′s style architecture you see used for municipal buildings.

Yesterday was really a test for my new tires, but it also showed me how slack I’ve been in not riding recently. I’ve had a calf injury, that kept me off my bike just as the weather turned from okay to rubbish, and the forecast for this weekend is awful. Whilst I found the tires to be quite good, if a little slower than my slicks, I could really tell that I’d not been exercising enough recently.

Despite my lack of fitness, and the freezing cold, and getting back late, riding always has the effect of letting you see something you wouldn’t normally see. With the damp conditions, I was lucky that I didn’t get soaked, but some of the views across the Tyne where quite breathtaking.

This post was delayed by 24 hours, as I sorted out the pictures – apologies! No riding this weekend, as my girlfriend has passed her PGCE so we’ll be doing some celebrating.