#280 SWOBO No Go

Begin rant / As an add-on to the item below I wanted to buy a nice white SWOBO cycling cap. Sort of brand loyalty if you will, after the nice vibes I got when winning one of their shirts (#264).

However shipping a $15 cap for $76.25 seemed a bit OTT, don't you think? Not that I haven't complained in the past but all I get is an electronic shrug. / Rant over

#279 1600km in one pair of shorts

Nearly ready to go riding from Barça to Damm, (see map #273) kit organised, credit card at the ready, list of 5 star hotels taped to top tube.

On the left is my daily riding gear; Swrve cap, Uvex varicrome glasses, white retro Campagnolo track mitts, white Rapha Club Jersey, Assos H5 no-bib shorts, Rapha wool socks (L & R), Specialized mountain bike shoes.

Each night I wash my shorts / jersey / socks with the hotel's shampoo and hope it's all dry by next morning. If not, the hotel hair dryer comes into action!

In the handle-bar bag I have enough clothing to change into each night. Viz: Kenzo double breasted electric blue suit, a dozen Gieves & Hawkes sea island cotton shirts, an assortment of silk ties (I used to buy two each year at Harrod's spring sale, so have quite a selection), Vans shoes with Addict print (as an alternative a pair of Bally grey suede tassle-over loafers), one pair of David Beckham's Armani underpants - it's all right, he washed them!

It does pay to look one's best on arriving at one's hotel, so I make sure to have my jacket open and trousers at half mast so that the Amani pants are quite apparent - then I will be marked down as a man of taste and style and probably upgraded to the Presidential Suite.

You have to know the tricks of the trade when travelling across Europe ;-)

#278 My Guess is . . . . . .

We went out for lunch at restaurant Mena in Las Rotas, Denia. Salad and a platter of sea food. Not wanting to neck a whole bottle of wine we asked for just a glass each. It seems there was half a bottle of Baron de Magaña left over from some earlier do, so we had some of that.

We had to grin, the bottle was as big as Ramon, our waiter.
Yes, but how big? answers on a postcard, please.

#277 Curry Nights

Our guests think Sally is serving them water to go with their curry - actually, it's gin! They really enjoyed the curry ;-)

#276 Little bit of Road

Here is a little bit of road, on a nice sunny day, pale blue sky, no wind, no cars, all downhill, perfect riding :-)

#275 Spot the Difference?

Sally has been digging her allotment and harvested this bunch of carrots, potatoes, radishes and a marrow. All organic, you know.

When son Tom was little, he grew his own marrow. Here is a pic of both of us with our marrows. Can you spot the difference? I realise it's difficult to tell us apart, especially as we are wearing practically the same cycling jerseys . . . . . . .

#274 Spotify

Don't Panic!
I found Concrete & Clay
by Unit 4 + 2
on Spotify :-)

#273 Forward Planning

I'm planning my long ride this July to be from Barçelona to Amsterdam via Leysin in Switzerland. I might take the train out of Barça and start riding from Puigcerda, then seven days across France and a little bit of Switzerland. Leysin is half way up an Alp so I plan to take the mountain railway for the last 15k.

Rest & Relaxation in Leysin with some mates for three days, then off again through France, maybe Luxembourg, Belgium and into Holland to arrive chez Jay & Mascha in Amsterdam another seven days later.

If you still think in miles, it's about 1,000
(or in kilometers a bit further ;-)

#272 Touring Mode

My Specialized Roubaix back from the paint shop.
Rebuilt as an even longer distance touring bike with:

HED Ardennes wheels - wider rims/smoother ride.
Nito bars that curve back for an easy position on the tops.
Brooks Pro leather saddle - (being broken-in).
Campag triple chainset as a double - 30/42
White Hudz brake lever hoods - to look nice.
2 Bottle cages.

Handlebar bag adapted and re-enforced.
Original bike #163

#271 Fancy a Date?

Sally bought half a kilo of dates but as it was the end of market day the lady gave her a kilo for the same price :-) We ate a few, they were really ripe and wouldn't last much longer (no going out of date jokes here - too obvious).

Anyway, I got creative and made a primal Date & Walnut Cake (no extra carbs from flour or sugar like all the recipes tell you) and it turned out OK!

I peeled and stoned the dates, had about 250 grams of pulp. Using a food processor I blended in crushed Walnuts and ground Almonds, in total about 250 grams. Then slowly added 2 beaten eggs mixed with some sour cream and a teaspoon and a half of baking powder.

Put in a dish lined with baking foil and cooked in the 220c degree oven for 25 minutes.

Voila!

#270 Bring Back Debonair

We watched a *fairly* interesting (bit long, if the truth be told) documentary about Baroness Pannonica Rothschild. She was a white, Jewish, baroness who befriended various bebop jazz musicians, like Thelonius Monk and Charly Parker, back in the days of black & white film.

Poor Thelonius suffered with a bipolar mental condition but, more interestingly, it seems the whole Rothchild family was also a bit nutty.

There has been a series on BBC tv by Alan Whicker, looking back over 50 years of his reporting from the four corners of the world. He revisits and re-interviews people from his old programmes.

The plastic surgeon and his (same) wife have moved from California to Florida, the 13 year old bride in Bali has grown up, but for some reason Alan Whicker didn't choose to go back to Haiti and talk to the Tonton Macoutes again - bit too dangerous, apparently.

I think you might call Alan Whicker debonair. Not really fashionable to be debonair these days, is it? Bring Back Debonair is what I say!

#269 Recent Films: Bad 2 - Brill 1

Films I have seen, or half seen, and now I'm a Movie Critic :-)

Gomorrah is brilliantly brutal and believable (and Italian).
Cadillac Records; much too clean, beautiful, handsome, well dressed and shiny to be true. Same for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Johnny Depp plays a pretty Raol Duke /Hunter S Thompson - and he wasn't, was he?

#268 Paella and friends

Our friend Wendy came to visit. We went with Javi y Chello for paella at Marino - Las Rotas. Can you think of a more pleasant way to have Sunday lunch?

#267 Greyed Out

I've had my Specialized Langster Highbury (see #200) resprayed.
Here it is:

#266 Red Sauce, Red Soup, Red . . . . .

Basic Red Sauce; can be used without adding stock in meat dishes or pastas, or blended with stock in fish stews and also as a Souper Soup.

Sweated vegetables: In a frying pan with a lid, gently cook in olive oil; carrots, red onions, celery, red peppers, some garlic. Add salt and pepper, crushed coriander and paprika. Then add a tin of chopped tomatoes and a spoon or two of orange juice and a drop of balsamic vinegar, or red wine.

1.Cook till soft. 2. Add some stock. 3. Blend in a blender. 4.Push through a sieve. The sieving gets ride of the fiberous bits and leaves a nice homogenised soup.

When used in #187 Bouilliabaisse recipe add a final touch - a capful of Pernod.

#265 It's Fallas Fiesta time.

During Fallas Fiesta week we have; Balloons, Parades, building of huge Disney-like Ninots and on the last day, burning them down (the Ninots that is - not the parading girls).

#264 Swobo Swapo - Tea for Shirt

The other day on my clicking travels round the internet I stopped by the Swobo website, they are located in Northern California and sell bikes and nice clothing. I have a couple of their merino wool cycling jerseys.

Just as I visited, they proposed a competition to win a T-shirt by guessing the drummer on a Thelonius Monk Quartet record. As chance would have it, I'd just posed for a Monk Sleeveface (see#254) with that self same album - so I knew that the drummer was Jackie Dunlop.

After a few false starts I was granted the prize of a Swobo T shirt - but, as the shipping by UPS to Spain would have cost them over 80 bucks, I suggested it would be more economic to send the shirt to my friend Susan in Chicago.

This is the bizarre bit, only a day or two before I had mailed Susan and asked her to send me a packet of Celestial Seasonings Morning Thunder Tea (which I can't get in Spain), serendipitously I could now repay her good deed with an organic cotton Swobo T-shirt. Circle completed! Loose ends tied up! Profit and Loss balanced! Tea for T!

It's like that old Seinfeld episode where every time Gerry loses $10 he finds another $10 for free. This might be the start of a whole new economic lifestyle, after all I just got cloves from Bali and sent back Chorizo sausages (#244).

What else can I barter? Does anyone in Eastern Europe want to send me some pickled red cabbage in exchange for, say, a few second hand (long valve) inner tubes? Or is there anyone in France who would trade me half a dozen free-range Bresse hen's eggs for a kilo or two of unsprayed Spanish oranges . . . . . . anyone? . . . . anything?

I'll put the kettle on while you think about it.























As a p.s. to the Tea post, I also received from SN of Chicago, a greeting card made by the Borealis Press which, quite rightly, says "If You Rest - You Rust".

But, more interestingly, information on the back of the card reads; Made in the USA with soy inks on acid-free, recycled, chlorine-free paper, which produces no dioxins in the mill waste. Printed using wind-generated electric power by workers dressed in second-hand flour sacks, sporting full beards, Aztec silver nose rings and shod in organic hemp high heeled sandals (and that's just the female staff).

Additionally, all the workers at Borealis Press are requested to defecate daily into a methane gas digester designed by the pioneer of sustainable energy, Ram Bux Singh, at the Gobar Gas Research Station in Aiitmal, northern India. I believe the gas is used to power the company's fleet of Humvees.

#263 Snapper

Sorting through a box of stuff, the other day, I came across this photo I took during the European Duathlon Championships in Birmingham (UK) back in 19 hundred and something. I was also the race organiser so the day passed in a blur - as did so many other race organising days (RODs) - now they go nice and slowly :-)

Mike Trees is in the lead and, funnily enough, a few months ago I called him up to blag a pair of Newton running shoes (he is the the UK importer). The blag didn't quite work but I did get a discount, hurray! Well done, Mike!

#262 Bloody Noisy Neighbours on YouTube ;-)

I shouldn't say bloody and they were more musical than noisy and anyway they aren't our neighbours - although they were playing outside. Can you see the little girl having fun :-)

#261 Digging for Victory

My wife has taken it on herself to dig a vegetable patch. She's planted all types of potatoes, carrots, onions - almost anything edible in the veg line you can think of.

Already she has her first crop! A Bunch of Radishes :-)

So, its radish for tea, radish for dinner, radish breakfast and even, maybe, a light radish lunch - well, they are organic, you know.

#260 For Sale

This bike started out in 1987 as my Ironman Hawaii triathlon bike (see pic on #231). Then it had a rest for 20 years before it became Tom's Barcelona Beater.

We've had a swap round and now its for sale (It's too fast for me).

#259 Sculpture

My daughter, Carrie made this Thin & Fat sculpture :-)
She usually makes pots as a hobby but got the chance to sculpt.
Good, eh?

#258 This Year's Ride

I was out on my bike and saw this sign so stopped to take a snap.

I got so enthused by it that I decided to pick one of the destinations and this summer I'm going to put a bag on my handlebars, pack a credit card and go touring.

After all, the world's my lobster ;-)

#257 Film Review - Repo Man

This could be a Tarantino flick . . . . it's weird :-)
or even X Files (apparently) but in a nice surrealistic '80s way.
It's Intense . . . . .

#256 Oranges & Almonds

Very pleasant 55km ride to-day. Even more pleasant 'cos it's almond blossom time.

We also have oranges in abundance. Some groves get harvested and the oranges get sent away on big trucks and some are left to rot and fall to the ground . . . odd isn't it?

#255 Sea Food and Eat It

We went round the corner to Casa Federico for various types of sea food, viz: Cuttle Fish, Tuna, Langoustines, Hake, Monk Fish, Sea Bass, Sole, Muscles and various Prawns.
O, por mis amigos españoles: Sepia, Atun, Langostinos, Merluza, Rape, Lubina, Lenguado y Gambas variadas.
Et mes amis francais: Seiche, Thon, Langoustine, Merlu, Lotte, Loup de Mer, Sole et Crevettes divers. (Voila!)

It took two of us, but we ate it all :-)

#254 MonkFace

Big grin, my Bryan Ferry got put on Sleeveface.
http://www.sleeveface.com/ (look on 10 Feb).

So now - even more!























Here's the Body and Soul of Thelonius Monk.
He's thinking about something Sweet and Lovely,
or has he got the Bolivar Blues?
'cos he's Just a Gigolo, working at the Five Spot.
No, that's not it - it's only Monk's Dream of a
Sweet Mississippi.
Bye-ya!

#253 Jazz number 7

Seventh jazz compilation - the Amy Winehouse track, phew!












I know I've got My Funny Valentine in twice, they're both. . . . . .
. . . . . rather good :-) In fact there are dozens and dozens of versions. I did a search and found all the usual Jazz Suspects but the two that caught my eye were versions by Harpo Marx, on harp obviously, and Eartha Kitt who's voice you might think had been put through some sort of weird vibrato machine. Both worth a listen, just for the grin :-)

I'm looking for a song called Concrete and Clay by Unit 4 + 2. I know it's on iTunes but if anyone can point me towards a cheaper option, I would be most grateful. TIA.

#252 Card y Mons

Our friends Jose Luis and Beatriz went to India and when they were down in Kerela they bought us a bag of cardamons for our larder. Usually I separate the seeds from the little green pods, which is somewhat of a chore, having to smash them up and pick out all the little black seeds. So I got to thinking, do I *really* need to do this?

As an experiment I chewed up a pod - ok, quite pistachio like.
Then I chewed a (little) seed. Pow! what an explosion of flavour.

Conclusion: Carry on separating.

#251 Two New Shoes

I bought a pair of Camper shoes in the sales. Even better than the two thirds price reduction, each shoe has a different map of Barcelona on the sole. Excellent!

Now I won't get lost going up and down the Ramblas and I can direct strangers to, say, the Parc Guell or the Museum of Sexual Waxworks by doing an Irish Jig à la Michael Flatley and letting them do their own map reading.

Of course it makes my Nokia smart phone with its built-in GPS redundant. Oh well.

#250 Bali Wedding

Ref #244: Monsieur et Madame Dominique Guiet were so pleased to receive my parcel of Spanish Chorizo Sausage, Manzanilla Olives and Boquerone fishes that they went straight out and got married!

#249 All 64

Explanation. This is a compilation of (mostly) my photos.
Some have been Photoshoped, others are bits of graphic art.
I started by making four, then another four, then another.
Now I've put them all together in one mass of 64.

#248 More or Less

This is the seventeenth Four.
So, either throw one set away, or create fifteen more.
. . . . . . . (thinks) . . . . .

#247 More fours

Recently Renovated - three of the sixteen Fours series.
Changed a few positions and brought some subs off the bench.

#246 Ferry Face

My Bryan Ferry contribution to Sleeveface.
Click here and also see Flickr's Sleeveface group.

#245 More Soul

I made a new soulful playlist. . . . . . . . it's cool man.

#244 Cloves from Bali

I happened to ask my old school chum, Snowy, who lives on a beach in Bali under some coconut trees, if he had any cloves or black pepper in his garden. A little while later a packet arrived on my doorstep (covered in Indonesian stamps to the value of 166,000 Rupiahs - don't worry, that's only about 12€) containing the afore-said buds and berries. Big Grin. And Pretty Powerfully Pungent they are too.

Actually, equal if not more thanks to Snowy's neighbour Dominique who sent them as Snowy had gone off to Oz and delegated the job to Dom. Dom runs the fabulously, wonderful hotel Gaja Mina in Bali which you should make an effort to visit when you are next touring Indonesia. Snowy's niece has a new house in his coconut grove for occasional rent, so you will never need to sleep on the beach when in Bali.

I'm posting some Chorizo sausage and Spanish olives to Dom - depending on how hungry the postmen are - he might get them next month.

Good to have friends!

#243 Personal Plastic

I liked this pic so much (it's me being escorted into Guerande by the local bike club boys - see #215) that while I was still in France I had some postcards printed and sent them out in the mail - like you used to do before e.mail.

I also set it as the wallpaper on my MacBook. Then I put it on my phone and I now have a personalised bank card with the same image. Next . . . . . maybe a tat . . . . . ?

#242 Toys - they're good, aren't they!

I'm doing my best to improve the economy of the Western World by spending my way out of the crisis, to wit, a new mobile phone :-)

Although I'm not spending too much. Thanks to the boys next door in Muswell Hill and Sterling equalling the Euro, this lovely Nokia N82 came in at about half price.

Now I won't get lost in the middle of France, thanks to its GPS. I'll be able to keep up to date with the latest score at the Emirates (for free) while using the WiFi connection. Chat to mates in Oz via Skype. And loads more stuff that I haven't figured out yet.
Toys - they're good, aren't they!