...pic of the week...

Five days without a fag...



Apologies to those who didn't who that I stopped smoking and felt the wrath of Kahn...

...pic of the week...

so... 48 hours without a smoke and I came across this pic...

Sigghh!?!!...

...anagram / gramana...

Lucky? No Way!!


DORMITORY:
When you rearrange the letters:
DIRTY ROOM

PRESBYTERIAN:
When you rearrange the letters:
BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER:
When you rearrange the letters:
MOON STARER

DESPERATION:
When you rearrange the letters:
A ROPE ENDS IT

THE EYES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THEY SEE

GEORGE BUSH:
When you rearrange the letters:
HE BUGS GORE

GAUTENG:
When you rearrange the letters:
GET A GUN


THE MORSE CODE:
When you rearrange the letters:
HERE COME DOTS

SLOT MACHINES:
When you rearrange the letters:
CASH LOST IN ME

ANIMOSITY:
When you rearrange the letters:
IS NO AMITY

ELECTION RESULTS:
When you rearrange the letters:
LIES - LET'S RECOUNT

SNOOZE ALARMS:
When you rearrange the letters:
ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S

A DECIMAL POINT:
When you rearrange the letters:
IM A DOT IN PLACE

THE EARTHQUAKES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THAT QUEER SHAKE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO:
When you rearrange the letter:
TWELVE PLUS ONE

MOTHER-IN-LAW:
When you rearrange the letters:
WOMAN HITLER

...happy Christmas to all...

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

by Clement Clarke Moore
or Henry Livingston

...cudos to research friends...

There are only two things more annoying than a bike that is not set up properly. The first one is when you are not set up properly (...read not fit...) and the second is when the bike is not in a rideable state. Both of these are easily fixable through time (training) and money (bike shop), but some of the finer nuances to a sweeter ride is pure and simply by doing some research and experimenting by some trial and error.

Every one of us know how to do at least some basic research by either googling it, getting some magazines, asking around, etc. However one of the best sources is that guy that we all know with all the knowledge at their fingertips. Here again you get two types - the one that thinks he knows everthing that is really just a pain at the best of times; and the one that actually does, who always have the information you need - because on certain topics they have done all the research already and the topic matter becomes so integral to their lifestyle that they can be a lifesaver in certain situations. Fortunately I know a fair amount of people here in both categories.

In the case of the Giant Anthem the standard manual and google items render some moderately useful items, but in general they are not quite what is needed to get a dual suspension bike tuned perfectly. Here my friend Julian proved his worth again through just having that information on hand in a very consumable thin PDF file that hit the sweet spot perfectly.

Now you generally do not need to be a rocket scientist to tune a shock to get a good ride, but the last part, the one or two minor adjustments came perfectly to me in this document and made an awesome ride just plain perfect. I tried to apply some of the basics of this to my Giant NRS, and had some success, but for tuning the front and rear shock of a Giant Anthem (anyone in the range) this document was priceless.

Following the setup in this document to the letter completely removed the bob and reduced the sag in such a perfect way that the bike literally behaves like a hardtail on flats and really comes to the fore on the rocky and downhill patches. To be clear, the setup is now so awesome I only disengage the Pro Pedal on extremely rare occassions.

This valuable document is available for download at:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/9363815/08-Suspension-QS-Guide-20070609




So, to get these two shocks for the Giant Anthem set up correctly give this setup a try. It won't take you more than 15 minutes and satisfaction is guaranteed...

...cudos to gadgetry...

Every now and then a product gets only the market that just blows your mind away - not so much because f the richness of the features, but mainly due to the simplicity and function of the design. After having suffered heavily myself in extreme muddy conditions with a mountain bike and having seen my brother-in-law and team buddy in the latest Sabie Experience race (...read I pulled out...) he decided to devise his own mud guard to keep some of the grit out of his nostrils and teeth.

An empty coke bottle with a few cable ties does the trick just as well as I have seen from this modification, but if you are hell bent on buying a product I found this nifty product by TOPEAK (http://www.topeak.com) that is just simply genius.






The normal plastic versions you get from the same and other suppliers naturally work just as well, but the length and general lack of space amongst the other spare parts on a long ride in the camelbak makes this product a perfect companion for the muddy summer months / prevailing rainy conditions in any country.

Just attach to the bike, inflate to 0.7 bar with you standard bicycle pump and off you go - another great day out on the road and a killer for the washing machine waiting on your return...

...pic of the week...

Cathcing it in the moment...