Category: Weather

The epic gig.

~ Kris ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday was yet another epic run out for a gig. I’m getting tired of these two hour journeys now (*there’s light at the end of the tunnel as a local agent has now took us on).

The A1 all the way up to Newcastle for a change – no A19 required.

A few changes though – first we didn’t take our lights in. It was an upstairs load so the fewer boxes we take the better.

Second Dennis and I have finally swapped sides on stage after planning it for a few months. Yes it’s happened!

The final annoyance though was the 10:45 stage time. It’s not really fair when a band has a two hour journey home to make stage time that late. Usually it’s 10:15 or at the latest 10:30, but we’ve not had a 10:45 in ages.

Considering it’s a 45 minute set plus encores that brings us off at about 11:40 and means we are leaving at 12:30.

My bedtime? 3:15am.

Gah

Today I’ve headed out to get something to clean the chain on the Fiido. The last few rides have really browned it up so I thought I’d do a bit of preventative maintenance. With the impeding bad weather I headed out (appropriately dressed again) and collected a chain cleaning kit.

I also stopped for coffee at my favourite coffee shop.

Skinny cappuccino is my poison today.

This afternoon I cleaned and lubricated the chain, and the rain came. I did well!

Now I’m going to fall asleep in front of Krampus, after all it’s Krampusnacht!

Strap yourself in… This is amusing!

~ Kris ~ 3 Comments

So yesterday I suited up to take some outdoor pics of me in my full leather suit. I’ve become somewhat of a recluse just lately, especially since getting my own decent sized unit which I can store and wear all my gear in.

Now the problem is that one of the woodlands I used to use years ago has now become inaccessible by car – so I packed up all my gear into a bag, loaded it onto the Burley, and cycled the few miles up there.

Once there I found a secluded bit of shrubbery and changed into my full leather. With the weather being pretty atrocious I knew nobody would be around. This particular place is dead most of the time – and I was pretty confident that would be the case yesterday, after all it was windy as hell!

So I’m in full leather, with my phone on the holder on the bike, taking selfies. It’s not too obvious what I’m doing. At this particular moment I’m sat on a tree stump taking some, after doing a few standing shots.

I’m in the middle of doing quite a few photos (a shoot like this usually takes around 100-200 shots to look good)…

When I heard an “excuse me” from behind…

It turns out two guys had been walking down the path behind me and had noticed my bike. They started asking questions about it, and then one of them drummed up the courage to say “nice outfit, is it all leather”?

Sheepishly I said “yes”

He said “I like it, I’d wear that!”. I scanned it for sarcasm. The comment was clean. We then chatted for a couple of minutes, the questions really were serious and very much of the line that I think the guy would wear it. I don’t think they were a couple, just friends, but you never know.

It was refreshing to not get a sarcastic comment about being a gimp, or similar.

(to be fair, he would have probably looked a damn sight hotter than me in it!).

Now speaking of hot, it was 16°C yesterday when I was taking these pictures. I was hotter than Satan’s armpits and I had to change back, but I did manage a short ride in it all. I will say it’s not easy riding in this much leather!

I’ve now ordered a couple of extra bits as I’ve realised that holding my Galaxy Fold 3 steady really isn’t easy with the phone holders I have. I need to think more tablet!

Snow! Again!

~ Kris ~ Leave a comment

We have had a rather snowy winter this year. We have often gone for 2 years with no snow but this year we’ve had a few bouts of heavy snow which have settled.

This morning I started work late. Too hazardous at first to take the van out, so I went to mum’s in the Jag (it is AWD after all) and walked her dogs.

I’d say we had about 2″ of snow in total although it’s now turned to rain.

3 inches of snow.

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We had a bit of a fall today. It started at about 8 am and didn’t really stop until the early evening.

I got caught in very heavy traffic on the way home from work though, plus a few idiots who really didn’t understand the laws of physics got themselves stuck on slight gradients.

Anyone venturing out in snow should be prepared and I think a minimum of winter tyres should be expected.

Most drivers don’t even understand how to start their vehicle moving, so I presume I’m expecting too much.

Wrapping up the week with an amazing storm.

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A stunning storm passed over us just now. We don’t often get really violent thunderstorms in the UK, but this one was very powerful and energetic.

The wind really got up at one point – such that I actually thought there was a small tornado nearby.

Excuse the state of the garden – we’re in the middle of a major redevelopment project (photos will follow in a month or so).