Wheelbuilding

The crazy weather we've been having recently has been keeping anyone sane inside, but that does mean that there's been more time to spend on bike maintenance. I did something I've always been scared of over the weekend - built my first wheel. I started off with this
and after some time and surprisingly little swearing I ended up with this

At this point it was only half done as the spokes were loose. I gradually tightened everything up over the weekend - a turn on each spoke and then a straighten, another turn, another straighten. With plenty of walking away when I felt myself getting frustrated.
Now it seems to be reasonably consistently taught and it's as straight as a die. Although the real test is in the riding - is it built well enough to stay straight as the wheel comes under tension & compression? And if not, will I even ride enough to find out?
Of course the other question is what's it for. Isn't it Gordy :)

My body is a temple

As I mentioned the other day, I'm still a bit queasy from a xmas bug. It's not been helped by work, where I've unexpectedly been given a three day training course to give with no real warning. Still, I soldier on stoically.

One important thing when you're a little under the weather is to eat healthily. Fortunately with the surfeit of fresh local produce in Australia good food is easy to come by.

And nothing screams 'fresh local healthy produce' like a chicken jalfreizi jaffle* and a bottle of 4x gold.

Once you've opened up the jaffle you can even poke in bits of poppadum for the truly authentic dining experience.
*Translation note -jaffles are toasted sandwiches made in a 'jaffle iron' - what would be known in the UK as a sandwich toaster.

Happy New Year!

Well xmas & new year are done & dusted, and it's back to everyday life tomorrow. We had a quiet but a mainly good holiday period - on xmas eve we cooked a very large ham


on xmas day we had a great lunch with my partners family, then went home and watched it rain

The rain kept up for the next four days, although in the brief pauses between showers we used the local park to keep cool

There was a break in the rain whilst I went back to work and then on New Years Day it returned, putting paid to our idea of heading up the coast for a New Years Day playing in the waves. Although in truth that didn't really matter as we were both suffering from some kind of bug

With both of us heading back to work tomorrow we both now feel OK, and the weather looks better. Isn't that typical?
Incidentally we finished the ham. I've had too many weeks of good living (& ham) and my weight has reached over 80kg, so it's time to get fit again. Not a new years resolution, just the desire to not be a fat bugger any more......