Clearing the Decks

 At a loss for a theme or any sort of structure to create a clever blog from the huge backlog of photos and stories I've accumulated over the last few months, I'll just keep it relatively straightforward by posting the photos in roughly the order I took them in, accompanied by a few well-chosen words.

All these things we prize dearly. 

Here's my recently rebuilt fillet-brazed steel Hillbrick, equipped with parts courtesy of my friend Leonard, along with a Chorus seatpost from WO Larkin. Thanks!

Put your best foot forward, and make sure you've got a spanner on it.

My friend Angus swung by for a late summer visit, bringing his cool Gios all the way from the UK via the Hutt.

Dave wanted an Alfine 11sp wheel built up for his commuter.

The lovely Kath and her Quintana Roo has been tri-ing hard all summer...

...and I sprung her at it later on during Tri Nationals.

Jonty loves his old bike parts, and I love helping him keep them rolling. Like minds.

Black Thursday. The tenants upstairs suddenly scarpered, cutting off the power as they ran and leaving me to a super-busy day working in near darkness until the power could be reconnected...

My trusty Dolphin was of limited help in illuminating a brake bleed to Megan Dimozantos' Yeti.

But I got there in the end to complete the last service before Megan set off to South Africa to race in the gruelling ABSA Cape Epic MTB stage race with my good buddy John Randal.

I delivered the bike to Megan in person, when her and John shouted me to dinner in town. 

I was pleased to help them a bit on their way, and tried to be as much a part of the Team as possible by investing as much good mojo into their Yetis as I could, knowing that once the bikes left NZ I would be powerless to help. So I was truly honoured and proud when Megan and John kindly presented me with a Team jersey, as modelled here by John himself the following night at Revolution Bicycles on the eve of his departure to SA.

Barry brought his and Ione's Colnagos in for a service - on his one I was able to use my Park Ultra-Torque bearing puller for only the second ever time! The bearings felt rough but just needed removing, flushing and repacking to regain that silky-smooth Campag steez. 

The two Colnagos in post-service repose.

A sturdy wheel for reliable duty.

An old bike trade friend from the 90s has recently moved back to NZ from the UK, and was leaping back into the deep end of triathlon at Nationals in Wellington. Graham stopped by for a catch up and so I could give his venerable Scott Waimea Pro a quick fettle.

He kindly donated these cool and soon to be hung prints to The Archives!

 Some months ago I built my man Tim Wilding a pair of lovely light Stan's Alpha 340 wheels for his beautiful Ibis Silk Road, but a defect in the rear rim necessitated a warranty rebuild. Some amazingly swift (same day!) service from local Stan's distributor Cycletech and a rim swap was effected, as was an always welcome coffee catch up with the man himself.

After coffee comes beer, and a rare (not really rare at all) visit to my favourite bike shop, Revolution Bicycles. As well as the always superlative hospitality offered by owner Jonty (left) and his offsider Alex (right), we were blessed by an all too rare visit from Cliff (in blue), our good friend from the US. In case you're wondering how John teleported back from South Africa, this was actually the same night his jersey portrait was taken. The other looming sifters are Friday night perennials Reece and Andy.

After what had been a long and stressful week (apart from all the coffee and beer, that is...) I was delighted to find my first available ride opportunity was in absolutely perfect conditions. Of course I headed around the Bays.

Proudly wearing my new Mitre 10 Mega/Yeti/Roadworks jersey for the first time, and feeling pretty fly.

Closed roads for Tri Nationals and the tail end of the event meant some clear roads to relish in the pleasant conditions.

A quick shot of The Most Photographed Bianchi In History while I was waiting for the aforementioned Kath to blast by.

Talking of Bianchis, my beloved old veteran 1996/7 era TSX-UL...

...has been crying out for a pair of Shamals since I sold (for free - I never did get that money?) my clincher pair back in '99. I have pathetically bleated about it so often that my friend Jamie must have thought he could shut me up by giving me a pair, so these turned up on my door step all of a sudden. I couldn't be happier about it, so thanks very much Jamie! 

The wheels needed a wee bit of a true and some panelbeating, and the hubs needed a bit of a ream and some new grease but were otherwise perfect.

 

And here she is, at least while I wait for some new tubs to replace the awesome looking but fatally perished Vittorias I used to mock it up. At last. Again, my thanks to Jamie.

While I was frittering away my time socialising in bike shops, meandering around the Bays on my bicycle and fettling old Italian wheels, my friends and Roadworks stalwarts Mark (pictured) and Richard were really working, as they tackled the 144km Rainbow Rage Epic with aplomb - great stuff lads, and thanks for representing!

While on the subject of riding epic rides, I'll finish this blog off with the first photo I got from South Africa of John and Megan acclimatising in Capetown. For the stories of their amazing race check out John's blog, or Megan's take is here.

I'll be back to continue clearing the decks soon. Until then, thanks for reading. Chur, Oli