Der Ronde van Richmond

Right, i have probably confused 99% of people with the post title. This coming sunday sees the 2012 Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders, the first 'spring classic' cycle race). Now, traditionally, the Liege-Bastogne-Liege is a hilly race, and the Paris-Roubaix, is a horrendous battle across northern French cobblestones. Flanders wanted to top both. How? Combine cobbles on hills. Sadistic, maybe.
Anyway, it was sharply brought to my attention the difficulties that one has controlling wheels on cobbled inclines (let alone the power needed), when i have found issues in my wheelchair attempting to cross cobbled, inclined, driveways. Both were away from home, in Twickenham (where i work), and quite centrally in Richmond (i was shopping).
Realising the issue surprised me. Surely this can happen everywhere? But then i realise just how good the RBK (kingston) is. This is just one example of something that RBK have done to 'enable disabled'. Thank you.

Ok, next note. The Giro D'Italia. No, don't worry, connected but i am not going to make my way through the cycling season. Truthfully, is my issue with sunglasses. Yes, they can be good when needed, but when worn in March, i am sorry but you just look stupid. I find that most people who are wearing sunglasses in March, or April, or even May, feel insecure about their own face! Grow-up, why do you need or want to hide your eyes? Celebrities can even look stupid wearing them out of season, and I am sorry to break it to you all, we're not Hollywood celebrities. I actually go to admit that i seriously decrease my opinion of someone, if they are attempting to hide their eyes. I am sorry if you do.

My next note was typed out of exasperation.
"WOAH! Oh well, he'll die soon"
Typed on my phone, after i had crossed a small, quiet road into which i pathetic excuse  of a cyclist, had very almost crashed straight into me, turning off the main road without slowing, looking, signaling, OR A HELMET. I wanted to stop and shout at him, but i knew that maybe i did feel that he could quite easily carry on, and end up dead. Oh well he would be to blame, less future problems for everyone else.
I realise that I may sound harsh, but hey, shit happens.

That experience, was just after being given 'the look' by a kid in Sainsburys. I am quite used to being given quizzical stares by young children. Fortunately, i realise that like everything, their stares can be taken positively or negatively.

My key theory in life was supported by an important aid who is probably going to read this (you should know who you are). The theory, right. Anything, any occurrence, any verbal saying, any physical action, anything can be viewed negatively or positively. In order for anything, any life, to continue, the positives must be viewed/learnt.

Lesson over. Coffee finished. Bed-time.

Ahem....

A quick apology for the mood of the post below again. I remember that i do try and keep this blog positive, inducing smiles (so important).

same band, more recent

I'm sorry, but i need to type this.....

I apologise for the nature of this post.

I attach the song my ipod is playing at the moment, suiting my mood.

The note, i made on my phone, today(very warm and sunny), travelling back alongside the river:
"  Am I depressed? It's packed in Kingston. Especially the riverside, couples everywhere, sun, everyone enjoying themselves on a saturday. Reinforces to me, what I haven't got. Have to force myself to remember that I've missed the 'reAl world' for 4 or 5 years.
Doesn't help.
Note taking does ish.
A forced smile hopefully does nOt represent my true feelings.
Grrrr
Sorry."

Hmmm. It feels like I have missed 4/5 years because I have. Life was so much better as a fully able 22year old, and this is how I  remember/want life to be. But the world keeps turning, will I  ever catch up?

At the end of the day...........

...... I am supposed to place something meaningful and quirky as my 'post title' this week, but cannot think of anything. Other than describing when i type and so, I do have quite a few notes to get through.

It's friday night, and i am spend it by talking to you lot, boring. This really is not the place to let my true feelings flow.
Anyway
So I begin. My first note was actually made last week. I was left aghast, as I was after a new cd, by Rachel Sermanni (personally, a new discovery). I went to the only accessible cd shop in Kingston. Although confident, I could not find it. DAMN! What to do? I could  just download the mp3, but no i wanted the CD. I made the shop order it for me, even though it meant waiting a week, i wanted the cd!
A week went past, i went in to the shop. I was scared as i could not find it in stock, 'that's, alright  it may have been a special order'. I check, they do, and no cd. GRRRRR!  I give up, maybe it is a sign that i should learn to love my ipod more!

The artist
Rachel Sermanni (mp3 eventually downloaded)

The CDs i ended up buying (2 for £10)

Old music (pre my birth), but legendary.

Next note. Perhaps linked to a previous post, but hey. As a lover of coffee, i can be regularly found in cafes. I see a large number/a high percentage of fellow customers are mothers with babies. Admittedly these are whom i would see as 'girls around my age' so i pay them attention. But, NO THIS NOT RIGHT, NOTHING IS POSSIBLE PATRICK. NOTHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN, nothing does happen. Then i realise that nothing ever happens. I  AM SAT HERE ON A FRIDAY NIGHT!!! WHAT?!

Anyway, I continue. In the next note, I make things better by simply stating  'there are a lot of weirdos'. Although I can get depressed about my situation, I can improve things easily, by drawing on my past experiences , from living in a comatosed state to now. I witness the fact that there a lot of weirdos out there, and although a wheelchair may be considered as out of the ordinary, I do have a mental potential to be very proud of. Hmmmm.

I have just used this blog 'therapeutically' in typing the previous paragraph. I don't delete, i just type, it's better that way.

Next note, is simply exclaiming my exasperation. I consider my biggest strength in graphic design, to be 'Typography'.

Whilst at work, I have been creating some postcards which are due some foreign text. Fair enough, but not only was it foreign text, but foreign type aligned to the right, not left. It was the first time that i had come across this problem. Hmmm, I didn't know what to do, so asked, had to keep the translations. I just had to design around this. It is damn annoying, but a problem without solution, anyone? 

I have created yet another print (smaller) for my wall opposite the 'telephone boxes' piece that you can view earlier on this blog.

I take a key image representing my  'Colours of the Peleton' work.

After printing, I immediately discovered errors, which weren't seen by the untrained eye! A second print was offered when i explained the issue. IT WAS NOT MY FAULT. The joy i got from noticing the issue, and proving that it was not an issue with the design but in printing. Yay, phew!

   

Apologies......

Apologies are due, as I do not mean for this blog to be depressing. However, my post below, typed earlier today, is not exactly happy.
 So I play...

.....but no, that's scary., hmmm i know

Dis-armament....

Is that a word? Who knows....

I type this post late afternoon, and am not armed with my usual coffee or chocolate. I feel that I have managed to wind myself-up enough, traveling back from my shopping trip, that i can survive typing this post 'a l'eau claire'. No drugs, clean.

Right, I apologise because this isn't the happiest, most positive of posts, but hey, you're reading it. It all started this morning. I could not and still cannot find both halves of my stove-top, espresso machine. I have the bottom half which stores the water and granulated coffee, but the vital top half (which collects the coffee), is gone. No-where to be found. One piece, but totally useless without a partner.
So, I went and did my weekly supermarket trip, followed by cafe afterwards.

It was a combination of things, but primarily, a negative affect of one of my 'female compliments'. After telling her how attractive she was, I was thanked but told 'I'm married'. Hehe, ooops. Nevermind, I didn't expect anything anyway.

However, it did leave me thinking all the way home, and more. I know that I am no longer in my teens or early 20s. I am 27 going 28. It really shouldn't surprise me that 'female potential', is going fast/ or HAS gone.  Girls that i see now are pushing prams! I know that I have friends that are single, but they are working, busy people meeting new people all the time.

These thoughts trouble me, I begin to feel depressed. But then i convince myself that I am not allowed to be depressed. I have to smile and be grateful that i am here.

This annoys me even more! So, I'm not allowed to be unhappy. I want to be, no i don't. YES I DO, BUT NO I DON'T. I need a girlfriend

Having been my life saviors, i definitely feel strong support with the posters below...

Please visit 38!

Dear friends,

Have a look at this:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/NHS-petition

I’ve just signed a petition to Save the NHS. Right now the government is rushing through plans which experts, and groups representing doctors and nurses, warn could break the NHS up and hand control to private health companies.

On Monday afternoon, the House of Lords starts its final votes on the NHS changes. An influential crossbench Lord, Lord David Owen, has agreed to deliver the Save Our NHS petition. It will be carried right into the debating chamber, just before the debate starts.

Our petition will remind Lords that the public care about these risks to the future of our health service. It could persuade some wavering Lords to vote the right way. Please can you take a second to sign the petition here?
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/NHS-petition

Thanks,
Patrick

My issues....

Hellooo,
I type this post during a Chelsea Champions League game. Extra time, fernando TORRES....?........
Only you will know the outcome, not i.
Anyway a coffee is due to be got, so get I shall.
Right, got I have, continuation. My first note is 'new is old cycling'. I feel that i have talked about the new trans-global scene in pro-cycling, in my previous post. I take this opportunity on congratulating two of my favourite pro-cyclists, Bradley Wiggins and Vincenzo Nibali, on winning the two big season-openers, Paris-Nice, and Tirreno-Adriatico.They provide me with an optimistic outlook for the rest of the season.

Wiggins 2011

My next note exclaims 'if you start off near absolute zero'...... any fluctuation is a positive. It sounds ridiculous, maybe, but only in recent times have i seen the introduction of Spring weather and felt the sun's heat, as  a real, bright positive. The sun makes everyone smile and you know about my high regard of a smile!
I am careful of not being hypocritical in this blog. Truthfully, if I claim to do something in my blog, I make sure that I have done or do it. For instance, I went out the other slightly grayish day, and two minutes out of my front door, I caught my reflection in the corner-shop window. To my sheer disgust and horror, I saw a face which was not smiling. Okay, it was not sunny, but is this any reason not to project happiness? I immediately corrected myself. I thought, it may not be nice to see a reflection of oneself in a wheelchair, BUT it is a reflection of yourself! I was happy with myself for seeing the negativity of myself without a smile.

There, all better. I say all this about the importance of being 'positive', so it should not surprise me when I receive greetings of a simple 'hello' from total strangers, but it does. I perhaps am a totally harsh fool when i think that 'oh, they're just saying that because I'm in a wheelchair, selecting me out from every other pedestrian, saying hello to cheer me up.' I DON'T NEED TO BE REMINDED THAT I AM DISABLED!!!! Muppets.

Sorry, I am making myself annoyed.

Smile.

My coffee is cold  now, but that enables v quick drinking!

Finished. I continue.

On wednesday, no that's today, tuesday I was in kingston, decided that i needed coffee but no time so a quick espresso ensued. I had just bought flowers (tulips are MY flower). Turned around and i had the obvious option of my favourite cafe chain, or, a couple of doors down, their rivals. Hmmm,this time I chose the rivals. I went in and ordered a single espresso. Cheaper, fair enough, by about 10p. To my horror, disgust, incomprehension, it was served in not an espresso mug, but TWO, yes TWO, cardboard cups. A cardboard cup was duplicated around one, because of the heat. I was amazed, so asked  for, and declined, a mug. I did almost burn my fingers through two layers of card. This is why espresso mugs are used! GGGRRRRRRRR.

My final note was made today. I have signed up to various ways of downloading MP3s, but I had detected a 'new' artist, and so I made the trip into kingston to purchase her cd. To my angst, I could not find it in the shop. So I asked, and after checking that it wasn't stocked was guided to purchase it online! I could download the EP onto my Ipod, but I want the CD! It's a good enough EP for me to want to 'have' it. Hmmm. So do I wait a week for the shop to order in the cd, or am i impatient? I can only tell you next week! 

Cycling by numbers

Right, first off, I must admit that I type this post on a friday night, accompanied only by a cup of coffee. Don't worry, my future wife is going to find me, rather than the other way round. I hope. Staying in my flat may limit chances now but I believe that once i have started walking I begin to look. Lets face it, I need a wheelchair, and am no longer a fit, young, twenty-something. Things change. But, hey it'd be boring otherwise!

Ok, sorry about that rant. I warn that I no longer press 'delete' whilst typing these posts. I am confident that i can talk rubbish and make it sound interesting.

The post title refers to my use of my gym/stationary bike earlier. I have been recently using it in a way to build power. I would usually ride for 20mins in quite a high gear. Today I rode back down in the same gear that I used to in the rehab home (18 months ago). I used to have fairly lowly personal records (which today i beat easily). Since injury, I have always had a problem with balance of power produced by each leg (i remember having a 95/5 % imbalance). I have known that I have been improving this balance, but there has always been an imbalance. Until today! I haven't been specifically trying to balance the power levels (almost impossible, if you consciously attempt to). I just assess the stats, at the end. Today 50/50 naturally, without conscious effort. CONGRATULATIONS ME!!!

A good sign, i think.

I link todays music sample in to my post. As I was playing REM this evening, quite loud, i recognised one of the wonders of living alone. I know that I am encouraged by my physio, to sing, but the main reasons to do so are that I have no fear whatsoever of being heard, and I enjoy 'participating' (previously when I could play guitar, I didn't sing).

"So, Andy did you hear about this one?"

 

REM with Chris Martin (although REM feat Patrick Goodacre is better!!)

A new notepad.......

Beware regular followers, although as per usual, I am accompanied by one more cup of coffee, and yes, it's Bob Dylan tonight's selected 'artist' for music provision. Although I am all tangled up in blues at the moment, a simple twist of fate has meant that i have a new notepad to collect notes for this blog.

Basically i mean to say that my notes for this weeks post really do depend on my ability to work my new phone. Although it took a lot of courage, i was made a lot calmer as i was given the contract to sign in shop, this came on the radio....

... So, i was a lot calmer signing the deal.  Stupid, i know, but it did help as 'my song' accompanied the signature of a two year deal.

One of the few notes made, this week, is unsurprisingly to do with cycling. I type this post midway through the Paris-Nice race. A famous, traditional starter to the season. Not this year though, cycling seems to be trying to escape its traditional European foundations, and begin a new, clean, trans-global competition. Hmmm. Whilst this is theoretically a good move, I am not sure. There are only two Italian, and two Spanish teams in the top 'WorldTour'. There are plenty of American, British, Russian and Australian teams though. And the pro-peleton start off racing in, not France and Spain as previously, but Australia!

Oh well, the sport has evolved (it needed to). However, the previous two stages of Paris-Nice were won by Tom Boonen (Belgian) and Alejandro Valverde (Spanish). Both are 'older' riders. Both were instruments in me designing my Colours of the Peloton cover. Boonen (sprint winner, blue), and Valverde (second, red and white). The 2005 world championships.

http://coloursofthepeloton-pg.blogspot.com/