Back on

First of all, my sincre apologies to all my regular readers from around the globe (more suprising than the one reader from Turkey is that I seem to have a "reader base" in Russia!)

The shut down finished some time ago and since then we've all been caught up in meetings and writing reports on how it went. It actually went pretty dam well for my first crack if you don't mind me saying. There's plenty of room for improvement but like anything that's when it becomes really interesting. I'll get a chance to do another one mid-next year and in the meantime before we begin planning I've got my hands full inspecting steelwork from the 1930's (a tip: it doesn't get better with age!).

Plenty of riding has been happeing too. A few weeks back I raced at the Whyalla Track Carnival which is about a 2 hour drive from Pirie. It was a pretty good set-up with a really nice 270m outdoor velo and racing under lights with most of the town filling up the grandstand. Whilst I'm certain I was the best placed male in my grade, I didn't get near the podium. No, 4 U19 SASI girls made sure I was never in the money - bit of a reality check but then again those same four girls rocked up to Oceanias a couple of weeks later and came 5th in the TP. There was a highlight though making my first and then second wheelrace final. Again, I didn't get the cheese, but it was a boost to at least be in with a chance for the first time.

The day after the Whyalla club also held some graded criteriums. I wasn't off to a great start when the night before I had to settle for dinner at Maccas due to the fact that it's a country town and the racing finished at 11pm. No matter though, I rocked up to find the course was in an industrial estate behind the OneSteel mill in a "T" section with 3 hairpin corners marked out with a single withches hat each and a howling crosswind. I was lucky to get in the right move early on with a few other dudes and it ended up in a sprint to the line with me coming 2nd by a wheel. If I'm being honest it was the right result as the guy that one had done the lion's share of the work to stay away. With that confidence boost and $40 cold hard cash, I headed home.

I should have been relegated for my kit colour combination here

After almost 20 years, I finally own a BMX again (a little present to myself after the shutdown)

Last week at work it was hot, freaking hot. Our air-conditioner packed it in and the combination of thick orange overalls, old cramped brick building made for a sweat-fest. Luckily our boss is very reasonable and sent us home at lunchtime. What to do? We decided to pull a "B&E" on one of the Brazilian contractors' house whilst he was away on holiday and make good use of the pool.

Tough day at the office, Matt in the background getting radical

I'd also like to give a massive shout-out to Apple and a little thing called "FaceTime". It has meant that I've been able to keep in touch with Chrissy, Dave, Spiro and Jimmy and almost feel like I'm there with them, laughing and offering my life coach skills (which they deeply appreciate). I welcome anyone to FaceTime me but I do warn you, since I live by myself in Pirie, I can't guarantee I'll be wearing pants.

 

 

Last night marked my long awaited return to Tuesday night track with Brunswick CC. It was so great to hear "Heeeyyyy this guy!" and catch up with all the boys down there that I haven't seen in ages. Apart from almost binning it when I pulled a foot (thanks to Rolly for his ginger ninja skills to avoid stacking into me) I made the Xmas wheelrace final (also thank to a generous handicap) but had to lead it out from a little too far out. That big W is getting closer though.

 



If I don't get a chance to post before Xmas, have a safe and merry one! (С Рождеством!)

 

I'll be racing Bendigo Track Carnival if you want to cheer/heckle/come at me

Shut it down

Ok so I am now in the final quarter of what seems like an eternity...

I'm on day 14 of the Lead Plant Shutdown and in that time I've worked 140hrs and had only one RDO. Actually if you take into account all the prep work we were doing in the weeks leading up and the work still to be done, I'll be clocking up close to 350hrs over 6 weeks with 6 RDO's. I've been getting up at 5am every morning so I can be in the changehouse by 6am. First meeting at 6:30am, second at 7am, quick walk-through of the site then 3rd meeting at 10:30am, eat whilst calling contractors, order replacement parts, organise crane to lift ductwork, inspect welding, catch-up with area supervisors, find missing bolts, update schedule with the scheduler, find time to update site-diary, eat whilst reviewing JSEA's, take photos, attend 4th and final meeting at 4:30pm, write "to do" list for tomorrow... realise it looks much like the "to do" list for today...

It's the most fun I've had at work in ages. It's not work, I love it.

It's hectic, noisy, stressful and sometimes hazardous to your health (not in an incorrect posture at a desk way but rather a acid burn, getting crushed, falling off something way). But the reason I like it is that things are happening here. I mean, things are being torn-down, rebuilt, refreshed, refurbed. The old plant, well sections of it, are being given a new lease of life. And it's not just so that they look pretty, if production isn't improved then not only is the plant obviously going to suffer but everyone who lives here will too. From the guy that works night shift on the Blast Furnace, to the dude who runs the newsagency. Pirie runs on lead. I keep that in mind when I finish a 14hr shift - this work is really important.

What more could you ask for?

Whilst not obvious in this photo, I am fully aware that 15 tonnes of steel crane is being dismantled behind me

Have a shit one

I remember, long ago, a good friend of mine telling me about how he dealt with his complaining girlfriend. Now this wasn't all the time, just a one off. After hearing a tirade from her about how her work/uni was crap, her hair wasn't behaving, she was too busy etc. etc., he pointed out to her recent events and said "I've just picked you up from lunch with your friends, bought you a new pair of Birkenstocks (they were the fashion at the time) and you're going on holiday next week... HAVE A SHIT ONE!"

Obviously he didn't want her to "have a shit one" but he did want to brings things into perspective, quickly. Whilst I would have warned that this sort of rapid refocussing could be harmful to ones' health (especially around this girl), I can see, and last night did see, its merit...

First off it started with a little spring cleaning in my email tray at work. I started reading through a few that I'd sent to contractors to check if they were worth archiving and to my horror I saw this (I've removed the boring technical stuff):

Hi Andrew,

I tried calling Andrew ealier but...
...
...


Could you please pass this on to Andrew as I don't have an email adress for him?

Regards,

Jared

At this point I'll let you know that there is only one (very confused) Andrew that works there. One of my biggest peeves is when someone sends me and email/letter/quote and doesn't bother to proof read it and now I'd done the same. By no means is my grammar perfect but I have high standards (even my double standards are high).

Then I came home and realised I locked myself out. Whilst waiting for my landlord I was bitten by no less than 4 mosquitos, then as I walked inside and started unloading my shopping (which I had to load myself as no-one apparently works at a checkout in the supermarket anymore?) the juice from the raw pork stir-fry had drained into the bag and contaminated the rest of the shopping. Teach me for being a carnivore!

Anyway, I then realised;

1. My mum is sending me a new doona and bed sheets to replace the crappy ones I have here in Pirie
2. Dave is building me a sweet new roadie to replace the crappy Trek I'm riding
3. Daylight savings means that even though I'm working long hours I should still get some ride time tonight
4. I've got a heap of leftovers for today's lunch

Have a shit one Jear (sorry for the profanity Dad!)

Local track, zero banks given

I was there man

Yesterday morning I got up early to hit the road but the weather had different ideas. Rain and heavy wind meant that the windtrainer was the only option but it did give me the chance to do something that I haven't done in ages; watch Rage.

Not that I like all the music that's played on there but I feel that it's the final frontier for music videos. All the others seem to have fallen to the wayside and/or have more and more moronic presenters desperate to try and stay "on trend". Anyway one of the videos brought back fond memories of dance floor tear-ups (of which I've been doing a bit of lately). In particular famous "dance-offs" I've had with my very good friend Toby Lawrence. Toby and I have known each other since 1st year uni and whilst neither of us could pinpoint where/how it started, we've been regularly pitting our moves against each other. There's no real orginaisation to it, it's fairly organic and it might just be the right combination of music, booze, temperature and a simple look at each other to say "it's on". We can never agree on who "won" but we can agree that everyone who was there saw something really special and will most likely tell their grandkids about it.

If you've never had the pleasure of witnessing a Toby vs. Jear dance-off this is pretty much what it's like (well in our minds anyway(even down to the outfits)).

Coincidently this is something Chrissy sent me today as is probably more accurate (even down to the outfits).

Night of Nights

Tuesday night was the 2nd Annual Smelters Ball - Port Pirie's social event of the year. As luck would have it I scored an invite as my company had bought a table - I didn't disappoint, channelling my inner Leo from Titanic, wearing a tux with white bow-tie and slicking the hell out of my hair. I was a little upset at not winning best dressed but that stuff's all political anyway...

Me with Carlos the Brazillian

I also cut a savage rug on the D-floor and, as usually happens when I'm out with Toby, a dance-off was announced. My poor unsuspecting colleagues. Some of them can dance but when you're a seasoned veteran like me you know that it'll go 12-rounds with a guy like Toby and you have to be ready for anything and have all the cards up your sleeve; "Shopping cart", "reversing the car", "vogue-ing" and that's before you've pulled out the big ones like "Mr. Roboto"... I never really needed to get out of 2nd gear but at least that got to see what A-grade looks like.

An award I didn't win

 

Whilst Wednesday was technically a public holiday a group of us volunteered to work at the company stand at the Smelter's picnic/fete. Never before have I felt so enraged by a lack of manners from children, as one by one they came up and demanded: "give me a blue one!". It wasn't long before my father's voice came out of my mouth to say: "sure, as long as you can say thank you?"... The rest of the day was spent on the couch catching up on some Breaking Bad.

Better coffee

Vino y Velo

Wow, this Blog thing is a lot harder than I thought. I raced off at the start with a few good (well I thought they were) posts, where the words flowed quite easily from keyboard to screen. Now I find myself at a bit of a loss because, well, not much has happened this week that I think my vast readership would appreciate (by the way, a big "An nyoung ha seh yo" to my one fan from South Korea).

I did briefly start typing up a post on unions, their pro's and con's and the rather negative interactions that I always seem to have with them. However, it just seemed to form all the hallmarks of an ill-informed rant so I shut it down. I will say this; don't ever accuse someone of being a "scab". I believe everyone has the right to choose to work under the conditions that are made available to them. Sure, solidarity is required for the group as a whole to benefit but "je ken en andre mensen boek niet lezen" (you can't read another man's book) - let people choose their own course. Don't heckle them whilst they do it.

I digress. Some very good things happened this weekend; wine drinking and bike riding.

Saturday morning started early with a couple of hours on the bike so as to be back in time to get on the winery tour bus. This early start meant I was back in time to finally try the coffee at "Jamaica Blue"... Ah well, disappointment is the wrong word to use as I never expected it to be any good. I was right. The only redeeming feature of the whole experience was the "ok" banana loaf (not bread, loaf). Take note all you Melbourne coffee/cafe snobs; STAY WHERE YOU ARE THERE IS NOTHING FOR YOU HERE! Actually, I did get some very very good coffee, avocado on toast and service at "A Mother's Milk" at 105 Unley Road, Adelaide. Go there, not here.

Where was I? Ok, so after all that I finally made my way down to the bus (on my new sweet sweet Fixxay - built by Spiro. I now believe that after riding down the main street on it in jeans, leather jacket and Holbrooks, I'm Pirie's first hipster). The winery tour and lunch were fantastic and it was really good to get out with the work crowd in a social setting. I bought some wine but the bus trip back seemed to soak most of that up (don't worry Dad, I saved you one). Although, as is often the case, the wine loosened the lips and brought out a confession by one of the party that he had touched his sisters boobs... but only so that he could give his opinion on her new boob job... he's also Brazilian so I guess that's cool?

After that bombshell we made our way back into town and in time for a couple of beers at the pub, as I went to leave (on sweet fixxay) a young guy that worked at the pub came running out; "I thought I was the only fixie rider in town?" he said. He mentioned that he was looking for someone to ride with and after admiring my bike for a little bit he said "shit, I better get back to work". I'll let him know about FOA in a little bit, don't want his mind blown just yet.

It was also a perfect day in Pirie today so I grabbed colleague, Dan Brown, and headed out to Port Germein where I'd ridden a few weeks back. We rode out through the gorge, down towards Laura and to the greatest pie stop on the planet "Stone Hut". One great egg and bacon pie, crap coffee and good "Chester Square" (it had pink icing) and we were back on the road for a mostly downhill run, and fun descent through the gorge, back to Pt. Germein.

Good.

PS. Here's a photo from work. On the daily!

Biting off more than I can chew

I remember reading a blog, most likely Brendan's, and there was line in there about a cake, a dog left alone with said cake... and... ah... the dog realising that it has to get as much cake into its mouth before it gets caught.

Not really sure where I was going with that but along similar lines I had mapped out a big ride for Sunday. Not only would it take me on a tour of my new surrounds, let me try out a few hills and sample a highly recommended bakery. It would let me test out myself and put a start marker on some proper training. It'd be a solo 120km's, not massive by any means but when you haven’t done over 60 in 6 months it's a little daunting.



I made an early start, heading up the highway towards Port Germein. Thankfully the traffic was light and I think I was only passed by 6 cars in the first 40km. I turned off the highway and headed along the road that would lead me through the Pt.Germein gorge. It was at this point that I started to falter. I couldn't have been more than 30km in when the combination of slight gradient, head breeze and no form forced me off my bike in a desperate attempt to find something wrong with it - rubbing brakes, slow flat, slipping seat, anything?!?

No, Jared. It's you. It's your legs.

Dejected I got back on and was instantly rewarded minutes later with a nice, twisting, not too steep path through the magnificent gorge - with the exception of a close encounter with a big kangaroo that hopped across my path then waited on the side of the road to give me a "what up" big chin stare.

A little while (ok a long while) later I popped out on the other side of the Flinders ranges and began to head south to what my workmates described as "a very good bakery". For those that enjoy riding out in the countryside, no doubt one of the reasons you do is so that you can enjoy a good country bakery (there's even a thread on FOA about it, no?). Well anyway, this is all I could think about for the next 30km...

You can imagine my dismay when I rolled into the next town only to be greeted by many a "Closed" sign as is extremely popular in this part of the world. Thankfully the pub was open and after reading enough of Andy's adventures I realise how important it is to eat when you can. I was treated to warm hospitality and a toasted sandwich. Not exactly Michelin star but it was fuel.

the lunch I wasn't supposed to have

I hopped back on the bike... 45mins down the road and... I FIND THE FREAKING BAKERY I WAS SUPPOSED TO STOP AT!!!

Well considering this was my ride, at my pace I treated myself to a 2nd lunch and the best dam hot chocolate and pepper steak meat pie in the world. They also had home-made cider and beer but I'll tick that box next time.

the lunch I was supposed to have

Now fully loaded my next surprise was 15km of mint "strada bianca"  bike path that took me from the bakery all the way to the turn off that would lead me back to Pirie - it was nice to tune out for a little bit and not worry about riding on the bloody shoulder (plus it’s just soooo Rapha/EEEppppiicccc).

Not much to report for the last 40km, but it was, strangely enough, at this point I started feeling good - legs felt loose and I found myself  in the big dog hammering along the highway. Not even a magpie attack dampened my spirit. Completely shattered, I rolled the last 5 km back into Pirie, collapsed on the couch and let the soothing tones of Alec Baldwin's character "Jack Donnahey" in 30 Rock, put me to sleep for the rest of the afternoon.

Good.

Riding a bike is like riding a bike

aaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnndddddddddddd here's post #2!

A saving grace, a big ol' country track on my back doorstep

Selfishly one of the big things I'm going to miss is racing/riding with the Banole/Brunswick crew. In particular Tuesday night track at DISC and even the cold Thursday nights at the altar of Brunswick Cycling, the Harrison Street Velodrome.

I'll miss this for two reasons:

Firstly, track racing was the only form of competitive sport where I seemed to have some sort of semi-natural ability at. I would have considered myself a decent rower, but that came through a good chunk of hard work over many years and a lot of attention from super-coach Fradge. Hockey, well I peaked at that when I was about 14 and every year after I seemed to get slower and slower. Cycling was a natural progression after rowing but in a few years of racing crit & road all I had to show was a 1st and 2nd in D a Glenvale. Not too long, however, after pinning a number on at DISC did I put a W on the board. It's no big deal, just Tuesday night racing. But motivation picks up, you move up grades, start getting closer to guys who smashed you previously and start eyeing off bigger races.

Secondly, I will miss hanging out with all my various cycling friends. The Banolians and Brunswickians. They're all really good people and they never fail to be supportive of one another - there's nothing better than after a crap week at work, getting a big smile from Steve Duggan after a couple of hours behind Cam on the moto saying "you're a good wheel Jear" (I realise some might not know what that means but it's good and coming from a good guy).

How to combat this?

Step 1: Find Track
Luckily like most country town, Pirie has a couple of football ovals, cricket pitches, dog track, racetrack, 3-4 various "sportsbars", a chinese restauraunt and... a big 500m long outdoor cycling track (according to Daryl Perkins they used to hold the first carnival of the season here - not so much anymore). Most of the town wouldn't realise what it was as the main footy footy footy oval sits inside it. But it will become my own personal training ground in a few weeks time when the track bike arrives.

Step 2: Get bike.
I am without a road bike as I sold it before going on holiday. But luckliy my old man isn't riding his (which was basically a mash-up of parts from my old old roadie) so I packed it up and brought it with me. Bonus of having a place to myself is I can put my bike shit wherever I like!

Step 3: Search out new riding/racing crew.
Luckily Pirie has an fairly active, albeit small, group of riders. About a dozen or so but they ride very regularly. So last Saturday at 9am I made my way 5mins down the road (everything in Pirie is 5mins down the road) to the meeting spot.

Post Magpie attack, my heart rate was 187bpm after having to Kilo TT escape

I had initially thought that my bike would stack up pretty well in a country town... I was so wrong. As the riders turned up - Ridley Noah DA, Scott DA, Azzuri Di2, Oppy, Kestrel, Van Nicholas titanium etc. I really miss my Damocles.

The ride started out at a steady clip, neat formation and no surging (Saturday is tempo, Sunday is race day).  At the end of the ride one of the old boys (I'm the youngest by about 2 decades) said we'd head off for coffee. At last! Finally I'm going to get things back to normal with a Cafe stop. Imagine my suprise when "coffee" actually means everyone rides back to Bronte's house where his wife has prepared some party pies, instant coffee and some cake, and all the old riders who are too old to ride anymore rock up too. Whilst the barista may not have had a sleeve full of tatts and a beard, and the cake wasn't "organic" and cost more than a weeks wage - it was one of the best post ride coffee's ever. The banter is exactly the same: wives/gf's, new bike parts, results from old races and the next race you're preparing for.

Without really asking one of the guys said to me "if your wife will let you out of the house, we're racing tomorrow"...

Sunday morning, my first road race since the 2011 3DT. Unfortunatley no numbers are required but that's due to the fact it's the same dozen or so guys racing (although we did have the inclusion of 14 year old Tommy, almost half my age and therefore completly capable of beating me). The course itself was out-and-back and 50km in distance. Seeing as I hadn't pushed a pedal in anger in over 3 months I wasn't feeling too bad for the most part, but in the last 5km I started to bonk. And, although I'd been shown on the way out, I had no idea where the finish line was. Before I knew it some of the old guys had started winding up and I managed to hold a wheel tight and box another rider in, still not sure of the line I jumped to no-where, almost running out of steam before I'd started. I did manage to get a wheel in-front and before I sat up, the welcome sight of the finish line came into view. I was 1 from 1 in Pirie.

It's not that suprising but after the rides on the weekend and a couple of windtrainers this place is starting to feel a little more comfortable. Next weekend: (small) hills!

I know it, I'm no poet

So here it begins.

I've been saying for ages now when something interesting happens (mainly to me), "I'm totally putting this in my blog"... even though I don't have one. And when news came through that I was being sent to Port Pirie for 9 months for work I decided to make good on that statement.

Before I begin I would like to say that a good chunk of inspiration for this blog comes from my friend Brendan's blog The New Timer I like it a lot and not because it talks about riding a bike, racing a bike, parts of bikes, life, music, Sean Hurley and has guest writers. It's because you never know when it will talk about riding a bike, racing a bike, parts of bikes, life, music, Sean Hurley and have guest writers. Do not expect the grammar to be as… um… good (shit), possibly expect some cut & paste (sorry Brenno – take it as a compliment).

Whilst I despise people asking themselves questions, there doesn't seem to be any way around this as who is going to ask you questions about a blog you haven't even started yet?

Q: So Jared (oh Jesus) why are you in Port Pirie and what are you doing there?

A: I'm and engineer, a structural engineer. I'm not much for sitting at a desk churning out calculations and to be honest I'm not gifted at it like some that I work with. I better at being practical, solving problems and communicating with the people that make projects happen (contractors, maintenance, operators etc). I'm essentially "on loan" from my parent company to a big Lead smelter in Port Pirie and I'm positioned with the Shutdown team. The team essentially plans out in careful detail each "service" the plant needs to have to keep operating. In order to service some parts of the plant, it needs to be shut down. And because time = money, the amount of down time has to be minimised and thought through in detail. Normally they send mechanical engineers but due to requirements they need a real (structural) one.

Q: Will we ever see you again?

A: I'm back every 3 weeks for a weekend, and my term here is for 9 months. I'll miss out on track season but will be back (with a vengeance) for road 2013

Q: Was Chrissy pissed?

A: I'm a very lucky boyfriend. Even though we've gone through 2 years of long distance when she was in Perth and that she's been living with me "temporarily while she looks for a place, but continues to take up more and more of my closet space" for the last year and a half, it was always going to be hard. She is incredibly supportive and given the fact I'm back every 3 weeks and the close proximity of Adelaide and promises of winery holidays, it's not really that bad.

Q: Were Dave and Spiro pissed?

A: They are completely lost without me. In all seriousness they are two very good friends and I'm lucky to have them. Plus Chrissy is able to keep an eye on them.

Ok that's enough of that. I will miss my girl, my friends, my family, my dog, my club (BWK4LYF) terribly but these opportunities don't come along often and when they do they have to be taken. I’m writing this blog not only to track the time here but to hopefully make it pass a bit quicker, it’ll be and added bonus if you follow it with me.

I’ll point out too that the house the company has put me in is pretty sweet and has two spare double-bed bedrooms. Ya’ll are more than welcome to stay (google port pirie first!)

The 250m high fume stack at the smelter

All righty, let's get on with it.