All that I survey

So the new year has kicked off in a rather uneventful style. Xmas/NYE was great back in Melbourne, spending time with Chrissy, family and not having to entertain/sleep/cook by myself was a nice change too.

Funnily enough the plant is exactly as I'd left it and there's plenty of work to keep me busy until we start planning the next shutdown.

Riding has also been going well on days when the temperature doesn't move beyond the mid-30's, otherwise being out on a long open road riding into what feels like an enormous hairdryer makes you seriously consider quitting bikes.

I’ve found a new love over the break too, Strava. Much has been written about the pros and cons of Strava (How Strava Is Changine the Way We Ride) but to be honest it has got to be the best thing in the world for me all the way out in the middle of nowhere. For those of you who don't know, Strava is a little iPhone app that you turn on when starting a ride and once you're done it logs your route via the phones' GPS, it then checks selected "segments" that you've gone over and compares the time it took you to ride that compared to previous rides. Not only that it compares your time to other users who have ridden too. So you can imagine that it can get a bit competitive as you try and get the "King Of the Mountain" for a segment.

So here's me thinking that I'd have to set-up my own sections but much to my surprise there are a number of "secret Strava-ers" in Pirie who've set almost 30 sections across town! What's more interesting is that whilst I thought I'd met every cyclist in town, most of the Stravaites are unknown to me and it's only when I'm rolling through a new section that I suddenly spot a dude rolling an S-Works with deep carbons, we usually give each other a "what-up/big-chin/I know you're trying to poach a KOM" then we continue with the task of poaching KOM's.

Whilst we are on the topic of Kings, Mountains and falling off them I might as well give my opinion on Lance. Not that anyone has asked for my opinion but as all my friends will tell you, this is when I'm more likely to give it. Here goes:

I noticed a few friends and others in the cycling world say that they haven't watched the Oprah interview because they couldn't care less about the confessions of a cheat. Whilst I can appreciate that I must admit that my interest in human behaviour, body language and verbal communication made it too good to miss. What I mean is, how can I guy that has not only instigated one of the sports world’s biggest doping scams and perpetuated a lie to the extent that he destroys anyone claiming the truth for almost 15 years, come "clean"?

The answer is he can, but that isn't going to happen in 2hrs on a couch with Oprah. Heaps of people say he wasn't contrite enough or he lied in certain sections (with regards to doping during his comeback) or he didn't answer questions at all (the Indiana Hospital confession). Again I'd say that he is probably just learning to let go of his control of the "truth" and also being a little cautious lest he wind up in jail. I think this is evident when he begins to talk about the tipping point being his son defending him at school, Lance is on the verge of tears... but composes himself and continues. Even the talk about his mother's state of mind still isn't enough to bring the waterworks! The same emotionless expression that he wore whilst tearing apart his opposition on a climb during the Tour appears again. This clearly is the sign of a guy who has not yet let go, still wrestling his demons and I believe even Oprah sees this at the end re-iterating "the truth shall set you free". Almost as if she knows there is a lot more there an encouraging him to keep going.

In short, this is a man that is unravelling himself from a 15 year lie that involved him bullying anyone who wouldn't tow the line, destroying anyone who attacked him and lying to his family. His actual confession to doping only took less than a minute but the rest, including apologies and finer details, will take a lot longer.

And with that said, none of it stops me riding my bike, so that's what I'm going to do. You should too.

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!