TEAM GERIATRIC

Monday 2nd July 2018

Back room of Station East could be a dungeon but it’s a gig venue. Tables rectangular and round, various chairs, pine benches lining walls. Granite tiles in concrete floor. Tall wrought iron table with three bar stools near performance area. Orange ukulele hanging from wall. Can’t Help Falling in Love sheet music with picture of Elvis Presley propped up on piano behind voodoo skull. Small mic stand, Marshall amp in dark brown cabinet. First of the Edinburgh Fringe previews: comedian Lee Kyle and poet Fay Roberts. A young man asks about open mic slots. ‘I’m not running the show,’ I tell him, ‘and Ken isn’t here yet.’ There’s seating in this place for about thirty people. Hope a good few show up. The Libertines are on the sound system. Quite liked them about ten years ago – missed their initial active period… 

My wrists hurt. I’m tired a lot of late. Watched some true crime documentaries this afternoon. Tried to read a Bukowski biography but fell asleep. Jenni brings me a pint of lime and water. Show starts at half past seven. Doors open in ten minutes. 6.50 pm.

Later: Enjoyed Lee Kyle’s comedy. Fay Roberts is an accomplished writer and performer, but unfortunately - whether due to distractions from the bar next door or my own fatigue - on this occasion I failed to absorb much of the show. 11.30 pm.

Tuesday 3rd July 2018

Still light well after ten o’clock tonight. I make little use of the summer nights. Intended to go for a walk around the quarry to see if it’s worth taking the trials bike out while the 27-speed is in the repair shop. Summer seems to wear me out. Drinking lots of fluids but still feel sleepy a lot of the time. Lay on the bed after online work this afternoon and listened to an album of unfamiliar Jarboe songs. My favourite records by her are Anhedoniac and The Men album. I keep checking my messages, updates and finances. My head hurts. Still have to tie up loose ends of paperwork. Will try again tomorrow. Tinnitus loud at present; hardly noticed it the last few days. Played a few video clips of Rollins Band performing Crazy Lover. It’s a great song but YouTube sound quality wasn’t good enough to share on Facebook. OK. 10.36 pm.

Wednesday 4th July 2018

Final bits of paperwork sorted for college. Emailed half, will deliver hard copy by hand tomorrow. Mowed grass – not much to take off but good to keep it down to bleached stubble while the weather is dry. Too hot for the computer, but closer to finish line on standard ANOMALIES book: got a couple of photographs for my double page goth shoes poem; reset some morning pages from 2012; made new PDFs of outer pages (which will change each time with recipient's name on verso page and slight content variations) and inner section. Need to re-sequence colour photo inserts. Then move onto sourcing paperstock for multi-coloured pages. Fingers crossed for late August. 11.20 pm.

Thursday 5th July 2018

Out before nine. Bank transactions and food supplies then home. Back out to pick up bike. Unfortunately bottom bracket replacement hasn’t alleviated clicking and clanking. Trying new chain and rear cassette instead. Bits 4 Bikes will offset cost of new components by reinstalling my old bottom bracket… Unfortunately Mandy Maxwell had to pull out of tonight’s Poetry Jam. Hope she is fighting fit again real soon. Juli Wilson kindly stepped in to do a set. Joe Williams was offbook and funny. Kind of what I’d expect a memorized Geoff Hattersley to be like. I changed the running order to let Susie McComb close the night. Great to see a near 30 minutes set. Big thanks to Fergus for car ride back to base. 11.19 pm.

Friday 6th July 2018

Slow start. Out to local shop for essentials before breakfast. Late morning pages then edits and uploads of Poetry Jam pix to Facebook. This afternoon I went for a walk in Castleside quarry. A couple of hours later I fixed the chain on my Giant STP street/trail/park bike and returned to the quarry. Fun riding the dirt trails, as the place is baked hard now, but suspension not good for scooping up onto ledges. I prefer fully rigid frame and forks. Tomorrow I might take my trials-specific rig out to see how it handles the same terrain. Watched Lance Trappe and Hans Rey trials vids tonight. My body aching from the bike ride. No book work today. Will do better next week. Good to hear from Jenni and get updates from various people. Tired, but not quite ready for bed. OK. 11.25 pm.

Saturday 7th July 2018

The Onza Hitman trials bike is a bargain basement model I bought on a whim in 2011. I got a second hand Hope Pro II trials hub put in the rear wheel, fitted a Shimano rear v-brake and Avid single digit brake levers with Jagwire cables. Now, with a bit of tar on the rims, the brakes work just as good as Magura HS33 hydraulics. And easier to maintain. I put Maxxis High Roller tyres on the bike as well – same as on my beloved Zoo Pitbull back in 2004-2006. The Onza is way heavier and harder to ride, but that's the price you pay for cheapness. Far rather an initial spend of £170 plus gradual upgrades than shelling out a grand one a bike with no seat and no use besides conquering an obstacle course if you can no longer do the business.

   Trundling into Castleside quarry this morning, initially I thought: oh bugger, this is a mistake. The front end is much lower and longer than my regular mountain bike. Think: racing jockey in high stirrups. I found it hard to steer, but persevered and had a screech down some dirt trails. I managed to scoop up onto a tractor tyre on my third attempt, but my legs are a bit weak for popping straight to back wheel and dropping off. So I had a bit play on a low ledge, just getting to where I could keep the bike up and nudge it towards the edge, then hop off. Had a go on a bigger drop, only a couple of feet, but unsteady; tweaked my right ankle on landing. Thought: that's enough of that for today. 

   Pushing back towards Moorside, I found a lovely little rock field flanked by felled telegraph poles. I played on this low level for a while; managed to balance and make my way over little boulders and ruts. Then I worked out a nice line where I have to ride up a plank, pivot the bike 90 degrees left and roll along a pole, then pivot right and shunt over some low boulders, roll out the side, then scoop up and roll along the far side pole and drop off the end. That's what I'm aiming for over the next few sessions. 

   I'm only going to do about twenty minutes per outing, coz I can't risk my hands cramping when I need to write and make books. But it was fun to find something for Team Geriatric to play on. It's actually as much about just finding a line and walking it through (reading a section) then building up bit by bit on the bike. My lower back is aching from the combined efforts of last night and this morning. I'll see how I feel tomorrow after my ride to Jen's on the 27-speed.

Went to pick up the big bike from repair shop. It still needs a new middle chainring before I can run the new chain and cassette, but Shaun at Bits 4 Bikes said just use it over the weekend and take it back Tuesday to get fixed properly. Rode down to Jen’s this evening. Fastest time this year so far. Around one hour 24 minutes. Shower, then a walk up to 24-hour Tesco for supplies. Watched Rik Mayall documentary with Jenni when I got back. Still too hot in the house. 11.12 pm.

Sunday 8th July 2018

Another scorcher. Up early to do morning pages then watched TV all day: Highway to Heaven, then two films about teaching deprived youngsters in America: ‘Triumph’ and ‘Beyond the Blackboard’. Ate cherry pie, watched The Chase then Spider-Man. Room way too hot. Me and Jenni complaining about it. Not much battery power left in me or my android tablet. Really tired but will I sleep well? 10.37 pm.