Most people choose Lent to abstain from their drug, tipple, food or indulgence of choice. I choose December, during which I abstain from the adrenalin and endorphins created by exercise. That's not entirely true - I have done some running recently, but none that's worthy of shaking a stick at.
I have, instead, been engaging in three other pursuits - rock music, Christmas tree selling, and career navel-gazing. Hot on the heels of Hard Rock Hell V (check out the photos, particularly number 37 of this gallery: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150991398705184.758643.711285183&type=3) came Steel Panther, Motley Crue and Def Leppard last weekend. Def Leppard were like master woodworkers confident, relaxed and polished in their product - magnificent. Motley Crue were (to me) pretty disappointing, save for Tommy Lee (he of Pamela Anderson and That Video fame) performing a drum solo with him and him drum kit strapped to a rollercoaster, and going through the full 360 degrees whilst still playing. It's worth You Tube-ing "Tommy Lee drum solo Manchester" - words don't do justice. As for Steel Panther, well it's best not to linger on them as this is a family blog, but in one of their less expletive-laden sentences they did call any parents who'd taken their kids to see them "badass", a word much beloved of sections of the cycling community. Which reminds me, the chorus of one of their songs runs thus:
'Cause my heart belongs to youMy love is pure and trueMy heart belongs to youBut my ***k is community property
They are, as you may have guessed, ironic.
Moving on, the Christmas tree business is looking reasonably sound this year, as we shifted nearly 40 last weekend. Just need to do the same again this weekend, not necessarily to make money, though that's always nice of course, but so that I don't have the nightmare of disposing of them in January.
I am actually entered in an Audax ride this Sunday, but the chances of doing it are pretty slim I'd say. I don't mind the dark, and I don't mind the cold, and I don't mind a 125 mile ride, but I think I do mind combining them.
It feels like the athletic element of this blog is dribbling to a very low key conclusion at the end of 2011. I guess that was always going to be the case, and there might be one more blog before the year end, but I shall return in 2012 revved up, fired up, pumped up and anything else up, having brought to a conclusion that professional navel-gazing I referred to earlier on. If I happen not to, I wish all my readers peace, tranquillity, and a bloody good rest this Christmas.
