Fish Quay

Just some snaps I took while looking for a place to build a ghetto skatepark..

Death Kebab

I love kebabs. Doner, Chicken, Shish.. I love them all. Kebab wraps, kebab and chips, kebab skewers; they are all friends of mine. Just like any restaurant or eatery the quality and price varies from place to place. If you are sticking to the Doner the product isn't gonna change too much from place to place. Instead of being made in house its usually bought in from a wholesalers. The spiced spinning stick may not be the greatest quality meat in the world but it usually satisfies thousands of hungry party goers every weekend up and down the country.

I'll set the scene. Typical Friday night, few beers with the lads and before long my hunger gets the better of me. Being at a friends in Newcastle city centre a kebab house is never too far a way so without too much persuasion one of the lads is roped into picking up the scran.
The closest place to us was Mighty Bite which is located on Westgate Road right next to the Star Pub and the O2 Academy. A respectable establishment I thought..

I could hardly wait for the bait to arrive. I had ordered a chicken kebab with all the salad and garlic sauce, a safe bet at most places. Upon receiving my late night snack I was overjoyed with the smells and overall weight of it. "Sorted" I thought as I began to hungrily tuck in. As far as kebabs go it wasn't bad, a bit overly greasy but everything else seemed in order. That was until I got to the last few mouthfuls of chicken. I remember biting down and feeling something hard and then something else, I then pulled out 3 chicken ribs (I think) the longest being about 2 inches long!

Those 3 things in the middle are bones. Looks like a prehistoric Adidas logo doesn't it?!

Now any normal person would probably stop eating after this grim discovery but I used the logic that all the bones must be gone so I carried on. Luckily I was right, no more bones were to be found. However there was one last surprise for me lurking at the bottom of my meal. On the last mouthful I bit into what can only be described as connective tissue or some other piece of meat that shouldn't be in a chicken kebab, especially since they are usually made with chicken breast!

Can you tell what it is yet?!

I hope you've already had your tea!

I know I should have took it back and kicked off but I had demolished the lot and it wasnt me who bought the damn thing.. I know one thing though I won't be going back!

Sick as in Sick

The lack of camera in my life is the main reason for the lack of posts of late, my dire financial situation means I can't afford to buy one either! This is shit. My trusty phone does the job for some things but its no good for capturing fast bicycle maneuvers. Anyway I'm laid up with the flu at the moment so I may as well try and sling a post together.
We were all out partying a few weeks back at the Habit outdoor party at the Tyne and everyone was getting loose. Wally in particular was mortal and somehow managed to fall flat on his dish splitting his nose and head. Think his nose is broke too. In typical Wally fashion he refrained from going to A&E that night or even the next day, instead getting pissed up again at a BBQ. This left him with a lovely scab on his wonky nose.

Oh dear

If he's not cracking his face he's cracking the concrete!

Wally is moving to London this month to start a job with British Airways as an engineer. Congratulations mate! No doubt he will be tearing up the bars and clubs every weekend in the big smoke..

Here's a few things I've found interesting lately..

Keiichi Iwasaki

Keiichi Iwasaki is a Japanese man who went for a bike ride 7 years ago to the end of his town and enjoyed it so much he decided to carry on going with the equivalent of £1 in his pocket. Since then he has travelled halfway around the world with his only income coming from performing street magic to the people he meets. He has been robbed by pirates and arrested in India, almost died when he was attacked by a rabid dog in Tibet and nearly married in Nepal.
In total Mr Iwasaki has cycled over 45,000km (27,961 miles) on his favourite Raleigh shopper bike but two have been stolen and two have broken so he now rides his fifth. In May 2005, he became the first Japanese man to climb Mount Everest from sea level without using any transportation. He has also rowed from the source of the Ganges river in India to the sea, a journey of 1,300km which took him 35 days.

Here's the route that Keiichi has taken from his home in Japan. Amazing.

I really want to do some long distance cycle touring (on a road bike not BMX!) in the future but without possessing unreal magic skills I'll have to do it the hard way and save some cash- that may prove difficult!

Rowing down the Ganges River

London

Australia

India

Cambodia

This story along with Marc Beaumont's achievement of circumnavigating the world last year in a new world record time of 194 days has really inspired me to do something bigger than the Coast to Coast ride that I did earlier this year (which is like a trip to the shops in comparison). I am going to sign up for a 300km ride from London to Paris next year for the British Heart Foundation and I'm planning to cycle Edinburgh to Tynemouth in the spring.

Charlie Crumlish

This section is amazing. Nice to see someone original for once! From the FUTU DVD.

Charlie Crumlish in FUTU from bradhill on Vimeo.

Crazy Female Fixie doubles flatland?

This is immense, especially when they stand on each others sholders!



Hopefully if the weather stays fine there will be a proper update soon with some riding snaps in it.. maybe.