It seems that December has proceeded pretty much as the whole of the 2013 season has done: appallingly. My training has gone pretty well in fits and starts through the month, and monitoring the Critical Power estimates (obtained by the budget Polar power meter fitted to the turbo bike and analysed by Golden Cheetah) has indicated my training has not been completely ineffective! As I write, I've woken early yet again at the behest of my persistent chesty cough, which is showing no signs of shifting after about 5 days. So my last training was on 22nd December, a day before I left for a brief Christmas break. That turbo session went pretty well, and I was somewhat encouraged. Unfortunately, I've been so ill that it's looking unlikely that I will be able to ride the New Years Day '10'. I have decided to adhere to Team Grumpy's Rule #5:

Team Grumpy Rules

Over the years, Grumpy Bob and 'Grumpy' Art have developed a set of rules.  These are of course intended to be implemented at all times, however exactly.  Originally posted at the Team Grumpy blog. Rule #1. Remember to make your excuses before the race, not after. Otherwise it will just sound pathetic. Rule #2. Don't tinker with your bike the evening before the event. It will break, either then or, worse still, during the event. Rule #3. If all else fails, buy some new bike kit. Rule #4. And if rule #3 fails, new skinsuits are probably a good option. Rule #5. Never train or race with a bad cough - it will destroy your entire season. Rule #6. Tantrums are appropriate if provoked (e.g. by mechanical problems), but try to avoid damage to equipment. Rule #7. Team Grumpy riders are allowed to use whatever equipment they wish (and their wallets permit). However, the official team energy drink is always pop belge.

Frankly, from here things can only get better. Can't they?

Well, this album was really a little out of the ordinary for me. The only other record I have featuring Scott Walker is a Walker Brothers collection of some of their 60s output. I bought this as a flac download  several weeks ago, on its release date, and I've been listening since. I don't actually buy into this godlike genius thing - I think a genius might release more records - but after a few plays of samples via the web, I decided to buy it. And I'm not disappointed, though on the other hand I'm not overwhelmed. The record has an interesting juxtaposition of Walker's voice with a odd array of sounds and aural textures, which on the whole I really like. My reservations are more that I haven't really got to the bottom of the lyrics, and with an album like this, it's difficult to really form an opinion too quickly. Many of the songs seem to be making quirky connections between widely disparate people and events. It's safe to say this one's going to take a bit of concentration.

Amazingly, the after-effects* of September's crash has lasted through most of this month (despite managing the Duo Normand about three weeks after the crash). This, together with a brief bout of illness and a trip to Scotland has continued the general derailment of my training. On the bright side, analysis of the metrics collected via my turbo trainer and using the rather excellent Golden Cheetah does seem to indicate some pick-up in form. Hopefully I'll get the ball rolling through December and beyond, with the New Year '10' as an intermediate test of fitness. In all likelihood, the first real race of 2013 will be the Port Talbot Wheelers 2-up '25', which is usually in early March. In the meantime, I've got a clear idea of what training I need to do, which is not to say I have actually been doing it. We have had a couple of decent tandem rides on days when the elements have not been so set against outdoors activity, but apart from that, road riding has largely been confined to commuting to work (by tandem). It's about this time of year that we start thinking about next year's cycling holiday. We have a few ideas for 2013, most of which revolve around either renting a house for the holiday (rather than touring), or visiting Wales as a change from Scotland. Maybe we'll decide before Hogmanay. The timing is a bit more complicated this year due to academic calendar changes at work. * These effects have been rather odd: for two weeks I was mainly in graze healing mode: after this, the pain started! Firstly, a painful shoulder, replaced after the Duo with lower back pain. Since I cleared that away, I've had pain in hip joints, another bout of back pain, twitching leg muscles, calf pain and numbness in the foot. All of this affecting my right side, upon which I made abrupt and painful contact with the tarmac at 26mph. On the bright side, no bones have actually been broken. Indeed I must be heavy boned, as in all the scrapes, crashes and car-collisions I've suffered in my cycling career I have never broken a bone. Touch wood.

Apparently recording a cover album of Nico's classic 1970 album Desertshore was something of an obsession of Peter Christopherson (Throbbing Gristle, Coil, X-TG). Sadly this project was incomplete at the time he died. It was however resurrected by his X-TG colleagues Cosey Fanni Tutti and Chris Carter. The result has been an interesting artefact: a two CD release housed in an elegant and understated sleeve, along with a 12 page booklet and a postcard. The first CD consists of the covers of the Desertshore tracks, mostly featuring guest vocalists, including Antony Hegarty, Marc Almond, Blixa Bargeld, as well as Cosey Fanni Tutti. Before listening to this, I was somewhat worried that it might be something of a mismatch of styles: in fact, the individual tracks seem to gel really rather well, and I've found myself listening to the original Nico versions in parallel - enjoying both equally. The second CD is entitled The Final Report. As I understand it, X-TG is (or rather was) the three remaining members of Throbbing Gristle after Genesis P-Orridge left, and this is them signing off after the death of Christpherson. Personally, I find this an appealling set of tracks, but somewhat less marked that those of Desertshore with their characteristic guest vocals. Highly recommended - particularly for the TG and Coil aficionados. I bought my copy from Cargo rather than Amazon, due to the tax evasion situation.