Back in the day, and I’m thinking mid 1990s through to maybe 2010, we used to just set off on our trusty touring tandem with no fixed plans, no pre-arranged accommodation* and clutching our Caledonian MacBrayne Island Hopscotch tickets**. And we rarely ran into problems getting on ferries or finding somewhere to stay.

Our last Scottish cycle tour was back in 2017 since our attempt to tour in 2018 foundered due to missing our first ferry in Oban and then having all the ferries cancelled due to a storm. In subsequent years we were unable to tour owing to family circumstances and the Covid pandemic.

Quite a few years ago, I started an exploration of my family’s genealogy. This began as a Christmas holiday project, then became a bit of an obsession until the ‘easy wins’ were all done. While clearing my late father’s house prior to sale, my brother uncovered a bunch of photos that we think were included in my paternal grandmother’s belongings when she died in 2000.

In these photos were three that included men in military uniform. One of these was clearly identifiable by the handwritten inscription on the reverse of the photo. The others are a little more complicated!

The albums in this list of 1001 continue to be predominantly anglocentric, which is a bit of a disappointment. Anyway, here is another tranche of 20 records. I was pleased to see Suicide's first album show up. I have a vinyl copy of the UK release (which has a slightly different track listing than the original US release), but also a CD copy of the US release. I bought it because I was intrigued by a review in a HiF magazine which rather rudely announced that only a poseur could possibly claim to like the record ("poseur" was something of a standard insult in those days!). I loved the album from the off, and went on to buy many more Suicide albums, and albums by Alan Vega and Martin Rev.

I was pleasantly surprised by Green River by Creedence Clearwater Revival, but many of the selections seemed to me to be rather inconsequential records. 

I think this event replaced the regular Icknield RC 30k event that for the last few years has been run on two laps of a circuit that takes riders over Mentmore Hill. That’s always a bit of a shocker, because the descent has appalling road surfaces. This year’s event was held on the Astwood circuit course (two laps), with the Bike Bus as race HQ.

On the day, we had brilliant sunshine but there was a rather strong wind (it was 15-17mph during my ride, with gusts exceeding that. I had some technical issues though these didn’t affect my admittedly lacklustre performance. More on that later.

So here I am, having passed 10% of the albums. It continues to be a rather anglocentric exercise, with most albums from the US, UK and Canada.

No discoveries of albums in this tranche that I subsequently added to my collection. But the exercise is exposing me to records I've not played before, which has to be a good thing even if it confirms my existing taste! 

The Duo Normand was the best time trial I regularly rode, and as a 2-up tream trial, I always rode with my long-term 2-up partner Gerry (together we styled ourselves Team Grumpy). There are many reasons why I believe this was the best time trial - a large field raning from non-specialist riders through to professional teams; a challenging course of around 54km; and in a great location in the heart of rural Normandy. Gerry and I ended up taking annual holidays in Normandy because of this race.

Sadly the Duo Normand seems to have fallen off the calendar of events, partly due to the Covid pandemic, partly due to local sports politics, but also (I believe) due in part to the political stupidity that is Brexit. 

Here are my thoughts on albums 61 to 80 from the 1001 Albums website.

It's still very English language on the whole. On the other hand, it keeps exposing me to new music which is always a good thing.

After all the recent dreary and wet weather, I was pleased to have a lovely spring day to ride over to Beachampton (a bit over 20 miles each way) for this club time trial, though there were many puddles and other mucky sections on the course.

Four riders turned out, including the very youthful Oscar who rode one lap of the course on his mountain bike and accompanied by his dad following close behind (and offering encouragement). The rest of us did two laps on road bikes (the event wasn't open to TT bikes).

Over the last few years, a new material for inner tubes has surfaced - TPU or thermoplastic polyurethane. The first brand I noticed was Tubolito, though there are several available now.