Ey'up everyone. It's a grey and shitty-looking Thursday in Norfolk this morning, so here's a blog to make it even worse for you all. Just kidding, but we do have some serious stuff to talk about in a minute. Let's start with the more frivolous and fun stuff though.
You asked for them in your droves and we can't say no to good people who just want to relax, so we have popped a pre-order in our shop for our diamond-bowl one-hit pipes. Will we make others in fun shapes? Who knows, but for now, you can enjoy an 'Enabler' of your very own, come September. Supplied with mesh so they are ready to go, you'll just need to supply your own filling. We'd be lying if we said we wouldn't enjoy being tagged in your pictures while using them too. Seems like a good potential Instagram highlight album...
Speaking of blingy shit. There are approximately four bags of Sim Works by Hoshi raw brass nipples in the UK and we have two of them. If you love pretty things and being a bit of a flash git, let's build you some pretty wheels!
As most of you will know, after last week's blog, we decided to have a little time off. Hence there has been bugger all bike-related stuff on our Instagram page all week and plenty of vinyl etc. We literally never take time off, which is why our house is still mostly undecorated after seven years of being in it (that and my unwillingness to let anyone else come in to do work on it because I'm tight as arseholes). In case you didn't know, this is our full-time business. We don't have a sneaky 'real' job that pays all the bills and buys us time off and nice holidays, so when we decide to take a week to ourselves it means no money is coming in and we need to make the most of it. Mrs A has been desperate to put two new bathrooms in our gaff and while we were planning to get started, it became apparent that my dad's records needed to be rescued and housed sharpish, so that's what we did, sacrificing the biggest bedroom (ours) to be a listening room and a kind of shrine to the old man. We know he'd be pissed that he was never allowed a whole room for his collection, but hopefully he likes that it has one now. We started a new Instagram account for all the vinyl goodness, so we promise to stop boring you all on the bicycles page real soon.
With the records housed, we thought we might crack on with bathroom number one. But no. Stuff needed doing at my mum's, so we spent an entire day doing tip runs. Not gonna lie - we might have accidentally picked the hottest day in ages to do it. As the scent of hot garbage filled the van while we queued for the third run of the day, we did wonder where we went wrong with our choices, but now, at last, we can enjoy a couple more days off with nothing pressing to do. We think that 'tipping' should be an Olympic sport now. If you've never marvelled at your wife throwing a heavy worktop into a recycling centre bay before running back to "take care of the non-recyclables if you haul the tyres", you're missing out. Mrs A would easily take the gold for van packing, lugging and speed.
We are currently chasing our t-shirt chap about when we can get pre-orders for our Dolly garms up in the shop. Shouldn't be long, but we want to make sure we are using organic cotton. You know us - big hippies at heart. Cue shitty jokes about vegans, rabbit food, steak making real men etc.
And now for some utterly fucking shite news. Last year, you all shocked us by donating money and in some cases, riding clothing, to Mrs A when she rode over 300 miles in a month, for Cancer Research UK. It was motivated by our good friend Graham, who gave pancreatic cancer the finger during lockdown. He was given the all-clear and everything seemed good but he has just been informed that the cancer's back and in more than one location.
Graham is a good person. He'd do anything for you and loves to ride and for the cancer to now be present in both his pancreas and lung is, frankly, an absolute fucking shitfest. We are offering all the practical support we can, but we also wanted to ride again this September, but this time, as a family. We've set up a fundraising page (please enjoy Mrs A's custom URL) and will be riding at least 300 miles each, not collectively, with a toddler and a chonky dog both coming along on all rides for good measure. We are not in peak physical condition and we have little to no reason to ride every day because we work from home, so this will be a commitment. Especially as a family. One of us getting out for 10 miles a day isn't that much of a mission, but all of us? That turns into something more logistically tricky. We would be stoked if you could support all the people dealing with cancer by donating the price of one fancy coffee to our page. Hey, if you want really good karma points, chuck in the cost of a cake too. Oh, and please don't donate anonymously. We really love knowing who has taken the time and it's not glory-hunting to put your name to a good act guys. Plus, it stops dickheads making out that they donated when they didn't. We see you arseholes and just so you know, if you talk a good game but do nothing to support said causes in real life, you are a skid mark on the underpants of humanity. Takes more than a subsidised cycling jersey or some swell-guy hashtags.
Mrs A is going to make a special badge pack too, with all proceeds going to the ride fund, so if you've ever wanted a badge that says "cancer can suck a dick", you are soon to have that dream brought to life...
Rad peeps of the week:
All our Buy Me A Coffee supporters. Until the end of September, all your generous donations will be put into the Ride September fund.
Cousin Rob and his wife Shona for becoming parents to a beautiful baby girl. Congrats guys! Rose is one very lucky little lady to have you both doting on her. I'll get started on the balance bike shall I?...
Sam at Bicycle Ambulance/Fresh Tripe for always being an absolute chap. Cambridge people, make sure you are supporting this excellent shop!
Steve Cooper for sending us such a glowing review of his stem rack that finally arrived! Your patience was amazing!
Graham. You've got this dude and we are right beside you.
Pierce Brosnan for hamming up his outings as Bond to such an extent that we can't stop doing inflated impressions of him. But if you haven't seen it, you also need to watch Taffin. You're all welcome.
See you next time!
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