Variety – The spice of life !

When you work in a bike shop no two days are ever the same . Different people and different bikes are in and out every day . Also because it’s our own business there’s everything else that goes along with being self employed , accounts , orders , marketing etc. Whilst I’m not one for posting entries in diary form ala Bridget Jones the past week probably should be broken down that way so here it goes ;

Monday – Worked from home all day , did blog post and Vat return . Spent the evening congratulating three year old daughter on doing her poo in the potty . A very momentous event if you’ve ever gone through the toilet training process .

Tuesday – Very busy day in shop . Built two Kuota Kebels with Ultegra SL . Lovely bikes . Hybrids were going like hot cakes as the summer sun takes effect and encourages people to get out and enjoy the long evenings .

Wednesday – Spent half the morning trying to get the back wheel off of a museum piece with a pre sturmey archer 3 speed . The faded Bill Purcell sticker on the down tube said it all . There once was a bike shop in Clonmel , down where the veterinary surgery across from the army barracks currently resides which was owned and operated by Bill Purcell . This was back in the days shortly after Oliver Cromwell laid siege upon the town and this particular bike may well have been used by Cromwell himself .

Thursday – Gave a presentation at the Irish Internet Association’s annual congress . Pretty nerve racking beforehand especially when I sat down on the stage and looked down at around 400 people . I was third up and luckily the preparation beforehand paid off and all went well . Got some very positive feedback afterwards and really , looking back now it couldn’t have gone better . Darragh Doyle even gave it a mention on his blog . Learned a lot from the other speakers also and have plenty of ideas to keep me occupied for the next twelve months .

Friday – National Mountain Bike Day , or so it seemed . Today everyone wanted to head off road . Ballyhoura really seems to be capturing the imagination and getting people to try their hand at a bit of mountain biking .

Saturday – It was like being in the West county hotel ( sign on hotel for the Ras ) all day as  The Men of the Ras were in getting a few final requirements . When your not riding this year and everyone is coming in talking about it there is always that pang of ‘ shoulda trained for it ‘ especially this year with Fridays stage finishing about 300 meters from the shop . If the weather stays good for the week it will be even more difficult to reconcile but if it lashes rain for a day or two the regret of not riding will be significantly diminished .

At home on Saturday evening requests for a pink trampoline were being voiced with increasing regularity as all poos are now finding their way to the potty and a reward was promised , so if anyone knows where to get a pink trampoline please let me know as three year olds are like elephants , they never forget .

Barry

www.worldwidecycles.com