Readings from the new book

The clips below are from a reading I gave to the Belfast Book Festival at the Ormeau Library on Saturday, June 16.

My speech at Bike Dock on the launch of the book..

Book Launch

I got my first printed copy of the new book today. This is always the best moment in the whole publishing process before frets about reviews and sales take over. But it's book number six so I should be getting used to the highs and lows. We will launch it at Bike Dock on the Ravenhill Road on Thursday 24 at 6pm, so do come.

The Lagan

I have had a couple of nice tootles out along the Lagan towpath in the past weeks. One was just for a photoshoot for the Mail On Sunday which is publishing a piece on the new book. On Saturday I took cameras to catch as many shots as I could for a slideshow I want to make illustrating the route.

This shot above was pure accident, but I like it.

Some spots are lovelier than others, inevitable in a river passing between cities.

Here's a few more, and I'll add to them.

Belfast Ghost Bike

I think this may be Belfast's first ghost bike, erected in memory of Michael Caulfield who was crushed by a lorry on the Ormeau Road last year, at 6.30 in the morning when there was almost no other traffic on the road.
This happened at just about the time I was collecting my new bike to resume a cycling hobby I had given up tenth years earlier.
See also this little slideshow inspired by the accident

Single speed

Bike Dock have lent me a single speed bike, an old rusty thing from the 1960s renovated. I can't even make out who built it. In ordinary thinking, this would be the cheapest buy you would find, the least desirable pair of wheels. I'll post a picture of it tomorrow and some more detail.
For now, I am dazzled by the responsiveness of this bike. It is a very nifty town bike. There is never any doubt about what it is going to do when you press on the pedal. My own bike is a 27 speed Ridgeback Panorama, built for touring in open countryside, up and down mountains. This one is harder work but that makes it perfect for training.
All those gears make a bike slacker in its feel and they create the potential for mistakes, they just distance you a bit further from the machine itself.
I'm beginning to think that this single-speed would be the perfect winter bike, for just going to the University and back and jaunts around town, keeping me fitter and serving me better in tight spots.

Putting Your Bike on a Train

 

It used to be that you had to prop your bike against a wall in the Guard's carriage, usually with a lot of parcels cluttering the place. Now, on the Belfast-Dublin line, you get a meathook on the ceiling to hang it from.

This is a more cramped system on the Dublin Limerick train, and a bit hard on the mudguard.