Highly Strung

Next week my Vitus gets converted to single speed, which should be fun on the hills

In April I’ll be doing The Grape Ride which I’m now getting slightly anxious about. I’m reliably informed that it’s not the done thing to stop for lunch or coffee mid ride – which is worrying…

In the meantime I’ll be trying to ride 30km three times a week…as soon as the weather clears up…

If generation X were known as slackers and generation Y are known as entitled, what were the baby boomers? Rebels?

It’s been an exhausting week, full of challenges I hadn’t anticipated. This is of course bound to coincide with a personal challenge. Although I’ve been cycling regularly for many years, I’ve never actually ridden in an event. This weekend I’m in a team triathlon, the first challenge: putting my beloved bike on a plane and hoping it emerges in Christchurch intact. The ride itself is on Sunday, wish me luck.

There’s clearly something really unifying about working at a place where you neither like nor respect the management. The fact that I still speak (well, tweet and the like) with a number of ex colleagues is a testament to how close we got in the almost two years I worked there. One of them has just direct messaged me to tell me he has finally quit, and I’m not only delighted he still thinks of me but also that he is excited enough about his new job to tell me about it. Bless.

…but you lost me when I discovered the chips were not cooked long enough.

And so my Burger Wellington experience commences with a classic beef burger at The Tasting Room, Courtenay Place.

Named the Wagyu Wonder burger, the beef pattie was soft and juicy as well tasty. Billed as a bacon and cheeseburger on the menu I was pleased to see (and taste) the addition of sliced dill pickles. The chutney was delicious as  promised and the cheese a nice sharp cheddar. I appreciated that the chef had resisted any urge to insert a posher lettuce into the mix, but rather went with the traditional iceberg, as is only right for a traditional style cheese burger. The bun (in-arguably the least interesting factor) was just the right side of soft, managing to maintain a good deal of structural integrity down the second to last bite. In summary – a very tasty burger.

Which brings to me to chips, an element of extreme importance to me. I liked the chunky uniform appearance and I like a bit of a food tower, however why go to all that trouble but fail to cook them long enough? Out of the 6 chips served, only one was cooked properly, a terrible disappointment.

It’s hard to score the first burger with nothing to compare it to but overall I thought the burger was of a high standard, only being let down by the chips. Had the chips been successful I would have scored this a 7/10, as is – I’ve gone with 6.5/10

See my new wheels, contrary to reports it is not a soccer mum’s car, it is merely a car big enough to fit a lot of stuff in. Stuff like a bike, a tent, camping equipment, and all that good kinda stuff.

The mascara it holds is ok, it separates, it lengthens, flakes a little…but what’s really great about it is the sleek metal tube.