Goodbye old friend.

This MTB lark is not cheap. In fact it is a very expensive hobby, not as expensive as a Brian Harvey/Danniella Westbrooke level cocaine addiction but still requires outlays of cash. £150 here for parts and service, £30 there due to ripping the batty out of my shorts, £2o for a saddle that won't render me nutless, it all adds up. So Mrs C-S has finally put she foot down and said "Oi Crawford - NOOOO! I admire your desire to lose some chub and raise cash to help the Cardically challenged but I want a landscaped front garden. MOFO!"

Don't get me wrong, my wife is extremely supportive of my hobbies, and has always understood my obsessive nature with them. After a trip to Paris I started listening to Bluenote Jazz and discovered a fantastic trumpet player called Lee Morgan. He truly is was an amazing musician, he played the trumpet with the same reckless abandon that Jimi Hendrix played guitar. In order to fully appreciate his genius I bought a Trumpet and began learning to play. You can imagine how quickly Amy brought in the "Anti Trumpet clause", and since then it has sat unloved in a corner. I also bought a new guitar, A Gibson Les Paul, a brilliant instrument, plays metal, rock, blues, Jazz you name it, it sounds great.

However, I already had a guitar. When my Grandfather died in '97 he left me £500. The probate cleared in'99 and when it nestled in the bank account I went on a £100 bender and spent the rest on a Fiesta Red Fender Stratocaster the following morning whilst still pissed. Ypu can tell I was still a bit wrecked because "Fiesta Red" is also like, "Deep Salmon Pink Porn Guitar Colour". Anyway, despite it being the gayest colour ever I have grown quite attached to it, however, this mad crusade is going to take its toll on Le Steed, and I must part with "Shanger".

I do get attached to my shit, and also the Trumpet is on ebay, but friends, I think by now you must understand how important this event has become to me. To sell my guitar, bought with the cash left to me by my Grandfather to pay for parts that will wear out, it is emotional.

But, being a half full kind of guy, I reckon that by selling my Fender will help pay back some of the cash spent on the Gibson, allowing that guitar to take over as the heirloom left to me by my Grandfather and become the new "Shanger", and thus releasing funds to pay for the unkeep and maintanance of the bike.

Makes sense to me.

Completed a sterling effort on the night ride. Clearly it is pointless taking any photos but I may try and film some downhill runs so you can see how utterly terrifying it is.

Terrifying, but really exhilarating!! 30MPH down single track is great fun, and I am convinced that you ride faster because you can't see where you are going. Fell off too. Ouch

Now true believers I must prepare for tomorrows ride with a glass of wine and Aliens v Predator: Requiem.

Rock on.