I’d been feeling ill last week since taking part in a rowing race on Concept 2 rowing machines. We got absolutely hammered, so I’m not going into any more detail other than to say it’s obvious that cycling does very little to improve my prowess as an oarsman!

I was feeling so ill on Friday that I rang in sick – that must only be the second time I’ve ever done that. Anyhow, later that evening I started to feel at bit better and decided to finish building the Global Titanium Softail. Once the gears were shifting correctly and I’d bled the brakes, the hardest part should have been done…the USE fork however has been a bit of a bugger to get right. I’ve finally got the correct amount of air pressure in it but there seems to be so much rebound damping that it extends very slowly. USE themselves are sending me some bits and pieces to help me strip it down, clean it and replace the wiper seals so hopefully that’ll sort it.

Despite the niggly fork, the bike rides absolutely beautifully. In fact, this is the nicest riding bike I’ve ever owned. It’s so smooth, comfortable and quiet and bloody fast too. I’ll be riding it a lot over the next couple of weeks just to make sure it’s all set up right and isn’t’ going to give me pain over a long distance. The whole bike weighs in at 24 pounds.