Guess who’s back?

It’s been a while and a busy time I’ve had. Summer has been and nearly gone, and Autumn is upon us. As the leaves turn brown and fall to the gardens and streets below, I suppose we all know the inevitable; winter is coming. You can feel it too, especially in the ocean, although the water is at its warmest, the first autumn swells are arriving here in Cornwall, and Hurricane Erin has already sent us a beauty. The evening light is beginning to wain, but this said, and let’s not be negative, there is still two hours of post-work fun to be had outside and on December the 21st they start getting light again!  Bike park season is still in action mode, and it’s been so much fun having evening sessions blessed with great weather and glorious late nights of extended summer light. Personally. I’ve been making the most of both, gravel riding for fitness, and surfing as much as possible here in the Wild West.  Friday night became bike night,  riding every Friday evening at Chacewood Bike Park, a small and friendly set up in a stunning hidden valley just past Redruth, here in Cornwall. I also just had my first autumn trip to Old Hill where I’m so close to achieving something I never thought I would or could, I’m nearly through the black line, a series of pretty big jumps. One to big one to go and I’ve done the entire line. I will say that if you ride bikes, Cornwall has some fine bike parks. Not even close to the scale of Bike Park Wales, but  our parks are designed by some amazing riders that have made the most of what they have, and you can see the smiles of every rider means they’ve done a great job..

Not that it’s at all relevant but this summer was also spent redeveloping the back garden. The skate ramp has gone, unused for a fair while, but the wood has been repurposed into a new shed, decking and pizza/potting table. I’m pretty stoked to be honest. Beau Miles, the Aussie content creator would be so proud considering the pile of wood I had before, and what’s left is mere evening fire pit ingredients. 

Since my last foray on here I’ve been gathering resources, equipment and materials to finally start a couple of new Radius projects that will help me develop my yearning to create in both written, verbal and visual forms. I’ll also share an exciting surf related project, the process of which shall begin this winter and I can already hear the voice in my own head saying ‘Another One!’. As one of the world’s finest procrastinators, numerous projects have fallen by the wayside, but I’m not going to let this happen.  I’m going to crack on and spend time working hard on the ‘doing’ and not putting off, gathering what I need to bring these ideas out of my head and into the open and fight back against my little friend called ‘resistance’.  I tend to spring into action at times when I least expect it, encouraged by what I see, hear, notice or feel around me, and you never know, I may well find a little gap somewhere that’s not being catered for.   

We’re not there just yet, but for many, winter means returning to weekend warrior status and we’ll be juggling our need for outdoor life with impending dark nights, and limited weekend time, with that age old quandary of cramming our essential activities into a smaller window.  Down here in Cornwall, this winter will I’ll be focussed on exploring what is possible with dark evenings, tides, elements, and limited daylight, so I expect lights on bikes to be high on the agenda, some woodland bushcraft, and some weekend wheels and waves.

I must also explain that visual creativity has crashed into my life this year. Some might call it journaling, creative expression, collage, or just plain art work. Whatever we label it, I’m into it and it’s has become a welcome part of my often muddled mind.  I’ve always written words, but to now add images, play with my own creations has been immensely expressive and rewarding, and I can spend minutes or hours indulging in this creative pursuit. So beware, I also anticipate sharing a fair amount of this too.

Whilst riding this past year, and summer, I have also been testing a couple of products from my good friends at DMR and Upgrade Bikes, so the reviews will be coming soon. I aim to be doing more of this as it’s something I really enjoy, so If you like how I review these products and you have a product that fits these pages then please drop me a line. I better add that I have been long term testing a surfboard that was designed alongside my good friend Hugh Brockman at Bos Surfboards, and I’ll be putting words to this very soon, with an aim to make this design available and that is very exciting. 
 
I mentioned the gathering of equipment too. To compliment the writing on the blog,  I shall also begin recording a series of interviews this winter.  Something I’ve wanted to do for some time and really excited about. Am I calling it a podcast? Not sure yet, but I hope they will compliment To make this work, to be both realistic and achievable, they’ll be recorded and presented in season format. Season one will be titled ‘Making a Difference’, focussing on those people who inspire us to make positive change in our lives. I’m really looking forward to this as it will be a huge personal challenge, and I imagine will involve a fair dose of imposter syndrome.  

So, welcome back to the Radius, or just plain welcome if you’ve just found it,  and please join me on some form of adventure. You can see there’s plenty of content planned, and winter is a long dark time, but if we keep busy, we can get through it with good times and stories to tell. In the meantime, if you have a moment, and like what you see then please leave a comment or drop an email to say hi. Cheers. 

Footnote: Below are a couple of my old photos I’ve taken from my journal. I was playing with in mixed media. The surfers are Californian Icon, Alex Knost and below him, one of the finest to ever grace a Longboard, Sennen’s very own, and now living in Australia, James Parry.  I’m just mucking about right now, learning some new techniques and just having fun. I’ll write a post soon about journaling because it’s so beneficial to the mind, I’d love to share some ideas that I’ve already picked up along the way. 

I don’t know why I feel it necessary to give a summary of my year but I have and that’s that. For now, I’m just getting a post together for this week,  and I’m stoked to get ‘The Radius’ back on track, so please watch this space, check in when you can and I’d love to hear any feedback and see a few comments. I think blogging is still alive, but if not, at least I get to write, that I love to do.