Back to School 2026

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After a summer holiday that simultaneously seemed to fly by and drag on, Owen and Henry started back at school today. A real shock to the system as we landed back from Menorca less that 24 hours ago… (Blog post coming soon!)

Owen’s First Day of Year Six

How is at already Owen’s last year in primary school? Owen had a pretty full on summer holiday – learning to snowboard, cycling to raise over £500 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and of course our trip to Menorca. He will be glad to get back to school for a rest, and particularly a break from Henry. Owen’s homework for the summer holidays was to read “War Horse”, which was no problem for him, but also to craft something to do with World War One. As anything computer based was specifically banned, he decided to make a mk4 tank out of wood. Partially inspired by a Guy Martin documentary we had watched together. He literally put blood sweat and tears into it, so hopefully it is appreciated by his teacher.

In addition to the mandatory photo by the front door, I asked Owen some questions, to record how he changes over the years:

  • Height: 145cm
  • Shoe size: 4
  • Bike(s): Nukeproof Cub Scout 26, which we changed the brakes on over the holidays, for mountain biking, Frog 69 for commuting and a borrowed Archie Wilkinson Intermediate cycle speedway bike
  • Favourite colour: Blue (changed from red, possibly something to do with Subaru Imprezas)
  • Favourite food: Bacon and brie baguette
  • Favourite book: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
  • Favourite thing to watch on TV: Mark Rober – Owen doesn’t get much of a chance to watch TV due to Henry hogging it though
  • Best thing we did over the summer holiday: Going to Daikoku Nights at Caffeine and Machine and seeing all of the Japanese cars, especially the Subaru Imprezas
  • What do you want to be when you grow up? Carpenter

Henry’s First Day of Year Three

This year Henry was also keen to go back to school, mainly to see his girlfriend. Henry’s homework was to read The Sheep Pig, which he left until the last minute but completed yesterday, and to craft something farm related. Jen helped him to make a barn out of a shoe box, which housed cardboard animals.

Henry also answered the back to school questions:

  • Height: 126cm
  • Shoe size: 1 (and loving his Be Greater barefoot school shoes and trainers)
  • Bike(s): Orbea MX20 (Owen’s old bike) for mountain biking, Frog 55 for riding to school and a custom cycle speedway bike based on a Frog 58 track bike.
  • Favourite colour: Gold
  • Favourite food: Bacon baguette
  • Favourite book: The Beano (extra satisfying as usually stolen from Owen)
  • Favourite thing to watch on TV: Henry Danger
  • Best thing we did over the summer holiday: Making a new friend in the pool on holiday in Menorca
  • What do you want to be when you grow up? An inventor

Owen’s Summer Challenge for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity – Update

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Thank you to everyone who has sponsored Owen for his “31 miles in August” Summer Challenge for Birmingham Children’s Hospital – he has tripled his fundraising goal, ending up just shy of £500. If you have not sponsored him, and want to help him get over the £500 mark you can still donate!

Not only did Owen smash his fundraising target, he rode more than the target distance – finishing up the month on 41 miles. That was not including cycle speedway, or any of the distance walked on various trips out. At the start of the challenge Owen’s mountain bike was out of action, so it was good to get that fixed up and ride at both Hick’s Lodge and Cannock Chase. Owen also did an unplanned 10 mile ride with a friend (well 4 miles to/from his house and 6 miles together).

A special shoutout must also go to Henry, who tagged along for most of Owen’s rides and did some others too! We were not counting, or fundraising, but he would also have covered 31 himself! Un fortunately Henry does not like posing for photos when riding, so I have to be sneaky…

All this riding in August is going to set Owen up for a September of racing – on the 5th it is the “Little League” cycle speedway national championships, Owen will be riding in both the under 10s individual and team events. Then on the 19th it is the Newbold Dash – our local mountain bike race, which we also rode last year.

Owen’s Summer Challenge for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity

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At the start of the summer holidays I asked Owen what he wanted to do before going back to school. He said “Ride 75km”. After that I started getting adverts on social media for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity’s Summer Challenge of “31 miles in August”. As Birmingham Children’s Hospital looked after him so well a few years ago when he was quite ill, it seemed like the ideal challenge for Owen.

He is going to do his 31 miles on his bike (although we are not going to include Cycle Speedway riding), which should be fairly easy for him. I just need to fix his mountain bike, and make time to ride with him. We are also going away towards the end of the month, so do not have too much time… I will share an update post towards the end of the month when he has done the 31 miles.

If you want to sponsor Owen, we have go a Just Giving page set up.

Snowboarding

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Today I went snowboarding, for only the second time since Owen was born. Twenty years ago, before I met Jen, even before I had this blog I used to snowboard a lot, but had not ridden for ages due to various reasons. Owen had been pestering me to learn, so when I bought him lessons for his birthday, it was inevitable that I would be getting one the slope too… The venue was my old stomping ground – Tamworth Snowdome. Owen has previously had a couple of lessons on the nursery slope, but this was his first lesson on the main slope. He struggled a bit on his toe edge, but kept trying for the whole two hour lesson, and most importantly he enjoyed himself.

I was more concerned about my old kit, than my riding skills. Fortunately snowboarding is just like riding a bike – other than the button on my trousers popping open on my first turn it did not feel like I had been away for very long at all. On the other hand my kit was not so glad to be back, after about ninety minutes the strap on my back binding felt loose when I dropped in. I thought that I had forgotten to do it up, but no, the muscle memory was still there, the strap had snapped. I was able to ride it down to the bottom of the slope, but now it gave me the opportunity to see what a modern snowboard was like… My initial feeling when I picked it up was that it felt a lot lighter. I only did three runs on it, but I could not notice much difference, the bindings were not as good, ankle straps notwithstanding. Then again I am comparing top end kit from 2002, with modern rental kit.

Owen has got a few more lessons to do before we can get onto the snow together, but as long as he is keen to do it I will keep supporting him. I may have go the taste for it back too, now time to go binding shopping…

Owen’s Tenth Birthday

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How is our tiny little baby ten years old already? In some ways the last ten years have flown by, even though life is completely different. Owen is still very inquisitive, but he is also getting more interested in trying new things, like skateboarding. He has also conquered his fear of heights and managed to climb to the top of the climbing frame at the local park. After being inspired during some work we had done on the house earlier in the year, Owen has decided that he wants to be a carpenter when he grows up – “something that should be safe from AI”. We have done a few small projects together, including building a raised bed and he also assembled most of the furniture in his bedroom. 

Even though he is now ten, Owen was not too big to wake us up at half past six, and jump into our bed for a cuddle. It is fair to say he was excited about his birthday! We had got him some good presents – Owen likes a lot of the same things as me, which makes him easy to buy for. Even at 42 I would still be happy to get a Casio G Shock watch – I actually wore mine today, rather than my Apple Watch. I have also got him snowboard lessons, as that is something he has been asking about for years. 

After unwrapping presents we went to Squirrels, our local cafe, for breakfast. Owen opted for the big full breakfast, the “Mount Nod”, and just about managed to eat all of it. His eyes are still bigger than his belly!

At lunchtime it was time for some cycle speedway racing. Possibly due to the wet weather, there were fewer riders than normal and the heats were split such that it was the four fastest riders, then everyone else – Owen and Henry being in the latter group. This meant that Owen was the fastest in the group. He won his four heats, convincingly. Henry came last in his four, including two against Owen, he rode really well though and was close the riders in front, pushing them all the way to the finish line. Henry came third in the U8s B final and Owen came second (to one of the “fast four”) in the U12s final. Which placed him third in U12s in the regional series – I think that qualifies him for nationals. Owen was also awarded the trophy for “referee’s star rider”! 

After the excitement of cycle speedway we had some family round for a small gathering, and more presents for Owen. Jen had made him a lemon drizzle cake with a Hotwheels Subaru Impreza on top, which Owen was excited about. 

By this time next year Owen will almost have finished primary school, we will have chosen his secondary school and he will have done his SATS, hopefully he will also be able to snowboard!

Coventry City Centre Photowalk

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Yesterday I went into Coventry city centre for a photo walk with The Shutter Crew, a new local photography group. As it was focussed on street photography I took my Fuji X100V. Ten photographers met by the Lady Godiva statue on Broadgate, including a colleague from work, which was a bit of a surprise. As we waited to set off, I was naturally attracted to the cyclists on Broadgate – although I’m sure you’re not meant to ride there…

As we walked around Holy Trinity Church towards the Cathedral I got into more of a street photography mindset, spotting a composition and waiting for someone to walk into the frame. I liked the contrast of red hair and boots against the blue door on this one, although it would have worked better if I was stood slightly to my left to frame the subject perfectly in the door.

After exploring the cathedral ruins, and watching the skateboarders by the Herbert gallery, we carried on through the university. When I saw this golden building I immediately thought it would make a good backdrop for another pan shot – fortunately the X100V has a built in ND filter so I could get the 1/15th shutter speed needed.

This last shot was not from the photo walk, when we were at the bottom of Hertford Street I left the group to meet Jen and the boys at Spencer Park – continuing the photo walk would have taken me in the opposite direction and would have meant missing my left home. It also took me to the location of one of my favourite street photographs, taken on a previous Coventry photowalk, so I had another go at that angle. I think I prefer it with a slightly longer lens though.

Hopefully the group will continue, as it was good to have an excuse to get out with the camera on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

Bike Check – Henry’s Frog 58 Cycle Speedway Bike

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As mention on my recent post about Henry’s seventh birthday, one of his presents was a cycle speedway bike. Last year he had been riding a club bike – a converted BMX, and the gearing was not right for him. It was also really heavy. So I knew he needed his own bike. Up until a few weeks before his birthday I did not have a plan, then I saw that Daisy (@pint_size_cyclist on Instagram) was selling her Frog 58 track bike – with 20″ wheels, 1 gear and no brakes I figured that it would be a good base to start from. The only problem was that it was set up as a fixed gear velodrome bike…

Still, I collected the bike from Bristol, and ordered a pair of cycle speedway handlebars. Once I got the bike home the shopping list expanded – the velodrome tyres were too thin for the speedway track, and there was no freewheel fitted. When I took off the huge 42T chainring, to refit the original cranks and chainring I noticed that the bottom bracket was a bit crunchy, so I got Albany Cycles to replace that too. Once the bars arrived I also realised that the stem clamp on the Frog stem was too big for the cycle speedway handlebars, so I needed a BMX stem. I finished the bars of with some coordinating DMR Deathgrips.

What I had not been aware of when I bought the bike was that there are two different wheel sizes labelled as 20″, this was the bigger one, that is actually nearer to 22″, this meant that the fit was better for Henry, but that buying tyres was trickier. In the end I was able to get some Maxis DTH BMX race tyres, I would have preferred something knobblier, but I had to work with what was available. I have not even tried setting them up tubeless…

It is tricky to get gearing right for a speedway bike – you have to find the balance between being quick off the start line, but not having legs spinning too fast on the straights. Originally I was going to get Henry to do some testing on the cycleway outside our house on his other green Frog bike – a 55, which has 8 gears, but given the lack of freewheel and rapidly approaching birthday I went for refitting the standard 36T chainring and 114mm cranks, but an 18T freewheel, to make it slightly easier to start. My guess seems to have worked – Henry is happy with the gearing, and has been riding much faster than last year.

I missed the first training session of the year, due to work commitments, so the first time I saw Henry riding the bike on the shale oval was at the first race meeting of the year and it fitted him perfectly! The gearing also seemed right. Henry was pleased to not be the smallest rider there for once, but somehow Owen and Henry had been seeded together. When they lined up together for the first race, with a much smaller boy, I was just hoping that they did not take each other out. Henry rode brilliantly, finishing only a few bike lengths behind Owen! I would not have expected that at the end of last season (even if Owen said he was just riding fast enough to win). The gap to Owen was bigger in subsequent races as faster kids joined them and gave Owen more of a challenge (he was all five of his races!), until Henry lined up just him and the smaller racer in a heat. Henry has always been the smallest/slowest, so this was his chance, he seized it and took his first race win!

Now I just need to sort out a speedway bike for Owen, fortunately there are purpose built bikes available, so I just need to find one for sale…

Henry’s Seventh Birthday

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This weekend was Henry’s seventh birthday, and it has been a busy one! Henry got us all up early to open his presents- highlights being a plunger (this was top of his list), a “golden ticket” to visit Cadbury’s World and a part built cycle speedway bike (bike check post coming soon). In my defence the lead up to Henry’s birthday has been incredibly busy, because we wanted to get his bedroom finished before his birthday, which we managed with a few days to spare – although we still need to move his wardrobe and all his stuff in.

What Henry had been most excited about was his party at the local trampoline park – I drew the short straw, and was sent in to bounce with the kids and keep an eye on my three-year-old niece. The party went well, there were no serious injuries and all of the children seemed to have a good time. I took my niece for her first ride in the MR2 Roadster, she seemed to enjoy it, bur fell asleep before we got home. In the afternoon we had the extended family round for a second party. The is the first time we have had everyone round to the new house at the same time, and it went well. It was nice to see both nieces and Henry all playing together nicely. Jen made a lovely birthday cake, with crushed Oreo icing. We also had more guests in the evening, so it was a tiring day for everyone.

Today, we visited Cadbury’s World – it had been on our plans for a while, but Henry has been reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, so we thought we would build on that and treat him to a day out. The homemade “golden tickets” we made for him to unwrap also went down well. Jen and I had both been to Cadbury’s World many years ago, but I did not remember much of it. We had a good day out, being with the boys definitely added to the fun – it all seemed to be well managed (with the exception of one ride that was closed0, with a balance of learning and action, without too much hanging around. Of course we ate plenty of chocolate, and visited the gift shop!

Cannock Chase with Partho and The Boys

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So far 2026 has mostly been DIY for me, but managed to get the afternoon off with the boys to ride at Cannock Chase with Partho. After a wet start to the year we lucked out with a sunny afternoon, we rode a couple of laps of Perry’s trail, the blue graded trail at Cannock Chase – which has recently had some work done. It was running really well.

The boys were also riding really well, for the first lap Owen rode at the front with Partho, so I did not really see him, but I was told that he was riding fast. It is the first ride with a dropper post fitted to his Nukeproof Cub Scout and he is loving the bike. I rode at the back with Henry, who really impressed me, both with his confidence and speed. It was five months since we last rode there and he has made so much progress. Towards the end of the first lap he said he did not want to do any more, and that his legs were tired, but we got to the end of the loop and he was keen to go. Then he did not stop. Not even for a rest at the end of the sections, he led us out for most of the loop. Even declining any offers of a helping push up the hills. This motivated Owen to try a non stop lap for his third loop, with Partho, whilst I took Henry to the playground. Partho said that the pace was quick – they even lapped some people that we had overtaken on our second lap.

As the cafe at Birches Valley do such good cakes, we had to call in for some brownies after our ride, before setting off back home for pizza and watching Star Wars. Saturdays do not really get much better!

2026

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Happy New Year!

2026 has started fairly quietly for me, a morning at home with the boys, then over to Partho’s for a catch up and tasty home cooked lunch. Although I took my camera with me, I did not take any photographs today, so do not have anything to include at the top of this post. I have also got three more days off before I go back to work and the boys go back to school, so hopefully there is still time to squeeze some fun in…

Like last year, we do not have much planned ahead for the year – we know that we have got a lot of work to do on the house, and a list of trips that we would like to do. So hopefully we can get through both of those lists. Owen turns ten this year, so I am sure we will do something to mark that in June.

As in previous years, I have set myself some goals for the year ahead:

Spend more time with my friends

A carry over goal, but something that I need to remember, as it is so easy to get carried away with day to day life. Seeing Partho today was a good start though.

Make my blog more robust

Another carry over from 2024, but I did not get around to it – I have an idea of how I want to do it, and it should be easier than my previous plan.

Refresh my photography portfolio website

Like the previous goal, it is carried over from previous years. This is lower priority than my blog, so I will likely tackle this once the blog has been updated.

Get the MR2 to Wales

The MR2 was mainly used for commutes and school runs last year, I really should take it out for some proper drives.

Ride three new pump tracks

Owen has been asking me when we can next go ride at a pump track – I do not remember riding one at all last year, so that needs to be remedied. There are a few new pump tracks locally so we should try them out. I just need to rebuild my Clockwork Evo first…

Sort out cycle speedway bikes for the boys

Last season the boys both borrowed bikes for cycle speedway from their club – as I did not want to have another two bikes to deal with whilst moving house. This worked OK for Owen, as they had a few decent bikes in his size, but Henry struggled with the only bike the club had available in his size.

Ride at Bwlch Nant yr Arian

A goal carried over from 2023, Bwlch Nant yr Arian in Mid Wales has some great looking trails, and is also known for their daily Red Kite feeding – which is enough of an excuse for me to go for a ride. It also seems like somewhere that might be worth visiting with Jen and the boys as part of a Mid Wales trip. What makes this trickier is that it will likely need to be a weekend away, as it is a bit of a drive from Coventry.

Ride in the Peak District with Partho

This has been a goal for a while, but we never quite get around to it, we always end up being tight on time, so end up at Cannock Chase. Must try harder in 2026.

Finish my garage

I was hoping to have the garage finished this autumn, but other jobs in the house ended up taking priority, then it got too cold to paint. The electrics, lights and doors are sorted out, I just need to finish painting the walls and floor, give everything a thorough sort out, add some bike storage and get the personnel door replaced.

Complete the front bedroom project

The front bedroom was meant to be the first project we did on the house – we left it empty when we moved in, with the expectation that it would be the master bedroom when we rearranged the layout upstairs. Except that our planned layout would not work – so we have got a new plan… We think that the front bedroom used to be two rooms, a double bedroom and a box room. We are going to revert to that layout, and have Henry in the double room, with the box room becoming my office. I miss being at the front of the house, and I think it will be easier for running network cables etc. My current office at the back of the house, will become a dressing room – hopefully that will also be completed this year!

Get my weight down to 90kg

Is it even a new year without a plan to lose some weight?

The lack of any firm plans for 2026 is exciting, I just need to work out how to combine all the potential plans in my head with the work needed on the house. The year has started well, and hopefully that will continue.