Rare Adventures

Category: Recreation

Stories about day to day fun and events

  • Everyone You Know @ Thekla

    Everyone You Know @ Thekla

    Sign illuminating the phrase 'Everyone You Know' in front of a bar stocked with various bottles and cans of beverages.

    We went to these young guys at Thekla in Bristol, January 2024.

    Thekla is an amazing venue, it is an old ship which is moored in the centre of Bristol for year. Someone many years ago stripped out the engines and turned into an amazing venue. Admittedly is a labrynth of steps, and every trip to the toilet seems to involve a different route back, but that is the wonder of the venue.

    On top of that, the steam from all these human beings seems to make all the metal work wet, so it can be a bit of a slippery experience as well !

    I love music with energy and innovation, so I might be 65 years old but I haven’t lost my lust for life. I have friends who’s musical tastes matured with them, but I wasn’t one of them so have really enjoyed the music trends as they have developed over my life time.

    We came across this band about 18 months ago. Working class lads from London who have created a unique sound which involves some excellent mixing of drum and bass into songs with great lyrics about this urban generation.

    At the gig, they announced it was their final tour as the economics of bands depending on youtube, Apple and Spotify for their income meant they were struggling to continue, which is desperately sad and I hope they survive and thrive. I’m not sure why they haven’t become massive to be honest, my daughter thinks it’s because they float across a number of music genres so are getting missed.

    As evidence of their credibility, the lad that was serving on the merch stand was also a member of the band, so he would run up on stage, do his vocals, and head back to the merch stand again !

    There are a few guest appearances and voices from me, Wooksie and youngest daughter, we love to sing along – sadly for you !

  • Spring in the Forest of Dean: Mountain Biking starts here

    Spring in the Forest of Dean: Mountain Biking starts here

    Forest of Dean bike map

    So it’s time to put away the winter toys, snowboarding is over for another year along with dark nights and cold days.

    It’s such a great moment when I flash up the camper, load up the mountain bike and head for the hills. I’ve got a lot of fun planned for the summer. A trip to Scotland and the northern England trails with my mate Northern Bloke, then down to France in June to ride the trails around our apartment with Miniboy.

    First trip of the year was to the Forest of Dean which is about 40 miles away. I absolutely love driving there, it’s a chance to crank up the stereo in the van and bash out inappropriate basey music for a man of my age and remember that I am living my dream.

    Ready to go

    It was a warm day and I took the electric mountain bike. There are some tough climbs over there and no point in making life more difficult with my normal bike. In truth I ride it on the minimum power settings so I maximise the exercise, but on those nasty bits that defeat my old legs I get to avoid the walk of shame.

    After weeks of dry weather, the trails were in perfect condition and plenty of grip, so it was a fun day all round until a niggle injury to my knee stopped play after a couple of hours and some fantastic downhill rides.

    This is the video of the Launchpad run, absolutely made the day

    It is a sign of my increasing maturity that I decided to give it a miss when the knee started to hurt, and nothing to do with the attraction of a warm sunny day and a cold beer in the camper fridge !