05 jul 2005

Nove Colli bike race in Italy (in the mountains near Cervia) 2001
In May 2001 I was getting to the peak of my cycling form. Training hard for a very long bike ride, Nove Colli was part of the experience and in some ways a continuation of a very happy Easter week in "Marble Country" (near Carrera) at a coastal town called Viareggio. These are my recollections and a couple of pictures from that trip. The bike is a Principia Rex Pro with Mavic brakes and gears.

Cycle training week in Italy (Riolo Terme) 2002
In Easter 2002 I flew to Italy for a week's cycle tour in Romana Emiglia with 8 other enthusiasts under the guidance of Bernt Johansson, the Olympic Champion from Sweden. There were so few of us that we all cycled in the same group. I'd been on a similar journey in Viareggio the year before but have alas no pictures from that trip.
Here's an illustrated commentary.

Sore Fingers week in England (Kingham Hill Boarding School)
Tutors Guide !?!
Here are some things that may be of interest if you're coming to England as a Sore Fingers class tutor.
SFSS 2003
I spent most of this Easter week 2003 in England, sitting in a classroom with 12 other dobro guitar players trying to learn the elements of dobro playing under the tutelage of the inimitable Sally van Meter. Sally is one of the world's absolute top slide guitar players and is an extraordinarily good teacher to boot. Here's an illustrated commentary on the course, the week and the surroundings.
SFSS 2004
Sore Fingers this year was bigger, better and yet still retained it's laid-back charm. Scratch band practise is STILL a great place to vent all those aggressive feelings and the evening jam sessions just get longer, more varied and more fun. The big problem with Sore Fingers is that there's only one (despite my best attempts to charm Mrs Wirtzy to the contrary) so we now have to wait nearly a whole year for the next one. Here are some pictures and comments from this year's Wild Week in the Cotswolds. Read all about The Dobro Death Rattle, Champion and other strange phenomena ...
SFSS 2005
Back at Sore Fingers for another bash at learning to play the dobro, this time armed with a brand new Beard guitar.
Here is my Sore Fingers 2005 illustrated report.

Bluegrass Festivals in Britain
North Wales was my very first attempt at "doing" a Bluegrass Festival. Bit of a disaster in some ways - came all that way armed with a dobro & didn't get to play it much. Next time I'm going to stay at the campsite so that I can jam all day and night!  The 2003 North Wales festival story.  
Scotland was quite a different story. Had heaps of fun, learnt to say "aye" and almost got into a brawl with another Hamish (just kidding). Read all about The 2003 Scottish Bluegrass festival ...
Possibly the smallest in the UK, the 2005 East Anglia Bluegrass Festival was also the most relaxed and enjoyable.
Lots of mates from Sore Fingers there too, with a gang of strolling ukulele players from Cambridge thrown in as a bonus.