Trivia time

Five trivial things about me.

1. I chose my screen name, Surly Dave, because two of my bikes are Surlys. I own a Cross Check and a Long Haul Trucker. They're no-nonsense bikes - inexpensive and reliable. All off my bikes are steel-framed. I also have a track bike (brand unknown), a 20-year-old road bike (brand obscure) and a mountain bike circa 1992. Yes, I ride them all.

2. I bought my first road bike for $123 earned on my paper round. It was a 1981 model Hanimex ten speed racer. My second bike was a Campag-equipped Vitus aluminium frame. It cost $1,2000 in about 1983. The frame was destroyed when I ran up the back of a car sprinting through an orange light on the day I got my HSC results about two years later. I still have many of the parts though, fitted to my 'racing' bike.

3. I worked as a bike mechanic for 12 months after leaving school. I was going to become a framebuilder, but ended up taking a different course. Knowing how to maintain my own bikes has saved me a fair bit of money over the years.

4. I have raced on the road, the track and off-road and competed in triathlons. I've done several tours and a couple of dozen audax events. Last year I competed in a bicycle orienteering event. On the list of things yet to try: cyclocross and bicycle polo.

5. In 1986, when I was at uni, I took a pair of wheels in to Stanmore Cycles in Sydney to be trued. They were lovely wheels: Campagnolo hubs with Mavic GP40 rims. Being broke, I was a bit slow picking them up and a month or two had passed by the time I returned to the shop. The woman behind the counter told me I had left them too long and they'd been sold. I was so stunned I never even thought to ask for the money. I grieved for those wheels for years, until I picked up an identical set on ebay 12 months ago. Respoked, they're just as sweet as I remember.

1,048km so far this year.