Once you get the habit...
Just to let my devoted readers know that I've posted a first entry on a thematic blog about the many and varied uses of Oil. Heather and I find that everybody talks about running out of oil to drive cars (and maybe heating houses), but who wants to live without all those other oil-based products? [Basically anything 'synthetic' - H interjects] She is trained as an industrial chemist, so is rather more aware than me on the topic. Should learn something.
I used to read a blog called "Oil is for Sissies" (now defunct), but we wanted a more positive slogan. Still looking for something catchy, as oil turns out to be everywhere.
[Okay, so this makes thrice. But only twice here, so still good.]
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Giving Up
No, I haven't given up on blogging. I have been stopped up by needing to report on Taupo, and at the end of my Christmas break I'm squeezing in the planned report. Hopefully that'll free me up to give you more reports later.
So, anyway, I did give up at Taupo. I completed the back half of the course - the vast majority of hills - in 4 hours, pretty much as hoped. Unfortunately my victory was phyrric in nature and after taking a long break and limping through to the 3/4 mark I called it quits there. That was about the 7:40 mark, so I'd have been a late, late finisher had I continued. There was mostly flat left, but a decent headwind had come up and I didn't have any strong commitments to draw me on. So I got a lift with the truckie who was just finishing dismantling the final relay station.
Next morning I felt right as rain - it was certainly a fuel problem not any set of muscles giving out. My computer showed a steady 19km/h for on-bike time, but obviously my stops had become too frequent. It certainly hurt most that I'd given up, which is an unfamiliar feeling. Normally I don't commit myself into such stretching challenges, so haven't felt the bitterness for a while. I'm proud that I beat the hilly bit, and still mostly convinced that I didn't have any clear drivers to push myself too far on what was supposed to be a 'respite' weekend, but I'm still niggled by the idea of going back and completing this time.
If I do keep riding then first I want to ride something closer to home. No sense in driving 4 hours to ride your bike. (Or in hitching lifts and getting friends to transport your kit so you don't get your bike back until Christmas day!) I should probably also train more. The fixie will probably be on hold for a while as I aim to get a test bed for the Nuvinci (now built into a wheel and waiting at my LBS), which may be more sensible given how hilly the local rides are.
I have made a New Year's resolution - don't mix respite with such strenuous activity. That whole weekend so exhausted me physically and mentally (taking into account squeezing in packing etc) that I didn't recover until the Christmas rush was well on top of me. It was good to have had a crack at, though. Sadly I didn't get any work people along, which had been what originally drew me into it.
There was a late-minute plan to do a commuting promotion, which didn't come off. Am considering what we can do for the local Bike the Bays in March.
That's probably all I need to say. I did take a voice recorder around with me and when I figure out the uploading you can hear firsthand how exhausted I was.
Happy New Year.
So, anyway, I did give up at Taupo. I completed the back half of the course - the vast majority of hills - in 4 hours, pretty much as hoped. Unfortunately my victory was phyrric in nature and after taking a long break and limping through to the 3/4 mark I called it quits there. That was about the 7:40 mark, so I'd have been a late, late finisher had I continued. There was mostly flat left, but a decent headwind had come up and I didn't have any strong commitments to draw me on. So I got a lift with the truckie who was just finishing dismantling the final relay station.
Next morning I felt right as rain - it was certainly a fuel problem not any set of muscles giving out. My computer showed a steady 19km/h for on-bike time, but obviously my stops had become too frequent. It certainly hurt most that I'd given up, which is an unfamiliar feeling. Normally I don't commit myself into such stretching challenges, so haven't felt the bitterness for a while. I'm proud that I beat the hilly bit, and still mostly convinced that I didn't have any clear drivers to push myself too far on what was supposed to be a 'respite' weekend, but I'm still niggled by the idea of going back and completing this time.
If I do keep riding then first I want to ride something closer to home. No sense in driving 4 hours to ride your bike. (Or in hitching lifts and getting friends to transport your kit so you don't get your bike back until Christmas day!) I should probably also train more. The fixie will probably be on hold for a while as I aim to get a test bed for the Nuvinci (now built into a wheel and waiting at my LBS), which may be more sensible given how hilly the local rides are.
I have made a New Year's resolution - don't mix respite with such strenuous activity. That whole weekend so exhausted me physically and mentally (taking into account squeezing in packing etc) that I didn't recover until the Christmas rush was well on top of me. It was good to have had a crack at, though. Sadly I didn't get any work people along, which had been what originally drew me into it.
There was a late-minute plan to do a commuting promotion, which didn't come off. Am considering what we can do for the local Bike the Bays in March.
That's probably all I need to say. I did take a voice recorder around with me and when I figure out the uploading you can hear firsthand how exhausted I was.
Happy New Year.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Back on the Road
Being picked up in 45 minutes to go cycle Lake Taupo. Am riding fixed, but have fitted a dingle cog to have a backup gear (giving 42/17 and 36/21 - oops, thought I had a 38). The route is famously hilly, although mostly the first half. Have no idea how things will turn out - how hilly is hilly? Either way, I'm down to the one bike right now (due to a bottom bracket failure on my favourite) so I'm girding myself up and determined to have fun.
Also have no crew to ride with, but surely will find some companions among the thousands enrolled. There is talk about organising a bunch of us in commuter getup, but who knows if that will pan out. Had hoped to organise a relay team from work and ride alongside them, but that sort of thing is not my forte.
Being on my own, I opted for bus and campground, but bus won't confirm space for the bike so have ended up getting separate lifts for it and me. I get there around lunch, and will miss having a bike to cruise round on all afternoon. Hopefully it arrives around seven, but I'm not optimistic. As for camping, this will be my first chance to try my new hammock(!). The campground requires me to use it hung from poles not trees, but eventually I couldn't resist and am leaving behind a 'normal' tent kindly lent to me. I am nervous whether it will offer the illusion of security in an inner-city campground, and provide sufficient space to sort my kit out before bed tonight. The ride kicks off at 7:15, so want a quick start. (Not that I had trouble being awake in time for today's pick up. Am quite excited.)
Wish me luck.
Also have no crew to ride with, but surely will find some companions among the thousands enrolled. There is talk about organising a bunch of us in commuter getup, but who knows if that will pan out. Had hoped to organise a relay team from work and ride alongside them, but that sort of thing is not my forte.
Being on my own, I opted for bus and campground, but bus won't confirm space for the bike so have ended up getting separate lifts for it and me. I get there around lunch, and will miss having a bike to cruise round on all afternoon. Hopefully it arrives around seven, but I'm not optimistic. As for camping, this will be my first chance to try my new hammock(!). The campground requires me to use it hung from poles not trees, but eventually I couldn't resist and am leaving behind a 'normal' tent kindly lent to me. I am nervous whether it will offer the illusion of security in an inner-city campground, and provide sufficient space to sort my kit out before bed tonight. The ride kicks off at 7:15, so want a quick start. (Not that I had trouble being awake in time for today's pick up. Am quite excited.)
Wish me luck.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Professional Sport as Pinnacle not Entertainment
The editorial at the front of the latest Practical Pedal caused me reflect on my objections to professional sport.
Professionalism was promoted for Rugby as a due reward for the effort required to reach the top and practical support necessary to reach even higher heights. (Let's forget for now about
the important aspect of keeping players from defecting to League.) That sounds good enough, but I see the heart going out for the game as it becomes just another entertainment for TV to package ads into. Perhaps the fact that fewer kiwis seem to play these days (is this true? If so it is as much a general cultural trend as any fault of the Rugby Union) makes it harder to see those achieving-excellence arguments as so relevant, but they do seem fair in principle.
Perhaps I can accept payment to support athletes at some level, but advise caution increasing with the popularity of the sport to non-participant spectators?
Professionalism was promoted for Rugby as a due reward for the effort required to reach the top and practical support necessary to reach even higher heights. (Let's forget for now about
the important aspect of keeping players from defecting to League.) That sounds good enough, but I see the heart going out for the game as it becomes just another entertainment for TV to package ads into. Perhaps the fact that fewer kiwis seem to play these days (is this true? If so it is as much a general cultural trend as any fault of the Rugby Union) makes it harder to see those achieving-excellence arguments as so relevant, but they do seem fair in principle.
Perhaps I can accept payment to support athletes at some level, but advise caution increasing with the popularity of the sport to non-participant spectators?
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Harsh Chemicals
Heather has been playing with homemade deodorant, as she is sick of throwing out little plastic bottles. The internet is full of helpful pages, but some of them drive her inner chemist to despair.
Apparently using baking soda allows you to avoid harsh chemicals, but the same writers go on to mention that using too much can cause irritation. What did they think they would get when they put sodium bicarbonate in water?
Apparently using baking soda allows you to avoid harsh chemicals, but the same writers go on to mention that using too much can cause irritation. What did they think they would get when they put sodium bicarbonate in water?
Monday, October 22, 2007
Infinity and Beyond!
Late Friday night I took the plunge and ordered a Nuvinci hub from the US. It offers the fascinating prospect of continuously variable transmission, rather than the stepped gear ratios on most bicycles. Not only does this offer experienced cyclists an optimum ratio for their pedaling power and the road steepness, but it should be much easier for new cyclists to pick up. (A couple of years ago I was out with a friend who hadn't ridden for a while, and they kept switching the wrong set of gears or in the wrong direction. Nothing like making things harder just when you need them to ease up to ruin your day.) The shifter comes with a cleverly designed indicator which is reported to be very intuitive.
At the moment you can only get these hubs on certain upmarket new bikes, or from two US distributors who don't seem to have established connections to NZ. Conveniently, QBP seems to have recently made their catalogue available for retailers to put on their websites and a couple have realised the opportunity in shipping internationally. The famous Sheldon Brown has it up on the Harris Cyclery site, but Alfred E. Bike seems to have tacked on a smaller margin (and cheaper indicative postal rates, which have yet to be confirmed for my order) and thus won my business. Once the hub arrives, I have arranged for it to be built into a wheel by Bruce at Adventure Cycles, then I can finally try it out.
Hopefully buying the hub contributes to them becoming more widely available. I'm sure that the price would drop if they were turned out in the millions. Maybe when my parents retire back to NZ (in a few years?) I'll be able to afford a couple of these on the basic old bikes I would hope to hook them up with. They ought to work well with electric motors, too, which would gladden my Mother's heart and extend my ambitions as to what I can carry on a bike.
For now we wait. The big question is: "How robust is it?" I'll be sure to post on how things turn out, but for now leave you one of the official promo videos:
At the moment you can only get these hubs on certain upmarket new bikes, or from two US distributors who don't seem to have established connections to NZ. Conveniently, QBP seems to have recently made their catalogue available for retailers to put on their websites and a couple have realised the opportunity in shipping internationally. The famous Sheldon Brown has it up on the Harris Cyclery site, but Alfred E. Bike seems to have tacked on a smaller margin (and cheaper indicative postal rates, which have yet to be confirmed for my order) and thus won my business. Once the hub arrives, I have arranged for it to be built into a wheel by Bruce at Adventure Cycles, then I can finally try it out.
Hopefully buying the hub contributes to them becoming more widely available. I'm sure that the price would drop if they were turned out in the millions. Maybe when my parents retire back to NZ (in a few years?) I'll be able to afford a couple of these on the basic old bikes I would hope to hook them up with. They ought to work well with electric motors, too, which would gladden my Mother's heart and extend my ambitions as to what I can carry on a bike.
For now we wait. The big question is: "How robust is it?" I'll be sure to post on how things turn out, but for now leave you one of the official promo videos:
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Professional 'Sport'
Minutes away from the first serious game for the All Blacks in this Rugby World Cup, I am seated in front of the television full of both tension and ambivalence. I will be watching the game, and in fact watched their first game, but each time I wonder whether I should be. Why? Because 30+ men turning up to work isn't sport, and I delude myself to think I share in their success.
Professionalism may have stopped the flow of players from union to league, but I reckon it will prove to undermine the All Blacks in the long term. They are no longer the normal men who prove to be different by the commitment and skill they demonstrate in their 'spare' time. Neither is there continuity between them and the schoolboys and team players; professionalism draws a vast distinction in terms of material rewards, life structure (fulltime training etc) and consequent quality of play. Young players may be lured by the 'big time', but will they identify with the All Blacks in the same way?
Will kiwis as a whole identify? [Not that my flatmate is showing any lack of identity as the French team have just beaten 'us'.] Do the grassroots players, particularly those past the change of going pro, identify with their playing companions who get paid for it?
I have further concerns about how hard we use the bodies of sportspeople. Similar questions have been raised elsewhere - can people be said to be exploited by actions they choose to engage in? How much do they realise the health issues they buy into? How much are they dehumanised and treated as cattle by the team management trying to maximise success? (Not to mention how much sportsmanship may be suppressed.)
So far, I haven't been able to stop watching.
For the record, it was a cracker of a game.
Professionalism may have stopped the flow of players from union to league, but I reckon it will prove to undermine the All Blacks in the long term. They are no longer the normal men who prove to be different by the commitment and skill they demonstrate in their 'spare' time. Neither is there continuity between them and the schoolboys and team players; professionalism draws a vast distinction in terms of material rewards, life structure (fulltime training etc) and consequent quality of play. Young players may be lured by the 'big time', but will they identify with the All Blacks in the same way?
Will kiwis as a whole identify? [Not that my flatmate is showing any lack of identity as the French team have just beaten 'us'.] Do the grassroots players, particularly those past the change of going pro, identify with their playing companions who get paid for it?
I have further concerns about how hard we use the bodies of sportspeople. Similar questions have been raised elsewhere - can people be said to be exploited by actions they choose to engage in? How much do they realise the health issues they buy into? How much are they dehumanised and treated as cattle by the team management trying to maximise success? (Not to mention how much sportsmanship may be suppressed.)
So far, I haven't been able to stop watching.
For the record, it was a cracker of a game.
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