As I'm becoming an bit of an avid cyclist (can you tell?) I felt compelled to watch a bit of the Tour de France this year. Something was said during the TV commentary for the "prologue" (the time-trial around London to establish the leader before they properly set off) that sounded a bit weird. They said that the cyclists were doing a two-hour warm-up on a turbo trainer before doing the time trial to get their heart rate up to optimal levels.
This sounded weird because my heart rate shoots up pretty quickly when I start exercising so why it would take those guys 2 hours was a bit baffling. And wouldn't they be knackered after 2 hours?
Well, today I did my longest cycle ride to date, to the village of Cholsey near Didcot, clocking 34.4 miles in just under 2 hours - a more than half-decent average of 17.7mph over the whole 2 hours!). And what was weird was that I kinda got used to working hard and going fast. After about an hour, I felt great - not tired as I thought I would be, and was able to sustain some pretty high speeds (for me) on the flat. It was like, after warming up for some time some extra strength and energy kicked in.
Now, I'm a novice sportsman and I don't know what phenomenon caused this, but I certainly see how a long warm up period can really set you up for a longer ride.
I'm pretty chuffed today. I set out expecting to average about 15mph. My goal was to get there, not to get there quickly. So do do under 2 hours was great - even with a tail wind and with it being more downhill than up.
I might even be up to getting to Bath in a couple of weeks time?
For those that care, the route is here. Great weather, great scenery. Oh, and I chickened out and got the train home. Not ready for 70 milers just yet!
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Cycling update
Not done much longer distance cycling recently - though some would say I've never ridden a "long" distance, my 30 milers are as good as it gets. My excuse: the weather's been awful this summer with LOTS of rain. But it's finally getting better, so it's time to get out and trying to build up the distances again.
Last night managed a measly-but-hilly 13.3 miles out to Wanborough (towards Uffington) and back in just over 45 mins, averaging about 17.3mph. I played squash before the ride and by the time I finished I was pretty knackered but felt good! My knees were OK, I felt pretty strong throughout, and my cycling shoes and clipless pedals made it a joy to do. There were times of riding on the flat at 24mph that just felt really good!
Oh, and I stopped for a while to rescue a little dog who was running around all over a main road too.I'm encouraged about this short evening ride, but I do need to get the distances up. Let's hope for lots more good weather!
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Buying a house
We've done it! We've had an offer accepted on a house!
Actually, it happened a lot more quickly than I thought it would. So quickly that I didn't get to write anything about the house-hunting process.
You build it up in your head as being this huge thing that's really hard and takes ages to do but no...despite the differences that Sally and I had about what we wanted from a house and a neighbourhood, the fourth place that we looked out got us both very excited. We put an offer in
on Saturday and it was duly accepted.
I had some hesitations. Does God want us to buy a house? How do the notions of borrowing and spending that much money fit in with my faith? Am I just following the crowd and the culture? Is this really something that we should be doing, or should we be stepping out in a different,
more counter-cultural direction?
I never asked those questions about renting. Perhaps I should have?
I did spend some time praying about the decision. I thought hard about a little story in the bible where a man goes to Jesus and, excitedly, says "I will follow you wherever you go". Brilliant, we might think. How good, we might think, to see someone making such a passionate statement of commitment to following Jesus' teaching!
But Jesus knows the man's true motives and replies by saying that "foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head".
What does this mean? Does it mean that if we want to follow Jesus we should never settle anywhere? How does that fit the theme of community that runs through the bible, of living, sharing, and serving God together? Is buying a house too much of a commitment to stay in one
place? Or should I be settling into a community and trying to make a difference there by sticking it out, making friends and serving others?
This story is followed by another about a man who wants to follow Jesus but has a few things he wants to do first. It's a story about priorities. We should be following Jesus first, whatever that may mean for us, and doing the other things alongside that.
As I prayed and asked God about the passage and about our move I felt God saying that the most important thing was to follow Jesus. Buying a house is fine, as long as it doesn't make you lose sight of what's really important. If the house, job, money, friends, car, holiday, wide-screen TV, or any worldly thing starts to get in the way of loving God and loving our neighbours, then we need to re-prioritise.
It's early days yet and there's plenty that can go wrong, but we hope that one day soon we will own our house. But doing so MUST be an activity that enables us to love and serve and follow our God, not one that distracts us from it.
Actually, it happened a lot more quickly than I thought it would. So quickly that I didn't get to write anything about the house-hunting process.
You build it up in your head as being this huge thing that's really hard and takes ages to do but no...despite the differences that Sally and I had about what we wanted from a house and a neighbourhood, the fourth place that we looked out got us both very excited. We put an offer in
on Saturday and it was duly accepted.
I had some hesitations. Does God want us to buy a house? How do the notions of borrowing and spending that much money fit in with my faith? Am I just following the crowd and the culture? Is this really something that we should be doing, or should we be stepping out in a different,
more counter-cultural direction?
I never asked those questions about renting. Perhaps I should have?
I did spend some time praying about the decision. I thought hard about a little story in the bible where a man goes to Jesus and, excitedly, says "I will follow you wherever you go". Brilliant, we might think. How good, we might think, to see someone making such a passionate statement of commitment to following Jesus' teaching!
But Jesus knows the man's true motives and replies by saying that "foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head".
What does this mean? Does it mean that if we want to follow Jesus we should never settle anywhere? How does that fit the theme of community that runs through the bible, of living, sharing, and serving God together? Is buying a house too much of a commitment to stay in one
place? Or should I be settling into a community and trying to make a difference there by sticking it out, making friends and serving others?
This story is followed by another about a man who wants to follow Jesus but has a few things he wants to do first. It's a story about priorities. We should be following Jesus first, whatever that may mean for us, and doing the other things alongside that.
As I prayed and asked God about the passage and about our move I felt God saying that the most important thing was to follow Jesus. Buying a house is fine, as long as it doesn't make you lose sight of what's really important. If the house, job, money, friends, car, holiday, wide-screen TV, or any worldly thing starts to get in the way of loving God and loving our neighbours, then we need to re-prioritise.
It's early days yet and there's plenty that can go wrong, but we hope that one day soon we will own our house. But doing so MUST be an activity that enables us to love and serve and follow our God, not one that distracts us from it.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Critters!!!
For a while now we've had cockroaches in our house! And I wanted to write up my experiences in case we ever get them again.
The Wikipedia article is pretty good and has been very helpful. My experiences are given below.
Finding them
It started ages ago when I found one in the bath. I then found another, and then we had little baby ones crawling around the bathroom floor at night. We eventually got rid of them from the bathroom but then we started finding them in the kitchen (downstairs) and the hallway of our house.
Finding them is not always easy as they only seem to come out at night. So, you don't necessarily know you've got them until too late. We eventually got rid of ours when we opened the back door late at night and found lots of them scurrying around on the patio. So if you think you have some living nearby, it's a good idea to go scouting with a torch late at night. Of course, if they're inside then they're very good at hiding and you'll just have to wait until they come out, or get caught somewhere with slippery walls that they can't escape.
Living with them
They're pretty harmless, and they don't like people or light so they're very scared of you and tend to run away. They're not aggressive or dnagerous at all, though they can be dirty and spread disease (apparently).
We've read that they like warmth and moisture (hence initially finding them in our bathroom). They also like food and we've read that recent research has shown that they leave trails of faeces around so that they can follow each other to the food.
We seemed to find that this was the case. We were cleaning the floor of our kitchen a lot but still getting them coming into the kitchen. So, we started cleaning the hallway and other downstairs areas too, that lead from outside doors to the kitchen, and this seemed to reduce their presence in the kitchen.
Dealing with them
As just mentioned, cleanliness helps. Roaches are omnivorous so will eat whatever's around. Keeping floors clean - not just around where you're finding them, but generally, and especially near entrances, seems to help.
Roaches are quite easy to catch, but hard to kill. I, personally, don't like killing big insects...I can do the small ones, but stomping on a 3cm-long, crusty cockroach feels too much like really killing something. Plus, we're told that they carry their eggs around so, if you do stomp on them, you often just release the eggs and end up with more of a problem than you started with (though this is probably an urban myth). Dropping them down drains in the road got rid of them but didn't kill them. The most effective non-crunchy method was drowning - catch them in a glass or tub, tip them into the loo and flush. Some of them float, but these can be sent down by placing some toilet paper on top of the roach to make sure it gets dragged down.
In terms of catching them...we did come across a thing called a "Vegas Roach Trap", which seemed like a good, organic way to catch the beasties. Sadly, despite use of the finest coffee grounds on several occasions, we never caught any this way. Though, this, and other similar methods, are cited in many places.
We ended up going to B&Q and buying some "Ant and Crawling Insect Killer". This is a bait spray. The cockroaches find it, eat it and it attacks their nervous system. This usually means that they go into spasm, flip onto their backs, and then can't get up again. It doesn't take effect immediately, and you won't get any joy spraying it AT a roach, but if you put it down they'll find it and eat it. You find them in the morning dead, or mostly dead, ready to be caught and flushed down the loo!
The ultimate plan is thus...
Other interesting facts
Funny what you find when researching these things. Some people are very interested in roaches. Some even seem to keep them as pets!!! One man who knows far too much about them has a Cockroach FAQ which answers more questions than I could think of, from "What are cockroaches good for?" to "What would cockroach vision be like?"
The Wikipedia article is pretty good and has been very helpful. My experiences are given below.
Finding them
It started ages ago when I found one in the bath. I then found another, and then we had little baby ones crawling around the bathroom floor at night. We eventually got rid of them from the bathroom but then we started finding them in the kitchen (downstairs) and the hallway of our house.
Finding them is not always easy as they only seem to come out at night. So, you don't necessarily know you've got them until too late. We eventually got rid of ours when we opened the back door late at night and found lots of them scurrying around on the patio. So if you think you have some living nearby, it's a good idea to go scouting with a torch late at night. Of course, if they're inside then they're very good at hiding and you'll just have to wait until they come out, or get caught somewhere with slippery walls that they can't escape.
Living with them
They're pretty harmless, and they don't like people or light so they're very scared of you and tend to run away. They're not aggressive or dnagerous at all, though they can be dirty and spread disease (apparently).
We've read that they like warmth and moisture (hence initially finding them in our bathroom). They also like food and we've read that recent research has shown that they leave trails of faeces around so that they can follow each other to the food.
We seemed to find that this was the case. We were cleaning the floor of our kitchen a lot but still getting them coming into the kitchen. So, we started cleaning the hallway and other downstairs areas too, that lead from outside doors to the kitchen, and this seemed to reduce their presence in the kitchen.
Dealing with them
As just mentioned, cleanliness helps. Roaches are omnivorous so will eat whatever's around. Keeping floors clean - not just around where you're finding them, but generally, and especially near entrances, seems to help.
Roaches are quite easy to catch, but hard to kill. I, personally, don't like killing big insects...I can do the small ones, but stomping on a 3cm-long, crusty cockroach feels too much like really killing something. Plus, we're told that they carry their eggs around so, if you do stomp on them, you often just release the eggs and end up with more of a problem than you started with (though this is probably an urban myth). Dropping them down drains in the road got rid of them but didn't kill them. The most effective non-crunchy method was drowning - catch them in a glass or tub, tip them into the loo and flush. Some of them float, but these can be sent down by placing some toilet paper on top of the roach to make sure it gets dragged down.
In terms of catching them...we did come across a thing called a "Vegas Roach Trap", which seemed like a good, organic way to catch the beasties. Sadly, despite use of the finest coffee grounds on several occasions, we never caught any this way. Though, this, and other similar methods, are cited in many places.
We ended up going to B&Q and buying some "Ant and Crawling Insect Killer". This is a bait spray. The cockroaches find it, eat it and it attacks their nervous system. This usually means that they go into spasm, flip onto their backs, and then can't get up again. It doesn't take effect immediately, and you won't get any joy spraying it AT a roach, but if you put it down they'll find it and eat it. You find them in the morning dead, or mostly dead, ready to be caught and flushed down the loo!
The ultimate plan is thus...
- Eradicate them from inside the house: use bait spray (it could take weeks or months to get rid of them)
- Stop them coming into the house: again, use bait spray - around doors and entrances to catch them as they come in from outside.
- Take the fight to them outside:
- go out at night and find where they are
- spray the insecticide bait down outside
- go to sleep
- wake up, take your jar or tub outside, and collect up the half-dead critters
- flush them away!
Other interesting facts
Funny what you find when researching these things. Some people are very interested in roaches. Some even seem to keep them as pets!!! One man who knows far too much about them has a Cockroach FAQ which answers more questions than I could think of, from "What are cockroaches good for?" to "What would cockroach vision be like?"
The mountain biking, road biking debate
For my birthday, back in June, my sister and her boyfriend offered to take me on a "Mountain Biking Experience". As someone who's got quite into road cycling, but who also loves the great outdoors, mountain biking really appeals, however, you have to have a decent mountain bike before you can even start, and my cheap hybrid really isn't up to the job.
So the idea was that they'd borrow a decent bike from someone, kit me up, and take me out onto some proper off-road terrain.
This weekend, the moment came for the experience! And I had a wail of a time. The weather was great, and Sarah, Guy and another friend called Dave, took me out and around a hilly forest near Bracknell. Photos here.
Now, as I've got into cycling on my cheap bike, I've been thinking that I might spend some decent money (if Sally will let me) and buy myself a decent machine at some point. Which raises the question - what sort of bike would I buy?
At one end of the spectrum is a road bike. The narrow, slick tyres, aerodynamic riding position, and high gearing, all making it easy to travel long and fast. At the other end is a mountain bike. I've been recommended against full suspension (looks like more trouble than it's worth), so I'd get front-shocks, a wide range of gearing, an upright riding position, and some big chunky tyres.
Of course, there are points along that spectrum. Cyclocross bikes are racing bikes with a small amount of off-roadness built in - carbon forks to absorb vibration and less-skinny, and slightly chunky tyres. Hybrids are basically mountain bike frames with large, narrow wheels. Or you could do your own customisations, or have two sets of wheels?
A big dilemma. Of course, the best solution is two decent bikes - one road, one off-road. But I don't really see this happening. So what do I do?
The mountain biking experience has helped move this decision along somewhat. Much as I enjoyed it, it's a fun, occasional leisure activity. Road biking is something I can easily do around here during the week, and I can do a longer ride at weekends without having to go anywhere. It's my day-to-day fitness training activity, rather than an occasional fun day out. I think I'd get much more mileage out of a road bike and would use it much more often. And I can always hire a mountain bike should I want to.
So...now it's just a case of saving the money and finding the right machine!
So the idea was that they'd borrow a decent bike from someone, kit me up, and take me out onto some proper off-road terrain.
This weekend, the moment came for the experience! And I had a wail of a time. The weather was great, and Sarah, Guy and another friend called Dave, took me out and around a hilly forest near Bracknell. Photos here.
Now, as I've got into cycling on my cheap bike, I've been thinking that I might spend some decent money (if Sally will let me) and buy myself a decent machine at some point. Which raises the question - what sort of bike would I buy?
At one end of the spectrum is a road bike. The narrow, slick tyres, aerodynamic riding position, and high gearing, all making it easy to travel long and fast. At the other end is a mountain bike. I've been recommended against full suspension (looks like more trouble than it's worth), so I'd get front-shocks, a wide range of gearing, an upright riding position, and some big chunky tyres.
Of course, there are points along that spectrum. Cyclocross bikes are racing bikes with a small amount of off-roadness built in - carbon forks to absorb vibration and less-skinny, and slightly chunky tyres. Hybrids are basically mountain bike frames with large, narrow wheels. Or you could do your own customisations, or have two sets of wheels?
A big dilemma. Of course, the best solution is two decent bikes - one road, one off-road. But I don't really see this happening. So what do I do?
The mountain biking experience has helped move this decision along somewhat. Much as I enjoyed it, it's a fun, occasional leisure activity. Road biking is something I can easily do around here during the week, and I can do a longer ride at weekends without having to go anywhere. It's my day-to-day fitness training activity, rather than an occasional fun day out. I think I'd get much more mileage out of a road bike and would use it much more often. And I can always hire a mountain bike should I want to.
So...now it's just a case of saving the money and finding the right machine!
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