Those blogs where people rant about things getting on their nerves get on my nerves… so I won’t put any unnecessary interpretation on this photo. Suffice to say that I glanced down at my desk a few minutes ago aghast at what phoning people has become…
The bike ride as an object d’art
Okay, so Richard Long was very clever all those years ago by making art from walks… but I’ve now made a …. by accident! see Google Map below…. .. or view it in Google Earth here.
Bank Holiday: Visit from Andrew and Denise & fam
Lovely time with old mates Denise and Andrew this weekend. After a dreadful journey up to our place, they soon settled in. Lily and Will getting straight into some serious playing and we all had a great time catching up (and also meeting the eight month old Kitty for the first time – a gorgeous little smiler).
Got going early on Sunday to visit the seaside at Lytham. Great day for it (burnt my forehead – d’oh!) and managed to cram in lots. Will and Lily took their bikes – great move on the prom with no traffic and no gradient – very good practice that led Lily to take her first stabiliser-free ride on Monday – one very proud Dad here!
Golf Ball Fell Race 2007
It’s not unusual for Fell Races to have odd names… ‘The Trunce’, ‘The Trog’, ‘Old County Tops’, etc. The Golf Ball race is so names because of the strange huge golf ball like communications tower new Loveclough on the northern tip of Rossendale. It has noting to do with golf, but as with most fell races, it takes a bit of balls at times.
The route itself looks uninspiring when you think of the topography round here; it’s not the Lake District of the Peaks, and to be honest, there’s no massive summits, but it’s a classic Pennine short fell race, with 1228 feet of climbing over the 5.5 miles.
This is the third time I’ve run the Golf Ball race; last time was in 2005 when I was 8th. I finished 13th last night, 45 seconds slower in 41:23. Very slightly disappointed but not too much – it’s reminded me that no matter how much I run I need to race more to be good at racing.
What amazed me though was it’s the first running race I’ve done since I got my new Garmin 305 GPS and Heart Rate Monitor. Just glancing down at my heart rate throughout the race made me ralise how I seem to run bang on the limit all the time. The result is that accelleration, or indeed any kind of pacing strategy is unachievable… I’m literally recovering and just getting by all the way through. (see image left – the Heart Rate is red on the graph – the green is the terrain (Heart rate hardly drops at all whether climb or descent).
The Google Earth KMZ file front he Garmin is here for anyone who wants to look at the course.
Marrakech – a bonus family holiday in 2007
Like waiting for a bus, we were lucky enough to have two hot summer holidays abroad this year. If anyone knows of any good carbon offsetting schemes for all those air miles, just let me know.
House guests of Katie’s family friend Tom Stoddart, we enjoyed the almost surreal luxury of being catered for all week in a beautiful and spacious home in Targa, on the northern suburbs of Marrakech. Tom, is well-off enough to have several domestic employees – all of whom were very friendly and helped us all to feel like we’d mixed with local people. Our French linguistics had to be dusted off a bit and with a strong regional accent, some words were hard to distinguish, but we got by.
The house was made even more child friendly by having a supply of dog and even eight 3-week old dachshund puppies. Olly and Lily made several daily visits to their little den each day.
Although it was lovely to have had a pool all to ourselves and enjoy the children (we went with Katie’s family: Sally, Simon, Olly, Lucy, Jean and Bill), we also had enough opportunities to nip into this amazing city a few times, too.
There’s some family photos here and less familyesque photos on Flickr here. The sunsets were particularly enjoyable – even without much immediate topography other than palm trees and olive groves. Simon and Sally’s flickr photos are here.
I also managed to keep the training going all holiday and ran each morning for a minimum of 35 minutes in some temperatures that would suggest a lot more lying in bed. The theory was to get up early and get out or get cooked. Daytime temperatures reached the mid 40s on some days but it was only in the high 20s in the mornings. I acclimatised well though, and running was a real joy in such a different environment. Google Earth tracks of the runs from my Garmin 305 are here, showing some nice zig-zagging through the shade of the olive groves and the dusty barren ‘fields’, complete with tumble weed.
Great fun – thanks Tom and we’ll come and see you again when you move to Agadir!
Anderson Patrick
A good friend from my late teens was killed in very tragic circumstances on Saturday. Anderson Patrick was just known as ‘Plug’ to us back in my sixth form – one of those names people get given at school when they have sticky-out ears.
Plug was one of those people who were good to party with. Katie remembers his dancing in a dodgy but very enthusiastic fashion; arms flailing and just going for it. We had some great times – particularly in the summer of 1988 when we left school – but onwards for the next couple of years, too.
People started dancing on the tables at the first ever Little Boogie Machine gig in the Brown Cow, Lancaster; Plug and his close friend Jamie Kineer were the first up there.
I haven’t been in contact with Plug for a long time now – we went off doing our own things as you do, but he’s one of the people I’d have loved to see again. The fact that I won’t do is not of any consequence to me. What I can’t think about for more than a few seconds is how his wife and three children won’t see him again.
Oxford weekend with Dippy, Jane and family
Great stay with Dippy, Jane, Libby and Flo this weekend. It sadly seems only an annual event with everyone’s busy lives, but we had another great trip. We missed out on some pretty poor weather back home too, which is a great bonus.
On Saturday we had a great trip to the park and on to a noodle bar for lunch (Helmshore, for some reason, hasn’t got its own noodle bar yet). After that, it was an afternoon of romping on the lawn with hose pipe, paddling pool, croquet set and some willing and very playful young people.
On Sunday, Dips and I took the girls to the pool and had another water-based good laugh.
Big thanks from us all to you all for a lovely stay.
Tour de France 2007, a vintage year.
This year was a brilliant Tour de France. [Oh, Dave – stop being so silly and provocative – what about all the drugs in cycling?]. No – sorry – it was a fantastic race this year.
The London and Kent start to the Tour was different but very succesful.
The first week was action packed with a bitter battle for the stage finishes going on and no one team dominating the sprints. We had the usual brave men seeking out a win with infeasibly long breakaways, and some truly superb mountain stages. Add to that two edge-of-the-seat time trials and the closest finish since 1989.
The drugs? The scandals?
As a bonus we had two people caught doping who were booted out, and a habitual fibber kicked out when leading (how did his team let him in in the first place?!). This is all gereat proof that drug testing is working. Furthermore, the team organisations have also come round to stamping it out. Astana and Cofidis both withdrew from the race voluntarily after their rider had sinned.
At last the whole cycling infrastructure seems ready to reject doping. People will always try to cheat where there’s big money and glory involved. Just look at the drug taking in professional football – no-one dares to test for performance enhancing drugs there (for now). What’s important is that cycling’s infrastructure is ready to reject doping.
Phil and Anne’s house in Devon
Storms ravage the country, and once again we managed to keep Devon relatively dry for a long weekend. We should get paid for this.
A lovely time had by all – lots of Dartmoor running, plenty of drinking, not a disastrous amount of sleep loss, the Tour de France’s crucial stages on TV in the the background (and occasionally the foreground), excellent young-people-swimming trampolinic bouncing, a stone of cow rib to eat a youth bike ride, and Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. And a bit of sneezing.
Oh, and some extreme retrieving by Elvis.
Weekend at home with Rachel and Jon
A lovely weekend at home with the Dow family – haven’t seen them since New Year and a lovely relaxing time to catch up, hang out, and hang over. Piccies (click on image) and video…
Colne Grand Prix 2007
Had a great race last night in the support race at the Colne Grand Prix. I just love the fast circuit there with its swooping corners; its only 800m in length but it always makes for positive and aggressive racing. The weather was about as good as it could be for this summer (!) – but not quite like last year’s race.
Both events there last night finished in bunch sprints, and although I tried very hard a couple of times to slip away from the group, it was never going to stick; the race was run at an average of 25.8mph and it would have taken a miracle to stay away solo. Nevertheless, as someone who describes himself as a non-sprinter, I made the best of a race that wasn’t working out my way, and swore to myself that I’d need to be in the top three on the last bend, 300 metres from the line. 
I kicked immediately out of the bend and was overtaken by the awesome sprinting power of former GB international Phil West (left) and the guy who outsprinted me to second in the Rochdale Grand Prix, Graeme Goulding.
After starting the sprint early and throwing my bike towards the line in the dying metres, I held off the late lunge of James Farnaby, and got my second Colne podium spot in three tries. Very satisfying! I doubt I’ll get on the podium next year though; looks pretty much like moving up a category and with the Elites next year, but I’ll continue to give it my best shot and make the most of it all while it lasts…
In the Elite event, Stuart Reid (right) did a great ride for Team Wheelbase / Gore Bike Wear, being in the thick of the action throughout, and finishing a highly creditable 14th in the sprint.
Rachel and Katie, Wham! and the Carpenters.
Throw in some Cava and it’s an absolutely lethal mix.
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