Author Archives: essiep

140/90

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High Blood pressure, or not?
Playing with a blood pressure gadget at home. I  got three readings within a few minutes:
172/93 x77
144/78 x92
111/81 x113
100/63 x 120
Systolic/diastolic x heartrate.
Perhaps best ignore this device.
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The standard top measure is 140/90.
If the first readings are right, I have high blood pressure. In order to improve I should:
1 eat less salt,
2 eat more fruit and vegetables,
3 healthy weight,
4 Drink less alcohol,
5 exercise more.
But I cook without salt (and ready meals- never), eat almost only vegetarian, Bmi 23, 1 unit per week average, 10-14 hours exercise each week.
Ignore it?
It’s probably like the bathroom scales. They’re not much use either if you weigh yourself at a different time each day.

Wolf Mountain Climbing Centre.

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6°C, light N, grey with light rain.

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It’s been 20 years since I did any rock climbing. Back then, I lived in Bristol and climbed in the Gorge. I swapped to cycling when it became apparent that it wouldn’t work in the winter. Also, solo climbing is not really a prospect either.
Carl, a few others and I will attempt the Inaccessible Pinnacle in June. We went to the climbing centre to get some skills.
The In Pin is a easily low grade climb, it’s just the exposure that intimidates some. Oh, and the weather.

First climbing wall session. Carl and I drove over to Wolverhampton for this booked induction session. Wolf Mountain is built in a converted old swimming pool. There are several rooms including a children’s space where we were taught how to belay. Once we’d ‘fallen’ off the wall the guy was happy to give us a pass.
Then we were free to climb and practise.
I wanted to be more fluent tieing the figure eight not, and Carl wanted his flat with no twist.

We’re soon to book a guide for the In Pinn. The following day, we do the Three-Peaks with Chris. Carl and I have done it before, but we’re happy to go along with Chris for a bit of mutual.

1,000th mile.

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7°C, NE chilly breeze.
I rode Arrow with MapMyRide+! Distance: 18.40mi, time: 01:23:07, pace: 4:31min/mi, speed: 13.28mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1388479221
Started this morning’s commute with 999.9 miles on the collective clock.
The first mile, barely out of my home road clocked up the magic mile.
That’s the first milestone. Planning is underway for the Diamond challenge. Ambitious, but it looks doable. The main threatening variable is the weather.

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Satisfied, moi?

First proper day of spring.

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14°C, light wind and clear sky, mostly. Ideal conditions.
I rode Fixed with MapMyRide+! Distance: 55.06mi, time: 03:36:22, pace: 3:56min/mi, speed: 15.27mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1383738887
Bannister Hill, Dalton and a decent pace for the rest of the day. Result.
A local rider tracked behind me up the climb, and I pulled away near the summit. ‘Did I do good?’ I said when he latched on when it levelled. If rode choice aluminium like with 10 gears. The descent was his though.

Georg Friedrich Haas.

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5°C, heavy rain, this morning’s flooding is the worst of the winter here.
Hear and Now – Donaueschingen Musiktage 2015 – @BBCRadio3 “>
Remember how entranced I was by Hans Abrahamsen’s Schnee?
Here is another: Georg Friedrich Haas. It’s the yet unreleased Trombone Octet played on the radio last Saturday.
Full of space, the clean sound is under precise control and unwavering harmony. It times you in the opener, it sounds like school kids playing rather badly. Then it rights itself.

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Georg Friedrich Haas

I want a hard copy, but from where?

White dusty salt.

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I rode Arrow with MapMyRide+! Distance: 54.12mi, time: 03:47:00, pace: 4:12min/mi, speed: 14.31mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1372582069
Dry salty roads, and a cold northerly.
Speed rose as time went by, and I turned for good only because I was cold. Wrong clothes.
It takes hours to warn up once home if you have been cold for along time. Days like these, I need a hot bath. The shower doesn’t do it.

Clearing John’s effects.

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5°C clear light N, chilly.
I missed the funeral but went along to help clear John’s things. Today, all we needed to do was identify what could be kept, sold or disposed of. Stuff will go to jeweller’s, eBay and into our houses.
John was an engineer by trade. He started his career in maintaining Sunderland flying boats. There are dozens of pictures, models and books about that aircraft. Similarly the other passion of his, two Velocette motorbikes. Again, models in display cabinets, magazines and books in every room.
The motorbikes are in beautiful condition and only need a bit of pressure in the tyres. I couldn’t find the pump amongst all the tools however.
Those tools were amazing by themselves, Tig welder, lathes, drill stands and intricate pieces like tap and die sets. That workshop was very cramped. No doubt, John was expert in their use. He wired his own house, a natural thing to do if that’s how your mind works.

In a drawer was this object. It’s probably his apprentice piece. If would have made this when about 19 or 20 years old. That puts it shortly after WWII.

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Apprentice piece.


It probably used a compressed air feed to drive it like one of those working model steam engines.
I had one when I was a lad. It vanished when we moved house and still, to this day, I don’t know what happened to it.

It started well…

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I rode The Jake CX with MapMyRide+! Distance: 10.39mi, time: 01:46:36, pace: 10:16min/mi, speed: 5.85mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1371496079
Cold and deep mud, only once did I stop to run around the mud patches. The others, I powered though. Not once did I grind to a halt, nor fall off. Result!

Then a puncture.
The pump let me down, it barely offered any pressure so that after vigorous pumping, the tyre had lower pressure than before.
I will take it apart to see whether it is too dirty to keep pressure. Maybe, it’s just crap.
By now, the pressure is so low that I couldn’t ride, that meant a 4 mile walk home.
Good job that I like walking.

Empty legs.

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I rode the ‘paddy wagon’ with MapMyRide+! Distance: 28.20mi, time: 01:54:46, pace: 4:04min/mi, speed: 14.7mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1363319339
Took the flattest route. Warm-up was a full 12 miles. Yes, it took that long before I felt sort of normal. All that time a little voice told me I should go home.
I blame yesterday’s irregular food. I ate plenty in the morning, but didn’t have a proper evening meal.
The same thing gap happened in the past when I had chips for supper. I don’t have chips any more. Pizza is nearly as bad.

I look quite pale in the mirror.

Storyville, 13 years on death row.

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6°C, dry with white cloud.
BBC: A Death Row Tale: The Fear of 13.
Quite the most moving thing I have seen on TV for many years.

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Credit: Storyville.

Practically a single scene play with just the narrator. If tells his own story in a beguiling manner the revealed gem after gem.
I put the recording on late on a Friday evening thinking I could watch half and finish in the morning.
A man on death row, a drug addict, a car theif was sentenced to death for a rape and murder. He sits in a darkened room, under a single light and tells his story.
In this story, there are frequent glimmers of optimism and unwavering hope. He used the time to teach himself to read properly, to enjoy reading and became articulate. More than that, he’s eloquent.
Yarris tells a story of horror, obvious human rights violations and poetry. Not wistful romantic poetry, this is beauty within a life in a hell. Men in a confined space with a dreadful end story, behaviour is animal. Here is hope.

There are a few edits where outside images break up scenes, the unfolding story evolves and unfolds beautifully. Through my own personal tiredness. .I was pinned to this. Half an hour in, resuming in the morning was out of the question.
My hope is that I can this film on disc, I want to go back to this sometimes. There are themes here for me personally. This is a public space, so I’m not saying now.

Although I’m no criminal, I can take something from this story. There are profound messages about life here. Take a look.