Category Archives: Thinking

Talking without listening.

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Britain seems to be an increasingly angry place. Were talking about it since the Brexit vote of 2016. The papers, online, radio and TV are filled with people expressing opinions. They are talking but not listening.

Here is a letter to the local paper that characterises the Angry Letter Writer. See below.

His opinions certainly don’t reflect my 30 year’s experience cycling with clubs. However, there were times when drivers made it clear that they were angry with us. I used to notice their reactions when I lived in Bristol, but not in Staffordshire.

My strongest disagreement is with the assertion that club cyclists are the biggest problem on our roads. He has not considered motorists speeding, running red lights, having no insurance, tailgating and so on. In his mind, the nuisance of overtaking club cyclists is greater than the loss of life associated with the driving offences listed above. It is so easy to refute each argument that I won’t bother. The overall theme is anger.

The same letter was published in the Southport version of this paper but the name was withheld. In that case it was signed off as

Angry motorist, (name and address supplied). Has the paper slipped up and accidentally released his name?

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A fixie and bagpipes.

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8°C, brightening up with increasing SW wind.

1, The birds were lively today. I heard curlews, lapwings and another strange one. The latter’s sound carried a very long way but eventually I got there. A guy stopped his van and had just finished playing his bagpipes. I stopped for a chat; he played in a band in Liverpool and couldn’t practice at home.

2, Look, this is creepy;

On a lamp-post in Formby.

“WAKE UP WHITE PEOPLE

SAVE THE WHITE RACE.

Er what? Save them from what exactly? A quick search using those words returns white supremacists in the USA. What is going on in their poor little minds? I’m not offended by this crass slogan, I’m disgusted by it. Needless to say, I scraped it off.

3, Later, a puncture. The tyre is something that the rubber delaminated from the case. How did I let it get so bad? There followed a nervous ride home, it could so easily puncture again. It didn’t.

4, new pedals:

Swapped from the Arrow winter bike, semi-platform SPDs seem a more natural option on a fixed gear bike.

The black cage is actually plastic and weighs very little. Clipping in feels no different. Shimano do a very wide range of SPD pedals and I may slowly phase in this style as others wear out. It’s only the cross bike that needs the extra mud clearance offered by the minimalist design.

Occasionally, I may ride this machine in ordinary shoes so a wider footprint is necessary. They feel better too and I can see a smoother movement of my knees with less side to side motion. I had no twinges in my knees today. Problem solved!

Why I hate shopping.

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10°C, cool easterly dry wind.
It’s mostly the disappointment. Shopping is about making choices, you go into a shop and either choose something that doesn’t fit, or you choose to leave the shop.
It doesn’t matter whether I want clothes or  a sleeping bag. Most clothes are either sized for medium people, or for fat people. Clothes for larger men are the same as medium except that have fat belly space. Sleeves are usually the same length as are trouser legs. Short sleeves and legs don’t have adjustable hems any more.​

A capella, acapulca, a poodle-goat, as you can see.


Sleeping bags are sometimes available in long lengths. I say available, but that doesn’t mean any shops have them in stock, it doesn’t even mean the importer has any either. The sleeping bag I want may be available by the end of February.
Are you getting a sense of why I don’t like shopping?

Introverts of the world, rise up!

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Introverts of the world, rise up!

http://gu.com/p/4kv87?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_WordPress
This is a nice idea. Someone is sticking up for all those quiet, thoughtful and introspective people. The ones who fit the cliché silent but deep.
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It’s a problem in education, we, as teachers, don’t interact well with introverts. Quiet kids are forced to act in a demonstrative way to keep their teachers happy. Without that, the assumption is made that the quiet ones are not involved in the lesson. Observers often believe that no learning is taking place.
Teachers, by their nature, are often extroverts. There is relatively little common ground between the two.

What do you think?

Innoo solar battery pack

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Review: relatively low cost for its power storage, and fairly robust. I chose this one because I need recharging on the go, especially backpacking. Last week, I ran it down to one car with 3 charges, mine and other people’s phones.
Since then, it’s been propped up on a south facing window sill in bright sunny May conditions.
Seven days later, it has built up 1 more bar of charge. I accept that these charge indicators are arbitrary, but will it really take three weeks to charge up in full sunshine?

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After 1 week in full sun.

Seed of an idea.

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Getting dark now, 5°C and clear.
We walk about 6km/hr on good, flat sooth ground. About 4mph, or 40 miles in 10 hours, 80 in 20.
Would it be possible to walk 100 miles in a day?

That sounds pretty hard-core, but it’s developing into an idea that might be more realistic:
Walk to Lancashire in say 36 hours along the canals.
There’s one that gets you in Runcorn from near here. It’s the Trent And Mersey Canal. Okay, it does weave about a bit, and the route would probably total more than one hundred.
I could pick a summer month that has shorter hours of darkness, short enough not to get through too many batteries for the head-torch.

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Just a thought.

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One hour’s blast.

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7°C, calm with thin broken cloud. Dry.
I rode Fixed with MapMyRide+! Distance: 16.21mi, time: 01:00:23, pace: 3:43min/mi, speed: 16.11mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1418899685
Early morning ride to set up for the day. I’m stuck in the house marking until teatime, so this should make it bearable. I saved the route as a favourite, it was ideal.
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Artificial lights: in a room that’s filled with sunshine, and you’re, say, watching TV. Why would you put the lights on?
I wouldn’t bother, but kids do every day and I’m baffled.
If you’ve experienced this, have you thought to ask ‘why?’?
Maybe, your experience tallies with mine. Unfortunately, the answer doesn’t clarify anything. In fact, over the years, I have never heard anything approaching an explanation.
Today, the reply was just to squirm and mutter ‘I don’t know’. That’s pretty much always the same answer, from different kids too.

I remain baffled. If you have any clues, please reply.

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.

‘Good grief’.

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5°C, negligible N breeze. Clear sky white dry salty roads.
Commute with MapMyRide+! Distance: 25.08mi, time: 01:43:03, pace: 4:07min/mi, speed: 14.60mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1360056929

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Strange encounter: the ride home took me through Weeford. Weeford has a short part climb which is a bit narrow. Tonight, a cyclist started the hill before me with a weave to the right. His bike has a big plastic bag hanging by the back wheel.  I called ‘on your left’ so I could pass as he swerved right. But at the last moment, he veered left forcing me to swerve right. ‘Okay, on your right’ I corrected.
Then, as I overtook, I said ‘good grief’. The guy is a hazard, mainly to himself, and to others.
As I rode up the hill, a tirade began:
‘Excuse me, what did you say?’
More incoherent shouting, the word ‘light’ came out. The shouting continued as I got to the top of the hill. Bizarre.
It’s no good to me to discuss the matter, I don’t care what the nutter thinks. He’s probably plucking bits of his bag out of the rear spokes as I write.
If he’s that annoyed then shut up, and get up the hill much faster.

That wasn’t the only encounter tonight. On Rosemary Hill Road, I passed a guy with no lights of any sort. At least he wore a tabard, but otherwise- darkness, car headlights often don’t reach high enough.
We stopped on a red and I said: ‘you ought to get lights,’ he said ‘I know’.
Let’s hope he does. Nobody wants to pass a cyclist lying in the road with a coat over his face one night.