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sjh - mountain biking linux geek spice (20 unread)

[mtb] No paddle this morning

Posted: January 6th, 2009, 12:36pm CET

!-- 2009-01-06 12:36:35 -- I had planned to go paddling this morning. My road bike had a flat tyre with a slow leak, so I did not want to take it to work. I hopped on my fixie at 7:40, planning to be on the water by 8am and off the water just before 9am and at work by 9:20am. However as I crossed Northbourne avenue I remembered why I had been avoiding riding the fixie, the quill and bolt in the stem had stripped and I was unable to tighten the bars enough to stop them rotating away from pointing straight ahead. p Paddling plans scuppered due to not thinking I would be safe riding that bike (and I did not want to to ride a mountain bike over to the boat shed), I headed home, fixed the flat tyre on the road bike, shaved, and headed over to Maladjusted to get a new quill and bold for the Cinelli stem on the fixie (Cinelli bars are not a standard road bar width, they are a bit smaller so you need to use Cinelli stems with them, at least this is the case with the old Cinelli stuff I am using on the fixie). p Got to work at 9am in the end anyway with the fixie back in working order (and the tyre properly seated so not about to pop and go bang with the bead sitting out as it had been. Last year one of the ARNuts Tuesday night runs we did when it was hot was to run from Weston park to Black Mountain Peninsula, swim back across to Weston park and have a bbq with any and all ARNuts who ran or just rocked up. p I termed this a new and interesting variation on the classic triathlon, the legs being Run/Swim/BBQ. We had a number of people who were specialists at the BBQ leg rock up last year. Fun was had by all involved. Thus this arvo we are trying it out again. Should be good to cool off swimming in the lake after a run in this heat.
[mtb] Getting a start in Jindabyne preparation

Posted: January 5th, 2009, 2:33pm CET

!-- 2009-01-05 14:33:01 -- After being so sick last year when I a href=http://svana.org/sjh/rides/scmulti08/attempted the Jindabyne Multisport race/a solo, added to the fact I had not done enough swim training in the lead up to the event. It was no real surprise that I was unable to complete the race. I should be fairly impressed that I managed to stay out there for 11 hours and make it to the final swim on a day I should have stayed in bed sick all day. p However I want to complete this event solo, I am definitely lining up again this March. I got back into the pool for some swimming just before Christmas, and will continue with pool sessions and some lake swims over the next two months. Matt, Amanda, Danielle, Ben and I had been sort of planning to do the a href=http://svana.org/photos/coastride_dec07/ride to the coast again/a this Saturday just past. However the logistics were getting a bit hard. Talking with another AR friend, Mark, we discovered many of the other ARNuts would be down in Jindabyne (Dave, Julie, Heather, Jules, Alex, Sal, Mark, Celia, Randall, Shannon) so the 5 of us thought we may head down there and do some out of Canberra exercise also. p I rang my ski club and was fortunate to discover the Unit in Jindabyne that we have was empty so the 5 of us headed down there to stay and took with us mountain bikes, running shoes, kayaks and road bikes. We did not go as big, long or hard training wise as some of the others, but we did have a fun weekend. Early Saturday morning we joined some of the others to do the second run leg of the race from the Thredbo river picnic are up to Sawpit, with a loop out the other side of the road and back. I forgot to wear my GPS/HRM for this and the mtb ride we did later that day, however it was a really nice run, so much easier and more pleasant than my previous experience of it 6 hours into the multi sport race while sick and on a really hot day. p That afternoon I dragged a bunch of us around the first mtb leg of the race, the technical leg. I love that leg, however we probably should have head out for a ride on some of the less technical but still mighty run single track in the region between the dam wall and east Jindabyne as it would not have been quite so intimidating to the others and we would have gotten a longer ride in. That night a few of us watched a DVD of the movie a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Run,_Fat_Boy,_RunRun Fat Boy Run/a, which is kind of entertaining, though the marathon pace for the front runners is completely unrealistic. p Sunday morning at 6am Amanda set off to ride to Charlotte Pass. Matt, Ben and I set off at 6:35am for the same ride. Holding a nice slightly under tempo (for me) pace we all completed the ride up and back down with riding time of 3h30m (a href=http://svana.org/sjh/gps/runs.cgi?run=2009-01-04-06:36:26data link/a) for the 84km. Danielle and I then headed out for a short paddle in Matt and Amanda's double surf ski to begin getting used to the feel of that boat. p Not too much activity to knock us all flat but it was nice to get out of town and do some stuff and it was good to scope out two of the legs for the mullti sport race.
[various] Canberra Yacht Club Web Cam

Posted: December 28th, 2008, 9:27am CET

!-- 2008-12-28 09:27:31 -- So I knew CYC had a web cam so I could view what the wind looked like on the lake to go paddling there. However When I googled for Canberra Yacht Club I only got the Southern Cross club pages (the group that owns the CYC) concerning the club. The link to the actual operational website did not turn up. p Thus this is to remind me where to find the a href=http://www.canberrayachtclub.com.au/Canberra Yacht Club/a website and the Lake Burley Griffin webcams linked from the front page there. I guess the URL should have been obvious to me without a google search.
[leisure/screen] Good Bond

Posted: December 24th, 2008, 11:04pm CET

!-- 2008-12-24 23:04:25 -- My sister and I went to see the new Bond movie today, Quantum of Solace. Although the title is somewhat lame, the movie itself was in my opinion an excellent Bond movie. There was not too much of a focus on action, it was not over the top and the entire move developed the character really well I think. p The dynamics between the major players and what happened through the movie was interesting and entertaining, there was no incredibly annoying and IMO stupid card game like in the previous movie. Also the bond girl thing did not happen as it normally does which I think improved the movie.
[leisure/food] Marbled Cupcakes with Blueberries

Posted: December 20th, 2008, 8:51am CET

!-- 2008-12-20 08:51:56 -- table tr td valign=top a href=http://svana.org/sjh/images/various/baking/marble_cupcakes_med.jpgimg src=http://svana.org/sjh/images/various/baking/marble_cupcakes_small.jpg/abr Marbled Cupcakes (a href=http://svana.org/sjh/images/various/baking/marble_cupcakes.jpgfullsize/a) /td td valign=top So a href=http://davyd.livejournal.com/267276.htmlsomeone/a on a href=http://planet.linux.org.au/p.l.o.a/a (who is also vegan) suggested it is the time of year for baking. Who am I to argue, this photo is of a batch of Marbled cupcakes with buttercream icing and blueberries on top from the Vegan cupcakes book I got the a href=http://svana.org/sjh/diary/2008/12/16#2008-12-16_01other day/a. p As vegetable shortening is not readily available in Australia (unless I buy some Crisco from David Jones, imported by USAFoods in Melbourne) I decided to simply use Nuttilex in the icing. The other option is mixing in some Copha (which is a coconut oil product, solid at room temperature) however it seems the icing has turned out alright, maybe a bit runny but it worked. /td /tr /table
[comp/hardware] Hamster out of focus

Posted: December 19th, 2008, 12:51pm CET

!-- 2008-12-19 12:51:46 -- table tr td valign=top a href=http://svana.org/sjh/images/various/broken_hardware_label_med.jpgimg src=http://svana.org/sjh/images/various/broken_hardware_label_small.jpg/abr Broken Hardware Label (a href=http://svana.org/sjh/images/various/broken_hardware_label.jpgfullsize/a) /td td valign=top I noticed a hard drive on a bench here with the label affixed to it written by one of us Broken Harddisk - username - May 2005. Thinking about it I considered the fact that there was excessive information on the label, to anyone here it is fairly obvious that this is a hard drive. p We always ensure broken hardware has a label like this attached with the name of who noted it was broken and the date on which we noted this. However thinking about this excessive information I began wondering if we could instead try messing with people's heads. Instead of saying broken hard disk we could instead say Broken rabbit. p This of course led me to take the photo to the left, after all is that not what you consider and accurate and useful statement about the hamster in the photo? /td /tr /table
[mtb] Garmin doing good on warranties

Posted: December 16th, 2008, 4:43pm CET

!-- 2008-12-16 16:43:11 -- When my Garmin Forerunner 305 a href=http://svana.org/sjh/diary/2008/09/05#2008-09-05_01finally really died/a with the crack and subsequent internal soaking I thought I had to send it away to the US and pay the repair fee in US dollars as well as getting it over there and back. I am happy to report that Garmin is a much easier company to deal with for us Australians than that. p I finally decided I wanted my HRM/GPS enough to arrange the shipping to the US and contacted Garmin. I was pleased to discover they allow you to send it into the Australian Garmin support people and they will repair or replace the unit for the flat fee they use of around AUD $109. I sent mine in last week and today in the mail a brand new Forerunner 305 arrived. p It will be good to be geeking out with my wrist hardware again during my run tonight and ride tomorrow morning. Thanks Garmin for making this an easy and painless process.
[leisure/books] Yay for international book purchases.

Posted: December 16th, 2008, 3:29pm CET

!-- 2008-12-16 15:29:32 -- After reading Little Brother a href=http://svana.org/sjh/diary/2008/11/18#2008-11-18_01recently/a I was keen to buy a copy. I also wanted to get hold of the Last Watch book by Sergei Lukyanenko, and I had been keen on getting Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. However of those three only The Graveyard Book was available in Australia already. The Watch book did not get released in the US when it was supposed to, however I discovered it had been released in the UK. The other books were also available there. So i made an order with Amazon UK to get those three books, and while buying from there anyway I also got a copy of a href=http://www.theppk.com/vegancupcakes.htmlVegan Cupcakes Take Over the World/a. p I was happy today to receive all of these books in the mail at work, yay some good reading, some fantastic food and hopefully some more things to keep my mind occupied at the moment. Once again showing it would be so much nicer if things were released internationally at the same time so I could have bought them locally.
[leisure/screen] Dougs again

Posted: December 14th, 2008, 11:21pm CET

!-- 2008-12-14 23:21:19 -- Every time in the last few days I have had time to think or look around it has hurt or I have been upset. Fortunately my friends have helped me out, trying to keep my mind occupied and busy. However today I ended up with a large stretch of time and ended up finally watching the new a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Anthony_All_StarsDoug Anthony All Stars/a dvd. p I was somewhat ecstatic a few weeks ago when I saw in an ABC shop catalogue that a new Doug Anthony All Stars dvd was available. I have mentioned here from time to time that I am a long term fan of their stuff. I still have the London video and a cd from Edinburgh, however when I moved back from Sydney in 2001 I somehow misplaced my copy of the so called New York video (Live at the National Theatre) and the Edinburgh Years movie. So I have been somewhat bereft of Dougs material to watch. p The new dvd that has been released is a collection of lots of their a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_GigBig Gig/a material which is great to see. I remember watching the show when it was first on tv, however I do not remember the content, so to see more DAAS from then is great, I can also see a lot of their material and notice how it changed in the time between those shows and Dead Alive or DAAS Kapital. p It would be great if more of DAAS Kapital (weird though it often was) were also available now days. I enjoyed watching the first of the two dvds tonight and am happy to say reliving my memories of all those songs and the attitude they would take trying to get a rise out of any situation and to mock and piss take any religion, famous situation or personage if they thought it could be in bad taste or just downright funny was good to keep my mind occupied for a while. p Lots of fun, thanks Tim, Rich and Paul.
[various] And so it appears to be over

Posted: December 10th, 2008, 11:31pm CET

!-- 2008-12-10 23:31:06 -- So after around 7 wonderful months in a loving relationship it appears that as of tonight we are no longer together. I am upset and trying not to cry at everything I see around me. The hardest problem is we both admit to each other we love and adore each other, however due to some concerns about something that happened to us when we met my now ex partner says she feels we can not be together long term. I think it is time to go and cry myself to sleep.
[mtb] A nice bushwalk

Posted: December 8th, 2008, 3:09pm CET

!-- 2008-12-08 15:09:58 -- A rather uninteresting title, however it pretty well sums up the experience. I had a quick look at some of my maps last week and decided for Friday and Saturday we would head out for an overnight bushwalk from Corin down to Orroral Valley, camp there and then walk up to Honeysuckle Creek and on around the back of Mt Tennant to the Namadgi Visitors centre on the Australian Alps walking track. p On Friday starting fairly late (11am ish in the end) we walked along the Square Rock track, turned off toward Smokers Trail and walked down that all the way to the Orroral Valley walk. We finally stopped and camped in the valley around 4pm and that was really rather lovely. p Doing the late start thing again we did not get going until 11am on Saturday, which was probably a little bit too late as looking at what was in front of us there was a lot of distance, some big hills and some interesting looking tracks. Got to Honeysuckle for lunch around 1:30pm and enjoyed a short rest while eating. Then headed on to the rather spectacular Alpine Walking track, this is a spectacular walk, really lovely bush surrounding you, a variety of scenery and terrain and it finishes off going down the Mt Tennant walking track to the visitors centre. p The walk was really good, however i stupidly did not take the normal precautions I would with my feet for a long rogaine or for an adventure race, so I ended up with blisters on my little toes and just under my big toes. Silly really as if I had simply used socks I know are good for a long rogaine, slathered my feet with Guerneys Goo and put sports tape on at the first sign of any problem I would have been fine. Fortunately my feet are already feeling a lot better today. Fun was indeed had.
[leisure/food] Filling the void somewhat

Posted: November 27th, 2008, 7:38pm CET

!-- 2008-11-27 19:38:24 -- For many years one of the best restaurant's in Canberra was Bernadette's at Ainslie shops. This was a true vegetarian cafe/restaurant. Not simply an imitation meat place like Au Lac or Kingsland, sure I like both of those places, however the food and dining experience is very different to that of a place like Bernadette's or in Melbourne Veggie Bar or Soul Food. p The sad thing is Bernadette's closed a few years ago leaving Canberra with greatly decreased vegetarian dining options. The good news is in the last year two new places have opened that bring back the Cafe experience (breakfasts and lunches), one of those is Satis at Watson shops and the other is a href=http://www.myrainbowdreams.com.au/My Rainbow Dreams/a at Dickson shops (between the post office and Hudsons) run and owned by a href=http://srichinmoy.org/Sri Chimnoy/a students. I of course am used to a href=http://www.srichinmoyraces.org/au/eventsSri Chimnoy from the racing/a side of things. p Though I like Satis, it does not stand out, maybe because they are not incredibly vegan friendly, who knows, though I like it, I do not feel the need to visit there regularly. Rainbow dreams on the other hand is really good. They always have a variety of yummy sweets (cakes, cookies, chocolates) that are vegan. They have vegan ice cream and can do smoothies and milkshakes. Their scrambled tofu is really tasty and so far every time I have had it I have enjoyed it. p On top of their standard menu they often have a yummy vegan bake of the day, they have a number of different soups and curries and pies available for take home meals. You can also read a bit about Sri Chinmoy there and buy some of the books (plus they have other interesting items to buy unrelated to Sri). Also you can buy ice cream cones from them which should appeal to more than just the Vegetarian crowd, maybe that will help hook them. p I also have had a few good talks with the people working there and am glad to hear they are enjoying doing the vegan cooking and baking, also they are interested in trying new recipes and I will probably exchange recipes with them from time to time. After all more a href=http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=386Chai Latte Cupcakes/a being made anywhere would rock. p Every time I have eaten there (I have tried to get there once a fortnight for a while now) I have enjoyed the food and been greeted by friendly staff. I really would recommend it to anyone, not only vegetarians, they make an effort to show how good really healthy food can taste for anyone. I am happy to see My Rainbow Dreams successfully bringing some really good vegetarian/vegan food back to Canberra.
[comp/hardware] Easy Dell HSDPA SIM access

Posted: November 27th, 2008, 12:15pm CET

!-- 2008-11-27 12:15:45 -- So a href=http://svana.org/sjh/diary/2008/05/26#2008-05-26_01my Dell XPS M1330/a came with a built in Dell 5520 WWAN HSDPA card. This shows up on the USB bus and appears to work in Linux using usbserial (with vendor= and product= arguments to modprobe) with ttyUSB0 appearing correctly in /dev. p Originally I had no intention to use it, and the laptop came with it specced for Vodafone usage. Recently however Telstra and Optus have both started offering prepaid wireless broadband. I was wondering how easy it would be to change the SIM to one of those networks. After all lsusb currently outputs p Bus 002 Device 019: ID 413c:8138 Dell Computer Corp. Wireless 5520 Voda I Mobile Broadband (3G HSDPA) Minicard EAP-SIM Port p The book that came with the laptop has good instructions on how to pull it apart and access various parts of the hardware. So I had a glance at the WWAN instructions and was easily able to open it up and look at the device. However when I did this I discovered that the SIM was not attached to the device at all. p At this point I googled more accurately for details about the location of the SIM in Dell laptops with HSDPA devices. It was at this point I discovered an a href=http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/06/20/dell_hsdpa_laptops_not_tied_to_vodafone/article on the Register/a that said Dell's are not tied to Vodafone and quite plainly pointed out to me the location of the SIM is in the Battery bay. p And hey presto an easily accessed Vodafone SIM is indeed sitting right there, it should be no problem to put a Telstra or Optus SIM in on a prepaid plan. Telstra appears to have better coverage by far, their USB devices may or may not work with Linux, however I know from experience the Optus USB device does work with Linux. However I do not need either for this laptop, Optus offer a SIM only prepaid kit for AUD $30, Telstra do not mention offering it, however forums suggest you can walk into a Telstra shop and ask for a 3G prepaid kit and request that it be wireless broadband enabled for around AUD $30 also. p The other nice thing I would like to note from this experience is how good the book that came with the laptop from Dell is, that it has good detail about accessing most of the hardware in the laptop is very useful and means you are less likely to break things if you want to look inside.
[mtb] 30th entertainment

Posted: November 25th, 2008, 12:48pm CET

!-- 2008-11-25 12:48:41 -- So I did the ride up to Goulburn after work again yesterday and rode back this morning. My legs are a bit sore, however they do not feel as bad as last Monday so maybe I am getting some riding form back. The time up was 2h55m including 5 minutes stopped inspecting a tyre and pumping it up (I was worried it was flat, however it had simply gotten low in the week and a half since pumping it up) and on the way back this morning 2h50m. I had a headwind most of the way up last night and this morning really noticed a strong headwind along Lake George, however the rest of the ride felt relatively head wind free. p The subject I guess is in relation to the fact I turned 30 yesterday, a few people were asking if I was doing anything for my 30th, they seemed surprised to hear I was choosing to ride to Goulburn after a day at work. p I am getting more and more tempted to get my Lemond steel road frame fixed and get that road bike running again, the cyclocross bars on my Jake the Snake are not as comfortable on long road rides (small drop, my hands do not fit as well) and I think the steel frame will probably be a little bit nicer anyway on that ride. Also the bars on Jake, being oversized and with cyclocross brakes in the way make fitting a time trial bar hard, I am thinking more and more I would like a time trial bar on the bike for the ride to Goulburn and back. It should allow me to knock a few minutes off without much effort and stay somewhat comfortable doing so once I am used to using it. p The only problem with the above idea is I will look far too much like a triathlete doing that.
[mtb] Racing? Who's racing its speed wilderness tourism!

Posted: November 21st, 2008, 5:12pm CET

!-- 2008-11-21 17:12:38 -- I mentioned some of my a href=http://svana.org/sjh/diary/2006/02/24#2006-02-24_01friends/a a href=http://svana.org/sjh/diary/2006/02/27#2006-02-27_01doing/a XPD in Tasmania back in 2006. For some reason I did not make mention here last year of XPD 3 in the Whitsundays that some of my friends were also racing in. p Right now, a href=http://www.xpd.com.au/race08/index_xpd_4.htmxpd 4/a is on and teams are closing in on the half way point. They started at around 2pm on Wednesday and have been going pretty much non stop since. The weather is pretty cold and wet down in the Victorian alps at the moment and there are blizzards forecast in the higher region the ~ 210 KM bike leg will be passing through. p Danielle, Dave, Randall, Heather, Libby, Chris, Nathan, Bleeksie, Danealle, Keith, Matt, Wayne and Sean all appear to still be out there having a lot of hardship^Wfun. Good to see Tangerine and Blackheart/Salomon are in the top 3 after 2 days of racing. p I have to thank the bio for Jerome from the Securify team for the quote I used in the title of this post. I think it sums up one of the joys of XPD well. Speed Wilderness Tourism is a lot of fun.
[leisure/books] Dinner reading, that got extended

Posted: November 18th, 2008, 10:11am CET

!-- 2008-11-18 10:11:17 -- For a while now I have been meaning to read the Cory Doctrow book a href=http://craphound.com/littlebrother/Little Brother/a, it is not yet available in Australia (being released in January next year) and I was not sure enough I wanted it to get it from Amazon. Fortunately for me Cory has it available for download so you can make your mind up. I decided to open it and read a bit while I ate dinner last night. p I ended up finishing the book (fortunately a light read), I have to say it really is good, highly entertaining, realistic in that you can see how that situation could already happen in the world, and though I am a computer geek and thus aware of the technologies discussed I have to agree that it is well presented and can inform a huge number of people about what they can do with computers (and what is done by authorities) if they just sit down and read the book. p I want to buy a book that is being released on Amazon on November 25, so I am now happy to say I can add a copy of Little Brother to the order when I make it. Sure the book is apparently a Young Adult novel, however as is so often the case (Neil Gaiman's recently released a href=http://www.neilgaiman.com/works/Books/The+Graveyard+Book/The Graveyard Book/a for example) a so called youth aimed book may still offer many delights and interesting content to anyone who reads it. p Thanks Cory for a entertaining and informative tale.
[mtb] That was better

Posted: November 17th, 2008, 10:26am CET

!-- 2008-11-17 10:26:35 -- Unlike a href=http://svana.org/sjh/diary/2008/11/12#2008-11-12_01last week/a when I had many punctures on the highway, this morning I got home with none. I bought a new pump and two new tyres for the road bike last week, the new tyres are Specialized Armadillo's which are rumoured to be the most puncture resistant road tyres available. I did not bother with Kevlar rim strips as they slide around, are hard to put in place and may even cut into tubes. p The other nice thing was I made it home in 2h40m from Goulburn today, which gives me hope that once I get a bit more speed and fitness back on the bike I can reliably do the ride in under 2h30m even with a bit of wind around. (admittedly the conditions were almost perfect this morning, cool, overcast, not much wind). I look forward to seeing how I go on Wednesday.
[mtb] Comedy of punctures

Posted: November 12th, 2008, 12:24pm CET

!-- 2008-11-12 12:24:10 -- After work yesterday I a href=http://svana.org/sjh/diary/2008/11/04#2008-11-04_01again/a headed out to ride to Goulburn with the plan to ride back early this morning. I was still feeling a bit rough and coughing, I don't think from a cold, I suspect more from just pushing myself pretty hard at the a href=http://svana.org/sjh/diary/2008/11/10#2008-11-10_01Gravity 12 Hour/a race, I tend to forget, although it does not feel that hard at the time, doing an enduro event in a team does take its toll on my body. So I felt I was riding a little bit slower than I wanted to, however I was on track to get out there in just under 3 hours. I had to get to a dinner celebration and was cutting it close time wise anyway. p As I passed Collector my saddle bag snapped off again, I stopped to put the bag in my camelback pack and noticed my front tyre had a slow leak and was almost flat. I stopped longer to pump it up again and got back to riding. Around 12 KM later I noticed the front was almost flat again, now I was only 20 KM from Goulburn, however due to the stops and likely needing to stop more for more pumping I was running late for dinner and decided to call and ask to be picked up at the Federal Hwy turn off toward Canberra as I could get there pretty quickly. That arranged and fine I rode on, 2 minutes later my rear tyre got a puncture and went flat instantly. I stopped, changed the tube, extracted the wire that caused the puncture, pumped up and rode on. p I arrived at the place I would be picked up and while waiting changed my front tube as well and started patching the tubes that were flat (I carry two tubes and a patch kit on my road bike). With one tube fixed and starting the second tube I was picked up, threw everything in the car and got to Goulburn. It was only when we got there I realised I had left my pump lying on the verge off the side of the highway. Eep, fortunately I had pumped up both my tyres and fixed one tube. I hoped I would be able to pick up the pump from the verge in the morning, not get a flat in the first 12 KM of riding and make it home. p Getting to sleep fairly late after the rather fun dinner went very late I decided I would have to leave later than planned as only five and a half hours sleep would not help me in riding home. I got on the bike riding back by 7:35am, planning to make it home by 10:30am and to work by 10:45am. When I got to where I left the pump, I did find it, however a truck or something had been a long way onto the verge over night and flattened and shattered the pump. Oh fantastic, well I did not have any flats last week so I could hope I would make it home without any more. p Luck was not with me, within 2 KM my rear tyre went completely flat with another puncture. I was able to make it to a rest area and started asking some people stopped there if it was possible to get a lift to Canberra. I was incredibly lucky that one man there in a ute on the way to a work site in Canberra offered me a ride home. I ended up arriving around 9am and actually got to work at a reasonable sort of time. p I have always known flats are a little more likely on the Federal Highway than other places due to the amount of small stuff coming off cars and trucks that are on the road much more than on smaller roads. This time all three flats were caused by small (1 to 2 cm lengths) bits of steel wire most likely from the steel belting in car and truck tyres. I also knew my back tyre was more vulnerable due to being close to worn out and in need of replacement. Last week I was lucky to do the ride with no flats. p I will replace the back tyre and I think try putting Kevlar belts inside my road tyres under the tread so small bits of wire or glass are less likely to be able to get to the tube and buy a new pump of course. I am in debt and thankful to the person who gave me a lift to Canberra this morning and lucky to have been able to get a lift in such a way. I hope positive Karma goes out to him in some way soon for this generous gesture to me. p Lets hope my next trip remains puncture free.
[mtb/gear] My map board

Posted: November 11th, 2008, 1:39pm CET

!-- 2008-11-11 13:39:44 -- Just as an assist so I can google my memory easier, I often need to remember what brand my map board is, rather than have to search through email or similar from when I purchased it a few years ago I should just have a link here telling me I have a a href=http://www.windchill.com.au/Mapholder.htmWindchill Map Board/a. I really like these boards (I have two in the garage at home) as they sit a bit higher than Miry and also the screws to attach them are not so fiddly and short (so I am not afraid of them coming out and being lost to such an extent). They are a little heavy, however they are well constructed and have good support. I had to get one of them fixed in 2007 and the replacement part was cheap and sent up to Canberra quickly. Thanks Windchill for a good, functional, well priced product.
[mtb/events] Gravity again

Posted: November 10th, 2008, 2:48pm CET

!-- 2008-11-10 14:48:30 -- I was once more able to go down to Victoria this weekend and compete in the a href=http://www.gravity12hour.com/Gravity 12 Hour mtb race/a with Sam and Ben. I think we are all pretty happy with our race. Of the 195 teams there racing on the day we came 29th overall. The mixed threes category was again pretty hot, the overall winning team also won mixed threes. Interestingly the rest of the top places in this category were all on the same number of laps as us (19, compared with the 22 laps of the winners), though the team in front of us finished their 19 laps 10 minutes in front of us. p I keep going on about not having much speed at the moment, and it is kind of true that I was going at a pace further below anaerobic than I probably would with more bike time in my legs, I was still remarkably fast. With pretty much an identical loop to last year I managed to do most of my laps only 2 or 3 minutes slower than the same laps last year. Also interestingly my lap times got a bit faster as the day progressed, first lap above 38, second two below 37 minutes, fourth and fifth around 37 to 37:30 then the final lap (only half in gathering darkness) was only a minute slower at 38:30. My cycling base is standing me in good stead and now I just have to build up again and get some speed back. The build up of good endurance will be helped by riding to Goulburn and back a bit. The race speed I am not sure I will get around to working on as I never seem to any other time. p Previous years are a href=http://svana.org/sjh/rides/gravity_031108/2003/a, a href=http://svana.org/photos/gravity04/2004/a, a href=http://svana.org/photos/gravity05/2005/a, a href=http://svana.org/photos/gravity06/2006/a and a a href=http://svana.org/sjh/diary/2007/11/13#2007-11-13_01mention of 2007 here/a.

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