Magnolia Blossoms

Over the last week or so the magnolia (stellata I think) in our back garden has been on full show. The transitory blooms are such a treat in early spring. However, at the first sign of frost or rain they shrivel up and turn brown.

In anticipation of the rain tomorrow I popped out with my camera to try and capture the moment. The resulting shot is no masterpiece but it will see me through until this time next year...although hopefully we'll be out of the country...

Two 2500' peaks in the Black Mountains

On Saturday, Sarah and I decided to head off on a trip to the Black mountains. We picked out a circular walk from a magazine and jumped in the Disco. All this is down to the need to sort out suitable footwear longer treks....putting the boots through their paces.

After a brief stop in Abergaveny for coffee and supplies, we headed up to Llanvihangel and then down the valley to the car park at the head of the valley. It was only at Llanvihangel that it clocked that we were going to exactly the same place tha I had come mountain biking with Cass & Cara back in October/November.

Unlike the trip in October, the weather was fantastic. The only downside was a haze that meant that the fantastic views out North from the pass at the head of the valley were lazy striking. The walk sent us up exactly the same cattle track, past the reservoir to the pass. At the head of the valley we bore left to head up the ridgeline to the series of peaks that we were heading for. Aside from the decidedly boggy sections between the peaks the walk was stunning. With the wind to our backs on the ridge walk, the going was relatively swift.

After 4 hours and around 20km we headed steeply back down into the valley and eventually to the car park. The leather boots are now starting to break in nicely...not so sure about Sarah's boots though. May need a rethink on that front after the blisters...

Sitting next to Big Magnus...

I was on the plane out to Belgium on Monday morning and found myself sitting next to Magnus Backstedt. After doing a little work I got chatting to him about his plans for the season and how he was recovering from the crash that he had on the track in the Autumn. He had recently had the plate out of his shoulder and said that his fitness levels were right up there with previous seasons. He seemed quite bullish that he would get the miles in during the Tour of Flanders and will be back for Paris Roubaix. I asked him if he fancied his chances for the Tour prologue. He said that it certainly suited him as a power rider...I suspect that he is quietly licking his lips in anticipation.

Hats off to Maggy for being so approachable and having a long chat...I'll definitely be cheering him on in the Spring Classics and London (along with Messrs Wiggins and Millar)

The Sapperton Circular Walk

Sarah and I went out for the second of our walks taken from the Footloose pocket guides that we bought at the Christmas market in Bath a few years back. This time we ventured a little closer to home. Sapperton is a beautiful little Cotswold village just West of Cirencester. The walk took us North of Sapperton past Pinsbury Manor (now that is a gaff) to Hoar Stone Longbarrow (not much to look at to be fair). We then headed down the hill and up into Edgeworth.

Apart from being a beautiful village and having a wonderful Tudor manor, the church (St. Mary’s) had some fantastic stained glass windows. I am not normally seduced into churches, having had an overdose in my youth from my overzealous Grandfather, but this was intriguing. A mixture of Saxon, Norman and Gothic styles it seemed worth a look. Although it was a little dark inside, the stained glass windows were absolutely stunning. I was amazed to be able to get some sharp photos whilst handheld (hooray for the Nikkor VR lense). After 5 minutes wandering around the church we pottered on into the woods of the Bathhurst Estate and down to the remnants of the remnants of the Daneway Portal (the entrance/exit to the now defunct Daneway tunnel on the Severn & thames canal). After a short, but steep, climb back up to Sapperton we returned to the car feeling self-riteous and a little jaded in the legs.

The new walking boots saw action again (and plenty of mud). They seem very comfortable and are now wearing in. Here’s to more long walks...who knows, there may even be a few more church visits...that would be a turn up for the books...Grandad will be proud!

The lazy environmentalist and whitepods

I came across a couple of cool blogs today and was reminded of somethign I read on Ben Sunders blog. I don't remember how I came across Ben's blog but he is a fascinating guy. On his blog I saw a post about a trip that he made to Switzerland to visit the Whitepods. These pods are an eco-village set in the Swiss Alps that provide room and board in what seems like fantastic luxary. All the reports that I have read have been glowing...a trip out there must be on the list!

The reason I was reminded of the whitepods is that I saw a similar reference from a new blog that I stumbled across. The blog in question is the wonderfully named Lazy Environmentalist. The blog is a fantastic read and will certainly become one of my RSS feeds. The blog covers a fairly broad spectrum of environmental issues and recent posts are a good introduction to Carbon footprinting. the author is currently guest editing on the Ecologist blog as well. As one of those strange coincidences, the author seems to have been at the whitepods at the same time as Ben Saunders...very strange...

I downloaded a new report ‘Energy [R]evolution: A Sustainable World Energy Outlook' from the internet that sounds like it is worth a read...food for the trip back home...

Walk in the Quantocks

We had a great day out today in the Quantocks. Sarah and I are both breaking in new walking boots so we decided to head out for a longish walk. Given the beautiful weather we headed down to the Quantocks for the day. Using a little walking guide that we picked up in the Bath Christmas market a couple of years ago we decided to head to the Western end of the hills.

Last year I headed to the Quantocks with Cass for a day mountain biking but we started and finished in the Eastern end. This time we started from a beautiful little village called Bicknoller. We headed up one of the Coombes, traversed the the ridgeline for a few kilometres and then dropped back down Bicknoller Coombe. It was so nice to be out walking again. I love being out on the bike but it is nice to head out for a long walk every now and then. We have resolved to do it more often. Next time the Brecons?

Mather in 29er mode

With significant help from Rob (Thanks Rob!) I finally got around to metamorphosing the Mather tourer into its 29er alter ego. I have been out to Wales on it twice now and I must say it has been an absolute revelation. I had forgotten what it is like to ride a hardtail MTB and had no idea what it was going to be like riding a 29er. I am totally converted...

The combination of being a hardtail, and Rohloff means that there is more grip in the back end ue to the weight of the hub and the lack of bob. That directness of power transfer that you get and smooth gear transitions at low speed have given me a lot more confidence climbing on technical singletrack. The second thing you notice is how the bigger wheels create a shallower angle of attack going into small rocks and roots. It is so nice to just point the bike in the direction you want it and not worry that you are going to get stopped by the front wheel. The upshot of the change is that I was able to clean both of the singletrack climbs at Cwm Carn and the White Trail at Afan.

It is a bit more of a handful on the descents though...no floaty speed descents like the Rocky. Still...I'd settle for that trade any day. I think that the Mather is going to be a great long ride bike as well...looking forward to my first all dayer already.

Broken brake lever...

This weekend was the weekend I finally managed to transition the Mather tourer into its alter ego the 29er...after a much needed helping hand from Rob (thanks Rob) I managed to get the new forks on and the brakes switched. I was gearing up for a test ride when it came to Rob's attention that the front brake lever had sheared off and was only held on by a bolt. I thought that it felt a little strange the last time I rode it...that'll explain a lot.

I will be sending it back to Avid to see if they will replace it.

Now that I am back in the land of the living I'll try and make the updates regular again ...resolutions...resolutions

Faith restored....

After the post about Howies the other day I have been doing some thinking about the big business ethic and how it might change the idealism that gives Howies its charm. I was a little worried about them...but after reading the piece below on their blog my faith has been restored. David definitely has his head screwed on...

for the last 5 years at least, i have had this idea and as yet have not made it happen.

and ideas only work if you make them happen. (and even then, some don't work)

the idea is that everyone at howies has ideas. and the guy packing our parcels downstairs might have an idea for a product that will become the product that will come to define us and what we do.

so as a company, we need to allow those ideas to come to the surface.

we have to make more mistakes. we have to understand failure is going to happen.

we can learn from failure. but 'not doing' will teach us nothing and give us nothing in return.

in the spring, we will turn a room that currently stores boxes and our junk into a creative room.

and then 1 day a month each person will have an ideas day. that person will team up with someone else from the company and think. drink tea. stare out of the window (if we had one) and doodle. go to shops, go to museums, read books, see films. and apply some of what they learn to what we do here at howies. We want to change things. And it is crazy, mad, dumb, odd, wonky thinking that will give us Ideas that will change things.

it is an experiment. it might not work. but that is the thing with ideas, you just gotta try stuff.

there will be people here who will say ' I don't have ideas' and in my experience the best ideas usually come from them.

i have no idea if it will work or how it will work.

but if you jump off the cliff, you just have to make your wings on the way down

Narrowing down the options...

Over the weekend I had some time to do some more research into the Digital SLR question. After much trawling on the internet and multiple visits to camera shops (some more useful than others) I seem to have narrowed down the options to two.

If money was no object I would definitely add a third to the list, the Leica M8 Rangefinder. It is a stunning bit of kit, but extremely expensive. However, when the Canon S70 is up for replacement I will think very hard about the Leica DLux 3. It is an awesome little camera...

So, as usual the debate quickly centred around Canon vs. Nikon. This perennial debate feels a bit like the PC vs. Mac debate...people become very brand loyal and never switch. Given that I will need to replace the lenses that I have with my 35mm SLR to account for the difference in focal length all the options were back on the table. However, the debate rapidly narrowed down. Much of the research on the net pointed towards Nikon as the leader in the battle.

Effectively one can compare the Nikon D80 and the Canon 400D and they are much of a muchness. However, for me the canon felt all wrong in the hand, the ergonomics seem better suited to a small hand and would become irritating to the index finger. And as such, one of the contenders became the D80.

At the next stage up, the comparison is a bit more difficult. In the Nikon range the next step up is the D200. However, if one compares it to the Canon 30D the Nikon wins hands down. One really need to compare it to the 5D. However, although the 5D is a great camera it comes in at almost twice the price (and the Nikon isn't exactly cheap). So, we have the second contender.

So the final pair are the D80 and the D200. There is a fair gulf between the two in style and substance but unfortunately in price as well. The D80 is more user friendly and around two thirds of the price...including a basic lense. However it is made from a poly carbonate body rather than a magnesium body (not so great when travelling) and the holy trinity of manual controls are harder to manage (White Balance, Quality and ISO). I think that the D200 will be the one but need to reflect on the pros and cons a little more before parting with the cash...

And then there is the lense question...

Howies are growing

I was interested to see on the Howies blog that the owners have finally decided to partner with Timberland to help manage the next phase of their growth. The blog entry talks a lot about their selection criteria for a partner and how strong their ethical credentials are.

I guess this was inevitable at some stage, but it does feel a little sad that they are having to team up with a large multinational, given all the things that they have said so publicly about large corporations. I wish them the best of luck going forwar but I suspect that they may get run through the corporate mill. I'll certainly be digging into Timberland in a bit more detail now...

Shame they couldn't have teamed up with Patagonia...I guess they may have been a better fit in the long term.

29er envy...

I am definitely starting to feel bit of 29er envy. Two things have spiked my envy recently. The first and most recent was seeing Cass's On-one Inbred in action. Cass had switched out his new carbon On-one fork and put the Reba back in, however, it was eating up the trail at Cwm Carn.
The second was a post on the Singletrack website that showed a picture of the Jeff Jones titanium 29er. As they say in the article, this bike will polarise opinion (the marmite of the cycling world). If you ask me he is the kind of maverick that framebuilding needs...what I'd do to get a titanium 29er from the crazy man of woods!
Photos courtesy of Singletrack and Cass Gilbert

The Lynskeys are back in business...

I saw a post on the Singletrack website saying that the Lynskey family (the founding family behind Litespeed) are back in action as a frame building unit under their own name. The frames are definitely in the high end of the market (as you'd expect given their heritage) and they are sticking to titanium (although it is suggested that they will be exploring other materials - 953?). Their pricing structure is interesting but what makes them stick out from the rest (other than their incredible pedigree at Litespeed) are the paint jobs. They seem to have some sort of deal with the high end motor cycle spray shops (think Orange County Choppers) and are producing a phenomenal catelogue of designs.

One for the future maybe...I'm sure I can find a little space somewhere...

Camera armor (I know...it's an American product)

Now this may seem a little premature as I don't have a digital SLR, but, I came across what looks like a very cool product for cycle touring, mountain biking or general adventurous travel photography. Bikemagic had a short intro to this product that protects Digital SLRs from general mishaps. Given how much is invested in this type of kit (I now know because I have been thinking about making the investment) it seems like a relatively small investment to help keep your equipment working.

The product currently only covers a couple of Nikon and Canon products but it looks like they are going to expand the range. All I need to do now is make a decision...

Visit to the Little Theatre

Sarah and I were hoping to go and see Casino Royale this afternoon but couldn't get tickets. Nothing else really took our fancy at the Odeon so we decided to look around and remembered that we hadn't been to the Little Theatre for a while. in fact the last movie were saw there was Touching the Void.

As it happened they were showing Little Children with Kate Winslet. Now, on the face of it, that sounds like a very dull kids movie (something like Ann of Green Gables); but it couldn't be more different. The movie isn't the easiest watching (no Casino Royale), you need to engage the brain a bit. But the way the narrative develops is great and I certainly feel better for watching it. The movies message is overwhelmingly positive but , when watching it and afterwards I felt very uneasy. I guess the goal of good art is to make you emote...if that is the case then I guess this must be a good movie.

Casino Royale will have to wait until Friday...

Where haven't I been yet?

I saw this tool on Alastair Humphrey's website...very cool site and very cool tool. It just goes to show how much of the world there is still to see...

Where next?




create your own visited country map

Couteaux Ceccaldi...

I was tidying away some things on the side in the spare room this morning and came across some things that we picked up whilst cycle touring in Corsica in the summer. Every time we go on tour we try and pick up a few things that have been created by local artisans to help remind us of our travels.

Given Corsica's traditions of hunting and epicerie one of the obvious momentos would be a small berger's knife. These knives can be picked up in just about any tourist knick-knack emporium, but those that are available are mass produced in Asia. However, there are a still a few artisan coutelliers that make a living by hand forging and carving these knives.

One of the best is the Ceccaldi clan. The knives they make are true works of art and can run into thousands of euros. The Genoan knifemaking legacy still runs through the lifeblood of the Ceccaldi family and they are keeping the art alive and make beatiful works art.I remember reading once that the art of the samurai swordmakers was in the folding of the steel and carbon in the blade. This folding process results in a patina on the blade that is reminiscent of a violent seascape...this is exactly what I see in the work of the Ceccaldi's. I am sure that this is not the last Ceccaldi I will own...

New winter catalogue from Howies

I saw an email in account this afternoon from Howies announcing their Winter collection...attached to the email was this beautiful picture...thanks Howies!

Are we any different?

Having missed my flight back home this afternoon I ended up having longer than I had imagined to catch up on my reading in the BA lounge. As usual they had copies of the New Statesman at hand. The one article that stood out was an editorial piece by Kira Cochrane. The piece compares comments made by Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilali about rape to attitudes in the UK. A couple of terrible statistics and comments stood out:

Firstly, it stated the comments of the Sheik: "If I came across a rape crime - kidnap and violation of honour - I would discipline the man and order that the women be arrested and jailed for life". He continued with an even more provocative statement that: "If you take uncovered meat and put it on the street...and the cat eats it, is it the fault of the cat of the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem".

The second thing to stick in the mind were the statistics about rape in the UK. It is estimated that there were 50,000 rapes a year in the UK in 2003, against 11,867 reported cases, resulting in just 629 convictions. Worst of all, when these cases were contested, the womans' testimony was only believed 3-4% of the time. Shameful.

Ms. Cochrane finished her article: "The way a culture deals with rape is one of the best possible indications of how highly it treats its women. As long as British attitudes remain so viciously pre-historic, we need to fight them all the way".

Food for thought...

it quoted a set of statistics about rape cases in the UK

Universalists or Specialists?

I was reflecting on a comment made in the discussion on the Poincaré Conjecture in the In Our Time podcast. To paraphrase, the panel member said that Poincaré was the last in a long line of Universalist mathematicians before the trend towards specialisation. Poincaré's problem solving method relied on his having a multi-disciplinary aproach to mathematics as it allowed him to apply seemingly disconnected methods to problems, thereby finding the key to unlock the problem. I believe that the same was true in the application of topological theory to Fermat's Last Theorum.

The trend to specialisation has continued on it's inexorable course ever since, as scientific endeavour demands ever increasing focus. It seems that this sets science on an evolutionary course of incremental improvements when much of the evidence suggests that the great steps forward or 'paradigm shifts' in Kuhnian terms ocur when there is a discontinuity in the evolutionary process caused by some form of externality.

I guess the point of this 'random ride' is: "Should we be actively encouraging a more multi-disciplinary approach to scientific method, by encouraging researchers and graduates to explore other disciplines, thereby harvesting a fresh crop of ideas to be stored in the sub-conscious".

Intellectual cross-training if you will?