A Cyclist’s Life in Tenerife (Canary Islands)

If there’s one thing that causes beginner cyclists anxiety, it’s the overwhelming choice of pedals that are currently available, so I thought I’d write this article about the types of road and MTB pedals and their compatibility in the hopes that someone could learn something from it.

First things first, the good news is that 98% of the pedals you can buy today are interchangeable with standard bicycle cranks. They prety much all use the 9/16″ x 20 tpi (threads per inch). That means you can swap the pedals on everything from a 5 year old childrens bike to a top of the line road racer or downhill bike. (more…)

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Doc Brown ~

I ran across your column in my quest to find out more about bicycle frame materials (aluminum, steel, titanium, carbon fiber) on a molecular level. I am a 7th grade teacher and i am putting together a unit about the Science of Cycling. I want my students to understand why these different materials have the properties they do on a molecular level. Why is titanium so strong? Is it that all of the particles are so clumped together? I dont know if that makes complete sense but i am trying to grasp why these materials have these certain characteristics and if we looked at a particle level, what would it look like?

Can you help me??
Thanks!

Metallic Atomic Structure:
All metals have a crystalline structure made up of “close packed” atoms. The atomic nuclei are in fixed positions while the electrons can migrate. This gives metals their ability to conduct heat and electricity well. The crystal arrangements are better represented by spheres in what’s called a unit cell. There are three main types of packing in the transition metals: Face-Centred Cubic (FCC), Body-Centred Cubic (BCC) and Hexagonal Close Packed (HCP). The packing densities of BCC, FCC and HCP structures are 68, 74 and 74% respectively. The size of the nuclei vary according to the type of element.

Metallic Microstructure:
The atoms in a metallic solid are arranged in close packed crystalline arrangements. However, during solidifaction of a molten metal, different regions are forced to crystallise at the same time. This gives rise to various “grains”. Within each grain, the atoms are arranged regularly; it is the spatial orientation of this ordered array that differs between these grains. The sizes of grains normally vary from microns to inches. Grains can be seen with the naked eye in galvanized metal sheet (zinc plated steel), but they are usually microscopic. Generally speaking, the faster the cooling process, the smaller the grain size. Grains are also highly dependent on the forming processes involved in manufacturing a metal. A smaller grain size increases strength on the premise that it is difficult for dislocations to cross grain boundaries.

Keep in mind that whole grains can also slip past each other - the movement primarily occurs at the grain boundaries. There are a limited number of planes through which atoms can slide over one another in these systems, called “slip planes”. This gives metals the ability to plastically deform. For example, the HCP structure doesn’t have so many slip planes available as FCC and BCC structures, therefore HCP metals (Cadmium, Zinc, Magnesium, Scandium, Titanium, Zirconium, Cobalt, Beryllium) tend to be more brittle than either FCC metals (Iron, Aluminium, Copper, Gold, Silver, Nickel, Lead) or BCC metals (Vanadium, Tungsten Chromium, Molybdenum, Tantalum).

Single crystal metals:
It is possible to create a metallic object made up of what’s called a single crystal. This is merely an object with a very carefully controlled solidification process, resulting in a very large single grain. The prime example are silicon single crystals used in integrated circuit manufacture. As for structural applications, jet turbine blades are also made of single crystal superalloys. At higher temperatures, they don’t stretch as much as poly-crystalline metals. The proper term for that is creep, movement which for the most part occurs at grain boundaries in metals. Although single crystal metals minimise this phenomonen, they aren’t significatly stronger in other respects since they still contain defects.

Defects in Metals:
Although metals can be thought of as polycrystalline, the structure is by no means perfect. For example there are dislocations and point defects where atomic bonding is mis-matched. The density of defects can be on the order of trillions per mm³. Cold working increases the dislocation density. Indeed, there are so many existing defects in metals that an increase in their number actually increases strength at the expense of ductility (dislocations become entangled and are prevented from moving).

Metal alloys are almost always stronger than metallic elements. The reason for this is that the introduction of a ‘foreign’ atom results in significant lattice strain due to its different size, further anchoring dislocations.

Strength of Fibres:
If you take any material and produce a fibres out of it, you will find that the fiber exhibits a much higher strength than the bulk material. There is one simple reason for this: smaller objects have less chance of containing critically-sized defects. A perfect defect-free metal has a theoretical strength several orders of magnitude greater than ordinary metals. Apart from the elimination of defects, the reason for the high-strength of carbon fibres is that they contain directional covalent bonds, meaning that the Carbon-Carbon bonds are aligned with the application of external forces. This will surely be covered in another article…

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Western society totally idolises an athletic body shape but resents the physical exertion required to attain it. We try to minimise human physical work by any means possible. As far as I’m concerned, every time you switch on any form of electrical equipment, you’re basically signing an invisible contract that reads:

“I accept that as a consequence of using this device, I risk becoming physically and/or mentally unhealthy”

We choose to avoid using our muscles at each and every oportunity and then suddenly wonder why we’re obese. We drive to work, drive home and then drive to the gymnasium (if at all). Most of us have even become too lazy to cook or make anything for ourselves - we invent power tools & kitchen utensils to do it all for us. Take this scenario for instance:

Rather than whip a cake using a wooden spoon the old-fashioned way, we’d now sooner collectively sit in front of a computers all day long, earn enough money for a mechanical cake mixer which can do it for us (basically employing a whole host of product design engineers, entrepreneurs, the sales & marketing department, and everyone else who works in the wholesale and retail chain). (more…)

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Alberto Contador, winner of this season’s Giro de Italia and Vuelta a España confirmed his continuation with team Astana next season alongside his American team mate Lance Armstrong. Contador assured that the Astana team will prepare in Tenerife at the end of November 2008.

“I’ve been analysing the diferent situations and thinking about alternatives since half way through the Vuelta and after meeting with my director, Johan Bruyneel, and having spoken of the last few months, we have resolved whatever type of tension between us”, said Contador.

“We have already spoken about what my schedule will be in the next season and consequently, I can affirm that I will be in team Astana next year”, added the spanish rider. “I have taken the decision to keep going because I think that it’s more certain, since I can count on a great group of trusting men around me who have done their best with me in each race and that should permit me to keep fighting for victory with the best guarantee”, explained Contador.

The arrival of Armstrong has been the main cause of friction. “I think that everything is going to perform much better than what it appeared to in the beginning. If each one of have our own agenda there won’t be any type of problem or inconvenience. For me it’s a pleasure to coincide within the same team as a great racer who I’ve always admired”, he said. “It’s also true that I am ambitious and when he established that he wanted to win his 8th tour, I thought that co-existence would be complicated, but I think that with a good team management there won’t be problems in France. For the rest of the year, it doesn’t inconvenience me”, he continued.

Alberto Contador is still finalysing his race calendar for the next season. What seems decided is that he will race the Tour in the biggest three weejs. “My idea is to race only in the Tour at 100%, because this year it’s hard for me to recover from the strength of the Giro and the Vuelta”, he assured. Contador still hasn’t spoken directly with Armstrong. “We have a training camp in Tenerife at the end of November and there we will speak with our directors to avoid any type of arguments, because perhaps there has been an excessive expectation with all this, even though it is understandable”, he said. (more…)

Tags: Island Life, Ride the Volcano! // Add Comment »

I admit that only a few months ago I did not have the physical energy required for cycling long distances. Just getting out on my bike required a huge mental effort. Every time I went out and came back, I never seemed to improve and there were very few rewards. Normally, after a little break of a few months, it’d take me three, four or at most five rides before my fitness level returned to ‘normal’. That was when I was in my twenties. But last summer I turned 31. I’d gone out regularly more than a dozen times and I was still finding it rather difficult. I guess that’s what it means to be in your thirties!

I no longer had that lively spring in my pedalling stroke. You know the feeling when the road in front of you starts to ramp up, and you jump off the saddle and dance on those pedals a bit like Marco Pantani climbing in the French Alps? Well that feeling had completely vanished. Hell, even my own sweat reaked of somebody else. Realising this only made me more determined - I wasn’t going to permit myself turn into yet another fat bastard quite so easily! (more…)

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Hello fellow cyclists,

For a long time I’ve been meaning to start my own column dedicated to answering questions about the multitude of materials used in bicycle frame and components. I’ve decided to write this article after reading several questions directly related to materials posted on online bike forums.

Materials and bikes go hand in hand so it’s great to see many riders already have a basic understanding of the general properties of materials. The thing is, most people are simply not qualified to answer detailed questions about the nature of materials. And it seems that some people would rather promptly give an answer -any answer- sooner than get the real facts. They give the wrong information. Mis-information.

You see the same old stuff which has been regurgitated by bicycle magazines and cyclists for the last decade. Eventually the bicycle industry catches onto something new and a buzz word is formed. There are equally as many myths floating about. I suspect that the majority of bicycle companies and component manufacturers only talk about materials to increase their sales. Yes I believe a lot of it is marketing hype. Some of it is not. I’m here to introduce you to some important but little-known concepts about Materials.

What so great about Materials Science?
It’s basically study of the physical & mechanical properties of all Materials including metals, ceramics, polymers, composites, semiconductors and superconductors. We research and test materials’ strength, stiffness, density, corrosion and a whole host of other important properties. More than any other field, Materials Science tries to seek out what is actually happening at the atomic, molecular and microstructural level.

Chemists tend to stick to atoms and molecules. Physicists tend to look more at the subatomic. Engineers lean towards the macroscopic. This leaves Materials Science to fill a truly gaping void. It is an underappreciated scale - one which you can’t see but gives rise to almost all physical properties of materials. (more…)

Tags: Learning Curve // 1 Comment »

The worlds’ gone stark-raving mad. You hear responses like this to absurd news stories spoken every single day. What exactly am I referring to? I’m referring to insane cases of “personal rights, freedoms and civil liberties” in the simultaneous “age of political correctness”. These two forces do not belong in the same time zone and space. It’s like matter and anti-matter, except that as soon as they come into contact, good old common sense implodes along with them.

Young people these days that claim they have the right to steal, vandalise, assault, rape, abuse, and generally do whatever the bloody hell they feel like. Okay, but then to compensate for their illegal behaviour you expect some sort of justice. You expect that when they get caught, they’ll be reprimanded by the full extent of the law. Not so. Instead, they go and slip on some marbles while robbing the plasma telly inside an innocent person’s home and sue the owner for negligence. (more…)

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About 5 years ago I used to train with a campagnolo ergobrain cycling computer as well as a S-710 polar HRM (with the additional power unit). That gave me every imaginable readout including: speed, distance, heart rate, estimated calories burned, power output, cadence (pedalling rate), pedalling index (or efficiency), digital gear indicator, current temperature & altitude …

This setup was great for long and boring rides but before long, I found myself looking at both LCD displays more and more and more. Eventually I felt that it was just information overload. I constantly aimed to beat my own times, lower my resting heart rate and burn the most calories possible. While I thought of this as part of training, I had unknowingly become a slave to the bicycle computer (or in this case computers).

After a while, I met a guy in the South of Sydney (Como bridge to be exact) who caught up to me from behind. He was obviously significantly faster than I was. I was suprised to see that there were no electronics at all on his bike at all. When I asked the inevitable “why” question, he said to me that he’d just be worrying about the readouts too much and not concentrating on riding the actual bike. Now being a techno-geek back then, I just couldn’t understand that mentality at the time. I used to think like this: “if a new technology is available, you have to have it”. Plain and simple. He didn’t change me on the spot, but his philosophy nevertheless made me think twice about what I was doing. Was I nothing more than a consumer victim? He certainly opened my mind to the idea of cycling without any electronics equipment. (more…)

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Leontien Zijlaard van Moorsel is one of the most successful and versatile female cyclists of modern times, competing in both track and road racing events. She was born in Boekel, the Netherlands in 1970. One of the best looking female riders both on the velodrome and in the peloton, she is well known for her make-up, lipstick and painted nails.

Between 1990 and 1993, she won 4 world championships. During that time she also won the French Tour de l’Aude Cycliste Féminin” twice before suffering from depression and anorexia nervosa in 2004. She then made a comeback in the late 90’s overcoming her mental ill-health to win a further 5 world championship races between 1998 and 2003. At the Sydney 2000 Olympics she was one of the most victorious athletes, winning three gold medals and one silver in various cycling disciplines. (more…)

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First a brief word about 650c wheels - it’s no secret that I’m a big fan of 650c wheels. They fit smaller riders better. There is no toe overlap. And of course they can be built lighter and stronger than 700c wheels (or else with fewer spokes). So it’s disappointing to see Mavic, Shimano, Campagnolo, Easton, Reynolds, LEW racing, X-Treme, among others, all abandon the idea of 650c. Even zipp has all but halted their 650c rim production (only applying their latest technologies to their 700c lineup). So if you’re looking to buy a factory-built 650c wheelset, that basically leaves Spinergy, HED, Nimble and Corima (full carbon rims only). Zipp make two models, while American Classic and Rolf each make just one model of 650c wheel. Otherwise you will need to go the handbuilt route - or else there’s ebay. It seems the worst thing going for 650c wheels at the moment is lack of choice… Kudos to Spinergy for continuing to manufacture 650c rims and complete wheels.

Spinergy also supply their factory-built wheelsets in both 700 and 650c and with either shimano or campagnolo compatible freehub bodies. I doubt that the latter combination exceeds 0.1% of the market. Even so, they cater for it. (more…)

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I’ve been umming and ahhing over the past five or six months about whether I should bisect this blog or not. As the number of categories has recently grown, the articles have since shifted away from the original cycling theme (in line with the main page) to more profound & controversial articles. (more…)

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In the section labelled “Vida Enigmatica”, I talk about all aspects of life in general. I attempt to tackle all of the tough questions about societies and civilisation. But it’s recently occured to me that I haven’t discussed life itself. One of the most difficult questions to answer are “what is life?” and “what is the purpose of life?”.

I suppose that before we can effectively answer why is life here and what is it’s purpose, we’d better be sure about what life actually is. How can we possibly answer what the purpose of life is if we don’t even know what separates us from the non-living? The trouble is that whenever we attempt to answer what consitutes life, we arrive at all sorts of vague definitions of what life is, for example:

“the quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body”
“a principle or force that is considered to underlie the distinctive quality of animate beings”
“an organismic state characterized by capacity for metabolism, growth, reaction to stimuli, and reproduction”
“the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, reproduction, and the power of adaptation to environment through changes originating internally.”
“the sum of the distinguishing phenomena of organisms, esp. metabolism, growth, reproduction, and adaptation to environment.”

There are many definitions of what consitutes “life”, but for every one of these sub-classifications, there are exceptions:

Adaptation to the environment. At what rate must life adapt for it to be considered alive? If we rapidly create an artificially toxic environment, no life form will be able to adapt in time and hence it will die. The same can be said for the “reaction to stimuli” argument. The entire Plant Kingdom is at a great disadvantage here - although they can adapt relatively quickly to their environment, plants can only react to stimuli very slowly. Viruses do not appear to react to anything. In fact, I suspect that “adaptation to the environment” and “reaction to external stimuli” are really disguised as the same thing, albeit at different rates of application. (more…)

Tags: Science Simplified, Vida Enigmática // 1 Comment »

Some people claim that technology improves our lives by improving our standard of living. I certainly don’t deny that since we have less physical work to do, we now have more leisure time than ever before. Before I get any further, I should say that it is up to each of us to decide what we do in our leisure time and I have no business in commenting about that. What I would like to discuss here instead are the many side-effects of some recent advanced technologies…

As technology relentlessly progresses, the most obvious question that comes to mind: what happens to our long-standing face-to-face human interactions? I’m not merely refering to writing electronic e-mails to your friends or speaking with a relative over the telephone. There are many other human tasks besides communication which now take place with the ‘aid’ of technology. We join online social communities and make virtual friendships. We utilise virtual banking and online bill payments. We attempt to find real mates using virtual dating databases. We take part in virtual gaming entertainment and even participate in virtual sex.

Sometimes it seems as if our entire lives are mediated through technology. It appears to me that one of technologies’ secret aims is to over-ride all direct human-human interactions. Yes I realise that due to the internet we are in a sense ‘connected’ to more people than ever before. Yet we can’t talk to them all, so we have to narrow down our options. But is this a good or a bad thing? Lately, it seems we don’t have time to really talk to anybody. Have we already gone too far? Have we become victims of our own high-technology? I believe that far from connecting us, technology is making us more and more anti-social.

Below, I’ve commented on some of the most recent technologies and their possible negative consequences… (more…)

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One of my goals when I was a teenager was that I never wanted to wear a suit and tie. I resented the very idea. It was too conformist. Too conventional. Illogical & impractical I also used to think. In that sense, I’m living my dream by never having worn one, although financially speaking, this was definitely not the wisest career move. As far as finances go, I’ve since realised it’s much easier said than done to make your own money.

It goes without saying that I like to make my own choices. I choose what my priorities are, when and how I perform tasks. I am my own boss. What I do not like in the feeling of insecurity. I’m living alright, but the dream has not come easily. In fact, I’m not 100% convinced that it’s even arrived!

When I was younger I got suckered into starting a Ph.D. Worse still, I was persuaded to continue until the end. It took 5 rather miserable years to finish. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed my undergraduate Materials Science degree immensely, but I liken the Doctorate to being tortured in prison. I needed a change.

“Have you ever attempted to be yourself
when everybody wants you to be someone else?” - Powderfinger

(more…)

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I think I have an idea of what road riders seek.

What they are looking for more than anything is to be as far away from civilisation as possible (just like mountainbikers), but with the knowledge that if they need anything, they can have access to it. That might mean that extra water, mechanical backup, etc is only a phone call away. It’s kind of impossible, but there you have it. (more…)

Tags: Ride the Volcano!, Learning Curve // 3 Comments »

How to lose fitness:
I don’t know what happened to me in the last year. I seemed to lose all motivation for riding my road bike. It’s the same old story: you turn 30 and your belly starts to accrete fat molecules like an asteroid belt orbiting a big planet. So here’s a little spur-of-the-moment article I’ve put together that can possibly help loads of people.

I was so busy with www.Tenerife-Training.net & www.BikeNode.com, I didn’t get out as much & gained at least 5kg body mass in the last year (and none of it was muscle). Probably it was more like 7-10 kg, but I conveniently forgot what my starting weight was (~67kg?). All I know is that, suddenly one day I hopped on the scales and the little dial moved in a manner in which I’d never previously witnessed: it lurched forward and then backward and then forward again, swinging like the pendulum of a miniature grandfather clock, giving me enough time to realise that I’d definitely gained too much weight. By the time it settled I wasn’t happy about the decision to weigh myself. At this point, I could only imagine the level of guilt truly obese people feel. (more…)

Tags: Mental Anguish, Inspiration., Learning Curve // 1 Comment »

The rate of construction taking place in Tenerife is mind-boggling. Just 50 years ago, before mass-tourism, the whole La Orotava valley was cultivated land. Today, pretty much every space below about 500m altitude has already been urbanised to some extent. It has one of the highest population densities of anywhere; the average figure is now 400-500 people / km², depending on how many tourists are present. In fact, if this island were a country, it’d be the 24th most populated country on the list… needless to say, I often feel a strange sense of agoraphobia. It’s not like a city, from which you can always escape. (more…)

Tags: Island Life, Mental Anguish // 1 Comment »

Just when life seems too oppressing to continue, along comes this nifty little invention. In 15 years of perusing bike products, this is the first bike rack I’ve ever seen that made me want to voluntarily attach it to my own personal bike; most of them all look like identical taiwanese copies with equal ‘functions’ (normally you’d have to pay me to mount one). One look at the Pletscher ORION however makes me want to mount a set of slicks, slap on a rigid fork & embrace the life of a commuter! (more…)

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Hello blog readers,

You might have noticed that I haven’t written many new articles in the past fortnight. That’s because I’ve been working behind the scenes on a few new simultaneous projects. One of them is called “www.bikenode.com“, a new global cycling links directory. It took almost a full day to crete the Bike Node logo… hehehe. Anyway-

The aim is to make it “the fastest growing cycling link directory for the global cycling community”. The idea is to help generate exposure for us little guys. Whatever. But the good news is that I am now taking link submissions. So please feel free to add any appropriate cycling-related links to “http://www.bikenode.com”. It’s easy & it’s free!

There are still a few features I’d like to add, such as an email confirmation of link submissions, an info page, and an easy way for you to add reciprocal links with & without the Bike Node logo (to encourage activity within the directory, reciprocal links are not mandatory but are HIGHLY appreciated).

If you want a bit of extra exposure, a featured listing (highlighted & placed at the top of each category) costs a one-time fee of only 5$ and will result in more traffic to your site. I’ll also ensure that links are added to the directory in a timely manner if you choose a paid link.

If you feel that an appropriate category isn’t listed in the directory yet, you can also suggest new categories for the directory by commenting below.

Thanks,
Les

Tags: Spoke Bed, News Reel, That's Business, Sales Pitch, Ride the Volcano!, Learning Curve // 1 Comment »

I must admit that before I moved to Tenerife, I really didn’t fully understand this whole mountainbiking phenomenon. I mean, why would anyone intentionally choose to ride a bike on dirty, bumpy surfaces, in the middle of nowhere? They’re heavier than road bikes for a start. MTB drivetrains wear out quicker. Complex suspension components demand more maintenance. And obviously, they’re much slower than road racing bikes.

The primary reason, I believe, is to escape from traffic, other people and civilisation itself. It’s the single best form of transport to get you out in the wilderness and away from society. (more…)

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A while back I sent out a Newsletter, which you can read here in case you missed it. One of the sections went as follows:

Send your photos & win!
If you’d like to appear on the Guestbook Page, please send me any photos you may have taken while cycling in Tenerife. High-resolution photos are preferred, in any format. I’d also love to hear any comments to include as testimonials… The best photo sent in wins a free T-Shirt!

Anyway, that was last month. This month, the best photo has been chosen & hence the winner decided. Judging the competition was a piece of cake, since only one person bothered to officially enter! (somewhat like another promotional flop of mine… I guess that’s what happens when a Scientist organises these sorts of things…) Sure I had other photographs on file from existing clients, but like they say: “you’ve got to be in it to win it”. Nevertheless, I think you’ll all agree that the photo on the left is worthy of the title. I particularly like the perspective and composition of this photo, and also the fact that it isn’t taken from a normal location.

CONGRATULATIONS CLAUDIUS FUCHS OF HAMBURG, GERMANY!! You sent in so many excellent photos, it wasn’t easy to choose between the best ones. You definitely deserve a free T-shirt!

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I’ve tried and tested many seatposts over the years in all price ranges. The only purpose of a seatpost is provide support for the saddle & to offer simple adjustments of the saddle (vertical & horizontal seat position plus saddle angle). Some seatposts costing hundreds of dollars do not even meet these simple requirements! (more…)

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Is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) simply an extreme degree of hyperactivity, brought about by many complex contributing factors? We’re stimulated (visually) by television and seemingly limitless internet possibilities. Outwardly, we appear to have adapted in various ways to this fast pace of life. But what happens to our brain when we stop all this fast-paced internet work and shutdown our computers and gaming consoles? Our brain continues to run wild at this high pace. Our minds continue to race overtime; not accustomed to stagnating, we dwell & obsess over the tiniest of problems merely for “something to do”. Is this something we have control over?

Could a lack of excerise combined with overchoice & overstimulation actually compound certain mental disorders in the early phase of development? In an ever-increasingly stressful world, we’ve simultaneously reduced the amount of excercise we receive! We drive everywhere, use mobile devices, remote controls, pre-packaged “lazy foods”, etc. Although most of us still continue to defer exercise. This is a recipe for disaster. Could this be a simple link to many of today’s current mental disorders? (more…)

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With the petrol prices rising, the energy crisis looming, and the state of the environment deteriorating, I thought it was time to compile a list of zero emission vehicles (ZEVs). First I’d like to say that I’m pretty pissed of that the internal combustion engine is still with us today. I remember when the Australian government told us about 15 years ago that they’d be “phasing petrol cars out”. Phasing them out my arse…!! Anyway, it is my hope that one day, the combustion engine will become just as unpopular as analogue electronic equipment now has, and that zero emmissions vehicles will be treated like the new wave of “digital” equipment. I hope that people will laugh at things like exhaust pipes in future. Fuck hybrid vehicles altogether I say… they’re like dual VCR/DVD drives.

Note that I haven’t included hybrids or alternative fuels in this list, as all of them still emit greenhouse gases. I also haven’t included any prototypes, impractical or uneconomical cars. The majority of these production cars you can buy TODAY, the remaining few that aren’t are slated for production within about a year, so you can at least reserve with a deposit. I encourage you to leave a comment if I’ve ommitted any ZEVs from the list: (more…)

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Our current civilisation is growing at an exponential rate. But anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that exponential growth in a finite space is a physical impossibility. So I sometimes wonder how many people this planet can support. (more…)

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If there’s one thing that has plagued or doomed all human civilisations, it their blatant ignorance during the time in which they prosper. But if you look back on some former civilisations, history reveals they only made relatively minor mistakes (as far as their long-term survival was concerned).

It’s no secret that most people in today’s advanced societies live greedy, unsustainble lives. We directly contribute to the destruction of the planet, and we’re under the false impression that things will never change. When something as simple and uncontrolable as the weather bites back, we’re stunned. Speechless, until the moment we are able to forget and resume our old ways…

The trouble with our society is this: we are well aware that we change the environment on a “small scale”. For example, we build roads & cities. We cause local deforrestation. We pollute rivers. So we can see clearly enough that what we are doing also affects the surrounding ecosystem negatively. But then when we move up to thinking about the global scale, our thought patterns are no longer logical. But many of us simply do not accept that our home, the entire planet Earth, is in jeopardy. We either quickly change the subject, ignore it altogether, or go into a major case of denial. It’s a problem of scale, which our puny minds cannot yet comprehend.

So I put this to my readers: if we can accept that we as a society are changing things on a local scale, and we can also grasp the fact that humans now populate every single country (albeit some regions denser than others), why can’t we accept the inevitable conclusion that we are also collectively changing the entire face of the Earth, on the global scale? (more…)

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The main road TF21 to Las Cañadas is currently receiving an upgrade around the Aguamansa region, for a distance of approximately 300 metres. That brief section is currently not sealed. I feel obliged to point out that beyond the cafe’s in Aguamansa, the road to Mt Teide resumes as normal (just in case cyclists think that the horrible road surface continues the whole way up). It is possible to bypass around the workzone, but it is not marked as an official detour. (more…)

Tags: News Reel, Ride the Volcano! // 1 Comment »

This budget model fork can be had for as little as €120, so it is not intended for downhill or competition use. The model we tested boasted 120mm of travel, although at the softest setting, only about half of that was effectively utilised (even after a substantial break-in period). (more…)

Tags: Spoke Bed // 3 Comments »

Many famous names in professional cycling come to Tenerife, including Lance Armstrong, Marco Pantani and Miguel Indurain. A longer list of professional cyclists that have trained in Tenerife can be seen here.

Tenerife is one of the seven Canary Islands, a volcanic island chain belonging to Spain. Tenerife is located in the Atlantic ocean, about 250km off the African coastline (Western Sahara).

Tenerife, the world’s third largest island volcano, is an ideal training destination for serious cyclists as there are several continuous 2300 metre (7000 ft) ascents which commence from sea level. Mt Teide, rising to 3718m can often be seen rising above the surrounding terrain.

Many professional cyclists choose to train in Tenerife during the winter season when the rest of Europe experiences much cold temperatures. The Canary Islands are generally regarded as the Sothern-most part of Europe; Tenerife’s local climate is obviously a lot milder than what the European mainland experiences, even despite the mountains. So much so, cycling in Tenerife is possible all year round.

Professional cycle training camps are often based at Las Cañadas in the centre of Tenerife. El Parador, the only hotel allowed within the entire El Teide National Park, is located at an altitude of 2100m. From here, cyclists are able to become accustomed to high-altitude training within the surrounding volcanic crater; the elevation in this region always exceeds 2000 m.

Tags: Island Life, Ride the Volcano! // Add Comment »

To date, there have been 185 “special edition” Google logos, which can be seen here. I, like many people, use Google to perform internet searches almost daily. I missed a lot of other trivial logos shown previously. So here’s my chance to comment on this one before it’s too late! (more…)

Tags: Mental Anguish // Add Comment »

I recently watched this video of an elephant drawing a ’self portrait’. I was amazed. I was also amazed at some of the responses this video provoked on youtube. It really opened up a can of worms. People on one side were saying how cool it was, others were protesting everything from to “stop animal cruelty!” and “it’s a robot hoax” to “he’s following the outlines”. I’m sure this has already been said, but is this any different from the way that some humans paint by numbers? (more…)

Tags: Inspiration., Vida Enigmática // 3 Comments »

- A typical Spanish breaksfast consists of an expresso coffee … and that’s often all there is to it.

- The main meal is usually served between 1:00 and 2:00pm in the afternoon. This is sometimes accompanied by a first course consisting of soup. Three course lunches are the norm for the all-important weekend family get-together.

- Parsely is the mother of all herbs in Spanish cooking. I’m willing to bet that more parsely is consumed in Spain than all other [cooking] herbs combined.

- Spanish rarely eat outside their homes (or at least here in the Canary Islands). The proper place to eat is in the kitchen, while the dining room is sometimes just left for show.

- For some unknown reason, if you’re sharing a plate of food, especially tapas, the fork is left resting perpendicularly on the edge of the plate, with the pointy side curving down. Don’t ask me to explain this strange custom. (more…)

Tags: Island Life // 1 Comment »

Whenever I see this following video clip, I’m simply amazed at the intricacy of each animation scene. This is one of those things I look at and place into the “I couldn’t do this any better not even in my wildest dreams” category. I haven’t had the opportunity to see the movie yet though. Apparantly they’re remaking Akira into a live action film in 2009. I don’t see how they can do better that this though. I would have been blown away had I seen this at the time it was released when I was 11.

Akira is a 1988 Japanese animated film set in a neon-lit futuristic post-apocalyptic Tokyo in 2019. Akira is regarded by critics as one of the greatest animated films ever made. One of the reasons for the movie’s success was the highly advanced quality of its animation. At the time, most anime was notorious for cutting production corners with limited motion, such as having only the characters’ mouths move while their faces remained static. Akira broke from this trend with meticulously detailed scenes, exactingly lip-synched dialogue — a first for an anime production (voices were recorded before the animation was completed, rather than the opposite) — and super-fluid motion as realized in the film’s more than 160,000 animation cels.

Tags: Mental Anguish, Inspiration. // 2 Comments »

Supermodelo 2008 got off to a quiet start as Operación Triunfo gathers even more momentum here in Spain. The popular Supermodel contest usually rebounds once the Operación Triunfo wake surges (or at least it did last year). But honestly, I don’t know what to make of Supermodelo 2008 this year; half the instructors are in fact French! Readers will be left wondering if there is anything at all to Spanish fashion. Leave that to me. I’ve recently gathered together many un-hitherto unrelated thoughts during my stay here in Spain, and compiled this list describing just what is popular in the world of Spanish fashion:

• Any English words printed on T-shirts. It doesn’t matter what words are printed, they’re just cool. Partly because to be in a position to buy a foreign T-shirt, you have to have travelled somewhere.
• Car tattoos have become fashionable. That’s right. Car tattoos. The average spanish car enthusiast can’t afford to upgrade what’s under the bonnet. Hence, Spanish hoons restrict their engine modifications & instead focus on the outsides of their vehicles. So you’ll see all sorts of customised designs stuck onto cars. It’s just a small part of what’s called “tuning”, but here pronounced more like: “toonin”.
• The mullet haircut. I’m trying to work out whether mullet haircuts have made a comeback in Spain, or whether in reality they never went out of fashion! Whatever the case, rest assured that at least here in Spain, mullets are alive and well. They just don’t have a name yet.
• I once heard my friend comment that yellow houses were “vasto” or “cutre” (in my time, the appropriate translation is “corny”). Most houses in Spain are either white or yellow and I’ve always wanted to know why.
• Womens shirts with sleeves should have enormous neck holes to compensate for the increased skin coverage factor. If the sleeves aren’t falling off the shoulders, it isn’t fashionable enough. Think of it more more like a tube top encompassing the arms as well. (you can thank wikipedia for educating this simpleton about the many definitions of what shirt’s are and aren’t)
• In Spain, shoes are everything. Spanish men are lucky enough to have a special subset of shoes which are admitedly very difficult to describe. I suppose they land somewhere between the simplicity of those older canvis tennis shoes and the sleekness of modern sneakers. I had to trawl through dozens of pages to come across this picture representing this particular slice of Spanish fashion.

Tags: Island Life // 2 Comments »

Most motor vehicle accidents involving cyclists happen at dawn and dusk. The reason for this is that there are more commuters out there on the road at these times. At the same time, the road visibility is far less than during the day, so the chances of being hit are relatively high. I’ve taken the opportunity to gather together some very interesting products aimed at increasing your safety while riding at night.

(more…)

Tags: Spoke Bed // Add Comment »

So, you’ve decided to Self Publish? For many months, I’ve considered turning parts of this blog (Vida Enigmática) into a book but I’ve often wondered how to do this. I recently discovered the website Wordclay, a DIY online self-publishing wizard which provides you with a step-by-step guide until your manuscript is a complete, self-published book. The steps to self-publishing through Wordclay couldn’t be easier. So if you’re interested in publishing your own book, that’s a great place to start the ball rolling. (more…)

Tags: That's Business // Add Comment »

As a former postgraduate research scientist, science is one subject I’m qualified to reflect upon. I completed my Doctorate in 2005. The way I look at it, current research science is a system of reliable information harnessing, data processing, followed by speculative interpretation based on well-founded principles & intense scrutiny by fellow peers. It is a method of education for an entire community of very eager-to-learn people. (more…)

Tags: Science Simplified, Vida Enigmática // 1 Comment »

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is a mental disorder of which the primary symptom is the inability to concentrate. While the symptoms are widely accepted, the causes are disputed. Conventional studies of this disease have focused on brain’s ability to produce dopamine, food additives such as colourants, genetic research and environmental factors (including alcohol, in utero tobacco smoke and lead exposure). Meanwhile, the actual treatments are even more controversial, ranging from medication (including stimulants and anti-depressants), to counseling and behavioural therapy.

But recent studies describe a new form of ADHD treatment; how strenous exercise can reduce the symptoms of ADHD, without the need for medication: (more…)

Tags: Mental Anguish, Inspiration. // 1 Comment »

If you’re reading this, the chances are that you want to manage your own website with a dedicated url address. Even though your internet service provider (ISP) may provide a free hosting service, a dedicated url domain name and web hosting package is the way to go. Before you can do anything else, one of the first steps you’ll need to take is to choose a web hosting company, register (purchase) a domain name from them and also select a web hosting plan (they store your files on one or more of their web-servers). Note that the web hosting company is usually different from your ISP. (more…)

Tags: That's Business // Add Comment »

All cyclists know that cycling can be an expensive hobby, but it doesn’t have to be. Bicycles are the most efficient form of human transport that we know of. But if you’ve started to spend ridiculous amounts of money in this sport, you might want to re-analyse the situation; if you’re flaking out loads of cash on all the latest training gizmos and whatnot, is it such an environmentally friendly sport after all? Where does your money actually end up? What do those recipients do with it? Consumers don’t tend to weigh these things up enough before purchasing something. I think I became a semi-retro-grouch when I turned 30 last year. So without further delay, here are a bunch of easy ways to help you save your hard-earned money: (more…)

Tags: Learning Curve // 1 Comment »

This is a special guest article written by Jonathan Donnelly of Northern Ireland. Late last year, he hired a road bike with us for 6 days here in Tenerife, successfully scaled the 2300m climb to the base of Mt Teide and was then keen to try out a mountainbike for the first time in his life! This is an amazing story because in April of the same year, Jon was a self-confessed computer gaming addict tipping the scales at 103kg. Thanks for the inspirational article Jon!

-Dr. Leslie Brown

Inspiration Part 1.

In my area of the world the authorities that be are mad keen to get you active! A while back there was this campaign called Go walking, it’s the thing to do… to get fit, lose weight, de-stress.

With facts and figures about how much you can lower your risk of heart disease etc. it all looked very boring and did not appeal to a Gladiator like me killing mad mosters that drop purple gear with my super powers in my virtual world (google ‘world of warcraft’).

Go walking, it even had a theme tune, and a spin off called “highway to health”. The problem with walking is unless you change your scenery often it gets rather boring I know I did loads of it ’til i was SICK of it.

It seems to me like a form of exercise that i term, “just for the sake of it”. Or “I have no sport I’m good at so I’m gonna walk for exercise” and “I’m too fat to jog”. (more…)

Tags: Inspiration., Learning Curve // Add Comment »

The most important thing to remember if you haven’t ever cycled in mountainous terrain is APPROPRIATE GEARING. I can’t stress that enough. The best gearing for climbing are the following options:

1) 53/39/30 chainring with 12-25 cassette

2) 50/34 chainring with 12-28 cassette

3) 53/39 with 12-32 cassette

All of these choices provide what I call “the magic 1.2 low gear ratio” which will be perfect for climbs ranging from 5 - 10 or even up to (more…)

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