Sayonara Adrian

It's official, Adrian is off to Dubai this weekend. We had a lovely get together with him last night in Damansara Perdana - Shilpa was shocked when we pulled up outside a restaurant as she was looking for Adrian's mother-in-Laws house - it was at "Mum's Place" after all - easy mistake to make but we had a good chuckle nonetheless.

Coach Pey was there and bought Adrian some stretch chords as a leaving present - I'm not sure Adrian needs stretching anymore though! Also Tey was there to officially capture the evening on "film". Tey is soon off to do the Sundowner in Singapore - a double marathon - yikes, 84k in the heat of Singapore!!!

Hopefully Adrian will be keeping up with his rantings on klingklanman and there was talk about him doing the 2009 Ironman in Langkawi (possibly the last IM Langkawi). I've promised to buy him dinner and beers if he turns up for it.

So long Adrian and we'll see you soon.

WORLD'S EASIEST QUIZ

(Courtesy of Ian Hay)

(Passing requires 4 correct answers)

1) How long did the Hundred Years' War last?
2) Which country makes Panama hats?
3) From which animal do we get cat gut?
4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?
5) What is a camel's hair brush made of?
6) The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal?
7) What was King George VI's first name?
8) What colour is a purple finch?
9) Where are Chinese gooseberries from?
10) What is the colour of the black box in a commercial airplane?



Remember you need 4 correct to pass

See below










ANSWERS TO THE QUIZ

1) How long did the Hundred Years War last? 116 years
2) Which country makes Panama hats? Ecuador
3) From which animal do we get cat gut? Sheep and Horses
4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution? November
5) What is a camel's hair brush made of? Squirrel fur
6) The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal? Dogs
7) What was King George VI's first name? Albert
8) What colour is a purple finch? Crimson
9) Where are Chinese gooseberries from? New Zealand
10) What is the colour of the black box in a commercial airplane? Orange (of course)


What do you mean, you failed? Me, too (And if you try to tell me you passed, you lie!)

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

(Courtesy of June)

The attached pic was taken by a man and put on Ebay to sell a table. Can you tell it was taken by a bloke..?? If you can, how?? (If you need help then consider the title of the post).

Happy Birthday Lucas - 2 Today

Hey Lucas, Happy Birthday. Great football strip (Leeds for the uninitiated).

Ride & Run Alert - Sat & Sun 31st & 1st May/June

Sam says: -

Hi folks

The plan is to ride the Putrajaya-KLIA-Salak loop on Saturday using the new Putrajaya Highway on the way out. Itʼs about 120k if Iʼm not mistaken.

Meet at Mega Mall at 0630 or at an agreed point along the route.

Please let me know if you plan to come along. Cheers.

Sam

Simon Says: -

I'll be there and will ride to Megamall from home. As for Sunday the usual 21k to Sri Hartamas leaving at 6:15 for anyone who is interested.

PD Half Marathon - Sunday 25th May 2008

(Photos courtesy of Ivie)

I wasn't feeling well before the PD Half Marathon but had decided to go down anyway and maybe run or take some photos at least of everyone else. Shilpa was also entered but wasn't really sure whether she would go at all - all very confusing and disorganized but many options to choose from.

As it happens, she and I both went and we took the boys too. We got there with plenty of time for the 7:15 start but were told that the start was going to be 7:30 or later.










Shilpa and I debated who would run and I decided that I'd take the sensible option and be the official photographer and look after the boys while she ran. She went off to get changed and then went to the start at 7:20. Much to our alarm it seems that the race had already started and they were just about to flag off the 11k runners.

Shilpa valiantly took off down the road, a very lonely figure hoping to at least catch up with some tailenders.










In the meantime I teamed up with Ivie and we decided to go in the car and see if we could find the others. We decided to work backwards and soon saw the front runners for the 11k run, then shock, horror, there was Shilpa amongst the 11k competitors. It turned out that by the time she got to the next set of marshalls they said the Half Marathon course was now closed and she would have to do the 11k.

Oh well eh! We kept leap-frogging her down the road and got lots of pictures and the boys got plenty of chances to cheer Mummy on. With about 3k to go she said very firmly (but nicely) "I'll see you at the finish" - we took the hint and left her to it.







She finished strongly soon later - they didn't give her a medal but then Shilpa has loads of those these days and with the benefit of hindsight she said that the 11k was about right for her as it was very hot, she wasn't really prepared and there were too few drinks stations on the course.

Leeds United

Leeds lost - let's just leave it at that shall we.

Ride & Run Alert - Sat & Sun 24th & 25th May 2008

Looks like this is going to be a strange weekend - My friend Julia arrives this evening for an over night stay and then she leaves tomorrow evening back to Australia. My plan is therefore to do a rapid (no break) Hulu Langat circuit (81k) early Saturday morning followed by a very early morning drive (5:45) to Port Dickson to run the PD half Marathon (training run only).

Shilpa may also do the run, we may or may not take the the boys - it's all very fluid at the moment but I might also cycle back - blimey - complicated isn't it. We've got dinner and drink on Saturday night too so the PD half M might be a struggle but I'll be there at least.

Only Crazy People Listen to This - Matsalleh Gila

I took this from Azwar's blog Pipot.com I was instantly drawn to the title that stated that only crazy people listen to it - I suspected I'd like it straightaway - I'm not sure that either my Mum or my Wife will appreciate or be amused by the adolescent, immature and generally oikish nature of this video...Or the fact that I rather like it - but hey, we're all aloud to believe that we're still teenagers aren't we. ENJOY

Jesus?!

A Thought for the Day - An Attitude for Life

No one ever attains very eminent success by simply doing what is required of him; it is the amount and excellence of what is over and above the required, that determines the greatness of ultimate distinction.

Charles Kendall Adams

Pacesetters 15k - Sunday 18th May 2008

(Photos courtesy of Tey and Jason Lee)



Shilpa and I did the Pacesetters 15k on Sunday. We knew it was going to be hilly but boy this years course was even hillier than previously. It was a very pleasant run otherwise, we ran at Shilpa's pace and really enjoyed the atmosphere.

By the time we'd done 12k Shilps was getting quite tired and it didn't help that we ran near to the finish line at that point - it helped even less when suggested that this may even be the finish!

Shilpa was very resolute and said - "We have 2 maybe 3 k to go and they're bound to send us up another hill."

"No way!" I said, "They couldn't be that mean!"

We rounded the bottom of Jalan Parlimen and sure enough they sent us up a horrible hill for the second time - by the time we got within sight of the finish Shilpa had had just about enough - she still managed to out sprint me to the line though.

Mother's Day

For some reason Shilpa and I had got it into our heads that Mother's Day was a week before it actually was - those marketing guys really did do their jobs well! As it happened it worked out rather well because Mother's Day proper was actually on the A'Formosa weekend. Thus we celebrated a week early and after the usual Sunday morning 21k run we went to the Equatorial Japanese Restaurant for their awesome buffet lunch.

After the run you can imagine just how hungry we were (we skipped breakfast I hasten to add). Seb and Sid were as excited as always - it's so cool to see them at this age where every new experience is truly NEW. Having said that they take it in their stride. Strangely, the highlight of their day was a big bus parked outside the hotel, they would have given anything to ride on it.













Lunch was gorgeous, the boys tried everything there was - it was quite embarrassing the amount of bowls and plates of food they had (all half eaten of course). Shilpa seemed to have a good time but then she always does if Sid and Seb are there.















Half way through lunch they presented her with her Mother's Day gifts which they'd chosen specially for her (sort of), they bought her a new Nike running watch as her current one is somewhat worn out and also a book of "Mother's Stories", not to mention their card. This was then followed by more ice-cream than you can shake a stick at and then we all went home to try to sleep the feast off.

Later that week, before the real Mother's Day, the boys made Mummy Mother's Day cards - cute or what?



On the real Mother's Day, after we got back from A'Formosa the boys took Mummy out to their favourite meal of Dosa (Indian savoury pancakes) and afterwards more ice-cream at Baskin Robbins - Wow, was this a treat for Mummy (I think Daddy was looking pretty happy too).

Carlisle 0-2 Leeds (agg 2-3)

Leeds midfielder Jonathan Howson struck a 90th-minute goal to book his side a spot in the League One play-off final at the expense of heartbroken Carlisle.

Howson had hauled Leeds level 2-2 on aggregate with the opener when he drove in a shot after 10 minutes.

Carlisle's best chance fell to Danny Graham but he headed tamely at keeper Casper Ankergren from eight yards.

Extra-time loomed before Howson angled in an 18-yard strike with his left foot to send Leeds to Wembley for the final.

Simon Says: - I'm not much of a football fan, in fact I'm not much of a spectator of sport really; except things like Rugby & Football Internationals where England are playing. However, Leeds have been my team since 1973 - in the glory days - I started supporting them at the age of seven because they wore yellow (my favourite colour) and they lost the FA Cup Final to Sunderland and I felt sorry for them. These days of course everyone supports MU, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool although I wonder how loyalties would change if these teams dropped down to the third flight of Div 1 as Leeds have done.

Anyway, I digress Leeds looked like they were out of it but came back brilliantly last night to get to the final of the playoffs. If they win that then they move up to the second flight of the Championship division.

In fact they should have already qualified but the League, in their infinite wisdom, deducted 15 points from Leeds before the season even began due to Leeds debts and insolvency - talk about kicking a man when he's down. Qualification will be sweet and poetic justice.

Cervelo P4C

Extracted from Inside Triathlon - 11th March 2008

"Improving on the P3C isn’t an easy thing to do. But for its new P4C, Cervelo borrows a strategy from motorsports in order to outdo its TT rig. The company uses a steel skeleton and bolt-on modular pieces to try different shapes for any part of the frame and measure the effect of just one change. This powerful tool allows them to use academic precision when designing the next superbike.

Cervelo wouldn’t let us take any pictures when we previewed the model at Brainbike a few weeks ago - and the frame they showed us surely didn’t reveal all of Cervelo's secrets. Nevertheless, the bike they gave us a glimpse of had a few interesting changes from the P3C. For instance, the seatstays mimic the tubes from the Felt DA/B2. They don’t smoothly flow out of the seat tube; instead they remain as narrow as possible until the chainstays abruptly jump out of the frame.

The bottom bracket area of the P4C extends toward the front of the bike. This allows the down tube to connect to the head tube at a lower point and draft behind the front wheel. However, there was no front wheel cutout. The coolest part of the new down tube position is that it completely eliminated the empty space behind the crown of the fork.

Cervelo doesn’t want to release too much information about their new designs, but they slipped up. They handed out a booklet containing a picture of their engineers posing with a model bike. Most of the bike was cut out of the pic, but the steer tube was exposed. I couldn’t make out details, but there was a piece of the model plastic surrounding the steer tube and reaching out to the stem. I don’t know any more specifics, but anticipate something special."

Simon says: - "It looks like the recent wind tunnel testing where the Trek TTX drubbed the P3C has galvanised Cervelo into action - who knows, one day they may even catch up with Trek"

It'll probably end up looking something a little bit like this.

SAAB City Duathlon 08 - June 8th Singapore

Here's a race I haven't done before - not sure whether I will this year but the closing date has now been extended to MONDAY (19th May) if anyone is interested.

So far Kristof (now living in Vietnam) and Julie are going. Anyone else up for it?

SAAB City Duathlon 08 - June 8th Singapore

RIDE, RUN & RIDE ALERT - 17th, 18th & 19th May 2008

Sam says: -

"Folks

I know that some of you are doing the New Balance 15k on Sunday and there is an extra ride on Monday (a public holiday). Nevertheless, there will be a ride on Saturday for those who want.

So and on Saturday, I propose a ride to Hulu Langat including Peres hill and with a stop at the coffee shop next to the dam. Light-weights can skip the hill ….. if they dare!

Meet at Mega Mall at 0630 or at Hulu Langat police station traffic lights at 7.05.

On Monday, the plan is to do a leisurely ride to Batu Arang via Ijok.

Meet at Sungai Buloh toll on LDP at 0645.

Please let me know if you plan to come along on either or both rides. Cheers.

Sam"

Simon says: -

"I'll be there fore the Saturday ride, I'm doing the 15k run on Sunday but I'll be the sweeper at the back - too hilly for me to attack this race - beware if you run with me though, you'll have to put up with my bad jokes.

I might do the ride on Monday but then I might play golf - to be confirmed"

A'Formosa Olympic Distance Tri

(Photos courtesy of Tey, Ivie and Shilpa)

For the first time I can remember I had trouble sleeping before a Olympic Distance race. I was also paranoid of oversleeping - ironically I woke up half an hour AFTER my alarm was supposed to go off. Fortunately I was reasonably well organised and after the requisite 3 cups of coffee and a "sit down" I was ready to go.

I had a great allocated spot for my bike near to the exit of transition - I had to cover the same distance as everyone else but it meant less running with the bike. The swim was two loops and extremely well marked with buoys and rope all the way around (nice job Mr Chan). I was ready, all was looking good, now it was time to see what we could do.

The gun went and we were off but after about 150 metres I got well beaten up, my left goggle go hit and filled with water and I swallowed what felt like a gallon of lake water. I had to tread water for a few seconds just to stay alive but was soon back into it. The swim was great and as with the day before I stayed focused throughout, concentrating on technique, navigation and even trying to draft at times. Often my attention wanders a little in the swim as I'm pretty rubbish at it if the truth be told - today though I kept it together.

I came out a second behind Randy (he did say he had his worst swim ever though). However, Wong At Thiam and Shahrom were behind me and I soon caught Iwata-san, Kevin and Cecil on the bike. Again this reinforced my great swim as usually I don't catch them until much later on the bike.







I chose my moment and then accelerated up a hill and dropped the pack of about 10 riders. One western guy came with me and I backed off a bit to let him catch up. We then worked together until the turnaround - I was just doing whatever I could to put some distance between myself and the pack (and in particularly Iwata - my main challenger). Then I looked behind and I saw two riders right on my tail, I was so disappointed to have been caught - but then as they went past I realised that it was Shahrom and Wong At Thiam, (Malaysia's best duathlete and long course triathlete, respectively). Things were turning out rather well!!!

The four of us shared the work all the way to the finish of the bike catching and passing a few riders on the way - we caught Wei and his group right at T2 but boy can these guys run. They dropped me like a bad date but still Iwata was behind me and I had to keep it together.

The first third of the run was good, I felt strong and fast but the second third really exposed my lack of running mileage - I was suffering. I eventually caught a Singaporean but then couldn't drop him. Then something strange happened, with 3k to go I felt light and strong again, my stride length increased and my cadence sped up - I was flying - by the time I went over the finish line the Singaporean guy was several hundred meters behind. GOLLY, how did that happen?






























I'd beaten Iwata-san who was very gracious in defeat, I have a huge respect for this guy, which has grown greatly over the years.

It soon became clear that I was second in the 40-49 age-group, a guy that we'd never seen before had finished miles ahead of me and deservedly won the category - not sure who he is or where he's from but clearly another mountain to climb - BRING IT ON!





At the prize-giving, Sid and Seb seemed really impressed with the trophy, so much so that Seb clung on to it with a vice-like grip; not to be outdone Sid went to the stage and picked up someone elses trophy and bought it back to a rather embarrassed mummy and daddy - THAT'S MY BOY!

A'Formosa Sprint Distance Tri

(Photos courtesy of Shilpa)

I didn't make it to A'Formosa last year, after being run over on my bike by that infamous Ford Econovan I'd barely started training again and though I'd struggled through the Ironman I was in no shape to compete in a high intensity Sprint or Olympic distance tri. I told myself that this year was going to be different; but somewhere between Ironman Langkawi and A'Formosa I'd lost the way!!!!! Motivation was at an all time low, while my weight was high and my running and swimming distances were negligible for weeks. I also managed to crash two weeks before the race leaving me with some messy and unhealed road rash.

Sam gave me some good advice, he suggested I did the races with an open mind, enjoy the weekend and whatever the outcome I should use the experience as a springboard to bounce back to focus and motivation. Good advice - so then I did even less training - what I did do though was a really intensive swim on the Wednesday before the race and a really intensive bike/run brick session on the Thursday - the plan was to trigger all the "fast twitch" muscles, get the feeling of the pain and nausea of the intensity and to get my mind into race mode.

Not much of a plan but somehow it all came together. Wearing my new pink "Bike Boutique" trisuit I headed to the start with no great expectation but confident that I was going to enjoy myself.

The swim went rather well, focused and in control all the way - Coach Peh was even at the start so I couldn't let him down. Shilpa said I was about 20 seconds behind Iwata-san, the only time I've ever beaten him before was in this race so things were looking good. I caught him after about 3k of the bike and as we went up a bit of a hill I powered up and took off. Before I knew it I was on Wei's back wheel and as he reached for a water bottle I kicked again and dropped him too, all within the first lap - blimey my swim must have been good.



On to the run and that's when I saw Christopher Williams coming back for his first victory in the 12 and under category - you've never seen a more determined look on someones face - this kid was giving it his all and then some. Next I saw Elmer coming back, oh well he was in the next category down. I caught Barry and one or two others and then saw Asha Williams running along grinning like a Cheshire cat - it was infectious - I was running along smiling from ear to ear for her and Christopher.




Before I knew it the run was over and somehow I'd won the veteran category comfortably - I was a happy chappy - but to top it all at the finish there was Shilpa, Sid and Seb waiting for me - nothing can beat the feeling of your family being there - they're gorgeous.








Seb and Sid loved the prize giving and were dancing away like little angels. Mr Chan came to say high and expressed how healthy they were. "Thank you" I said, "Not fat like their dad" Mr Chan replied. Everyone laughed, including me.

The Williams Siblings - A Triathlon Phenomenon

Christopher Williams asked me a couple of years ago if I'd help him with his Year 6 Challenge. This is a school project whereby students get the chance to set and achieve personal goals. Christopher chose triathlon as his goal - not only did he achieve his goal but he managed a podium finish with a third place in his very first triathlon.

This year, his 10 year old sister, Asha, also took up triathlon as her Year 6 Challenge. She and Christopher could be seen swimming, cycling and running almost continually in preparation for this years A'Formosa Triathlon. Then disaster struck, just two weeks before the big race Asha crashed on her bike and suffered the inevitable road rash - however, this didn't deter her and she was seen lining up on Saturday the 10th of May at the water's edge. She was very nervous but as soon as the gun went off she set about the task with great aplomb.

Christopher set off like a man possessed (another of Coach Peh's pupils), both were out of the water in no time and off on their bikes. Us older kids started a little later and did a slightly longer course, so by the time I started on the run Christopher was already heading back to the finish for his first victory, he'd crushed the opposition, they were nowhere to be seen! AWESOME.

In the meantime I saw Asha as I approached the turnaround, she had the biggest smile that you've ever seen. I managed to catch her up near the finish only for her to hear me coming and she left me for dead as she sprinted for the line. Not only that but she also crushed the rest of the girls field and won the race with ease. AWESOME.




As you can see Mum and Dad are proud as punch and deservedly so. Mike and Bella have to take a some of the credit too, they have trained really hard with Chris and Asha, supporting them all the way through runs, swims and rides, not to mention the race itself - a real family effort. BRAVO!

Fore!!!!!!

Now now now, the boys are having golf lessons. Nothing to do with me, in fact I thought they'd get bored in two minutes but Shilpa took them along for a trial lesson and they absolutely loved it! Sid especially was totally hooked from start to finish. We've now booked them in for four lessons over the next 4 Saturdays (not this weekend - as it's A'Formosa of course). That means that Daddy can go along too and hopefully I can pick up some tips.






















I'm really excited for them and I'm going to be really supportive - UNTIL THEY START BEATING ME OF COURSE.

Insanity or what!!! - Furious Driver Takes Out 50 Strong Cycling Pack

(Courtesy of Nick "El Nino" Flynn)

About 50 cyclists - including Australian racer Kate Nichols, who was injured in a 2005 German road racing crash in which a teammate was killed - have been involved in a hit-and-run crash in Sydney this morning.

The resulting smash forced a semitrailer to lock up, jackknife and screech to a halt behind the cyclists while cars had to swerve to avoid them.

Also involved in the crash, at 6.35am on Southern Cross Drive, south of the corner of Dacey Avenue in Mascot, were former Olympians Ben Kersten, Kate's father Kevin Nichols, Graeme Brown, Michelle Ferris and Matthew White.

Witnesses to the crash have told smh.com.au the group of about up to 60 professional cyclists were riding south on Southern Cross Drive, just south of Dacey Avenue, Mascot about 6.30am when a driver, agitated with being held up, accelerated in front of the pack and then slammed on his brakes, giving the riders no time to stop.

Surf's Up Dude

I found this clip on my computer's desktop - I guess I saved it there ages ago but it's worth a look again. Towards the end of the clip you can even see a yacht foundering just behind the huge wave. This is a big storm and a big wave - I'm impressed!

World Clock

(Courtesy of Nick "El Espanol" Flynn)

Click onto this link, take a few seconds to absorb what you're looking at; a few minutes to reflect upon it; and then a make a lifetime of changes.

WORLD CLOCK

Karma

Here's an article forwarded by Sam, Click onto it to enlarge it. I must say that most people will chuckle and side with the wife but I did feel a twinge of solidarity with the poor chap in this story - decide for yourself.

Thomas Dolby - Windpower

A little known 80's artist, Thomas Dolby made some great tunes - here's one of my favourites. I had this on 12 inch vinyl until I dropped it and never managed to replace it. Broke my heart but it doesn't seem quite so important these days!!!

TREK, CERVELO, SCOTT?

It seems that everyone is touting the Cervelo P3C as being the ultimate aero tri bike - I've only ever owned Trek's and even I have toyed with the idea of deserting to the Canuck brand. That's until I came across this wind tunnel testing white paper. Basically, as you will see the the Trek TTX wins hands down, the P3C came second and for any Scott Plasma owners I suggest you stick a basket on the front and use it for shopping.

It's interesting how low Trek's Madone scored, which underlines just how much difference a dedicated areo TT bike makes.

(As it happens I have the Trek TTT so looks like I need to upgrade to a TTX although no test results are out on the TTT I assume that the TTX is superior.)

If you want to see the full "white paper" go to Slowtwitch.com and click on the "downloadable" for a .pdf document. The numbers don't lie - TREK rules!
















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