Yes, cycling to work for me must be cursed. Well, at least a little… tried 3 times, failed 3 times. First time last Friday. Got up early, but from my bed I could already hear I wasn’t going to cycle that day. Very heavy rain, thunder and lighting… I really wanted to cycle to work, but not that bad I considered going through that kind of weather! I would try again on Monday.

Well, yesterday I did try. But didn’t get further then about 200 meter on the bike. After that distance I noticed my rear tire was surprisingly soft. Or at least not as hard as it was the day before, when I rode my bike on a little ride after fixing the unexpected puncture on my front tire and pumped up both tires in the process. So when checking the rear tire before pumping it up again, I could hear a little sizzling sound… F#ck… another puncture… And at 0645 in the morning not something you wanne fix right there and then. So I left the bike for what it was, and took the bus/train to work again…

After fixing the tire that night, I got up early again this morning for the next attempt! Quite motivated I got on the bike on 0630 (!!) and took off. And then disaster struck again… after 4km I heard something funny… psst.. psst.. psst.. psst.. psst.. Oh no! And indeed… another puncture… Just my luck… Only problem now was that the distance to work (probably at least another 13 or more km) was a bit to far to walk with the bike… so there was no other option to return home again… *Aarggg* So after cycling for 15 minutes I had to walk back with the bike for 45…

Well, I guess there is no other option then to just keep trying! Some day the curse will be gone and I should get there without any problems! :-)

Posted in Work, Cycling | 2 Comments »

While I was searching the web for information about VO₂ max for my last post about the Polar fitness test, my eye was drawn by another method to measure your level of fitness: The good old Cooper test.

Strange, because as a kid I hated the Cooper test. Every year we had to do that test a couple of times during our football training. I could never be bothered. But now, on a cloudy evening in August, for fun, I went running for 12 minutes to see how my fitness level would reflect in the Cooper test. Oi… Times do change! ;-)

Yes, main reason for doing it was that I wasn’t to proud of just being moderate… I thought I would at least make average… anyway, with the Polar fitness test there is not much you can do about the outcome of the test. You lie down and wait. 5 long minutes. Not my thing. So when I came across the Cooper test, that would be an ideal way to prove the “Polar fitness testing method” wrong!

And proving it wrong I did! :-) *HAHAHA* not that it was healthy though… Almost run the entire 12 minutes “in the red” with my heart rate around 98-99% of my maximum… After 6 minutes I got the first signs of pain in my side, and about 30 minutes after the run the Osgood-Schlatter on my left knee started seriously aching again and hasn’t stopped doing so ever since… But now to the positive thing, I manage to run 2670 meter in 12 minutes! In the Cooper test results, that gets me in the “Good” category!

But, if we look at the correlation with the VO₂ max data: VO₂ max = (distance - 505m)/45. I get to a VO₂ max of 48! And looking that up in the table I get to the average I wanted! :-) Even get to the doorstep of good!!!

Only thing that could be a bit dodgy is the way I did the Cooper test… I was under the impression it was just running as fast as you can for 12 minutes… so I tried to sprint the last minute, but when I just read a bit more about the test, it states: “The test is meant to measure the condition of the person taking it and therefore it is supposed to be run at a steady pace instead of sprints.” So not sure if my run qualifies as a “steady pace run”… but well, as I am judge, jury & executioner in this matter, I let myself get away with it! ;-)

My cooper test result (between numbers 1 and 2)

Posted in Sport | 2 Comments »

Ok, yesterday I was just a bit surprised when I went to the supermarket to buy some groceries and saw a man in pink pants. Strange people are everywhere, so why not close to the supermarket I do my shopping. But this morning I saw another guy wearing pink pants! Seriously, what’s up with those pink pants?!

I mean, at some point in time those men walked into a clothes store, looking to buy pants. There must have been hundreds (well, at least a lot) of different pants. Jeans, black pants, grey pants, blue pants, white pants, any pants you can think of. Yes, even pink pants!!! I am surprised they apparently sell them, but even more surprised that any well thinking man would spend money to buy them!!!

And it’s not that I mind pink clothes, just pink pants. On a man that is. They could look very good on a woman! But hey, I am not that narrow minded, so I could maybe even get over the “man in pink pants”-idea, but what I could never get over is the brown shoes both men were wearing with them! Pink pants with brown shoes… Seriously, what are they thinking?!?! Not that I am the one to make fashion statements, but even my untrained fashion eye can see that that just looks ridiculous! :-)

Posted in Personal | 1 Comment »

I have had my Polar heart rate monitor (a sweet Polar S720i) for about 3 weeks now, and yesterday I finally got brave enough to read about the fitness test feature that came with the watch. I knew the thing had a feature like that, but tried to deny it for a bit, no being sure about my current fitness level and some heavy testing to determine my fitness level might not work very motivating in these early stages of owning a heart rate monitor and still being happy with it.

After all, it was truly a great investment! Not essential I guess, as I don’t need a heart rate monitor to tell me I am struggling while trying to use a to big gear while climbing up a little hill… I mean, just listening to my breathing, or swearing will tell you that as well! :-) But it’s definitely interesting to see the graph afterwards, even more so combined to the speed and altitude.

Only the fitness test was nothing like the intensive interval testing at maximum power for a number of times… nothing like it. The fitness test was laying in bed for 5 minutes! Well, I am good at that, so when I finally had the guts to read about the test, I decided to do it straight away! :-)

Was a bit disappointed about the result though… the result of the test is a number, and what that number means you can look up in a little table that tells you how fit you are… before I did it, I was hoping/aiming for a number that would reach to “average” fitness… I didn’t make it. I only got to 41, putting me it to one category less… moderate. Although if I can maintain this level of fitness for a couple of months, I will automatically advance into the “average” fitness category when it’s my birthday, because the number-ranges relating to fitness level differ with age.

In the first 3 categories (very bad, bad and my moderate), the advice they give it is: “Increase the number of training sessions for a better health and shape”. Outch… especially as on another page they give an indication on how much time it takes to improve your fitness: “If you want to improve your shape, on average you have to exercise at least 6 weeks to notice a difference in your VO₂ max.” Oh my… guess I will be busy the next 12 weeks (3 months!!!) if I wanne reach average…

I could maybe praise myself lucky with the following: “Less fit people will notice a difference quicker then fit people, who it will take more time.” *HAHAHA* now I am starting to feel happy about just being moderate! :-)

Posted in Sport | No Comments »

Time to catch up with the blog again. And so much to write… had a truly wonderful time in Australia. Absolutely amazing!!! Will post the “new” stories on or around their original dates, so please follow these links to read them:

- My first play [What can I say - 27-07-2006]
- A taste of Africa [Ethiopian food; one big pleasant surprise! - 26-07-2006]
- Tossing the coin [How we ended up in Mallacoota - 14-07-2006]
- Amazing bushwalking [Tidbinbilla and Orroral valley - 03-07-2006]
- Not a hole at all [Canberra, the bush capital - 30-06-2006]
- Keep left, keep left, keep left, keep left! [Cycling in Australia - 28-06-2006]
- Snorkelling with the turtles and fishies [So much fun!!! - 23-06-2006]
- Breath in, breath out… [Diving in the Great Barrier Reef - 21-06-2006]

Posted in Personal, Australia | 6 Comments »

Today was a dark day… The darkest day in the MinusOne history. I am trying to get some new contract work in Holland and was not allowed to send invoices from my company, like I normally do. For 2 long weeks I fought like a tiger to make it work and be able to invoice somebody. Together with Bastiaan we figured out a bit dubious scheme of payment methods to get around the rules, but in the end it all turned out pointless… Only thing left was to get pay rolled in order to get the work…

In theory there is nothing wrong with that of course, but still… after 4 rather good years with MinusOne it hurts more then I expected to let the company sit on the sideline for this project. We have been through a lot together. So with pain in my heart I agreed on the pay rolling solution today and for the next 6 months will be working on a project again. So be it. I guess there need to be dark days in all histories.

Posted in Work | No Comments »

Football tonight. Ireland - Holland. Friendly match, not very interesting but still I got surprised! Pleasantly surprised! And the match hadn’t even started yet. Thing was that one of Holland’s football legends, Faas Wilkes, had died earlier this week and to honour him there would be a minute of silence before the match.

That by itself is not a unique thing, as a minute of silence happens more often when famous football people die, but what was very impressive was the way the Irish crowed reacted to it. While the players were standing around the middle circle, the Irish stadium speaker told a little story about Faas Wilkes. Who he was, where he played, etc. just a small story. And the amazing thing was the reaction of the Irish football supporters, the reacted with a loud applause! For a man they probably never heard of (as he is mainly a Dutch football legend…) they still the showed great respect. Goosebumps!

Even the minute of silence after that was as quiet as can be. Impressive. Not seen often these days to have supporters like that! So even though Ireland lost quite chanceless with 0-4, they still provided the most beautiful moment of the match. Just before the match.

Posted in Sport | No Comments »

The last weekend before going back to Holland Sally and I stayed in a hotel on Manly Beach in Sydney. A lovely location and with the ferry from Manly just a short and nice “ride” to the city centre, ending at Circular Quay, right between the Harbour Bridge and the Opera house. Easy as anything.

On Friday evening we ended up having dinner at a grill restaurant (can’t remember the name… “Something” Grill…) at the waterside with a view on the Harbour Bridge on the left and the Opera house on the right. Lovely spot for a nice dinner. And a nice dinner it was! I finally got to try some Kangaroo and Crocodile! After trying a barramundi in Port Douglas (really, really nice fish!!) those to were left on the list to try and didn’t think I would do so before leaving but when the opportunity came by at the grill restaurant I had to make a stand! Kangaroo and Crocodile it would be! :-)

And I did not get disappointed at all! They were both jammie. The Kangaroo very nice and tender, the croc … well… like a weird tasted chicken… :-) but nice as well! Still enjoying the moment a guy appeared on the terrace we were sitting, with a little flute and started playing a birthday song for the table next to us. We just smiled and thought the guy belonged to the restaurant and was just being funny on request… little did we know! Moments later he appeared at our table playing some annoying song! Leaving us feeling quite uncomfortable, but luckily after he played a bit a waiter came and asked the man to please leave the restaurant terrace…

And little we knew indeed! Because when the guy left and we saw that there were people with camera’s, Sal figured out the guy was from a ABC TV show called “The chaser’s war on everything“, and was just recording a little bit for next weeks show… And yes! We made the show! *LOL* well… made it… click here to see our 7 seconds of fame! (7.9 MB, © ABC TV). And you have to look carefully, because I am hard to spot, but Sal is quite obviously looking away in disgust! ;-)

[Ok, I will help a bit… it’s us between 0:57 and 1:04!]

Posted in Movies & TV, Restaurants, Australia | No Comments »