Polish Reflection

So this is a post which I should have written as soon as I came back from Poland, but in reality life (well my party really!) seems to have got in the way a little.

So then what happened in Poland? It was definitely an experience, the city we went to was Kracow which was a surprisingly nice place to visit, witha  big population (getting on for a million) & a very tourist-heavy place. We flew from Luton > Kracow directly via cheesyjet...sorry Easy Jet & got to the hotel (guest house really) in good time to then unpack & head to the dentist.

The dentist itself was seriously state-of-the-art - everything was clinically clean & hygenic, the staff spoke brilliant english (superior to my polish by a very long way) & were serious professionals. The work involved was a large scale restoration job - repairing what could be repaired & fixing where fillings had gone bad, following on from a consult & a 3D electronic X-Ray which they then gave me a burn of [helpful].

So they did 3 cosmetic [but completely essential] fillings on the front, then 4 rebuilds (layered fillings, as far as I understand), in a seriously fast time & I definitely would recommend them - they were brilliant!

I'm going back & will report on that at the end of July, but for now - so far, so good!

Here's the before Xray  :)

Why I love cycling

So here's a very random post about my love for cycling. This reflection has come from my recent pedaling resurgence, as part of my fitness [& transport!] changes.

So I've literally got back on on my bike [that Trek 1200 which had been collecting dust over the winter] and been tearing around the streets of Oxford. I don't think I'm the best or fastest cyclist - I just love pushing myself to keep going faster - if I see any bikes in front of me - it is my raison d'être to catch them...all of them!


But where does this insanity stupidity awesomeness madness come from?



Well personally I like to blame the parents - no seriously, it's actually their fault this time! to be precise, it's actually my old man's fault - he taught me how to cycle when I was about 4 or 5 [I think, not too sure, as I was rather young!]  in the car park of Temple Cowley swimming pool on a hot summers day - first with stabilisers, then not so much! But it's not just that simple - he was also a gifted cyclist himself - having raced for several clubs in Cycle Speedway.

For those not au fait with this sport,  it's a pretty intense and gritty [yes, pun intended] form of cycling, where you ride round a short gravel track [in a similar way to motorcycle speedway - but with more human power, less petrol] on some crazy bikes - my old man's bike having sandpaper pedals (for grip - this was well before shoes with plates in them connecting to cleats) no brakes & only one gear! Originally him & a couple of his cousins made their own track and created a team - Headley Hawks [which sadly closed a couple of years ago, but was visible on Google Earth! now track destroyed] and later, more when I remember as a kid, for Horspath Hammers - who are still going strong - there are even still picture of the old man [with current team manager Robin Carter with his 'stache] on their website http://horspathcsc.co.uk/default.aspx.

But how has this affected me & my cycling? Well after learning how to cycle, I've progressed through a load of really not great bikes - all mountain bikes pretty much, until back in 2006 when I got a Trek1200 with my old man up in Leeds I've discovered a love of speed on a bike. It took a little while to get used to different handlebars, brakes and gears, but the amount of raw speed you can get on a roadbike is brilliant! It is really quite fun to try to catch up with & stick with cars/buses whilst riding through Oxford, quite literally tearing up the tarmac - rather exhilarating!

I think the big think that helps me is to have the appropriate tracks to keep the momentum, but also the blood that flows in my veins - cycling blood! I've got some of the old man's old cycling gear (trousers & zippy-top) & I think the emulation is quite apparent, so thanks RKH!

PENDULUM - The Island part 1 - 2

After such an appalling match last night, & to get rid of the English [football] depression - we need some special music - here it is, with a riff that will stick in your head all week, then a sting in the tail that "sounds like Deadmau5's twisted cousin"

...play it, enjoy it, get over it!

World Cup....frustration

So the world cup has got up & running & so far has been reasonable to watch on normal television. However there are some really nagging gripes for me, in this new hyper-digital age - why oh why is it so very difficult to stream video for those of us not lucky enough to have the whole month off?

The BBC has their own micro-website dedicated to the World Cup which is pretty reliable, with links to televised games, or where some [ok most] games have been poached/cherry-picked by ITV to BBC Radio Five Live. This is where I really do have a problem. ITV has their own dedicated micro-website for the World Cup...which has been the causes of much frustration of the past couple of days.

Now maybe this is just me using the BBC website too much, but I really like not having advertisements in my video streaming - you don't get it on the iplayer, you don't get it with any videos on the news site, or the sports site - just straight into what you are wanting to watch. 

However, when trying to watch the opening game - South Africa vs Mexico, then again when I was away at the weekend the Serbia vs Ghana match - the frustration of adverts was pretty high, I don't want to see at least 3 adverts (taking 1-2 minutes) before I can see live sports - that's not really on guys! However, this was nothing when looking at the quality of the video was a serious issue - it was a perpetual spot-the-ball competition, to say nothing of trying to establish which player was which. Then a final frustration - there was also a running (& particularly distracting) chat going on on the right of the screen - a twitter-styled messageboard which there was no way to get rid of - so much fail for such a plausibly simple task - show me football - is that too much to ask?!

Frustration aside, I really want these group stages to hurry along because the last 16 & onwards is looking highly interesting. My thoughts on the ones to watch - Brazil ,Spain, Portugal & the Netherlands (although we haven't watched them perform yet), Germany look really strong and Argentina have the strength up front for some serious destruction! England need to prove themselves to their country - no pressure guys, but improvements need to be made after that American game - I'm looking at you Emile Heskey & Bobby Green! I think that the dark horses are looking like South Korea and South Africa, but I think you should include Argentina/Portugal as well - wel shall see & we continue