Trek’s final Cyclocross race on December the 6 2008
Here are the pix from that race, there are some 300 or so uploading so it will take a while, esp if the bugger crashes 
Jacob doing the rounds being chased by Hu Chen in the Trek Xcross 6th edition
December 15, 2008 2 Comments
What is it with my heart rate?
I have been wondering if I am setting heart rate goals too high for the spinning classes that I teach. I am finding that for the most part my HR is always above what is considered the “target”. Being 42, apparently my HR Max should be 178, but this is wrong as I can go to 185.
Taking a look at the following formula, this is what my hearts “age” would be:
Karvonen heart rate zones vs
The resting heart rate is an estimate, but I go down to 55 when sitting, so 52 sounds plausible. So how can I work out what are my ideal rates, and how can I apply these calculations in a spinning class where the students have fitness levels that range from the poor to the “fitter than thou” (and 95% don’t have HRM’s, argh).
Does the fact that my HR (in relation to my age) during exercise goes so high mean that, in effect, I am unfit?
The tables provided by Johnny G are, in my opinion, rather low, and for many participants will make them feel like they are underperforming. I find increasing the values by 10% is more realistic, especially given the length of the classes, however this may offset the supposed ‘fat burning’ benefits of the programme, esp in endurance sessions.
What is realistic, however, are the Karvonen figures when taken into real life situations and using my real age, ie, I will find that I am running on a lower HR when actually on a real bike and that I will feel much more tired at 160BPM on a road bike than at 160 on a Spinner, or when running or most other things.
The rhetorical question is then, why is this so? What does using a Spinner bike change which affects HR so that it is higher at apparently equivalent output? What I find is missing on Spinner bikes is wattage. It would (should, you would need to change the resistance loader to a magnetic one) be very simple to add a wattage indicator to them and likely far more productive as you can see what you are outputting at particular HRs, cadence and types of exercise and measure the improvement over time, as well as be able to better include spinning as part of some training program.
Using this method you could then have a direct equivalent between what you output on a road bike and what you output on a Spinner and have a more realistic idea of what you should be using as target HRs in a Spinning program versus HR in normal situations.
December 12, 2008 3 Comments
Incredible – maybe I don’t need to kill myself and others with Gallery now
Now that version 2.5 of WP is out, it seems that we can integrate pictures into the pages. Finally!! This may prove to be the breakthrough needed 
March 31, 2008 2 Comments
More delayed musings on the state of eating (Chinese) in Beijing – and may the New Rat be a good one for you all!
I know there are zillions of places out there about eating in Beijing and how great it all is. So I keep on asking myself why is it that when asked ‘where do you want to go and eat tonight?’ I have *no answer*, I just don’t feel like there is anywhere that I can say – ‘yes let’s go there’. Nothing where you can eat reasonably good food, that is not more than 75 kuai/person (and let me tell you that this is a *lot* of money for most Beijingren who will eat for about 10 kuai or preferably less, usually max 20 kuai, including beer), that is not (ab)using oil that has been thrice recycled or taken from a sump, and where MSG and salt are used sparingly.
February 16, 2008 3 Comments
Merry Christmas to all of you who come by here (and that includes all the robots as well :-)
Quick rant about our Xmas dinner at Feichang Thai (Very Siam) here in Beijing as it justs sucks to have to eat such fake thai when the place *was* so good in the past. Nothing is permanent here, and here is further proof of Beijing’s rapid descent *down* the culinary scales as people forgo authenticity in lieu of crass and in your face ‘trendyness’. It seems it is easier to make money selling crap wrapped up in gold leaf rather than making the effort of doing the real thing.
My wife asked me soon after we ordered ‘why are there so many dongbeiren serving us here?’ and it all clicked into place. I was the only paleface in the joint, last year it was full of them. It has changed its target clientele and is now aiming for the clueless hip ‘nouveau riche’ chinese and serves up Thai dishes that taste as if designed by a Dongbei chef. From the deep fried mandarin fish in sweet and sour sauce that looks and tastes exactly like a poor man’s song shu gui yu (but it ain’t cheap) to the Tom Yum soup that is tasteless and totally lacking in anything except maybe the name of the packet that it came out of to the masaman curry that is just totally weird and bears no relationship to the real thing. Oh and the ‘vietnamese spring rolls’ even had a layer of sugar to crunch on and no mint at all. Looked and tasted just like pillows. For 360 kuai per couple (and with only 1 beer! imagine how much if you buy drinks for two!) it is just a total waste of your money. Cool for dating clueless Dongbeiren though 
Looks nice, but it is all so shallow.
If you want real thai in Beijing, try somewhere else! (Purple Haze?)
December 25, 2007 2 Comments
Mediatemple is still there :-)
This site is getting very slow. This is nothing to do with the provider, but all to do with me. So far MT has proven pretty good for my current modest usage of it, in particular it allows much better customisation of the PHP/Apache interface, so you can actually use a php.ini or .htaccess file with most of the options. SSH access is great and works very well, only pity is I could not find a way to bulk FTP my old site across using the default MT tools.
November 26, 2007 6 Comments
New service provider
Looks like the transition to Mediatemple is going ok If you see this page it is because the DNSes have updated.
More later as we proceed to install new things…
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Now playing: Goran Bregovic – Mesecina
via FoxyTunes
October 27, 2007 No Comments
Good Luck Beijing 2007 – Mountain Bike Invitational Competition – Laoshan, Beijing
I was asked to take pictures of this event by Jan Nemec of MTBS.cz and so I took up the challenge with my Nikon D80. Here are the results, I will post the writeup here over the next few days..
Christophe Sauser has en entry in his website about the event, it looks like he enjoyed himself very much
Ook bedankt aan Rogier van Mountainbike.nl!
The official GLB 2007 MTB website is here. I can’t get the videos to work..
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Now playing: Kult – Jezdzcy
via FoxyTunes
September 27, 2007 6 Comments
Beijing Pride Institute’s Fun Run day this Sunday the 16th
Check this out, running and food for free . Register with them and let them know how you plan to get there – there are fee shuttle buses from GuoMao, Kempinski and Lido…
This is organised by LuChin Mischki of the Pride Institute – trying to get Beijing shipshape and spittle free for the olympics…
More here this is the flyer for the event
Catch Olympic fever! Come and join us for a run and enjoy all the fun with your family while we support a good cause and build a better community! This family and sport orientated event is a great way to warm up for the 2007 Beijing Marathon or just enjoys the fresh air alongside the scenic Wenyu River.
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September 12, 2007 No Comments
Congratulations to me. I have won 1.5 million thingies
Apparently to ‘Notification Dept’
<<Sir/Madam, CONGRATULATIONS: YOU WON 1,500,000.00 USD. We are pleased to inform you of the result of DAYZERS NL, which was held on the 24th, August 2007.>>
thank you dayzers. nl or whatever it is. I like this:
<<
This program is sponsored by CFI to compensate
faithful internet suffers around the globe
>>
Yes, we suffer. especially from this kind of garbage. Dear Dayzer, please attach winnings for:
e-ticket number:07-80-77-45-44 (02-07)
to this post for e-collection. Thank you.
August 30, 2007 No Comments
