Big Andy's Blog

1Q84

Andrew — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 15:03:09 +0000

Haruki Murakami is my favorite author and I am on the final chapter of the first book of his triple-book epic “1Q84” that I received for my birthday from Marion’s parents. I will say its really good but definitely not as weird as the other books; and no cats.

Web Dev Conf

Andrew — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 13:06:54 +0000

I’m really looking forward to tonight because tonight I am going to Bristol for my first ever “Web Developers Conference”.

Radiohead Remixes Stream

Andrew — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 18:09:27 +0000

Tropical Music

Andrew — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 21:05:53 +0000

Turbo Training

Andrew — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 21:01:08 +0000

Darkness arrives way to early at this time of the year, too early for cycling after work and departs too late to go in the morning before work. Thus I had the choice of hanging up my road bike and doing no exercise during the week or to continue the good work that I had done on the bike since starting road cycling in July. Of course I could have switched to running after work — and indeed I might do that as well — but I am obsessed about cycling and wanted to see what the Turbo Trainer had to offer!

I have so far done four different sessions since starting last Tuesday, going every other day for 30mins+. The first session was the hardest because I didn’t know what I was letting myself in for, and I was training in front of one of The Sufferfest videos – supposed to be the hardest cycling workout videos on the market. Each week I will increase the duration by five minutes and see where that gets me, and each week I will train once to a sufferfest video to keep me extra motivated.

Having no access to training books I am experimenting with what works best but always include a good warmup, and alternations between hard and medium with some recovery in between. I use my Garmin 405 to track my heartrate and plan to get a cadence attachment so I can measure how fast I am peddling (I’ve read that a cadence of 90-110 rpm is optimum).

Hopefully there will be some weekends where I can go out riding where I will see how much effect this training is having, plus it will be great to taste the fresh country air again.

Fourtet Remix of Radiohead

Andrew — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 14:56:07 +0000

Separator – Four Tet RMX by Radiohead

via Fourtet.net

Awesome Thom York Mix

Andrew — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 10:39:14 +0000

Thom Yorke MoneyBack Mix – Xfm Music: Response 15/09/11
by Mary Anne Hobbs on Mixcloud

Sixty miles!

Andrew — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 20:27:44 +0000

It’s been a bloody long time since I rode that far on a bike and the final 10 miles were those of a suffering knackered empty excuse for a cyclist who is paying for his lack of fitness and over eager speed-demon start. On Sunday one week after buying my Bianchi road bike I did the medium Evans sportive ride.

I started five minutes after Marion (she did the short route) from Whitchurch Hill and the pace was very fast with lots of people racing from the off, spurring me to go fast and overtake them. Lots of people were in groups but I was solo. I stopped at ~40 miles for a snack bar and again at 45 but this was not enough and I really struggled in the final 5-10 miles. Yes I completed the route in 3h35m with average speed of 16.5mph and max of 38mph. Looking forward to doing more rides, joining a cycling club and getting faster!

Olympics a Year away

Andrew — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 09:16:19 +0000

Today marks start of one-year count-down to the 2012 London Olympics. Already there is much in the press and warm-up events that are here to help prepare for next summer. One event that I am really interested in is the Olympic Cycling Road Race warm-up to be held on the 14th of August. The event includes many riders from this years Tour de France, including sprinters Mark Cavendish and Tom Boonen.

The Rules

Andrew — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 09:42:42 +0000

The Rules of Road Cycling (again cheers bro for the link!)