GreatDane

Row for the Cure 2010 - video

2010-09-23T19:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a short video I made before I went out in Pepe:

By the way: There is a good article in Seattle Times about the 2010 edition of Row for the Cure. Read it - all the pics are from Lake Union Crew!

Row for the Cure 2010

2010-09-23T18:51:00.000-07:00

Row for the Cure 2010 in Seattle was Sunday September 19. Crews from 22 boat houses participated, more than 660 rowers in total! I rowed my Pepe in the M1x Masters category.

The master category is tricky, I've learned after only 3 competitions. You get a handicap which is roughly 1.6 second/year/km, with year being computed relative to the youngest competitor in the class. At 39 years, I turned out to be the youngest, so I would get no handicap at all.

In the end I ended up as 4 out of 6 participants on raw time, and 6 out of 6 in handicap time, as I wasn't able to keep the old-timers at bay. Definitely need to get faster and control the check better.

The race is interval 3 in the map below. I did reasonably well staying around 26 spm for the duration of the race, although the speed went down a bit. But at least I have something to compare to now for future races.

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3x(10x8[Power];30s@20)@24,26,24;3mins@20

2010-09-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

Tuesday morning practice. It's 3 sets. Each set you do 8 strokes at power, then rest for a bit (30 seconds in this case), then you do another 8. Repeat until you've done this 10 times. First set you do all the power strokes at 24 strokes per minute (spm), 2nd set at 26 spm, 3rd set at 24 spm. Do 20 spm between repeats, when you're resting.

This set is the 2nd interval. Couldn't count properly after first set, as you can see. Also, stroke rate was a bit high for the 2nd set. But otherwise not too bad. Was told to initiate my drive a little bit faster after the catch, in order to get quicker through the drive and get a slightly longer recovery at that rate.

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Row for the Cure!

2010-09-06T17:12:00.000-07:00

19 September 2010 is Row for the Cure in Seattle! I'm rowing my 1x and you can help me raise money for breast cancer cure here: http://www.active.com/donate/seattlerftc/greatdane

Racing at Greenlake Extravaganza!

2010-09-02T22:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a little video from my first race - Greenlake Extravaganza 7 August 2010!

Mercer Island Marathon

2010-09-02T22:00:00.000-07:00

So, Sunday 29 August was supposed to be the day where I would be the 3-seat in a quad, rowing all the way from Pocock around Mercer Island and back again - a full Marathon of 42.2 km for the benefit of Rainier Valley Rowing.

The route was s'posed to be something like this (thx to Kim); a nice little Sunday morning row:

So, at 5 am Sunday morning we all met at Pocock, where another quad, a four and 2 eights were also departing for the row. Hugo was stroke, I was in 3-seat, Kim in 2-seat and Elizabeth in the bow, guiding us around the Island.

We got down and got hands-on our boat and got it launched. Then we got in, pushed off, adjusted the stretchers and we were off! The wind was breezy, to put it mildly. When we cam out to SR-520 bridge and went through, we had - almost - whitecaps on the water, and a wave now and then coming over the gunnel.

The support launches told us to go back to the lee of 520, and we rowed to the far east end of the bridge, so try and make it down the coast on the east side instead of on the west side (normal traffic pattern).

But alas, as we came to the east it was pretty obvious that the wind and waves were also too much on this side, so we turned back towards Pocock and the sheltered waters of Lake Union. Even that turned out to be a bit of a challenge, as the wind picked up a bit during the early morning hours...

However, we made it through the ship canal and all the way to the far end of Ballard, only half a mile from home for me! In Ballard we stopped for a few minutes for 'lunch' - a few sips of Gatorade and a power gel...

From Ballard it was back through the ship canal, down around the bottom of Lake Union and then home to Pocock where we docked around 9am, about 3 hrs after the start. We had managed 32 km out of the 42.2, so we'll grab the last 10 k next year - that will be easy peasy, even if the wind is rough!

Here's a map and stroke info of 18k of the route (click the triangles). I had some issues with the otherwise *Brilliant* SpeedCoachMobile app - not sure it can handle really long rows...

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Thursday morning row on Lake Union

2010-03-11T19:58:00.000-08:00

So the iPhone SpeedCoach Mobile app really does a decent job of getting ones track down:

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We did a 12000 m row, and a 500 m piece towards the end. More later from the water!

Oars!

2010-01-25T21:26:00.000-08:00

All mine: A brand-new pair of Croker S2 Superlights with standard stiffness, 288 cm median length, Slick blade, Mk3 asymmetric sleeves, adjustable carbon handles and standard grip size. Yay! Only problem: How do I get them to the boathouse…?

London-Edinburgh-London 2009, the prologue II...

2010-01-25T21:12:00.000-08:00

LEL - the prologue part II

Tuesday morning I boarded the train for Portsmouth (via Crediton, Exeter St. Davids and Southampton) and Tuesday afternoon I was in Portsmouth. The train took me right down to the Harbor and I walked down to the Gunwharf Quays. The Gunwharf Quays are the old gunwharfs(!), where the once so majestic British Navy would be outfitted with guns, gunpowder, biscuits, rum, bullets, shanghaied sailors, opium, prostitutes and whatever else was needed to run an empire. Nowadays it is full of fancy shops and small ugly hotdog stands.

There were plenty of memorabilia left from the golden old days when the Brits ruled the 7 seas and everything inbetween: HMS Warrior , HMS Victory, which Nelson, the scoundrel, used to defeat the Glorious Danish Navy in the Battle of Copenhagen 2 April 1801 . Maybe I could smuggle some gunpowder onboard and, if placed in the right locations, finally get some revenge for the defeat...?

But first I had to meet Kathryn for a beer or several (well, it was a given that it would be several; only question was the time between them). After some serious txting Bar 38 was chosen as a starting point and I sat down in an enormous chair shaped like a crown, waiting for her to get off work. While waiting I had a Fosters , and then another when she showed up. After chatting for a bit about what had happened since last time we saw each other (15 months), we dropped off my stuff at her place on the outskirts of town and I had a Carlsberg from her fridge. She had a nice view of the tidal channels and the mudflats in front of her apartment, something I could appreciate with my sedimentology background.

Then we were off to an Indian restaurant for some typical classic British food - the curry - and a seriously sized Cobra beer. After dinner we walked along the now most empty Gunwharf but ended up in The Old Customs House , where 2 Seafarers Ale ended their life in my lager-lined stomach. At midnight the establishment decided it was time to close down, so despite our reluctance to leave we had to, although we were the absolute last to haul ourselves out of there. Then it was back in a taxi to Kathryn’s place and off to bed before next mornings most delicious treat - a fried brekkie from a greasy spoon on the waterfront. It wasn’t Mike’s Bites - it was almost better (!) and I left Portsmouth for Bangor with a happy stomach and liver.

Tally for the 20 hours or so I spent in Portsmouth: 2 Foster’s, 1 Carlsberg, 1 Cobra and 2 Seafarers Ale, roughly on par when compared with my time spent in Crediton. What was not on par was the train fare for my trip Portsmouth-London-Bangor-London-(Portsmouth), which were cheaper than any other return trip option to get me to London after visiting Bangor. However, it still came to bloody 97 quid for second class tickets! Normally one should be able to get a flight from the UK to Mallorca and back for that kind of money, but unfortunately I wasn’t going to Mallorca. I was going to Bangor. To visit friends. So I had to pay. And with a lighter wallet I was on my way to the green pastures of NW-Wales and the slate-grey streets of Bangor.

London-Edinburgh-London 2009, the prologue I...

2009-10-29T22:01:00.000-07:00

LEL - the prologue...

So my LEL preparations started in earnest in September 2008 when I paid the fee and submitted my registration form for LEL. I began the winter training in December 2008 or so, and rode a 200 km ride at least twice a month until May/June. I also did a few longer rides, 600km, 300km, just to check out the legs and gear, and then I slowed down from early July.

I had decided to go to the UK one week before the ride began, in order to catch up with friends from when I used to live there. I flew out on Friday 17 July 2009 and arrived in Heathrow Terminal 5 the following day around lunch time. Then it was on the train towards the south-west...

My LEL preparations increased in intensity as I arrived in Crediton, a 10-minute train ride outside of Exeter in beautiful SW-England late in the afternoon on Saturday 18 July. My friends Biz & Pete from my time at Bangor University picked me up at the train station and we walked to their house, about 200 meters from the train station. After European standards it was a short walk but I bet that 99% of all Americans would have expected to be picked up by a car for the trip... Biz & Pete of course knew that I used to walk 2.2 miles to work and 2.2 miles home from work every day when I lived in Bangor, and that the tiny trek wouldn’t be a problem at all.

Anyway, I hadn’t seen any of them since March 2008 when I was last in the UK so once I was installed in their spare bedroom we had a couple of Carlsbergs or 3 in their garden to celebrate my return to dear old Blighty. After a few pints in the sprinkling British summer weather we retreated to the indoors, where Pete fired up under us with an excellent Chili Con Carne.

They informed me about Exeter’s nightlife and the plan they had laid out for me for the evening (unless I wanted to go to bed early and rest). No way! Staying up till 2 in the morning while drinking numerous pints with your friends is by far the best way to get over the jet lag quickly.

Therefore it was inbound for Exeter and it’s Ex-iting nightlife when we had finished the Chili and another Carlsberg. We started out at Wetherspoon’s with a couple of Fosters and comparing the dress code of the locals in Exeter with that of the locals in Bangor (far less track suits and fewer super-overweight teenagers in Exeter than in Bangor). Also, the Wetherspoon’s in Exeter, being located in an old orangerie, was far better looking than the one in Bangor, with a HUGE panorama window with cast iron glass panes. But, Wetherspoon being what it is, and with Biz & Pete promising that there were much more exciting pubs in the city centre we broke up and headed towards the downtown area (as the city centre is known in the US of A).

In Coolings Cellar , where the downstairs lounges have ceilings that are roughly 5 foot and a few inches above the floor, we sat down with a Heineken in plush leather seats and enjoyed the spectacle of lanky young brits trying to avoid banging their heads into the arches. I did feel the jet lag rather strongly by now, so we didn’t stay for too long in the plush decor - or I would have drifted off to la-la land...

Consequently we went for a place where chances were that we wouldn’t be able to get a seat: Timepiece , which used to be Exeter’s prison but now has been converted to a 3-story night club and pub. We had another Foster’s while standing around, but suddenly a table opened up so we were able to actually sit down. Fortunately I was able to stay awake. It was really a cool place, as were the other pubs we had visited during the night. Massive oak tables and benches provided the right feel for a former prison, I thought.

The last pub that night was Amber Room (I think, forgive me if I’m wrong, but I’m writing this from the memory 15-16 weeks after I actually visited). It was a quite hip place, but the fact that we now were getting close to closing time meant that the hipsters had or were about to leave - apart from Biz, Pete and I, of course. We got our pints (another round of Foster’s) and once again sunk into soft leather seats while reminiscencing our Bangor past and what had happened since (a lot, actually, but that is not the topic of this tale - at least not yet).

As we emptied our drinks we looked out the window onto the street and saw a taxi pull up in front of the bar - it was ours; we had ordered it 8 hours before, before we even left Crediton. This was one of the many wonders I never fully grasped about England: How is it possible to order a taxi to pull up in front of a pub at 1.30 Sunday morning 8 hours in advance, and then have it actually happen? Surely that would never have been possible in Denmark, and I also very much doubt that it would be possible in Seattle. Regardless, the taxi was there, it was in our name, and 15 minutes later we were back in Crediton and on the way to bed.

Beer tally for Saturday 18 July: 3 Carlsbergs (Crediton), 2 Fosters (Wetherspoon), 1 Heineken (Coolings), 1 Carling (Timepiece), 1 Fosters (Amber Room) for a total of 8 pints on a pleasant night out. An Ex-cellent start to my final week of preparations for LEL! (I take hydration seriously...)

Upon getting out of bed rather late on Sunday and enjoying an excellent breakfast with bacon, sausages, toast etc. etc. etc., prepared by chef Pete, we took the train to Dawlish on the coast (the channel coast, in case you were wondering [the *English* channel coast for the slower readers]).

Dawlish was a peaceful little seaside town with a couple of secluded beaches, red rocks and cliffs. The weather was typical English summer weather, so I was happy that I had brought my wet weather gear along. We went for a walk along the promenade, which took us to one of the beaches where we could admire the red rocks. They are made up of loosley consolidated sandstone with angular pebbles in a matrix of fabulously red sand-sized grains. The pebbles were really rather loosely embedded in the matrix and it was easy to pick them out if you tried.

Then it was back to Dawlish for a quick lunch (pastries, what else?) before we walked along the seaside walk to Dawlish Warren. The walk is only a mile long or so, but it is on the seaside of the railroad tracks. If you have ever taken the train from London to Plymouth you will undoubtedly have noticed a section where the train is right on the edge of the water - that is this stretch. As it turned out, the seaside walk is indeed to the seaside of the railroad tracks, with waves from the channel washing over the walk, so you had to time your walk carefully if you didn’t want to get wet feet!

We made it to the other side, close to Dawlish Warren, without being overly wet, and enjoyed the view from the top of the red cliffs overlooking Dawlish and the Channel. The it was down to the Red Rock Cafe for a well-deserved cuppa.

Since it was now getting close to afternoon-ish we all started to feel that beer o’clock was approaching so we boarded the train back to Crediton. Or rather, upon our return to Exeter we realized that the next train to Crediton was in 55 minutes, so we headed over to a local pub opposite of the train station - The Jolly Porter . A few minutes later the first pint of the day was being enjoyed. We had a table next to the window where we could enjoy the great attraction in the neighborhood - a double roundabout (so in the shape of a figure 8). Almost every car that went through the roundabout went through in a different manner than the previous car. It was a highly amusing sight and I was quite surprised that no accidents had occurred after 15 minutes of car watching.

The pint (a Foster’s) disappeared rather quickly, so after having finished our drinks we decided to go across the street (and the roundabout!) to the Great Western Hotel for another pint. In the plush, deep leather seats from another century we enjoyed the second drink of the day in a relaxing atmosphere designed for conversation about the latest cricket results and the upcoming fox hunt. Since we could talk about neither we talked about a lot of other stuff and headed out just in time to catch the train back to Crediton.

Upon our return to Crediton the plan was to head out to explore the local pubs there. Since it was a Sunday our plan was to find a place where we could indulge in that most cherished of British meals: The Sunday Roast. But first a drink, so we had a Carlsberg before moving on... Then we moved on to the Crediton Inn where I first had a pint of Silver Stallion sharply followed by a White Russian.

It was now getting towards 20:00 in the evening so it was about time to find a pub for the Sunday Roast. The local Wetherspoon was chosen but when we arrived we discovered to our dismay that they were out of roast for the day! Oh well, fortunately they were not out of Bangers and Mash so I had a large portion of that, together with 2 pints of Pedigree.

Then it was back to Biz & Pete’s place for a well-deserved night of sleep after a great day of outings and pubbing. Beer tally for Sunday 19 July: 1 Foster’s (Jolly Porter), 1 Full Sail (Great Western Hotel), 1 Carlsberg (Crediton), 1 Silver Stallion, 1 White Russian (Crediton Inn), 2 Pedigree (Wetherspoon) for a total of 6 pints and 1 drink on a *great* day in Devon!

Monday was my last day in Crediton before moving on the Portsmouth to see Kathryn. Biz and Pete had to be home in the afternoon as they had some furniture delivered, but we went into Exeter in the morning. We parked and then walked around for a bit to take in the sight of the cathedral and the tons of churches - and there are a lot of churches in Exeter!

We meandered down to the river, where the riverfront shops were just opening up. It was clearly here that the good people of Exeter came if they wanted to buy heavy oak furniture. Several small shops specialized in the making and selling of sturdy oak bed frames, huuuuuuge oak dining tables (2 inches thick tabletops!) and lots of other furniture of the kind that would last 8-10 generations at least.

It was also close by the river that the parts of the old city wall, dating all the way back to the Romans, were easiest to see. The city wall was no match for the mighty Danish viking army who conquered the city in 876. Unfortunately they were driven out of the city again the following summer, only to try again in 893. But, as unbelievable as it may sound, the Danes were not able to conquer and plunder the city again until 1003 when they were let into the city by a Frenchman, Emma or Normandy. She had married the English King, Æthelred the Unready, in 1002 in order to lighten up the relationship between the English and the Normans. However, perhaps because of her Normannic heritage she was sympathetic to the Danish invaders (the inhabitants in Normandy are descendents of early Viking raiders in that area in the 800s)? Regardless, it was very nice of her to open the door to the city for my ancestors. I was glad that I had a much easier time getting access to the city than they had.

But I couldn’t help wonder how an action like that would affect the conversation when Æthelred came home in the evening from a hard day of ruling the English people:

Æthelred: How was your day, love?

Emma: Oh well, quite brilliant I dare say my darling: I met up with some distant relatives and showed them around in Exeter. They were very pleased with the shopping! It was frightfully exciting!

Æthelred: Marvelous dear, I’m glad you had a good time...ummm, are you not of Normannic descent my honey-bunny? Would your distant relatives perhaps be those Danish scoundrels who plundered the entire city today?!

Emma: But sweetie-pie, they are so far away from home and they need food and clothing to keep up their work...

Æthelred: ...which is conquering England!!! We’ll talk about this tomorrow sugar; you can’t just let anybody in all over the country! It makes me look bad when I confront the people! What’s for dinner?

Anyway, I didn’t try to steal anything. In fact I left a few quid in a camera store for a new card for my camera, as well as 10 quid for a haircut and another few quid for lunch before it was back to Biz and Pete for an exciting afternoon of waiting for their new furniture. Around 5pm it arrived: The largest purple sofa I have ever seen in my life soon lit up their entire lounge. And very comfy it was too! We immediately proceeded to celebrate the purchase with a bunch of Carlsbergs and then we were off to the Crediton Inn for a last round of pints in Crediton before my departure for Portsmouth the following morning.

Tally for Monday: 3 Carlsbergs, 2 Silver Stallions and 1 Regatta for a total of 6 pints. That made it 20 pints of beer and 1 drink for the first 3 days of my stay in the UK. Probably somewhat below my ‘summer-average’ when I used to live in Bangor, but quite respectable nonetheless. And the company had been first class!

August 2010?

2009-09-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

http://www.1001migliaitalia.it/

...hmmmmm - tempting, but would it be a vise thing to do?

London-Edinburgh-London 2009, the epilogue...

2009-08-28T22:36:00.000-07:00

LEL - The Epilogue...

I had finished LEL2009 in 105:30 hours. After I got my final stamp in my brevet card and had handed it over to the controllers they handed me a little pack. Ooooh, joy of joys - there was a sandwich and a beer in it! Maybe it would be a Golden Best or something equally refreshing? Unfortunately it wasn’t an English beer but some diluted Belgian water called Stella Artois. Regardless, I sat down on a bench with some of the other riders from the US. One of them was John Ende, famous at least in US randonneuring circles for passing a kidney stone during Paris-Brest-Paris 2007 and continuing his ride after having been hospitalized due to the passing stone. Despite the weather he had had an easier ride this time around...

We drank and ate our sandwiches and generally drifted off mentally in various directions. I was feeling a bit fuzzy from sleep deprivation, but not really tired or sleepy as such, just fuzzy all over. It was also a *very* nice feeling to have completed the ride and although I was way over my initial 96 hour target time I was nonetheless very pleased finishing Thursday evening. This meant I could sleep the entire night, have a big breakfast and then take off for London and get 2 full days in town before heading back to Seattle Sunday afternoon.

But all that was for tomorrow. Now a more pressing need started to become apparent - showering. Last time I was in a shower was Sunday morning. It was now Thursday evening so it had been 4.5 days without showering - and 1400 km of cycling inbetween. While I certainly had been wet for some of the time I’m not sure that it really counted. I went to the counter and asked for the key to my room, got it and started walking my bike towards my lodge.

Then Dave suddenly appeared. I had been wondering how he had finished and how he felt. I imagined that when I saw him he would be well rested, as in Coxwold he was some 15 hours ahead of me, so I figured he would have finished late Wednesday evening or very early Thursday morning at the latest. But his tiny eyes looking at me didn’t really indicate that he was overly rested. He had finished late Thursday morning, some 10 hours ahead of me, so I had made up a lot of time on him towards the end. He had been riding in various groups most of the way and things had been going so well that although he had planned for a nap in Dalkeith (riding non-stop there), he had continued on with other groups going south, all the way to Coxwold. Coxwold. 1021 km after the start. Without sleep.

I had a hard time comprehending that. I was hallucinating mildly after ~600 km. I couldn’t imagine what another 400km would have done to me. But Dave could tell me: He had been seeing all kinds of stuff the last hours before coming into Coxwold. People on the road that vanished into thin air when he approached them and stuff. Much like cheap drugs. He had slept at Coxwold for a few hours and then continued on in daylight (early Wednesday morning). But the 1021km without sleep had worn him down a bit so progress had been slow the last 400km. The last 68km from Gamlingay had taken him 4-5 hours, riding together with another Dane, actually. Anyway, he made it, but not as much ahead of me as I would have thought.

Dave suggested we had another beer or two and I was all up for that! He went to the bar to get them and I parked myself and my bike outside on a bench - the weather was really nice now! We drank and talked about the ride; both of us agreed that it was one of the hardest things we had ever done. I decided it was time for a shower; it had been 4 1/2 days since my last shower and I had cycled 1401 km since then. While I had been wet a lot in those 4 1/2 days I hadn’t had any soap to go with the wetness and it felt about time. Consequently I went to my room, which I was sharing with a couple of Italians who had finished Wednesday morning, some 36-40 hours before me. They did look fast... They said they had to get up at 3 Friday morning in order to catch their plane and that they didn’t hope that they would wake me up. Reassuringly I informed them that I really didn’t think that would be possible.

I then had a quick shower and Dave and I went to the nearest pub for a few more beers and general evaluation. I had 6 packs of chips (crisps for UK readers) as well. An hour or so later I started to feel the impact of the last 4-5 days effort and we broke up in order to head to bed. A couple of riders rolled in as we walked through the gate to the hostel. Well done! 3 minutes later I was fast asleep.

At 6.45 or so Friday morning I woke up again, in a completely empty hostel room. I hadn’t heard a thing when the Italians had left and I had spent 7 hours or so in deep sleep, which felt really good. So I got up and had another shower (2 in 12 hours!) and then headed off for the breakfast room. On the way I met Dave, who was surprised to see me. He thought I would’ve been off in la-la land for much longer. It was probably the thought of the English breakfast that had awoken me - since it was included in the price for the room there really wasn’t any reason to miss out on it...

There were not too many riders in the breakfast room so we had no problems finding a place to sit. Only the sitting itself was a bit of a problem for us - turned out that also Dave had some issues with general wear and tear here and there... A rider who had just finished a few minutes earlier sat down next to us. It turned out he was a cop and that he was living in Wales. His first job had been in Bangor, of all places, so we talked about that for a bit. It was his first grand brevet and he was very pleased to have finished. So was I. This was my 3rd ride of 1200km or more and the finish always feel the same - tremendous satisfaction and a great sense of achievement. Add to that a slight sense of feeling peckish and you’ll understand that I was very pleased looking down at my plate, eyeing my breakfast, which was steadily disappearing from my plate!

After breakfast it was time to get the bike packed up. Dave was flying out Saturday morning, so if we could make it into London for the afternoon we had time for several pints in the very pleasant (now!) summer weather. An hour or so later we had both bikes in the boxes and checked out. There was a train strike so we had to take a taxi to the next station over, in order to get on a train operated by a non-striking company. British taxis are great! We had 2 bikes in boxes, I had a huge duffelbage, Dave a backpack, and then we had 2 smaller bags each. It all fitted inside the taxi, together with us without problem - that would not be possible anywhere in the US, where the trunk (boot for UK readers) always has a funky bump in the middle where the spare tire sticks up. Whoever came up with that car design was certainly not a bicyclist!

Anyway, 20 minutes later we were on our way to Liverpool Street Station and from there we went to Paddington where we both dropped of out bikes in the left luggage section. Then we checked in to the hotel and then out to find 1) lunch 2) beer. We ended up sitting in a pub in Covent Garden for 5-6 hours all afternoon before going for dinner in a Steak House back at Paddington Station. Then we said good bye to each other as Dave was off for Canada next morning at 7:00 while I was meeting with a friend coming to town for the day from Portsmouth. So that was really the final end of LEL for me.

A quiet pint (or 5...) in sunny Covent Garden!

Dave in front of London's Chinatown

It has now been about a month and I have been thinking about the ride quite a lot. My daily distances were 633km, 261km, 216km and 291km. So apart from ‘day 1’ (which was really more like 2 days) the distances were very moderate. I would have liked to see a more even distribution of the mileage, but the weather also came into play. It took forever to get from Eskdalemuir to Dalkeith and back, despite the fact that it was only 166 km for the round trip. I then made it into Alston on midnight and due to the storm it was impossible to go any further unless you were a complete lunatic (all randonneurs have a bit of that in them, I think, but not enough to put you into outright danger...).

I would have liked to make it to Middleton Tyas at 969km for the 2nd ‘night’ (i.e. 2nd sleep period), and I wasn’t too tired to do that, but the weather prevented any further riding that night. If I had made it to Middleton Tyas I figure that I could have slept 4-5 hours and then be quite well-rested to ride the last 432km in one stretch.

It is also possible that riding 633km in one sitting was too much, but once I noted the rapid cooling down in Alston I was very determined to not ride in the night (especially w/o my gloves) and was determined to get to Eskdalemuir as fast as possible - together with everybody else, as it turned out... (My buddy Mark from SIR arrived at Eskdalemuir around 19.00 Monday evening and, due to back problems, decided to sleep there. He later told me that when he went to bed there was only one other rider sleeping there, and that when he got up and left in the early morning the place had ‘changed a lot’!!)

Anyway, the way things unfolded I’m not sure I would have done anything different, except try to get in the early start group. If I had been on the road 5.5 hours earlier I could have made it to Eskdalemuir in one go for Monday evening, instead of Tuesday morning. I could then have had about 5-6 hours of sleep until 4am or so, and therefore be on the road 2-3 hours earlier than actually was the case. This in turn would’ve enabled me to get all the way to Middleton Tyas for my 2nd sleep stop, probably early Wednesday morning, instead of being hunkered down in Alston for the night. With 4-6 hours of sleep in Middleton Tyas it would not have been unreasonable to try and make it back to Lee Valley in one go (only 432km) and be back Thursday early afternoon.

Regardless, even the best laid plans for a long randonnee are susceptible to weather and you end up improvising. In the end I am quite glad that I managed to get 633 km in the first day; that gave me a comfortable time cushion as I met a lot of people in Eskdalemuir that had started in the 8:00 start group. And I know from previous 1200km rides that I usually only need 2-3 hours sleep to recover enough to go out again for 18 hours of riding, so I was never really worried about fatigue. During this ride the worst enemy was the sleepiness (first night, and the approach to Eskdalemuir), and tremendous boredom on some of the stretches. 1400 km is a notably longer ride than a 1200 km. There are 1600 km rides in Germany and 2000km rides on Vancouver Island in Canada. I don’t dare think what they are like. A 2000km ride would take about 7 days, maybe only 6 full days of riding...

I think I will stick to the 1200 km rides as maximum distance in the future. I now have a 1200km (or more) ride in 3 different countries (USA, France, England) so I only need one more 1200km ride in a 4th country to earn my second International Super Randonneur award - hopefully that will happen next year!

London-Edinburgh-London 2009, part IV

2009-08-13T23:47:00.000-07:00

LEL 2009 - night four and day five...

After more than 7 blissful hours of uninterrupted sleep a friendly controller awoke me at 3.30 Thursday morning and reluctantly I got out of bed. When you have booked a cot and a wake-up time there is unfortunately no time for a lie-in, as another rider is waiting for your bed. Two minutes after I was out of my bed another rider was already in it - guess s/he needed it more than I did... I got the contacts in and brushed my teeth again (just because I could!), then went for breakfast and coffee. After that it was time for a quick lube of my miserable butt and at 4.30 I was off towards Washingborough, 74 km down the road and 1184 km from the start.

I had set off right at the crack of dawn and I only needed lights for 15-20 minutes. I passed the pothole where I had had a flat and sidewall destruction on day 1 - this time I anticipated it and easily rode around it once I spotted it. It was a beautiful day, with fluffy Cumulus clouds on an otherwise blue sky. Way out in the horizon the sky turned grey but at least for now there was nothing but dry, fresh air and the open road ahead of me. Even the wind had died down and on top of that the route was now turning ever so frequently, so that even when there was a head wind it really wasn’t for very long. I was anxious to get down to Washingborough, as there would only be 217 km home to Cheshunt from that control - normally an 8-9 hour ride, but I was aware that it might take a bit longer today...

Looking back over my shoulder I could see the outline of a nuclear power plant, clearly visible above the flat landscape. As the km’s disappeared behind me it would become smaller and smaller, a nice visible assurance of my progress. Dark skies accumulated to the left and right of me, but the road ahead passed right through the only bright part of the morning sky. I could see 3 or 4 rain showers to the left and right of me but I was in the dry! If I had been superstitious I would have taken it as a good warning of an easy last day. Half an hour later I was glad that I was not superstitious, as a black cat ran across the road in front of me while looking annoyed at me - perhaps for cycling too fast so that it had to speed up its crossing half way over in order not to get run over?

Somewhere on the route I passed a sleeping randonneur - he had pulled over in a bus shed and was sleeping standing up, leaned against the wall of the shed, with his hand on the bicycle seat to support him. The bus shed was just opposite from a terrace of houses with people having breakfasts and getting started on their day. I bet they all had a good story to tell when they came to work.

Not long after I was on the outskirts of Lincoln, and only 8 km or so from the Washingborough control. In Thorne I had heard some people talk about some roadwork or some such in Lincoln, and somebody mentioned something about a diversion. I hadn’t paid too close attention as I figured it couldn’t be that difficult since it was only 8 km from the control - how many possibilities could there be for diversions that close to a control? Turned out that Lincoln is a rather big city with many, many roads going in all directions. There was a signed diversion, including some signs for LEL riders, but I must have missed one of the more important ones, because I found myself climbing a monster hill for 10 minutes or so. After that I saw a sign advertising the road to Skegness on the A15. I knew that I had to be on the A15 but I was absolutely sure that Skegness - being on the North Sea coast - was not the direction to go, so I turned the bike around and zoomed down the hill I had just climbed. Bingo! There was the correct A15, and it had only taken me half an hour or so of wasted time to find it. 15 minutes later I rolled in at the Washingborough control.

It was still relatively early morning, around 8.30 or so, so I had all reasons for a 2nd breakfast. To my delight there was plenty of bacon, mushrooms and everything else a randonneur could desire. Lots of coffee too! Mark, whom I had met at Thorne was there as well, having his 2nd breakfast. There were not too many riders there, and I figured I was in between the majority of the riders that had stayed at Washingborough overnight and the majority of the riders that had stayed at Thorne.

A couple of Italians pulled in shortly after me. They were always a magnificent sight - all dressed in their national randonneuring jersey, all in white shorts (after 4 days on the road! How many sets of spare clothing did they bring?), all with clean legs and arms, and all with perfect hair, even after 1184 km? Must be the pasta or the coffee at home... (My hair was actually looking OK, but that was because after 4 days without a shower I could set it any which way I wanted and it would stay that way even when the helmet came on).

Soon I was back on the road, headed for Thurlby 67 km ahead (and at 1251 km from the start). The first 25 km were ridden in pleasant winds in the sun when - more or less without warning - I was hit by a tremendous shower while out in the open with nowhere to go and nowhere to hide for the wall of water that came down. I pulled over and got my rain gear on in seconds but I still became soaked - but at least the water in my jersey would heat up during riding when enclosed in my rain coat... Two minutes later I could stop and take it all off again, as the sun was now out in full force. Gotta love the European summer!

The rest of the distance to Thurlby was spent drying out and putting on and taking off rain gear in anticipation of a severe shower, but none materialized and I pulled in to get my stamp around lunch time - perfect timing for lunch. However, there now was a glitch in the organization as the controllers stamping me in told me to go inside and find something to eat - quickly, as they were running out of food!

I hurried inside and the delicious pastries from day one were certainly gone. Fortunately they had cheese sandwiches, soup, and plenty of cakes provided by the lovely ladies from Thurlby Methodist Church. Thank you very much - they were great with and without a bit of custard!

I once again ran into Mark and another british rider (Peter?) who had foot issues. Not trench foot (like me), but rather the opposite as he had developed a set of big cracks on his foot sole. The nurse controller came out and looked at him and told him that he should drink loads of water and orange mix before taking off as the cracks in the skin were due to dehydration. Wonderful sport!

I sat around for 20-30 minutes or so and then took of in the early afternoon for the penultimate control at Gamlingay, 86km down the road and 1336km from the start. Soon after my departure there was another funkiness in the cue sheet, where I fooled around in an intersection for 5 minutes before a man in a parked car stuck his head out and yelled ‘They all went that way’ and pointed in what I thought was the wrong direction. But it wasn’t, and I was back on track, pedalling at a relaxed pace of 25-28km/hr in a slight breeze - the vicious headwind had died down and occasionally there now was a tailwind!

On the downside was that the landscape was now becoming hillier. The flatlands of North Yorkshire and Lincolnshire had given way to sections with short, but steep climbs and long-ish descents - the hills that we had encountered on the North bound journey, but now in reverse. They didn’t bother me too much - except for a few brutally steep ones - but I imagined that some of the later riders would curse the hills this close to the finish...

Regardless, progress was quite good and late in the afternoon I finally found myself Gamlingay - the last control before the finish at Lee Valley Youth Hostel! The controllers looked a bit worn out, which was no wonder once you thought about it. The control had been open since early Sunday when the riders departing at 8.00 had passed through. Later in the day my start group had passed through, and probably only a couple of days later return riders started to show up. So it had to be manned and kept tidy for almost the entire duration of the ride.

Anyway, I didn’t really pay too much attention to the tired controllers, as I was myself feeling a bit tired of it all by now. Happily I got some soup and some sandwiches and sat down with a big glass of orange mix and ate my last dinner on the road. I was dreading the last bit a little - in 2007 when riding PBP the last stretch had had the exact same distance as what I was facing now and back then I though it had been a very, very long haul to get back to Paris. I was wondering if I would feel the same this time - this close to the end you really just want to get it all over with and have a shower (which I really needed now, after more than 4 days on the road!)

Therefore I was soon on the road again, riding along in the later afternoon sun, the wind calming down, the clouds opening up and the grey skies fading away. It was delightful to ride the last 65 km back home to Lee Valley, apart from a slight fuzziness on the cue sheet in Hertford, 15 km before Lee Valley, where I briefly ended up on a dual carriageway going in the wrong direction. Oh well, back along the sidewalk and then off towards Cheshunt. 8-9km later I saw a sign saying ‘Cheshunt’ and 20 minutes later I rolled in at Lee Valley Youth Hostel, to the applause of the finished riders, organizers, friends and families sitting outside enjoying a well-deserved beer. I parked the bike, walked inside and handed over my control card for my final stamp. I had completed the 2009 London-Edinburgh-London bike ride in 105:30 hours!

London-Edinburgh-London 2009, part III

2009-08-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

LEL 2009 - night three and day four...

Fortunately, night three was over rather quickly, as I slept most of the night under the coffee table. I woke up a few times - like 1.50, 2.30, 3.08, 4.15, 4.45 when riders were getting up and leaving and walking past me on smelly feet. Despite the fact that I was under the table their feet were only inches away from me when the walked down the stairs so...

Around 4.45 I noticed that there was an empty sleeping bag, belonging to the control, on the floor so I quickly took possession of it and draped it over my - still wet - wool jersey and body. My towel was dry by now, but the lure of the sleeping bag was irresistible. Even a king size bed in the Sheraton never felt soooo good! I then had another hour of super high quality sleep before I decided to wake up a final time, head downstairs and look for my shoes, helmet, rain coat, booties and rain legs. Cleverly I had draped the items over a range of chairs downstairs and it took 10-15 minutes to locate all of my possessions and make sure I had everything. Then I was out the door, found my bike under the canoe and was off towards Middleton Tyas @ 969km.

It was full daylight now, but the remnants of last nights storm was still blowing around - so still lots of headwind. However, it was only a few km to the top Yad Moss (598m) and then there was a ~25 km long desecent down towards Middleton-in-Teesdale. This was a lovely stretch, despite the headwind which made the downhill a little less faster than it would otherwise have been. In the end it didn’t really matter. I’m riding a Roberts Audax made of Reynolds 953 and it performs really well on long stretches with headwind. Is it because there is a tiny flex in the frame that helps you get around the dead spot a bit easier? Or is it just because of the fact that the riding position in the drop bars is really quite comfortable, even for extended periods of time? Don’t know, but the fact is that I usually ride very well in a head wind.

It was neat to notice how the landscape changed: When leaving the grassy hills in the heights around Yad Moss and Alston the landscape started to get more small-scale relief and small valleys etc. appeard, together with lush (no wonder, with all the rain!) forests. I knew that before the end of the day I would once again be riding on the flatlands of Yorkshire and it was a neat thought that I would traverse this many different types of landscape formations in daylight so that I could properly see the differences as the relief died out and gave way to flatness.

Anyway, that was still several controls and many km’s ahead. Right now a more urgent need was apparent: I had also forgotten to pack a toothbrush and -paste and it was now more than 3 days since I had brushed my teeth. They started to feel woollen so I made a stop in Barnard Castle and got what I needed. Then I continued on past the Bowes Museum and further on to Middleton Tyas, which was only another 20km or so away.

Upon arriving in Middleton Tyas I went straight for the toilets in order to brush up. 3 days of randonneuring food that had accumulated between my teeth were exchanged for a generous helping of Colgate Whitening Control, and sporting my new smile I went to check in with the controllers and get my card stamped. They didn’t notice my sparkling smile, but unaffected I went for the food section and placed my order, then sat down with a randonneur from the US and another from the UK. We chatted a bit while eating our breakfast/lunch/dinner - depending on when you got up a meal at 11 in the morning could be any of the three.

I thought for a bit that if this had been a ‘normal’ grand randonnee, then there would only be a bit more than 200 km to go, no biggie. However, because this was LEL there was more than 400 km to go - so still quite significant, and around 17-20 hours of riding time + breaks. I felt a bit depressed about the thought as I was starting to get a bit bored with the constant riding, stamping, eating, repeat. This was really a very long ride indeed!

Anyway, the bike wouldn’t ride itself and the control card back to Cheshunt, so I had to do it. Consequently I got up and left, grabbing a couple of cookies on the way out the door. Then it was back on the road and down towards Coxwold, which was only 53 km further away, at 1021 km from the start.

En route I had a slight misnavigation at a sign pointing towards Scorton, but I was ahead of the cue sheet, which demanded that I should rode 2.7 km before turning right. I, however, decided that a right turn here would do, but it quickly became apparent that my road led to nowhere except an old abandoned church and so I decided to turn back, retrace and pay attention to cue sheet and distance. Presto, I was in Scorton in no time. Memo to self - interpretation of the cue sheet author’s intentions is always difficult...

The landscape had flattened out a lot and I did enjoy the ride through the farm lands of North Yorkshire (or was it because I felt some strange connection to this land which - rightfully I think - should belong to me and other Danes descending from the great Viking invaders). There was still a headwind (obviously), but it wasn’t raining non-stop, mainly drizzles and sprinkles now and then. Most of the time I rode in my wool jersey and arm warmers. Before I knew of it I was back in Coxwold, where a few days earlier I had been photographed with all the dignitaries of the town when I set off for the ride up north.

There were no such dignitaries upon my arrival this time. In fact, there was hardly anybody there. It was weird walking into a control with more controllers than riders. A rider was sat down here and there by a table, but in general it was wide open. I was sure that a lot of riders were ahead of me, as I had left Alston a bit late (around 6-ish) and a lot of riders had left that control between 4 and 6. Regardless, I went for my drop bag, and pulled of my wet socks and put on a new pair of dry ones - aaahhh, my feet liked that! I also went for the vaseline, as well as for my 2nd spare tire. I had been carrying the tire from day 2 (the one with a stone in it) as a spare but now it was time to ditch that properly and carry a proper spare tire, one that would work right away. I spent 20 minutes or so getting my bike ready to go, as well as getting my butt ready to go, then I washed up and went for the food and coffee.

They had an awesome homemade crumble at Coxwold, it was so good that it didn’t really matter that the custard was Tesco’s premier quality (which is still pretty damned good custard). There was a control somewhere on the route that had homemade custard, but I forget where it was. Regardsless, the crumble was good and so was the hot food and the bacon sandwich I had before that. I chatted with a controller who spotted my rain legs; he had a pair himself and really liked them. I concurred - I still can’t understand why they are not being used a whole lot more. They are great in the rain and cold and will always keep your legs and knees warm and dry, regardless of the conditions.

In Coxwold I also noticed they had times for previous riders, updated at 10.30 Wednesday. By now it was early afternoon, and I looked for names I recognized, either in person or from newsletters and blogs. I noticed that Dave had passed through 10 minutes past midnight, some 14-15 hours ahead of me, so I figured my estimate of him being 24 hours ahead of me back in Cheshunt was still correct.

However, unless I got my sorry butt back on my bike and pointed towards Thorne, the next control, the gap would be even larger. So I collected my belongings (i.e. helmet, gloves, shoes, booties, rain coat), got it all back on, pulled out of the control and started out in the stretch towards Thorne, 89 km ahead and 1110 km from the start.

Strangely, I have very few memories from the strecth of road between Coxwold and Thorne - perhaps I was more tired than I thought at the time? Or was there just not much to remember? I do remember being more and more bored with the entire ride, though, and wondering if I’d ever do a ride as long as LEL again. I passed by the petrol station where I had had the sidewall/broken valve incident a few days earlier and was pleased that I had added more than 700 km to my ride without getting seriously into trouble with flats etc. Such was my state of mind, but I lightened up a bit as I pulled into the Thorne control with plenty of daylight to spare - it was only around 19.00 Wednesday evening.

I got my stamp and sat down to eat. Opposite from me was the Brit I had chatted with in Middleton Tyas earlier in the day. His name was Mark. We talked about plans for the night and the day. My ideas was to continue to Washingborough, 74 km down the road and then sleep there. I figure that if I left in half an hour I could get 1/3 or maybe 1/2 of the way before it got dark - now that we were riding south again it was noticeable that it became darker lighter than in Scotland. Mark’s plan was to sleep in Thorne, as he had slept in Washingborough on the way out, and hadn’t been to impressed with sleeping on the floor there.

It was so early here in the Thorne control that no cots had been booked yet, so there were 40 luxurious beds available. I wavered. If I slept in Thorne I would get AAA+ accommodations, but I would have 300km to London. I had plenty of time to spare before the finish Friday morning, but I really wanted so badly to finish Thursday afternoon/early evening - 4 days on the road was enough, no need to make it into 5 unless mechanical incidents or accidents demanded it.

On the other hand, if I left for Washingborough immediately I could be there around mdinight, sleep 6 hours, and then I’d only have to ride ~230 km the last day, starting at 7 or 8 in the morning - easy peasy! But I would have to fight for sleeping space with probably quite a few other riders. Oh, the decisions the randonneur faces towards the end of the ride and the lure of the blankets must be weighed against the desire to just get it all over with...

In the end the lure of more than 7 hours of sleep in Thorne won me over. If I went to bed at 20.00 and up at 3.30, then left at 4.30 I would get 7.5 hours of sleep, avoid night riding completely the last night and be able to leave at the crack of dawn, thus easily finishing the last 300 km before night fall.

That did it! It enquired with the friendly controllers and 5 quid later I had been issued cot #29 and a blanket to keep me warm. What a difference from the hard wood floor and the lukewarm towel in Alston!! Since I was the first in the room, I was able to find space to hang my socks, jersey, rainlegs and rain coat so that they could dry out (did I mention that it had rained on and off during the day? There was also a headwind, which had worked up the sweat, in case you wondered).

Around 20.00 I had finished my night preparations - I even had time to brush my teeth for the 2nd time that day (luxury!) and take out my contact lenses. Then I laid down on the cot, draped the blanket over my sweaty bibs and undershirt. I had developed some initial trench foot due to my feet being enclosed in neoprene booties inside the shoes all day long. It was great to be able to stick them out under the blanket and feel the air circulate amongst my toes. Then - once again - I fell asleep.

London-Edinburgh-London 2009, part II

2009-08-09T09:21:00.000-07:00

LEL 2009 - second half of night two and all of day three...

I fell asleep in a window sill at the Eskdalemuir control Tuesday morning at 3 am, after 45 hours without sleep. 2:45 hours later I woke up again, just in time for breakfast. I looked around and couldn’t recognize the place - where was everybody? When I had fallen asleep the floor had been *packed* with riders everywhere, to the extent that it had been hard walking around without stepping on a sleeping rider. Now, I was almost alone in the room, save for a few other riders who obviously had slept in.

I sat up and decided to lie down for another few minutes, just to maintain an ever-so-small illusion of a lie-in. It did feel good, though, and 5 minutes later I sat up for the second time, determined to get out of ‘bed’ and on to the road. I had a quick cup of coffee and then I walked out to try to find my shoes and my helmet in the hallway. A few minutes later I was all dressed up and ready to go. I filled my water bottles and then I was out the door, making a left turn out of the control in the direction of Edinburgh. As I was leaving the control I had a look at the skies - they were steel grey, apart from a tiny patch with somewhat less grey (off-white?) clouds. A friendly controller spotted me looking at the clouds and cheered me up with a ‘It’s clearing up!’ Summer in Scotland...

Anyway, I got the body going after a few km and got back in the rythm. My butt was starting to let it self known by now, and I was keen to get into a pair of new shorts - waiting in the Edinburgh drop bag, only some 83 km up the road (literally up!) I was also keen to apply some more lubrication to the grinding body parts in contact with the seat via the shorts...

The landscape was really quite beautiful, with lots of rolling hills and long - very long - ascents, followed by just as long descents, from one valley to another. On top of this there was a nice tailwind, but no sun so it was rather chilly and I rode with my arm- and knee warmers on, as I had been doing for essentially the entire ride, apart from a few hours Monday afternoon (when I used sun screen!)

After 45 km a man in a kilt unexpectedly appeared on the road and gestured at me to make a right turn in Traquair- a secret control! It turned out that this was the alternative sleep stop that had been provided to relieve some ‘sleep pressure’ on the Eskdalemuir control - to no avail, obviously... I rolled in and had a quick stamp in my card.

So Scottish...

When I turned around I heard somebody call out my name and I looked up to see Mark Roberts, also from SIR. He had been in the 8am start, so 5.5 hours ahead of me, and had been spending the night in the Traquair stop. He had had some serious problems with his back the entire season and had not had time to get a whole lot of riding in. But he was a very experienced randonneur so he had decided to come over and give the ride a go anyways. I asked him how he was doing and he said his back was killing him on the uphills and the downhills - not the best situation when there was about 300 km ahead before the road flattened somewhat out. He had decided to go to Edinburg and DNF there, then take the train back to London. I felt bad for him, but then again, he would see the entire route and complete half the ride, so would still have lots of memories and experiences from the ride. And an excellent excuse to come back in 2013...

I started to run into a somewhat steady stream of riders returning from Edinburgh, thus some ~100-150 km (5-8 hours) ahead of me. Some of those had been in the 8am start Sunday morning but on a long uphill I spotted a downhill rider greeting me - that was Dave, on his way back from Edinburgh to his 2nd visit at the Eskdalemuir control. He looked fast and I reckoned he would be back in London ~24 hours ahead of me. A few minutes later I spotted Rick Blacker from SIR, going downhill on the homestretch very fast. Rick had started at 8 am, and was riding strong. He was definitely more than 5.5 hours ahead of me. We shouted a greeting to each other and then we continued on!

Me at ~650km

I stopped quite frequently on this stretch to take some pictures of the landscape and the sheep, which were abundant. There were not quite as many sheep as there had been in Wales when I lived there, but there was still a good number of fluffy white dots on the hillsides in almost any direction. To some extent it felt like home (when home was Bangor in Wales) and brought back the memories of many descents from Llyn Ogwen towards Bethesda - a very nice 8km descent if you should feel so inclined...

After a long ascent that crested in what seemed to be a cut in the hillside the road took a sharp right and I found myself looking out over the flatlands (at least that was what it looked like from above) below me - and Edinburgh in the horizon! It was now just a matter of pointing the front wheel in the downhill direction and coast some 15km into the halfway point at Dalkeith rugby club, on the outskirts of Edinburgh!

Edinburgh!

After a *fabulous* 15 km of coasting, during which I met many return riders slogging their way uphill towards Eskdalemuir - in a strong headwind - I arrived at the halfway point in Dalkeith @ 716km around 11.30 am Tuesday, some 46 hours after the start. This didn’t really promise too well for my initial plan to try to be back in London in 96 hours. It wasn’t that I was feeling tired or sleepy - as weird as it may sound the 2:45 hours of sleep in Eskdalemuir helped a lot on my sleepiness. It was more the fact that I was looking into something like a 450 km stretch of more or less constant headwinds until I came back down towards Thurlby or something like that. That could turn out to be a bit of a drag in the long(!) run...

Dalkeith - halfway!

Anyway, I got my stamp and my drop bag. Then I set out to find the showers in order to - not shower, as I had also forgotten to pack shampoo etc. in my drop bags - but to change my bike shorts, which I had been wearing since Sunday morning. It felt *really* good to get everything out in the open for a few moments until the new shorts came on, together with a huge helping of vaseline on the chafed bits and pieces. Then it was back into the control for yet another lunch and a bit of chilling before it was back on the bike. Mark pulled in and came over to sit down and chat for a bit. He had just handed over his brevet card and DNF’ed; now he was planning to have a lunch and the roll the 12 k into central Edinburgh and the railroad station, then let a friendly railroad company take him and his bike back to London.

After another 10-20 minutes or so we bid each other farewell and I walked out the door to my trusty steed of steel, ready to begin the return trip to London. The first 2 km went well, then I incredibly took the wrong turn in a roundabout and discovered my mistake at the end of a very long downhill 5 km later. After a few moments of #$@$%@ I crossed the road and slogged uphill to the roundabout and the correct exit. This wasn’t the most promising start on the return trip... After having made the correct exit in the roundabout I found myself on familiar roads and, reassuringly, a steady stream of riders coming towards Dalkeith.

The uphill from Dalkeith wasn’t really so bad initially, it was more the constant headwind, which would accompany me for the next 300 km or so that was annoying and slowed progress down quite a bit. 10 km out from Dalkeith I made a right turn onto the road that would eventually lead me back into the highlands I had been riding through the same morning, but the feel was quite different now, with the wind in my face riding uphill. I found myself crawling along at a mere 10 km per hour or so and decided that I needed some more speed in order to get anywhere. So I started pedalling more determined in a slightly higher gear and found, as so often before, that going faster was easier than going slow. I was now ‘cruising’ uphill at 15-18 k/h and felt a bit more comfortable on the bike in the higher gear and low in the drop bars - although my butt was now really quite painful. Oh well, it would only be another 700 km in agony before it was over.

As I approached the summit of the ascent the wind increased in intensity and it started to sprinkle a bit. I stopped to put on my booties and rain coat, then proceeded towards Eskdalemuir in increasingly ominous-looking clouds. The wind was really quite strong and at times I had to stand up an pedal on the downhills in order to move the bike forward; rather depressing when there was some ~660 km left of the ride. As I crested one little pass after the other I could see riders ahead of me, slowly moving ahead towards Eskedalmuir in the headwind. Very few were riding in groups, most were riding alone, as I did. One exception was a large group of riders coming up from behind on a descent, screaming along doing 30-40 km/hr which, considering the state of the road (lots of small gravel) seemed a bit risky to me. As they passed me the front rider yelled out ‘HOLE!’ and the entire group jumped left and right around a massive pothole, easily 0.5 m in diameter, in the road. Would have been an interesting sight had one of them gone into it...

After a couple of hours I made it to Traquair in mid-afternoon and stopped for a few minutes to use the toilet and re-apply some lubrication on my worn out butt. Then I grabbed a few cookies and headed for Eskdalemuir, which I reached in reasonable style around 17.30 - some 11 hours after I had left it. It had taken me that long to ride 166km, and I had spent less than an hour in Dalkeith, so 10+ hours to do 166km (plus the ~10 k detour), half of which was in a very strong tailwind - it looked as if it could take a while to get back to London!

I sat down in Eskdalemuir for another dinner, and also treated myself to a Coke from the controllers. A tired rider sat beside me, waiting for a cot to be ready. He was constantly nodding off but after 10-15 minutes he was told that a bed was ready and he left. He was replaced with an Italian rider who apparently wasn’t too excited about the food (which at Eskdalemuir was veggie chilli, jacket potatoes with fillings and cheese, and rice pudding - I loved it). Maybe in Italy they’re being treated to pasta and pizza on their brevets?

Shortly before 19:00 I was back on the bike, headed for Alston, now at the 894km mark. It was raining rather steadily now, and the wind was increasing - still right in the nose. 7 km outside of the control I encountered a rider still en route for Edinburgh - that would be a lot of work to get home to London before the closing Friday morning. The oncoming rider was leaned over heavily to the right, to compensate for the head wind coming at an angle at that particular stretch. I wondered if I did the same when I was riding in a head wind. My legs felt good and despite the headwind I was doing 22-26 km/hour more or less constantly. Soon I started to catch up to some riders that had started ahead of me and it gave me the energy to put even more power into the pedals to fight the wind. I was soaking wet from rain and sweat (in an ironic twist, I washed my rain coat a few weeks before departure, and then forgot to treat it with water repellant, so it was less waterproof than usual, but still a whole lot better than nothing).

The advantage of being this far north was that daylight lasts until 22:30 or so. The dark skies made the fall of darkness come a bit earlier than that, but I was nevertheless happy about being able to get 2/3 or so of the distance to Alston covered before it got completely dark. And it did get completely dark. The last 30 km to Alston were far away from any towns or villages and I was completely and utterly alone in the pitch black night, in the pouring rain, with a - by now - gale force wind right in the face. It was almost surreal riding along on the road, which felt as if it was gently climbing for miles and miles. It was very twisting too, and no matter which way I went there was a head wind. Some people go down mentally when they encounter conditions like that, but for the most part those exact conditions are what I was used to from Wales in the winter time. Still, I was surprised to see me being able to maintain a 22-24 k/h speed on most of that strecth. The only part that felt really long was the last 4-6 km into Alston proper. I spotted the street lights from far away (first light apart from my bike lights in almost an hour!) and thought I would be there in a flash. But the road kept going up and down, twisting and turning, without the lights getting seemingly a whole lot closer. Frustrating!

Finally I made it into Alston and it was now only a 3 km climb out of town up towards the outdoor centre. There was a section with cobblestone in the centre of town which I walked, but then it was back on the bike for a 14% section - uphill - in a gale force head wind... I spotted a couple of taillights in the distance and I seemed to gain on them very fast, despite me going only 6-9 km/hr. It turned out to be a couple of randonneurs walking up the hill in the pouring rain. I passed them and pressed on upwards and 10 minutes later I pulled in at the Alston control. Upon arrival it took forever to find a parking spot for my bike - hundreds of bikes were parked and strewn all over the garden and grounds - a sign of hundres of riders inside. Finally I managed to find a prime spot under some canoes and went inside.

I got my stamp just after midnight; it was now officially Wednesday morning and the controllers informed me that I would be given 2 hour time credit due to the horrendous weather conditions and because they wouldn’t have riders trying to ride across the Pennines in the middle of the night in this kind of weather. Understandable, it was pitch black dark outside and the rain was hammering on the windows. I had dinner and then enquired about the possibilities for a place to sleep. The earliest bed would be available at 3.30 am, which was 2 hours away. I decided that the hard wood floor would be an excellent alternative and asked if they had any blankets. Nope. But they did have a towel that had been in the dryer for about 15 minutes so it was still very moist, but at least it was a lukewarm moist. I went upstairs to the lounge above the dining room where dozens of riders were sprawled out on the floor. Some of them had sleeping bags from the control, the lucky bastards... Guess this was the reward for being in the 8.00 start - getting to the controls early and get the beds and blankets before the lazy 13.30 starters...

Anyway, I looked around in the darkness and tried to determine a spot that wasn’t occupied by a sleeping/snoring cyclist. There were no such spots. Then I spotted a small, square coffee table next to the stairs. If I curled up in fetal position (foetal position for UK readers) I might just fit underneath it - it would have the added benefit that nobody would walk on me when they got up later in the morning. I tried it and the table had just the right size! It was 1.30 am Wednesday morning. I laid down on the comfy hard wood floor in my wet bike clothes, draped the moist, now not-so-lukewarm towel over me and fell asleep.

London-Edinburgh-London 2009, part I

2009-08-07T23:40:00.000-07:00

LEL 2009 - day one and night one and day two and half of night two...

(For info about what happened the week before the start, read the prologue which is in the works...).

My cunning plan was to sleep in on Sunday morning, have a late breakfast and a lazy morning before the 13.30 start. However, around 5 o’clock in the morning I kind of realized that my cunning plan would have been a lot easier to carry out had I not been sharing the room in the hostel with 9 other riders, some of whom were in the 8:00 start. They started moving around, getting dressed and chatting about the upcoming ride so deep sleep was no longer achievable. Oh well, at least a snooze of 3-4 hours would be mentally refreshing so I turned over and pretended I didn’t hear zippers zipping and bags being packed and bikes being prepared. Shortly before 10 I got up, showered, got dressed and checked out.

The start was not until 13.30 so there was loads of time for a huge fry up in a greasy spoon conveniently located a few hundred meters from the hostel. I went there with Dave whom I knew from my 3 years in Halifax and a Finnish rider who was also in our room. The memories it brought back from the 3 years I spent in the UK and many a greasy breakfast in Mikes Bites in Bangor before heading out for a century or a 200k ride...

Around 1 o’clock in the afternoon we headed over to the parking lot where the start would be and at 13.30 we were off!

Riders waiting for the start

My biggest and most serious undertaking to date of a ride of this caliber. Previously I had completed a Super Randonneur series (a 200, 300, 400 and 600km ride) in 6 days on Mallorca in early May 2007. Those 4 rides were done in 30-35C heat so it was pretty hot. Later that same year I did Paris-Brest-Paris in rather wet and windy conditions, but not really worse than anyhting NW-Wales, where I lived at the time, could produce, so the conditions during PBP2007 didn’t really affect me. They were mainly disappointing ‘coz I had expected a comfy 20-24C and a slight breeze. As those who were there will know there was very little of that kind of weather. In 2008 I rode the Cascade 1200 in WA in 40C heat which was challenging in a different way. I figured that LEL2009 would be a ride much in between the 2 extremes I had encountered in my randonneuring ‘career’ so far. Especially given the reputation of the cool British summer. How wrong I was to be...

Anyway, we were off with a strong tailwind and it seemed as if everybody tried to make the most of it and put some distance in before the wind presumably would die down. The first control was Thurlby, more than 150km away, but there was a food stop at Gamlingay 68km out from the start. The countryside was gently rolling with long gentle climbs and sharp fast descents (reverse on the return!). I managed to snap a few pictures of the pack I was in, as well as a couple of self portraits.

I rode with Dave initially and otherwise just tried to stay out of trouble - crashing in to somebody elses wheel this early in the ride would be a bummer, to say the least. I lost Dave a few km before Gamlingay but caught up to him there as I stopped to have a cookie.

We left Gamlingay together and proceeded north. He pulled away a bit again en route - he is super strong, and I told him that he should just take off and let me do my own thing. Anyway, I caught up to him at the 1st official control at Thurlby. The controllers were seated right inside the door to make sure everybody got their stamp. My card was stamped and my time entered into the computer, then I could ditch my shoes and walk into the hallowed food hall. But before that one of the controllers offered me to refill my water bottles and put them back on my bike while I was eating. All I had to do was tell him my frame number and he would take care of it. Now that’s service!

After dinner Dave quickly got up and left for his bike while I got up and headed for a helping of strawberries with cream - we clearly had different priorities... Before the strawberries I had a big helping of that most classic of British food - Cornish pastries, of which they had numerous varieties in Thurlby. And sausage rolls! Aaahh, the memories of the late night stop around the corner from my flat in Bangor, where I had stopped on more than one occasion to get a sausage roll or two on the way home from a late night out.

Anyway, as nice as the pastries and strawberries were, I couldn’t stay there and eat forever as I had to get to Edinburgh and back so it was back to find the shoes and then it was off towards Washingborough, control #2 @ 216 km. I rode most of the way up there in splendid solitude and it was all rather uneventful. It got dark half an hour or so before I reached the control and it also started to drizzle just before I pulled in at the control. It had been slowly building during the afternoon so I figured it was somehting that would last at least the night. In the door I met Dave on his way out while I was on my way in; that would be the last I would see of him for more than a day. I got my stamp, sat down for a meal and looked at the increasing drizzle. Living in Seattle I couldn’t yet call it actual rain, but it was definitely getting closer to it. So after (another) dinner the neoprene booties came on to protect my feet, and the yellow raincoat came out too. Then it was on through the night (a la Def Leppard) towards Thorne @ 321 km.

It was proper dark now and I was riding alone through the night; occasionally I could see a tail light up ahead and occasionally I could see a flickering front light behind me if I looked over my shoulder. I was riding through East Anglia, old Danish territory from when the Vikings used to occupy the country in the early 1000’s. I wondered that if all the people - sound asleep behind their UPVC double-glazed windows - had known that finally, after all these centuries, a descendant of the occupiers had returned to conquer the entire country from S to N, would their sleep have been a little bit more uneasy? Probably not, unfortunately. If I had woken them up and told them that the Viking was back they’d probably told me off and to go home and sleep it off. So I decided not to let out any wild screams or yells. However, it was a thought that kept me warm as I pedalled through the villages and towns all bearing the mark of old Danish place names: -by, -thorpe, -toft, -ness.

In Wragby there was a quick checkpoint where I got a yellow sticker in my control card, but not a real control. Then it was Northwards again, through the night. A rider had passed me in the checkpoint and I could see his taillight up ahead, and a headlight some distance behind me if I looked back (but why would I?).

It was raining steadily now and it was actually getting almost impossible to read the cue sheet while I was riding. My cue sheet holder is of the minimalistic type, so the font size on the cue sheet necessarily must also be of the smaller kind. The cue sheet holder is a bent plexiglass plate where the cue sheet clips in under the bent part of the plexiglass. The sheet itself was in a plastic bag to protect it from the rain, but the rain drops on the plexiglass made it virtually impossible to read the sheet in the dark using my helmet light. I resorted to memorize the next to instructions and then stop after the 2nd one to use my front light to ‘read up’ on the next section. It all worked very well.

The navigation 'system'

I passed the towns of Middle and Market Rasen, famous for the 5.2 Richter Scale earthquake of February 2008. No earthquakes prevented the ride this night, and there was still a decent tailwind although the wind had died down a lot. The tires (tyres for UK readers) were singing on the road and water was splashing from the front tire (tyre), making small twisting, twirling diamonds in the beam of my head light as they were flunged into the air in front of me.

A few km outside of Thorne the cue sheet read ‘Soon R - 0.2 km’. Soon Right? What was that supposed to mean? And soon as in ‘be aware, soon there is a right after 0.2 km’, or ‘ride 0.2 km, then wait for an opportune moment to turn right soon after that?’ There was of course a road leading off to the right after exactly 0.2 km, but since I thought this was too soon I continued onwards for another 1-2 km, then realised that this distance under no circumstances qualified as ‘soon’ and turned around. I then rode down the road I had passed a few minutes earlier and it turned out to be the right(!) one.

While I was wondering about the intentions of the cue sheet author for that particular instructions I managed to hit a pothole (one of very few) and my rear tire promptly flattened. #%$^@&$@&$@#$# and #@@!@$#@#... I hate flats, especially in the rain, and especially if they are also in the dark, and especially when I’m somewhat tired from more than 300 km of riding and especially when there’s more than 1100 km to go and especially when I then discover that I only have 2 spare tubes and that I have *no* spare tubes in my drop bags ‘coz I’m too forgetful when I pack my drop bags and I start computing my ‘flat rate’ and I then discover that I may run out of tubes after 900 km with 500 km to go. Then my pulse rate goes up a little and I’m glad that nobody else is around... I fixed the flat while a few riders passed me; all of them asked if I had everything I needed - randonneurs are a friendly bunch. Then I zoomed towards Thorne and reached it in the early morning (Monday morning).

In Thorne (321 km) I had my card stamped, as usual, and sat down for dinner again. In Thorne it was Pea & Ham soup and a gulasch and I wolfed it down. I was soaking wet from rain and sweat, but my Randonneurs USA wool jersey did a fabulous job of keeping me warm and toasty even though it was wet and damp. Wool is excellent in the UK during the summer! Also my rainlegs were doing a tremendous job of keeping my thighs and knees dry. There were a bunch of riders sleeping everywhere on the floor, and a few walking around with tiny eyes wrapped in blankets - they were the ones who had arrived so early that they could rent a cot and a blanket for 5 quid in total - for a few hours of precious sleep. I had no firm plan for how long I would go the first day before I went to sleep, but was certain that I wasn’t going to sleep after only 321 km.

I spotted a female rider I was sure that I had seen somewhere else before but it wasn’t possible for me to figure out where, although I tried hard to figure out where it could be. In the end I left for the 4th Control at Coxwold and 411 km without figuring out where I had seen her before. As soon as I was a few km outside of the control I realised that it was Michelle from NY, who had also ridden the Cascade 1200 when I rode it in 2008.

It was full daylight now, but it was still raining pretty constantly and my feet were very wet - or rather, enclosed in the neoprene booties they were having problems breathing properly so they were actually soaking in condensation. I could feel them start to ‘soften up’ a bit - a sure sign of beginning trench foot, which I had suffered from during Paris-Brest-Paris in 2007. Oh well, not much to do about it, except remember to change to dry socks in Coxwold where I had a drop bag.

But that wasn’t my main problem. I was sleepy, very sleepy, and despite the daylight I had a hard time staying away on the bike. After about 14 km there was a gas station (petrol station for UK readers) and I decided to pull over for a Coke and maybe a Mars bar or two. Just the thought of it invigorated me a bit but I decided to spend the money anyways and sat down for a few moments of rest with my eyes closed while I ate and drank.

I was sitting next to my rear wheel and during a cursory glance my eye spotted a weird ‘wart’ on the side of the rear tire. A closer inspection revealed that a part of the tube was protruding through a hole in sidewall, only being kept somewhat in place by a small piece of rubber still spanning the hole in the sidewall - a #&^$%@!#^ disaster waiting to happen at any moment. The pot hole I had hit just before Thorne apparently had caused more damage than I first imagined, and I hadn’t spotted the sidewall damage because it was dark and only a small hole - but it would become a lot bigger very fast it the tube suddenly exploded. I did have a spare tire, but I decided that it would be easier to just put a boot in the hole and then keep going on the tire. I folded a 5 pound note up and let the air out of the tire, then put the boot in and the tube and tire back in place. Then I got the CO2 cartridge and the adapter out of the tool kit and while I screwed the CO2 cartrige on to the adapater I dropped it just at the moment the seal in the cartridge was broken by the adapter - resulting in all of the CO2 fizzling out before I had a chance to pick it up from the ground. Another round of #%$^#^ etc. followed, for I had now only 1 CO2 cartridge left for 1100 km. I did have a small pump, so I decided to use that and save the cartridge for a real emergency. As the pressure in the tire approached 110 PSI (after a couple of minutes of pumping), the valve in the tube came out (due to the motions of the pump) and so did 110PSI of air in a gigantic hiss and I was back to square one... I’ll leave it to the imagination of the reader to guess my choice of words. Now, off came the rear wheel, off came the tyre, out came the tube, in came a new one, the tire came back on and my last CO2 cartridge was used to get air in so that I could get out from the petrol station where I had now spent more than one hour. I was now down to one tube and no CO2 for the remaining 1080 km or so - and not in a particularly good mood. But at least I was now wide awake, and rode very dilligently around every single little stone and pebble I could see on the road.

35 km outside of Coxwold the cue sheet again left a little bit too much to the imagination, where a lane to Stockton-on-Forest ideally should be on the right side, but no such lane appeared. After riding back and forth for a bit, and debating with a Brit and another rider we decided that the road to the right was the right one. Luckily, after a mile a big sign said Stockton-on-Forest and it was now full steam ahead towards Coxwold which I reached around lunch time Monday, more or less 24 hours after departing Cheshunt.

Coxwold Control

After getting my stamp I headed directly for my drop bag where I had dry socks (fabulous to feel the dry fabric against my soaking wet skin) and a dry wool jersey - the famous blue SIR issue! I then managed to buy a spare tube from the control, so now at least I had 2 tubes to get me to Edinburgh and back. Then it was time for some personal hygiene and after applying a deliciously large ‘helping’ of vaseline in strategic locations I sat down for lunch. At Coxwold they had rhubarb crumble with custard... Another memory, from my time as a scientist on board various research vessels in the Irish Sea or the North Sea, appeared - yum! They also had delicious sandwiches, but it was the crumble that I was looking forward to - it was A-mazing and I felt quite invigorated and ready to tackle the next stage towards Middleton Tyas at 463 km, only another 52 km up the road.

While I had been eating Michelle had arrived, so I went over and said hi to her. She vaguely remembered me, which is not so strange given that the Cascade 1200 in 2008 was ridden in 40-45C heat which boiled the brains of most of us. We left the control together, except that we were held up by the mayor who wanted a picture of Michelle and him before she left the control. I managed to sneak in the background and immortalize the SIR jersey in the image...

Then it was off through the now gently rolling countryside. We had left the flatlands of Lincolnshire for North Yorkshire and the terrain was now becoming more varied as we were approaching the Pennine Hills. The rain had also stopped and I actually had to stop once to apply some sun screen, which was a very nice. We caught up to a couple of Canadians and as we were rolling down a hill I hit a pot hole and felt the tire bottom out completely. We rode on for another km or two, and then stopped to double check the cue sheet for a set of complicated instructions. I looked down and noticed that the tire looked suspiciously flat-ish. Crap! Another one, only a few hours after the first (and 2nd, so to speak...).

Sunshine - and the road behind me...

I notified the others that I had a flat and had to pull over. Michelle offered her help (she used to be a bicycle mechanic) and we got the wheel and tire off and inspected the tire. It had a big cut in it from a small pebble still embedded in the tire, so I pulled out my spare tire and Michelle put the tire and tube back on. Then I very carefully pumped the tire up, keeping my fingers crossed that I wouldn’t rip out the valve this time - which I didn’t. 5 minutes later we were on the road again, and soon we rolled into Middleton Tyas @ 463km sometime in the mid afternoon, Monday.

After yet another stamp and late lunch / early dinner it was back to the bikes. The sun was now shining a lot and it was great walking around in socks feeling the concrete heating everything up and drying out the feet a bit while the shoes had been sitting in the sun, drying out. I spent a fair bit of time getting the bike ready, just enjoying the sun drying me out a bit, and feeling the wet wool slowly becoming drier.

Then it was off towards Alston @ 539 km and what I had decided to be my overnight stop. We were definitely getting into the hills now, there were no more flat parts, but there were plenty of short, steep hills to conquer. We were now in County Durham. The route took us through (and past) Barnard Castle and past the Bowes Museum; both splendid buildings. After that we made a left turn and the route sheet now stated that the Alston control was 32 km away, much of it in an uphill direction... As the kilometers flowed behind us in the maelstroem of our pedalling the trees gradually disappeared and the landscape changed to large hills, moorland, stone fences and hundreds of small white dots - sheep. To a large extent it felt as if I was back riding in Wales in the Snowdonia National Park, with the exception that the hills in County Durham did not have any mountains to top them off, like the mountains of Snowdonia.

The last 15-20 km towards Alston was a constant uphill, with a rather strong side-/tailwind. Cattle grids had to be negotiated by tired riders aiming for the Alston control and an overnight sleep stop - like me. Around 7.30 pm we pulled into Alston which was an outdoor centre located on a hill side - quite exposed to the wind as I would feel later in the ride. After being stamped in we then sat down for dinner in the tiniest control of LEL. The dining room was very small, completely filled with 6-7 tables with benches, and packed with riders eating and drinking. Michelle and I sat down with 4 British riders, busy Tweeting their status and updating each other about everybody elses progress via Twitter. Our food orders were taken and food soon started to arrive, not always quite what we had ordered, and sometimes more than one item arrived, which was OK with me as I ended up with 2 crumbles with custard!

The others at the table started discussing when they should depart for their overnight stop at Eskdalemuir - 633 km from the start and 94 km from Alston. It would be a 5 hour ride and I was glad I had decided to take a brief nap; I reckoned until midnight, then do the 5 hour ride to Eskdalemuir and have breakfast there, then proceed to Edinburgh.

After dinner I went outside to my bike to grab a few items for my sleep and noticed how cold it had become during the 45 minutes or so we had been inside. The sun was setting and the controllers said that it could become down to 2-3C at night when the sky was clear as was the case. I wavered for a minute - I was really sleepy after having been awak since Sunday morning 6 am - now it was Monday evening around 8pm so I was pushing 38 hours without sleep. I was, on the other hand, also not very keen on riding through the night in potentially 2-3C temperatures, most likely alone. I searched in my bag for my ‘lobster gloves’ but couldn’t find them and realized they were still in my Coxwold drop bag. That did it, I decided to join Michelle and the brits and push on for Eskdalemuir right away, then sleep once I got there.

Ten minutes later we were on the road, descending on a 15% hill towards and through Alston. There was a 300 m stretch with cobblestones in Alston where I walked the bike; didn’t want to risk anything as I was down to one tube, and also not totally sure on my reactions due to being tired. After Alston there was a long stretch with generally undulating hills, climbing for 15 km or so, but at a gentle rate so it wasn’t too hard. Michelle and I made good progress, occasionally catching up with the Brits we had shared a table with. We were now so far north that the daylight lasted significantly longer than it had on Sunday night; at 10.30 pm there was still some light and it wasn’t yet completely black.

We rode an 18 km stretch on the A7, a major road connecting Edinburgh to the rest of the country. Michelle and I pulled over along the road, me to wolf down a power gel with caffeine, Michelle to bring put her secret weapon - espresso beans. She asked if I wanted some and I wasn’t quite sure what she meant. She then explained that she’d just chew them in order to stay awake. I took a handful and they were absolutely awful to chew and taste, but hey, if it can keep you awake on the bike then that’s worth it. We then proceeded with the last 25 km toward Eskdalemuir.

It was now around midnight and despite the espresso beans and the power gel I was extremely sleepy. Not physically tired at all, just very very sleepy. My eyelids were as heavy as if they were made of concrete, and I had to concentrate very hard to stay on the left side of the road, and not drift around aimlessly all over the road. Fortunately we were on a small back road with no traffic apart from tired randonneuses and randonneurs so the main danger was to fall asleep while riding and fall off the bike onto the road. At one point I was riding behind Michelle and 2 other riders and although I knew that we were all going in a straight line on a straight section of the road, their taillights wandered in all directions, incl. up and down, in front of me. I was completely unable to follow the cue sheet or read my odometer to figure out how far we had to go. Then, about 10-15 km before Eskdalemuir my sleepness suddenly lifted like a curtain and I was wide awake for the last stretch into the control, and I even managed to read the cue sheet and my odometer.

Around 2 am Tuesday morning we finally pulled into Eskdalemuir, where several hundred bicycles were parked outside. When we came inside it looked like a war zone. People were sleeping *everywhere*: sitting upright on chairs, on the floor, in cots, under benches, under tables, on tables and in window sills.

Chilling at Eskdalemuir...

It was difficult to find a place to sit and have dinner, but Michelle and I managed to find a corner of a table that wasn’t being used for sleeping by an exhausted rider. We sat down for a quick late night dinner, giggling at the sight of the other riders in all thinkable sleeping positions around us. During dinner the tiredness hit me hard and I needed to find a place to sleep - fast - before I collapsed. The window sill suddenly looked like an excellent option as there was simply no floor space left inside the control. Somebody had put a chair up there (for what reason?) but I lifted it out and placed it on a table. Then I laid down on the window sill, which was quite deep (hoorah for thick-walled stone buildings) and wide, rolled up my raincoat as a pillow and looked at the clock. It was 3 am Tuesday morning so I had been awake for about 45 hours and had ridden 633 km since the start Sunday afternoon. Then I fell asleep.

Yours truly sleeping in Eskdalemuir (courtesy of bahzob, BikeRadar - Thnx!)

Quite the hiatus...

2009-08-06T22:44:00.001-07:00

Wow, last posting was in September '08. I just finished the London-Edinburgh-London bike ride a week ago and am writing up a few ride reports about it. Coming soon!

New bike coming up...

2008-09-07T18:16:00.001-07:00

Paid the money for a Redline 925 a week or so ago but don't have it in my hands yet as the shop and manufacturer were out of 2008 models so I'll get a 2009 model in the next 1-2 weeks. Anyway, this is what the 2008 looks like and the 2009 will be the same, but green (according to the store). Can't wait to get on this thing for my commute!

My life with the web so far

2008-09-07T11:46:00.000-07:00

I just realised that for me, the networked life actually didn't start until I was 20 years old:

September 1991: I started at university, and had my first experience with networked printers...
May 1994: I heard about email for the first time.
January 1995: I sent my first email. I had received several before that but had no idea that our computer account names and passwords at uni were also our email usernames which we could use to access Pegasus Mail. My first email went to a high-school buddy who was in New Zealand for a year.

November/December 1995: I surfed the web for the first time.

Summer/early fall 1996: Was on a bulletin board for the first time. Tried chatting for the first time. Didn't like it (still don't).

June 1998: Purchased the first computer that I could use for accessing the net (a Toshiba laptop). Accessed the net for the first time using a mobile phone. Got dial-up at home.

Fall 1998: Got 'PC Bank' - a banking tool from my bank that could log on to my bank and download my bank accounts onto a program on my PC.

New Year 2000/2001: Internet banked for the first time.

Fall 2002: The Toshiba died; got an eMac and my first broadband connection at home.

January 2007: Uploaded first YouTube video.

February 2007: Started this blog.

Shameless self-promotion (and a bit of science)!

2008-09-07T10:06:00.000-07:00

This is a brief article that I wrote together with our VP and which is to appear in International Cement Review - an industry concerned with all things cement-y. It hasn't much to do with oceanography, but it has everything to do with particles!

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The particle size distribution (PSD) of a cement powder is important for its complete characterization. From the PSD it is possible to compute the surface area of the cement powder, which has a close correlation to the rate of cement hydration. However, no international standard for measuring the PSD of cement powder has been agreed upon, and consequently a range of techniques are being used, with laser diffraction being the most common. A major inter-comparison study was completed by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology in 2004 .

Broadly speaking, laser diffraction takes advantage of the fact that forward scattering of light is principally due to diffraction, or in an intuitive way, light that went ’around the particle’. This diffracted light is not affected by the composition of the particles, only its size and shape. A small part of the light is additionally transmitted through the particle and shows up at angles beyond the first two principal diffraction peaks. This ‘transmitted’ fraction of light is affected by composition. Thus the choice of a refractive index affects the ‘large’ angle scattering, whereas the size alone affects the ‘small’ angles region of the scattered light field.

For spherical particles, each particle has its own characteristic scattering pattern, which can be computed using the so-called Mie theory. This is a completely general solution to the scattering problem for spheres, requiring only two inputs: particle diameter and the complex refractive index. Using Mie theory it is possible to compute the scattering pattern for an arbitrary size range of spherical particles.

In a suspension of particles of many sizes, the total scattering pattern is the sum of the scattering patterns that arise from each of the individual particles in the suspension. Mathematically, this can be described as:

E = K * C

Where E is a vector containing the intensity of the diffracted light in a set of solid angle ranges, K is the so-called kernel matrix and C is the volume concentration of the particles creating the diffraction pattern, i.e. the PSD. K contains information on scattering by particles of various sizes into different angles, e.g. from Mie theory. If E is measured and K is known, then C can be obtained via matrix inversion:

C = K-1 * E

A typical laser diffraction instrument consists of a laser beam that illuminates particles, and receive optics that place scattered light on a set of concentric ring detectors. Each ring detector measures scattering into a particular, small angle range. Together, the ring detectors cover a large dynamic range of angles over which the scattered light is sensed; this angle range establishes the range of size of particles that can be analyzed. There are a large number of instruments now on the market. A new version of these is made by the authors’ company, and remains the first and only truly portable laser diffraction particle analyzer (Figure 1). It incorporates 32 detector rings, covering a 200:1 angle range. The size range covered by this device spans 1.25-250 or 2.5-500 microns.

Figure 1: LISST-Portable instrument for laser diffraction of particles in liquid suspension.

The LISST-Portable instrument is provided with the option to invert angular scattering data into equivalent sphere size distribution, or into a ‘random shape’ particle size distribution. How and why this was done is explained below.

The scattering kernel, K , can only be computed if it is assumed that the particles are spherical, although lately progress has been made that enables the computation of matrices for non-spherical but regular geometrical shapes, and even irregular shapes but with limitations from computational complexity. Very few particles resulting from natural or industrial process are spheres or regular. Grinding and milling typically produces particles of a general random shape, with numerous pits and edges on their surfaces. Consequently the diffraction pattern arising from these natural, random-shaped particles can be expected to be different from spheres. Since it is not theoretically possible today to properly model the scattering from random-shaped particles we have taken an empirical approach and determined the corresponding kernel matrix, K . We have used this empirical matrix to study how the retrieval of the PSD of random shaped natural sediment particles is affected by the implicit assumption that the scattering particles are spherical, which is the current industry standard.

To construct our empirical kernel matrix K , we used our LISST (Laser In Situ Scattering and Transmissometry) laser technology to measure the scattering pattern from a range of random-shaped particles, pre-sorted into sieve size bins that were equivalent to the 32 size bins covered by the LISST–Portable instrument (2.5-500 µm for the instrument used here). We then compared these scattering patterns to those from spherical particles with the same sieve size. Sieving is only possible for particles larger than approximately 16 µm, so in order to separate smaller particles into size bins all the way down to 2.5 µm we used a density stratified settling column of known viscosity. Stratification kills all turbulence in the column and ensures that the particles settle without being affected by convection currents in the column. Thus, combining sieving and settling techniques, an empirical kernel matrix K was constructed that when used to invert observed scattering, yields size distribution of random shaped particles.

To illustrate the differences between scattering by spheres and random shaped particles, Figure 2 shows comparisons of scattering patterns from spherical and random shaped particles in two narrow size ranges: 25-32 µm and 75-90 µm. It can be seen that the peak of the scattering intensity of the random-shaped particles is displaced one to two detector bins to the left, relative to the spherical particles. Because shifting of diffraction pattern to the left implies larger size, this means that the random shaped particles, with a sieve size equal to that of spherical particles appear as if they are one size bin (18%) coarser than they actually are.

Figure 2. Measured scattering from spheres and random shaped particles, both with a sieve size of 25-32 µm (left) or 75-90 µm (right).

The implications for this are that when a laser diffraction measurement is processed, and it is assumed during processing that the particles are spherical, the resulting size distribution becomes too coarse, by approximately one or two size bin, which is 18-36% for the LISST instruments. In other words, shape effect alone implies that non-spherical particles, such as cement powders are actually 18-36% finer than reported using a Mie theory based standard laser diffraction system .

The second effect to note is that of refractive index. Cements have been analyzed with assumptions of absurdly high imaginary parts of the index, ranging from 0.1 to 1. High imaginary index implies blackness. Carbon black has an imaginary index near 0.1 so this is clearly not an appropriate value for cements. High imaginary index kills the part of light transmitted through the particle. In effect, it forces Mie theory to pure diffraction. In reality, the light that is transmitted through particles and is then actually measured, is thus interpreted to originate due to fine particles that did not exist in the suspension; in other words, assumption of high imaginary index invents fine particles.

In figure 3, we have analyzed Portland cement powder standard 114q obtained from NIST on our LISST instruments using both a spherical and a random shape particle matrix. Table 1 summarizes the D10, D50 and D90 for the two size distributions. Our spheres model employs Mie theory with assumed real index of 1.5 and 0 for the imaginary part.

Figure 3: A comparison of the size distribution obtained with an inversion with kernel matrix for spheres and for random shaped particles.

From Figure 3 and Table 1, it is clear that using a kernel matrix for random shape particles for the cement powder causes the size distribution to narrow slightly and move to the left, i.e. most of the size distribution becomes finer. We have noted that our research has shown that in general D50 (the median particle size) becomes finer by approximately 25%, which corresponds to one to two size classes for the LISST instruments. This is demonstrated here. Sequoia is the first and only company in the world to have established a laser diffraction processing protocol based on the scattering pattern of naturally random-shaped particles.

D (µm )	Spherical matrix	Random shape matrix
D10	5.6	6.9
D50	16.7	15.0
D90	36.9	28.3

Table 1. Comparison of the 10, 50 and 90 percentiles for Portland cement using the two different matrices for inversion.

To conclude, we have revisited the NIST standard 114q with an instrument that uses two advancements: an inversion for random shaped particles, and an implicit refractive index that is not as extreme as past industry practice. The new results suggest, first, that the median sizes of cements are actually a little finer than the equivalent spheres result reported in the past. And, second, that the fines reported in the past may be exaggerated by effects of both, particle shape and refractive index. Further details of this work will shortly be published elsewhere.

SSN problems

2008-09-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

One of the very first things I took care of when I arrived here in the US of A in November 2007 was to go to the nearest Social Security Office and apply for a Social Security Number. That was hassle-free, a week later I had the number and two weeks later my SSN card arrived in the mail. I immediately gave my employer my SSN number for use on the pay roll records and I then used it immediately to open a bank account. I then used it twice in April for filing my taxes and to apply for an REI Visa card and again in August to get a Firestone card. There was a hiccup there when I gave them my SSN at Firestone and my application was initially declined. I then wondered if I had transposed the number - I was certain of the last 6 numbers and of the first 3 as well, but unsure if I had transposed the second and third number. Consequently I then gave them the first 3 numbers again, but with the second and third number transposed. Bingo! It went through and all was joy. I got my 10% discount on my car service and Firestone got me in their web.

Then I went home and checked my SSN card and discovered that the number that had worked at Firestone was, in fact, the wrong one... I had been correct inititally, but the correct number had caused my application to be declined, whereas the wrong number caused my application to go through. I thought this was weird, as I know that the IRS caught me in using a wrong SSN when I filed my taxes in April - I got a letter from them saying the the supplied SSN didn't match with the one on record with Social Security for my name.

Anyway, I didn't think much about it until I tried to purchase an iPhone and problems started. I'm not up for standing in a queue, so I decided to wait until the first excitement had died down. Consequently I walked into an Apple store a couple of weeks ago, armed with SSN, credit card, ID and everything else required to get an iPhone.

Everything went slick until they ran a credit check on me and the little handheld terminal the Apple employees use started to flash bright red. The Apple guy excused himself and said he had to make a call to AT&T credit or something like that. It then turned out that the the SSN I had used in the Apple Store didn't match the one on file with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion (the 3 large credit monitors in the US) - the first 3 numbers were apparently transposed (although it was very difficult to get exact information out of the person on the other end of the line). I was told I had to go home and call Equifax and have them update my file with the correct SSN.

The next day I called Equifax and after spending 10 minutes on the phone asking loads of security questions, half of which I couldn't remember the answer to, it turned out that, indeed, they had on record a SSN where numbers 2 and 3 were transposed compared to the numbers on my card. I was then told to mail in copies of my driver license, utility bills, SSN, and other stuff, and they would fix it in 30-45 working days! I objected vigorously to the processing time, arguing that I couldn't sign up for *anything* when my SSN was wrong, but the lady on the other end of the line was unwaivering. I then asked if I could fax my info to them and reluctantly I got a fax number from her. The same day I then faxed and mailed all the info to Equifax and about a week later I received a letter from them that they had now corrected my file. Hoorah!

Off to the Apple Store I went again, but alas, the same thing happened, and I was now told that there was a mismatch between the 3 credit bureaus - they now had different SSN's on file for me! I had to personally get in touch with TransUnion and Experian and have them update my records too (why don't these dinosaurs talk to each other and update their records accordingly?)

The next day I was on the phone with TransUnion who were relatively fast to comprehend what was going on. And since I already knew from my chat to Equifax exactly what SSN they had on file I told them that, together with my current and previous address and then they updated my SSN right there on the phone; no need to fax or mail anything! Then I only had to try to get a hold of Experian, but it was impossible to get anything else than the answer machine menu, with no options for disputing errors in my file. I could dispute a credit report, but since I do not have a report, there was nothing to dispute. Consequently I then mailed the same stuff to Experian that I mailed to Equifax. It has been about a week now so I hope that they'll get back to me soon with a standard form letter that they have corrected my file.

The question is, where did the wrong SSN come from initially? I know that I used the wrong one at Firestone, but only because the correct one didn't go through in the first place. So the wrong number was already on file with the credit bureaus by then. My employer had the correct SSN from the start, as my SSN card arrived at my work so they took it directly from the card. The IRS initially got the wrong number from me, but they sent me a letter asking for clarification when they discovered that the SSN I had given them didn't match with my full name on record with Social Security. So if the credit bureaus got the wrong number from the IRS then why didn't they get the correct one when I gave it to the IRS? Perhaps I gave the wrong number to U.S. Bank when I applied for the REI VISA card. But why on earth don't they check that against the number on file with Social Security and my name? Are they not allowed to access Social Security's files? I essentially had 2 social security numbers on file in my name; one (the correct one) with government related businesses and another (with 2 numbers transposed) with private businesses. What a ridiculous system.

International Super Randonneur!

2008-08-17T18:18:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! Yesterday I received my International Super Randonneur (ISR) badge as proof that I have completed a 200, 300, 400, and a 600 km brevet in 4 different countries, as follows:

200 k: 24 march 2007 in the UK.

300 k: 6 september 2004 in Canada.

400 k: 9 may 2007 in Spain.

600 k: 7 june 2008 in USA.

-I also received a copy of the ISR roll of honour. I'm the latest addition and #54. An exclusive club!

My ISR brevet card, front and back:

My ISR brevet card, inside showing the 4 brevets:

My ISR badge:

iPhone 3G chaos looming...?

2008-07-07T20:38:00.001-07:00

So I plan to buy an iPhone on Friday 11 July. Maybe one or two other people have the same idea. I looked up AT&T's iPhone page on their website and it says they'll have to perform a credit check on you before they'll hand over the phone. It also says you can go to your local AT&T store at anytime before the 11th and get pre-approved so you don't have to wait on the 11th.

'Great', I thought, 'sounds like a brilliant idea'. A few minutes later I was in my local store and asked if they could help me getting pre-approved for iPhone purchase. Sure, no problem. I gave them my driver license and SSN and the friendly guy behind the counter tapped it all into the computer. Then he had to make a call to the AT&T 'customer care' line after they had reviewed the information he had typed in. After being on hold for more than 6 minutes he hung up and tried again - 'maybe the application didn't go through with them yet' he said. After re-dialling he got a tired look on his face - 'They say there's currently a 10-minute wait. Would you like to wait?'

I told him I had a couple of errands to run and then I'd come back in 10 minutes, if possible. No problem. 10 minutes later as I walked back in to the store he had just picked up the phone and was talking to somebody presumably human on the other end. The minutes ticked by while he (an AT&T sales rep, mind you) was trying to explan to 'customer care' what he was trying to do. In the other end they asked for the last four digits of my SSN, a few minutes later they asked for the entire SSN. After 12 minutes (i.e. 22 minutes after calling for the 2nd time) he said 'allright then', and hung up with a sad face.

I looked at him and didn't expect great news - it certainly didn't seem to me as if my application was on track. He then told me that I should probably try to call 'customer care' myself, as the person in the other end he had been talking to didn't seem very knowledgeable about the entire pre-approval concept and in the end had given up on helping him (an AT&T colleague!) out...

That doesn't really bode very well for what might happen on Friday when more than one person at the time will try to buy an iPhone and get their credit check through! AT&T - I predict that you'll have some explaining to do on Saturday morning.

ETA July 9: I just visited the Apple store in the same mall as the above AT&T store and they had never heard anything about anybody being able to have their credit pre-approved prior to purchase...

Cascade 1200k brevet ride report

2008-07-05T08:41:00.000-07:00

It’s a sunny day and it’s hot - more than 100F. A man sits in a deck chair, an umbrella shades him from the sun. He has a big cooler filled with ice and beverages by his side. He is reading a book. It is a pleasant scene. He looks up from his book and sees a tiny spot in the distance. The spot slowly grows bigger and turns out to be a cyclist, working his way up a long and seemingly endless hill in Eastern Washington. As the cyclist slowly approaches, the man gets out of his chair, reaches into the cooler and produces an ice-cold bottle of spring water. He walks to the side of the road, greets the surprised cyclist approaching him and hands over the water bottle to him. The cyclist empties the bottle in seconds, then thanks the man and carries on. I am the cyclist and I am well into day 3 of the Cascade 1200km Grand Randonnee, produced and organized by Seattle International Randonneurs.

Day 1: Monroe-Naches via Eatonville, Packwood and White Pass; 361km

‘OK, it’s 6 am, have a good ride’ was ride director Mark Roehrig’s words some 48 hours earlier as a group of ~65 randonneuses and randonneurs left the Holiday Inn parking lot in Monroe, WA and began the 1240km Grand Randonnee on Saturday morning. The first day were to take us from Monroe north of Seattle down south around Mt. Rainier and then east over White Pass before descending into Naches for the night. Two minutes after the start the ride had its first interruption as we all were stopped at a railroad crossing by a passing freight train. A couple of people got off their bikes and started fiddling around somewhere near the crank of one of the bikes - a bit early for that in my opinion. On the other hand, during PBP 2007 I saw somebody standing with a crank puller and a bike on the side of the road in the pouring rain less than 5 k after the start.

Anyway, the train soon passed and we were all on our way again, rolling through the early morning mist in the farmlands south of Monroe. Soon I found myself riding with only a couple of riders in view, but I didn’t care. The solitude on the road can be very refreshing if you can let your mind wander. I had just cleaned up the drivetrain, put a new chain on the bike and installed new brakepads. I was thrilled to feel that everything clicked into place by the slightest touch on the shift levers. The only sound to be heard was the tires singing on the road and the smooth clicking of the chain moving up and down the cassette when shifting gear. Shifting gear felt like a soft kiss. Great, I was ready and settled into the saddle, contemplating the task ahead of me. But not for long - a 1200 km is just too much to think about in the early parts of the ride, so instead I thought about the first stretch to Cumberland and the first control, 87 km down the road. Soon I got company by Jennifer Chang, also from SIR, and John from Iowa. We had a pleasant ride down the rolling hills towards Cumberland, slowly feeling the day beginning and getting warmer - a hint of what was ahead for the rest of the ride!

The Cumberland control was reached without any mishaps and after a short stop for the signature, 2 chocolate cookies and getting rid of some of the layers of clothing we were off again. Our little group got split up in the street festival in Buckley and I found myself alone on the road upon navigating through the floats and tents of the festival. The next control was in Eatonville and a few miles before reaching it I spotted a rider in the distance. I caught up to him in a few minutes; it was Larry from Florida who had never before climbed anything taller than a speedbump. He would get some experience on this later on! A few minutes later I rolled in to Eatonville Plaza Market where a large group of randonneurs were chilling out in the shadow having lunch. The thermometer on the plaza read 82F but the day was still young. I sat down for lunch and spent about 45 minutes eating, drinking and chatting. John and Jennifer was there as well; John had had a flat a mile before the control and was busy changing tubes.

Upon rolling out from Eatonville I could definitely feel the heat. Due to my Danish heritage I burn easily so I have learned to use factor 50 for weather like this - in 2007 I did the Mallorca Brevet Camp in similar weather, so I was not particularly worried about the heat itself; only the posibility of severe sunburns. Riding the bike creates your own breeze and I enjoyed the feeling of the wind on my legs and arms, cooling me off ever so slightly. I took in the full view of Mt. Rainier, which was now quite close and definitely ‘out’ as Seattleites say on a clear day when the entire moutain is in full view. It was a majestic sight.

I was now approaching Morton and although there was no scheduled control there I had to stop at the IGA in order to cool down with a couple of drinks - it was getting hot! A bunch of Canadians had had the same idea and a few minutes later we all left together for the next strectch of road to Packwood, 38 km down the road.

As we were approaching Randle a “SIR CONTROL” sign suddenly showed up on the side of the road - the first secret control of the ride! There, we were greeted by Joe and his son Jesse who handed out tube socks filled with ice - the greatest invention since sliced bread! Hanging the ice-filled sock around your neck cools you down substantially and makes the heat much more bearable. As the ice melts it drips down the front of your jersey, cooling it down in the wind. It was great to get back on the road, feeling the coolness from the sock on my body!

Packwood was reached in a little more than an hour or so, and as I was approaching the control I met Jennifer and John riding the other way! They just had time to yell ‘We missed it’ and then they sped off. I asked at the control what had happened and was told that they had been following the GPS route instead of the printed route sheet - apparently the GPS route had missed the stretch of road in Randle leading up to the secret control! So much for modern technology - they were now looking at a roundtrip worth 56 bonus k’s... A couple of exhausted riders came in 10-20 minutes after me and didn’t look too good - a bad sign that early in the ride. After a big bag of chips and lots of water I decided to get back on the bike - it was now around 6.30pm, there was still 105 km to Naches and I wanted to get to the top of White Pass before dark so that I could get at least some of the descent over before darkness fell.

The climb up White Pass was rather uneventful, the heat had subsided a bit and occasionally there would be shadow from the trees. The pre-ride had noted that the steepest bit was the first 1/3 of the climb; after that it would flatten out somewhat, and they were right. As an added bonus, a few miles before the top Don Boothby had set up a water stop, in order to get the bottles filled before the last bit of climbing and the descent into Naches. He also had numerous slices of watermelon, of which I had plenty - much better than the Gatorade/water mix in my bottles!!

I soon moved on and as I approached the top the view got better. I could see across to other mountain ridges, turned pink in the setting sun. It was a gorgeous sight!

A mile from the top I had to stop and put on my ‘night gown’, as a chilly head wind was coming down from the top of the pass. A few minutes later I crested the pass, at around 9.15pm and started the descent, which turned out to be a lot warmer than the climb up - never tried that before! It was actually sweltering hot descending down the mountains, as the naked rockside and the pavement was radiating heat intensely. I was sweating in my arm and knee warmers despite doing no pedalling. 16 k’s later the route took a right turn, in order to go around Clear Lake and a few km’s further on was the penultimate control of the day at the shores of Clear Lake.

Clear Lake was a feast! Just like the 600km brevet in early June, SIR’s last control before the overnight stop would wait for us with everything the heart could desire food-wise. Five people were manning it, ready to take my orders for sandwiches, soup, coffee, tea, and whatever kind of drinks I’d like. Awesome! I had two bowls of soup and a couple of cokes while I sat in a comfortable camp chair listening to the music the ‘controllers’ had put on.

Then I was away again, on a great homestretch consisting of 48 km of downhill followed by 7 km of flat road in a roaring tailwind and at 5 minutes past midnight I pulled in to Naches Middle School together with Kitty Goursolle whom I caught up to during the descent. As we walked the last 20 meters through the entrance she asked me where I was from and was delighted when I told her that I was Danish, as she was 1/4 Danish! Inside Bob Brudvik (50/50 Swede/Norwegian), together with a handful of other volunteers, was waiting to feed and sleep the riders as they trickled in. I first sat down for an excellent lasagna and had a chat with Mark Roberts who was on kitchen duty. Then I had a great shower and finally it was time for bed. I got my sleeping pad and sleeping bag out from my drop bag, asked to be woken up at 4.30 am, was given a piece of paper with my name and wake-up time on it and was shown to my spot in the school’s gym. I rolled out my bag, plugged in the ear plugs and fell asleep in milliseconds.

Day 2: Naches-Quincy via Lodgepole Campground (Chinook Pass) and Rattlesnake Hills; 331km

At 4.30 am sharp a kind volunteer gently wiggled my toes and I woke up, ready for day 2. I put on a jersey and had a quick breakfast, put my drop bag in the truck and I was out the door at 5.17 am. In the door I met Jennifer Chang who was just pulling in, she was still in good spirits, despite her roundtrip to the secret control in Randle earlier on.

The first part of the day would be a 140 km roundtrip to Lodgepole campground, halfway up Chinook Pass. Essentially it would mean 70 km of gentle climbing followed by 70 km of downhill back to Naches and then further on. There was a wicked headwind initially which subsided somewhat as it was gradually getting warmer - unfortunately I had learned about valley winds in first year in college and vaguely remembered that as the valley sides warmed up, the wind direction in the valley would reverse and thus I could expect a headwind going back down again. Oh well, not much you can do about nature and general laws of physics!

After only 5 k or so I met Val and Robin Phelps; Val had suffered a crash and was sitting on the road bleeding from several cuts and bruises on his hand and his face. It didn’t look too good but after having checked if I had any first-aid gear on me (nope!) they assured me that they would be OK and I carried on. A few minutes later they passed me, and I met them again halfway to the Lodgepole campground when I pulled in at a gas station to get a cup of coffee and they were shopping for band-aids...

The last half of the trip up to Lodgepole was rather delightful with a gentle climb all the way, which promised for a nice descend later on. I checked in at Lodgepole, which turned out to be a secret control and not just a support stop shortly after 9.30 am together with a couple of Canadians. Josh Morse (another SIR) and Larry from Florida pulled in another few minutes later. I treated myself to a muffin and a cup of coffee and a quick visit to the campground loo; then it was off again.

I had been right about the wind reversal in the valley and I was now facing a slight headwind as I was going downhill towards Naches. I enjoyed letting the bike roll along, with just the occasional pedalling to keep the speed around 25-30 k/hr. Great views of the river shifted with the occasional shade from the trees and soon I was back in Naches where the route took us up on the old Naches highway, thereby avoiding going through the city itself. The control at Fruitvale was now only 16 km away, but a slight detour 2 km up a very steep hill together with Tracy Barill from BC made it slightly longer than necessary. However, at 1.25 pm we pulled in at the Fruitvale control where we were greeted by Mark Thomas outside the Starbucks. A shopping trip in the Fred Meyer’s Deli followed, where I stocked up on Gatorade, coke, chocolate milk, chicken salad and fruit for lunch. I filled my water bottles and then sat down in the shadow for a slow lunch - I have discovered that I can’t eat at my normal speed when it’s hot, but if I slow down to 30-50% of my normal ‘eating speed’, everything goes down very well. An hour later I felt ready for departure, and the temperature was approaching 105F anyways, so it was time to get moving.

The first stretch took me through the Yakima green trail, a bike trail around the city whereby you avoid Yakima itself, and then on to SR-24 for 66km in the sun, with no shade whatsoever anywhere along the road. I got my tube sock filled with ice just before exiting the trail onto SR-24 and it kept me cool for the first 15 km or so, then it had all melted in the heat. However, I was making really good progress despite the 100+F temperatures.

The first hour I was going 24-27km/hr, but then the road started to tilt slightly in the wrong direction and my speed dropped to 16-19 km/hr for the next hour - there was also a slight headwind to make it a bot more challenging (good job, SIR!). Mark Thomas had told that there would be a water stop about 40 km down the road so I had been drinking out of my bottles accordingly - a slurp for every mile and a bigger slurp every 5 miles. As hot as it was I still felt relatively fine on the bike and the fact that I was making good progress kept my morale up. I even had energy to take pictures and worry about rattlesnakes, as I had seen numerous roadkilled snakes on the road and was constantly wondering if it was really something a cyclist should worry about. So I spent most of my time looking out for live ones on the road but never saw any. Suddenly I saw a white canopy in the distance and the SIR water stop materialized in front of me, manned by Bob Brudvik and Erik Anderson. I sat down for 2 cokes and was off again in 10 minutes, having been told that I made good time on a larger group ahead of me, which had left Fruitvale when I pulled in. That was good news and told me that I was doing better than most people in the heat.

After another hour or so, the Vernita rest area on the banks of the Columbia River showed up on the horizon. Kitty was there, having some stomach problems. I filled my bottles and sat down for a few minutes and a visit to the loo. Upon exiting the rest area, the road climbs out of the Columbia River Valley via a short but steep piece of road, about 10% or so over half a mile. The route sheet said ‘Yes, up that hill!’, but I actually didn’t find it that hard - compared to working your way up a mountain pass for 2+ hours as I had done a few weeks earlier on the 600k it was really just a bump in the road and I climbed slowly out of the valley in my lowest gear. Kitty had left 5-10 minutes before me and I caught up to her a couple of miles down the road where she was riding slowly through an irrigation spinkler to cool down - a neat trick!

We were now in farm land; fields of crops were all around us, together with loads of empty beer bottles lining the ditches on the sides of the road. I’m not sure this is a place I’d like to ride through on a Friday or Saturday night as it seems as if the predominant hobby is drinking and driving. A smashed up car was parked in a field next to the road, a bunch of locals checking it out, apparently. The road took a turn to the left and it was now only 12 km to the control in Mattawa - last stop before the overnight in Quincy. This meant soup and sandwich time! Before I knew it I was in Mattawa, gave my order to the controllers and sat down for a delicious soup and sandwich. I had 2 helpings, and then I was ready to get on my way again.

The overnight stop was 65 km from Mattawa and a thunderstorm was brewing on the horizon. As I rode out of Mattawat I had to pedal in my lowest gear to work my way down the hill towards the right turn onto SR-243. Fortunately I then had kind of a tailwind, but I kept looking over my shoulder to figure out if a thunderstorm was coming or not. The sky was pitchblack and the gusts were unbelievable. In the end nothing came of it, but the prospect of riding around in a thunderstorm in the open scared me so much that I started sprinting whenever I could - I just wanted to get to Quincy as soon as I possibly could! Fotunately the wind was in my back most of the way to Quincy and it helped my morale a lot that I caught up to a group with Audrey Adler and a couple of others after 15-20 km or so (it was dark so I couldn’t see who). I had just ridden through an irrigation sprinkler before catching up to them and as I rode up on the side of Audrey and said hi she said ‘It’s raining’. I said ‘no, it’s just me’ and she responded ‘no, it’s raining’. I then explained that I had just ridden through a sprinkler and the side wind was blowing water off me and onto her. On a long, steep downhill I left them behind and rode through the night towards Quincy on my own. I really enjoyed the last 25 km or so, it was two long stretches of flat road with a stron tailwind that kept me at 25-28 km/hr constantly and I pulled in at Quincy high school at 23.19.

After a generously sized portion of chili and rice, served up by Ralph and Carol Nussbaum, and 8-10 cups of water, juice and chocolate milk I went for the shower and then the bed. I asked for a 5:00 wake-up call and I was in bed at 00:15, giving me almost 5 hours of sleep - great! I was out in seconds and slept like a log.

Day 3: Quincy-Mazama via Dry Falls and Loup Loup Pass; 290 km.

After a relaxed breakfast I was out the door shortly after 6:00 and heading in a generally northerly direction towards Mazama. The morning was cool-ish (at least not too hot yet!) and I made good progress on the roads winding through the farm areas of Eastern Washington. I soon found myself outside Ephrata where the route turned left towards the Dry Falls, a most spectacular geological feature from the last ice age created by catastrophic failure of an ice-dammed lake covering most of Western Montana. Eventually the ice-dam gave away and the water was relased in a gigantic flash-flood, covering Eastern Washington in hundreds of feet of water and carving out the Dry Falls. This flooding re-occurred several times as the lake covering Western Montana re-filled and re-emptied. It is a spectacular sight to see and cycle through it!

At the Dry Falls visitor center a secret control appeared. Mark Thomas and co. were busy signing brevet cards and serving excellent potato salad and cold drinks. I chilled out in the shadow for half an hour or so before I left again for the first ‘non-secret’ control of the day, at Farmer.

After Dry Falls the road took a left turn to climb up on the top of the plateau that the Dry Falls are carved in to. It turned out to be a mile-long, slow-going climb before I found myself on the top of the plateau, which is not flat but has some rather long rollers. In between the rollers is a screaming descent followed by a long, long climb back up to the plateau, which is where I was greeted by the in-promptu water stop manned by Albert under the umbrella. My bike speed was good despite the increasing heat and I arrived at the control in Farmer at around 12:01, just in time for lunch!

The Farmer control was in the old Farmer Community Hall, located absolutely in the middle of nowhere. Audrey, Michelle and Kitty were relaxing in the shade inside when I arrived. 5-6 volunteers were busy attendig the needs of the riders. I got my card signed and then had a great tuna sandwich with everything on it. After that a generous serving of grapes and chips - once again I was amazed about the incredible and overwhelming control support on this ride!

After Farmer there was 95 km to the Malott control before the Loup Loup Pass climb. Getting back out in the sun was quite brutal, in particular as I had forgotten my tube sock in my drop bag in the morning. So I was riding with no other cooling than the breeze created by my own speed. It was like riding around in a hair-dryer running at full speed. The rollers around Farmer continued for miles and miles. It was quite a sight coming up on top of one and see the landscape and all the fields with crops unfold in front of you. Another white canopy appeared in the distance - yet another SIR water stop in the middle of nowhere. I pulled in and met Audrey, Michelle and Kitty who was a couple of minutes ahead of me. After a couple of Cokes and a banana, and a refill of my water bottles I left again; there was still some 60km to the Malott control and after that was the Loup Loup Pass which I didn’t want to descend in the dark.

Soon another screaming, 8-mile long descent into the Columbia River valley and Bridgeport followed. Here I stopped for a rest in a gas station to get out of the heat for a bit, and to fill up on everything before the last stretch to Malott. After Bridgeport the landscape changed as I was now approaching the foothills of the Cascade mountains. I was quite pleased to see the mountains in the horizon, as I was beginning to have had enough of the impressive, but monotonous landscape of Eastern Washington. The last stretch to Malott was through a lovely rolling farmland with ranches and lush, green fields with all sorts of crops and grazing horses.

At Malott the usual soup-and-sandwich extravaganza awaited as I pulled in at 17:31 and it felt great to sit down for 45 minutes or so and pull myself together in preparation for the last stretch to Mazama. I later learned that the temperature at the Mazama control had topped out at 105F and that the temperature at the Farmer control was 111F when I was there! No wonder it felt quite warm on the road...

After leaving Malott the climb up Loup Loup Pass began after only 6 km. I got a genuine shock when I saw a “wall” instead of a road ahead of me and I started climbing up in my lowest gear with the greatest difficulty. I was wondering if this was going to go on all the way to the top, 22 km ‘down’ the road. Fortunately it turned out that the inital steep - very steep - climb was only a couple of km or so; after that it flattened out subtantially and got quite a bit easier. At Malott I had been told that there would be a water stop 8 km from the top of the pass and after a rather disappointing descent halfway to the top I reached the water stop and filled up. Then it was onwards to the top at 4020 ft which I reached around 20:40.

Just as the night before, a thunderstorm was brewing behind me and I still had some ways to go to the Mazama control. I stopped at the top to quickly put on arm and knee warmers and reflective gear and then began the descent. 3 km down I felt a few very big drops falling on me and I started pedalling to get down even faster - I really didn’t fancy being caught in a thunderstorm descending at 65 km/hr! I reached the bottom after 16 km, made a right turn and was then on a sligthly rolling road towards Twisp and Winthrop; intermediate towns before the Mazama overnight stop. To my right I could see flashes of lightning in the mountains and I wasn’t sure if it was going in my direction or not. Soon I reached Twisp, where I felt some drops of rain starting to fall harder and harder. I sped through the town and pulled in to a campground at the outskirts of Twisp just as the wind started to pick up and the rain began to fall. I sat down on the front porch for half an hour or so while I was trying to figure out what the weather was doing. It rained heavily for 10 minutes and the wind was viciously coming from allmost all directions at once. From counting the seconds between flashes and the thunder it seemed that the thunder was moving away from me. After about half an hour or so I was back on the road, riding as fast as possible towards Winthrop as I could. It turned out that I was on the tailend of the storm and apparently gaining on it a bit as it started to drizzle harder and harder as I approached Winthrop. In Winthrop I then waited another 5-10 minutes before setting out for the last 21 km to Mazama, which were completely dry. I arrived at Mazama around 23:30 completely dry and without having been severely hit by any rain to speak of.

Dinner was another round of Chili and I then asked to be woken up at 4:30. I was shown the way to the sleeping facilities, which turned out to be luxurious resort hotel rooms with private bathrooms and big, soft beds It was great to have a long shower and then tuck myself down in a huge queen size bed!

Day 4: Mazama-Monroe via Washington Pass and Rainy Pass; 261 km

I was woken up by 4:30, got ready and then left for the breakfast table which had loads of sausages, eggs, potatoes, fruit, oatmeal, juices and coffee. After having eaten breakfast for half an hour or so I decided it was time to get on with the day and I rolled out of Mazama around 5:45.

It immediately started to go up towards Washington Pass, not much, but still. Washington Pass is almost at 5500 ft so there was a substantial amount of climbing ahead. However, I enjoyed the spectacular scenerey as I made my way up the pass, although I had a hard time sitting down. I think I underestimated the amount of chamois-butter I needed to use on day 1 and 2 and I was now paying the price. Re-applying a couple of times didn’t do much to mitigate the pain. My left achilles was also starting to bother me, so I couldn’t stand up and pedal properly. In the end (!) I just had to sit down and try not to think too hard about the pain in my derriere.

Halfway to the top I stopped for a couple of pictures of the mountains around me, and I noticed a big wobble in rear wheel. Great, just what I needed on the last day! On the top of the pass I stopped for a few minutes trying to get the wheel trued back. Ksyrium’s are not supposed to do that! I managed to get most of the wobble straigthened out and I could then carry on with the screaming descent from Washington Pass and over the little ‘speedbump’ of Rainy Pass. From Rainy pass it was a downhill more or less all the way to Newhalem, 60 km down the road. There were a few rollers inbetween but it was definitely one of the longest generally downhill stretches I’ve encountered - great for the last day!

From Newhalem there was 22 km to the first control of the day in Marblemount and I pulled in around lunch time. For the first time in a long time there were no SIR volunteers working the control so we had to get the cards signed inside the gas station. I got a bag of chips and some gatorade, sat down for a few minutes in the shadow on a milk crate and wished it all was finished now...

But there was still 140 km to go to the finish in Monroe. However, the climbing was over for now and the next 120 km to the last control in Granite Falls turned out to be through forests and lush farmland on generally flat roads. The only excitement being caused by the occasional logging truck passing a bit too close for comfort. I stopped halfway to re-apply some chamois-butter and eat a powerbar, then I pushed on for Granite Falls which I reached 17:38. The control was just outside a MacDonald’s and a Quarter Pounder has never tasted so good - I had ridden 227 km on my breakfast, a bag of chips and a powerbar and I really felt like I needed some proper food before the last 34 km to Monroe.

Shortly after 18:00 I was on my way again, just wishing to be through with it and sit down with a nice, cold beer. There was a lot of small, twisting hills on the last stretch and I hate riding on that kind of roads when I’m tired. I like to know what’s ahead and these small hills made me quite irritated towards the end. But at least I was riding them in the daylight and soon I was on the top of Chain Lake Road leading down (yes, down!) to Monroe. The last 3 km to the hotel was a gentle downhill and I rolled at 19:40 and handed over my card to Amy Pieper and Mark Thomas manning the finish line. I had completed my 2nd 1200k!

This was a great ride, with lots of very varied scenery and amazing landscapes. What was even more amazing was all the outstanding support the riders got from the SIR volunteers. I have mentioned some of them by name here, but only because I don’t know all of them yet. Everybody did an outstanding job in making us riders succeed in our efforts to complete and I’d like to thank each and every one of them for their incredible work. Thanks a lot!

Ole Mikkelsen, RUSA 4754.

Word!

2008-06-19T07:49:00.000-07:00

Wordle is a website for generating 'clouds' of words from a text you provide. Words that feature more prominently in your text will be larger (via Sandwalk). It's a massive waste of time, but very entertaining. here's what my 600km brevet looks like:

-notice that the word 'miles' feature prominently!

Here's what the War and soil piece looks like:

Highly amusing!

War and soil!

2008-06-16T20:43:00.000-07:00

There was an unusual little paper in Geoderma’s last issue (Hupy & Schaetzl, 2008: Soil development on the WWI battlefield of Verdun, France. Geoderma 145: 37-49. DOI: 10.1016/j.geoderma.2008.01.024). While soil science is pretty far from what I do on a daily basis now, I had great interest in the subject when I was an undergrad and still finds it fascinating. Furthermore, I visited Verdun in 1994 and saw the remains of the battlefield and was amazed how little it had recovered - craters were absolutely everywhere and vast areas were cordoned off with warnings about un-exploded ammunition. A study combining the two topics would be just up my alley!

Anyway, H&S studied soil development in and adjacent to artillery craters at three sites, corresponding to the three major soil types in the battlefield. These in turn are related to the underlying geology and geomorphology of the area. The area is structurally defined by a series of NE-SW running cuestas creating a sets of valleys and ridges. In the valleys low-lying poorly drained areas have soils suffering from waterlogging (Pseudogleys), while the ridges have soils influenced by the shallow limestone bedrock (Brunified Rendzina and Calcareous Brown).

The data were collected from the disturbed soil profiles (in the craters) compared to the ‘undisturbed’ profiles (adjacent to the craters). In 3 study sites, one for each major soil type in the area, 3 soil profiles were dug in each of 3 craters for a total of 27 soil profiles.

At the end of the battle, no soil horizons were likely to exist in the area due to the intensive ‘bomturbation’ of the area. H&S found that a measurable amount of soil development have occurred since the disturbance in 1916: The crater bottoms have accumulated a thick layer of organic matter, the freshly exposed (in 1916) limestone bedrock have been weathered and its byproducts leached down-profile. Weathering at the crater bottoms have occurred at a faster rate than elsewhere, most likely due to run-off accumulating in the crater bottoms. Also earthworm activity was found to have moved humus-rich material into cracks and fractures in the limestone, thereby increasing the area exposed to leaching by humic acids.

This means that soil formation has now been enhanced in crater bottoms located at the ridge crests due to 1) water being focused in the craters and 2) organic matter being collected at the crater bottoms. In the valleys between the cuesta ridges soil formation has slowed as the crater bottoms are more or less permanently below the water table. Soil formation has also increased on the slopes of the ridges, as the craters delay the run-off and increase the infiltration of surface water into the soils, thereby enhancing soil formation.

The vegetation in the area has generally not been restored to its pre-war state of beech, hornbeam and oak, due to the scale of the devastation. Pine has been planted in heavily visited areas due to the soft lighting created by pine trees. H&S try to make the claim that the soil development in the 88 years since the battle can be used as indicators of landscape recovery/resilience, in the absence of re-colonizing vegetation.

However, it’s not clear to me exactly how. Their data seems to show to me that while the same soil-forming processes are acting now as before the battle, the location of the resulting soils are different, for example as evidenced by the development of soils in the crater bottoms on ridge crests. Consequently reovery hasn’t been particularly successful (as I see it), but this is never really spelled out by H&S. However, I still like the paper simply for being curious about soil development in a heavily bombarded area!

SIR 600km 4 passes brevet - map

2008-06-14T10:36:00.001-07:00

So this is the route we took on the SIR 600km 4 passes brevet 7-8 June - challenging:

SIR 600 km ACP brevet June 7-8 2008
Find more Bike Rides in Issaquah, Washington

Well, that was a short one!

2008-06-14T08:27:00.003-07:00

I was supposed to go on a 140 mi permanent today together with a handful of other people from SIR, riding around Mt. Rainier. The start was at 6.30 am in Enumclaw and upon arrival I realised, as I opened the trunk in the parking lot, that I had forgotten my bike helmet!

%$#&%^@$!! and $@$#$@#@&&*^!!

So while I loaded my bike back up on my rack and headed back towards Beacon Hill, the others took off on what I'm sure will be a gorgeous day riding over a couple of exciting mountain passes while having Mt. Rainier in view almost all the time... Oh well, lesson learned!

Happy Cubic Day!

2008-06-14T08:14:00.004-07:00

Today is a very special day - it's a cubic day! (Link in Danish only, sorry.) 14 June 2008 (140608, as it would be written outside the US) is 52^3, and therefore holds very special significance as all sorts of trickery, disasters, destruction and magic can happen today. Maybe even the end of the world before the day is over!

Well, no. But that's only because the superstitious in the US only recognizes the US date format so that todays date is 61408 or even 80614, both of which are obviously a lot less exciting. For one, there's fewer numbers in them than 140608 and their cubic roots are no magic integer numbers like 52. Also note that 52 is the number of weeks in a year, so it's obvious that 140608 is an *incredibly* special day - watch out!

The next cubic day, if we survive this one, will be 9 November 2025 (91125 = 45^3) and the last one was 11 May 1995 (110595 = 48^3).

Pics from SIR 600km 4 passes

2008-06-12T01:01:00.004-07:00

SIR 600km 4 passes brevet

2008-06-09T19:56:00.005-07:00

The Seattle International Randonneurs 600 km ACP brevet was held this weekend. With a route going over 4 passes each higher than 4000 feet and a total of 20000+ feet of climbing this was not going to be a tea party. Having ridden only 10 brevets in my Randonneur career so far I am not the most experiened randonneur around and I had been looking forward to this ride with a feeling of anticipation and anxiety. I only had one 600 km to my belt and that was done on Mallorca in May 2007 - a place with a considerably more pleasant climate than Issaquah on an early Saturday morning in June 2008... I cycled over to the start from my home in Seattle and was comfortably warm when I arrived at the start 10 minutes before the gun.* Signing in took 30 seconds but by that time I was already cooled down.

Anyway, off we went, all 54 of us at 5 am, heading out into the early morning light, which soon gave way to - not the sun, but to a slight drizzle, which within a couple of hours had turned into a more steady rain. Anyway, the wind wasn’t too strong and after the initial climb up to the plateau the course was gently rolling along. As a new transplant to the Northwest I recognized with joy some of the locations we sped through from my 2 200 km permanents in April and May.

After 30 miles or so I felt my bike pulling to the right, and I had a hard time keeping it straight. For a few seconds I though that I was loosing my sense of balance - I tried to ride without my hands on the handlebars and it would pull sharply to the right. I tried to lean to the left and it would still pull to the right. Then it dawned upon me: I had a flat, caused by having ridden over some torny branches on the road. As I stood there by the wayside fixing it I was once again pleasantly surprised by all the passing riders asking if I had everything I needed - randonneurs are a friendly bunch! I was less pleased with the fancy tire levers from REI, one of which promptly broke when I tried to get the tire off. MEC’s are better!

Got the wheel back on the bike just in time to hook up with Jeff Loomis and a couple of others whom I’d met on the 300 km brevet in April. We rode more or less together up to the first control at Skykomish (106km/66mi), where the chili at the Sky Deli felt really good!

Back on the bike and up towards Steven’s Pass. After 6 or 7 miles I suddenly heard a pfft pfft pfft from my rear tire. C***! Another flat, the second in less than 75 miles - this could be a looooong brevet if it continued like that. As I was replacing the tube several randonneurs rode by, expressing their joy upon recognizing me: ‘You again?’, ‘Another one?’, ‘The second flat already?’ and similar uplifting remarks. I had a closer look at the tire and discovered that it was almost completely cut up in an area, where a pebble (presumably) had made a star-shaped incision all the way through to the outside of the thread. I didn’t have a boot handy so I put a dollar bill in the tire instead, thereby dramatically increasing the resale value of it. A few minutes later I was on my way again.

The climb up Steven’s was not too bad, actually. Raining, yes, but I was still fresh and I could see 2-3 randonneurs a few hundred metres ahead of me. A few thousand vertical feet later I found myself at the top of the pass with one down and three to go. At the top I was greeted by some friendly randonneurs who were impressed with my stylish outfit (my reflective vest from MEC; my wet weather gear from RainLegs and my seat bag from Carradice with quick release). Style is everything when you’re on the top and in lack of any serious talent. It is also cold on the top, as they say, but it’s actually a lot colder going down from the top, at least if Steven’s Pass is any indication. The decent was about 17 miles and ended, conveniently, at a rest area just as the sun decided to peek out from behind the clouds. I pulled over and spent a few minutes getting rid of some clothes and soaking up a bit of sun.

After heating up a bit it was on towards Leavenworth and its alpine grandeur. The route took us through a gorgeous valley with rapids in the river and generally a delightful tailwind (I think) - the push to Leavenworth didn’t seem that long or hard. Upon arrival at the Subway control (188km/117mi) I had one of their sandwiches and it felt really good - like music in my mouth. Or was it the habaneros?

5 minutes after pulling out from the Subway I realized that I had forgotten to fill my water bottles. Fortunately I had read Mark’s pre-ride report which clearly said that Ingall’s Creek Store would be about halfway up Blewett Pass. After what seemed like a quick ride I arrived there, filled up my bottles in preparation for the last half of the climb in the heat (the sun was now out in full strength) and took off for the top at around 16:11. 90 minutes later I was still climbing and cursing loose statements about being halfway at the store. I hate Blewett Pass! The road up there just keeps going on and on and on and on and on and on forever and ever. The grade does change a bit here and there so there is some variation in the climb, but overall it was just an awful long climb. At the top I stopped for a drink, a Snickers and a few pictures and then took of for the descent, only to be interrupted 100m later by a SIR non-control with plenty of food and drinks. Nice - thanks to the organizers for that!

The descent was fast and not too chilly, although the sun was slowly setting in the West. After a few miles the road turned uphill and into a wicked sidewind with violent gusts that almost could move you sideways. I was riding with Clyde Butt at this point and we had to be careful not to be tossed into each other by the wind. Fortunately the road turned south after a few miles and with the wind coming from WNW we were now in a tailwind with gusts up to 65mph all the way to Ellensburg (282km/175mi). Those miles went by frighteningly fast, but were as fun as anything I’ve ever tried on a bicycle! Woohoo, more of that, please!! Upon arrival at Ellensburg we got our brevet card stamped and then proceeded to a launderette, because Clyde had the bright idea that we should dry our clothes that were still wet after the morning rain. Better to ride into the night with dry clothes... We ate a couple of sandwiches while we chilled out inside the launderette and waited for the clothes to dry up.

Shortly before 21:00 we left Ellensburg and rode through Yakima Canyon, a roughly 30-mile stretch winding through the canyon. The road was twisting and turning - horizontally and vertically, so sometimes we had a nice tailwind, sometimes a disgusting headwind. Soon we arrived in Selah, where we were to turn out onto highway #12 which was ALL headwind. Right in the nose for 10 miles; and in pitch black darkness. It was now approaching midnight and we still had 35-40 miles to the overnight stop at Rimrock Lake so the headwind was not appreciated at all. But what can you do, other than get a grip on the bottom of the handlebars and pedal through. Fortunately I was still feeling quite well, although I think Clyde was getting a bit tired. However, after an hour and a bit we finally turned off the #12 highway onto - the #12 highway and were greeted by the blinking lights indicating a friendly SIR control at night.

The lights indicated Mark Thomas’ secret control and soup kitchen, where 4 volunteers were busy making sandwiches, coffee, hot chocolate and soup for the randonneurs and randonneuses straying by in the night. Clyde was concerned about his rear light having enough juice in it, but his fingers were too cold to change the batteries, so he asked Mark Thomas if he would do it for him. Mark agreed and promptly changed the batteries on somebody elses rear light as Clyde apparently hadn’t been too specific about which bike needed the attention... Such is randonneuring after 20 hours on the bike. As it turned out, Clyde had enough battery life for the rest of the night anyways. We enquired about the remaining part of the route up to the overnight stop at Rimrock lake (400km/250mi) and were told that it was 40km/25 miles - uphill - so probably about 3 hours @ 8 miles per hour - a rather depressing message to get at 1 am in the morning when all you want to do is to hit the sack for a couple of hours in la-la land.

It turned out that it wasn’t quite so bad; it probably only took about 2 hours and 50 minutes to get to the overnight stop. On the way up it happened a couple of times that I was nodding off and almost fell asleep on my bike, while pedalling uphill. During Paris-Brest-Paris in 2007 I did fall asleep once, but that was on a downhill where there was no pedalling. The body feels weird when you’re so sleepy. And strangely enough I still felt strong, hadn’t bonked or had any crises at all during the day; I was just sleepy.

At Rimrock Lake there were 3 motels, spread 1-2 miles apart. Our motel was obviously the very last one, so for half an hour or so we were eagerly scouting for the blinking SIR lights on the roadside every time we approached a motel. Finally we arrived and were greeted by a huge breakfast table with sausages, pancakes, yogurt, juice, coffee, etc., etc., etc. The first question I was asked was what I would like “You can have anything you like, we can make everythingl” Wow! Outstanding service, and for a registration fee of only $40! I had my card signed and then eagerly sat down for a nice breakfast of pancakes, sausages, yogurt and some other hot goodies + some orange juice and milk before the shower before the bed. Normally things are the other way round (bed, shower, breakfast) but randonneurs are different. Then off to find my shower, and then my bed where I managed to get 90 minutes of amazing high-quality sleep. When my alarm went off 6.45 am I was out the door in 15 minutes and on the way up to the top of pass #3; White Pass. Fortunately Rimrock Lake was more than halfway up the pass so it only took an hour to get to the top, where there was still lots of snow from the winter.

Then followed the coldest 20-25 minutes in my life as I plunged 3000 feet in 13 miles down to yet another SIR control manned with hot chocolate and muffins (434km/269mi). Yummy, just what I needed after that descent. It was also somewhat positive to hear that there was only 16 miles to the top of the last pass of the trip, Cayuse Pass, at 4700 feet the highest pass on the ride. After that it would be generally downhill for the last 90 miles or so, with the occasional roller here and there...

I set off for the top of Cayuse Pass, more or less at the same time as 3 others who had huddled around the Hot Chocolate at the control but now also wanted to get the last pass over and done with. The road up the pass was a bit rough here and there, but there was not much traffic. I found myself passing a mile post every 6 minute, which made for a decent climbing speed of 10mph - at least for the first 9 miles. Then the real climbing started and my speed slowed to 6 mph for the last 7 miles. Signs of the snowy winter was everwhere; especially from mile 10, where the snow banks on the side of the road were still standing 2-3 meters tall. It was very quiet going up (apart from my breathing), not a wind was moving, and occasionally you would hear a crack or a chirp from somewhere in the woods. Some kind of animal? A bear? A squirrel? At one point I was sure a bear was standing on the road in front of me, and my heart almost stopped. Then I realised that it was a tree that had fallen over with some soil still clumped to it’s roots, which from the side made it look like a bear standing on the trunk, overlooking the road... A couple of minutes later I thought a cougar was standing at the roadside, but again it was just a tree that had fallen over. At the end I arrived at the top of the pass after 2:20 hours of nonstop climbing without any wildlife encounters. There was loads of snow on the top, and people stopped to dress up for the descent after the experience from White Pass.

Then it was downhill towards the Greenwater control at 497km/309mi where a Coke, a Mocha and a couple of Snickers made me feel really good about the rest of the ride. I also caught up to Jeff Loomis here, whom I hadn’t seen since my second flat the day before. Josh Morse arrived soon after me. Half an hour was spent sitting in the sunshine, feeling that the end was getting close, chatting a bit. But there was still some work to do.

Back on the bike and towards the control in Redmond. The first 28km/18mi were downhill in a tailwind and I felt really good so I just hammered away in the pedals. Then came the turn at Ravensdale where a short, steep hill reminded me that I had cycled about 530km/329mi in 30-some hours and I should probably be less cocky about the uphills from now on. It was a bit of a drag on the rollers for the next 40km/25mi until I got to Issaquah and the stretch up along Lake Sammamish which went well. Suddenly I was at the Redmond Shell control, and only 12km/8mi from the finish! I had my card stamped and bought and ice-cream and a cup of coffee to celebrate before the final stretch. Josh rolled in 3 minutes after me and we rode the final stretch to Brad Tilden’s house in Issaquah together, arriving 37:35 hours after our departure.

At the finish the organizers (Tilden family + posse) were ready, computer in lap, to process our brevet cards and the finish times were up on the net the following morning - very impressive! Also impressive was the pizza and Coke at the finish, which was just what I needed before cycling home along the I-90 bike trail to Seattle after a great weekend on 2 wheels. I can’t say enough about the amazing support on this brevet. The food and drink was outstading at all the manned controls and there was plenty to go around. Everything seemed to run like a clockwork. What a great club!

*Just kidding - we were starting in a residential neighborhood and it’s against their bylaws to discharge firearms on Saturday mornings in order to start bicycle rides. However, this being the US they’ll still let you discharge a firearm 24/7 for all other reasons.

Aw, uh, oh

2008-06-04T19:43:00.002-07:00

Ooh, aw, uh – I had a spectacular crash this morning on my way in to work, at the bottom of a rather steep hill, so I was going somewhat fast. At the bottom was a slight bend to the right, the pavement was slightly moist and there were a few leaves on the road. WHAM! – I skid out on the wet pavement and tore up my new! $99! bike shorts and my new! $15! RUSA socks and my new! $70 high-visibility bicycle jacket.

It was a textbook crash. I was in the midle of the turn at th bottom, leaned to the right and suddenly BOTH tires started to skid. I just had time to think 'Oh noes, I'm going down, I don't want to!!' - WHAM! First my right pedal hit the ground, then in fast order my right foot, right handlebar (had a chunk taken out of it!) right hip and right elbow, so the bike took a big part of the impact, as it should. I then slid a 5-10 meters or so sitting on my butt on the pavement into the oncoming lane (I was on the bike path so no heavy traffic!) When everything stopped I laid there for a few seconds, making sure that I could still feel everything (oh yeah, I could feel a lot!) After having completed the all-systems check I got up, with some difficulty. I was pleased to note that my knees were virtually unharmed because I kept them together 'inside' the frame when I crashed. My hands were also in great shape even though I was riding without gloves. But I had kept my hands on top of the handlebars while going down, so they never touched the ground.

I was in some pain after pulling myself up, and noted a roadrash on my right elbow and that I had a very sore right buttock where I had landed... After I got up I walked up to the next intersection (25 m away), got back on the bike and continued into work, very slowly at first but getting better after 10 mins or so. The shower did hurt a bit when the hot water hit the spots where my skin had been stripped off... Now it hurts when I sit down, and I have to be slanted to the left, to remove the pressure from my butt. What’s worse, I’m having problem drinking coffee as it hurts when I bend my right elbow...

I'll be OK in a week or so, in the mean time I hope to ride the pain off on the SIR 600 km brevet this coming weekend. Also, my gorgeous red and white Roberts was fine. Very fine actually - after the crash I just picked it up and rode on. Nothing bent or our of alignment or adjustment. The wheels were both fine, the shifting worked as it should. Everything worked, which was really pleasing having spent the better part of $6K on it back in 2003.

A night with PZ Myers

2008-06-03T21:53:00.004-07:00

Pharyngula's master, PZ Myers, gave a talk at the Pacific Science Center last night. The topic of his talk was "On Science, Blogs and Intelligent Debates."

The main message to take home from his talk was that scientists should let their passion and excitement about their science shine through whenever they are communicating it to the public. Nothing makes the general public go cold as a talking head with a labcoat. I hadn't though too much about that before but I think he is right - sometimes it can be hard to figure out if you're watching a commercial for hair shampoo or if it is a Nobel Laureate talking about her latest discovery.

When I think about all the excursions and trips I went on as an (under)graduate, every single one of them was a hit with virtually all the students. And the reason was that it was obvious that the teachers were excited about the stuff they were showing us, and it showed all the time; 24/7. That is something that rarely is seen in the media these days, the excited scientists. But the fact is, we're actually quite excited about the work we're doing most of the time, so it's just a matter of getting it to show and then people will start to take notice.

SIR 202 k permanent #401: Leschi-Auburn-Redmond

2008-05-01T16:40:00.004-07:00

I rode this permanent on Saturday April 26 in *great* weather - although it was a wee bit chilly in the early morning when I set off from home to the Starbucks start at Lakeside Avenue.

ETA June 3, 2008:Incredibly, I managed to take the wrong turn on to Lakeside Avenue and thus getting lost even before I had started the ride! After 5 mins or so of fooling around on the road I realized I was going in the wrong direction and arrived at the Starbucks around 7.20 am; bought a banana loaf, got my receipt and off I went - but not before I had said hi to Todd, another newcomer to SIR who was going out on another permanent.

Off towards the south and Maple Valley; got a bit tricked by the roads down around Renton Airport (municipal, not international!) and spent 10 mins or so figuring out where to go. When I finally found myself on Maple Valley Hwy I was delighted to discover that it had a bicycle path all the way to Maple Valley - sweet.

A bit before Ravensdale I passed a citizen walking a couple of enormous black dogs, who obviously hated cyclists. At least that's the only conclusion I can think of after spending a minute or so frantically sprinting away from the Hound of Baskerville while hearing its owner's panicky yells to 'Stop! Come back! Sit' quickly fade in the distance. I assume it was meant for the dog and not for me - I was certainly not going to stop for anything. I managed to get a few metres ahead of the dog, whip out my water bottle and squirt it right between the eyes. That was a trick I learned in Nova Scotia and it had never let me down before. But this was a first! The evil creature kept barking and running after me, so I had to take aim and fire another volley of Gatorade against the fierce creature. This time apparently it had enough and stopped its pursuit while I settled down and let my heart return to normal randonneuring beat... I do hope the dog was on its way to a show and that everything now was ruined because of the Gatorade!

Not long after I found myself at the Ravensdale control, had an energy bar and a coke and then off again, now towards Auburn and the control there. The ride between Renton and Kummer was probably the nicest of the day, in the valley, in sunshine, and a slight breeze behind me. Lovely! I also suddenly found myself in the middle of a time trial which added some excitement to the entire ride - I was not alone. (In fact, I was never alone; I was truly amazed by the number of fellow cyclists I met on my way - very neat!).

From Kummer it was on to Cumberland and a nice, quick lunch at the control there, then turning towards the north and towards Hobart and Issaquah. From there up along the East side of Lake Sammamish and up towards Redmond and the familiar terrain of the Burke-Gilman trail upon entering Bothell. From there it was smooth sailing all the way back to Lakeside avenue and the Starbucks, although the traffic on Burke-Gilman made the going a tad slower than it could have been, but that doesn't matter - it was a great day to be out!

95 mi around Cougar and Tiger mountains

2008-04-13T12:16:00.001-07:00

Almost 100 mi round Tiger and Cougar Mountains
Find more Bike Rides in Seattle, Washington

Christian gene isolated!

2008-03-18T21:22:00.001-07:00

Best youTube video ever!

I'm in my 20's!

2008-03-18T07:55:00.001-07:00

You're only as old as you feel!

You are in your twenties

You can still hear reasonably well and you can play this without my old fart colleagues hearing it which makes you feel kinda good.

The highest pitched ultrasonic mosquito ringtone that I can hear is 15.8kHz

Find out which ultrasonic ringtones you can hear!

Commute week of 18 Feb 2008

2008-02-26T21:56:00.003-08:00

6 commutes in total; 0 potentially rainy commutes, 0 actually rainy commutes.

Total commute distance for the week: 82 km (51 mi).
Total commute distance for the year: 765 km (475 mi).

Potentially rainy commutes for the week: 0 out of 10 (0%).
Actually rainy commutes for the week: 0 out of 6 (0%).

Potentially rainy commutes for the year: 8 out of 70 (11%).
Actually rainy commutes for the year: 8 out of 56 (14%).

Had to rent a car Tuesday so didn't ride. Too lazy to go home and pick up the bike on Wed morning upon returning it - took the bus all the way...

Getting a driver license in WA - don't bring a gun!

2008-02-25T22:27:00.006-08:00

First of all, that is how it is spelled here in the Pacific NW. In Nova Scotia the same thing is called a driver's license. But anyway, once I had located the local licensing office it was a breeze to wait in line for 4 hours on a sunny Saturday morning before I got permission to take the theoretical test. (I had somewhat hoped that they could just swap my Danish license, but also knew from my Canadian experience that it was unlikely to happen).

Anyway, after passing the theoretical test my practical test was scheduled and I was given this folder with advice on how to pass, what to do and what not to do or bring!

Only in the US (I hope!)

Admin when moving abroad

2008-02-25T21:29:00.008-08:00

Since 2002 I have lived and worked in Canada, UK and now the US. Before that, 30 years in Denmark. Whenever you move to a new country you need to go through a lot of administrative stuff in the beginning, in order to get entered into 'the system' to the same degree as everybody else living there. But you have to do it in 1-3 weeks whereas the natives will have had a lifetime to get it all sorted out. Once you've stepped off the plane you need to get, in quick succession:

a place to live
gas/electricity
furniture (or clear customs if you're shipping stuff from abroad)
phone/broad-band/cable
cell phone (US and Canada) or mobile phone (UK)
social security (US), social insurance (Canada) or national insurance (UK) number
bank account/credit cards
driver license
health insurances (US only)
various personal insurances (accident, tenant etc.)
transportation (and registration and insurance for it if it's got an engine)
find a new doctor/dentist

Probably lots more, but the above is generally what I've had to deal with over a 1-3 week period every time I've moved. A lot of it obviously also applies to people moving internally in one of these countries but they at least have the advantage that they generally know what to expect and where to go to get it done.

For example, when I moved to the UK in 2005 nobody, not even my employer (2000+ employees), could tell me where to go to get a national insurance number (hint: it's at the job centre). This was despite the fact that my employer's HR department repeatedly bullied me via e-mail in order to get my NI-number for the payroll so I could get paid...

The procedure for getting the NI number was particularly painful. First I had to show up at the job centre (now Jobcentre Plus) in person and inform them about the dates approximately 3 weeks from now where I would be UN-available to come back for a personal interview. Then I had to fill out a form with address, date of arrival in the UK, previous addresses, and phone number. I then thought that they'd at least call in advance and check with me, 3 weeks down the road, if I was available on a particular date. But no, the just sent out a letter stating that I had to show up at a particular date and time and that I should call them immediately if I was no longer available on that date. Due to the nature of my job as a sea-going scientist it turned out that my first appointment coincided with me going to sea.

I then had to show up in person again and fill out the same form, and wait another 3-4 weeks for the letter to show up. Not surprisingly, in the meantime my job had me scheduled in for another 'away-day', coinciding with the date the Jobcentre requested my appearance in their elegant facilities. So, once again I had to call them and inform them that I was unavailable to meet with them on the date requested.

Later on in the week I then had to walk down to their office for a 3rd time in order to fill out the form yet again. But when the 3rd letter came around, a month or so later my calendar was blank so I managed to get down there and get my NI-number eventually!

Chilly Hilly 2008

2008-02-24T21:14:00.005-08:00

So, today was the annual Chilly Hilly bicycle ride on Bainbridge Island off Seattle in the beautiful NW. A colleague had told me that it was a big event but I hadn't anticipated seeing a few 1000 other cyclists at 7am in the morning queuing up for the first ferry to Bainbridge Island and the 33mi loop around it.

The ride didn't quite live up to it's name, I think. I wasn't too chilly and the hills were definitely manageable, even if it was the beginning of the season.

Regardless, it was a very nice day and an excellent outing. The views of Seattle across the bay are spectacular - I'll be back next year for the 2009 chilly hilly.

And here's the course:

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/wa/bainbridge-island/62564879"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Chilly Hilly 2008&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br/&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/find-ride/united-states/wa/bainbridge-island"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Find more Bike Rides in Bainbridge Island, Washington&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Rock glaciers in Akugdlit (Mellemfjord), Disko Island, West Greenland

2008-02-19T22:01:00.003-08:00

Rock glaciers in Akugdlit (Mellemfjord), Disko Island, West Greenland
Originally uploaded by TheGreatDane

Rock glaciers are somewhat like normal glaciers except that they consist of vast amounts of rock with an ice matrix. The ice can either be the remains of glacier ice, snow, or water that has entered the pore space between the rocks and subsequently frozen.

Rock glaciers form where the annual precipitation is too small for normal glaciation to occur, and where there is a large supply of rock debris from steep mountain sides. They are thus found in cold, high relief landscapes. Rock glaciers typically move with a speed of 0.05-1 m/year and thus transport vast amounts of talus away from the rock fall area at the bottom of the mountains. Consequently they are of high importance for landscape development and geomorphology in the areas where they exist.

The largest concentration of rock glaciers is found on Disko Island, West Greenland, where at least 200 rock glaciers have been identified, but they are found in other high relief areas such as the Alps, the mountains of Afghanistan, the US (e.g. Colorado, Alaska, Wyoming), Iceland, Khazakhstan and Svalbard.

For scale, in this picture the top of the mountains stand at approximately 800 meters above sea level. The picture is taken towards the south.

The picture was taken during a 4-week field trip to W-Greenland during the summer between my 3rd and 4th year at university, in 1995.

Who do you like?

2008-02-16T10:40:00.003-08:00

Via various sources you can find a test tool that apparently tests which of the presidential candidates you *really* support - not just who you say you support, but who your brain likes best. Quite interesting results. I would have thought I disliked Huckabee a lot more than McCain, but anyway, both are way below Obama (#1, yay) and Clinton (just below him). So the overall picture is correct. I had to say, though, that I found the explanation a bit confusing and it wasn't until my 2nd round that I really understood what was going on. But maybe they correct for that when analyzing the data? Anyway, check it out.

Commute week of 11 Feb 2008

2008-02-16T00:26:00.001-08:00

10 commutes in total; 2 potentially rainy commutes, 2 actually rainy commutes.

Total commute distance for the week: 137 km (85 mi).
Total commute distance for the year: 683 km (424 mi).

Potentially rainy commutes for the week: 2 out of 10 (20%).
Actually rainy commutes for the week: 2 out of 10 (20%).

Potentially rainy commutes for the year: 8 out of 60 (13%).
Actually rainy commutes for the year: 8 out of 50 (16%)

Commute week of 04 Feb 2008

2008-02-15T21:46:00.005-08:00

10 commutes in total; 3 potentially rainy commutes, 3 actually rainy commutes.

Total commute distance for the week: 137 km (85 mi).
Total commute distance for the year: 546 km (340 mi).

Potentially rainy commutes for the week: 3 out of 10 (30%).
Actually rainy commutes for the week: 3 out of 10 (30%).

Potentially rainy commutes for the year: 6 out of 50 (12%).
Actually rainy commutes for the year: 6 out of 40 (15%).

Commute week of 28 Jan 2008

2008-02-15T21:10:00.008-08:00

6 commutes in total; 0 potentially rainy commutes, 0 actually rainy commutes.

Total commute distance for the week: 82 km (51 mi).
Total commute distance for the year: 410 km (255 mi).

Potentially rainy commutes for the week: 0 out of 6 (0%).
Actually rainy commutes for the week: 0 out of 6 (0%).

Potentially rainy commutes for the year: 3 out of 40 (8%).
Actually rainy commutes for the year: 3 out of 30 (10%).

Didn't ride home Mon evening, didn't ride in Tue morning, didn't ride Wed. (All due to flats)!

Final chapter of Paris-Brest-Paris 2007

2008-02-13T21:33:00.009-08:00

Woohoo! Today I got my PBP medal and homologized (homologated?) brevet card back. Finally I can prove that I actually did it in 86h52m! What a great ride it was. I'll be back in 2011.

The opening page of my brevet card.

Stamps between St. Quentin En Yvelines and Brest.

Stamps between Brest and St. Quentin En Yvelines - the return!

The last page after homologation (sp?)!! 86 hrs 52 mins for 1227 km.

The medal!

Anthropogenic erosion

2008-02-11T22:27:00.003-08:00

Many people probably realise that a wide range of geological processes acting on the surface of our planet cause sediment erosion and movement: Rain water draining in a gully in a field, or waves slowly eating away coastal cliffs, for example. Landslides, aeolian (wind) activity and glaciers also erode sediment.

Humans also move sediment (for example construction and mining activities). But how much? More or less than the 'normal' geological processes acting on the surface of the earth? These questions formed the basis of a couple of papers by Hooke (On the history of humans as geomorphic agents. Geology 28 (2000): 843-846) and Wilkinson (Humans as geologic agents: A deep-time perspective. Geology 33 (2005): 161-164. doi:10.1130/G21108.1), and they just blew my mind.

Wilkinson looked at how much the deep-time sediment flux was, using the volume of surviving continental and oceanic sedimentary rock through the geological epochs from the Lower Cambrium to the Pliocene. As we go back in time less and less sedimentary rock remains, because there has been more time to erode it, and by fitting a curve to the remaining volume of sedimentary rock it is possible to estimate the cycling rate of the sedimentary rocks. At present 0.14% +- 0.06% of all sedimentary rock is being eroded every million year - equivalent to a lowering of the surface of the earth of 24+-11 m every million year. This number is the rate we would expect without humans also acting on the surface of the planet. So now on to the humans.

Human sediment-moving activities can be divided into direct (for example mining and construction) and indirect (for example agriculture and forestry) activities. In his paper, Hooke showed that movement of rock and soil during construction accounted for ~30% of all sediment transported by humans, the balance being made up by erosion from agricultural activities. The US Department of Agriculture estimates that development of pastureland results in a soil loss of 400 m every million year, while cropland tillage results in a soil loss of up to 1400 m every million year. By estimating the global area being tilled and the global area used as pastureland, Wilkinson estimated that the erosion resulting from these practices was equivalent to a lowering of the earth's surface at a rate of 360 m every million year - more than 10 times faster than the deep-time erosion rate obtained from natural processes. Humans are, therefore, much, *much* more efficient in eroding sediment than mother Nature herself!

As amazing as that may seem, an even bigger surprise (to me) arose when Wilkinson then computed the historical rates of erosion caused by humans, and compared that to the deep-time erosion rates (the 24 m per million year above). Hooke provided data on the per capita annual amounts of soil and rock movements from construction and agriculture for the last 5000 years. By multiplying with the population estimate he could then estimate the total erosion due to human activity. Wilkinson's comparison with the deep-time erosion rates showed that the two curves crossed each other around the end of the viking age (approximately year 1000). This means that for the last 1000 years humans have on an annual basis eroded more sediment than all other natural processes acting on the surface of the planet combined.

That's wild! I first read about this 3 years or so ago and I'm still amazed by it. Who would have thought that our ancestors just by digging around with primitive shovels, dragging wodden ploughs through the earth and planting some crops could erode as much sediment as all other natural processes combined? And this was in year 1000! Today it's 10 times as much! Wow!

Blackberry outage...

2008-02-11T22:24:00.000-08:00

From CNN:

NEW YORK (AP) -- An outage has disconnected BlackBerry smart phones across North America. AT&T Inc. says the disruption Monday is affecting all wireless carriers. AT&T first learned about the problem at about 3:30 p.m. ET.

There's no word on the cause or when the problem might be fixed.

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion did not immediately return a phone call.

Emphasis mine...

Snail-sex for kids

2008-02-03T22:50:00.000-08:00

Just posting this because it makes for an unusual title. In Denmark more than 300 schools take the kids outside for hands-on learning in the so-called nature lessons ('naturklasser' in Danish). (link in Danish only, sorry). The lessons are hugely popular with the kids, a girl in 2nd grade (8-9 years old) said to The National Association of Schoolparents magazine: "We taste and look at a lot of stuff. We have tasted white carrots and parsnip, we have looked at dead animals and cleaned the meat of their heads so we can have a skull-collection. We have also looked at snail-sex and that was fun."

Cool, good that kids get outside and study nature while in school. But they should of course study some more geoscience instead of looking at snails having sex.

Commute week of 21 Jan 2008

2008-01-27T23:28:00.002-08:00

6 commutes in total; 0 potentially rainy commutes, 0 actually rainy commutes.

Total commute distance for the week: 82 km (51 mi).
Total commute distance for the year: 328 km (204 mi).

Potentially rainy commutes for the week: 0 out of 10 (0%).
Actually rainy commutes for the week: 0 out of 6 (0%).

Potentially rainy commutes for the year: 3 out of 30 (10%).
Actually rainy commutes for the year: 3 out of 24 (13%).

Didn't ride Wednesday & Thursday as I had rented a car for my driving test (96/100 so passed!).

Mercury in teeth fillings not damaging after all?

2008-01-27T23:09:00.000-08:00

Crap! I spent the better part of 1500 pound sterling while living in the UK, having my amalgam fillings replaced with composites... Oh, well, at least my teeth looks nice now.

The moon, Seattle, and I-5

2008-01-26T20:37:00.001-08:00

The moon, Seattle, and I-5
Originally uploaded by TheGreatDane

The view from my street around 7am on a January morning. Stopped on my way to work for a quick photo-op. The full moon over the mountains on the Olympic peninsula was more smashing than the photo reveals, but it's still not too bad, I think.

Round North Lake Washington

2008-01-20T21:25:00.000-08:00

Today was a nice day so I first rode to Seattle Center to see the 34th Model Railroad Show at the Pacific Science Center. I had never been to a model railroad show before, and only played with LEGO model trains as a kid. But it was fun - the displays were really well done and the picture here doesn't quite do them justice.

After that I continued around Lake Washington on the Burke-Gilman and Sammamish River Trail to Redmond and then 148th Ave and Ne 8th St to Bellevue, then hook up with the I-90 trail S of Bellevue and then home via Mercer Island and the floating brudge. Nice ride, almost no wind and, again, no rain...

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/wa/seattle/261241535"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Round N Lake Washington&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br/&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/find-ride/united-states/wa/seattle"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Find more Bike Rides in Seattle, Washington&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Commute week of 14 Jan 2008

2008-01-19T20:51:00.000-08:00

8 rides in total, i.e. rode each way 4 days.
Didn't ride Tuesday due to icy conditions (no rain).
Total commute distance 68.8 mi (111 km)

Total for the year 154.8mi (249 km).
Got rained upon on 0 rides, i.e. 0%.
Total rainy rides for the year: 3 out of 18 actual rides; 3 out of 20 possible rides.

Commute week of 07 Jan 2008

2008-01-19T20:26:00.000-08:00

10 rides in total, i.e. rode each way every day.
Total commute distance 86 mi (138 km).
Got rained upon on 3 rides, i.e. 30%.
Total rainy rides for the year: 3 out of 10 actual rides; 3 out of 10 possible rides.

US on Canadian torture list

2008-01-18T08:03:00.001-08:00

And that's where they belong until they close down Gitmo. Canada rocks!

Plane crash in Heathrow = no terrorism

2008-01-17T07:44:00.000-08:00

A plane lands short of the runway in Heathrow Airport. Nobody gets hurt badly, fortunately. The police is quick to issue a statement saying that the incident was not terror-related. Now, who in their right minds would ever think that a crash-landing was caused by terrorists? People, shit happens, stuff break down now and then. Learn it, live with it, get over it.

Life is great and terrorism is virtually a non-issue for national and personal security, in my view. Although now that I live in Seattle rather than in Denmark, Canada or the UK (countries where I used to live), I realise that people here generally think otherwise about this issue...

But they have no reason to: In the US about 42,000 people die every year in traffic accidents. That's roughly equivalent to a half-loaded Boeing 737 crashing every single day. In Canada and the UK it's 3000-3500 traffic deaths every year. Chances are much, much higher that you'll die as the victim of a traffic accident rather than from terrorism. While we're at it: In the US the number of deaths due to traffic accidents has decreased 17% since the late 70's. In the UK and Canada the decrease was 45-50%...

Commuting...

2008-01-13T01:56:00.000-08:00

Having moved from the UK to Seattle, US I have decided to try to live in the US without owning a car. I lived in the UK for almost 3 years without one and that worked out just fine; even lost 20-30 pounds in the process (weight, not money!). My bicycle commute is below; an 8.6 mi (13.8 km) trip each way. The first 1/3 of a mile or so is on a road, the rest of the distance is on bike lanes or bike paths, which makes it super-easy to get to work.

The wetness of Seattle weather in the winter is exaggerated. Commuting on a daily basis; 40-50 minutes each way (actual riding time depending on mood, wind and choice of bicycle) gets me wet approximately 30% of the time I spend on the road. I expect it to be less in the summer. So really, no big deal at all.

Tregarth figure 8

2007-11-12T03:50:00.001-08:00

Quick ride through Bethesda and Tregarth if you're short of time... (29.03 mi.)

Tregarth figure 8
Find more Bike Rides in Bangor, United Kingdom

Llanberis Pass anti-clockwise

2007-11-12T03:47:00.000-08:00

This route differs marginally from the clockwise version, due to the one-way streets in Bangor...

Llanberis Pass anticlockwise
Find more Bike Rides in Bangor, United Kingdom

100 mile loop from 60 Holyhead Road

2007-11-12T03:39:00.000-08:00

OK, so it's apparently only 99.22 mi according to MapMyRide but close enough. Great ride with a little bit of everything: Long climbs, steep climbs, rolling hills, fast descents, loooong descents, coasts, rivers, forests, fields...

Bangor-Bryngwyran and back on the A5 (35.34 mi.)

2007-11-04T15:16:00.000-08:00

A flat and fast out-and-back route from Bangor to the A5/A55 junction on the Holyhead side of Bryngwyran.

Bangor-Bryngwyran and back on the A5
Find more Bike Rides in Bangor, United Kingdom

Llanberis Pass clockwise

2007-11-04T15:02:00.000-08:00

One of my favourite rides in NW-Wales. This loop is 60km, close to 40 miles and perfect for an evening ride after work or for a (very?) lazy weekend ride...

Llanberis Pass clockwise
Find more Bike Rides in Bangor, United Kingdom

Paris-Brest-Paris 2007

2007-08-27T11:20:00.000-07:00

Now I've had a couple of days to sleep and let it all sink in and it was a great experience. This is how the ride unfolded for me:

Ted, Dave and I stayed in our hotel room until late monday afternoon, then had a shower and checked out of the hotel. We then rode to the start area (5 km from the hotel) and had dinner. They had a nice BBQ going in the starting area. We watched the 80-hour riders depart, then got in line for our start (90 hours, departing 21.30 monday evening). We were in line for roughly 2 hours before we got through to the final check-in and had our brevet card stamped for the first time. There was 3000 starters in our group and we were sent off in waves of 500 riders with 20 minute intervals between waves. We ended up in the 3rd wave, departing 22.10. Sylvain, Mark and Michael was in that wave as well. A firecracker at 22.10 marked the official start of our wave and we rode under the start arch and out onto the highway, being escorted by police for the first 15 km - riding straight through all traffic lights as all traffic was brought to a hold for us. Neat! The escort left after 15 km when we approached more open countryside and we were on our own. I was riding with Ted; Dave had already taken off and we had lost sight of Sylvain, Mark and Michael.

It started to rain very very heavily approximately 5 km after we left but we were already dressed up in full wet weather gear as it had been raining on and off all night. But lots of people stopped to put on wet weather gear so we made some easy progress, ranking wise... I was surprised to see all the people with defects during the first 50-80 km or so. When it started raining people simply stopped left and right with flat tires and all kinds of other defects. Ted and I saw one guy who was taking his cassette apart in the middle of the night and another guy who was fooling around with his bottom bracket. I know you generally get more flats when it rains, but it was just unreal to see so many people with flats, I think I saw the first in less than 5 k's! I learned later that Michael was riding with the same front tire as he had used in 2003, which I thought was quite brave! (he had no flats, as far as I know). Maybe the ones we saw were riding with the same tires as last time as well... Regardless, it was a neat sight to see the red taillights in front of you stretching out for miles and miles like a giant serpent winding its way across the landscape. Looking back over your shoulder you could only see white frontlights for miles back as well. An amazing sight.

Anyway, after about 70 km we came to the first of many, many bakeries that were open during the night to sell croissants, pain du chocolat and all kinds of other goodies to the cyclists. It was packed with cyclists so Ted and I just pushed on. I was really sleepy at this time and had problems staying awake. At one point I did fall asleep proper while cycling and woke up when I was riding on the grass next to the road, being slapped in the face by twigs and branches from the trees next to the road! Anyway, we continued to the first 'offical' stop, after 140 km, at Mortagne-au-Perche. We had Spaghetti Bolognaise there and sat for about 45 minutes to try to get warm and dry up a bit. We left again at 5.30 in the morning and continued - in the rain - to the first control at Villaines-au-Juhel at 222 km. We were there somewhere between 10 and 11 am and I was surprised to see that it had taken us 12 hours to cover 222 km. But it just goes to show how horrible the weather was, the rain and headwind slowing everybody down tremendously. Ted and I got separated at this control because of the sheer number of cyclists here. Anyway, he was only planning to go another 100 k or so, to the Tinteniac control (no 4), whereas I was planning to go to Loudeac control (no 5), and hook up with Mark and Michael there for some sleep. I left alone (in the rain! and headwind!) and tried to hook up with whoever was out there. However, it turned out that I was better off alone instead of in a group, as most people were going quite slow. At one point I was riding with some Italians but they were just all over the road and couldn't ride their bikes straight so it was very difficult to stay on their wheels... I then just took off and left them behind. The weather got a little better towards the evening with slightly less rain and I was feeling stronger. The first 222 km had been quite difficult, I thought, but after Villaines, where I had numerous croissants, I felt a lot stronger and made a lot of progress. In the last 220 km to Loudeac control I think I was only passed a handful of times whereas I passed hundreds of riders.

I arrived at Loudeac (449km) around 22.00 in the evening, 24 hours after having left Paris. I got my stamp and then went to the restaurant for a large dinner! As I finished and walked out of the restaurant Mark and Michael walked in so I sat down with them while they ate. We all agreed that it had been an extremely shitty day when it was best. I met some Danes I rode with in Mallorca in May and one of them were abandoning here because of the weather being to lousy. I never really thought of quitting it, too much time and effort and money spent on preparing for this, so damn it if I was going to quite just because the weather turned out to be like in Wales!! We went to the hotel where Mark and Michael had booked a room and went to bed. I slept on the floor with a blanket but was not stiff at all when I woke up after 5 hours of sleep. I felt relatively good and we went down to have breakfast - which began at 1 am during the two days when the hotel had PBP rider staying - great service :-) Then we took of in the early morning, in the dark and on wet roads (but no rain!). It was a slightly hilly ride out to the Carhaix control (520 km) and all the way we were meeting rider returning from Brest - a little bit depressing... Anyway, I arrived in Carhaix around 10 am and felt a bit wasted so sat down for a sandwich and a coke, then took off again (had lost Mark and Michael on the way). The weather now was a lot better,with sunshine and light winds so it was quite enjoyable to ride the last 90 km out to Brest. I had heard talk about a monster hill on the way to Brest but I didn't really notice any hills of significance. I guess my hill training here in Wales have paid off :-) There was one very long hill (20 k or so), but at a quite easy grade and I was going 18-22 k/hr up it most of the time. It wasn't until I was almost at the top I realised that this was what people had been talking about when they mentioned the big hill... There were lots of signs on the side of the road, cheering up some of the local riders who participated. A sign called out 'Brest or Bust!', which I though was quite funny.

I didn't spend much time in Brest as I wanted to get back to Loudeac in a reasonable time to get some sleep. On the way back I was surprised to keep meeting rider going towards Brest and some of them must have had a hard time reaching the control before it closed. The 'Brest or Bust' sign had now been changed to 'Paris or Bust!', which amused me. People really take an interest in this ride! I came back to Carhaix for my stamp and a quick sandwich. Then I pushed on for the last 90 k to Loudeac, hoping to made it in by 22.00 or so. But 20 k outside of Carhaix two cars collided in front of me (fender bender) and suddenly there was glass all over the road. There was a puff! and my front tire went flat. &%$!@$. My first spare tube turned out to be defect (!) but fortunately I had a second one which I put on after fooling around with the first for 30 minutes or so... It took me 45 minutes to be back on the road because I couldn't figure out why the spare tube didn't work... I had brand new Continental tires on and the glass cut my tire up, all the way through so had to put a boot in, which made for a slightly bumpy ride the last day and a half... The rain and wind started again about 45 k before Loudeac and it became really dark. It was quite a thrill to go down the hills towards Loudeac in pitch black darkness. I couldn't see much because I was wearing glasses instead of my contacts and the rain thus gave me a hard time. However, using my peripheral vision I could just make out the edges of the road, if I looked straight ahead so I just let the bike roll, although I really couldn't see if there was any potholes or such in the road... At the bottom of one particularly long downhill where I had been well in front of a group of 20-30 riders one of them came up to me afterwards and congratulated me for my 'honest lead, mate' (he was from Australia). He said they had just all been sitting well in the back waiting for me to drive off the road into the ditch, or wipe out on the slippery road, but they all appreciated me showing the way!

I came in to the control around 23.30, went for dinner and then to the hotel. Mark and Michael showed up half an hour or so later. We slept for another 5 hours and left around 6.30 in the morning, minimizing the night riding. The target for this second last days was Mortagne-au-Perche, only 144 km from the finish, so we only had to cover about 300 km this day, as Loudeac was 449 km from Paris. It was relatively uneventful until we got to Fougeres (290 km before Paris), where we met Ted, whom I hadn't seen since Tuesday morning (this was Thursday afternoon). He was considering abandoning because of his achilles tendons really bothering him. He went to see the doctor and in the meantime Mark, Michael and I went for lunch at a German restaurant. We had an awesome lunch (I had sauerkraut, their speciality, yummy!) and then left for Villaines, last control before Mortagne-au-Perche. We met Ted there, who had recovered somewhat and now was somewhat certain that he could make it home. We had a big dinner and then left for Mortagne-au-Perche in the rain and pitch black darkness.

The rain cleared after a bit and then I really enjoyed the stretch of road to Mortagne. It was on a kind of a plateau with small rolling hills, the stars and the moon was out and there was red taillights all over the road in front of you. An amazing sight. I tired somewhat around midnight and my speed dropped from 25 to 15-18 k/hr and I felt I was in for a long haul the last 20 or so k to Mortagne. Suddenly Michael arrived out of nowhere (we had all got separated 10 k or so out of Villaines) and asked where everybody else was. I said I had no idea and then Michael just took off. That inspired me so I sat out to follow him and much to my surprise I was capable of keeping of with his 30-35 k/hr speed the last 15 k in to Mortagne. It was a thrill, as we must have passed hundreds of riders those last 15 k's, alll going 10-20 k/hr just plodding along in the night. We blew by them and it looked as if they were standing still. Out of the corner of my eyes I could see most of them turning their heads as we passed them, probably wondering what the hell that was. Nobody tried to follow us as we were going twice as fast as them so nobody could get on our wheels. That was quite a thrill and I'm sure we covered those last 10 k in 20-25 minutes or less. Into the control and then we sat down and waited for Mark who arrived 5 mins later. He had been going fast too, playing games with the people he passed in that he had been riding with his generator lights switched off, only using his Cateye. Then, when he was 10 feet behind somebody and pulling out to pass them he would swithch on the lights to surprise them and then he just blew by them.

Anyway, we went to the hotel and slept for 1 hr 45 minutes (!) Then we got up and left for breakfast at the control. We left with 5 hours to get to the seond last control at Dreux, 85 km away. I was a bit nervous about the time because there were some serious rollers in the first 20 k or so, but then the road flattened and I found myself cruisng at 28k the last two hours. In the end I made it to Dreux two hours before closing time so I had lots of time to spare. Then it was on to the last 69 km into Paris. I thought they were long, and I didn't really enjoy them very much until I was about 15-20 km out - I just wanted to finish! I was kind of slow going but 35 km out there was a short, but very steep hill. At the top of it there was a couple of spectators with a big cow bell which they rang for everybody and that gave me a boost. Suddenly i was going 30+ and passing people by the dozen. i kept going like that all the way into St. Quentin (final control) where they most exciting thing was that I arrived into the finish line completely alone. There was probably 2000 people standing there in the roundabout and when I arrived they all started cheering and screaming and yelling - just at me! That was by far the coolest experience during the entire ride, and also one of the most thrilling in my life so far. I was wearing my Canada jersey and they were yelling 'Canada' and 'Bravo' from all sides. Flags were waving and I was waving back at people. It only lasted for 10 seconds or so but I'd do it all again tomorrow if I could be guaranteed that I'd arrive alone again and to that kind of welcome! I parked the bike and got my last stamp at 13.02 for a total of 86 hrs 52mins for 1227 km. Awesome. Ted arrived 50 mins later and Mark and Michael an hour after me. Tres cool, as they say in France.

I went back to the hotel where Ted and Dave (who'd arrived at 2 am Friday morning) were packing up their bikes. I packed up my bike, we had a few beers and then fell asleep. Up at 6 am next morning, I had a quick beer before breakfast and then we ate breakfast for 45 minutes before we took a taxi to the train station (me) and airport (Ted, Dave). I was home in bangor at 21.10 Saturday evening, with virtually no pains or swollen body parts whatsoever - strange but nice!

Documented flaw in Apple iBookG4

2007-05-03T11:36:00.000-07:00

The Danish Consumer Complaints board (DCC) now have technical evidence that it is a design flaw in the Apple iBook G4 that have caused iBook users all over the world a great deal of pain in the last couple of years. According to the findings of the board, a solder joint between two components loosens slightly every time the computer is turned on and off. Eventually it breaks off completely and the owner is left with a blank screen. The fact that the DCC now has proven that it is a design flaw causing the blank screen means that iBook owners can get their computer fixed even after the 1-year warranty has expired. You can fix the problem yourself, but will totally loose the portability of the iBook...

To cycle or not to cycle - that is the question...

2007-04-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

There's only two nice things about living in NW-Wales: The mountains of Snowdonia, which are great for cycling in, and Cwm Idwal, one of the most important places - ever! - in the history of natural sciences. First things first, so I'll deal with Cwm Idwal in a later post.

My hobby is randonneuring (or audax'ing) - long-distance cycling. 2007 is Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) year so I have been on my bike since early January in order to qualify for PBP 2007 ed. I am going to Mallorca on 5 May in order to complete the qualifying rides - a 200, a 300, a 400, and a 600 km ride in a week. I actually managed to bag the 200 km ride on 24 March, so I might drop that on Mallorca. Only problem as of right now is the following: I have been sick with a chest infection for the last 12 days. Consequently, since 24 March I have only cycled 124 km, as opposed to normally ~800 km for a 3-week period. My legs are withering away and I feel weaker than weak. The anti-biotic is kicking in, though, so I hope to get out for the next 3 days before I'm off to sea with my work for 10 days (=no exercise); then hope I can get a few fast-paced rides in at the very end of April and the first 4 days of May before my departure...

Was it good for you too?

2007-03-29T13:32:00.000-07:00

I did my PhD in Denmark and promptly moved abroad for a postdoc. I then immediately realized how extraordinarily well PhD students are treated in Denmark. I recently commented on a piece by iknownotwhattodo and more or less promised to try and compare PhD and post doc experiences in various countries. So, this post describes my 3.5 years as a PhD student at a Danish university from 1998-2001 – if you like you can then compare with wherever YOU are doing/did your PhD. It would be interesting to get some comments on this simply to compare PhD experiences from all over the world. Here we go:

In Denmark the PhD tuition fee – called taximeter in Danish - is DKK 87,200 (£7,953; US$ 15,622) annually. If you are being employed as a PhD student on a research project or are in receipt of a scholarship or fellowship to carry out your own research project this amount is included in your grant. You can use a part of the taximeter for your research project, more on that later. What is also included in your grant (regardless of whether it is from a research project or a personal fellowship) is your salary, which is extraordinarily good. The annual salary (including a 17.1% pension contribution) is at least DKK 268,329 + DKK 30,850 in annual vacation pay as of October 2006. This translates into £24,474 + 2,813 or US$ 48,072 + 5527 annually. Not bad. Oh yeah, the annual vacation period in Denmark is 5.5 weeks.

In the department where I was every PhD student had their own private office and their own phone, paid for by the department (via your tuition fee). When you start you need a computer – the bigger the better, and quickly! You get the local system administrator to get a quote for a nice machine and ask the departmental board for money for the computer (from your tuition fee). That is always granted, provided you don’t apply for a super computer system. The computer arrives and you can start your research.

After a few months you may want to go to a conference to present your research so you send another application to the departmental board, asking for airfare, hotel and per diem. Provided you are actually presenting something of relevance to your research and that the conference is also relevant to your area of research you get to go. I went to conferences and workshops in Seoul, Seattle, Plymouth (UK), Seattle, San Antonio, San Francisco, and San Francisco. Roughly half of my travel was paid for via my taximeter (tuition fee); the other half was paid for by the travel account on the research project that employed me.

You need to discuss your research with your supervisor. S/he is obliged to meet with you on a regular basis and read through your work, discuss your results etc. You as a PhD student have an obligation to write a report every 6 months detailing your work in the last 6 months, and what you anticipate to accomplish in the next 6 months. These reports are submitted to the local PhD board of study. Their job is to keep an eye on all the PhD students and make sure that their research is progressing according to the overall plan and that the project can be finished in due time and is of sufficiently high quality.

Teaching is an integral part of being a PhD student in Denmark and you are obliged to work 840 hours for the department during your 3 years as a PhD student. Teaching undergraduate courses or taking students along on fieldwork and the like most typically does the trick. I truly enjoyed teaching and had lots of fun doing it.

You need to publish some research. It is becoming increasingly common in Denmark to let your PhD thesis consist of a handful – or more - of papers in various stages from published over accepted to submitted. It is then all tied together by an introduction, 30 pages in my case. Get it all bound together and there you go – one PhD thesis ready to be submitted. In Denmark we are pretty informal about layout, binding etc. That’s more or less up to the individual student, so PhD theses come in a variety of sizes and colours!

With respect to the papers – the core of your thesis – it is hard to find any hard rules about how many you need, where they should be published/submitted to etc. In my case my supervisor stated right from the beginning that I should 1) only include papers of which I was a first author, 2) make sure I had at least one single-authored paper in my thesis and 3) publish only in high-quality peer-reviewed journals.

Condition 1 was to make sure that it was blatantly obvious that when the thesis was handed in it would be clear that it was MY work and not somebody else’s where I had just been along for the ride. Condition 2 was for future planning – if you want money from the research councils in Denmark to continue as a postdoc you are ahead of the game if you have some single-authored papers as this is weighted particularly high by the research councils. I ended up with two single-authored papers; one in press and one submitted by the time I handed in my thesis. I generally do believe that in Denmark there are larger generosities towards letting PhD students publish on their own, without their supervisors name on the paper. It’s not my feeling that this is true for the UK, where the Research Assessment Exercise forces every supervisor to be on every paper produced in his or her lab. Condition 3 meant essentially any journal in Science Citation Index.

Eventually you hand in your thesis to the department and the departmental board suggests a PhD evaluation committee. It usually consists of one member from the department, one from another department/university in Denmark and one member from abroad (though this varies somewhat between departments and universities). In my case one member was from the UK and one from Canada. You are then asked to approve of the evaluation committee and the external members are contacted and asked if they are available for reading your thesis and coming to your defence. If the evaluation committee approves of your thesis upon reading it a defence date is then decided upon. If not, you’ll have to retract your thesis, correct it and re-submit it.

Then the defence date arises. In Denmark PhD defences are public and I have experienced PhD defences with anything from 10 to 150+ people sitting in the auditorium, in my case I think there was ~60. You give a talk of not less than 45 and not more than 60 minutes. Then each member of the evaluation committee has 15 minutes to ask you questions. As they have, in principle, already approved of your thesis prior to the defence, this is more an opportunity to get some discussion going between you and the committee. The questioning does serve one last crucial thing: by questioning you back and forth the committee makes sure that YOU are the author of the thesis and that it’s not lifted from somewhere else – or written entirely by a friend of yours etc. Finally, the audience in the auditorium is allowed to ask questions for 15 minutes! I had one or two questions from the audience, as far as I recall. Pretty cool. Immediately afterwards the committee then notifies you if you will be awarded the PhD degree or not. Again, since you are not really being asked to defence until the committee is satisfied with your work this is in 99.99% of all cases a given and you can go party!

I guess I could write a lot more, but this covers the meat of it, I think. I should finish by saying that I had a kick-ass supervisor who knew how to handle red tape and other bs on my behalf, so my PhD went VERY smoothly. Money was also never a problem if I wanted to go somewhere on fieldwork, conferences, workshops etc. I know of others who were less fortunate, but I do not think that my experience is uncommon amongst PhD students in Denmark. Was it good for you too?

PS. Here you can read a lot more about being a PhD student in Denmark.

Job application experiences...

2007-03-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

Iknownotwhattodo had a nice little post about being an academic in the UK. I'd like to follow up with a few comments regarding the postdoc salary level in the UK and the overall experience you get of UK universities when you apply for jobs here.

The academic salaries in the UK may have risen lately, but are (still) ridiculously low when compared to the cost of living, IMHO. When moving from Canada to the UK my postdoc salary essentially remained the same (when doing the currency conversion), but because my cost of living in (urban-ish) Canada was ~70% of living in (rural-ish) UK I had a rather large decrease in my net disposable income. Had I stayed in Denmark my salary as a postdoc there would have been in the 33-40k£ range, compared to the 23k£ I currently make in the UK. Compare that to a Danish PhD student making ~28k£/year... Granted, the Danish income tax is outrageously high, but so is the level of service you get from the government, the streets are clean, the crime-rate is low and the girls are pretty (OK, the latter may not have anything to do with the level of taxation).

Between late 2003 and mid-2005 I applied for ~30 postdoc/faculty jobs at universities in Denmark, Canada, USA, France, UK, and the Netherlands. In my experience all universities mail you a letter acknowledging the receipt of your application and – sooner or later – an invitation for an interview or a polite “Thanks, but no thanks”. That is, all universities except universities in the UK, whom I have come to consider as the most arrogant prospective academic employers you will ever encounter. Not only do UK universities not mail or email you an acknowledgment of receipt of your application. They also do not let you know of the outcome of your application; simply, if you haven't heard from them typically within 3-5 weeks after the deadline you are to assume you didn't get the job (this is typically stated in the job posting). It's unreal, it’s arrogant and it’s extremely impolite. Contrast this with the experience I had when applying for a job at a Danish university:

Late April: Submitted my application, including 3 reprints each of my 10 most important papers, CV, and a list of 3-5 personal referees.

19 May: Received a letter from the faculty (office of the dean) that my application had been received. I was also notified that the members of the search committee would be decided upon within 2-3 weeks and that I would then be notified about their identities.

28 May: Received a letter from the faculty that the hiring department had suggested a search committee consisting of three members. I was notified about their identities and affiliations (1 member from the hiring department, 2 members from abroad) and was informed of my right to file a complaint about the composition of the search committee, if I thought that any of the members would be disqualified. I was also told that I was not allowed to contact any of the search committee members directly regarding the application. Finally, the letter ended with the statement that it was anticipated that the search committee would submit their recommendation to the faculty no later than 17 September. See, the thing is that in Denmark you are generally not being invited for an interview at the hiring department; the decision is made based on your application, publications, CV, and letters of recommendation. (Though the hiring department can call you in for a formal interview and lecture should they wish to do so).

23 September: Received a letter from the faculty that the search committee had filed their recommendation to the faculty. For each applicant the search committee had written a one-page report, which made up the recommendation. Each applicant received their own, signed report but not the reports concerning the other applicants. The report assessed my academic/research qualifications and my teaching qualifications. I was pleased to see that the search committee had used the words 'excellent' generously and denoted my publication record as 'outstanding at the present stage of his career'. They then stated whether or not they considered me suitable for the position, which they didn’t, due to 1) limited teaching experience and 2) no research experience in geomorphology (this was partly a geomorphology job and I did admittedly have no research experience in this area). The letter did not state if I would be offered the job or not (but I decided not to hold my breath…), as it is up to the dean to plough through all the reports and then offer the job to the candidate whose report best fits the job posting according to the search committee. So the search committee more or less writes a report for each candidate and then it's up to the dean. Oh, I was also told that I had until 6 October to complain about my report and the assessment of the search committee if I thought that they had misunderstood something in my application.

Mid-october: Received a final letter from the faculty that I would not be offered the job and that it had been offered to another applicant. ‘We wish you luck in your future career, sincerely yours etc.’ – you’ve probably all received loads of these.

Anyway, I wasn’t too disappointed to get the job, as it was somewhat marginal to my research experience. However, I was very pleased with the overall experience and in particular the outstanding communication between the faculty and the applicants: Four friendly letters outlining the application procedure, where and how to complain about the outcome, AND a written report! Take that you arrogant, self-satisfied UK universities! The great advantage of the written report is that the entire search committee signs it, so if they are high ringers (as in my case) you can use a good report as an external evaluation of your research for future applications.

BTW, got headhunted a while ago by a private company, so I'm on my way out of academia now - and not unhappy about it.

Peer review - how it works

2007-02-06T14:15:00.000-08:00

This is a cool folder about how peer reivew is carried out in science and what it actually means.