all things green

So if you type “goecogoogle” into a search engine and click on the top link you get to use google but the background is black as this use’s less energy than a white background. Must be the most simple way to save energy and you get a retro looking screen.

Waiting in the dark cargo deck, squeezed between the metal fence supporting our bikes and a large mobile home filled with an irritated Dutch family, we loaded our bikes and sorted our helmets making casual chit chat with other touring cyclists. Lorries, buses and a substantial group of hells angel styled motor bikers revving their engines shared the deck in anticipation with us as we waited for what seemed like a day to alight the ferry and step into the fresh sea air to start our journey.

Eventually the doors opened.  Away we went! As we pedalled along the port I realized that our 57 mile trip to Rotterdam via Den Haag would not be along a road made from yellow bricks, the signs would not be large and neon saying, “straight ahead to Rotterdam, only 57 miles to go”.

Perhaps it would take longer than I thought? Perhaps 57 miles was the shortest possible route, walking where bikes could never go. Yes, it may take a rather long time !! Nevertheless, fresh and excited, we cycled in the direction we thought it could be, repeatedly asking people the way to Rotterdam and receiving chuckles followed by the phrase, “On a bike? You must be kidding.” These responses started to make us think this was not just a physical challenge but a great test of navigation skills. The very real and very cruel penalty for poor navigation is many more miles of cycling. And we thought our proposed distances per day would be challenging enough at around 60 miles. Strangely, it wasn’t the shortage of signs, but the overwhelming amount of them, some of them seeming to point to the same place name but in different directions, we found this most frustrating, illogical and confusing. Also, as any sensible person would obviously expect, not every sign 60 miles away from your final destination has the name of your final destination on it, so sometimes we realized you need to head to a town en route.

                It must be noted that despite the disappointment of cycling around a few towns early on in the day, backwards, forwards, in circles, in squares, the occasional triangle, and actually I think we did one hexagon we were pleasantly distracted by the very beautiful environment around us. From houses, to canals, amazingly well-kept gardens, filled with flowers both public and private, idyllic parks and quaint barges, coupled with the radiant weather, it was possibly the best place to be lost. Holland is a beautiful country. Lost in paradise however, is still lost. When lost in a car you are sitting down, and in the worst case scenario you spend slightly more on petrol, but on a bike you get tired and mad !! Around this time, in my desperation to navigate and not cycle further than necessary, I had a eureka moment but not a good one! I realized that we’d foolishly booked our route going just about directly against the prevailing NE wind for the first couple of days, and so given the lack of geographical features (Holland is as flat as the sea) I thought heading against the wind, oh the cruel irony, would get us to our final destination fastest. Nevertheless, there was still a niggling feeling for the first couple hours of that day, that we were cycling on a treadmill with nothing substantial to gauge our progress –like sailing in the fog. It’s moments like these where we were left needing a sign, a white dove would have been followed, or maybe a flock of geese, at this time even a logical atheist would have become superstitious. Two very Dutch looking cyclists pulled up near us looking ready for a long ride, and I thought, “they must know how to navigate this forsaken and beautiful maze, they must have the key, or perhaps know of a golden compass to assist us!” So I wandered across with fingers crossed that they spoke English. Like a winning lotto ticket we had hit the Jackpot. Whilst we received no golden compass from them, we were given some golden advice.   These were clearly winged messengers sent to support us on our exploration of foreign lands.  We learnt info that would serve us well during our whole time in Holland. The many thousands of contrasting signs did indeed have logic and system – they were not solely designed to confuse foreigners. “Follow the red and white signs,” they said, “they are designed purely for cyclists”. “Wow – that is great” I thought! And so the red and white signs became our light in the dark our dove to follow.

                They also told us to follow a most fine-looking canal and gave us the names of a few towns to head towards after that. Appearing similar to a Rembrandt painting we followed the canal for a good 15 miles. Progress was ours-the energy we put in propelled us closer to our destination. Persistence and a little luck had overcome terrible planning and non-existent research. Every couple of kms, a red and white sign with a distance and arrow would stand tall and led us along great cycle paths. They even have lights specifically for bikes at junctions, and cars and pedestrians give way when our paths cross. On a bike you are king. A result of this most sensible cycle infrastructure is an infinite number of cyclists, more bikes than people I hear. All upright bikes, non- expensive, no helmets, not lycra wearing, girls with jeans chatting on mobile phones, old people on bikes being over taken by walkers, and no crashes.  Whilst at lunch, in a little café, we found our next gem of advice from a local school teacher having a post- work beer. The red and white signs are the shortest bike routes, but take you through town centres and you get stopped at lots of traffic bike lights, the “green and white signs” are for people touring and take you via scenic roads and paths where you do not have to stop every hundred yards. We made our way through miles and miles of sand dunes along the sea, on a perfect bike specific path with no stop signs – the yellow brick road I had been searching for was found!

                Shortly, we passed an affluent area with one mansion after another, all in very unique styles – like a catalogue of  ‘money is no object’ extravagant, original architect- designed houses, from White House look a likes, to eco homes in wooded grounds, Japanese minimalist styling, country manors, thatched roofs and oversized cottages and everything in between. This millionaire’s alley led us into Den Haag.  Not too long after getting lost in Den Haag, we travelled through a metropolis along another stunning canal and into Rotterdam. Our worries of trailing Rotterdam looking for our pre-booked hotel were ill founded as we managed to cycle straight to the front door. 65 miles done. How many still to go? Still it’s for a good cause.

Well – just a couple days to go until my first triathlon on Sunday. I’ve eased up on the training and feeling quietly confident, although I’ve no shortage of pre-race nerves. Did a steady 25 mins run at lunch yesterday, a 20 mile cycle last night with a few hills thrown in.

Today I’m off for my first open water swim – I hear the temp is 11 degrees, so should be refreshing!! I’m using a mate’s wetsuit and have 2 x swim caps, I take a hot water bottle if it was possible, may well take a flask with a hot drink for post swim warmth.  So feeling a little concerned, I hear visability is only a meter or so. On the up side I’m told its addictive and thrilling……

Part 2 -

Well although I will not deny it is very, very cold, I’m glad to say that wetsuits work a treat, I’ll not use the word toasty, but it’s really not too bad. Furthermore, there seemed to be a buzz as we swam in a group of around 20 and everyone seemed to have a bit nervous excitement. It felt more like a game or social meeting with friends than a hard training session, which was great. I’m most definitely hooked and will be getting a wetsuit soon. It’s also somewhat liberating given that it’s free and in the open air. We swam around 1000 meters and since you don’t have to push off a wall every 25 meters – it seemed to happen really quite quickly. Its comparable to running out side to a treadmill, though I’m sure you’ll have to try it before you believe me.

Well as I get a little older and have picked up injuries via the many sports I’ve played – I turn to a challenging and physical sport with low chance of injury – the fast growing multi sport of triathlon. This involves swimming any where from 400 meters to 2.5 mile, then jumping on a bike for, 15 – 120 mile, then getting off and running, 3-26 mile, all as a fast as possible ! This can be in lakes, the sea, up and down mountains, or on the flat, it really gets you out and in touch with all the natural elements. Training for the cycling is an obvious encouragement to leave the car at home more often. I’ve signed up for my first triathlon on the 16th May – will be training almost everyday – but the great thing I’m finding with this sport is that you have three sports to choose from and so the variation is wonderfull and keeps things interesting. Already a little nervous about race day. The Kenyan national moto for their running team, so I’ve heard, is, “train hard win easy”  - well not convinced on the winning part – but I hope to be as prepared as possible to make it easier on the day !! I’ll be updating on my training – went for a swim yesterday morn at 7.30 (the earliest I’ve risen in a good while) and cycled 20 mile in the evening – today - I’m tired and have a squash match tonight so a day off from the run bike swim, but will be back at it tomorrow !

Fast and easy to do healthy tips that will benefit everyone from the beginner to the most dedicated athlete, non of which include weight machines, expensive equipment or heaps of time.

Static Stretching

One of the most important, beneficial, yet often neglected aspects of fitness is flexibility. It improves strength when mixed with weight training, increases range of movement, reduces injury risk and some say a flexible body promotes a flexible mind. Static stretching is when you hold a stretch for a period of time as opposed to plyometric stretching where you momentarily reach a max stretch then release, such as swinging a leg like a dancer – plyometric stretching will be covered in a future eco fitness blogs.

A gentle 5 min warm up consisting of 5 min jog, some body weight squats, a few press-ups or some shoulder shrugs is al that is needed to warm the muscles in preparation. When stretching, I often start with my feet and and then work my way up so as not to miss any muscles out. So, Achilles tendons, then calves, hamstrings, quadriceps, mid section, arms then neck.

I like to hold stretches for 30 seconds, and breathe out gently when pushing the stretch further.

Remember to keep all movements slow and controlled, it should only take 15 mins a day and will help alleviate many problems. If you can make it a habit it should not be a chore and the benefits will increase with time.

I’ve chosen static stretching as a first blog as its easy to do and fast, will help every other aspect of fitness, will not tire you out, and will reduces injury risk, so stretch stretch stretch.

I will include some pics of the stretches mentioned above soon.

Yes it’s sad, the days are shorter, it rains more and it’s getting cold…… well I think it’s a great time to sleep more hmmm get in touch with the bears. Living in Newcastle, England, it’s fairly gloomy – though someone once said they love the winter as it brings people together – not sure who that was. Heating bills are set to rise – so reducing my CO2 foot print and saving some cash at the same time is the goal – I’ll be making  stuffed snake for the front door to keep the draft out, and aim to wear jumpers instead of turning the dial on the thermostat. Perhaps it’s a good season for indoor creative hobbies like writing and painting.  Getting a bit of Sun during the day is gonna be real important as the nights are soon gonna be traggically dark before finishing work.

Tip of the Blog – Rather than indulge in stodgy food everyday, eat more spicy food in the cold months as its low in saturated fat and still warms your cockles up when it’s cold out.

Been chatting to an old friend from College in the states – one of those people that is always surprising people by doing something new and unusual – living up to his reputation he’s just organized an eco festival called Pangaea. Full of live music, organic food and great atmosphere in Downingtown near Philadelphia he hopes to make it an annual event and let it grow ! Would love to pop across the pond and pay it visit next year. He’s agreed to put a blog about it on hello eco living – so watch this space.

In my Garden, I’m looking at the biggest spring onions in the world and wondering what meal might require vast quantities fresh Scallions. I know the longer I wait the bigger they’ll get – so I may see if I trade a few with friends or family.
The Red Cabbages are infested with Caterpillars, and regular ones are attracting slugs, so I must look out for ways to curb their appetite. Fortunately Laura’s carrots were the real standout this year in the wooden spoon competition with a vast array of defects including stunted growth, forking mutations and strange purple and green colours not too mention their squishy soft feel.
On a more positive note, the garlic has been a big success this year as have the pea’s, summer fruits and onions, the potato’s are still in the ground so I have my fingers crossed in anticipation, I’ve also salvaged a few cabbage’s.

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