Life from an outsider’s perspective… Life from an outsider’s perspective… The life of an expat Australian starting a new life in Spain. A former research scientist now runs a pro road bike hire business. Cycling in a place with no flat roads! The importance of Mental and Physical health in todays society... Articles
Pedalling across the Atlantic ocean. A new world record attempt.
2008-02-15 12:36:00 In Dec. of 2008, Greg is planning on pedaling his human powered boat “WiTHiN” 3000 miles across the Atlantic ocean in less than 43 days setting a new world record for the fastest human powered Atlantic crossing. Pedal The Ocean explores the limits of what is possible with human power. 2700 miles from Canary Islands to ... More About: World , Inspiration , World Record , New World
The ultimate quest for happiness. What is the meaning of life?
2008-02-15 02:50:00 We live in a time like no other. We’ve essentially won the struggle for life and dominated the planet and now we wonder what the real purpose of life is. I could say that “the point of life is to live”. You may think that’s a bleeding obvious statement, but to succeed against all the ... More About: Life , Happiness , Meaning , Quest , Ultimate
One for the Aboriginies: A formal apology from the new Australian Governmen
2008-02-13 12:40:00 This just in: a historic moment in Australian history -Priminister Rudd from the new Australian Government delivers a formal apology for the mistreatment of Indigenous peoples of Australia, in particular “the stolen generation”. Yes he actually uses the words “we apologise” and TEXT of the formal apology to Indigenous Australians to be made in federal parliament by ... More About: Inspiration , Apology , Formal
Driving me insane; the legendary Spanish driving test.
2008-02-13 03:45:00 In case you hadn’t realised, this has turned into a 5 or 6 part series on getting your license in Spain. Today I attempted the final driving exam for the first time (yes in Spanish ). I just got back and I failed. This is despite completing over 3600 practise theory questions in Spanish and almost 30 hours of compuslory ... More About: Driving , Insane , Test , Island Life
Spanish driving lessons, a billion-dollar-a-year industry.
2008-02-11 18:13:00 In Spain, if you want to get a driving license, official driving lessons are compulsory. There is no such thing as learning to drive with family members or friends. Not only that, but unlike the USA and Australia, learning to drive an automatic vehicle is also not an option. Furthermore, both the theoretical and practical driving standards ... More About: Business , Industry , Driving , Dollar , Spanish
Predicting the weather, Canarian style.
2008-02-08 12:47:00 Here I’m going to attempt to demonstrate the ways in which local Canarian people are able to predict the local weather patterns reasonably well. Note that these observations are based from La Orotava, in the North of Tenerife: General stratus cloud cover almost never produces rain, especially if you can see patches of blue sky directly ... More About: Weather , Style , Island Life
Going Green.
2008-02-08 04:14:00 Above all else, we strive for a minimal environmental footprint. While air is free, we don’t use disposable CO2 cartridges. We reuse inner tubes by first repairing them. There’s a long lost skill in patching butyl innertubes which will definitely be covered in another article. We continue patching them until the valve no longer functions or until they ... More About: Business , Inspiration , Green , That
Pasatiempos Tinerfeños / Españoles
2008-02-08 03:43:00 Reading newspaper obituaries daily Neatly arranging clothes outside on the line so that they dry quicker Wearing slippers Sweeping terracotta tile floors Sweeping tile floors in general Watching television More About: Island Life
Important gear selection tips for climbing in the mountains.
2008-02-05 16:41:00 The most important thing to remember if you haven’t ever cycled in mountainous terrain is APPROPRIATE GEARING. I can’t stress that enough. The best gearing for climbing are the following options: 53/39/30 chainring with 12-25 cassette 50/34 chainring with 12-28 cassette 53/39 with 12-32 cassette All of these choices provide what I call “the magic 1.2 low gear ratio” which ... More About: Mountains , Tips , Gear , Climbing , Selection
On with the business!
2008-02-05 16:32:00 I think the most important thing to know when contemplating new business ideas, isn’t whether you are actually capable of providing the service or not (because we all know that yes you could do it!), but weather it is economically feasible or not. At the end of the day, you invest ALL your time & ... More About: Business , That
Who?s with me on this one?
2008-02-03 22:37:00 Thanks for stopping by… now why not sign my online visitor guestbook & add a photo of yourself? More About: Island Life
?Entrar es fácil, lo difícil es salir?
2008-02-02 01:33:00 I really really like this advert… it’s an anti drug campaign created by the program “twelve months twelve causes”, broadcast by channel 5 here in Spain. As the title of the program indicates, for each month of the year there is a new cause - awareness of an important issue. In translation, the slogan that the man ... More About: Inspiration , Mental Health , Island Life
The local recovery drink: Aquarius.
2008-01-30 20:29:00 This a great tasting refreshing drink commonly available here in Spain. It’s almost identical in flavour to Staminade, another refreshing (Australian) drink that has been popular since the 1970’s. It’s really good because it’s not only cheap, but it actually quenches your thirst, unlike those hyper-sweetened gatorade & powerade sports drinks available on the market. It is ... More About: Recovery , Drink , Local , Aquarius , Island Life
Playing it stupid (or just plain dumb?).
2008-01-25 06:55:00 It is a characteristic of human behaviour that as a whole that we are inherently very stupid. Perhaps ignorance is a better term. For one thing, we fail to learn by other people’s mistakes. Looking back at former civilisations, it is always noteworthy how blatantly ignorant humanity was about the consequences of its own actions. Even knowing what we ... More About: Inspiration , Plain , Stupid , Dumb
Playing it stupid (or just plain dumb?).
2008-01-25 06:55:00 It is a characteristic of human behaviour that as a whole that we are inherently very stupid. Perhaps ignorance is a better term. For one thing, we fail to learn by other people’s mistakes. Looking back at former civilisations, it is always noteworthy how blatantly ignorant humanity was about the consequences of its own actions. Even knowing what we ... More About: Plain , Stupid , Dumb
Human asymmetry & bicycle bio-ergonomics. Leg Length Discrepancies.
2008-01-24 19:07:00 These days we have an infatuation with bike components when we should be more concerned about accurate bike fit. If you want the best peformance, you need the right-sized parts; you simply can’t win on a bike that’s the wrong size. But what if one side of your body is different to the other? If ... More About: Human , Ergonomics , Bicycle
Subscribe to the newsletter!
2008-01-18 03:06:00 The first letter has just been sent out to the distribution list. You can subscribe to the newsletter right here! More About: Newsletter , Subscribe
Plant a tree online!
2008-01-17 04:50:00 Ecotonoha is a project to nurture a virtual tree collaboratively, and at the same time contribute to the actual environment to cope with global warming. As one makes Ecotonoha’s leaves, by leaving a message on the virtual tree, it keeps on growing. And as Ecotonoha grows, real trees will be planted by NEC. We received 107,054 messages ... More About: Business , Inspiration , Online , Tree , That
Plant a tree online!
2008-01-17 04:50:00 Ecotonoha is a project to nurture a virtual tree collaboratively, and at the same time contribute to the actual environment to cope with global warming. As one makes Ecotonoha’s leaves, by leaving a message on the virtual tree, it keeps on growing. And as Ecotonoha grows, real trees will be planted by NEC. We received 107,054 messages ... More About: Inspiration , Online , Tree , Plant
The growth of ?Tenerife Training?
2008-01-17 02:31:00 The growth of www.Tenerife-Training .net website has been astonsishing over the last 2 years: I’m very pleased to say that we recently surpassed 11,500 homepage visits!! Here’s the exact number- For the past four months, we’ve received an average of 5000+ monthly web-visits and this figure continues to climb steadily. For Jun - Dec 2007, ~82% of people visited www.Tenerife-Training.net more than ... More About: Business , Inspiration , Growth , That
Doc Brown manufactures the first advanced ceramic bicycle component! NOT AN
2008-01-13 18:00:00 After nearly a year in development, at last it’s here: VÉRTEBRÆ CERAMIC GEAR LINES: US$140 Available for MTBs & road bikes (Shimano / SRAM or Campagnolo). Housing colours available: CLEAR/X-RAY WHITE GREY BLACK BLUE PURPLE RED ORANGE YELLOW GREEN (please specify when ordering) www.vertebr.ae True ?Compressionless? housing: High Purity Alumina is FIVE TO SIX TIMES STIFFER than aluminium alloys, and even 50 ... More About: Brown , Merchandise , Component , Bicycle , Vance
Teaching people how to slow down & use their brakes -
2008-01-12 17:05:00 It’s recently become apparant by simple observation (& also looking at brake pad wear patterns) that many cyclists use the wrong braking technique for steep descents (>10%) here in Tenerife. For maximum braking effect when travelling in a straight line, you only really need to use the front brake. Using only the rear brake is a recipe ... More About: People , Teaching , Slow
The simple life: Liquid Orange.
2008-01-10 19:49:00 There are two possible alternatives; in this short life you can either synthesise the following chemical compounds: limonene, myrcene, valencene, linalool, octanal, decanal, ethyl butyrate, ?-ionone, citronellal, and ?-sinensal, E-2-octenal, 1-octen-3-ol, Z-4-decenal, E, E-2,4-nonadienal, guaiacol, ?-octalactone, and m-cresol, O-glycosylated flavones, flavonols, phenolic acids, ethyl acetate, 6-C-?-glucosyldiosmin, 6,8-di-C-glucopyranosylapigenin, 6,8-di-C-?-glucosyldiosmin, 2-oxo-L-threo-hexono-1,4- lactone-2,3-enediol, beta carotene, 2-hydroxypropane-1,2,3-tricarboxylic acid, heteropolysaccharide and assimilate ... More About: Life , Orange , Simple , Liquid
How to correctly adjust your saddle.
2008-01-09 23:42:00 I see some people returning their our rental bikes with the saddles tilted in the most awkward-looking positions, so I thought I’d begin to offer some free & simple fitting advice for men: Start with the saddle completely level. Obviously the bike must be on level ground and finding such a place is not that easy in ... More About: Saddle , Adjust , Rect
Doc Brown?s Challenge.
2008-01-01 01:00:00 In 2006 I met a fellow cyclist and it was clear from the very beginning that this man was fundamentally not happy. As we talked and rode together, he confided in me that although he was a successful attorney/solicitor who made £200,000 / year, he suspected that he was ‘depressed’! Having been through my own dark ... More About: Business , Mental Health , Brown , Challenge , That
Would you consider renting a tandem hire bike in Tenerife?
2007-12-28 18:20:00 Note: There is a poll within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll. More About: Hire , Bike , Renting , Tenerife
?Where have all the trees gone??
2007-12-24 20:38:00 If someone from a past time zone were suddenly plonked into our own, I’m convinced that they would find themselves in a desperately depressing situation. “Where have all the trees gone?” they might say to themselves. The notion that each and every urban space has been transformed, directly or indirectly, from a virtual wilderness is indeed ... More About: Trees
The pursuit of happiness.
2007-12-22 16:10:00 For me, this is by far the best, most inspirational movie I’ve seen, based on a true story: More About: Inspiration , Happiness , The Pursuit of Happiness
The Man in the Mirror
2007-12-22 15:27:00 When you get what you want in your struggle for self, And the world makes you King for a day, Then go to the mirror and look at yourself, And see what that man has to say. For it isn’t your Father, or Mother, or Wife, Who judgement upon you must pass. The feller whose verdict counts most in your life Is the ... More About: Inspiration , Mental Health , Mirror
Mega Tsunami Numero Uno (it?s all La Palma?s fault)
More articles from this author:2007-12-22 11:27:00 Since this is “science simplified”, I don’t think these two videos need further explanation: Here’s an interesting science paper written by Steven N. Ward and Simon Day More About: Tsunami , Mega , Fault , La Palma , Island Life 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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