MotoGP

OK, after a number of serious posts here's something more fun (for me anyway...)

A few more of my choice shots from the MotoGP in Assen.  Not always perfectly sharp, and I have played with the saturation and brightness in some cases (maybe for the worse...  I was playing and experimenting!).  Without fail they have been clipped though to make (what I think) is the best of the framing.

I hope they bring the excitement of the day across as much as they bring it back to me!

Dovi after the race (unprocessed)

Close up of the above shot to see his eyes

Jorge during the race, with damage from the crash with Simo, very slightly processed

Rossi going past Hayden, rotated but otherwise untouched

Rossi going past Hayden a second or so later, a little processed - but not much

Rossi going past Edwards (IIRC) I don't think I have to say if this one has been processed!

And end with Simo, complete with flapping bits at the back from his accident.  Again, a little processed but not much

Well the neighbours know...

This weekend we went for a long weekend away.  I left on Friday with my brother in law to go to Assen to watch the Dutch MotoGP.  We watched the final practice and qualification and then went to our little house (normally we camp, but this time we decided to rough it in a 6 person bungalow :p).  We sat in the relaxing peaceful garden in the middle of the woods chatting and listening to nature.  That is a huge change from a camp site closer to the track where you spend the night listening to engines being destroyed...

The next morning we left early to get back to the track after a full English breakfast (one of the only times I treat myself to one all year).  At the track we watched the warm up and then went for a walk to get coffee (there was one decent coffee tent and it was about 8km total walk from our seats.  And no that is not an exaggeration.  But the coffee was worth it :)

The racing in 125 and Moto2 was spectacular with the lead changing constantly.  Wonderful to watch.  MotoGP was impressive as always, thought the racing was not spectacular.  We got superb seats this time though, the corner where our stand was seemed to have the most overtakes.

So the races left and after being stuck in the car parks for a couple of hours whilst the traffic people totally failed to direct the traffic in anyway what so ever.  In fact some of the people walking managed to do a better job...  Worst part of he weekend!

Anyway, we left and got back to the flat where Mrs Stace, her sister and my neice and nephew had arrived and were busy sorting food (there is a reason why we had a house this time and were not on a cheap camp site!)  We had a lovely meal and spent the evening chatting and drinking.

On Sunday we went with the kids to a fairytale park where they had a fantastic time and we enjoyed playing with them.  There was also a an amount of working out trying to keep up with my niece whilst she was playing in the climbing thing that they had (about the size of two houses put together like a maze, I have to admit it was fun - but I was shattered and she had barely started and I consider myself fit!)

Swimming when we got back to the camp site and I managed to pull a muscle keeping my niece entertained (twirling her around on a large float and my side suddenly went pop).  And I was stuck in pain for the rest of the evening :)

On Monday we came home and I got changed (I am spending more time as Stacy these days, as per my post yesterday) and we went food shopping for the week.

We got home, and whilst emptying the car our neighbours 14(ish) year old daughter came out to get something from their car.  She stood up very well I think.  We are not really on better terms than 'Hello' anyway (what is it with modern life that means you no longer know your neighbours) and so I wouldn't have expected more than that.  I didn't get that, but I didn't get more than a bit of a confused look from her either.

I think it's safe to say that my neighbours know about Stacy now...   Oh well it had to happen - we'll see what the fall out is.  On the bright side I can now sit in the sun in the garden without worrying about the implications for Mrs Stace (getting caught for a good reason is one thing, but to sit in the garden seemed like asking for trouble in my mind.  Stupid I know, but I thought it was fairer to her).

Of course living with the implications for myself is different...  I had a, er, distinct sunbrun pattern on my upper body this morning - the neckline on Stacy's clothing is a little different to my normal clothes.  Thankfully I always wear shirts with a high neck as him so it wasn't visible :)

And something to leave you with...  My MotoGP hero!  (a quick selection from the 600 I took over the weekend, long live digital SLR's where you can take what you want without worrying about the cost of getting the film developed!)

 

And a new one just begun.

Sorry thought I'd keep the title running from yesterday :)

We had a very late night last night, we celebrated the Dutch New Year, waited an hour and did it all again for the UK one.  It was a quiet day, except for the constant fireworks that I mentioned which continued past 3am.

Today was late getting up (10am, I *never* sleep in that late!) and having nothing to do.  Lovely.

I did go for a run for the first time in weeks (the ice has just about gone).  Was great to get out again, though after 3KM's I was thinking wow three weeks makes a lot of difference! I'm going to stick at 3 for a week and go back to 6 next week I think.

The weather here has changed for the better.  Warm - compared to the last few weeks, sunny and dry.  It should stay that way for the next week so I am planning on being the first to go to work with the bike on Monday whilst there is a break in the weather.  I oiled the chain and checked the oil today, and took it for fuel and to pump the tyres up at the local petrol station.  It was a wonderful ride, but I was reminded why I have a neckerchief when I went the long way home and froze my neck at anything over 40mph...  But the roads were fine - which is what I was checking - and so if it does not freeze tonight I'll be riding tomorrow!

Right, another Jamie Oliver creation is calling.

Hope you all had a good evening last night.

Stace

Oh, one final thing.  I did something yesterday that I did not enjoy doing too much...  I blocked someone for the first time. The image used in the avatar was a little less than PG I thought, and whilst I am not a prude I would rather that kind of picture was not associated with this blog.  Sorry Sasha.

Too much of a petrol head...

I'm a petrol head (though the Top Gear wouldn't agree - never owned an Alpha and not likely to...).  I am not ashamed at this.  But this morning I am finding out that you can go too far, and am still paying the price...

Filling the bike up with feul the rubber hose spring suddenly sprang having the effect of both ripping the nozzle out of the tank, and forcing the lever into my hand spraying fuel all over my bike.

Ten minutes of rinsing the bike down I noticed that my nice, new, expensive, red and white Dianese gloves were also damp.  So much for keeping them looking good as long as posible :(

So now I am sitting at my desk stinking of petrol.  Feel sorry for those I work with - it's an open office :)

Stace

Adventures in Epilating, and other stuff

I've been using my epilator for about a month now - so far so good.  I need to spend serious time doing it every three weeks or so, and a bit of maintenance (5 / 10 mins) once a week.  I'm really happy with my arms - the hair their is growing back much softer than before (it seems to take a while to get thick, black and noticable) so I don't have to do those as often.

The pain has recinded somewhat after that first, painful time - on my shins I hardly feel it anymore and it's no worse than shaving.  Thighs still hurt, though not as eye watering as before.

Things that I have done wrong though:

• I didn't exfoliate enough and had lots of ingrowing hair.  That was painful to sort out, but seems to be fine now.
• You can cause injury with an epilator if you get it wrong - the scab on my wrist shows that :)

Still soo much better than shaving though - lasts longer, is smother and my arms are not so much as hair free now as looking more natural (as Mrs Stace said when I shaved my arms - women have hair on their arms - it's nice to have, just not the thick black hair...)

Other stuff?  Two things spring to mind.

I have my yearly review this week and got the info last night.  I'm impressed.  Better than average.  Personally I would break my last year down as July-Dec good, Dec-April terrible, May to now slightly down on good.  But it seems that I did enough to keep the business, and my boss, impressed.  I guess what I am doing is good - I just feel I should be doing more of it.

The other is bike related.  I was by bike to my sister in laws yesterday, and was changing into my leather before leaving.  She commented that the leathers are very manly, and would I be changing them if I transitioned.

I said not.  I have two reasons for this.  One is that a good set of leathers is well into 4 figures and I am not going to throw them out until they are no longer keeing me safe.  The other, possibly more important, reason is that you can't get good quality leathers for women.  I have top of the line 2 piece Dainese leathers, with titanium sliders on the shoulder and elbows.  For women they have some nice looking leathers, but nothing with the level of protection that mine have.  I couldn't think about changing for something that offers less protection than I have now so I have little choice in the matter.

See what is available should the time come I suppose.

Right, time to do more of that work that I mentioned :)

Catching up

Well after the shock that was my reaction to getting on the VU's waiting list yesterday I am doing better today.  I've calmed down, and as Mr Stace has pointed out it's not something unexpected, nor unwanted.  I guess I now need time to reflect and think.

I still have to call the therapist who's number I got from the VU.  I actually tried calling, but the number sems to be wrong.  I have to call the VU again to confirm the number.

Things are still on the up.  I'm back to 90% at work (Friday excepted) and it has been noted by my boss that I'm getting back to full strength. For the first time in a while  I can look back on the weeks work and be happy with what I have acheived.  I have too much to do, and have a lot to catch up on, but with a little time management and prioritising of open tasks I should cope.

And finally...  A week after getting the epilator I have to say I am very impressed.  There are still a few stragglers that I haven't caught yet.  But whereas I always have to shave on a weekly basis, I still have no regrowth after one week. Woohoo :)

Time for my Saturday skate.  Busy day today - MotoGP in France so I want to see qualifying, shoe shopping and tonight is the last practice for the final dance of the year where we get marked.

Have a good weekend all.

This is a fit and healthy young man

I just got back from the doctors office for my driving license health check and that is what he put on the form I have to send to the licensing agency :)

'Man' aside there is nothing better to see on the form I think.  It's been a few years since I was called young as well :)

Eyesight was perfect, slight issues with me knowing left from right - but pointing with my hands got around that problem.  There no no trace of anything in the urine test and my body made the noises and had the reactions he expected when he started to hit it.

The only cause for concern was my blood pressure - 155/90.  But then it was a medical and I was stressed because of that.  He did say it was outside of normal range, but in the circumstances nothing to be concerend about.  I have seen it higher in the UK - 160/120 - the doctors didn't believe that could be true and made me come back 2 weeks later to recheck it.  I so love white coat syndrome.

This means that I can now send off for my license, complete with trucks and busses that nobody I know over here thinks I should have on the license (just because I have never sat in the driving seat of either, and never taken a test).

The one question that I am not sure if I answered correctly...  Do you have any phycological problems.  Does GID count?  I assumed not so said nothing.  And seeing as he said I passed the cursory test with flying colours I guess it doesn't matter...

Well roll on 4pm so I can ride home on the bike in more comfort than I rode here - it was bitterly cold this morning, and it felt like it took hours to get the feeling back in my fingers.

Well time to get some work done I suppose...

Biker attitudes to boys and girls...

As many of you know from previous posts I have recently replaced my aging Suzuki SV650 S with a Yamaha R6.

Before taking the plunge I joined the R6 forum to try and get some information.  When I join an online community these days I join as Stacy.

In order to be polite I posted pics once I got the bike.  I was surprised at the replies. A lot of welcoming and people comments on the bike itself, and one comment asking when I was going to pose nude photos.

[quote]got any nudes with the bike?[/quote]

My answer:
[quote]Err, no nudes... I like my bikes with fairing[/quote]

When did it become OK to ask these types of questions? And talk about giving bikers a bad name...

And to think in a few years my little niece is going to start using computers...  I just hope she has sense.

Mixers

A bit of an up and down week this time.  Still feeling a bit from last weekend (much to Mrs Stace's annoyance), and possibly a little more clingy than normal.

That said, the week itself has not gone too badly.  I've had quite a productive week at work - playing with Team Foundation Server 2010 readying myself for the upgrade that is going to happen later this year (the fun part of being team lead is that I can pretty much decide how I spend my days providing the team has work, and regular tasks are completed on time).  Looks so much nicer than the old 2008 version, and the installation routine has been made a doddle - click through wizzard and away it goes.  See how an the upgrade from our current server goes in a couple of weeks.

And the weather has been kind enough to allow me to take the bike a couple of times this week.  Froze my hands off in the morning, but in the evening coming home it was fanatastic.  Roll on warmer mornings!

Speaking of the bike...  Here's what she looks like:

Not bad for something 7 years old I think...

Fun times two

I've had another busy week, but seeing as most of it was boring bureaucracy I won't bore you with the details except to say I am finally getting rid of my UK license and changing it for an NL version, and applying for a long term residency permit, as opposed to the usual 5 year temporary permit.

The fun?

First is obvious to anyone who has read my blog in the last 7 days. The toy is sleeping peacefully in the garden under a blacket to protect it from the cold and rain.

I picked it up on Thursday and have done about 100km's on it so far - 30 for fun, 70 commuting. I love it. I'm taking it easy to start with, new bike, lots of power and just as important, band new front tyre that has to bed in before I can push aything. Even taking it easy the bike is fun, very easy to ride (I wasn't expecting that) and very difficult to accidently go really fast (wasn't expecting that either). When you do try to go a little quick it's very difficult to go just a little quickly (that is what I was expecting - but I am getting used to it).

Lots of riding to do in the coming weeks to get used to it. If the weather is nice tomorrow I'll be taking pics and may well post one up here...

The second was cooking last night. We have been trying to find some nice food to eat over the last few weeks instead of eating the same things week in week out.

I love cooking, and have a good collection of recipe books. But I've never really tried to make my own recipes up. Last night we did just that: Chicken and mushroom pasta with a goats cheese white sauce.

Cut a breast of chicken into thin strips and start to cook over a low heat. In the meantime chop the mushrooms into small peices (quater for small muchrooms, 6 or 8 peices for the larger ones) and throw into the cookng chicken. Add some italian mixed herbs and salt and peper to taste.

The sauce is a basic white roux, with salt, peper to taste and some goats cheese. Once thickened and the cheese has melted throw into the chicken and mushrooms to mix with the juices that have been released during the cooking process. Stir through and leave to cook for a min or so.

Place the pasta on plates, using a draining spoon place the chicken and mushrooms over the paster. Finally pour the sauce over the top.

Serve with garlick focaccia.

Was much better than I was expecting, and amazingly cheap - 7 euros for two people IIRC (the goats cheese and focaccia drive the price up a bit without those it would ahve been 4(ish) euros.

Brass Monkeys

Contect Warning: Petrol head bike post below!

Well I went for the test ride yesterday and noted two things...

1) After not riding since November due to the snow and ice I had forgotten just how much I love it
2) I always forget just how cold it is when riding in winter temperatures :)

I got my old bike going, always interesting in cold weather - it fires and then dies unless you get the choke *just* right; one mm too much and it doesn't start at all one mm too little and it fires for 1/2 a second. Rode it to the local jet wash to clean the gunk off of it and to get the tyre pressures correct and then set off.

It's so much fun! Even keeping legal, riding is just a fantastic rush. When I set off it was cold (tights, socks, inteligent suit (warm in winter, cold in summer) below and inteligent suit / t-shirt above) but quite doable under the leathers. Summer gloves (I hate riding in winter gloves - warm hands, but no feel) no neckerchief but it was fine.

Hit the motorway and decided that maybe lack of neckerchief was maybe not the best idea :) But nothing too bad. After riding for 30 miles or so the temperature suddenly plummeted and within a few miles I couldn't feel my fingers, seeing as the pain was starting to make in roads into my concentration I stopped at the next petrol station and swapped my summer gloves for the space tech winter ones. Instantly I could feel my fingers again, unfortunately instantly the heat pain started, I gave it a couple of mins before starting off again :)

Got to the garage looked the bikes over; I had my eye on two different ones, one was older with more KM's but was a much neater bike. After uhming and ahing for a few mins I settled on the older one. It looked cleaner, was stock and didn't raise any alarm bells. The newer one was covered in power stickers, had an illegal carbon exhaust that would have to be changed before I could take it and has tiny indicators at the back. All made me wonder how it had been ridden in it's life...

After trying to get what I could for my bike (half what I wanted) we agreed on a price. I could have gone elsewhere and got another 300 for my bike (I think) but the bike would have been a lot more than that so I settled. Then came the test ride.

OMG. At this point I should point out that I love sports bikes. My first bike was a little GPZ500S - looked a little sporty and was fun enough, but was a perfect first bike as it was gentle on the rider. My current bike is an SV650S. A Suzuki Ducatie imitation, quicker then the GPZ, but still a budget bike and still fairly sedate. I have decided though that at 33, and with 10 years of riding under my belt, it was time to get a bike I really wanted. Seeing as the servicing (and purchase) cost of real Duke was *way* out of my price range - I wanted a 748 Biposto, but that's a pipe dream - I decided a japanese bike was the way to go. Now I know that Honda's have a great reputation for reliablility but I find the CBR's just too chunky looking. They look like an IL4 rather than a twin. The only one that doesn't is the Yam R6. I don't know how they make it so compact, but it's no wider then my SV, and is such a pretty bike...

I was expecting a difference between the SV and the R6 (obviously) but seeing as there are not that many steps between them I was shocked at just how much difference there is. The clutch on the R6 is ultra light, and has very limited feel, the other controls work just so much sharper than the SV. The first 200 meters I looked like a fool in expensive leather, on a supersports bike trying to find the bite point of the clutch and a balance point of the throttle somewhere between 1000 and 10000 rpm. A bit of low speed riding and it started to come together, but it's going to take some practice before I become proficient at pulling off I think.

I was surprised at how easy it is (once you are moving) to ride at low speed - once you are actually moving. The engine only really works at high RPM, so keeping it between 3000 and 4000 it's such a laid back ride. It flip flops nicely in the bends and was really pleasent for town riding - something I was not expecting.

Then I took it for a quick blast between junction on the motorway. At 8000 the engine changes totally. You have to keep you eye on the speedo because it just takes off, keeping it at legal speeds is easy enough (the old adage that it's only as quick as your right hand still works here), but I had to conciously do it. I guess over the first few weeks I'll get used to it and it'll become second nature.

Got back to the shop, agreed to fix the issue I found (wear bar on the front tyre, so that's being replaced) and did the paper work. I pay for it today and pick it up on Friday. Can't wait!

Lastly... I want to know how people with new licenses possibly think it's a good idea to start with these bikes. With 10 years experience it was not 'easy' to start with it. I can imagine that you want the nice fast bike when you first pass, but surely after test riding it you would think 'hmm, maybe I should practice on something closer to the power I learnt with before taking this on'? I came across the term Squid in the search for the R6. It describes everything I hate about a certain type of new rider. Stupid, Quick ,Underdressed, Imminently Dead. It's a pet hate of mine - people who buy expensive bikes as their first bike. Talk the whole day about how they raced this that and the other on the way to work, and ride in jeans and coat becuase their budget didn't stretch to the leather suit. I prefer people who do it the other way - first bike budget = what you can afford - cost of good quality safety gear. Sorry rant over, these people just annoy me.

Big week

Well this week has been a big one for me... Lots happened - mostly good, some less so. But I am ending it quite happy.

Obviously the biggest was telling my boss on Monday. He's been absolutely true to his word, and has treated me absolutely the same as before he knew. What more could I have asked for.

I spent Sunday afternoon going trying on old clothes - it seems that the exercise is starting to work - my old jeans that have not fitted for a little while now actually do up (woohoo). Hopefully in a month or so they may even be comfortable enough to wear all day... We'll see.

I've managed to get up to 10KM's on skates now - not quite Sven Kramer time wise (actually nearly three times longer) - but I'm happy to have reached that milestone. Maybe this week I can manage 12. I'm still stuck at 6KM's running, but the time is dropping nicely. In 4 weeks it's the Hilversum City Run - at present schedule I should be good for improving my time from last time. I have a new way of training this week. I brought a heart rate monitor from the internet this week on the advice of a colleague who is insane with sporting. Hopefully I can now do two different types of training each week. One to get me faster for the run, and one to help me lose the weight having a driving license has given me. I never realised that just going all out for it when running is not actually the best way to burn fat - hopefully knowing what my heart is doing is going to let me stay in the right zone for both objectives. Wish me luck...

We had a last minute family dinner last Saturday with Mrs Stace's parents and her sisters family. It was a really nice evening, and everyone seems to have settled there as well. There was only one mention of TG, and that was caused by me. As with my boss it's nice to be treated just as me again. The mention? When desert came around Mrs Stace took her piece first and then her mum offered the bowl to me. Now I've always gone with ladies first, so I said that and passed it to her mum. Mrs Stace and her sister apparently discussed that after the meal (not in a bad way - just commenting on it)...

The snow has now gone, so I took the cover off of the bike and started it to get some charge back into the battery. Oh dear I think is an appropriate response. It started fine, but the throttle is stuck, oil is coming out of the clutch cover, the chain and sprokets are in bad condition and the fork seals are started to break down. Time for a new bike. Mrs Stace is not happy - and we had a big argument about it (that turned out to be about that and the 'other' thing all wrapped up in one). I have a couple of test rides set up for today and just hope that I can get a decent price for mine considering what they will have to do to get it working. I spoke to my parents last night (Dad to get his advice on the bikes, mum to say 'hello' and to get an earful about the bike from her too - I left to get a hair cut and her and Mrs Stace were complaining to each other about me on two wheels).

On that note I think that it's time to grab another cappucino, and make porridge for me and Mrs Stace before getting on my way....