The reason I wanted to lose weight, was so I could get fit and take part in the Australiasian Safari – which would be really rather cool. I’ve not hit my target this week (but I’m still tracking well against the average target), the fitness is another aspect of the deal that I’ve not talked about much.
The plan is to spend 12 months getting the weight off whilst gently increasing fitness, then once I’m down to the target weight (99kg) work really hard on the fitness. As part of that we’re tracking my Cardiovascular Fitness… I’ve never quite got the stats part of the whole exercise thing – what is the point of Nike+ ? But I think I’m starting to get it… here’s the chart of my first two tests.. it shows improvement, and bloody hell does it make me want to make it look better!
…. I don’t like talking about my weight – I’ve always been happy with it. But the time has come to get back to where I was when I was fit and young and healthy. This has nothing to do with being 29 on Sunday, and therefore nearly 30.
The easiest way for me to achieve things is to say in public I’m going to do it – so here’s that public statement – by early next year my weight will be in double digits.
Here’s the chart – blue line is target, red line is what I’m actually achieving.
Every now and again a book comes out of the blue that you end up devouring in hours – Lois Pryce’s latest, Red Tape and White Knuckles, is one of those.
I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Lois in London not long before I headed out to Australia, I already knew of her first book, Lois on the Loose, and it was amazing to tie the experiences I’d read about in the book to the real person, and for once, they where the same person. With the exception of Austin Vince and Ted Simon I’ve nearly always been disappointed when I’ve met the authors of books I’ve held dear.
This second book has demonstrated a maturity in her writing style that held the whole thing together with a constant narrative – a very difficult trick to pull off. So much so that it’s one of those rare breed of books that you simply can’t put down. I hadn’t noticed that Lois had a new book out until I happened across it in the Sydney Airport book store, I was about to board a 14 hour flight to San Francisco and was rather excited to see something I could devour and learn from, rather than endure the constant repeats of How I Met Your Mother I knew United would be serving.
From the first page, through to the photos and the last chapter it’s a journey of personal strength, determination and at times, heart pounding excitement and fear. I really felt I was with her, and that’s an exceptionally difficult thing to pull off as the mass of bad travel books demonstrate.
I was a little concerned that this would be a book about a small, timid (ha!) white girl working hard against all possible odds to get through Africa – but it’s not, it’s a book about a small, lion-hearted lady who overcame obstacles with good humor, humility and a depth of character I’d be proud to even have a tenth of.
If you’re planning your own journey on anything from a motocycle to a tuk tuk, this book will inspire you to go that little bit further, and perhaps push a little of your fear to one side and experience a journey for what it is, rather than a philosophical adventure or backed-up outing.
Red Tape and White Knuckles is available from the Sydney Airport Book Store or from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
UPDATE:
Thanks to Atlas Rider on Twitter here’s a video of Lois talking about her journey at an overland expo in the states.
Today I headed to the map store and got the broad details I need for the first run into the outback. I love shopping in map stores, but to be honest I miss Stanfords in London – the Melbourne Map Centre as wonderful as they are (they were fantastically helpful and had everything I needed, well worth a visit) – just doesn’t add the same excitement to the start of a trip.
Some of you have been really helpful with suggestions and routes for the trip – so I’ve created a public Google Map that we can all edit – both with places I should visit and to help me work out my route – I’ve made a start but please do dive in and add detail.
I’ve once again just got back from the foggy and slightly damp city that I’m learning to love, and amazingly I’m not talking about London.
San Francisco is one of those cities that it’s so easy to enjoy. It’s small enough to easily get around, the public transport is cheap and easy to work out, and every corner has a coffee shop where you can meet your friends and colleagues alike.
I was in town for a little over a week this time, and even though our offices are over in Oakland I didn’t manage to make it there once. The city is just to darn alluring, and when it comes to meetings I’m much happier to natter in the back of a noisy Starbucks than a cold and difficult-to-get-to Oakland.
It was wonderful to meet up with the Offbeat Guides guys again, and to start to generate a genuine friendship with Eric ‘Put ’em up’ Willis. Dale Larson once again took me in hand and even managed to smuggle me onto a boat for a sailing trip over the weekend – thanks Dale 🙂
So who knows…. SF is turning into a city that I’d rather like to live, and given I’m spending more and more of my time there…. what do you think? SF? Good place to live?
I’ve finally had a few weeks back in Australia and it’s all starting to feel more like home than a place I happen to be spending some time. Part of that is all the gear turning up for the bike, and the other bit is my brother coming to stay!
He’s moved in and has his feet well and truly under the table 😉 But I don’t mind (he’s a qualified chef, and a rather good one at that). Of course all of this would come as I’m starting to take this fitness lark seriously – I’m aiming to take part in the Austalasian Safari in two years time – that’s going to take 12 months to drop my weight to a sensible level and 12 months of serious enduro training.
Of course, all the best laid plans and all that… but we’ll see what happens, regardless of what I do I aim to be doing something ‘big’ in 2011/2012 depending on what hemisphere I’m in.
More videos on the way now I’ve found my way around the new Canon HG20 HD Camera, and I’m sure you’ve already seen some of the first photos appearing on flickr from the new Lumix G1.
Whilst we were on the trip we generated over 2 hours of video via the mobile that we uploaded automatically to the website – in fact you may have watched 🙂
Well it was rather difficult to watch them back on Qik, so we’ve uploaded them all to YouTube and here is the magic player that lets you navigate from the very first video, to the very last. Enjoy 2 hours of three men chatting to a crappy video camera!
Before we hit the road, whilst we were on it, and on our return we did a series of interviews with BBC Radio Five Live. I know some of you caught them, but just in case you missed them, here they are:
First Interview (Patrick, Stace and Matthew in the London Studio)
[audio:first_interview_studio_london.mp3]
Second Interview (Matthew, in Germany about to cross in Poland)
[audio:first_on_the_road_germany.mp3]
Third Interview (Matthew, at Riga, the brake downs!)
[audio:second_interview_riga.mp3]
Fourth Interview (Matthew, returning from Russia, in Poland)
[audio:third_interview_poland.mp3]
Final Interview (Matthew and Stace at the Five Live Studio in London)
[audio:final_interview_london.mp3]
There’s also a short video we shot whilst we were chatting waiting to go into the studio, which is fascinating I’m sure you’ll agree:
and here’s the video from our last interview where we got the host to try a heater meal!
Buying a new tent can be incredibly difficult. There are so many choices out there that it can be very confusing if you don’t know what to look for. As the northern hemisphere heads into spring, and camping becomes a comfortable alternative to the B&B again I wanted to share some tips on how to chose a good tent.
I made a little video about choosing a tent which you can watch at the bottom of this post, or over on YouTube.
1. How far from help are you?
Before you decide how much you want to spend, work out why you’re buying the tent and how far away from shelter you are. If for example you’re travelling in a Land Rover, then your tent – whilst being your primary shelter – is not as important as it is if you’re camping 10 miles from anything else on your own. Ask yourself, how near shelter am I if the tent fails? The further from help, the more you want to spend, and the more consideration needs to be taken.
2 . Materials
Simple enough, do some research on what materials work best in which senario. Are you going to be spending time in the desert? What about rain? A good tent for northern Europe, may not be the best bet for the hot climbs of central Afrrica. A swag bag works wonderfully in the dry conditions of Australia, but is simply not suited to a wet trip in Canada.
3. Size, weight and dimensions
Are you carrying the tent on your back, on the back of a motorcycle or in a car? If you’re carrying a tent you’ll need to explore high-tech options with suppliers like Exped and Tatonka. Both companies offer options with light-weight short poles and highly compressible materials – ideal for hiking and the motorbike.
If you’re in the car you have a greater range of options – consider a tent that goes up in seconds from Quecha or something designed to fold out from your vehicle in a few simple steps from people like Oz Tent.
4. Accessories
You’ll be amazed how many tents don’t come with the essentials. Make sure you have:
Ground sheet / footprint
Good quality pegs
Strong poles / pole repair kit
Material repair kit (for fixing holes)
The ground sheet will really help with keeping condensation to a minimum – they also act as a barrier between the cold ground and your butt, but most importantly they protect the material of your tents bottom from sharp stones on rough ground. A good ground sheet means you can keep your ventilation vents open in most weathers.
Pegs are so important – many tents ship with really weak simple pegs that will not drive into hard ground and have no grip in soft ground. Try a v shaped titanium peg from people like Alpine Kit – they don’t have to be expensive! Make sure you drive the peg in at a 45 degree angle.
5. Design
There are really three major tent designs. Geodysic, dome and tunnel. Depending on what type of camping your doing you’ll need to consider the different types.
Tunnel tents generally pack up very small, they also tend to have very short poles and are quite often very easy to erect. They do however require some thought when pitching – they can be badly affected by wind and you should try to pitch with the front or back facing into the wind – if you get caught side on in a gale it can not only end in a very noisy night- but can also bend the shape of the tent inwards, affecting it’s thermal capabilities and how much rain it can deal with. This is the type of tent that it is really important to buy the best of – money really does have an impact here and the more you spend generally gives you a very sturdy, tough option with all of the benefits.
Dome tents tend to be the cheapest option. You’ll see them in the supermarket for very little cash and for many applications are the ideal option. Their pack size is small, they generally only have two poles and can be purchased as an inside up first option or a fly up first option. In wetter climates the outer (fly) up first option is ideal, but in dryer hoter climbs you’ll find the option of being able to pitch the inner tent without the outer ideal – it keeps the bugs off, and lets the heat escape more efficiently.
Geodesic tents can be rather complicated to erect – but once you’ve worked out the knack they are without doubt the most stable shelters around. They tend to be more expensive and they’re what you’ll see the professional expeditions using as they head out into the great wilderness. They deal with very bad weather well, will see a gale through with hardly a twitter, these are the best options to ensure you’re safe and snug inside.
Finally I’ll come back to that first tip when choosing your tent – remember that it’s your primary shelter – if you can sleep somewhere else if it flys away or gets soaked through then don’t stress it – if you HAVE to get a good, warm, dry nights sleep then spend some money.
The best place to start is with a reputable supplier – I recommend Travel Dri-Plus – call and ask for Les – he’s the most knowledgeable person I have ever talked to about tents – if he doesn’t know it – it’s not worth knowing about.
I got in trouble for posting a photo of Oscar a few days ago when I was talking about missing the cats… well here you go… this is Kitty and I miss her too.
From here on in, only photos featuring both of my cats will appear here.
Every now and again a book comes out of the blue that you end up devouring in hours – Lois Pryce’s latest,
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