Category Archives: skiing

Ski, drive, gym, run, plus cows, heat, and three-wheelers

We had another splendid day’s skiing on Monday and did domestic things, and packing, on Tuesday. It’s odd but in the pst we would only think of coming to Les Carroz in winter for a skiing holiday – perhaps we now think of a holiday, with skiing? I’d taken running kit but the weather was freeze-thaw so I didn’t trust the roads or paths.

One way or the other, I need to keep skiing, as a great family holiday, in the hope of doing it with Theo (and, I hope, other grandchildren) in the future and to get to the free ski pass age of 75, to get some revenge on lift operators for paying their prices for many years.

I drove us back on Wednesday – out of the flat by 8.30 and in a good deal of fog for the first 120km, until we got through the fourth of the tunnels and into bright sun. Unfortunately, it did not last and we had patchy fog for another 250km. It didn’t slow us down much but it’s a bit wearing – the question is always whether there’s nothing to see because there is nothing there, or because the fog is too dense to see it.

Put on a shuttle 90 minutes earlier than booked (but then delayed, of course) but still back in the UK an hour earlier than planned. After not a drop of rain for 8 days in France, it started to rain as soon as we left the shuttle – and rain for most of the journey home. With more traffic, the dark and the weather, the 160 miles to home was a worse drive than the 560 miles in France. Another 13 hours door to door.

Domestic stuff on Thursday but back to the gym (happily, I managed the usual routine with the usual weights) and then the bike shop on Friday.

On the way to the bike shop, I’d passed my training partner running into the village wearing shorts and a T shirt. Inspired, I ran on Saturday – but properly dressed in a long sleeved compression top, running top and jacket, together with a hat, gloves, neck warmer and long running tights.

It was my first run this year and it felt like it. A little over 11km, very slowly and I did not exactly move like a gazelle for the rest of the weekend. I suppose that’s the long-awaited start of the training for the Reverse London Marathon in April.

On Sunday I drove up to London to see our younger son and his wife and walk him through his tax return. Lovely to see them and good journeys in both directions.

In France I read “Running the Smoke”, with its 26 individual accounts of running the London Marathon. Highly recommended if you can handle the emotion!

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: Obstinacy does not redeem anyone

2. BBC News website: Oh for an opposable thumb

Scientists are rethinking what cattle are capable of after an Austrian cow named Veronika was found to use tools with impressive skill, suggesting that cows may have far greater cognitive abilities than previously assumed.

Veronika has spent years perfecting the art of scratching herself using sticks, rakes, and brooms (held in her mouth) using both ends of the same object for different tasks. Chimpanzees show the most varied range of tool use outside of humans. They use sticks to gather ants and termites, and stones to crack nuts.

If only it had been a dexter(ity)

3. BBC News website: So, that’s clear

‘This is our future,’ climate adviser warns as 2025 to break heat records (BBC News website headline 23/12/2025)

‘Global temperatures dipped in 2025 but more heat records on way, scientists warn’ (BBC News website headline 14/1/2026).

4. BBC News website: Three wheels on my wagon …

Two men aiming to break a Guinness World Record – by being the first to travel 10,000-miles (about 16,000km) from Devon to Cape Town in a three-wheeled car – hope to continue their travels after a blown engine ground their journey to a halt.

On their way to the Congo, their Reliant Robin called “Sheila the three-wheeler” developed a big knocking from the engine. which then exploded leaving “a gaping hole” in the side of it.

A replacement engine is being sent from Exeter.

France, varnish, drive, plus commutation, pumpkins, long days, euthanasia, tractors and the BBC

Graduation, run, gym, turbo, plus responsibility, caution, accents and Trump

3 Replies

On Monday I had the fourth and final physiotherapy session on my broken wrist. Various measurements were taken at the end and compared to those taken at the first session. It’s not back to where it was before the break (it might never quite get there) but every measure showed good progress. I am now a graduate of the physiotherapy department’s wrist group – sadly no certificate, robes or ceremony.

Tuesday saw me say goodbye to another pair of running shoes as the uppers are determined to come away from the soles. Strava says they have 937km on the clock and I’ve used them casually since their retirement from running so they don’t owe me anything – but it was still an emotional moment.

I’ve ordered a pair of Scott Pursuit shoes – good reviews, but mainly because they were about 70% off.

Wednesday morning was very cold but I had a gentle run with my wife, me testing the calf muscle I pulled 10 days ago skiing, and her back running after a gap with a broken toe, Christmas, skiing etc. Over 7km but taken very slowly and carefully – no issues with the calf but I suppose I’ll know more this evening or tomorrow.

No bad reaction from the calf on Thursday but I decided not to run again this week and had a quiet day. We had a momentary power cut during a stormy Thursday night but that, happily, was our only engagement with Storm Éowyn. I hope everyone else is safe and with power.

Gym and bike shop on Friday. Paperwork on Saturday before getting on the turbo – 30 minutes @ 29.4kph. Easy does it, but I’m heading back to exercise.

One of the problems with both sons coming home for Christmas by train is that they aren’t able to take their Christmas presents back with them. On Sunday I drove first to Kingston-upon-Thames to deliver his presents to our older son, then to our flat to check on it, then to our sons’ flat to get details of the heat and smoke alarms that need updating, and then to Harrow to deliver presents to our younger son.

180 odd miles in the rain and about 9 hours later, that’s done and it’s feet up for the rest of the evening.

100 at 70 challenge

I’ve been looking at some training plans. They describe themselves as follows:

Beginners: ‘This is the plan for you if you can complete a 5km run without stopping, in under 40 minutes’
Intermediate: ‘This is the plan for you if you regularly run at least 5km’
Advanced: ‘This is ideal if you regularly run 10km and do some structured training’

In theory, that makes me suitable for the Advanced plan but what is more important is what I think I can commit to, rather than my starting point (and I haven’t found a plan aimed specifically at those who will be 70 at the time of the race).

For the Advanced plan, can I really see myself doing the required 65km run in week 13? Oh dear – I just saw that the Intermediate plan has the same 65km run in week 13. As I remember, when I did the ultra in 2022, my two longest training runs were 32km and 36km. It’s all very confusing.

Needs some thought – but not (Declan) over-thinking.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: Better little than too little

2. BBC News website: Am I my brother’s keeper?

The father of late One Direction star, Liam Payne, has been named in a US defamation case by the singer’s friend Roger Nores.

Payne died after he fell from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires. Five people were charged over his death, including Mr Nores, who was accused of manslaughter. Argentine prosecutors claimed he “abandoned” the singer and failed in his duty of care responsibilities.

In a legal complaint filed in Florida on Wednesday, Mr Nores claimed Payne’s father made “false” declarations to Argentine officials which “contained material omissions, and many parts were not based on personal knowledge”.

3. BBC News website: Is this progress, or forgetting what has been learnt?

The UK’s financial regulator says it will investigate ways to simplify rules brought in following the 2008 financial crisis, in order to allow more people to borrow for a home. It is likely to review the balance between protecting borrowers and access to home loans, in a move that would be welcomed by lenders.

Responding to a call to boost the economy the regulator will also consider whether to scrap the £100 cap on purchases made by contactless cards, in line with digital wallets where providers set their own limits.

It is likely to review the balance between protecting borrowers and access to home loans??

In France, the contactless limit is €50 – that must be really holding their economy back!

4. BBC News website: It’s not what you say – it’s how you say it?

Many university students have high levels of accent-based anxiety, according to a 2022 report on accents and social mobility by sociolinguists. More than a third of over 1,000 university students surveyed said they felt self-conscious about their accent, and 47% said they’d had their accent mocked, criticised or commented on in a social setting.

Of the 10 accents studied, Glaswegians were perceived as most likely to stand up for someone who was being harassed, people with Scouse accents were seen as most likely to commit crimes and people with Standard Southern British English accents were viewed as most likely to report a relative to the police for a minor offence.

Black Country accents are stereotyped as indicating “low intelligence”, says Dr Esther Asprey, a lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton who focuses on West Midlands dialects.

5. BBC News website: Donald Trump sworn in as new US President

Among the first things he did, was to issue pardons for nearly 1,600 of his supporters who were arrested in the riot at the US Capitol in 2021. He also commuted sentences for members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, far-right groups who were convicted of seditious conspiracy in relation to the riot.

Whatever the rights or wrongs, this underlines the fact that history is written by the victors

Driving, France, skiing plus inconveniences, cars, fish and (not) Brad Pitt

2 Replies

We were up at 5am on Monday (6th January) – I know that’s probably quite normal for many but, for me, ‘normal’ doesn’t happen for at least another 3 hours. At least the purpose was a good one – to drive to the alps for skiing.

It’s a trip I’ve driven dozens of times over the last 25 years or so – I know it well but was taken by surprise by the sat nav telling me to turn 180° the opposite way to normal at the first main road junction.

Of course, I know much better than a mere mobile phone app (we use ‘Waze’) so we dithered for a few minutes before I accepted the wisdom of accepting the logic in ‘If we use the app, what’s the point of not following it?’. Therefore, we went via Oxford and onto the M40 and round London by the M25 North, rather than the usual route of the M4 and the M25 to the South. Eventually we discovered that the app knew a thing or two as the car radio announced a closure to the M25 South due to a jack-knifed lorry.

The alternative route was about 20 miles longer than the normal 160 miles (and involved a small toll for using the Dart crossing of the Thames (stressful sorting out how to pay that through the internet having never used the crossing before). Despite that, we got to the Tunnel in decent time and got put onto an earlier shuttle. It wasn’t a great journey – it rained most of the way – but we got to Les Carroz {in the Haute Savoie, France} in the evening, about 730 miles later.

We fiddled about in the apartment on Tuesday but skied on Wednesday (in light rain) before driving to Geneva airport in the evening to pick up our older son and (of August) his wife. For the first time in many years, their flight was early and they raced through customs and passport control (with only hand luggage as we’d brought all their skiing kit in the car) so they had been waiting for us for about 5 minutes – so efficient that we didn’t even have to pay for the arrivals car parking (oh, the pleasure in such small wins).

High winds that shut the lift system thwarted our plans to ski on the Thursday – but after a rather good relaxing day we had some very good skiing on Friday and Saturday in the local area. Although I’d managed a few runs in recent weeks, my legs noticed the absence of any really good training.

On Sunday I skied over to Faine (which is a connected resort) with our son. Although the local ski areas of Les Carroz, Morillon and Samoëns are (to my mind) prettier with skiing among tree-lined pistes, Flaine is higher and with more and more varied runs. That makes it particularly attractive to him as he is an excellent skier. He hosted and catered for a chalet as part of his gap year – which seems to have involved learning all the cleaning and catering short cuts so as to maximise the time he spent out on the slopes.

Although it was too busy for my liking (January is low season but the locals come out to play at the weekends) it was excellent skiing and I forgot about being a bit nervous of taking a fall and damaging the wrist I broke in August. I kept upright on all the pistes. Sadly, a foray into the powder flushed out a hidden dip and as my skis hit the upslope I stopped suddenly and was thrown forward.

Happily, the snow was soft and I was travelling at little more than walking pace so there was no risk to the wrist but I felt a pull in my right calf muscle as it over-extended, just a moment before the binding released.

I finished the day’s very fine skiing but the calf stiffened up later (despite the application of one of those microwaveable heated pads). It didn’t hurt while driving or sitting but walking to the restaurant that evening was a bit painful. I discovered that turning my right foot 90° outwards eliminated most of the calf muscle engagement so it hurt less, but did, I accept, look particularly comical.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: A man’s wealth may be superior to him

2. BBC News website: Inconveniences

A former city councillor in Brazil has returned a toilet and two sinks she had removed from her office after losing a bid for re-election. Footage showing one an employee hauling away the facilities was posted online as she left the Sao Paulo council.

In a statement posted on social media, she said the bathroom renovation was paid for with her own money and therefore not an asset belonging to the council. But she later said, following a social media backlash, “I decided to donate the equipment I acquired with my own resources to the chamber”.

“Obviously, neither I nor my advisers need a toilet.”

Perhaps she meant ‘Obviously I and my advisers already have toilets.’

3. BBC News website: USA and the love of the car

The first congestion charge scheme for vehicles in the US has come into effect in New York City. Car drivers will pay up to $9 (£7) a day, with varying rates for other vehicles.

The congestion zone covers an area south of central park, taking in the Empire State Building, Times Square and the financial district around Wall Street

The scheme aims to ease New York’s notorious traffic problems and raise billions for the public transport network, but has faced resistance, including from famous New Yorker and President-elect Donald Trump.

4. BBC News website: Fishy stuff

Sushi restaurateurs in Tokyo say they have paid 207m yen ($1.3m; £1m) for a bluefin tuna which is about the size and weight of a motorbike. The sale is the second highest price ever paid at the annual new year auction at Toyosu Fish Market.

Onodera Group, which had the winning bid, said the tuna – which weighed in at 276kg (608lb) – would be served at its Michelin-starred Ginza Onodera restaurants, as well as Nadaman restaurants across the country.

5. BBC News website: OK, so you’re (not) Brad Pitt – that don’t impress me much

A French woman who was conned out of €830,000 (£700,000; $850,000) by scammers posing as actor Brad Pitt has faced a huge wave of mockery, leading French broadcaster TF1 to withdraw a programme about her.

The primetime programme attracted national attention on interior designer Anne, 53, who thought she was in a relationship with Pitt for a year and a half.

She told a popular French YouTube show she was not ‘crazy or a moron’: ‘I just got played, I admit it, and that’s why I came forward, because I am not the only one.’

So sad, on so many levels

Drive, snow (in the wrong place), gym, run, plus tardiness, timeliness and a radio pulsar-black hole binary

2 Replies

We had some snow over the days we were out in Les Carroz but it was heaviest on Sunday night – so Monday gave us another brilliant day’s skiing with some fresh snow on top of pistes already in good condition. We took our son and his girlfriend back to Geneva in the early evening (hitting some horrible traffic on the way out of the city).

On Tuesday we pottered about and packed - a full car load with our luggage and our son’s and his girlfriend’s so they could fly with hand luggage only – plus a flat packed 30 year old wardrobe that had been rendered unnecessary thanks to having a new one built-in over the summer.

We got away at a decent time on Wednesday morning and I put in a good stint before we took a break. The weather was mixed but the temperature rose to 10℃ – before it started to get cooler. By the time we were passing Reims it had reached freezing but it continued to get colder – and then the snow started.

It began to settle very quickly – the inside lane was not too bad because of the traffic on it, but the outside lane soon became white as it had little or no traffic … and becoming white deterred the traffic even more. It was looking a bit bleak with 120 miles still to go to the Channel (having already completed 430 miles). We had a layer of worries – getting to the tunnel in time, getting to the tunnel at all and what the 160 miles on the English side might be like.

When the lines of traffic slowed too much (sometimes down to 30mph) I trusted to the winter tyres and, very gingerly, ventured past in the outside lane. We then had a major slice of luck in the unlikely shape of a large Irish “Nixon” lorry. Its driver must have been tired of the inside lane crawl and decided to charge down the outside lane. We followed him, at a discrete distance, making use of his tyre tracks.

In all, those were 80 of my least favourite, white knuckle, miles for many years, but all went well with no sudden manoeuvres needed, and no twitches or slides. Thank you Mr Nixon driver. Eventually, the snow stopped and, about 40 miles from Calais, normality returned and the laying snow disappeared.

After driving out, I said that the journey was at its toughest when it involved driving in the dark at both ends of the journey … little did I know quite how hard it could be.

We made it to the tunnel 15 minutes before the ‘arrive an hour before departure’ time and got on an almost empty shuttle. It was a bit cold on the UK side – but no snow so the remaining journey was relatively easy. A good journey of 715 miles (with the significant exception of the snowy bit) taking an elapsed 14 hours with 12 hours driving – the fallow 2 hours being one stop, waiting for the shuttle and the crossing itself.

Looking on the bright side, I suppose the slow bit helped with the fuel consumption – 100 miles left from one tank.

Thursday mainly involved a washing frenzy (7 loads with all the bulky ski wear and bedding) before Friday returned to some measure of normality with the gym followed by the bike shop.

I spent some time ironing creases into bed linen (and battling with my nemesis, fitted bottom sheets) on Saturday. On Sunday my wife and I got out for a run before the forecast wind and rain, and in much milder temperatures – just 7.2km, average heart rate 118bpm – and that’s a wrap for another week.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: A child is what you put into him

(or her … or them?)

2. BBC News website: I understand the words – but putting them in sentences …?

A new object in the Milky Way that is heavier than the heaviest neutron stars known to scientists, and yet lighter than the lightest known black holes, has been found by astronomers. Researchers found it orbiting a millisecond pulsar 40,000 light years away. Millisecond pulsars spin very rapidly – hundreds of times per second.

Researchers believe it could be the first discovery of a radio pulsar-black hole binary – a pairing that could allow new tests of Einstein’s theory of general relativity and open doors to the study of black holes.

Hah, the old ‘radio pulsar-black hole binary’ – I’m sure I have one lying about in the shed

3. BBC News website: I’m Mitsuko, fly me

For the first time, Japan Airlines has named a woman as its next president, a rare appointment for a major Japanese firm – and a global airline.

Mitsuko Tottori joined the flag carrier as a flight attendant in 1985, before working her way up. She said she hoped her promotion would give other women the courage to pursue the next step in their careers.

Bravo

4. BBC News website: Not just hot air

Apple has once again been banned from selling two smartwatch models in the US, while a patent dispute is litigated. The iPhone maker is accused of poaching key staff and taking other steps to steal technology to measure oxygen levels in the blood.

The tech giant was earlier allowed to sell its Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches while proceedings were ongoing – but a US appeals court has since reversed that decision. On Thursday, Apple said it will release watches without the disputed blood oxygen feature to keep them on shelves.

5. BBC News website: Time stood still?*

Two Madonna fans are suing the US singer for being late by more than two hours for a show last month in New York, according to court documents. They state the show was meant to start at 20:30 EST on all three nights, but in each case it did not begin until after 22:30, ending around 01:00. They claim that they would not have paid for tickets had they known it would finish so late.

The case states that “many ticket holders who attended concerts on a weeknight had to get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities the next day”. They are suing the promoter and venue for “false advertising, negligent misrepresentation, and unfair and deceptive trade practices”.

*Not a Madonna fan but I think there’s a song by that title

6. BBC News website: More artificial than intelligent?

DPD has disabled part of its online support chatbot that uses artificial intelligence, after it swore at a customer. The company said that an error occurred after a system update.

Drive, snow (mostly in the right place), ski – plus goals, pillows and snooker

4 Replies

We left home at 5.30 in Monday morning (8^th January) to drive to the alps to ski. Even then the motorways were fairly busy but they were running reasonably well and we got to the Channel Tunnel in time to be put on an earlier shuttle.

In the UK it had hovered around freezing and we’d had one half-hearted snow flurry but it was considerably colder as we drove through France and we had two heavy falls of snow that, luckily, both stopped just as the snow was starting to settle on the road.

We only stopped once more after the tunnel and it was -7℃ when we got to the apartment in the early evening – 13 hours door to door. I’ve done the journey dozens of times but there is no doubt that it’s at its toughest when it involves at least a couple of hours driving in the dark at either end.

We took it easy on Tuesday but skied on Wednesday. It was great looking down from the piste at all the cloud-filled valleys, while we were in clear air. Unfortunately, there was a cloud layer above us so no lovely blue skies – but the snow was good and we had some excellent skiing.

We collected our older son and his girlfriend from Geneva airport in the evening. We skied together in the local villages area on Thursday and in Flaine on Friday. We still had the cloud-filled valleys below us, but we had clear blue skies above – delightful. After last year being almost a total loss because of the lack of snow, this year it was glorious – good weather and very good snow.

I dropped them off at the lift station first thing on Saturday and they headed back to Flaine where there is more skiing – but it’s not as pretty as the tree lined slopes in Les Carroz, Morrilion and Samoens.

My wife and I went out to ski a little later but (as is always the case with weekends and good snow) it was incredibly busy and all three large car parks that have access to the slopes were completely full (the one in Les Carroz itself takes 500 cars and I think the other two are bigger) – I don’t recall it ever being as busy as that. We decided to take the day off and thoroughly enjoyed pottering about locally.

We all made an early start on Sunday but it never got as busy and the slopes remained uncongested. It’s been some time since I was at the lifts when they opened – I prefer a later start and then 4 hours of non-stop skiing (making use of the emptier slopes when others stop for the customary long lunch and drinks).

Despite the early start it was another really good day in lovely conditions. We topped it off with a very good evening meal in one of our favourite village restaurants.

A week without running, cycling, swimming or the gym – but a very fine week. Our son is an excellent skier (helped by the ski season he did as part of his gap year) but his girlfriend had only skied 3 times before (all with us). After their enforced Covid and sabbatical breaks we were worried that she might have lost her love for it but she skied really well and had a great time, so that was another big win.

Half Ironman stuff

In round(ish) numbers, the distances of the three sections of the half ironman are: 80% bike, 18.5% run and 1.5% swim. In terms of likely time (for me) they are probably about: 50% bike, 36% run and 14% swim. Along with (I guess) a majority of triathlon participants, swimming is both my worst and least favourite discipline – so at least I’m lucky it is the ‘smallest’ element of the three.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: A wise man fills his head before emptying his mouth

2. BBC News website: 666 miles per goal

Sides from a variety of France’s overseas territories are allowed to compete in the French football cup and Golden Lion from the tiny Caribbean island of Martinique undertook an 8,000-mile round trip to play Lille.

They lost 12-0.

3. BBC News website: Zzzzzzz

This year’s CES – the tech industry’s annual showcase of all its latest gadgets – featured an AI pillow. It detects snoring and then pumps air into different compartments, which gently lifts the head, making the offending snorer roll over and so – in theory – alleviating snoring.

With the AI, it can be trained to know what you sound like when you snore, and so differentiate between you snoring and the TV or cars outside.

4. BBC News website: Snookered behind the left nostril

After last week’s Masters snooker tournament, losing finalist Ali Carter accused the winner and world number one Ronnie O’Sullivan of “snotting” – clearing his nose – “all over the floor”.

“Snotting all over the floor and all that, it’s outrageous behaviour from a top professional and if it gets swept under the carpet then it’s not good.”

Especially not good if it’s swept under the carpet

Skiing (just), driving (lots), plus Linky, indictments and the secret of good comedy

3 Replies

Last Sunday we set off early for France. We’d booked a second holiday in case our sons would be able to get out there – they couldn’t (older son being on a trek to see Orangutans in Indonesia seemed to be a decent excuse) but we decided to go anyway. The chances of skiing were not good with the continuing poor snow this year – but we also had an appointment with Linky.

The drive out there was horribly wet but otherwise incident free and, thankfully, the electrician turned up bright and early on Monday morning to fit Linky.

For some time now we have been getting messages from the electricity company saying that they could not read the meter (although that never stopped them sending bills). We tried to send a reading but the screen on the meter remained uncompromisingly blank, no matter that buttons were pushed.

We were told that the old meters could be read remotely but that this had to be done from near the apartment block – the ‘Linky’ meters are being pushed mainly as they send in the readings without the company having to send anyone to get them.

So, at the root of it, it seemed to be the same as the drive to fit new meters in the UK (the Linky being the French version of our smart meters) … simply to make the electricity company’s life easier. Anyway, Linky is working well, but we wrote off Monday and rested (I read the 400+ page “Dissolution’ By CJ Sansom, cover to cover).

Of course, I was distraught at missing the usual Monday Swim Doctor session!

We fiddled about on domestic things on Tuesday but skied on Wednesday. We were nervous about what we’d find so my new skis (bought with great timing in 2019) were not risked and the same for my new jacket. The picture is of us on a lift that has an auto photo-taking facility. Yes, it’s a subtle, original, 1980’s Nevica jacket, worn with pride, if not style.

More runs were open than when we were there in January and although the snow was a bit ‘heavy’ we had a great time, with the huge bonus of there not being many people out on the slopes.

They have plenty of precipitation out there – but it’s currently too warm for it to fall as snow instead of rain. The rain on Wednesday and Thursday dissuaded us from skiing again – I read ‘The Whisper Man’ by Alex North (again in a day) and we had a very good time exploring the town and watching some DVD’s.

There is one road down the mountain from Les Carroz, which splits into two, lower down in Arâches. The road we wanted from Arâches was, of course, going to be shut for road works so we left earlier than planned on Friday to get through before it closed.

Despite a lot of heavy rain and temperatures yo-yoing between 6℃ and 14.5℃ (43℉ and 58℉) the journey back to the tunnel was good. We were put on a crossing an hour earlier than booked and then (I guess they were not overly full) were directed onto a shuttle nearly an hour earlier than that.

On the UK side, the rain was even worse and the M25 was doing its best impression of both an orbital car park and a swimming pool with a lot of standing water and significant queues. We were hugely reilieved that we were travelling away from Dover, based on the traffic going that way (see below!).

Eventually ‘Waze’ took us off the motorway and back via the M40 to avoid yet more problems and delays on the M4. We made it home by 9pm, but it was a 14 hour journey for the 715 miles (1150km).

My wife was out on Saturday (more staying power than me – but there again, I did do the driving) so I got through heaps of washing (and even some ironing). I am not a very religious person but I never come closer to recognising the existence of the devil than I do when trying to iron a fitted bottom sheet.

I thought about running on Saturday and Sunday but came no closer than that to actually doing it. I doubt that a week off will do me much harm.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: Love for something makes a man blind and deaf

2. BBC News website: Storm(y) in a D cup

Former US President Donald Trump is set to appear in court next Tuesday after being indicted in New York. A payment to ex-porn star Stormy Daniels is at the heart of the case. Daniels says she had an affair with Trump in 2006, which he denies. The case is likely to revolve around how this was recorded.

Trump’s lawyer paid Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet before the 2016 US election. The payment may violate laws about election financing.

I am not familiar with the lady (in any way) and have gone for the ‘D cup’ just for the sake of the (almost) joke – it might be an under-estimate

3. BBC News website: Yet again, the Channel is hard to cross (officially at least)

A critical incident has been declared at Dover, as coach passengers face hours-long delays caused by bad weather and long border processing times. On Saturday morning as the Easter getaway began, around 70 coaches were waiting at the port to be processed, a port official told the BBC.

Freight and car traffic was moving steadily but coach traffic has suffered significant delays due to lengthy French border processes at Dover and sheer volume.

French authorities said an “unforeseeable technical incident” in the Channel Tunnel meant French border police were delayed into Dover. Eurotunnel rejected this, saying “The critical incident in Dover started overnight. The minor technical incident at the Channel Tunnel occurred at 07:00 BST, well after the critical incident.”

4. BBC News website: Security is everybody’s business?

Russia has taken the presidency of the UN Security Council despite Ukraine urging members to block the move.

Each of the council’s 15 members takes up the presidency for a month, on a rotating pattern. The last time Russia had the presidency, February 2022, it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

It means the Security Council is being led by a country whose president is subject to an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

5. BBC News website: What’s the secret of good comedy (and parole management) …. timing

Oscar Pistorius’s bid for parole collapsed in South Africa after it was revealed he had not yet served enough time to qualify for early release. The parole board met to hear evidence, including from Pistorius and Ms Steenkamp’s mother, but instead of giving a decision afterwards, embarrassed officials admitted their timings had been wrong.

Earlier, they had ignored a letter from South Africa’s top appeals court, explaining that Pistorius has to spend another year and a half in prison before being considered for parole. The confusion stems from the fact that his time in prison has been broken up by appeals and by a period of house arrest.

Gym, France, ski, chin-up challenge plus the gambling winner, ABBA, mobile phones and Romeo (again)

7 Replies

On Monday I gave my friend a lift in to a local hospital to have his foot x-rayed to see if he’d broken a bone while running on Sunday. Having survived the more hazardous cross country run we did together on Thursday, he put a foot in a pothole and went over on the ankle. It is a most unfair injury as he was fulfilling his club ‘run leader’ role particularly diligently, looking back to check on the others.

As Wainwright (of Lake District fell walking fame) said, always stop before turning round to look behind you (not that I ever do).

Despite all the horror stories about the state of the NHS, he got through triage, x-ray and consultation in about 2 hours. His self-diagnosis of a fractured metatarsal was confirmed – such bad luck as he’d run well on Thursday. It makes his Brighton Marathon in early April even tougher – but not impossible if the bone heals quickly and if the run itself is taken gently?

Having completed the push-up challenge on Sunday – the question is, what’s next? I’ve discovered the difference between chin-ups and pull-ups – the former is performed with palms towards you and the latter with palms facing away – and I tried them in the gym on Tuesday. I struggled with both and when attempting to do them properly (a starting position of hanging with straight arms) I wasn’t able to perform one of either. With elbows starting at 90° I could do a couple but that doesn’t count.

I don’t know if that’s pathetic or if most folks would find the same but it didn’t come as a surprise. I do the lat pull-down machine (which is basically a chin-up with the bar being pulled down instead of the body being pulled up) with 55kg against a bodyweight of about 68kg so I’m a few kg short of being able to lift my bodyweight.

I could feel even those gentle exploratory exercises in my biceps on Wednesday (and Thursday). In spite of doing a lot of regular core exercises, I could also feel the effort on my stomach muscles. To be able to do 10 ‘proper’ chin-ups looks like a suitable and hard next challenge for someone with puny runner/cyclist biceps.

We drove out to the alps on Thursday – the original plan had been to have a proper skiing holiday but the snow in most of the alps has been terrible (or completely absent) so far, so we decided on just a few days, with any skiing as a bonus. We last skied in January 2020 (just before everything shut down) and we weren’t able to ski in 2021 or 2022 for the obvious reason, so the lack of snow this year is really cruel.

On Friday the main lift from the village was open so we decided to give it a go. Although the resort runs were shut, it is linked into a much larger area and we were able to construct a few loops (having been going there for over 20 years has some advantages). The runs that were open were in surprisingly good condition and that, coupled with very few people, made for an excellent afternoon’s sport.

As we’d come out with no real skiing expectations, and are going out again in March, we were happy to call that quits, as the weekend would be busier with locals coming to ski. Walking round the village on Sunday I decided to brave the light rain and run. By the time I was thinking of changing, the rain had turned to heavy snow. I chickened out but was later put to shame as two people ran past me, in the snow, as I put the rubbish out.

Back to England on Monday. Sunday’s heavy snow had stopped and the road down the mountain was OK (let’s hear it for winter tyres). The Autoroute Blanche started out OK too as we headed West towards Geneva but then it started to rain. Then it got colder and started to snow – and then snow harder.

Very quickly the outside lane (there are only two) was white and then it was closed putting all the traffic in just one lane, moving very slowly. It carried on like that for many miles and I was calculating at what time catching our channel crossing would have to be abandoned.

There are 4 tunnels on the way out of the alps and, whistling in the dark, I developed the theory that the last of them would signal both the end of the alps and the end of the snowy microclimate. The first 3 tunnels made no difference at all – heavy snow on the way in and heavy snow on the way out but, lo and behold, we entered the last in the snow and came out into dry and pleasant weather – rather like coming through the back of the wardrobe from Narnia.

The first 1hr 40 minutes along the autoroute saw a 70kph average speed (44mph). The decent weather lasted less than an hour and we had heavy rain for almost all the rest of the journey – a frustrating long drive but a great few days (and yes, we made it to the tunnel in time).

1. African wise words: True love means what’s mine is yours

2. BBC News website: Are they taking the … mickey?

Media rights groups say that six journalists in South Sudan have been arrested over the circulation of footage appearing to show President wetting himself as the national anthem played at a function.

Six staff from the state broadcaster were detained this week. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is now calling for their release.

3. BBC News website: Boss of gambling firm paid more than £200m in a year

The highest paid director of Bet365 Group, believed to be founder Denise Coates, earned a salary of £213.4m in the year to March 2022. She was also entitled to at least half of £100m in dividends, despite a fall in profits.

In the year to 29 March 2022, the business turned over £2.9bn in total, an increase of 2% compared with the year before. While sales from sports betting fell, online games revenues jumped by 25% during the year.

Charitable donations of about £100m were made through the Denise Coates Foundation.

Much credit for the charitable foundation but, in general, I dislike gambling

4. BBC News website: The dangers of mobile phones on a new level

Russia has said a New Year’s Day missile attack which killed at least 89 Russian soldiers happened because troops were using their mobile phones which allowed the enemy to locate its target, officials said. An investigation has already begun.

Irrespective the rights and wrongs of the situation, this is sad

5. BBC News website: Bravo ABBA

Despite selling millions of copies over more than four decades, Abba’s 1979 hit, Chiquitita, doesn’t earn the group a penny. Written for Unicef’s Year of the Child, the copyright was given to Unicef.

Chiquitita (“Little Girl” in Spanish) – was the first song Abba recorded in Spanish, becoming a huge success across Latin America. The royalties have been used to address some of the most complex issues affecting Central America – from extreme poverty and a generational culture of machismo to domestic violence and rape. Even alcohol abuse among marginalised, indigenous communities.

6. BBC News website: Parting is such sweet sorrow (let me part you from £417m)

The stars of the Oscar-winning 1968 film Romeo and Juliet are suing Paramount Pictures for sexual abuse over a nude scene in the film. Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey were teenagers when they made the movie but, now in their 70s, they claim director Franco Zeffirelli encouraged them to do nude scenes despite previous assurances that they would not have to.

The two actors are seeking damages of more than $500m (£417m), based on suffering they say they have experienced and the revenue brought in by the film since its release.

In a 2018 interview Hussey defended the nude scene. “Nobody my age had done that before,” she said, adding that Zeffirelli shot it tastefully. “It was needed for the film.”

In another interview in 2018, she said that nudity was common in European films at the time. “It wasn’t that big of a deal,” she said. “And Leonard wasn’t shy at all! In the middle of shooting, I just completely forgot I didn’t have clothes on.”

Turbo, turbo, run, turbo, run (baby it’s cold outside)

9 Replies

I planned to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday night but It begins late over here and I confess that I didn’t even manage to stay up to see the start. What a lightweight.

In part, that was due to an early start on Monday for a Covid-compliant ‘outing’ as our older son and his girlfriend moved house. Government lockdown guidance says that, where a removal firm cannot be used (it couldn’t as their completion came through quickly) one other household can help in the move, provided social distancing and appropriate hygiene is observed – so we helped.

It was tough, but rules are rules, so we were masked, distanced and sanitised like it was going out of fashion. It was also tough because it snowed gently throughout and a move across London means tortuous journeys. A hard 13 hours spent driving and shifting several car loads of packed boxes and bags down from their flat and into the new house.

Tuesday was equally cold so it was the turbo in the evening. No great payback for two days without a run – a hard 45 minutes @28.6kph (17.8mph). How did I ever get sufficiently cycle-fit to do the ‘everesting’?

A significant UK anniversary happened on Tuesday – but was certainly not celebrated. It was exactly a year since the arrival, in the back of an Uber, of London’s first Covid-19 patient at Lewisham Hospital. If only we’d known then what we know now …

Wednesday was (again) cold. As I was getting ready to run I remembered that nobody pays me to do it – I run for pleasure but was struggling to see what pleasure I might have got out of a run just then. Accordingly, the kit went back in the drawer and I decided that a session on the turbo in the evening was the better way to go.

I rationalised it away as part of my aim to reduce the running and increase the cycling this month ahead of April’s sportive and the start of the ultra marathon training in March – but I know I rather wimped out (and I can live with that). I did an hour on the turbo for 28.3km (17.6m).

Thursday was very cold again but it had almost climbed to freezing (other than for the significant windchill) by the time I ran in the afternoon. It was a cold 10.3km (6.4m) at 4 hour marathon pace (5:41/km).

Hard to believe, but Friday was very cold again – not Canada or Siberia type of cold, but cold for the UK. It’s not that it was too cold to run – just that it was too cold to want to run. Warm in my virtuous glow of having run on Thursday, I decided not to repeat the feat but I retreated to the turbo in the early evening. Another hour for 28.2km (17.5m).

Sorry for the broken record but it was below freezing again on Saturday with a biting wind. Going to the shops in the morning I’d seen a runner in shorts and T shirt – my kit, just after midday, included winter running trousers, three long sleeved tops and a gilet. The same 10.3km as Thursday, but 7 secs/km faster. Surprisingly enjoyable.

The cold snap started to break on Sunday, a little less cold but still with the bitter wind and with milder and wetter weather on its way – it will be good to be able to complain about the rain rather than the cold.

It appears that Valentine’s Day is not a day of exercise so my effort is going into eating and drinking.

Signs of hope with the virus in the UK as the second (tidal) wave of infections starts to recede but the lockdown continues to have severe effects in so many ways. For us, it’s less severe than for most and we are very grateful for that.

Missing out on our usual January family ski holiday is pitifully small beer in comparison to what others are missing out on. Sadly, it doesn’t look like skiing later in the season is going to happen as cases in France appear to be heading upwards and the resorts remain closed. It will be my first skiing missed in over 25 years. Roll on the vaccinations.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: He who runs after good fortune runs away from peace

2. BBC News website: Fines for breaching lockdown after a mountain rescue volunteer seriously injured in a fall while going to their aid

One man from Liverpool and another from Leicester were camping in breach of coronavirus rules above Kirkstone Pass (in the Lake District) in the face of severe weather warnings. The volunteer suffered “significant injuries” falling 150m (500ft) responding to reports of one of the campers suffering chest pains.

I struggle to see what part of ‘Let’s break the law, increase the risk of the spread of the virus, take on dangerous weather and put voluntary rescuers at risk’ is acceptable.

3. BBC News website: Katie Boulter (British tennis player) says she can win “a lot of matches” at Grand Slam level as she prepares to launch the British bid when the Australian Open starts on Monday. The 24-year-old is the only Briton playing on day one of the delayed Grand Slam, starting at about 03:00 GMT.

My heart sank when I read this and, of course, shortly after 04:00 GMT she was out of the tournament, beaten 6-1, 6-4.

4. BBC News website: Coup in Myanmar

The leader of the coup in Myanmar, General Min Aung Hlaing, has spoken on TV, seeking to justify the action amid mass protests. He said November’s election, won in a landslide by the party of detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, had been unfair.

The general did not issue direct threats to protesters, saying only that no-one was above the law.

A very sad situation. I wonder if the bit about no-one being above the law applies to leaders of military coups?

5. BBC News website: Small digital photo gallery has pictures blocked by Facebook for containing “overtly sexual” content

The Winchester-based photographer’s banned images include:

a sign with the word “disco”, on the grounds that it was promoting alcohol
a set of tramlines in France, which went against Facebook’s ticket sales policy
a cow standing in a field
the England cricket team in a huddle
ripples on a pond which was said to be selling “adult products”
another “overtly sexual” photo, of a high-rise office building

Happy New Year

10 Replies

What should the picture should be – something reminiscent of 2020 (do I want to be reminded) or something looking forward? Here’s a bit of both – skiing in January 2020. If we don’t ski in 2021 it’ll be my first season missed in over 35 years

It’s ironic that ’20:20 vision’ usually means either perfect or normal eyesight. With 20:20 hindsight, 2020 will be judged as anything but perfect or normal … but, like all years, it comes to an end.

Whatever 2021 holds, I hope it is happy, healthy, safe and successful for you and yours.

To use my mother-in-law’s favourite toast ‘I wish you all you would wish yourself’.

I’m not sure 2020 deserves a big end of year review (indeed, it would consist of a lot of ‘we stayed at home’, ‘we didn’t do much’ and ‘I worked in the garden’). At least one thing we were generally allowed (and encouraged) to do was exercise.

For me, just under 1200km of running for the year in 137 outings – and comfortably over 250 sessions of running, cycling or weights in the gym in 2020.

I’m not one for New Year resolutions but, beyond the obvious ‘complete the White Horse challenge sportive in April and the ultra marathon in July’, I’ll set a few targets for 2021. In no particular order, I’m aiming for at least:

a birthday ride of my age in miles (sadly, 66 of them) on something other than the ‘best bike’ (this year’s was on my 1955, 3 speed Elswick)
10 metric century rides
1000km of running by the end of June
10 runs of half marathon distance
twice a week at the gym (when I’m here and it’s open!)

All Covid, health and fitness dependent, of course.

Roll on the vaccinations.

Take care.

One bit of ‘interesting stuff’ by way of uplifting African wise words:

A hen that scratches too deep into the ground will meet its mother’s bones

	The Omil on Turbo (x4), walk, gym, run(!),…
	unironedman on Turbo (x4), walk, gym, run(!),…
	niall on Turbo (x4), walk, gym, run(!),…
	The Omil on Turbo (x3), plus dangerous dan…
	The Omil on Turbo (x3), swim, gym, plus mi…