A Cyclist's Life in Tenerife (Canary Islands)

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 sold «flat», i.e. it’s not a bubbly drink and contains no CO₂ gases. For the first time in history, the citrus orange flavour tastes superior to the lemon version. Although this product is not specifically aimed at athletes, it should be…

Anyway, I started drinking this a few weeks ago whenever I feel dehydrated; on a particularly hot day, I recall that one of my local relatives here in Tenerife ordered it in a traditional spanish bar. Judging purely by the label, it’s not something I would have ordered, especially knowing what some drinks taste like. Next time you’re at a roadside bar on a hot day in Tenerife, you might like to try it!

Tags: Island Life, Ride the Volcano!, Spoke Bed // Add Comment »

 

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 know now about the past, we always seem to over-estimate our current intelligence level. And we claim to live in the age of information!

Take a look at the following article, specifically the Kardashev scale. We might well achieve «type II status» within a few thousand years (conquering our solar system). But delving into stage III and predicting how long it will take at this point in time is just plain stupidity. Here we are now -puny as ever- we have barely managed to map a solitary planet in any sort of true detail (forget about the watery bits called oceans for a second) and some of us are speaking of dominating an entire galaxy?! Does the expression «too big for your boots» mean anything to this guy? I could think up some race of humongous alien beasts, even the smallest example would simply wipe us all into oblivion with some kind of antimatter strike not even aimed properly, but just over in our general direction… not the slightest hesitation or thought involved… you know… a truly fearless species with a billion year headstart on our technology and one that hasn’t evolved from tiny frightened monkeys. You get the idea. That’s the sort of hiccough one might consider when planning our civilisation’s progression into deep space. A massive encounter (for us) wouldn’t just hinder that time projection it would be our termination. And that silly little graph would cease to exist. The arrogance Like we are the first to attain any sort of intelligence level. It’s even more optimistic that a baby who cannot even properly step out of the bathtub yet, hoping to swim across an entire ocean in record time. Good luck to it. It could very well happen given time, but it’s not going to be an easy task, certainly nothing anyone would predict.

(más…)

Tags: Vida Enigmática // Add Comment »

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 your body is not 100% symmetrical, then your bike shouldn’t be either…

(más…)

Tags: Learning Curve, Spoke Bed // 1 Comment »

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 from around the world in the year 2006. As a result, 1,070 eucalyptus seedlings will be planted on Kangaroo Island ,Australia.

We accept your entries until Febrary 13, 2007,and next season will start soon.

	For every 100 signatures on Ecotonoha, we planted another tree in addition to those planted during the Kangaroo Island project. In 2005 we had 84,539 entries, that is, 845 trees will be planted. Year Messages Trees 2006 107,054 1,070 2005 84,539 845 2004 70,869 708 2003 60,997 609

Tags: Inspiration., That's Business // Add Comment »

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!! I’ve lost track of 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 once. The average number of pages per visitor was 9.2.

• We also received a record number of visits recently on the 9th of January – 437 in one day!

• The latest trends show that, on average, 75% of visitors add one page to their favourites folder. To date I can estimate that there have been 17,501 instances of people adding a page to their favourites folder.

Tags: Inspiration., Science Simplified, That's Business // 3 Comments »

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 to 80 % stiffer than steel. OK, so theoretically it compresses a bit. But you won’t notice it. Honest. It is also FIVE TO SIX TIMES STRONGER in compression than both aluminium & steel.

Effortless Gear Changes:Less force required to actuate gears + brakes, creating a “light-action” feel at the levers.

Less Maintenance: Due to the compressionless housing and protective Spinal Wrap, derailleurs are not only easier to fine tune during setup (they’ll work over a wider range of cable tension), but that they also don’t need to be re-adjusted as often as other systems.

Totally corrosion free!! High Purity Alumina is an extremely inert material. No coatings to peel off, no chipping and spalling paint. Zero corrosion for life!

Lightweight: The density of alumina is only 3.65 to 3.85 g/cm³. This results in outstanding stiffness-to-weight and strength-weight ratios. Total weight of vértebræ ceramic housing is only 46 to 52 g/m.

Enhanced Flexibility: The special segmented design is more flexible compared to traditional bowden cables; this design allows shorter cable routing using tighter-radius bends, resulting in less overall weight. Despite this, there is also reduced friction between the cable and liner, since the outer segments do not squash the inner cables like conventional housing.

Low Friction: Ceramic materials have an inherently lower frction than metals. Combined with our stainless steel cables and teflon liner, this results in considerably less friction and practically zero wear.

Extremely hard & durable: In fact, most engineering ceramics are so hard, they normally require different testing procedures to metals as it is not practical to make the same economical test specimens! In comparison with all metals, hardness is best described as “off the chart!”.

Tags: Lucky Dip, Spoke Bed // Add Comment »

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 for disaster because the rear wheel will eventually skid and you could possibly lose control -you react by jamming on the front brake as your only last remaining alternative and that’s what gets you into trouble.

• Don’t be afraid to use the front brake – due to the distribution of weight, it’s by far the most effective of the two brakes.
• It is best to use the front brake for stopping, and the rear brake for «speed modulation». 
• Never apruptly apply the front brake while taking a corner, or the front wheel can slide out.
• The trick is to lean back over the seat as the declining road gets steeper so that you won’t go over the handlebars.
• With disc brakes, It is said that organic disc brake pads provide better modulation, but their heat tolerance is extremely poor. Sometimes they’re gone within only about 5 downhill rides!!
• A better alternative which I use exclusively are sintered metallic brake pads. They are harder than organic pads and thus will cause a faster wear rate of the disc rotor, but that’s the price you pay for improved braking performance! They are also no more expensive than regular organic pads. Using these, you can descend 2km of 10-20% slopes with 6″ discs and not have to worry about brake pad life or overheating problems.

Tags: Learning Curve, Ride the Volcano! // Add Comment »

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 them by complex hydrolysis,

or

you can pluck an orange and eat it.

But although we can synthesise many many complex molecules such as these, there is currently no way we can ‘manufacture’ a wholey artifical fruit identical in every way to a naturally grown one. Even though it takes an enourmous effort to characterise these natural chemical compounds and synthesise them, and nature does it for free with soil, sunlight, air and water, we still try. Without a plant seed, or a tissue culture sample, or a DNA strand, there is no way we’ll be able to do it either. I say that with all things considered, the natural source will always be the healthier alternative…

(más…)

Tags: Science Simplified, Vida Enigmática // 1 Comment »

I see some people returning 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:

1. Start with the saddle completely level. Obviously the bike must be on level ground and finding such a place is not that easy in Tenerife - so it’s best done on a level floor.
2. Forget any fancy invention you may have seen to measure saddle tilt and just eyeball the adustment.
3. If you get pain or numbness in the front side of your groin, rather than lowering the nose of the saddle, raise the nose of the saddle slightly. This may seem counter-intuitive at first, but what it does is to move your weight backwards, thereby easing pressure in the front region.
4. If you begin to slide off the back of the saddle or it feels like there is no support, only then lower the nose of the saddle.
5. Also, start with the saddle clamped in the middle of the rails. Don’t attempt to fit a bike that is not your ideal size by making up for the difference here. Too far forward or backward can lead to knee problems, etc.
6. When the cranks are level, the ideal position for the seat is when the front part of your knee lines up with the pedal spindle axle.

Tags: Learning Curve // 2 Comments »

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 phase the year before, I remember thinking«but how could this man claim to be unhappy?».

Perhaps in the game of life, the struggle to make it in the world -to be successful- to get what you want, maybe that part IS the happiness, not the desires themselves -not even the destination- but the journey. Not the reward at the end, but the actual road to achievement. The belief in yourself. «The survival of the fitest».

You meet older people like this all the time – jaded travellers are a classic example. It’s almost as if life is too easy for some. And I have a challenge to those people. Let’s call it «Doc Browns Challenge»:

1. First, buy a one-way ticket to any poorer country with a language other than your own.
2. Next, give all of your money to charity, every single last cent (no, not to me).
3. Finally, try and get what you want now! (try and get back home within a year, for example)

There is only one rule: you aren’t allowed any outside financial help or aid and you must obey all the local laws and customs of the foreign country. And the moral of the story is, if you can read this, don’t take anything for granted. Be positive, because happiness is far richer than money.

Tags: Mental Anguish, That's Business // Add Comment »

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Tags: Ride the Volcano! // 1 Comment »

 

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 intrinsically very saddening.

Think about the passage of time over any area for a moment. Imagine how it once was and what it will become. It’s not hard to say that in the future, most likely, each and every space which has occupied the aeons of time will eventually become a slab of concrete or other refined material, pieces of some strange new vehicle, and yet another technological invention.

But when the soil is dead, when the atmosphere is polluted and our homes are hermetically sealed, with the demise of natural trees and the rise of indoor plants… when oxygen-regeneration units have replaced chlorophyll as a means to breathe artificial air – who doesn’t find the mere thought of this potential scenario depressing?

Tags: Vida Enigmática // Add Comment »

For me, this is by far the best, most inspirational movie I’ve seen, based on a true story:

Tags: Inspiration. // 1 Comment »

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 man staring back from the glass.

He’s the feller to please, never mind all the rest,
For he’s with you clear up to the end,
And you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the man in the glass is your friend.

You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.

Anonymous

Tags: Inspiration., Mental Anguish // 1 Comment »

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. Two other detailed scientific research papers concerning the La Palma landslide and subsequent generation of a megatsunami can be read here and here.

Tags: Island Life, Science Simplified // 2 Comments »

 

10% discount for Summer 2008 bike hire bookings made before the end of 2007 year.

To be eligible, you must quote the secret code word «vertebrae ceramic» and pay your 20% reservation deposit on or before the 31st of December, 2007. Offer only vaild for bike rentals in the Summer 2008 period from April 1st through to September 30th. Discount applies to published web-rates.

Simple enough?

Tags: Sales Pitch, That's Business // Add Comment »

I’ve been using the speedplay X-series pedals for a full decade now, essentially since I started road biking. After reading about speedplay in the infamous bikepro catalogue, I browsed their website & I was already sold on them after reading about their special advantageous features (dual sided entry plus free float). They instantly received many rave reviews and I was 100% convinced to get a set.

My first road bike, a Shogun Ultegra, came equipped with some nasty pedals which were essentially a cheap copy of the look system. Although I can’t remember the name, they were a veritable deathtraps. Clipping into these particular pedals was never truly an autonomic experience. They were top heavy, weighted so that they remained in the awkward upside-down position! When starting off from a set of traffic lights, you had to fumble about and flip the pedal over with the tip of your shoe. Wobbling around in dense traffic, looking down at my shoes instead of the road, I soon realised that was an accident waiting to happen…

I began with the X2 pedals, which I had to special-order from Clarence St. cyclery, as no one in Australia stocked them in 1997 / 1998. I then moved up to the X1 titanium version, and have since bought the cheaper X5 version which work equally as well. Possibly their best feature for a road pedal is the double engaging mechanism. They feel intuitive to use. «Just stomp down and go» was the expression people were throwing about.

Tags: Spoke Bed // Add Comment »

Les has just purchased 6 new aero framesets from Leader bikes for the new road rental bicycle fleet here in Tenerife. These bikes are available in a wide range of sizes from a tiny 46cm (50cm centre-top) all the way through to a whopping 61cm (50cm centre-top)! While they look like a time trial frame, they have traditional road racing bicycle geometry.

We’re very proud to partner with Leader bikes in 2008.

Tags: News Reel, Ride the Volcano!, Spoke Bed // Add Comment »

I’ve been a cyclist for 15 years now and used a lot of different tyre levers that are available on the market. Several years ago, I encountered these rather strange yellow tyre levers embossed with the single word «michelin». Of course, they’re not really embossed, they’re injection moulded, but that’s beside the point.

They’re manufactured from some sort of special polymeric material. I have a doctorate in Materials Science and I still don’t know what it is. It looks like polypropylene or nylon, but I don’t have an infrared spectrometer handy, so I couldn’t tell you exactly what they’re made from. Let’s just say that they’re way better-than-average in quality.

You get three of them, but most of the time you can get away with using only two. The other good thing is that they are just the right size and shape. The end that hooks onto the rim sidewall fits all rims perfectly. The other end will never bruise your hand. They’re not too narrow, otherwise they’d break; neither are they too wide, else they wouldn’t work as well. They’re also just the right length. Not too long, so you can’t more leverage than necessary -but not too short either! They are also flat and don’t take up any more space than needed.

Some French product engineer deserves a medal for this under-appreciated little bike tool. They’re like the «chris king of tyre levers» and for the price (€3), this is possibly the best thing you can buy for any bicycle rider as a christmas present!

Every time I go to decathlon, I buy a set. They’re the only tire levers I can whole-heartedly reccommend to cyclists. They’re the ones that I supply in every tool kit with all the road and MTBs I rent out here in Tenerife. No one has ever complained. They never break, although I hope Michelin never stops making them.

On the other hand, the worst ones you can get are the thin steel ones available from Kmart, and other supermarkets;  they’d rather dent your aluminium rim (or crack your latest carbon fibre wheelset) sooner than flip that kevlar tyre bead over the edge.

Tags: Spoke Bed // 4 Comments »

 

Almost every week I’m inspired something. This week I’m inspired by Rosemary Crane of the United Kingdom. Back in September ’06, we rode together for one whole week, all over Tenerife. She’s the only cyclist who I can confirm has ascended over 10,000 vertical metres in less than a week of riding. She also takes the honour of being the first client to cycle with www.Tenerife-Training.net!

Rosemary is a self-confessed cyclo-tourist addict. She’s been everywhere from the French Alps to the Himalayas, and never fails to take a bike with her. Pictured here is her and with her beloved DeRosa road racing bicycle at a place called «Casas de la Cumbre» (Houses of the Peak), in the Anaga Mountains. She says it’s the best way to see a foreign country…

Here’s what she had to say via e-mail afterwards:

THANK YOU for all the brilliant rides and for being so patient with such an old woman and I hope it wasnt as bad as you thought it might be having to spend 5 days with a grandmother and that you did not hate it too much having to go so much more slowly than you like to go …… the ride to Taganana was lovley as they all were a brill selection all different and yet all with their esoteric attractions. So many people just go to Playa de las Americas and that is ablout the only place I did not see and never want to. I feel sure I saw all the best parts. — Rosemary Crane, 62. September 2006.

And seeing how she was the first ever client, I had to get her to sign my personal guestbook on her latest return visit:

I have had such a BRILLIANT 5 days cycling with «Tenerife Training» been up & down such spectacular hills + enjoyed scenery that 99% of visitors to Tenerife never see. Leslie, you have been amazing. So kind and considerate… to an old grandmother cycling fanatic. THANKS — à bientôt or hasta luego

— Rosemary

Despite the arduous terrain here, she never complained, not once. Not even when the grades reached 10% or more! Rose, honestly, it’s been a pleasure riding with you. Have a great christmas, and I wish you all the best in 2008. Also, thanks because you’re an inspiration to us all!

—Les.

Tags: Inspiration., Island Life, Ride the Volcano! // Add Comment »