Category: General

Ironman Africa

What will you be doing tomorrow morning? Fancy a swim, followed by a relaxing cycle and then a quick jog to cool down?

Race start at Hobie Beach

Tomorrow morning sees the start of this year’s Ironman Africa;

A 3.8km swim

180km cycle

Followed by a 42.2km marathon.

Port Elizabeth has hosted the event for the last three or four years now, as I write the weather appears perfect, not a breath of wind and (almost) clear skies.

It would appear as though the weather is going to play along (for once) and we could just possibly have perfect conditions for a world class event.

It’s an early start for me, got to be there at 5.30 am!

Continue reading “Ironman Africa”

Traps

Sometimes life in the city can feel like a trap. There comes a time, after a variable number of circumstances occur, that one no longer feels safe — no longer feels comfortable in going about on basic business. This is how I often feel in San Francisco. In order, for example, to get from uni to the financial district, where my bank is located, requires a tube trip through two of the worst neighbourhoods in the city — the Mission and Tenderloin. Taking bus from the financial district obliges me to travel through the Tenderloin — the worst neighbourhood by far. Walking through the city at times makes me feel trapped — people milling about everywhere, in some places getting so congested that basic movement becomes highly restricted by a distinct lack of space. At other times, seeing the crumbling splendour of by-gone eras and increasingly destructive graffiti, now carved into glass rather than just drawn on, makes me wish to conclude that perhaps these circumstances, these self-feeding spirals are feeding a growing number of people with mental instabilities or simply rude.

A trip to Oz: The planes

I have always been interested in planes, and would have applied for the RAF or a commercial pilots licence if my eyesight had been 6/6 née 20/20 (when I were a lad you had to have uncorrected 20/20 vision to be a pilot, unlike now, I believe, which is annoying as my eyesight with giglamps is 20/20).

That being the case, I will mention all the different plane types we flew in on our trip to and around Oz, all with Qantas. This is a good airline, and should give BA a wakeup call. Continue reading “A trip to Oz: The planes”