Back in 2007, while still living in Austria, I purchased my first road bike, composing of a no-name aluminum frame and a Shimano 105 groupset. 

Between 2007 and 2010, that bike lived ‘glorious’ days with me finishing 992nd in St. Pölten IRONMAN 70.3 (2008), and MrsK finishing 9842nd in Vätternrundan (2010).

However, in 2011 team KEDQ purchased carbon (Guerciotti) frames, and the old bike was left neglected (and without components) in our storage room.

One year later, I got the idea to revive that old aluminum frame by:

• stripping it down completely (the bottom bracket (BB) and crankset were still on),
• giving it a thorough clean-up,
• installing a new groupset, and finally
• installing wider tyres (than the 23mm ones).

Goal of the restoration project was to a) get hands-on experience on how to perform the majority of maintenance tasks on a road bike, and b) add a fully functional winter/training bike to my collection. 

The project started with the purchase of:

• a Shimano Tiagra groupset (350€),
• a bike repair stand (best 100€ ever spent), and
• a set of tools required in order to remove the BB & crankset, and install the new ones. 

I set up my bike workshop in our 2m^2 large and badly-lit storage room.

Those 2m^2 were shared with suitcases, a christmas tree, MrsK's stuffed animals (that I won for her at Liseberg and I am trying to get rid of ever since!), plus other miscellaneous junk. 

Some personal notes that I added to the room before starting working, included a portrait of the Cannibal and Van Gogh's Skull of a skeleton with a burning cigarette.

The project progressed fast initially. With time, I purchased some more tools, such as:

• a chain whip,
• a chain tool, 
• a grease gun (a must have!), 
• and some more minor necessities.  

The project was completed and the bike was tested last Saturday. 

Riding an revived bike gives an extremely euphoric and satisfactory feeling. 

The name of the project, Fleur-de-lys, was inspired by the decorative design resembling a stylized lily, found on many lugs of hand-made bike frames. 

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Lately I have been listening -during my 30min commute- to the audiobook 'Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945', by Max Hastings. 

"Inferno" offers an account of the war that concentrates on the lived experience of the men and women who took part in it.

...As military history in the round, conveying to a 21st-century readership the human experience of this greatest and most savage of human conflicts in history, “Inferno” is superb.

Reading -or in this case, listening to- 'Inferno' has further awakened my interest for World War II. I also started watching the six-part french documentary 'Apocalypse: The Second World War',  which is composed exclusively of actual footage of the war as filmed by correspondents, soldiers, resistance fighters and private citizens.

Part of 'Inferno' refers to the fighting in Burma, and to the Burma railway (between Bangkok, Thailand, and Burma), built by the Empire of Japan during World War II to support its forces.

The most famous portion of the railway was Bridge 277. This bridge was immortalised by Pierre Boulle in his book and the film based on it, 'The Bridge on the River Kwai'.

In one of the most famous scenes of the movie, prisoners of war march whistling the 'Colonel Bogey March', a popular tune written in 1914. 

Many humorous verses have been sung to this tune. The best known, originated in England -at the outset of World War II- and goes by the title 'Hitler Has Only Got One Ball'. 

Furthermore, the melody has been used numerous times in popular culture. As a matter of fact, one of my loved greek comedy series, 'Εκείνες κι εγώ' (where the main character is called Ζάχος Δόγκανος) opens with the Colonel Bogey March.

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On my first visit to Göteborgs Konstmuseum I had the chance to see the paintings of the mexican artitsts Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. 

However, the piece that made the greatest impression on me was the sculpture 'Eggshell Mind' by Thomas Broomé. 

At first glance, the sculpture depicts a young innocent boy sitting at a desk. With a forthright gaze, he is ready to face the world and the possibilities for knowledge that are open to him. He is as white as the paper in front of him, and his story is as unwritten as the empty paper.

'The artist works with a variety of expressions and techniques, often with an undertone of social criticism and a questioning of norms'.

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Almost 1 month ago I started reading digital books and comics. 

I have been exclusively using Amazon's Kindle App and ComiXology's Comics App on the iPhone and on the iMac. 

• I do not have to carry any books with me (on my daily commute or during traveling). My whole library is available anytime and anywhere. 
• The books/comics I purchase are immediately ready for download. No need to wait days or weeks. 
• I can read lying on my bed without additional light (no one's sleep gets interrupted). 

Especially when it comes to book reading, the Kindle App offers additionally two great features: (i) highlighting, and (ii) embeeded dictionary. 

These give respectively the opportunity to very fast and efficiently browse through highlighted notes (which are synchronized across all platforms) and look-up new words in just seconds.

The Comics App works also great for reading digital comics.

However, in order to fully enjoy the graphics, I never read them on my iPhone (at least not for the first time). 

Despite the multi-sensional feeling (touch, look, smell) offered by printed books, the convenience of e-readers and e-books is hard to beat.

Most likely, the majority of my future literature purchases will be exclusively digital. 

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Today I successfully completed the Strava 100 Running Challenge. 

The Strava 100 Running Challenge was for me the perfect -and necessary- stimulus to:

• Become again physically active (after the 'end' of the cycling season)
• Re-unite with my running self (last time I ran was probably 8-9 months ago)
• Do some early 'Base' training and improve endurance and mental strength (see consistency).

In summary, during these last 4 weeks I averaged:

I progressively increased the weekly distance from 30.4Km week-1 to 46Km week-4: 

I spent most of the time running on my favorite trail (from home to a nearby lake) with a total elevation gain of approximately 350m. 

It took 3 weeks to find my running form and ran again at a pace of 5:15-5:25 min/Km (even though speed was never an objective).  

What remains now is to see if I am lucky enough to be one of the 5 finishers that will receive a Garmin Forerunner 610 watch. Oh... And to find the next challenge. 

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Since a couple of months ago, my half-hour car commute from home to work has become much more fun and very interesting. This is because I discovered the 5by5 network and its series of excellent podcasts.

I came upon 5by5 through one of the top-sites on productivity, 43folders.com, and mainly its author, Merlin Mann. Merlin is a very passionate, inspirational speaker/writer with extremely appealing ideas (at least to me) on productivity, mail and work-meeting behavior. I highly recommend watching his GoogleTechTalk 'Inbox Zero' (and reading his book when it eventually comes out). However, I truly loved Merlin Mann after watching his Phone Guy videos 'Solid State', and 'Eleanor's agenda'.

As I was exploring Merlin Mann's various projects, I discovered his 'Back to Work' podcast, co-hosted by Dan Benjamin, the founder of 5by5 Studios. Even though I had never 'really' listened to a podcast before, I gave it a try since I was magnetized by Merlin's personality and wisdom.

I started listening to the current episode at that time (probably #25), and just a couple of days later I had listened to the whole series. I was immediately captured by the two hosts and their witty conversations. The phrase 'Good week? Big week' became my favorite one. 

Dan Benjamin was the true revelation. I immediately liked the tone of his voice. I found myself agreeing with his opinions on almost every subject. I was fascinated by his projects and his career path. And finally, I became akin of his (geek) personality - as I could perceive it through the podcast Mbytes I was receiving from the other side of the Atlantic.

I became a fan.

I explored the other podcasts hosted by Dan, and I soon found several ones focusing on subjects of great interest to me.

The first podcast (after Back to Work) that truly captured my attention was 'Build and Analyze' with Marco Arment, the founder of Instapaper. It is a great insight into the world of mobile web development. What I particularly enjoy about this show is listening to the details and obstacles of iOS apps design, development and implementation. I have come up with 2-3 app ideas since I started following inspiring Marco. They might see the light of day in the future... 

The next shows I could recommend are 'The Talk Show' and 'Hypercritical'.  Both John Gruber and John Siracusa are very interesting to listen to when it comes to the World of Apple, or James Bond. 

Finally, 'Geek Friday' -probably the newest podcasts in the 5by5 collection- is definitely one of my very favorites. It reminds a lot of Luke Skywalker's (=Faith) training period under the guidance of Yoda (=Dan)

Hope someone asks me tomorrow 'Good week?'...

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Inside the Actors studio is one of my favorite shows on TV.

What particularly fascinates me about the show is the last part of the interviews, where James Lipton asks the actors the exact same 10 questions, based on the Proust Questionnaire.

I have been flirting with the idea of hosting another Contributors’ post series for quite some time now. "Inside the actors studio" gave me the inspiration. 

I turned to my good friend Phil from the other side of the Atlantic (a contributor of this blog) and posed the 10 questions to him. Here are his answers.

What is your favorite word?

Haecceity

What is your least favorite word?

Smegma

What turns you on?

Grace and poise

What turns you off?

Greed and stupidity

What sound or noise do you love?

The wind when it passes through trees that have many leaves

What sound or noise do you hate?

Farting - It is completely puerile

What is your favorite curse word?

Feck (Irish for 'fuck') 

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

I'd like to train animals, maybe

What profession would you not like to do?

Sales. Yuck. 

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Welcome, and good job out there

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A fun and hard Gran Fondo race today. 10min faster than 2010.

UddevallaCK had strong representation.

A close-up:

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Taken from Chuckie V's blog. 

1) Eat lots of plants and animals
2) Drink plenty of water
3) Avoid toxic shit
4) Move at a conversational pace often (even when solo)
5) Sprint periodically
6) Lift heavy things; recruit as many muscles as possible
7) Get adequate sleep
8) Play often. Laugh. Smile.
9) Get adequate sunlight
10) Follow the sun's lead
11) Avoid mistakes
12) Engage your brain
13) Stand more often
14) Ask life's big mysteries
15) Digitally disconnect frequently
16) Find yourself in the forest
17) Carry a big stick

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Yesterday I made my own energy bars!

I followed this recipe - with some variations and my own personal touch. 

I used (roughly):

- 2 cups of oats
- 1 cup of dried apricots, nuts and sunflower seeds
- 3/4 cup of brown sugar
- 1/2 cup Honey
- 1 cup of apple sauce
- 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

I thought they tasted delicious, and so did Mrs K (a hard judge to please).

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Video and commentary by our friend, Magnus. Watch Team KEDQ at 1min06sec.

"Internationella åkare kommer från Grekland att delta här"

Medalists photo (as in 2010):

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‘Intervals’ is one form of training at Uddevalla’s bike club (UCK) where speed and strength are under focus (instead of endurance) and ‘race-like’ situations are practiced.

UCK intervals range from:

• short (1-2 minutes) to long (8-10 minutes) high-intensity efforts,
• individual to pace-line riding, and
• hill repetitions to power sprints.

Last Thursday's interval training combined all the above.

Even though my Garmin Forerunner 205 does not provide heart rate or power data, the speed and altitude measurements give a good insight on the training's structure and my effort during the intervals.

 - - - - - 

1. The 'non warm-up'

Since Uddevalla’s center is at sea level, any road out of the city will include an uphill, as in this case the Gustavsberg hill. 

During the first 1-5 kilometers out of the city the stronger riders tend to push hard and I pretty much struggle to stay with them. The taste of blood in the mouth after only the first 10 minutes is too familiar... However, Gustavsberg is not as steep as the hills on the north side of Uddevalla and on Thursday I stayed with the group. 

The groups

Due to the big turn-out (approximately 12 riders) and the different ability levels, after 5 Km it was decided to split the group in half. I was in the slower group which is usually given a head start for each interval (30 seconds to 1 minute).

2. First group interval

The first group interval was 5 minutes long, where -as almost always- each rider took 20-30 seconds pulls. We covered approximately 3Km and kept a consistent average speed of 40Km/h. Standard echelon principles were practiced.

3. Two hill intervals

Up and down the hill. Repeat!

4. Second group interval

6 minutes long interval. Slightly slower than the first. 

5. Third group interval 

6. Fourth group interval

7. Fifth group interval

Before this last interval the two groups were finally merged. I was able to hang on to the group (going with 45-50Km/h!) for 1.5Km (7a). After that I was dropped and totally wasted... (7b). 

8. Rolling back home

 - - - - - 

Despite the high pain factor during such interval training sessions, I am genuinely enjoying myself and I am already starting seeing the benefits. Most importantly, I am learning a lot with regards to riding in a pace line, correct and effective gear changing, and race tactics.

"The best rides are the ones where you bite off much more than you can chew and live through it." - Doug Bradbury

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"Tan lines should be cultivated and kept razor sharp.  Under no circumstances should one be rolling up their sleeves or shorts in an effort to somehow diminish one’s tan lines.  Sleeveless jerseys are under no circumstances to be employed." - by Velominati, Keepers of the Cog

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Next week you can find me here!

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Bib-short & shirt
Sleeveless inner layer shirt
Helmet
Sunglasses
Bike shoes
Socks 
Windproof jacket
Gloves
Arm warmers
Leg warmers
Over shoes
Woolen cap
GPS watch
Bottles
Warm-up oil
Vaseline
Sun cream

And the First Aid Kit

Multi-tool
Pump & CO2
Tyre levers
Spare inner tubes

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"And of course, such a contradictory code of etiquette could only develop in a sport that rewards passive aggression, in which the most effective method of winning is to save your own strength until the moment of your rivals’ greatest vulnerability—and then strike. The tactics of cycle racing being reducible, to paraphrase Tim Krabbé from The Rider here, to how to kick your opponent when he’s down without actually kicking him." 

Source: http://bicycling.com/blogs/theselection/2011/03/20/guest-blogger-matt-seaton/

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Today we were out for our first 2011 ride (two weeks earlier than last year's first ride). Temperatures were "quite ok" (5-6 deg C) but there was still plenty of snow on the roads. Not too safe on our tyres.

But we follow The Rules, and especially Rule No5: HTFU

MrsK declared at some point during the ride that her form was exceptional. Until I dropped the hammer at the final climb! 

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Recently I watched (again) two of my all-time favorite movies:

• Donnie Brasco (Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, 1997), and
• Training Day (Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, 2001).

I find both movies fascinating in every possible aspect. However, in each movie there is one particular scene that really blows my mind. 

One of the most popular quotes in the movie 'Donnie Brasco' is 'forget about it'. Johnny Depp explains what it truly means in the following brilliant scene:

In 'Training Day' one of the opening scenes takes place in Detective Alonzo's (D. Washington best roll) 'office', his 1979 Chevy Monte Carlo!

The song 'still D.R.E.' on the background could not have been more appropriate. 

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