Malta: Living on the Edge of Europe » Travel

Safe cycling: a guide

Sandro — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:51:49 +0000

Safe cycling: A guide

Avoid lorries

Never wait between the kerb and a lorry at a junction. If the lorry turns left, the driver may not see you. Stay well behind or, preferably, in front, where you can be seen.

Stay clear of the kerb

The kerb is not your friend. Ride clear of it so that drivers steer around you. Hugging the pavement invites them to try and scrape past.

Show your face

Looking at drivers at junctions helps them to view you as a fellow road user they would rather not run over. Do the same to vehicles on your tail.

Use your neck

Learn how to look over your shoulder without wobbling and do so regularly – particularly before making a manoeuvre, when you should also stick out an arm.

Obey the code

Some may argue that it is safer, say, to jump a red light than wait in a lorry's shadow but egregious violations endanger you and harm the image of cyclists.

Overtake buses

If you're approaching a bus at a stop, look over your shoulder, and move to overtake. If you can't, wait behind the bus. Never undertake.

Be bright

It's more important to show your face and position yourself well, but bright clothing, strong lights and reflectors will help you get noticed.

Plan your route

It stands to reason that you're probably more vulnerable in three lanes of traffic doing 40mph than on a residential side street.

Find a friend

If you're a new or lapsed cyclist, venture out with a more experienced friend. Keep a good distance behind and watch. Then let them follow you and take their advice.

These tips are taken from The Independent. For the full article, please go to - The 'ghost bike' revolt: Families demand action on cyclist deaths

Week 4 of 34 – Not the season for butterflies

Sandro — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 23:05:08 +0000

It's gone down and my fingers are the first to notice. Whereas last week I could still put on a T-shirt for work, this week the sleeves have lengthened. While until recently a sheet and thin blanket provided enough warmth in bed, the past few nights I have found myself curling up into a cocoon to preserve body heat. It's only a few degrees lower but by my standards, the cold has definitely arrived.

The season of butterflies has fluttered by. Powdery wings that contoured the countryside have been folded away to prevent the rains from caking them into slivers of coloured mud pies and proboscises rolled up to stop the cold from turning them into icicles.

And yet ..... ?

And yet I feel those creatures still, even if I cannot see them. The race might be a good seven months away but when my thoughts occasionally turn to that longest climb, I feel butterflies fluttering in my stomach. It's been years since I had this sensation prior to a sporting event and then never so much in advance. On the one hand it is satisfying, motivating me and actually making me look forward to waking up at 5am for pre-dawn sessions. On the other hand I am slightly perturbed by the prematurity of a nervousness that could easily eat away at my enthusiasm, leaving me emotionally drained on or before race day.

Training hours: 7 / Weight: 71.0kgs / Body fat: 12.4% / Muscle mass: 69.5% / Water: 57.7% / Bone mass: 3.0 / Resting heart rate: 46

Week 1 of 34 – Just about jogging

Sandro — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 23:05:48 +0000

Last week I announced to the world (meaning those of you who visit this site) my intention to race the Super Maratona dell'Etna in June next year. What I didn't mention then was that I am still recovering from a partial tear of the left calf tendon, an injury suffered a month back. This means that my preparation has not started with a bang but with a whimper, not with impressive hill sessions but with a gentle jog every other day. The situation takes me back to March 2008 when I attended the launch of Lifecycle on crutches because I was suffering from a slightly more serious version of my present injury. I remember exchanging a few words with Alan Curry about whether I could recover in time and well enough to undergo the intense preparation that the event entailed (cycling 2000km from Lourdes, France to Casablanca, Morocco in 10 days). Five months later I had the quiet satisfaction of stepping off the bike in the shadow of the tallest minaret in the world at Hassan II Mosque. I hope I can experience the same sensations once again but this time in the shadow of Mount Etna's summit, Europe's highest active volcano.

Kettler Coach rowing machine

This first week has been a mix of sports at mild intensities: jogs of no more than 30 minutes on alternate days, indoor rowing, indoor cycling, elliptical trainer, swimming, push-ups, sit-ups and stretching. In spite of all these activities, fitness is at a very low level and the heavy breathing when I walk up the hill to my home proves it. This is not the best way to begin preparing for the challenge but I'm in it for the long haul - 33 weeks to go.

Here are some relevant statistics relating to the past 7 days. I'll be including the updated stats in weekly write-up:

Training hours: 5 / Weight: 70.2kgs / Body fat: 11.8% / Muscle mass: 69.8% / Water: 58.1% / Bone mass: 3.0 / Resting heart rate: 49

0 – 3000 on 16 June 2012

Sandro — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 16:36:52 +0000

Sometimes I train for the simple pleasures it brings - sweat stinging the eyes on a summer afternoon, lungs labouring as the legs run me out of the comfort zone, the sheer satisfaction of a shower washing away the exertion. Some other times I need a target to pull me through the routine that regular training becomes, such as Lifecycle in 2008 or the Madonie trail mountain marathon in 2011.

I've now set my sights on next year's challenge. Put in figures it reads: 0 - 3000 / 42.195. In words, that's running a full marathon which starts at sea level and finishes at an altitude of 3000 metres. Reading between the lines (and if my math is correct), there's an average gradient of 7% for each and every one of those 42 kilometres.

The location is Mount Etna. The date is 16 June 2012. The time is 08oohrs. The aim is to keep going up unless the volcano brings me down ... to my knees in submission. In answer to the question, 'why this event?', it's because living on an island of mere hills, I cannot even begin to imagine a non-stop climb of that magnitude.

The purpose of adding a new page (click tab at top right) to my website is two-fold. Making my commitment public should help me through (inevitable) phases when enthusiasm begins to flag - the 'I don't want to lose face' motivating principle. Also, I wish to share my preparation for the event should anyone else think of doing it, be it in 2012 or future years. To this end I'll be logging weekly updates, with Monday being the target publication day.

Ecomaratona delle Madonie 2011 – Perched at 1000 metres (2)

Sandro — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 08:00:47 +0000

It's Saturday, the day before the Ecomaratona delle Madonie, 43 kilometres of up and down running along the paths of the Madonie nature park and its mountains. My last training session was Wednesday so today I feel obliged to go for a 30-minute jog. This is merely for the mental reassurance that the muscles haven't atrophied and the heart can still keep the blood flow circulating at a more rapid rate.

Petralia Sottana, the village that serves as my base for my 3-day stay, is a spaghetti of narrow, cobbled streets that cling to the mountain-side at an altitude of 1000 metres. This means that I either start up and end down or vice-versa. I opt to let gravity lead the way knowing that it'll be a bit of a fight to let go of its grip on the way back. All in all, it was a pleasant half-an-hour and it left me plenty of time to shower and build up to the next challenge - an Italian style buffet breakfast!

Click here for part 1: Done!

Click here for part 3: Lessons learned and lessons confirmed

Click here for part 4: Marco Olmo, ultramarathoner, is the guest runner

Click here for part 5: Technical information

Ecomaratona delle Madonie 2011 – Done! (1)

Sandro — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 08:38:42 +0000

A taster from last year's edition:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw0OFwQzZ5o

Click here for part 2: Perched at 1000 metres

Click here for part 3: Lessons learned and lessons confirmed

Click here for part 4: Marco Olmo, ultramarathoner, is the guest runner

Click here for part 5: Technical information

The Elephant’s Journey – Jose Saramago

Sandro — Thu, 26 May 2011 18:51:34 +0000

The Elephant's Journey is based on a event which actually happened in the 1500s - the journey of an elephant - a gift form one royalty to another- from Portugal to Austria. Despite its historical background, this is mainly a work of fiction and a pleasant one at that too.

The author, who is also the a narrator of the story, embellishes the prose with elements of humour and occasional digressions. These, though, nearly always take the form of philosophical motes or insights into the workings of human nature.

What may be off-putting to anyone tackling a Saramago novel for the first time is the near absence of punctuation. Through personal experience I can say that after a few pages the reader will get accustomed to this unorthodox manner of writing; very rarely have I had to reread a couple of lines just to clarify who said what.

This is certainly the Jose Saramago I know and enjoy so this is reflected in my score of 9/10.

Ecotrail della Luna – the results

Sandro — Thu, 12 May 2011 17:06:14 +0000

To conclude this series of posts about the 2-day Ecotrail della Luna event held in Caltavuturo, Sicily, on the 30th April and 1st May, here are the results.

Results for: the Saturday night race

Results for: the Sunday morning race

These are the related posts:

Ecotrail della Luna - Caltavuturo: the adventure starts tonight!

Starting from the end

Did I say adventure?

Day 1 - the night race

Ecotrail della Luna - video

Day 2 - when even experienced trail runners walk

Overreaching.....on a Piaggio Fly 125

Ecotrail della Luna - podium photo

Ecotrail della Luna – podium photo

Sandro — Mon, 09 May 2011 08:00:46 +0000

Standing proudly for 2nd place in the 45-50 category

Local products as a prize

Related posts:

Ecotrail della Luna – video

Sandro — Thu, 05 May 2011 18:11:56 +0000

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No4CBqVepEQ

(video courtesy of Marco Brischetto)

Related posts:

Day 2 – When even experienced trail runners walk

Sandro — Tue, 03 May 2011 05:57:07 +0000

The Town Hall, which is serving as the race headquarters, is located in Piazza San Francesco. While waiting for the 0815 briefing, I notice a poster advertising a Good Friday-themed photo exhibition being held upstairs, entitled "Passi di Passione", which roughly translates as "Footsteps of Suffering". A presage perchance?

As it happens, yes. Aldo (MC/organiser) has some unfortunate news to give us. They are obliged to shorten today's course too because 4 key members of the safety backup team were being hospitalised, having been involved in an accident a few hours earlier. The result is that a rapid response cannot be ensured should any of us suffer a mishap along the 22-kilometre route. Consequently 6k must be lopped off. Then comes a warning: the rain had rendered some sections into extremely slippery mud slides, so extra caution had to be exercised, especially on the single-file pathways.

Route

In "Day 1 - The night race", I mentioned the plethora of surfaces we ran on because I found the variety interesting. For today's run, I upped this feeling to "fascinating". A few minutes from the start, just after crossing a stream, we encountered the first muddy incline, where hands worked as much as feet in search of exposed tree roots or other vegetation for secure holds. Next on the menu of obstacles was a field of cow dung, which had been liquefied by the persistent rain of the previous days. Hmmm.....so much excrement about but, strangely enough, not a cow in site. Exiting this smelly but safe, the following section was simply waiting to snap an unsuspecting ankle. Here, deep but narrow holes a few centimetres apart pockmarked the earth, making us play a wild version of hopscotch. There was the inevitable mud bath along the way, of course, one of those where you are guaranteed to lose a shoe if you haven't laced up tightly enough.

Until now I haven't mentioned the crucifying hills because they are taken for granted in an event such as this. However, the first painful nail was hammered in at the half-way mark, a 2-kilometre switchback with very few runnable stretches because of its 20%+ gradients. Since this is where the technique of fast walking comes into play, I played it to the best of my ability and I must say that I have never known myself to have panted so much and for so long. The second nail to complete the athletic crucifixion was the approach to Caltavuturo. The surface was solid tarmac or paving stones but once again I was leaning into the hill - almost falling forward - to milk any gravitational benefits as a supplement to my own depleted reserves of energy. The steps leading up to the finish at the elevated town square were the final whip lash but, compared to the passion I had just endured, a mere tickle.

Elevation - Grade

"Il nostro amico Maltese" (our Maltese friend) booms over the speakers and with this greeting me and my Mellieha AC vest complete the Ecotrail della Luna, unexpectedly winning second place in the 45-50 age group.

Related posts:

Overreaching….on a Piaggio Fly 125

Sandro — Tue, 03 May 2011 05:56:59 +0000

Not mine but this is what it looks like (source: http://seoul.craigslist.co.kr/mcy/2344408813.html)

Pozzallo to Caltavutura, 220km, surely a manageable distance. Until I introduce some factors, expected and not, into the equation.

Factor A: it's only a 125cc. Memory wrong-sided me here. You see, the last time I did Sicily with a motorbike was when I had a Piaggio X9 Evolution. With 200cc, we (me and my pillion, 2 side saddle bags, rear luggage box and a rucksack) could still cruise along at 100km/h on the highways. However, the Fly is more of a city bike, so taking it beyond 60 had it shuddering in fear at the speed. As you can imagine, losing 40km in an hour is no joke. Besides, motorcycles under 150cc are not even allowed on highways, contrary to what I thought I had read somewhere.

Factor B: the weather. I'm instinctively more cautious on wet roads or in the rain and that's what I had to face on the outward journey. In fine weather, a longer ride is still a pleasure because I can stop along the way for photographing the sites and tasting the local goodies. The Saturday of the race was an almost uninterrupted 7-hour assault. "Almost", because of ....

Factor C: a small fuel tank. X9 equalled 350 kilometres when full. That would have taken me to Caltavuturo and half-way back. Not so the Fly, maxing out at 130km. This is an important consideration when facing long stretches of wilderness without a fuel station in sight. I needed to stop twice each way to play it safe.

Factor D: mechanical niggles. I had read rave reviews by normal users before choosing this model. Unfortunately I haven't been very fortunate with mine. It's only 4 months out of the showroom but it's been towed away a couple of times because of mechanical problems. The agents have been extremely helpful but it seems that just as one problem gets solved, another develops. The current worry is the lazy ignition. When it was time for me to head back to Pozzallo, I had a few anxious moments because this time it struggled even more. Having faith in the machine one's driving is a worry less.

Related posts: