Nanny goes too far

I visited Sicily recently, and one evening in Palermo I sat there with a Corona and a kebab watching the flow of life around me thinking how uncontrolled everything seemed, more like a country only just coming to terms with civil obedience and not yet embracing the value of organised society, rather than a regimental EU partner.

I noticed that only about half of all motorbike/scooter riders wore a helmet - despite EU law. Yes, so many Sicilian civilians who just ignore it! After all, its only a traffic law! I know its not much in the grand  macro theory of self determination/regulation but our diminishing civilian freedoms leave me feeling like I have a maternally pestering nanny who insists on telling me what is good for me.

But we are men Madam! we need risk or we cannot be truly happy. I need to be adventurous and carefree like my Neanderthal hunter-gatherer ancestors. Nanny, it seems, really doesn't understand me.

People in every society, advanced or not, still behave with basic tribal instinct - we divide, and fight, and separate ourselves from those we think are different -  not good for us, but we do it anyway because it's fundamental to what we are - you can't rule against it.

I make decisions all the time about which of our civilian laws I'll bend or break and which ones I have to follow to the letter - It feels good that I can use my own common sense to protect myself (to some extent) and it seems that in the UK I am still allowed to take a few risks with my person.

Most of the time it feels like the 'freedom/control' balance is about right here in the UK, and it is a difficult balance to get right, especially when you  have men and women (who are so fundamentally opposite) mixed together in society. But we do need to be careful of going to far, of forgetting what we are - what men are!


So far this year I've visited Austria, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia, and Sicily. All of these European countries have laws to control and protect society from itself, of course, but one of the things that makes each of these places feel different is the extent to which laws are abided by and which are robustly enforced by the state. The biggest contrast [I noticed] being between Austria and Italy(Sicily).

Sicily, slightly chaotic, slightly unsafe, feels like a place where laws are routinely ignored, a place where societies' natural order has joint control. Austria felt safer with a sort of controlled subservience - a very nice societly. 

I think our government [although we are subject to EU laws too] is borderline overprotective in the UK, specifically with regard to personal safety on the road. I wouldn't be surprised if, in the not too distant future, it becomes compulsory for cyclists to wear helmets too, like motorcyclists already have to. Flippin busy bodies coming up with health and safety statistics for this and that in order to eliminate human casualties. Someone should muzzle em! Being human, by definition, is an accident waiting to happen.Status Quo, rock and roll..... mmm, not sure those 2 things are synonymous. :-p

EU Motorcycle helmet Law has for many years insisted that motorcyclists wear helmets. I ride a motorbike, and in the UK I don't want to wear a helmet all the time. Do we, as pedestrians have to wear protective headgear when we cross the road or walk along the side of busy roads,  just in case a car or lorry accidentally crashes into us?

I cycle a lot too, but I only wear my cycling helmet when I think I should. ie: in busy traffic or while mountain biking downhill. I don't wear it if I'm just tottering down to the local shop or if I'm cycling along back roads with little traffic - or if I am cycling UP a mountain at 3mph. There is NO NEED NANNY!

Is it only a matter of time before our nanny makes me wear a cycling helmet ALL the time?!

No Nanny!!

Test rides, new bike and thieving little scrotes

About 6 weeks ago, I test rode (two up) a Triumph Tiger 800 and a KTM 990 SMT.  Both great bikes, but very different to each other. I really couldn't fault the tiger - fantastic engine easily pulling away in 6th gear from 25mph - but I think that was partly what put me off it - It really didnt seem to matter what gear you are in, just twist the grip and it goes - just as reliably as an automatic scooter. 

For me the Triumph Tiger [right] was just too smooth, too composed and too easy to ride. I knew I'd get bored with it. Not as pretty as the KTM [above] either.

Riding the KTM after the tiger made me laugh out loud - what a fun bike to ride; not as practical or as good value for money as the tiger but I didn't want my head get in the way of making this decision. I ride a motorbike for fun and adventure and the tiger just wasn't that much fun after an hour or so.  

so I traded in my Honda and bought the KTM that day, I didn't need to think about it, 2 minutes into the KTM test ride I had made the decision. 


A week later, after parking my new KTM overnight in east London, some scooter thieves tried to steel it by breaking the steering lock and chopping the ignition wires to start it (which they coudn't). My bad for not using disk lock or alarm. I know, I know! GRRR! Can't tell you how gutted I was arriving at an empty space where I  had parked my bike the night before. Awful moment.

Having had a few weeks to think about it, and consider how lucky I am not to have the life of a poor,uneducated, no hoper like those scooter thieves, I still think that they should have their hands cut off if they get caught. Yes, capital punishment please. No tolerance, if you get caught in the act or captured on video being a thief, then you should have some of your body parts removed- I don't agree with capital punishment for all crimes - but if you get caught red handed, then there is no doubt you are guilty!

Well, since then my damaged bike is still waiting on a new frame down at P&H motorcycles in Crawley. Maybe Ill get it back in a couple more weeks, but I sure do miss it! I'll be adding a datatool trak-king and disk lock alarm when I get it back. 

Shit, it's nearly winter already!! 

15 days encounting– mild panic

I've Been finding out what I can about the 4 countries (Austria, Italy, Slovenia and croatia) Ill be cycling/camping through and just thinking in more detail about what challenges could lie ahead for me.

Ive looked at my route in a bit more detail from the 4 country maps I have now, but think I'll need to get more localiazed maps because I cant see the smaller roads that I might need as I go along.

My  intended route through Slovenia and Croatia doesn’t take me near enough to any campsites and I was assuming that I could stay at a few campsites now and again to take a shower, wash clothes etc.

I was hoping to wild camp most of the way anyway (as never done before) but I’ve found out a few things that could add some spice to the trip.

When I cycled coast to coast France last year, I was able to look at some of the roads on Google streetview, to make sure they were bike friendly enough. This time I cant do that because Google streeview doesn’t cover Slovenia or Croatia, so my route will have to adapt as I go along.

Not a problem in itself, but I do need to be careful not to get forced onto motorways if there are no bike friendly roads going my way.

Still havent got a solar charger so not sure  how Im going to keep my phone juiced up, except keeping it on airplane mode most of the time. I used a PowerMonkey solar charger last year that I borrowed, but it needed 3 full days of sun to be able to charge my phone 70%.

Cold in Alps and Hot everywhere else (probably) so Ill need clothes for very cold and very hot, not to mention rain in the mountains. This will add to the overall weight of the bike but the biggest extra weight will be food and water Ill need to carry for the climbs.

Some things I’ve found out..

Wild camping is Illegal in Croatia and Slovenia

I’ve read that camping is banned in Croatia because they have a problem with vagrants and there still could be uncleared landmines in coutryside away from the popular tourist trails. perhaps knock on some farm doors and see if I can benefit from local hospitality.

I’m sure I can cycle through slovenia in a day on the single lane motorway (E61) so wont need to camp there. I read one blog post from a lone cyclist who got detained at Slovenia/Croatia border and had to prove he wasn’t a vagrant by showing receipts from campsites he’d stayed at.

The only road from Reijka in north croatia to Zadar further down the coast, is a motorway. (E65)

This may only be a single or double lane motorway but the wind from lorries passing me could be dangerous and I cant check how wide the road is. So I’m considering Island hoping as far as Split which means at least 3 or 4 short ferry crossings between Islands (need to check timetables tho). The Islands are much  more tourist focused so there will be campsites there.

Whole day climbs in the Alps?

I’ve identified 4 separate passes that I need to cross. Each one could take a whole day to climb. The longest climb I’ve ever done is 2 hours (last year ) so I really don’t know how my body will withstand day after day of fully loaded climbing. Ive been training quite hard the last 5 weeks so Im in good shape but I will  have to make sure I carry enough food and water so I can be continually eating and drinking as I climb so I don’t dehydrate or run out of energy. One of the biggest mistakes I made last year was missing meals and not eating or drinking enough while I cycled. So I became dehydrated which meant that I had no appetite at the end of each day and didn’t eat well – Not good cos I don’t have much fat to burn!

Apart from all that, I’m looking forward to the adventure – I'll be happy when im off the plane and my bike is in one piece again in Innsbruck.

Solo Cycle challenge 2012 - Innsbruck to Dubrovnik via Trieste

I fly to Austria on 1st June 2012. From there I will cycle camp over the Alps into Italy, on through Sovenia into Croatia and fly back just over 2 weeks later from Dubrovnik.

here is my intended route, although when I get all the maps I could find alternative roads through the mountains more details soon...



View Larger Map

Veho MUVI HD10 Minicam Review

I've been looking for a small HD video cam with wireless remote, for a while- something I could attach to a helmet and record with while cycling. The Drift Inovation X170HD had been the best contender for my cash at £329.00 but thats a big splash for something I'll probably drop or break.  Thankfully I went to the Active travel show in London recently and got seduced by the price and size of this VEHO MUVI. £120 for a full HD action camera with wireless remote. Juicy!

Later that day, I decided to try it out and make sure it worked ok. I've used/owned mini cams before[go-pro hero, flip ultra,Kodak play sport] so didn't think I needed to bother reading the instructions booklet as all I wanted to now do was make a quick recording and then play it back on the view screen to see what it looks like. I remember when I got my Flip ultra cam, and straight out the box how easy it was to do this.

A quick look all over and I spot the on/off switch on one side - flicked that on - on the other side I noticed a similar switch labelled 'Vox' on/off. Yes, I do want sound, so flicked that on too. The view screen came to life and I was smiling.

I saw a large button on the side with a  big red spot on it. That has to be the record button, so I pressed it, and voila! The display on the screen confirmed that I was now recording. This is easy.

After half a minute or so recording myself talking to it politely, I pressed the red spot button again and the recording stopped. Easy!

Now to play back my recording.

The next hour and a half of my life was less enjoyable, more like an emotional endurance test that included distressed laughter, anger, disappointment and dismay. During this period I even resorted to reading through the accompanying instruction booklet - which, by the way, could only have been written by a software programmer who, long ago, lost the ability to communicate with anyone who's not plugged into the matrix. In a moment of desperation, I even forlornly loaded the enclosed CD in the hope that it would contain enlightening interactive  'how-to' instructions rather than the 90 megabyte, print-ready[crop marks included] pdf artwork copy of the printed instruction booklet I had already read cover to cover in 15 languages. Damn that CD! - It was my last hope!

The next morning, with renewed vigour, I tried again to find 'playback mode'. This meant that I would have to abandon all logical thoughts and suppress intuitive expectations because tt turns out that to playback a previous recording, you have to select 'record' option from the menu. Record?? what on earth were VEHO thinking? why not playback, or preview, or recordings even?

So now I could select and playback[record] the video I had made last night. I remember recording about 30 seconds but, I could only see about 5 seconds of recording, in fact, further random button pressing revealed that I had 4 very short bits of recording. This is one thing the instructions are clear about though. The 'Vox' button actually means that you want to activate record function with sound and since I was talking to camera while recording, I was turning the thing on and off without realizing. Ok, my bad.

So after an hour or so of faffing around with it, I got the cam mounted on my mountain bike helmet and all the enclosed attachments gave me enough options to strap the remote control to my handlebars. Now I could properly road test this thing. Would the 4GB card be big enough, would the battery last long enough, would the wireless remote always work. These questions and more would soon be answered. So far my experience with this gadget hadn't been good so my expectations were significantly lowered.

All went well out on the trails and I captured quite a lot of video footage without any problems at all. Here's the low down:

What's good? 

• It has a view screen[1.5 inch] to playback recordings so you can make sure you have got something good before you go home.
• It has a remote control that  works really well (could do with the beep louder so you know you are recording - beeps once when starts recording and twice when you stop it but cant hear if windy)
• Battery life is impressive (so far)
• Video quality as good as you can expect(for this price) - Really not good[grainy] in low light conditions though
• Small and light make it great for slipping in pocket of jacket or shorts.
• Auto sleep mode to save a battery works well but slow coming back to life from the remote
• Lots of really useful brackets and mounts to attach the cam in various ways.

What's bad about it?

• Unintuitive software logic and symbols on buttons are confusing
• Produces .MOV video files only . Pain in the arse for Windows on PC. ::sigh::
• Uploading videos straight to You tube which complains about .MOV format.
• Instruction booklet is rubbish. Product manager at Veho needs to be sacked for signing that off.
• You cant turn the display screen off while recording. I can't see it while mounted on my helmet so a needless battery drain.

This is what I recorded (720p HD)  and I think its worth saying that when I upload the original .MOV files straight to youtube, I always get this message "The video that you uploaded may have audio/video sync issues. Please refer to this article for advice on how to correct this issue should it arise.". some of the original HD quality is also lost.

What a flippin faf though!. The last time I had had such an unintuitive experience with a new gadget was with the Go Pro Hero. As with this camera, the actual videos are good quality but straight out the box it drove me to distraction. Hooray for the Flip Ultra, I had that sussed in less than a minute out the box, very intuitive design and sublimely easy to use.

If the VEHO MUVI could just allow me to choose my preferred output file format[AVI or WMV or MP4] rather than forcing .MOV files on me, I could forgive all other bad points, but really, I'm on day 4 now with over 5 gig of video that I want to edit in Windows MovieMaker. I can't though until I find a good free converter, or spend money on new editing software, converter software or just by an Apple computer.

What is it with the MOV files anyway?! - the Kodak playsport was the same arse ache, and even the pricey Drift Inovation X170HD saves in MOV only.

Hooray again for FLIP minicams, AVI, and MP4 formats.

One last thought. We live in a time where the likes of Apple have set new benchmarks for intuitive design, with gadgets that just work straight out of the box, without instructions. This isn't a new concept. An action camera is designed to be used by active people while doing active things like skiing, rock climbing, surfing and mountain biking who don't always  have both hands free and don't know when the best bit of action is coming along. These customers need robust simplicity and big red buttons. How hard can it be?