I have nothing against China, the Chinese, Air China, Beijing or even Chairman Mao.
But boy do I hate Beijing airport. And I'm writing this in the airport itself, while enjoying quite a reasonable cup of coffee. Although my judgement may be skewed because it's about 6am UK time and I've had a total of 2hrs sleep in the last 24hrs.
Getting here was easy enough, despite the -7 degree temperatures recorded in Bristol on Saturday morning. By the time I went to the station it had warmed up to a balmy 0 degrees. I didn't even need a coat.
The flight was easy enough too. They didn't run out of western breakfast (although that could still happen. Edit: it did but I had the lychee yoghurt with the rice porridge this time) and we touched down in Beijing at 12:10, local time. The city looks weird from the air, almost like it was made from Lego. So many buildings and tower blocks are identical.
The plane landed at the terminal, which was a plus. Last time it was miles away because they hadn't figured out how to build a terminal with enough surface area to handle all the planes. So if you get lucky, you get a berth.
But then it got harder. I couldn't quite remember from last time how I was meant to transfer to Shanghai then Sydney. There are no departure boards anywhere but we were told on the flight we had to go to gate E08 to catch CA175. By good fortune we were in terminal E. Simple eh?
Hah. I had to get back 'into' the terminal so I did the obvious thing and lined up at the international transfers immigration control. It took a while but when I got to the front, the officer said 'no, your boarding card says terminal C, you have to go to the emergency lane.'
Argh - I vaguely remembered this from last time. There was a slow moving queue there so I joined it, got halfway down then realised I'd probably need an arrival card, so ended up at the back again. And as I got towards the front, there were several 'emergencies' who needed to get through before me as their flights were about to leave.
Two very slow, strictly by the book officials (with masks on) for dozens of clueless international travellers. It was the most inefficient system I have ever seen and I work in the UK.
It took me the best part of an hour and a half to get through, and when I did I noticed a suggestion box. 'Rebuild your [obscene gerund] airport so that it works.'
I got to domestic transfers, wandered around a bit wondering whether I should pick up my luggage. But I couldn't see it and couldn't be arsed going to lost and found so I just followed some people who looked like they might be going to Australia. Or anywhere other than China. The lack of departure boards is infuriating.
At last I found a departure board. And even then had to wait till it cycled through 15 pages to show my flight. It went from C53, but this was an illusion. We boarded a bus at gate C53 and were driven back to terminal E. Gate E08, to be precise. Which looked rather like the plane we had flown in on.
[time passes]
I got the flight to Shanghai and we repeated the procedure, but in reverse. We had to check out of the country which meant going through immigration again. Sigh.
Who gives the go ahead for these masterpieces of usability? Is the place designed to be inefficient simply to keep large numbers of Chinese employed? Actually I think that might be the case.
I did note someone in the queue behind me saying it was like this in every communist country he'd travelled in. Basically it's not about putting people first, it's about fitting them into whatever system the government has deemed appropriate for its populace. And other populaces who happen to be passing through.
I got to Sydney in the end. Only an hour later than scheduled too, which was a miracle.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Things
I) It's stopped raining and gotten colder. We've had a few hard frosts and some very chilly mornings, but it's not quite at the severe level yet. That's usually in Jan/Feb.
II) I will be able to stop complaining about the cold soon, as I have a much looked forward to trip Down Under (avec L for a bit) to visit the Family et al.
III) Training has been satisfactory. Even a week-long cold didn't dent things too much, and I'm now at the same level as I was in mid-Jan of this year. Sealskinz sockz rulez for keeping one's toes warm.
IV) This blog could do with more photos.
V) Only 2.5 more days of work. We had our bikes Xmas lunch last Thursday, which involved a sunny ride out to the Lock Inn in Bradford-on-Avon. Lovely but very muddy (I rode a 'cross bike). We didn't, in the end, choose to ride back. I'd had four pints of cider and of the remaining folks, I was the sober one.
The main Future Xmas party be on Wednesday. I'm not sure my liver can cope...
VI) I don't think much of professional golf but I did note that Tiger Woods is taking an indefinite break from it. Apparently he's done some ... questionable things. That he has let his family down. Etc. Which is a shame for someone who earns so much money, because it is meant to buy happiness. $110 million a year should buy an eon of it.
I won't pick on Mr Woods but his fall from grace illustrates the dangers of hero worship. People see him hit a hole in one and think "For T is a golfer, and therefore he is God." (soz Benjamin Britten. I'm also not religious, God is just a convenient construct). Then they project all kinds of other holy qualities on him. Which is a mistake. Because when the slip-up happens, he is very much not God, he is human and a bit of a poor role model. So the fans are left flailing around with a worthless idol. Some of them continue to worship anyway, which is a shame because their energies could probably be better used on productive things, like Families.
The same argument applies to any professional athlete. Yes, that means cyclists. As a colleague of mine once pointed out after watching many riders' post-race behaviour, "If they're prepared to cheat on their wives, then cheating through drugs isn't too much of a stretch."
VII) Bankers, on the other hand... I really don't see the problem with capping their bonuses to a paltry few million per year.
The argument against seems to be "Oh but we won't be able to attract the best people if we don't offer them enormous bonuses."
The best people who got us into this mess into the first place, you mean? "Oh no, they've all been fired. The other best people."
II) I will be able to stop complaining about the cold soon, as I have a much looked forward to trip Down Under (avec L for a bit) to visit the Family et al.
III) Training has been satisfactory. Even a week-long cold didn't dent things too much, and I'm now at the same level as I was in mid-Jan of this year. Sealskinz sockz rulez for keeping one's toes warm.
IV) This blog could do with more photos.
V) Only 2.5 more days of work. We had our bikes Xmas lunch last Thursday, which involved a sunny ride out to the Lock Inn in Bradford-on-Avon. Lovely but very muddy (I rode a 'cross bike). We didn't, in the end, choose to ride back. I'd had four pints of cider and of the remaining folks, I was the sober one.
The main Future Xmas party be on Wednesday. I'm not sure my liver can cope...
VI) I don't think much of professional golf but I did note that Tiger Woods is taking an indefinite break from it. Apparently he's done some ... questionable things. That he has let his family down. Etc. Which is a shame for someone who earns so much money, because it is meant to buy happiness. $110 million a year should buy an eon of it.
I won't pick on Mr Woods but his fall from grace illustrates the dangers of hero worship. People see him hit a hole in one and think "For T is a golfer, and therefore he is God." (soz Benjamin Britten. I'm also not religious, God is just a convenient construct). Then they project all kinds of other holy qualities on him. Which is a mistake. Because when the slip-up happens, he is very much not God, he is human and a bit of a poor role model. So the fans are left flailing around with a worthless idol. Some of them continue to worship anyway, which is a shame because their energies could probably be better used on productive things, like Families.
The same argument applies to any professional athlete. Yes, that means cyclists. As a colleague of mine once pointed out after watching many riders' post-race behaviour, "If they're prepared to cheat on their wives, then cheating through drugs isn't too much of a stretch."
VII) Bankers, on the other hand... I really don't see the problem with capping their bonuses to a paltry few million per year.
The argument against seems to be "Oh but we won't be able to attract the best people if we don't offer them enormous bonuses."
The best people who got us into this mess into the first place, you mean? "Oh no, they've all been fired. The other best people."
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Stimulus-response
Disclaimer and Government Health Warning: this is going to be boring. Do not attempt to read without mind altering drugs or your brain will atrophy.
I'd like to think I'm reasonably methodical about my training, especially when I've got something to aim for. Over the years I've gotten a reasonably good idea of what works and what doesn't, but not really how much to do.
When I actually look back on my training log, I realise it's all over the shop. I'm consistent within a given week but not so much from week to week. A few things can affect this - illness, injury and work being the main ones - and they did in a big way this year. Also, it's fairly easy to maintain fitness once you've got it. It's getting it in the first place that requires a bit of planning.
I more or less got it right at the start of this year. I'd done a month of 'base' work in December, did bugger all in the first half of January because it was cold and I got sick, then built it up through February and was flying in March. And, unfortunately, injured.
The injury was the result of a combination of a lot of hours in the cold, badly set up cleats and what should have been a minor crash. Cleat position is important. I run them so that the ball of my foot is well in front of the pedal axle. But if it's too far in front and it's cold then I get tightness in my achilles and hamstrings = first step towards injury. If it's warm, it doesn't seem to be much of a problem.
I got some new shoes recently that will see me through winter - they're too big so I can wear a couple of pairs of socks underneath and stave off cold toes. But after swapping from my summer shoes (annoyingly too small) I've had to fiddle around with the cleats a lot to stop the tightness coming back.
I've also got some Sealskinz socks and gloves. Very good so far, but it's not properly cold yet.
Back to the program.
I've never been that fit in March before so I must have gotten something right. And when I looked back on things it was clear. I'd basically doing more and more, right up until I started racing. Interestingly, it's still a lot less than I used to do.
It worked because of the ol' stimulus-response thing. You push yourself a bit, you get fitter, so you push yourself some more. Repeat until you are a) fit b) injured/sick c) bored. Then back off and enjoy being fit for as long as you can maintain it.
You can either do this by adding more volume or more intensity or both. And it's a wonderful thing when you get it right, because you can see yourself getting faster every week.
The traditional approach to cycling training is do loads of miles in winter then back it off and do more intensity when you're approaching race season. The idea is that the miles conditions your body to handle the harder stuff later on. I have to say that it's never worked for me.
Another way is to jump straight into training and hammer yourself into the ground. Then do it some more. This might get you fit for a week but then you'll fall in a heap. I've tried this too.
So this winter, I am going to try a slow but steady build up, starting last week. Like this year, I still want to be increasing the stimulus by the end of February, but I want to do it on the back of what I manage to accomplish in January. This way should take all the panic and randomness out of early season training.
I might even buy or rent a PowerTap to train with, because this enables you to track how hard you're training and how fit you are. Average speed and heart rate are pretty useful too, as long as you know their limitations.
From a fitness point of view, I want to be able to average 340W (normalised) for an hour. I did it in 2008 with a fairly random approach to training (ride lots) - which was reflected in the results.
I got to 333W at the start of this year but was injured and 2kg over racing weight. Later on in the season when I was at racing weight, I got to 325W. In power/weight terms, that meant I was slightly fitter at the end of the season.
340W at racing weight with my current setup would knock another minute off my 25 mile time...
Now I've just got to do the training :-) It was -2 this morning so I wussed out of a bike path pootle with John and Liz. I did get out for an hour later on and it was still bastard cold. Tomorrow it's wet so it'll be warmer. I actually prefer that, most of the time. This November was apparently the wettest UK November ever.
Addendum: According to the Latest Science, the stimulus-response approach to training is now outdated - it's a bit more complicated than that. Given that it was proposed in 1975 and I'm just getting it, I'll stick to it for the time being.
I'd like to think I'm reasonably methodical about my training, especially when I've got something to aim for. Over the years I've gotten a reasonably good idea of what works and what doesn't, but not really how much to do.
When I actually look back on my training log, I realise it's all over the shop. I'm consistent within a given week but not so much from week to week. A few things can affect this - illness, injury and work being the main ones - and they did in a big way this year. Also, it's fairly easy to maintain fitness once you've got it. It's getting it in the first place that requires a bit of planning.
I more or less got it right at the start of this year. I'd done a month of 'base' work in December, did bugger all in the first half of January because it was cold and I got sick, then built it up through February and was flying in March. And, unfortunately, injured.
The injury was the result of a combination of a lot of hours in the cold, badly set up cleats and what should have been a minor crash. Cleat position is important. I run them so that the ball of my foot is well in front of the pedal axle. But if it's too far in front and it's cold then I get tightness in my achilles and hamstrings = first step towards injury. If it's warm, it doesn't seem to be much of a problem.
I got some new shoes recently that will see me through winter - they're too big so I can wear a couple of pairs of socks underneath and stave off cold toes. But after swapping from my summer shoes (annoyingly too small) I've had to fiddle around with the cleats a lot to stop the tightness coming back.
I've also got some Sealskinz socks and gloves. Very good so far, but it's not properly cold yet.
Back to the program.
I've never been that fit in March before so I must have gotten something right. And when I looked back on things it was clear. I'd basically doing more and more, right up until I started racing. Interestingly, it's still a lot less than I used to do.
It worked because of the ol' stimulus-response thing. You push yourself a bit, you get fitter, so you push yourself some more. Repeat until you are a) fit b) injured/sick c) bored. Then back off and enjoy being fit for as long as you can maintain it.
You can either do this by adding more volume or more intensity or both. And it's a wonderful thing when you get it right, because you can see yourself getting faster every week.
The traditional approach to cycling training is do loads of miles in winter then back it off and do more intensity when you're approaching race season. The idea is that the miles conditions your body to handle the harder stuff later on. I have to say that it's never worked for me.
Another way is to jump straight into training and hammer yourself into the ground. Then do it some more. This might get you fit for a week but then you'll fall in a heap. I've tried this too.
So this winter, I am going to try a slow but steady build up, starting last week. Like this year, I still want to be increasing the stimulus by the end of February, but I want to do it on the back of what I manage to accomplish in January. This way should take all the panic and randomness out of early season training.
I might even buy or rent a PowerTap to train with, because this enables you to track how hard you're training and how fit you are. Average speed and heart rate are pretty useful too, as long as you know their limitations.
From a fitness point of view, I want to be able to average 340W (normalised) for an hour. I did it in 2008 with a fairly random approach to training (ride lots) - which was reflected in the results.
I got to 333W at the start of this year but was injured and 2kg over racing weight. Later on in the season when I was at racing weight, I got to 325W. In power/weight terms, that meant I was slightly fitter at the end of the season.
340W at racing weight with my current setup would knock another minute off my 25 mile time...
Now I've just got to do the training :-) It was -2 this morning so I wussed out of a bike path pootle with John and Liz. I did get out for an hour later on and it was still bastard cold. Tomorrow it's wet so it'll be warmer. I actually prefer that, most of the time. This November was apparently the wettest UK November ever.
Addendum: According to the Latest Science, the stimulus-response approach to training is now outdated - it's a bit more complicated than that. Given that it was proposed in 1975 and I'm just getting it, I'll stick to it for the time being.
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