Robbie Maddison - Jumps a football field on a MX bike

An Australian freestyle MX rider, breaks the world record by jumping the length of a football field! It is amazing and frightening how far these athletes can push the boundaries. Happy New Year.

 

Where you live

People who moan about where they live really p*sses me off.

Take for instance our neighbours. The first thing this lady asks me when we meet is whether I could mow their lawn on a regular basis just because I happen to be doing ours! I mean come on, we’ve only just met and you’re asking me to be your gardner?

Just recently she bails up ‘H’ and starts dumping about how she hates Canberra, it’s too hot, it’s too cold, the people are so unfriendly, there’s nothing to do here yadda yadda yadda. She then starts on the whole; ‘back in Sydney’ it is so much more sophisticated, we have a 3 bedroom apartment with no yard but the postcode is to die for…”

Here’s my thoughts, if you want to moan about the place where you live, at least be sensitive enough to realise that other people have chosen to live there and are doing so quite happily. Moaning about it is not going to make you any friends. If you need to vent then do it to your friends who can sympathise with your predicament.

Also, you made the choice to live here so you only have yourself to blame. If it’s too hot or cold, fine, go back to where you came from and leave the rest of us to enjoy our lives without having to hear about your grievances. And I’m sorry, but if you need to be constantly stimulated then you probably need to get a hobby, do some exercise, read a book or use the miniscule amount of imagination you might still posses. I mean yes it’s Canberra and it may not have the bright lights of the City but we do have most things that keep people amused, cinema’s, good food, places to go out, recreational activites out the yin yang oh and all the same chain retail shops that are in Sydney….but hey if that’s not enough for you, then go back to where you would prefer to be.

Oh can I speak from experience? No I’ve never lived in Sydney, nor do I care too, I’m perfectly happy with living in Canberra. ‘H’ on the other hand has lived in Sydney for 10 years, she loved it, and before moving here thought Canberra would be too slow, but ask her now and she would never go back to Sydney.

Phwoar that feels better getting that out…

 

First impressions - Troy Lee ‘XC’ glove & Five Ten ‘Impact’ shoe

Troy Lee Designs XC glove

Originally uploaded by collective.dust




Five Ten ‘Impact’ riding shoe

Originally uploaded by collective.dust


2 fantastic products that live up to their reputation!

Starting with the gloves I went for a small size 8. Previously I’ve found that gloves that fit perfect in the shop tend to loosen up considerably only a few months later causing bunching under the palms. That being said the XC’s fit is firm without being restrictive. They are a cool understated design for a bike glove, mono colours with nice detail. There is a distinct lack of heavily rubber padding on the top of the glove which goes against the design trends for most moto/mtb bike gloves these days, that being said it’s rare that you land on your knuckles if you have an off. The padding on the palm is thick enough for some extra protection and comfort and when gripping the bars doesn’t bunch up at all. I tested the gloves on the Stromlo DH course which has a new whoopy section below the bridge. The gloves felt perfect from the first run…comfortable under the palms while allowing unrestricted finger movment and good feel of the brake levers when required.

The Five-Ten ‘Impact’ shoes are something that I’ve had on the wish list for a while. I had heard great things about their performance and when world champion riders like Sam Hill and Nathan Rennie use them, well enough said. I went for a US size 9 which is perhaps half a size too big but once the shoe laces are tied it is fine. The first thing I noticed was the stiffness in the sole, this is a good thing for ensuring more of the energy from your legs are getting to the pedals and cranks and feels more like an extension of the pedal. The second thing is the grip, absolutely phenomenal. Five Ten are a rock climbing shoe company and the stealth rubber that is in the sole is designed to provide maximum grip on any surface. Well for the first run I planted my foot on my stocko flat pedals and I never moved them until I finished. You literally have to lift your foot off the pins to reposition they are that grippy. I went through some rock garden sections a couple of times and my foot was simply stuck to the pedal. Usually I would need to readjust my feet on the pedals after these sections but not with the ‘Impacts’. Styling wise they remind me of pumped up school shoes but there’s no denying they excel at what they were designed to do….stick to flat pedals.

 

Boxing Day sales

Yoshikin ‘Global’ knife block

Originally uploaded by collective.dust

Another first…we finally got to attend the Boxing Day sales. Got 35% off this set of Yoshikin ‘Global’ knives. We’ve had a single ‘Global’ knife for ages and had been wanting to get the set for a while now, they make food preparation so easy and they look cool too. It’s nice having the right tools for the job. I really like the clean one piece design of the ‘Global’ knives, especially the grip pattern and the shape of the handles. They are nicely weighted and are balanced with sand in the handles. (which you can hear when you shake them). Now…where is that learning to cook website?

 

Christmas Day

Wow, this is the first time we have ever woken up in our own house for Christmas. That probably doesn’t sound very exciting but believe me after having to always madly pack up and travel on Christmas eve, it is a luxury that I can certainly get use to. This is the first year that ‘A’ is really aware of Christmas, Santa Claus and of course pressies. So ‘H’ and I stayed up late wrapping Santa’s pressies, filling Christmas stockings and adding the final touches to pull off the greatest deception …er I mean traditions known to man. I even took a page out of my parents book and left the roof access panel ajar. ‘A’ left a plate containing some Christmas cake, a glass of milk and a carrot (for the reindeers) next to the tree and was suprised to find an empty glass, cake crumbs and the tip of the carrot remaining this morning.
What followed was some serious unwrapping of gifts. I have a suspicion that Nickelodeon’s share price just went through the roof according to the amount of Dora merchandise that is strewn throughout the house. Santa was good to me this year with a new pair of TLD XC gloves, Five-Ten Impact riding shoes, Summer Heights High DVD, new clothes and an Origami calendar. Now I need to get out for a spin to test the new gear for a review.

 

Christmas baubles

Christmas bauble

Originally uploaded by collective.dust

Here’s a cool idea that ‘H’ suggested we try. Each Christmas we each get to choose 2 Christmas decorations to hang on the tree. Here’s my first choice; a funky anodised aluminium star. Check flickr for ‘H’ and A’s selections. Merry Christmas

 

Final results, I’m Graduating!

Just got an e-mail from CSU with my final unit results for my Grad Dip in IT. Got a HD and that means I am graduating!
It’s been a long hard 3 years, especially for ‘H’ and ‘A’ and I couldn’t have got through without them. Anyway all the hard work is starting to pay off as I have moved careers and it has really stoked the fire in terms of being inspired. Also means I have some free time again woohoo!

 

How not to ride in Utah

Just came across this video on Pinkbike.com, this footage is the last year the Red Bull Rampage was held in Utah and it had rained in the days leading up to the event. The result was instead of soft red dust, the track and transitions were packed down hard letting riders go faster and hit the deck harder. See for yourself…

 

More Christmas Parties

Went to our department’s AGM this morning in the Playhouse theatre. 4 articulated buses unloaded the staff filling the theatre. Speeches were made including a light humoured presentation from the graduates before a quick break for morning tea. Following this the awards were announced. I wasn’t expecting anything as I have been in the position less than a year combined with the year long struggle to recruit staff into our team all year, but to my suprise my name came up with some other team members…that was a suprise to say the least but hey I’ll take it.

Then on to Christmas lunch at the Harmonie Club, pretty standard fare with the lunch and some beers on a beautiful day. Graeme reminds me about missing out on going on a ACT WRX cruise to Wollongong on Sunday but I have to get some applications done before COB Monday.

@2:30 I race to my daughter’s Christmas party at her daycare, I have to say the change to working in the public service is so much more family friendly and we had Grandma, mum and myself able to hang out and have fun all afternoon. Balloon animals, Santa Claus, BBQ and face painting. doesn’t get much better than that.

 

Canberra web-blast07

Just attended the Canberra web-blast 07 which is a cool end-of-year party for Canberra’s web community - bringing together web designers, web project managers, interface designers, information architects and other web professionals’. It was alot of fun and a great opportunity to meet and mingle with like minded web people. I ran into a former work colleague from my remote sensing days that I hadn’t seen in a few years, my former supervisor and some of the people that I met at Web Directions South 2007. Even met some new people as well such as Ruth Ellison from Stamford Interactive, Alexi Pashalidis from Oxide Interactive and Matthew Hodgson from SMS Management & Technology. These folk have been working in the web for considerably longer than myself and it is inspiring to draw upon their experience and knowledge and passion for the industry.

There were a huge amount of lucky door prizes and suprisingly I came up trumps with a copy of The JavaScript Anthology by Cameron Adams and James Edwards as well as Transcending CSS by Andy Clarke. Both of these books have been on my wish list and it was a bit of a spin out to win them both! Anyway a good night was had by all with plenty of food and drinks and was great stress relief for a pretty ordinary week at work.