Category: Life

I saw  a link to this on Twitter. Obviously my first reaction was one of jaw-dropping disbelief. Then I read a bit about it. It seems some chap was following for two blocks, repeatedly trying to get past the cyclists who ignored him. The cyclists were on some sort of protest/ demonstration about how their world view of a cyclist utopia was the only valid one. There are further reports that the driver was trying to get a kid to a hospital, but that sounds too convenient and is only a side issue anyway. The real issue is; was it wrong?   Oh sure, the law says the car driver was a bit over zealous, but think about it. I have been dwelling on it overnight. I thought of the two cyclist tootling along side by side, holding me and other traffic up, not giving a fuck until I nearly clipped one and screamed “HOW MUCH ROOM DO YOU FUCKING WANT!”, at them. Then they learned some manners. I thought of the coffin-dodger car drivers who fanny around at 25mph, and how I’d love to smash them off the road. Or the gaggle of women (usually women, though not exclusively) who stand in the middle of the isle at Asda and chat when you are trying to shop. And how you just wish you had an axe so you could cut a bloody swathe through their ignorance. It’s about common courtesy and the barest hint of consideration for others. It’s just good manners. My conclusion therefore, is that crazed car driver is just doing what everyone would like to do. The cyclists wanted direct action and by fuck they got it. I think maybe he is some sort of modern hero. An example to which we can all  aspire.   You are probably thinking I wouldn’t be saying that if some car driving twat ran me over, and you would be right. Because I would not be sat in the middle of the road deliberately pissing people off, therefore would have done nothing to warrant it. Feel free to disagree or start a ‘psycho car driver for emperor of the planet’ page on Facebook.   Later, Buck.

Finally got the definitive answer today. “No.” It all started after I saw this (Initiatives, second one down) Which, incidentally, was still up in the freezer rest room until a month or so ago. I went through hell to get my licenses.I paid £5,000. I have been bullshitted for 19 months with promises and lies. I have been in on my day’s off, unpaid, just to show willing. I went in today, after the latest buck-passing and prevarication, and Claire said “We’ve had the period review, and because of the damage and the cost of the insurance, we can’t let you drive for us without having two years experience.”   And that is that. She said as soon as she hears anything else I will be the first to know, but they are not going to say ‘ooh, we’ve not had much damage this quarter, lets get some newbies out there and really run the bill up’. So I can’t drive for them to get experience, and without two years experience I can’t drive for them. *sighs*   That’s over then. I’ve already downloaded and printed off an application form for a class II driver. I’ll get that off tomorrow. Also I’ll have to get back in touch with the army, get that ball rolling again. FFS! The tour is back on the table as possibly the only route to experience. Shit.   Bit bloody miffed, me. Buck.

Good news at last! After the trauma of that 20 mile run my confidence was badly shaken. Two days later, in better weather conditions I set out to a do a long run again. I couldn’t face the whole 20 miles so I set myself a ‘there and back’ target. Run out for 1:15, then turn around and run back. The first half of the 20 mile course being the flatter, therefore easier.   I set off at an easy pace and just kept going, by the time I got to my half way point I was still feeling pretty fresh so I just carried on. I did the full circuit in one attempt, no stopping for breathers, and I knocked 14 minutes of my previous time. It was still a poor time, but the point is; it’s 14 minutes faster, and I now know I can do 20 miles. Next time I won’t even think about quitting. That is the odd thing, when you’ve done it once and know you can do it, the next time you have to do at least as well.   A major worry I’ve been having is the swimming. It is my weakest discipline and if you don’t make the time in the swim you’ve failed the whole race. Now I have my funky Ironman watch I’ve been using it to count lengths. Or rather, 4 length blocks, which is 100m. The time before last I failed by 4 lengths (to reach the half IM goal of 1.2 miles in an hour). When I first did it I was working off an incorrect calculation of lengths required so I thought I was there or there abouts. Turns out I was way out. I’ve been chipping little bits off the time but nothing substantial.Like I said, the swim before last I was still 4 lengths (just over 3 minutes) short of the standard. My best block (4 lengths/ 100m) being 3 minutes, most being 3.16- 3.26. Yesterday I set out and was pulling strong. I am still weak and slow, don’t get me wrong, I do get overtaken by people doing breast-stroke. But not as many, and not as quickly. For me, I was pulling strong. I got to 40 minutes and although I was knackered I realized I still had the strength to keep going, so I forced the pace for the last 20 minutes. I came home and worked out my blocks and time, and I’d done it! You need 77.25 lengths for 1.2 miles, I’d done 78! Scraped in, but I was chuffed to bits. A few swims ago some of my blocks had been 3.42, now I was doing 3.06’s regularly. I said to Wendy that now I know I can maintain the pace I’ll try and get each block under 3 minutes. Went for a swim this morning and had one block of 3.0, all the rest were under! That was supposed to be a short-ish term goal! Achieved the […]

I went in to arrange the next step on my scheme to get me driving at my works today. I finally tracked down Claire, the manager who set up the arrangement. She confirmed where I was up to; I’d been out with the drivers on my days off, now I was going for another assessment. Which in itself was a change of plan. I have done an assessment, been out with the drivers, the next step was supposed to be some reversing practice in the yard with the assessor and going out with a driver with him doing the delivery and me driving the truck back. I’m not in a position to argue the toss so I said ‘yes, assessment it is’. She got on the ‘phone to one of the other managers. A lengthy conversation later she said ‘as you’ve not fulfilled our usual recruitment criteria, (ie having two years driving experience) we will have to talk to the customer (Iceland) and see if they will let you drive our trucks.’ FFS! 1, They used to run a ‘warehouse-to-wheels’ scheme so should of already ironed all this out. 2, As they haven’t they should have realised they would have to sort it out. 3 They should have sorted it out before having me come in on my days off, unpaid.   The conclusion was; she is going to have to bring it up in the period review (when Iceland bosses and my DHL mangers get together). There to agree a policy and ‘set it in stone’ so it is not an ad hoc affair, with decisions being taken on the hoof. That is four weeks away. So I have to wait four weeks until I get a decision as to whether I can drive for DHL or not. If I can, the assessment is going to be a ‘live review’. Which is to say, I won’t be driving around a test course or practising in the yard, I will take a truck out and make a delivery with the assessor watching me. And, again without any sort of practise, back it through parked cars and into the delivery area. No pressure there then. I couldn’t even reverse it in to an open bay on my first assessment, and that was in the yard.   No point in worrying about that yet. I may not even get the chance to try.   In other news, disaster has struck with my training. About two weeks ago I went out with a driver who was recovering from a nasty bug, which I duly and promptly caught. It was totally enervating so I didn’t train for a week. When I got back to it I realised I should be doing a twenty mile run, to keep up with my training schedule for the Welsh marathon in eight weeks. Also I’d received the latest edition of Triathletes World, in which they stated that to train properly on a treadmill you should set it at […]

I have identified my weakest of weaknesses when it comes to this triathlon lark; the swimming. The last two sessions I’ve taken my Ironman watch so I could use the lap timer to keep track of how many lengths I’ve done. For the half Ironman distance triathlon the swim is ‘only’ 1.2 miles, but being such a piffling distance they knock twenty minutes off what would be half the time of the full one. So it’s 2.4 miles in 2 hours 20 minutes for full distance, 1.2 miles in 1 hour for the half. Bastards. The last two or three times I’ve timed it and I’ve been about three or four minutes outside the time. And it is really knackering. I don’t seem to have the strength to go faster or longer. I suppose I should look at the positives, it’s not long since I was struggling to do 40 metres, and I think I’ve got the breathing sorted now. It used to be the whole of the battle was just trying to avoid drowning every time I took a breath, now I’ve got the the stage where I would say I am actually comfortable with it. Now I am busy trying to get my stroke right, stay flat on top of the water and not twist my body with each stroke. Not really thinking about breathing any more. So things are improving, if not as quickly as I’d like. I just have to practise until I develop muscles and a good technique. The running is coming along well. It is only eleven weeks until my first full marathon race so I am following a training plan for that. I have been doing my running on the treadmill at the gym. It is a brilliant bit of kit! When you are doing distance running you are a bit cautious. It doesn’t do to run nine miles at a good speed, then be too knackered to continue, nine miles from home. Also, you get into a comfortable (it’s a relative term) rhythm and it’s hard to get faster. On the treadmill you can see what speed you are doing, can commit to it (if you can’t finish you can always step off) and can easily monitor your progress. The good/ bad thing is you overheat really quickly. The sweat pisses off me. This is good training for summer though (when most of my races take place). In this months ‘Triathletes World’ they had a few top tips on running; putting the treadmill at 1% mimics real road running and running up tight to the front of the machine forces you to take faster, shorter strides putting your foot under your centre of gravity thus making your gait more efficient. I have had a few notable successes. I said before that after a 56 mile bike ride I still managed to knock a minute off my time for a half marathon. My last big run, an 18 miler, I was feeling good […]