The trouble with cheap water bottles

Recently I was given some BeetActive to try out.  This is some concentrated beetroot juice which I'm told is good to take pre-exercise for various reasons.  I'll go into those reasons some other time as this post is actually about the woes of cheap nasty bottles and why I now hate them.

You need to imagine the scene.  My desk at work is in a large office at my local authority; in fact there's just over 100 desks in my area.  I had some of the said concentrated beetroot juice to drink during the afternoon before a gym session after work.  We have a small kitchen area nearby and that's where I mixed up the drink.  This was pretty straightforward really - 30ml concentrate into the bottle and then fill up with cold water to make 500mls.

I brought it back to my desk.  A couple of colleagues were quite interested in this and were keen to know what it tasted like and whether it made any difference in performance.  There was nothing left to do apart from sit down and try said drink.  I pulled the little cap up and tried to drink - nothing coming out.  Next I bit it with my front teeth to pull it a little further, to see if that made any difference.  It didn't.

Feeling determined and a certain unspoken pressure from my audience, I decided the next step was to unscrew the back top and simply drink from the bottle.  What could possibly go wrong I thought?  Surely the worst would be that I didn't like the taste?

In full view of a growing audience I tried it.  Not bad.  Someone asked me what it was like.  I explained it tasted like, err, beetroot.  Then there were sniggers around and someone kindly pointed out the dribble which had run down my shirt.  My shirt was a very light pastel pink colour with a HUGE stain of BRIGHT RED BEETROOT juice on.

It was Claire who said "Doug it looks like you've been shot!" followed by a few chuckles from my colleagues.

"Maybe you could go to the cafe and ask for some detergent?"

Instead I have some alcohol wipes for cleaning my glasses and I peeled one of these out of the packet.  It mostly worked.  Nearby on a cupboard was a hand cleanser dispenser and I asked someone to pass it over.  This diluted the stain reasonably well and enough for being in the office without looking as if I'd been in some shoot-out.  I got home, explained what had happened and in no time my shirt was off and in the washing machine.

So the moral of the story is to be wary of cheap, nasty water bottles - especially ones filled with beetroot juice.  Perhaps the worst kind of cheap nasty bottle are those given to you free of charge - it's hard then to complain!  My advice, therefore, is to avoid these horrible, nasty water bottles like the plague.

Veggie chat at the carvery

A couple of days ago we went out for an evening carvery meal with some friends.  Certainly an interesting experience as I'd not been there before.

Carvery meals are quite good value if you're a meat eater.  You get a fairly generous serving of meat, a Yorkshire pudding and then plenty of vegetables which can be re-filled any number of times, all for under £5.00.  For myself as a vegetarian there was a limited choice but seemed, on the face of it, quite good.  Knowing I was with friends, this was all good.

Without any engineering on my part, the conversation quickly got around to food and, in particular, vegetarian food.  The conversation was delightfully light-hearted and picked up on a recent Facebook post of mine where I confessed to having not enjoyed my lentil and chutney sandwich I recently found in my lunch box.  This led to great hilarity and then we got onto vegetarian food with the spot light shining on me.  Some friends were intrigued and some felt somewhat sorry for Rachel in having to prepare food with and without meat.  I did wonder if they were secretly wanting to be vegetarians themselves, perhaps I'll never know.

After a while I thought it was time to turn the tables and commented on the recent news reports where we are all advised to eat 10 portions of fruit and veg, rather than just five.

"So how many portions do you eat?  Can I ask each of you?"

David immediately jumped in as the group's witty entertainer "oh I don't have a problem with this, especially if you include potatoes, pasta and so on.  Yep I'm there easily!" Then there was a sigh with "no, probably not enough".

Gerry followed as the natural leader in the group, looking pretty prosperous these days with "hmmm there's some raisons in my muesli so that must count as at least one portion, plus look at this meal!".

"Really, you count half a dozen raisons as a portion?  Nah sorry Gerry, you need more than that".

Gerry's wife Janet came next.  She's tall, very slim and probably an ectomorph.  She turned the table on me a little by asking why I was a vegetarian and also for how long.  Now while I have no difficulty in answering this, what do you say when you're with a group of valued friends that will be disagreeing with them on this very profound point.  I also knew if I really launched into my reasoning I would be insulting my friends and spoiling the meal, so it was quite a dilemma.

So looking directly at Janet, I quietly said "I made the decision about 10 years ago because I was wanting to improve my health.  Also because I was worried about the supply chain ethics".

That could have been lighting the touch paper in such pleasant company.  Did I dum down the stance I have taken or argue my point?  I decided to leave it at that having answered the question in the most concise way I could.

Since then the conversation has been on my mind.  I feel as if I have not explained myself to someone who was genuinely wanting to know.  This was brought home to me as I found myself reading through a copy of Viva! (the vegan magazine) which was lying around in the kitchen.  Page after page is argument after argument in favour of being a vegan.  The evidence of improved health, lifespan, lower rates of cancers, heart attacks and so on is pretty powerful.  Add to that the horrors of modern production-line farming methods I feel so guilty at only being vegetarian.

This is all such a dilemma.  In my heart of hearts I know being a vegan is right for me.  Giving up all kinds of dairy, eggs and the occasional piece of fish is quite daunting.  And then I remind myself I quit smoking way back in the 20th century, along with alcohol.  Then 10 years ago I became a vegetarian and then in 2015 I quit caffeine.

So is becoming a vegan really so difficult?

Cycling in Barcelona

Cyclists at sunrise, Barcelona

Cycling in Barcelona is pleasant and easy going on the whole; I thought I'd give a few reflections here on the general cycling scene.

Right from the start of our visit, there were cyclists almost everywhere in Barcelona.  They were weaving their way around the city on roads, pavements and through the numerous car-free areas.  This was lovely to see and nobody seemed to mind.  Quite a contrast from here in England when people often become really upset when a cyclist steps out of line.

Barcelona cyclists seem to fall into a few groups:

Hardcore - these were often men, well muscled and dressed in dark coloured sporty clothing.  They'd often be riding MTB 29ers in a high gear, cruising along with seemingly little effort.  These Hardcores seemed polite and courteous as they weaved in and around people strolling along the seafront.  As a rule they'd have a helmet, dark glasses and be very serious looking.  In fact they almost reminded me of those futuristic movies where you'd have military type guards with all kinds of weapons and body armour.  Perhaps this is an exaggeration but you could nevertheless see the connection with a good number.

Viu BiCiNg in Barcelona

Everyday commuters - generally these cyclists used the distinctive Viu BiCiNg red and white bicycles which were commonly available for local residents to use.  These apparently are cheap and easy to use.  On my early morning outings I saw them being checked over and the number of bikes being topped up at some of the docking stations.  Other everyday commuters used their own bikes, generally fairly basic machines and only rarely did I spot anything which was remotely exotic; apparently this is to do with the high level of petty crime and thefts.  These cyclists tended to be young or young-at-heart and would amble their way around looking pretty content with life.  None of them seemed to be in too much of a hurry.  Very Barcelona, very Spain!

Gentlemen of the road - There were quite a few signs of homelessness.  This is quite a complex and tricky subject which spans relationship breakdown, addictions, mental health needs and so on.  All of which I can't really cover here.  There were, however, a few homeless men which I spotted and they were using bicycles as a means of transporting themselves and their worldly goods around.  Quite a sad sight I thought and yet there were also signs of ingenuity and resourcefulness with how they had accomplished their transport.

Tourists - now I have to be careful as this is the category we are found in!  This kind of cyclist, it has to be said, are a pain in the neck.  They meander around, not knowing where they're going and stand out like a sore thumb.  Thankfully most of the Barcelona local folk are very tolerant and accept these tourists quite happily.

There are a good number of places where you can hire bikes from and they all seem to charge around €15 a day, give or take a bit.

We got ours from a little place we found near our hotel and run by a chap from Finland.  He was, it has to be said, a little reserved although his English was astonishingly good. He's the kind of person, I suspected, would have a fascinating story which I tried to tease out in conversation.  He's a traveller heart, not wanting to settle anywhere for too long because of his wanderlust.  He had made it to Barcelona through a lengthy cycle tour and was content to be running the cycle hire business on behalf of the absent owner for the time being.  In fact this shop, tiny and very unlikely in a residential area side street, had an interesting stock with everything from well equipped city bikes (which we hired) right up to decent quality road bikes.

I bet you'd only ever see tourists using an outside escalator to avoid cycling up a hill?  Once again, nobody seemed to mind although perhaps they were amused "oh look at those tourists trying to get their bikes up the escalator: they must be English!"

Tourists can also go on bike tours using an interesting mixture of bicycles.  These range from easy-to-ride fat tyre bikes, through to bamboo framed bikes.  I spotted one of these whizzing past us on the seafront when I remarked "wow a bamboo bike!" and the cyclist heard me, came back, grinning and delighted that someone had actually noticed the bamboo, handed me a leaflet and went off with his tour clients!

The trendies - now this was interesting and yet a bit sad, I thought.  There were a few "cool dudes" around on single speeds pretending to be on fixies.  These were generally dressed accordingly in the latest garb.

Owing to the number of people living in apartments, together with the amount of low-level crime and petty thefts, the foldable Brompton has become a logical choice for many as they're so easy to carry upstairs and simply leave safely in a hallway.  In recent years the Brompton has apparently become quite a fashion statement, a sign of prosperity and independence.  The Bromptons were generally unmodified and off-the-shelf.  Customisation options are relatively limited but there were a good number of classy Brooks leather saddles around, thus completing the look.

Old timers - every now and again I would spot a nice old bicycle, such as the Elvish in the above photograph.  Each one would remind me of those old Citroen 2CV's in rural France, those American classics in Cuba and green Morris Minors in quaint England.  Many will have been in constant use for decades, probably only doing short distances each time but still loyal, faithful bicycles which had stood the test of time.

Vintage Elvish mixte frame, Barcelona

We got talking to Marc (above photograph), a local chap who was trying out a vintage steel frame road bike.  Within no time he suggested I took it for a spin to try it out.  This was a reminder of how good some older steel frames can be.  Those, that is, which are made from decent steel tubing and produced in a skilful way (as opposed to the gas pipe derived frames with second rate components).  It's quite a shame this conversation took place on our penultimate day as I learnt about a vintage bicycle shop and a little more of the local scene.  From within this is a significant following for the older, classy bicycles of the late 20th century; the 1970s and 80s in particular.  Like I said, it was a delightful conversation and one where it would have been interesting to see where it could lead.

With this in mind, here's the link to the vintage cycle shop I mentioned - click here and here for their Facebook page.  I just wish I'd had more time to be able to explore this; perhaps another time!  Before I forget, there's a nice Vimeo film on their website which gives a nice feel to what they're trying to do and such a shame I don't understand the Spanish language!

Wrapping up

We really did like our little city break in Barcelona; it always amazes me how you can get to the Mediterranean in about two hours from London Luton Airport.  I liked the laid back, slightly care-free feel of cycling around Barcelona.

I don't think I spotted anyone who was obese; everyone seemed to be of good weight and appeared healthy - now I'm sure that's a sweeping generalisation but it's true - everyone seemed slim, smokers were a rarity and everyone looked pretty healthy to me.  I liked seeing glimpses of people along the seafront who were exercising and training.  These ranged from runners on their own, groups of men doing gymnastics and personal trainers with groups of clients having a workout.  All good stuff.

Additionally, I loved the climate, even in February!  If that's as cold as it gets, I could certainly live with this.  The height of the summer sees seriously high temperatures which I quite like, providing it's not too humid.  I'm not so sure about the alleged pollution problem which I guess maybe more noticeable in those still, sultry summer days?

Eating out wan't brilliant for me in avoiding meat but we didn't exactly starve.  You'll have seen on a previous post about a raw vegan restaurant which was very special in my view.

As a rule, we don't normally return to places once we've been there.  This is because I like to savour the memories and also because there's so many other places I've not been to.  Barcelona, I could make an exception here!

Early morning group workout, Barcelona

BBC 3CR Health Show

Myself and Nana Akua

I've been on the radio again!  This time I was the guest of Nana Akua and her excellent BBC 3CR Health Show which is broadcast at 1:00 - 2:00pm on Sundays.

The topic this time was all about managing stress and, as you know, this is something which I've experienced and was the catalyst for all of this running, cycling and blogging.

Nana was such a lovely person to be interviewed by.  We started the conversation off with me explaining the nature of the stress I was under.  This was all about workplace based stress and how the stress levels were affecting me.  The conversation flowed through taking  up cycling, running and joining a gym.

Also Nana surprised me by commenting on my skin and saying how nice it was - now that was a first for me!  I don't think anyone has ever commented on my skin before.  The funny thing is that this happened TWICE - once in the off-air sound check and also once we were on the air!

I must admit to feeling a tad nervous (dry mouth etc) to start with as I didn't know her at all but once the conversation was underway it seemed to run okay.  It's always fascinating being in a radio station and being interviewed live, even though it's a little nerve wracking to start off with.  In fact I'd say I love having opportunities to talk about dealing with stress and healthy living.

Just after my slot there was the show's regular smoothie challenge.  This is where guests and callers pick which ingredients go into the smoothie - now some of these are a bit weird (coffee granules, pesto sauce, mustard) and it is either down to the Producer or Presenter to drink the smoothie.  You know what, this really did happen, it wasn't simply sound effects!

Related:

Hitting the Three Counties Radio airwaves, again

Talking about the Busway on 3CR

Nana Akua's website

Vegan restaurant in Barcelona

Vegan restaurant in Barcelona

I was beginning to despair at the limited choice of food on our recent Barcelona trip.  Most restaurant and cafe menus were dominated by meat, fish and omelettes.  A quick internet search at our hotel led us to this brilliant restaurant called the Cafe Blue Project.

We quickly got into a conversation with one of the members of staff who helpfully guided us through the menu and happily told us a little about the place.  It seemed there was such a shortage of vegan restaurants in Barcelona and this really was a good find. The Cafe Blue Project serves vegetarian and vegan food, also it was pointed out how keen they are to support the raw food movement.  The food, as you might expect, is all organic and they're making a valid statement about being able to run a sound business on ethical principles.  They're only too happy to talk about their heritage, their vision and what they're trying to do.

Javier Medvedovsky

We got to see a book by renowned chef Javier Medvedovsky (above) who has given them so much inspiration and has guided their menu planning.

One thing I always look out for in whole food restaurants is what the staff look like. Are they fat, slim, healthy looking or on their knees?  All the staff who I encountered were certainly bright, healthy looking and were enthusiastic and proud of the food they serve.

The Good Roll

I went for one of the raw food options and it was mind-glowingly good!  I had the Good Roll which cost me €12 and it was a vegan roll stuff with magic hummus (normally ground chick peas, sesame sees, olive oil, lemon, garlic), onion, olives, carrots, sprouted seeds and some salad leaves.  It was so flavoursome and, of course, utterly healthy!  I could taste so many of the different flavours individually and it all came together beautifully.   The actual flat bread appears to be a mixture of seeds which are ground and pressed together and some kind of dehydrating method is used to achieve the right structure.  Not a quick procedure it would seem; moreover one with time, care and attention to the right ingredients and flavours.

Beetroot, ginger, lemon & carrot smoothie

In terms of what I had to drink, I decided to try out a smoothie.  Not cheap but worth every cent.  I went for the Beetroot Smoothie in which ginger, carrot and lemon are carefully blended together.  This was surprisingly sweet and lovely; again I could almost taste every single flavour!  This was followed up by a coffee which, was okay, was not outstanding in anyway.

I liked the overall ambience.  As soon as you walk in through the door you are met with that certain 'whole food' aroma which is always promising.  Although the premises are quite grand on the outside, it was fairly down-to-earth inside with a nice pleasant style.  Everything was easy going and informal, which is how I prefer things if I'm on holiday.  I did like the decor which was rustic, contemporary and quite stylish.  This is such a welcome change from the rather cold, uniform decor in so many restaurant chains.  I would certainly like to have been there at different times of the day, perhaps on a summer's evening, where I think the experience would be entirely different - perhaps another time!  I could also have enjoyed chatting more extensively with the staff, alas we were there as paying guests and, as time went on, they were becoming increasingly busy and filling up with new, hungry customers (not that there was any rush at all).

If you go there and have the time, it's worth checking out the gallery which is alongside.  While we were there the exhibition was certainly interesting and thought provoking.  This reinforces some of their vision with the project not simply being a restaurant or cafe; there's far more to take in.

As mentioned earlier, we think this vegan restaurant in Barcelona was quite a find and our experience there simply adds to the memory of a near perfect February holiday in Barcelona.  Highly recommended.

Here's their website - Blue Project Foundation

Here's just a few more photos to give you the feel of the place:

Barcelona in February

Early in the year we had a little holiday - Barcelona in February!  

February is, in my view, the most difficult, drab, dull month of the whole year and a chance to visit Spain was irresistible.  There's quite a bit to tell you about over the next few blog posts and this is also a nice way for me to re-live the experience.

I went there with Rachel, my wife.  We were there for a week and returned over the last weekend.  Re-adjusting to the cold, heavy thick clouds has been more of a shock now we have returned: I can certainly understand why many decide to settle in Spain on a semi permanent basis.

Regrets
The main regret which springs to mind is that I didn't get talking to enough people while I was there - as you know I do like chatting!

Another regret is that we only scratched the surface of this fascinating city and generally I don't return to places I've already been to (but this could be an exception).

Regret number three is that I ate far too much food at breakfast time - this was a 'help yourself' buffet and we weren't exactly hungry for the rest of the day.  Most days we'd simply have a snack in the late afternoon following this enormous breakfast.

Getting there
We flew from Luton airport, so not too far for us.  It always amazes me how far you can go in a couple of hours.  By bike you can make roughly 30 miles.  By car I could drive to Bristol, just over 100 miles away.  Through flying we can reach the Mediterranean Sea and I do love flying!  I always love bagging a window seat and pressing my nose against the window to watch the world beneath flash by - it's brilliant for all kinds of mind wandering, day dreaming, chewing things over.

While we were there

• I had a run each morning along the seafront (and managed to misjudged an obstacle causing me to fall and damage my elbow and shoulder)
• Got chatting to the staff inside a vegan restaurant - more to follow
• Saw some homeless men who use bicycles to keep their worldly possessions moving along - more to follow
• Got talking to a bike rental shop manager
• Hired some city bikes
• Got talking to a cyclist who is a fan of vintage bicycles, which lead to some interesting correspondence - more to follow
• Appreciated the near perfect climate and feeling of well-being that seems to be in places like Barcelona

Related

Previous post - Cycling in Spain

Blogging update

Well, here I am again feeling very sorry for myself having not blogged here for quite a long time.  My other blog The Cycle Hub has had more attention and far more page hits.  The simple solution is to spend more time blogging, true, and as an alternative I can bring a few posts across here to start the momentum going.  So that's what I'm aiming to do.

In the meantime, please allow me to explain where I am.

Physically I'm sitting in my car at Grafham Water Visitor Centre's large car park.  My youngest daughter is doing a powerboat licence course at the nearby Sailing Centre.  After dropping her off I had a nice run, all around Graham Water and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I managed an average pace of 8:35/mile which isn't too bad and means I covered the 8.8 miles in 1hr 16mins.  I have my Mac connected to my phone which is providing a hotspot.

In terms of where I am in life, that's a bit more involved in the sense there's more to say:

• Exercise - I'm still running as you can tell from the briefest report of this morning's run around Graham Water.  I guess I do about 15 miles a week generally, somewhat less than 2015 when I cracked over 1,000 miles in the year.  I'm not cycling much these days, tends to be local cycling with a little commuting thrown in.
• Gym - I have put my membership on hold for the next three months, with it being summer.  Although I have quite a good deal (i.e. local authority staff discount) I'm not convinced I get the best value out of it but I can tell you a little more about that another time.
• Family - all fine.  Eldest daughter is at University reading pure maths, pretty heavy stuff in my view what with ealing with imaginary numbers.  Apparently conventional numbers (0, 1, 2, 3 etc) are too limiting.  Youngest daughter is at college having taken the residential option and doing various outdoor things which she thoroughly enjoys, compared to written assignments.  Rachel my wife continues to be my most important and loving friend, soulmate and the person I'm so pleased to have made so many solemn promises to way back in the last century when we got married.
• Work - I've moved away from the murky world of criminal justice.  It was the appalling privatisation programme which finished me off.  Although large numbers of staff left through redundancy packages, some very generous, I held on trying to see the changes through, survived the eye watering restructure and then decided to resign.  I did this as I just didn't like what was left, not to mention the shysters who were the new owners.  When will the Conservative Government learn there are some things which should be retained in the public sector?
• Health - now I'm 55 I regret to say I have hit a few snags.  I'll blog about these soon and if the truth is known, I'm still in a sort of denial about some issues which have emerged.

So there you go, a brief update on where I am.  Please contact me in the usual way if you'd like to, or alternatively leave a comment below.

Sleep tips for athletes

I love sleeping.  Getting good sleep is so important and this ‘Sleep like a Champion’ infographic caught my eye.  While its about Sleep tips for athletes – it’s all so true for everyone!

It normally takes me 20 seconds to fall asleep at night, perhaps even less if I’ve had a run or a bike ride during the day.  Now I don’t think I can prove this but sometimes I almost know when I’m having a really good, deep sleep.  I can almost feel my body repairing itself!      This is a strange feeling and one which I do like when I remember it.

Thinking about it, I normally get about 7.5 hours sleep each night, so I guess this is in the right range, although I do admit that I like the idea of having a nap or a siesta in the afternoon.  Not that that is ever going to happen!  How about you – how many hours sleep do you get?

My friends at Casper, a start-up business that has been committed to sleep since the creation of their comfortable mattress, shared this graphic with me in hope of spreading better sleep habits to all athletes!

Update

Eerie rainbow, quite recent, brings hope

This winter had seriously dragged on for me, plus its been pretty eventful for us as a family.  Life seems to have thrown quite a lot at us lately.  It is at these testing times when my faith has an important part to play makes a real difference.  Faith also provides answers in the most unexpected of ways and, as I discovered a few years back, taking good care of myself, eating well and staying fit has provided me with the ability to weather the various storms which seem to come along from time to time.

Stress
People say there are key sources of stress which seem to have the biggest impact these days.  Moving house, divorce are said to be among those but happily these don't apply here.  Instead the sudden and unexpected loss of my father on New Year's Eve was a terrible shock, as mentioned in the last post here.  And then a few days later I was starting my new job.  Both huge events for me having never lost a parent before and in terms of changing jobs, this was the first change of this scale for 23 years.

It seemed the short days and long dark nights were hampering me in terms of running and cycling.  Now spring has properly arrived I am pleased that I was able to keep ticking over to position me well for now as my mileage picks up.  I am seriously having to resist the temptation of sprinting ahead too fast in terms of increasing my mileage.  This is hard going, especially as I have had some nice runs and there is always the temptation of saying "I want some more of that" and then head out for another run before recovering properly.

Gym, again
So instead I've joined a gym (again!).  This time it's the shiny new leisure centre at Flitwick, Bedfordshire.  It's not exactly local but it's on my way home from work and, because I now work for the Council, I get a discount.  Fifty percent in fact.  That's cool.

I quite like doing 'people watching' while I'm doing a bit of cardio.  Quite a range of people; their ages, body weight, fitness and so on. I feel another blog coming on about that another time.

So now I'm feeling positive, optimistic and hopeful.  The days are getting longer and life is getting easier.  I've had some nice runs of late, including another with my friend Jon as we've both entered the St Albans Half in June.  Seriously looking forward to that but simply no idea if I'll come anywhere near my PB on that race (I think it was around 1:45).