Lions in Africa and the Socialites

I know it's late, but you'll be glad to know we made it to Goblins Cove in one piece.

Great ride from Bedfordview to Zoo Lake to Bryanston to Cedar Drive to Cradle of Mankind to Hekpoort. It was about 100k's and took us about 4 and half hours including some faff time watching some friends doing the Zoo lake run. Nick Stephenson hooked up with us at the zoo. He kept the pace honest and showed us the roads. Having someone who knows the area and where to ride single file is invaluable. Doug Stott was waiting for us at Bryanston which paired us up nicely and we then worked our way through to the Rhino and Lion Park. This is where we took a quick pic of us and the Lions (above). Only in good ol' ZA could you do such a thing.


It adds character and grit to the environment. And people wonder how we end up with tigers on the loose. Although adherence to rules is essential for a practical and safe society, having things like this is what makes South Africa special. You never forget you were once part of the wildlife.



As for blogging, I've noticed a huge amount of pressure with work, family, The Cows, the triathlon club and preparing at home for arrival of "le bebe numero troi". As I type I am on a flight to the UK and then on to San Francisco. It's the jetsetting lifestyle but when you are maxed out at work, there's little time to savour the moment.

I digress. This picture tells it all.
The biggest hurdle faced by most people I know is the relentless flurry of social engagements which fill the social calendar. I have a large family with lots of kids all over the place, so weekends are usually filled staring at Liquorice All Sorts and jelly babies while keeping an eye on the jungle gym.

Being an athlete is usually at the bottom of the list. I treat it as being a superhero. I don't tell anyone about what I do, I just get on with it in my Hyperbaeric Chamber, try not to get noticed and clean up after myself. That helps with consistency and clearing of the mind.

The next few weeks will be action filled with doing work for The Cows and helping guide the Apocalypse Cow Team to a 2h30m 94.7 Cycle race. That's pretty quick but I have some uber-cyclists in front of the pack so we may be able to get close. So far we have 180 cows and have raised R800,000. The targets are way too high (cos that's how we roll), but who knows - we may get lucky.

One week in San Fran will be actionpacked running around looking for triathlon stores to go perve over some bikes and running gear. With the dollar as weak as it is, I may even splurge.

Whatever you are getting up to in the next week,

give it horns and do not go gentle into that good night,

~RobbyRicc

The Hyperbaric Chamber

A Hyperbaric chamber is a land-based sealable pressure vessel with a hatch
large enough for people to enter and exit, and an air compressor to raise the
internal air pressure.

It's taken me a while, but with the World Cup and Tour de France out the way, the time has come to build RobbyRicc's Hyperbaric Chamber. You may have heard various athletes refer to their training quarters as "The House of Pain", "The Torture Chamber", The Laboratory", "The Sweat Shop", "The Man Cave". I needed a name which represented a high performance centre as a breeding ground of excellence and pushing the limits of human endurance. And something where there was a constant form of pressure.

Luckily Natalie allowed me the use of the pram store room to build the Chamber. Don't ask me how, but we have 5 prams. I blame the peddlers of baby-gear for confusing the wife into thinking more is better. I digress.

Thankfully my brother, Marco aka Mucky, is an architect. He's the guy I'd call if there was ever a body that had to be buried. After a cup of coffee and a quick design, we headed off to Builders Warehouse (where the real men hang out) and bought the items we needed for the HC's shelving.

Pine boards 3 x 2.4m x 380 (backshelves)
Pine boards 3 x 2.4m x 530 (main shelves)
SA Pine 3 x (32 x 32) x 2.4m (back shelving borders)
SA Pine 3 x (32 x 32) x 3m (main shelving borders)
SA Pine 3 x (32 x 69) x 3m (posts/struts)

Mucky doing calculations for the pieces of wood that Builders Warehouse would need to cut to size.

Here's what BW charged. R2k on the nose. Not bad. If I had bought the wobbly standalone shelves that would have set me back about an extra grand. If I had someone do the shelves for me (that wasn't related), that would have been about double.

Every man worth his salt should get a jigsaw. Those things are the bomb.

Obligatory builder's crack.
I don't measure. My artistic side makes me just want to go with the flow. Thankfully Mucky is a perfectionist.

And voila! Not bad. I am really pleased with the result.

Also, for those technically savvy out there, I figured out my FTP (Functional Threshold Pace). In a nutshell you smash yourself to bits for 20 minutes on the turbo trainer and take note of the average watts you push out. 5% off that and *hey presto* you get your FTP. Mine worked out to 266 watts which is the same as an above average junior school cheerleader on a sugar high.

There is much work to be done!

Getting ready to roll,

RobbyRicc