Railway Mania

The recent revitalisation of our railways is very welcome, albeit a little unexpected. Leaving aside the day-to-day fiasco’s of delayed trains, overcrowding, expensive tickets, as well as the usual day-day exasperations. Or the HS2 debacle of an entire new planned (sic) route that will take thirty years to build, on the promise to save a half hours journey time (presumably sometime within that time period) and obliterate entire green belts in the process. Beyond all that - there are encouraging signs that the railways are no longer the forgotten and under-valued public transport it seems to have been regarded in the past decades.

For a start there are revitalised lines. After a short campaign of some 41 years, a restored train service between Swanage and Wareham is to happen by 2015. This is a picturesque line in the tourist county of Dorset with Enid Blyton type views of the dramatic Corfe Castle. Should be a great tourist attraction as well as practical rail route. While up in Whitby the Coastal Communities Fund is investing in the North Yorkshire Moors Railway which will fund a new platform at Whitby for this heritage railway. Along with other renovation work this will hopefully boost the tourist economy. Rumours that the Dracula line is to be dug up are untrue say local reporter Bram Stoker. OK I made that last bit up!.

More seriously, many of our great train stations are being restored. There is the newly rebuilt St Pancras station in London. A great restoration of this grand gothic style building. Nearby King's Cross station is also been revitalised. What used to be a dirty scruffy looking area has been re-modelled to represent our traditional railway architecture in an impressive contemporary setting. The Grade 1 listed building, designed by Cubitt in 1852, has been restored in partnership with English Heritage, retaining and displaying many of the original features. With a stunning new concourse, the largest single-span structure in Europe, along with its glass mezzanine walkway already built, the final phase is due soon with the removal of the tatty old green signage and the installation of the new public square, bringing a European feel to the place.

The new London Blackfriars station, to be built on the Victorian bridge of 1886, is set to be a landmark, being the first station to span the river Thames. An innovative roof, made up of over 4K solar photovoltaic (PV) panels will provide over 50% of the stations energy needs, and will reduce CO2 emissions. There will also be a rain harvesting systems and sun pipes for natural lighting. While in Birmingham New Street there will be a whole new larger concourse, as well as a giant atrium, allowing natural light throughout the station and to all 12 refurbished platforms, which should be completed by 2015.

Further afield the Grand Central terminal in New York has just celebrated one hundred years, the brainchild of William Wilgus who is reputed to have said "It was the most daring idea that ever occurred to me”. And it is not just trains and buildings. Recently thousands of people applied for the 18 jobs as train drivers on the new Borders to Edinburgh rail route. Scotrail says that they are dealing with the sheer volume of applications, representing that 125 people applied for each post. It seems affection for our railways is endemic and at last our national institution is being looked after.

You get the high street you deserve...

There have been big high street casualties before – it’s still a surprise not to see a Woolworths on the high street. Recently Jessops (the camera people) have gone into administration in January, now so have Blockbuster and so have HMV. Following Comet’s failure at the end of last year it’s a huge impact on the high street and a devastating impact on all the experienced people working in these stores. While many economists can talk dispassionately about “effective business models” and “slow to respond to market changes” analysis, maybe there is a more worrying trend, that is also more personal, showing up here.

Repeatedly consumers are proudly boasting that they see an item in high street shops and then buy it elsewhere – saving money and often (or even exclusively) purchasing online. It might seem economic suicide not to adopt this model – I mean we all like saving money in these hard times. But for many years I return to the same shop to buy new running shoes. The reason is the service, they know about running, they provide helpful advice and guidance, and by supporting them I am keeping them in business to continue for me and others. I can definitely take all the details of the exact running shoe that I like, and have tried out, and they have taken so long to advise me about, and go home and shop online and save lots of money. But I don’t. And I’m not sure that I agree with those that so obviously do.

It’s not just bad manners. In some ways I feel such people are almost abusing some tacit trade-off between buyer and seller. So while I recognise that companies that don’t change or provide poor service or charge inflated prices don’t deserve to stay in business; I don’t agree with a model that adopts a "view for real and then buy online". Maybe as a society we truly will get the shops we deserve. As such shops disappear and we don’t have any choice but to shop online maybe there will be a business boom in smaller specialist shops again. And in a final irony, quite often at my favourite running shop, they nip into the back and re-appear with a pair of identical shoes I’ve chosen that are last year’s colours and offer them to me at a big discount.

Just going for it

Ideas like let’s run from the top to the very bottom of New Zealand. Oh and try and do it in record breaking time.....

It’s one of those ideas that probably starts with a kid and a map of the world.

But to actually do it - well that’s something else. Jez Braggs is running from the very top to the very bottom of New Zealand. Really just on that traditional principle of because it is there. But he is also going to try and do it in the fastest time - some 50 days of running in diverse terrain of over 1,800 miles.

As well as the exhilarating run along the Te Araroa (The long Pathway) he will also be taking a canoe interlude with an 80-mile canoe trip down the Whanganui river, halfway down the North island, and a paddle across the demanding 17-mile Cook Strait expedition. It helps that Jez is one of those ultra-runners so should be fit and experienced enough to actually be able to do it. As he says “in training for the big trail races, I noticed that the parts where I had the most fun was when I was on long runs in remote places; I really enjoyed losing myself in the runs where the journey was more the point than the destination”

The greatest thing about such expeditions is just the sheer boy-hood (you can replace that with girl-hood if you prefer) adventure of it. It’s just one of those things you wish you could do yourself. Next best thing is to read Jez’s adventures about it. Enjoy!

Looking forward and looking good for cycling

So we had the immense highs of the Tour de France with Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish, aka Wiggo and Cav. Then the wonder of the Olympics and especially the British track team. Only to be followed by the lows of Lance Armstrong being stripped of his cycling achievements and the incessant arguments and counter arguments over whether it was true or not. Then Wiggo, Cav and the British Cycling coach Shane Sutton all had crashes in separate incidents. A real post-Olympic low.

Changes are underway and Wiggo, Cav and Shane are all back on their bikes and the GB cycling team are already back and competing. On the track Britain's Olympic champion Laura Trott has won omnium gold at the Track World Cup, held at what is now the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow. Welsh cyclist Becky James partnered with Jess Varnish to win gold in the team sprint. Importantly, Dave Brailsford, Britain's performance director, who many view as the mastermind behind British cycling success announced he would lead the cycling team at the 2016 Olympics. Brailsford is excited about another crop of talented youngsters and described 18-year-old Elinor Barker's World Cup debut as "outstanding". While Brailsford may have had lots of other opportunities open to him he says “You stop, assess things, work out what you want to do. That's a natural thing to do. It was the same after Beijing - you get a bit of success and people are interested, keen to know how you do it. If I wasn't enthusiastic I'd stop, because I don't need to do this. The moment I stop enjoying it I won't do it.". UK sport, the governing body and responsible for Britain’s coaching development policy, are implementing changes for sustained progress and that does mean there are changes among the existing crop of coaches.

The head coach of GB’s track and field events is to depart his role. Charles van Commenee has guided the likes of Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford at the London Olympics and has chosen to step down. The British athletic team had a medal target of between five and eight for London 2012, but Van Commenee set the bar at eight and said he would walk away if it was not achieved. Despite finishing with six, four of which were gold, he has decided to leave the team. He commentated "Success can be measured in many different ways. And I would say that if you look at all the factors from every angle it was a success. But the thing is I have been very clear, throughout these four years, about what targets mean and the difference between a target and an expectation, and a prediction and an ambition. I could easily have answered all the time: 'If it doesn't happen, we will look into the reasons why we didn't hit the target. Then we will make changes and adjustments.' Which is fair. That's what happens 99 out of 100 times. But I wanted to make a clear statement about these things because it helped – and still helps – the new culture of no excuses and sanctions. In other words, accountability is important, and I wanted to put my credibility and my destiny on the line, saying, 'Guys, this is a serious business. We need to change here. And I will lead'."

What an inspiration. There is no doubt Van Commenee set the scene for the athletic team success, the same as Brailsford has brought real sustained success and progress to British Cycling. Their efforts outshine sports like football where managers and coaches seem to be replaced on a whim. Maybe this is a new era for cycling and the drug cheats can truly be on the sidelines of sport, as they so justly deserve to be. And maybe this should be a model for some of our other “high achievers” – the politicians and bankers and other movers and shakers. Maybe they should measure themselves against these coaches to see if they are more the Lance Armstrong/Ferrari type or more the Brailsford and Van Commenee. If the latter we salute you!

Nice building, shame about the architecture!

With six building being shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling prize including the Olympic stadium it was a bit of a surprise that the £82m plant research centre at the University of Cambridge won the UK's most prestigious architecture award. Recently the Sainsbury Laboratory was named best new building by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The two-storey building, set in the University of Cambridge's botanic gardens, includes high security laboratories, growing areas and the university's seed store. Images of the building make it resemble some sort of eastern bloc monolith, albeit trendy and modern. Their website has all the appeal of a council-operated site.

Also short-listed was the Hepworth Wakefield art gallery. According to the BBC their director says the winner “isn't a building that excites me". Writing on his blog, he continues "I want to be a gracious loser with regard to the Stirling Prize, but it was especially hard to lose to a building with an enormous budget (dwarfing ours) in an extremely privileged city, and a project to which the public barely have access”. It would be nice to think that access and interesting social use of a building may have an impact on award decision making. Maybe the public test will be this - they both have café’s. Which one will we end up in?

Olympian Speeds

Straight after the success of the Olympics and the latest news is that us Brits are going for the land-speed record - again. Currently at over 760mph Andy Green and the team are aiming for 1K mph, the Bloodhound rocket project aims to hit 1,000mph in about 45 seconds.

As well as being an outsanding feat it will also showcase design and engineering and hopefully, much like the olympics legacy, inspire the next generation. Sharing in a speed bid is another UK team trying for the electric car land speed record of over 137mph, with a possible top speed of about 200mph.

While meanwhile the current generation are capable of inspiring feats still - a group of diabetic pilots attempt a celebration flight after their successful campaign.

Inland See

There shouldn’t really be much boat-y business going on in Milton Keynes, one of the most inland places in England! But this summer a fabulous boat arrived inland - a boat built from donated pieces of wood; wood that's played a part in the lives of thousands of people. Arriving during the fabulous IF festival as part of a unique project for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, the Lone Boat project was a great experience and a true pleasure to marvel over – Seen up close and out of the water it was possible to enjoy the fabulous designs and incredible woodwork – Great idea, great work and well worth a visit.

Allez Wiggo!

Like buses, cycling success comes along in three’s – nothing for ages and then suddenly Bradley Wiggins (Wiggo) wins the Tour de France, Chris Froome from the Sky team gets second place on the podium, and Mark Cavendish (Cav) wins the final sprint on the Champs Elysees.

It was truly stunning and a wonderful three weeks of exciting cycling and sterling demonstration of team work. Maybe it will impact cycling in the UK, more will get out on their bikes and there will be improved cycling conditions. Meanwhile the Olympics are nearly here and Wiggo and Cav will be racing again, this time for Olympic gold.

Tour de Olympics

Wimbledon is on, it’s raining in England and so it must be nearly time for the Tour de France. In this Olympic year it’s looking particularly good for the British, with Team Sky having Mark Cavendish looking strong if not unbeatable in the sprints, and Bradley Wiggins competing for the overall leader. In fact some rate Bradley more highly than last year’s winner Cadel Evans. It’s always ominous when British competitors look good, we are normally so much better taking the underdog approach. But today athletes train so much harder and have so much assistance (from diet to coaching) that measure their performance, and help them peak when they should. So the fact that these two great athletes are recognised is just a reflection that they really are ready to race for these accolades.

And of course, keep a bit in store so that they can compete in the Olympics and win as well. But with one of their main competitors, Andy Schleck, out through a recent cycling accident, it is three weeks of tension and nerves. Once again ideal preparation for the Olympics happening in London in just over a month. Happy days.

A little running is a dangerous thing

Every so often there’s a debate about whether running, from jogging for the bus, to ultra-marathons onwards, are good or bad for your health. there is no doubt that running can be hazardous while in central park, new york there’s disputes about who should be using the dirt path undulating around the Central Park reservoir known as the “runners’ track”, which now even has one-way signs posted to keep order.

In no doubt though is that running shoes have improved. Back in the days when I moved from doing football training to running there was a choice of plimsolls, football trainers (adidias) or Dunlop green flash. Soon came along trendy, fashionable, garish and expensive hi-tecs, and a few more years after that the start of proper running shoes from Nike and everyone else. I’ve since run in great shoes from new balance, brooks, saucony and asics; all a great improvement on the old-fashioned sports shoes. So things do improve with age.

Earthquake proof table

The design museum have recently announced the overall winner for their designs of the year 2012, which turns out to be the Olympic torch. The annual event is always an interesting and stimulating opportunity to see what’s been included and what is happening. With seven categories there tends to be something for everyone – and of course it always raises a debate (why is that there!). The Olympic torch which you would think would be a no brainer has taken criticism, with daily telegraph readers voting it looked more like a cheese grater than a torch – but is that a bad thing?

There are lots of gems in there – I particularly liked the flying cycles bike parking, although I’m not sure if it goes around at the speed of the London eye or at a fast flowing windmill. It would be interesting to know. Is the bike hanger that practical - probably not – but it does make me smile. Something quite practical and a bit jaw dropping the first time you see it is the incredible Hovding invisible helmet. You simply have to watch the demo – not sure whether I was watching this to be impressed by the product or in endless fascination as a poor old cyclist keeps getting repeatedly mashed.

Wandering around exploring the nominations I was taken with the moses bridge in the architecture section as well as with the category winner the Olympic velodrome. I also liked the late night chameleon café or maybe I just liked the photography, its hard to tell. There is an earthquake proof table in there somewhere, although I'm not sure if it comes with terms & conditions - replace after use maybe? Fascinating stuff.

Level 2 Training

Having completed my L2 training in February, in harsh winter conditions where the air temperature went from -12 to -14 while I was driving there, and where day two meant chopping thru ice to get on the water,it was great to actually get back on the water recently and do some proper paddling.

Just got back from two days on the lovely river wye, paddling a canadian which was great experience in paddling a different craft for me, for a sustained period rather than my usual quick jaunt on the lake. The weather was great too, warm and bright and so the club spent an idyllic two days out on the water just paddling. And I got my first experience of white water in a canadian doing solo on the yat which was also great fun. The season is just about to start so now need to sort out my training plans to get thru my level two. Happy days!

Places for people

Some companies are synonymous with a location, so what happens when that company goes bust as happened with Kodak based in Rochester, NY. Often time the model is one of sustained decline, as the big car manufacturers have declined in Detroit, so has the city. Well a recent NYT article suggest that all is not lost in Rochester and reveals that certain criteria; things like policy making, entrepreneurship, a strong academic, cultural and public sector can all help drive growth and promote business activity.

While such change can be seismic, and distinctive - the next generation will not recognise Rochester as Kodak city anymore - Surely that is better than the alternative, that like the early pioneers, those who can just up and leave and find better ground. And while the change can impact hard, it can also impact well. Hidden away in beautiful countryside what was once the tired and dreary Xerox training/conference centre is now the transformed National Conference Centre, an investment in change which helped transform and sustain Leesburg, Virginia.

Of't South Pole

Some people just like to over commit themselves on new year’s resolutions. So it is that Helen Skelton, the Blue Peter children’s presenter is about to launch a 500 mile journey to the South Pole. It’s an extreme endeavour especially for someone who has chosen to cycle the route! Well at least cycle part of the way.

It would be easy to dismiss this as a Captain Scott type endeavour, but then this is the same person who completed a record-breaking 2,000 mile voyage by kayak down the length of the Amazon. Depending upon all sorts of things they hope get to the south pole within 3 weeks – though it could take a lot longer! Apparently they have been there a while acclimatising – my version of that would be sitting in front of a log fire for as long as possible! The CBBC website will let you keep track of their adventures. Remarkable.

Bigger is better!

The tallest building in the world has opened in Dubai. The Burj Khalifa, is a dizzying 828 metres high, it has all those essentials you need in a building like fast lifts and a swimming pool. You can even pay to go and have a look inside it, so that’s nice of them. Looking at it, it does seem a bit bare despite the architecture – I think they should have taken some ideas from urban ruraralism, which provide green spaces on the top or sides of buildings. But that’s only my view – and apparently there are over 6 billion other views out there!

The world population is apparently over 7 billion and the BBC has a nifty app that lets you review where you are on this scale. The graphics show a steady population of about 500 Million through from the middle ages until the 18th century and then escalating up to the 7 billion in 2011. Its like the old "how many people can you get inside a car", how many people can you get inside the tallest building in the world!

Show me the answers....

I joined Yahoo Answers in May 2006, in its first full year of adoption, as it seemed an enjoyable interactive thing to participate in, and a smart savvy thing to do.

I jumped right in and became an active contributor and got my own little niche as “top answerer” in the Business/Finance, advertising/marketing section. By 2007 I had reached level 4 (there are 7 levels) and was still top answerer. But by now I was finding it a bit repetitive, with lots of vague questions and just plain un-thought-out things that just did not seem worth contributing too. I gradually drifted away and then got tired of the whole experience with some sections seeming to be the adopted place for the nutters, spammers and general dispossessed – a lot of the friendly sociable help-me-out-here interface seemed to have gone.

This year by chance I logged back in and was pleasantly surprised to see I was still in the top five. I gradually drifted back into it and then realised if I wanted to reach level 5, I had to get some more points and best answers. So during September 2011 make a concerted effort to drive up the points and answers – gradually creeped up to 4th in the “charts” and suddenly in the way that these things do I well overshot the mark and was well into the 5,000 points so now up at level 5. I’ve also been given the little orange badge as a “top contributor” so now there’s just the task of getting into the top three answerers and then seeing if I can get to be the top answerer again.

Putting this "achievement" into perspective though - The UK top contributor has over 850,000 points with 21K best answers. The global top contributor has over 1 million points and over 74K best answers. Crikey they must live there!

Cycling heat-wave!

While the developing countries are abandoning their bicycles and flocking to cars it’s time for a comeback for the humble cycle. While the occasional trend bounces cycling into the limelight at the moment there seems to be a plethora of cycling activity. First, Hertz introduces their electric bike rental scheme in London

Meanwhile Lusaka-based Zambikes are building bikes for sale around the world – and they’re made out of bamboo - sorry panda’s. Of course if you don’t have a panda you can always take some dogs for company, as the inspiriring cycling gypsies.

While in Brazil - the Bicicloteca is a tricycle adapted to function as a mobile library, distributing books to disadvantaged areas. Talking about it being more than a form of personal transport, in Holland they have a Pedal-equipped school bus powered by kids, de Cafe Racer maybe a new cycle to work scheme!

There’s only one thing left to do – time to get on your bike. And to do that Levis have created the commuter jeans - The new Commuter series from Levi’s offers jeans that are designed specifically with urban cyclists in mind so they tell us! See you on the road, cycle lane, or muddy pathway or wherever.

Bees boost work morale or not!

You have to be careful when you scan read as fast as I do - not that I’m accomplished at this, it’s not a skill in my case more a wavering in-attentiveness – so when I first read this “London offices offered bee hives to 'boost work morale'” being somewhat of a cynic I assumed this would be negative reinforcement along the lines of “Smith, go and stand in the rain with the smokers and try not to get bitten by the bees and then fall ill with an allergy while I consider your low performance review”

Instead the articles goes on to say this idea is to be seen as an employee benefit – um I’m not convinced about having your place of work surrounded by marauding bees! Helpfully they added “To ensure there is enough food from the off we've been filling five bike-lock planters with bee-friendly flowers since last autumn” so that’s all right then – oh no hold on if they adopt an equally cycle-friendly approach and adopt a cycle to work scheme that means every time you drop your cycle off you risk attack from bunch of bees – although somebody will assure you they are “docile ones” so those stings will hardly affect you then!

No I think having an deranged lion in the HR room is best motivation and just leave the bees alone, indeed leave them where they are in our gardens at home, and not force us to bring them to work.

There's an app for that...

Having left my IT background a few years ago, I sometimes stumble across some techie talk that I still appear to comprehend – desktop managed services, which was like a statement in my day and now just sounds like jargon. But now I’ve moved into the electrical area and words like PLC and HMI’s are everyday phrases, and you start to come to terms with a new set of jargon. But at least if you don’t understand these terms at least you have an inkling of what they mean, I mean PLC and HMI sounds as if they do something right? But sometimes you come across another industry or profession and abruptly that gap widens and you realise that you have no idea whatsoever what they are talking about – and so it was I came across MHT technology who do “LNG peak shaving”.

I’m sorry they do what? I can’t even make an un-educated guess what that is. I mean given the context is that a physical thing that they do to something, or a stage in a process or the whole process, or is it a thing - "LNG peak shaved for sale to good home" , or a service so that people go around saying “here’s your LNG peak shaved” – and you say “oh thank you very much”, or is it some technical wizardry that creates a “peak” that is somehow “shaved”, or some technological wonder like NASA where boffins go around saying “I’m glad we can orbit humans up into space but I wouldn’t want to risk LNG peak shaving”.

Fortunately of course there are people who do understand these things and the California energy commission gives a really useful bluffers guide – But what happens when there aren’t people around who understand such things. Will it be like losing your instructions for the IKEA cabinet so it ends up looking like a umbrella stand or will it improve things or will we re-create such things all over again. The problem is I still don’t really know what LNG peak shaving is, sure I understand the words I just don’t grasp what it actually means. Still when we run out of people who know what it means and can actually do it, well apple (or someone) will have an app for that.

Preserving or varnishing over the cracks?

English Heritage has called for the whole of Plymouth city centre to become a designated conservation area. It’s not April 1st and it is on the BBC - so it must be true. Why? While others reckon the unsightly concrete monstrosities need to fall down and be rebuilt on, others reckon the rebuild that happened solely because of the damage during the second world war means that Plymouth is "unique" with the whole of its centre completely rebuilt during the 1950’s. There’s even a website celebration of art-loving buildings and what with the formidable and effusive Kevin Mcloud supporting the idea, preserve in aspic is it. Although a worried Plymouth City council says "English Heritage must recognise that there needs to be a careful balance between preserving our past and planning for a prosperous future”. Or maybe what with there being a book (from English Heritage), and a film (well artworks and videos) maybe it’s all just a bit of commercialism. Never having visited the place it's hard to comment but anyplace that has a Lido must be worth preserving, maybe just not all of it!