Blogging for the Environment

Things might not be appearing in quite the correct order at the moment because I've rushed in today's entry because today, October 15th, is Blog Action Day. So today everyone is supposed to blog on a common theme and this year's selected theme is the environment.

So what to say? Well, I support the principal of most environment issues. So I'm with Al Gore on that, even if he doesn't always get his facts right. Whatever effect we are having on the climate and some say we are having no effect, most environmental measures make sense to me. Why bury rubbish, or even worse, burn it, when you can recycle and reuse it. Common sense surely. Why tarmac over the countryside for more roads? Wouldn't we rather have the countryside instead? After all, more cars on the road just means more fumes in the air for us all to breathe in.

So I try and do my bit, recycle, turn off lights etc and then there's my environmentally friendly madness, known as cycling. Despite the fact that this country does practically nothing to encourage cycling, let alone make it safe, I try and cycle the 15 miles to work 2-3 times a week. Motivation to do this isn't difficult, not for environmental reasons but purely because I hate queuing, anywhere, ever and driving to work involves at lot of queuing in traffic jams. So when I don't cycle, I try and use the bus too. It is a bonus that this brings environmental benefits too.

As I mentioned last Wednesday, since I started cycling 18 months ago, I have cycled 3000 miles. That's 3000 miles I haven't put on my car. Unfortunately rather than pumping exhaust fumes into the atmosphere I get to breathe in everyone else's but I guess you can't have everything.

At 7 miles per litre of fuel (32mpg) that's over 428 litres of fuel, which at 95p a litre is £406. So quite a money-spinner. Alternatively it's the equivalent of 100 return bus journeys on the Red Arrow, at £5 return that’s £500. Which is even better.

Better still is that this has had a staggering effect on my fitness. I've tried all sorts of ways of getting fit and previously running was the only one that seemed to have any great positive return, that was until I discovered cycling. Which takes everything to a whole new level.

Problem is you end up doing mad things like the Duathlon I did yesterday. 5km run, 20km bike, 5km. Crazy but all very environmentally friendly and strangely fun too.

If none of that inspires you to get on your bike then there's one more thing. As a cyclist you also get the dubious pleasure of legitimately wearing lycra. This has a strange and beneficial effect (for me) on my partner. Now if that's not a reason to get on your bike, I don't know what is, plus you get to help save the environment at the same time!

Cooking Oil

I realised I could not bike today like I usually do on a Tuesday because, what with being on holiday, I hadn’t left any clothes at work. Then I ended up being too late to catch the bus so I had to take the ski racks off the car and go the un-environmental way instead. L was still out time running with Doggo by the time I eventually left, they were clearly having a long one this morning.

Despite being late, it took me only twenty minutes to drive to work, no traffic at all. This will all change of course when the eighteen weeks of A52 road works start tomorrow.

Emailed L to find out if she'd got lost on her run. It took her ages to respond to my email. Says she’s been catching up, e.g. gossiping. Spooky goings on at her place though. Someone emptied a bottle of cooking oil over their front door and through the letterbox.

Cooking Oil? Why would anyone pour cooking oil over a door? Very odd. Disgruntled patient perhaps or just weirdoes? If they were trying to set fire to the place, they weren’t very clever. You have to get cooking oil very hot to ignite it. They’d need to use something like a blowtorch! Any respectable arsonist would have used petrol.

Then, in a separate incident, someone came back and pinched the letterbox. Was this the reason for the cooking oil?

I find out why they’d been on a long run. They got locked IN the park. She wasn’t the only one, there were several of them trying to get out of the side entrance - one of them legged it over the fence but she didn't think Doggo would go for that. I assume they were late opening the park rather than early closing it. Perhaps they just forgot.

Renewed my Derby County season ticket today. The scintillating football this season (not!) has obviously swayed me.

Get home and Doggo gets his second long run of the day. Full on Duathlon training now. We were out about 45 minutes at quite a good pace. Both of us knackered after that.

Unfortunately, because last night I felt so ill that I went straight to bed, some of my internet chess games timed out. So now, I’m knocked out of the tournament. Looking at the league table the winner has recorded 5 wins out of 5, all through time outs. Jammy git. I have one more to play against him; I’ll make sure I thrash him in that one.