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Author: kris

Fresh horses

Fresh horses

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When a knight travels and his horse gets tired, the often try to exchange the horse for a fresh one in the next town.
There comes a time when the bicycles need a lot of maintenance. The most prominent maintenance issues were the worn chains and tires that needed replacing and my saddle that was cracking up. If I had the time I would have bought new components, and fixed the bikes. I had the cunning plan to by-pass the maintenance by buying the cheapest suitable touring bikes available. Bicycles are reasonably cheap in Europe.

We look for the following things in a touring bike

  • bicycles with a design that facilitates road-side maintenance. They should have generic parts that are easily replaceable.
  • durable wheels (minimum of 36 spokes. 36 spokes are standard in Europe, but the standard in New Zealand is a poor 32 spokes),
  • simple design that leads to a light bike (for example shock absorbers are heavy and impedes the carrying capacity of a bicycle)
  • adequate frame mounting points on the bike for bike rack and other components.
  • large clearing between the wheel and the frame to enable the bike to operate with a broken spoke
  • comfortable saddle (Jenny voters for a molded Gel seat)handlebars of suitable height and comfort or handlebars that are adjustable.
  • bike stand (Jenny’s requirement)

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So we got some cheap bikes that improved the number of spokes from 32 to 36 with adequate space between the wheel and the bike frame. Unfortunately the frames are not as good as the old ones. They have few frame mounting points and we are having to make do with rubber straps to mount our water bottles.
We transferred our pedals and Jenny’s molded Gel saddle across to the new bikes. (we obviously also moved our pannier carrying racks across). We added a bike stand for Jenny and adjustable handlebars for me.
The new bikes are more comfortable because they have thicker tires. With Jenny’s comfort saddle she has to take care not to doze off. The thicker tires have noticeably more road resistance, making the bikes a bit slower.
All in all this was a quick and dirty solution that affords us the pleasure of new bikes for not much more than the cost of the maintenance.
These bikes are not a long term investment and I am already concerned that my bearings in the pedal housing may be faulty because they are making a noise.
We will leave four bikes in France (unless we decide to get new bicycles on our next tire change).

I wonder if the old bikes we left next to the bike shop will be taken care of by someone else?

Cycling on Spanish roads

Cycling on Spanish roads

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Spain does not have independent cycle roads. Spain provide roads with shoulders that are normally adequate for cycling. This works well for thoroughfares, but is dangerous in areas where there are lots of intersections. In such intersections cyclists often have to cross against fast moving traffic.

Whilst driving through Spain it is obvious that there has been a huge recent investment in road infrastructure. Many large graded highways have been built and preexisting roads are often relegated to service roads to these highways that then become the roads designated to cycling. Whilst these roads are often good, they are not consistently available, indicating that the Spanish road infrastructure upgrades were not designed with cycling in mind, again making entry and exit to cities dangerous for cyclists.

The cycle infrastructure is much better than New Zealand. New Zealand has no cycle infrastructure.

Where have all the Auberges gone?

Where have all the Auberges gone?

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During our first few days in France we were two shabby travelers knocking on Auberge doors. Nobody answered because Auberges have become restaurants, pubs or derelict.
The French economy and infrastructure has made Auberges virtually extinct. Many old Auberges and Hotels have become derelict buildings end the price of tourist accommodation has dropped in France, reducing the viability of Auberges, so better value accommodation is now provided in dual purpose properties (Chambre de Hotes).
Chambre de Hotes are basically rooms for rent with breakfast included. Chambres may be a room and a bathroom in someones residence, or it may be a more organized setup with separate entrances

French cycle roads

French cycle roads

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The French cycle roads are good in places and non-existent in others (still much better than New Zealand of course). French cycle roads are not part of a general cycle infrastructure, but is an opportunistic infrastructure.
( in contrast with German cycle roads that are prevalent everywhere). Canal borders and old train tracks are converted in cycle tracks that present wonderful smooth and scenic rides. In the cities cycles fight for road verges with cars (better than New Zealand though)

Cycle roads in Germany

Cycle roads in Germany

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The road system for bicycles are very good in Germany. Kerbs are normally broadened in towns, with a separation for bicycles and pedestrians. Out of town cycle roads run in parallel to main roads and are wide enough for two or three cyclists to ride next to each other. Cycle roads require some intuition as they are not always very well signposted.

The (rural) cycle roads may be next to the highway for long stretches. The cycle roads often tunnel under highways and intersections. When there are small towns nearby the main road, cycle roads normally separate from the main road and go through the small towns. I suspect this is partly done to make the cycle infrastructure accessible to the small towns.

Cycle roads are scenic as they cut trough meadows, meander through small towns and pass under and around trees. It makes the rides more interesting, but add to travelling distances.

We are off on our geriatric OE

We are off on our geriatric OE

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The six hour stop-over in LA confirmed all my prejudices about America. Luckily we could kill a lot of time in the customs queues (they forced us to get a visa). After about an hour in the queue an official called all virgins to join the American visa entry queue. When there where no more virgin airline travelers me and Jenny were allowed to join the virgin queue.

Seeing that we entered America, we wandered LA streets for hours and saw parking garages, hotels, HUGE SUV’s (no cars) and a few prozzies. The US customs decided to open and inspect our bike boxes. I deduce they fought their way through my multi-layered packing and gluing systems on the first bike and decided just to cut the second box open.

On arrival to Munich we got our baggage and went through customs in 15 minutes flat. Took two hours to re-assemble the bikes.

I now know why some youth hostels do not allow older people. I am an Occupational Health and Safety risk when i get in and out of the top bunk (especially with my wonky shoulder).
Munich is wonderful. Bicycle heaven. No more on that as I feel a rant coming.
Met a black South African. We hugged and cried a bit.

Jenny has taken charge of the packing as my packing system is too sophisticated. I am in charge of navigation otherwise we will get separated.

The nature of paradoxes (how to spot a paradox)

The nature of paradoxes (how to spot a paradox)

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A paradox is a proposition that seems contradictory.  The following statement is a short version of the lier’s paradox:
“This statement is false”

If the statement is the truth (True), then the sentence will have us accept that the statement is False. If the sentence is False, it follows that the statement is True.  And so we go round and round in a logic circle.

Paradoxes come in many forms. Bertrand Russel created a paradox in set theory (Mathematics). The paradox utilizes the concept of “sets that do not contain themselves”. I will try to explain what such sets look like:

  • A set of books in a household does not contain itself, as a set of books is not a book. A set (or collection) of stamps does not contain itself as the stamp collection is not a stamp in itself.
  • The set of all “ideas” could be said to contain itself, as “a collection of all ideas” could be thought to be an idea in itself.

So “sets not containing themselves” are normal everyday sets.  The paradox is constructed by defining a set, namely the set of all “sets not containing themselves”.

Does the set of all “sets not containing themselves” contain itself? Lets examine that:

  • If the set of all “sets not containing themselves” is in its own set, then it “contains itself”, and so by the definition it cannot be in the set, which is a contradiction.
  • If the set of all “sets not containing themselves” is NOT in its own set, then it “does not contain itself”, and then by definition it has to be in the set, which is a contradiction.

Hence the paradox.

So how are paradoxes constructed?

Truths are either derived, or assumed (a truth is either an axiom, or it is proved).   If you assume and prove something at the same time, you invite the possibility of inconsistency.  Paradoxes contain (a set of) rules or statements that refer to themselves , or stated differently, paradoxes are self-referential. The Liers’ paradox and also the (set/mathematical) definition uses itself whilst defining it’s own characteristic. The above paradoxes use negation to discredit the self-reference (I am not myself).

The moral of the story is to be careful with recursive logic (For example, do not get a person to vouch for him/herself).

On an aside, Gödel’s incompleteness theorem is proven using similar self-reference as the Lier’s paradox!

Laughter – stimulation of your unused nerves

Laughter – stimulation of your unused nerves

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Most humour occurs when (two) un-expected contexts are brought together. A context or story is told in the joke and a second context is introduced in the punch-line.
Then we laugh.

So what happens in our brains when we laugh? Perhaps the synapses firing in different areas of the brain are cross-linking in regions of the brain that are not normally active. Or stated differently, synapses that are seldom active are used.
Then we laugh.

We also laugh when we are tickled. Could tickling involve the stimulation of nerve-ends that seldom get sensory input?

The secret Van der merwe bread recipe

The secret Van der merwe bread recipe

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Here is the 1kg bread that I often make.
It is rich and moist, and is made with no sugar or yeast preservatives like you would expect of a proper bread.
I estimated amounts, as i normally measure ingredients by eye.
First soak:

  • 1 cup kibbled soy or soy grits
  • 1/4 cup oil (olive or canola)
  • 1 table spoon crushed garlic (optional)
  • 1/4 cup poppy seeds (or sonneblom seed)
  • 1/4 cup sesame seeds
  • 1 spoon salt
  • 2 cups water

Soak above ingredients in your bread mixer for about 2 hours or more.

Then add:

  • 3.5 cups (white) wheat flour
  • three tea spoons crushed fresh yeast, depending on whether you want the bread fluffy or solid (If the fresh yeast is very moist, kneed it into a bit of the flour)

Put on cycle for normal or french bread. You want the bread dough moist but not wet, otherwise the bread will rise too fast and collapse. For the first number of times you do this recipe, check on your bread maker after it has been mixing for 10 minutes or so – if it is too wet (sticky to a spoon or hand), add a bit of flour.