Hobbies other than cycling.!

[expr]

Do any of you have any hobbies other than cycling, I want to try and encourage the use of this part of the forum a little more, just to make it a little more interesting.

If you like to talk about your hobbies or interests then please join in.

Many thanks

Dave.

[julk]

I took up birdwatching in my teens about 50 years ago. I saved up money from a paper round for a year and bought a pair of 8x30 Zeizz Jena binoculars - still got them, they were a good buy.

I have seen a bittern in the depths of winter at Leighton Moss, only saw it because it thought I had seen it and it moved - I thought I was looking at a clump of dead reeds.

I recently saw a Waxwing in the centre of Dalkeith on the last tree with berries and just the other day I has a Brambling on the seed feeder in my garden, it is definitely winter time. I have not seen Waxwings or Bramblings for many years.

I feed the garden bird population, usually with suet pellets, peanuts and a seed mixture. In the recent bad weather I have acquired a local population of 20 - 30 blackbirds for the suet pellets. one of them will now come and look in the window to indicate it is time they were fed!

[expr]

That sounds great Julian, last year we had a robin nesting in a Lin bin container actually in the garage, it was so sad though as the mother left early leaving the eggs in the tub. I,m not sure if it was due to the fright of me going in and out of the garage daily although it did seem quite tame as long as you kept a distance.

do you use fixed or zoom binoculars.

[JimK]

Do any of you have any hobbies other than cycling,

I love music: listening, playing, composing. My composition ideas get exceedingly strange. Here is an example:

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=7607461

I have almost no musical training - a few piano lessons in childhood, a couple guitar lessons in university days. I just like to have fun with it!

Jim
 

[julk]

expr,
sad that the robin deserted the nest, unusual if it was already used to your presence, maybe you had an animal visitor, fox etc.? I understand they evolved to follow animals like pigs rooting in the ground for food so like to follow humans gardening
I find that the blackbirds nest in the daftest places in the garden and end up leaving the nest.

I use fixed 8x30 binoculars of a standard prismatic design. Anything bigger than 8 magnification will be difficult to hand hold steady enough for good vision of the feathered fraternity, anything bigger than 30 lens will be too heavy and expensive although better in low light.
I carry my binoculars and hand hold them, you will likely need something to support them on (fence, tripod) for bigger ones or the ones which zoom.

jim,
Unusual music there, not really my taste - I am into the more classical stuff, instrumental and orchestral, not too fond of vocal. My musical instrument is a CD player , although I have 2 of my sons who play trombone in a local brass band.

julian.

[Relayer]

In November I decided to try to do some running / jogging in midweek / darkness to maintain a level of fitness, my wife was keen to do this (she isn't really a cyclist).  It started off very well but I think I must have got over-ambitious - after a couple of weeks I was permanently stiff and sore.  Then came the snow, lots of snow shovelling, pushing cars, and trekking distances of about 5 miles a day through snow to get to work for 2 weeks.  Result being a couple of very sore muscles - calf in left leg and thigh in right leg, muscle strain I think.
I'm well on the mend now, but unsure if running is a good idea, however I will be under pressure from the other half to resume when the weather improves a little.
Any opinions of cyclists who run would be appreciated.

[expr]

I love music: listening, playing, composing. My composition ideas get exceedingly strange. Here is an example:

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=7607461

I have almost no musical training - a few piano lessons in childhood, a couple guitar lessons in university days. I just like to have fun with it!

Jim
 

Jim That's great, my brother is really in to music in a big way similar to yourself, he plays the guitar allot both acoustic and electric, i had a look at your web site and played some of the music, sounds good to me!, I had a keyboard when i was a teen and would play it for hours (no musical training) and i use to think I was jean Michelle jar when I got going but my parents thought otherwise.
Dave.

[expr]

Julk,

yes the robin seemed at first to be very brash almost Courageous in its voyage to set up home within the garage, I spend allot of time in the garage especially in summer so the door is open from dawn till dusk, So getting in and out was quite easy but with all the doors closed it had to use the small vents at the top of the roof, I'm not sure if it was struggling a little to get in and out?

Just on Christmas eve I was clearing the drive of ice and was being eagerly watched and followed by a robin...

I asked about the binoculars out of curiosity, I bought a pair a couple of years back sunagor with a ridiculous amount of zoom on something in the order of 20-150x - 70, absolutely amazing at pulling in information but terrible without a tripod the slightest amount of breathing was enough to loose sight of the target, also along with that the collimation troubles that I had were enough to make me send them back. Every time that the collimation was set up at a fixed zoom the moment that it was altered it lost it again which gave me terrible headaches from my eyes to compensate for the differing views being presented at the lenses.

Dave.

[expr]

Relayer,

I found running the single most boring but productive thing that I have done in the past metaphorically speaking, I too when I first started to run set my goals way to big ,5mile , so I had to radically shorten the route to literally 1 mile to start with I did this for around a week until I felt comfortable with it and then slowly increased it up to 2 mile the next week up until I was doing around 4-5 mile, i found that it gets very addictive but the rewards that you see and feel are fantastic.

I think you may just need to start off a little slower and shorter, and this should with time get better. I also asked a few long time runners for advice who suggested running on grass to start with as this gives a softer ride and takes the jolt out of the knees a little.

[doug]

Relayer,

I found running the single most boring but productive thing that I have done in the past metaphorically speaking, I too when I first started to run set my goals way to big ,5mile , so I had to radically shorten the route to literally 1 mile to start with I did this for around a week until I felt comfortable with it and then slowly increased it up to 2 mile the next week up until I was doing around 4-5 mile, i found that it gets very addictive but the rewards that you see and feel are fantastic.

I think you may just need to start off a little slower and shorter, and this should with time get better. I also asked a few long time runners for advice who suggested running on grass to start with as this gives a softer ride and takes the jolt out of the knees a little.

Take a look at my blog and "Reasons to Run" on 30 Nov.  Now I know some of these are interchangeable with cycling but they're very different.
http://doug-dougsramblings.blogspot.com/

[expr]

Doug,

I agree with allot of what you say, I had heard off a few people about the potential damage that can also occur due to the stresses that are being forced on the knee joints etc, is this true or can you expand on it a little more with what you have found.

What would you suggest to relayer as a means of getting in to running from the thoughts that he has given.

[Bearbait]

Arthritis has restricted activities somewhat.  Living in Canmore, Alberta offers lots of opportunities though:
-lots of biking.  Hope to get into light touring.
- hiking
-kayaking
My wire haired dachshund joins me on most of these endeavours! 
-downhill skiing

[expr]

Hi Bearbait,

my wife and I love hiking, this year we did snowdon again I think its my 8th time. Went up the miner track / pyg track where the summit can be seen relatively close to the start of the walk. I allways make a point now of taking my gas burner and a small frying pan to make us all a bacon butty at the top, it sure does taste nice at the top.

Snowdon summit is the highest in england / wales and have to say that on the right day the views are spectacular.

We Came back along the cryb y dysgl knife edge ridge which was fantastic for no rope tactical climbing but had to bail out of the cryb Goch part because I didn't want our young son 9 to try it just yet. The cryb Goch part of the snowdon horse shoe is thought to be one of the more challenging parts with its sheer drops to either side, there are some great videos of this on (you tube)

I first went up in scouts back in the 80s and have enjoyed it since with various people. We definitely found using the proper twin walking sticks a massive improvement even coming down as well as ascending.

I bet the surroundings in Alberta are fantastic, my friend has just gone over to calgory earlier on in the year and was telling me about the bow river and elbow falls etc.. The scenery when not white with snow looks great.

[Fred A-M]

I love music: listening, playing, composing. My composition ideas get exceedingly strange. Here is an example:

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=7607461

I have almost no musical training - a few piano lessons in childhood, a couple guitar lessons in university days. I just like to have fun with it!

Jim
 

Interesting stuff Jim - I've also done suff with little musical training, but haven't published online - I own various vintage synths and a 16 track mixer, now all sadly packed away due to lack of space and time. 

I love pretty much anything to do with world music, reggae and electronica and also world cinema.  Need to do more cycle tours though, haven't managed any this year - hopefully holidays will work out that I'm able to get 10 days away somewhere warm and suitably picturesque in 2011.

[doug]

I agree with allot of what you say, I had heard off a few people about the potential damage that can also occur due to the stresses that are being forced on the knee joints etc, is this true or can you expand on it a little more with what you have found.

What would you suggest to relayer as a means of getting in to running from the thoughts that he has given.

Thanks expr,

I can only speak for myself here about running.  Just as soon as I was getting to like it, I almost gave up owing to knee problems.  That was at an early stage when I had managed to run for maybe 1 or 2 miles.  To cut a long story short, I went to a proper running shop where they carried out a Gait Analysis.  This is where you're filmed on a treadmill from behind with the camera getting your knees and feet only.  The idea then is to play it back in slow motion to see how your foot falls, rolls forward and pushes off.  The shop was the runners version of a typical LBS so they had me trying on 5 different pairs of running shoes and filming me run in each one. 

I felt happy with the shop's recommendation and when looking at the film I could see why they were more comfortable - my feet behaved completely differently and it was that shop visit that made all the difference towards running and giving up.  From that point it was a case of building up the miles gradually, I tended to monitor my progress in terms of how long I'd run for, not the number of miles.  It's very important to REST; even now I normally only run 3 days a week but try to cover about 20 miles each week.  Getting the ergonomics right with running shoes is vital IMHO, just as it is vital on a cycle to get the right position, saddle etc.  I've been lucky with very few injuries but the one that sticks in my mind was caused by doing too much too soon through not building the mileage up gradually enough.  Running has helped me be far more "in tune" with my body which in turn helps understand what's going on when cycling.

Hope that helps expr and relayer.  I believe that the hobbies of running and cycling complement each other beautifully - even for an uncompetitive person!