Tag Archives: bicikli

March

Hey, I know, I know, it’s been a while since I wrote anything here, but I had no time to do it. Or maybe I just did not devote time for it… Anyway, lets see what happened in the last weeks. (I am watching the Ronde van Vlaanderen, so I have some time to write finally…)

First of all, I am working on my second article (it looks very interesting), while my first one is already out on paper in the April 2011 issue of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Also, when I was observing on La Palma in October, I discovered a new variable star (while monitoring a list of candidates, so it is not that special before you start asking), which turned out to be a rather interesting one, and resulted in a publication (a Letter in The Astrophysical Journal), on which I am the second author. And there are other ongoing collaborations, which will result in a co-authorships… Fulfilling the official requirements of the PhD won’t be a problem :) And to make things even better, my KEPLER Guest Observer Proposal was accepted, which means that I will have enough data for the rest of my PhD. And extremely good data! It happens once or twice in a while, that I think about what if I did not make the right choice when I went for being an astronomer (ok, this never happens while I am observing), but when I got the email about the acceptance, I became so happy, that I knew immediately from the feeling, that I am doing what I should do. Being happy always means that you are doing the right thing :)

As spring came into Belgium, flowers started to bloom, leaves started to grow on the trees, and I was finally able to leave the indoor trainer and go cycling outside again (but I will come back to this later). And besides cycling, we started to play soccer again (and after spending two hours sliding around the artificial grass field I decided to buy real soccer shoes for the first time in my life – and they are great). I made my travel arrangements for my upcoming observing run (and cycling holiday) on La Palma (in May), and for the CoRoT Symposium in Marseille (in June), and as my travel bag started to show serious signs of falling apart, I bought a TNF Base Camp Duffel (red, XL, capable of carrying 140 liters of gear, two years of all-around guarantee), which should serve me well in the following years, and survive even the rough handling of the airport staff of IBERIA :D And now I feel the urge to travel to the North, to Iceland or Scandinavia, and – among others – watch the northern lights.

To make myself useful, I assembled some IKEA furniture and helped a colleague/friend with doing electric assembly in his future house too on two days. Once we were there from 5 PM to 4 AM, but I really enjoyed it, because first of all it was something I have never done before, and on the other hand, I had some very good ideas (especially about arranging the cable-chaos into a nice order – as it can be seen above -, and about things which involve symmetry), and it was great to see them coming true (getting up the next morning was not that great, but we had fun, and that’s the important thing). Sometimes it is really relieving to do something different.

And now about cycling. As I have already told you, there was no need to ride on the indoor trainer this month, because the weather was generally (surprisingly for this time of the year) nice, dry and relatively warm. This – and being quite motivated – resulted in my best month on the racing bike ever (so since last year February) with 673 kilometers. Of course this is nothing exceptional even on an amateur level, but I am happy with it (given the conditions). As you can see on the picture above (notice the typical Flemish bricks and cobblestones :D), now I use my new aero wheels, and I also bought a 2cm longer stem (for better position), and a new saddle (a fi’zi:k Antares for comfort). The combination is pretty sweet, I expect some very good times coming up this season ;) I started working on a python script for automatically plotting my workouts along with providing detailed statistics (much more useful than the tools on Garmin Connect), but I will write about this later in a separate post. Very early into the season, I have already done a more than 200 km ride (to be precise, this was my longest ride ever, with 213 km), and just before the end of the month, I joined the K.U.Leuven University Cycling Team (it might sound serious, but it is far from that) for a training (which was pretty OK, I had no trouble keeping up with their pace, and I even felt strong in the last 20 km in pouring rain, and gave some really strong pulls for the team)… As there are some colleagues at the Institute who like cycling, we decided to participate in a 24 hour race during the summer, and to design our own AstroTeam cycling kit :) It will be very cool to ride in such a jersey on La Palma while working at the Observatory :D

Then, the month ended with a very nice evening – having dinner and watching a theatrical play (in English!!!) in the Stuk… Let’s see what April brings!

Riding the indoor trainer

So let’s suppose that you don’t want to stop training in the cold and wet winter months, but you have no access to a nice indoor velodrome. In this case, you can ride an indoor trainer. It is also the cheapest way to get to know the wattage levels you maintain while cycling…

Riding the indoor trainer is fun! It is warm and cosy inside, you don’t need to put on all your fancy cycling equipment, you don’t have to make sure that you take the matching jersey and the matching socks, you don’t have to clean your bike after every ride, you will never have a flat tire, nor a broken spoke, you can always stop if you really feel the need (and without searching for bushes or trees), you don’t have to carry all the food in your jersey, you will never get lost on the road, there will be no headwind, no sidewind, no rain, no snow, no burning sun, no wheel-suckers. Just you and the bike, and the wattage level on the display :) You can listen to music without blocking out all the noises (or you can even block the noise of the trainer without risking your life with the use of in ear noise cancellation earphones…), you can watch TV or a DVD (or a BD) meanwhile doing your exercise, and so on. You see, it is so much fun!

Riding the indoor trainer sucks… And it sucks a lot. It is boring. Very monotone. It is too warm inside, so you sweat and there is no wind evaporating it (some people tend to use a fan, but then think of the noise again…), hence after one hour there will be a nice little lake below you (or a completely wet towel on your handlebars). If you do interval training, then the electromagnetic brakes are so loud during the high intensity parts, that there is no way you could watch TV in the meantime without loosing track of what is happening on the screen. You lose the feeling of speed, because even if you are pedaling with 40 km/h, you will be standing still in your room, with no trees passing by, no whistling sound of the air around you, no weak cyclists passed and wheel-suckers dropped… Non cyclists also tend to think you are crazy… But again, did I already mention, that it was boring???

But in my opinion, riding is still better than not riding :) So keep rollin’!

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Riding the velodrome in Gent

In the cold and wet months during winter, it is really unpleasant to ride the road bike outside, so you are left with three choices: 1) stop training (but come on, for three months? no…), 2) ride the indoor trainer (I will cover this in the next post), or 3) switch to track cycling indoors. I have never ridden on a proper indoor track before, though I rode one of the oldest (but outdoor) velodromes of Europe in 2009, just before I left to Belgium. But riding indoors, on a shorter, steeper track with wooden surface is really different. That’s why we (myself, plus Tijl and Kristof – the same colleagues who joined me when I rode to catch the Tour de France last summer) decided to go for a ride in the Vlaams Wielercentrum Eddy Merckx in Gent. They have specific hours, when “recreational” cyclists can just go there, rent track bikes (fixed gear bicycles, with only one gear ratio and no brakes), and ride for two hours (15 €, everything included). We had fixed this Monday evening (8-10 PM) in our calendars already a month ago, so we were quite excited about the ride.

In one word, it was awesome. We got a 5 minute introduction about the rules of the track (Tijl translated for me), and then we were free to ride. Usually we just joined a group whose speed was comfortable for us, and rode with them for some time (as it is much faster and less tiring than riding alone, and it gives you the real feeling of the track). Of course we did some individual sprints too :) Unluckily, at the beginning, I had some problems with hydration levels and the amount – or lack – of food in my stomach, but I managed to overcome these for the second part of the ride. The best part – for me – was my last 35 minutes (you can see the beginning of it on the last scene of the video below), when I rode with a group which maintained a pace of 21-23 seconds / lap on the blue line (the length is 250 meters on the white line, so on the blue it is a bit longer). This gives an average speed of at least 42 km/h! During this time, I was in front twice (as the riders rotate, because the first one in the line always has to work much more, as he/she has to ride against the “wind”, while the rest is pedaling in the slipstream), and by the time it was my third turn, everyone else was dropped :) I also had my DSLR with me, so we shot some Full HD footage of the action too (all the three of us is visible, but you can easily spot me, just search for the same guy who is on the picture above):

After the ride, we had a beer (Keizer Karel Blond) – which is really typical for Belgians… You really can’t find a sports hall without a bar :D

Birthday presents (came a bit early)

My birthday is not yet here (though it is not that far either), but DHL was too fast and delivered my presents already on Friday :) But there is no problem, because I am sure that I will not be able to use them before the real date. I am afraid, that I will even have to wait quite some time before I can really use them :(

Yeah, they are pretty cool :] It is a new wheel-set for my racing bike, a Mavic Cosmic Carbone SL. And they will not only make the bike look better, but also faster, as these wheels are much more aerodynamic than (my) normal ones (thanks to mainly the 52 mm deep carbon rim, bladed spokes and integrated nipples – as it can be seen below). That’s why they are called “aero wheels”…

And the reason for not being able to ride these? The weather. There is still one month left from winter (hopefully not more), and it is very cold these days. I really don’t want to ride outside in temperatures below 5°C… (And today it was between -6°C and +1°C…) So until then, I will not even install the new wheels, because for the indoor trainer, there is no difference :D But then, I hope they roll as good as they look ;)

By the way, I was very lucky with this purchase. The original plan was to buy such wheels somewhen during the spring, but I had the link to its product page on Rose Versand (I basically order all my cycling stuff from this on-line shop) for months now (since summer), but the price was 799 €, which is a “bit” over the limit for a wheel-set. (Back in Hungary, the first bike which I bought was a quite nice Merida trekking bike, perfect for every day commuting between our place and the university, and it costed 1/3 of this price…) So I thought I would just wait with this, and that’s what I did for more than a half year. Of course, once in every week, I checked the price on the site, and then on the 18th of January, it suddenly dropped to 479 € (it meant a 320 € reduction!), so I placed my order almost immediately. One day later, it was already out of stock, so I was very lucky :) I can’t wait to try it!

December

A tenerifei téli iskola után olyan szinten nem volt semmire sem időm, hogy – amint azt gondolom észrevettétek – blogot sem tudtam írni. Előre elárulom, túl sok mindenről nem maradt le senki… Még a kalandos hazarepülés utáni vasárnap gyorsan megnéztem a moziban a Harry Potter legújabb részét (nem volt rossz, de azért az utolsó rész ütősebb lesz – remélem), aztán belevetettem magam a munkába. Először elkezdtem kicsit dolgozni a következő csillagomon, majd fel kellett készülnöm a PhD bizottságom és az Intézet előtti éves beszámolómra, majd meg kellett írnom egy kutatási pályázatot a Kepler űrtávcsővel kapcsolatban, majd be akartam fejezni a cikkem utolsó körös korrekcióját (pozitív referee report után vagyunk már, fél lépés a publikáció) – ez a legutolsó pont már nem lett teljesen kész. De addigra én már teljesen kész voltam…

Mindeközben – ezalatt a négy hét alatt – összesen kétszer mentünk el sörözni, háromszor étterembe enni (egyszer a diákok hívtak meg, akiket La Palmán felügyeltem), volt egy floorball meccsem (nulla edzésen…, de legalább nyertünk, és vezetjük a tabellát), egyszer sikerült elmenni falat mászni, háromszor egy órát tekerni az időközben beszerzett Tacx Flow edzőgörgőn, és egy fél hétvégén sikerült csatlakozni a többiekhez egy kis kiruccanásra a belga tengerparthoz (ami egy esti társasjátékozást, és egy szombati városnézést jelentett Brugge-ben… – már megint ott, idén már nem tudom hányadszor jártam arra, és már megint én voltam az idegenvezető :D). Semmi más szórakozás. A végére már nagyon haza akartam jönni. Pl. arra nem volt egy szabad órám, hogy PS3-on játsszak egy pár meccset… Szerencsére a karácsonyi ajándékokat időben beszereztem – a decemberi prémiumnak köszönhetően az első kör után még egyszer elmentem körülnézni, és hát beszereztem még ezt-azt mindenkinek :) Igazság szerint én imádok ajándékot adni :) Na jó, magamat is megleptem – az utolsó hétvégén, amikor már nagyon nyomott hangulatom volt a sok munkától és kevés alvástól – egy új telefonnal. Hosszas mérlegelés után egy HTC 7 Trophy-ra esett a választásom. Bármennyire is Microsoft ellenes vagyok, a Windows Phone 7 kezelői felülete annyira elnyerte a tetszésemet, hogy ezt választottam (pedig milyen rég óta ácsingóztam egy iPhone után). És nem bántam meg, nagyon jól működik vele minden. A Mac-val való szinkronizálás is megoldott (naptár és kontaktok a Google felhőjén keresztül), úgyhogy nincs semmi gondom, élvezet használni. Olyannyira, hogy laptopot nem is hoztam haza magammal – a munkát leszámítva mindent (mail, internet, bármi) meg tudok oldani a telefonon is :) Dolgozni meg az ünnepek alatt nem fogok – hisz nem is kell… Ezen kívül az iTunes-on vásárolt halom zenével tettem kicsit vidámabbá a hétköznapokat. Meg kellett egy új külső merevlemez is, mert elfogyott a helyem. 2 TB-osat vettem. És két és fél hét kellett, mire lett egy kis időm installálni… Mondom, durván sok munkám volt.

Közbe megérkezett a tél is, már nagyon korán. November utolsó hetében leesett a hó, és kisebb olvadásokat leszámítva folyamatosan hó fedte a tájat (még soha ennyi hótakarós nap nem volt a belga meteorológia írott történetében ebben a hónapban – ezt már most tudni lehet…). Közben hideg is volt, egyszer mínusz nyolc fokban szakadt a hó, aztán a karácsony előtti utolsó hétvégén vasárnap óriási pelyhekben (annyira gyönyörű volt, hogy muszáj volt kimennem kicsit gyönyörködni, és lehet hogy a hideg miatt, de nem bírtam abbahagyni a mosolygást, annyira élveztem), pár óra alatt leesett 10 centi. A belgák persze erre továbbra sincsenek felkészülve, de hát Istenem, egyszer majd csak megtanulják, hogy téli gumi nélkül csak csúszkálni fognak, és hogy a már leesett öt centi havon nem segít, ha arra szórják rá a sót… (Csak hogy valami jót is mondjak, végre újra aszfaltoztak pár katasztrofális állapotban lévő utat azon a környéken, ahol nap mint nap keresztülbiciklizem.)

Annyira durva idő volt, hogy a brüsszeli repteret nem egyszer le kellett zárni, így ahogy közeledett a hazautam időpontja, egyre jobban elkezdtem attól tartani, hogy esetleg az én járatomat is törölni fogják, és akkor nem érek haza karácsonyra. 24-én utazni ugyanis nagyon kényelmes, de ez a rizikó benne van a pakliban. Már napokkal 24-e előtt látszott, hogy bizony gondok lehetnek (és nagyon jól esett, hogy sokan szorítottak nekem Magyarországról, hogy sikerüljön hazajönnöm, páran skype-on is tartották bennem a lelket). 23-án este már hófúvásban vittem le a szennyest a mosodába, mire hajnali kettőkor ágyba kerültem már 10 centi friss hó esett (és lezárták a repülőteret, az utolsó x járatot pedig törölték…), és amikor reggel ötkor keltem, még mindig tartott a vihar, és 15-20 centinél jártunk… Az utakat persze nem takarította senki, így a hófúvással együtt kissé úgy festett a táj, mintha beköszöntött volna a legújabb jégkorszak… Mivel a kilátások azért nem voltak reménytelenek (még nem törölték a gépemet, és a hóesés végét is láttam már az időjárási radaron), fogtam magam és az első vonattal (ami csak negyed órát késett) kimentem a reptérre. Itt persze volt némi káosz, mert eleve a dolgozók sem tudtak időben bejönni, így a takarítást is csak késéssel tudták megkezdeni, de legalább volt időm bevásárolni csokiból :D Az érkező járatokat eleve törölték, és a felszálló gépek nagyjából kétharmadát is, mivel összesen egy kifutópályát sikerült használható állapotba hozni a háromból. Csodával határos módon végül kicsit több mint három óra késéssel nekünk sikerült felszállnunk, így nem sokkal délután három után már a hómentes Ferihegyen voltam… A karácsony jó volt, végre pihenhettem kicsit, no meg persze szokás szerint degeszre ettük magunkat, de hát ez hagyomány. Voltam nagymamáméknál is (mama zserbója még mindig isteni – na nem mintha anyu túrós meggytortája vagy püspökkenyere nem érdemelne hasonló besorolást), ma pedig “kicsit” felújítottuk a ruhatáramat :) A héten még barátokkal találkozom (már nagyon nagyon várom), aztán szilveszterre – ha minden jól megy – már repülök itthonról haza Belgiumba. Még jó hogy ma volt egy szabad órám blogolni :) Na mindenkinek további jó bejglizést!

(Képeket meg aztán végképp nem volt időm csinálni, bocsi.)

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