Finally getting into: Swimming

Go Pro Underwater Test Images

As some of you might have recognized, I am working as Marketing Development Manager for Scottish Swimming in my professional life. Being a rather proficient cyclist I have long wanted to bump up my swimming skills, and felt rather embarrassed that I have been working next to a swimming pool for almost a year now, yet I hadn’t really managed to make proper use of it. With a shiny new wet suit and some new trunks in the drawer, a girlfriend who is into surfing and the general guilt resting on my shoulders, I have now managed to change that. But how?

It is really quite easy. I have volunteered to take swimming lessons together with other Scottish Swimming staff and their friends, to train us up for the next personal challenge. In my case it will be getting into open water swimming, as I really like the idea, I might even be convinced to do the odd triathlon in the future. To get there, I had my first lesson this Thursday, and after warming up with combining the odd dive through the pool to test the new GoPro camera for Scottish Swimming with some lanes of breast stroke, my moment to shine came.

Alex, one of the teachers, did a great job, teaching me the first steps to swim front crawl. I worked on my leg kick first, as I wasn’t really utilizing the power I have in my legs from cycling to get me through the pool. We also worked on my arm technique, streamlining seems to be the the key to success here, not getting them as high as possible in the air. To finish the first lesson off, I learnt how to breathe properly, and this time I really appreciated the simplicity of cycling. First I was sticking my head in the air like a statue arising from the water, the next time I was forgetting actually to breathe. In the end I worked it out. For the first lesson, I did rather well. Maybe not as well as my girlfriend who has been on the bike 6 times or so and manages 70k already, but that’s another story.

Stay tuned for more stories, very soon!

And here some proofs

Working on my leg kick

Alex teaching me how to hold my head properly

Learning to breathe

Magic Places – magic moments

Just a few of many.

Sunrise at Elaine Bay, Pelorus Sound, New Zealand, 2009

Sunrise at the Remarkables, Queenstown, New Zealand, 2009

Sunset near Paeroa, New Zealand, 2009

Sunset near Paeroa, New Zealand, 2009

Sunset at Castle Tioram, Loch Moydart, Scotland, 2012

Sunset at Dumyat, Stirling, Scotland, 2012

Sunrise at Loch Morar, Scotland, 2010

 

Commuter Tales: The moon is shining bright over the Firth of Forth

Eventually I just wanted to test the new embedding facility from WordPress, which let’s you embed pictures directly from Instagram, which is pretty wicked as a start. For me Instagram has become the perfect tool to capture some of those magic moments that are worth sharing with others when commuting from Edinburgh to Stirling, or mostly the other way around. and possibly encourage more people to make the effort of riding your bike to work. If you need more convincing, look at those pictures on Flickr, all taken on my way to and from work at Scottish Swimming.

And there we go, last night was one of those magic experiences, with a cracking sunset when I left Alloa to take the bridle path to Dunfermline. As day light faded away it was soon replaced by a very bright full moon, shining all my way back to Edinburgh. The best moment came when cycling over the Forth Road Bridge, looking over to the Forth Rail Bridge, which cast its shadow on the calm waters of the Firth of Forth. It was like a scene from a great movie, to nice to be true. Even though it was a bit chilly, I took in some moments and enjoyed it, before jumping back on the bike for the rest of the journey, home to Edinburgh.

Urban Adventures

Chasing Shadows, or: Life is about the stories you tell

This is the text from the opening sequence of my talk about the winter adventure in 2010. I reworked the talk for my colleagues at Scottish Swimming, and though it is worthwhile sharing. Take it as inspiration for yourself if you struggle to cycle in winter. Take is as an example that adventures wait for you on your doorstep, sometimes there is no need to travel far. I, for my part, have used it to remind myself to break out of my own comfort zone very soon. Because otherwise I wouldn’t have a story to tell. But life is about the stories you tell, and how you tell them. No matter how many times.

28 November 2010

In just one day some parts of Scotland experience more than 25 cm of snow. Some villages are cut off due to the heavy snowfall, as Ian Ezzi and Markus Stitz try to cycle from Dunblane to Crianlarich. They never get further then Callander, but manage to attract all the attention in a local pub in Dunblane on their return.

Events get worse. In the next two weeks schools are shut, trains are cancelled; motorists are stuck on the M9 for more than nine hours. The army is called helping clearing the streets of Edinburgh. Scotland’s economy loses more than £50 million a day; the transport minister loses control of the situation and is forced to resign. It is the most severe start of winter in Scotland since more than 30 years.

At the same in Germany trucks are being banned from the Autobahn, while just a few flights leave the airports. Trains are stuck, the main roads become impassable. It is one of the coldest Decembers since records began.

In the center of Edinburgh Markus holds a Haggis in the lens of Greg Macvean, photographer of the Edinburgh Evening News. Shortly afterwards he puts the Haggis back in the fridge and enjoys the warm temperature there, it feels like summer. He has 4 days left. Tomorrow his face will be on page three of the Evening News and he will make sure he will visit a barber before the next photo shoot.

He grabs a piece of paper, and writes the following words on it before he switches of the light: Ride if you can. Walk if you need to. Crawl if you must. But never give up. NEVER!

Exactly 14 days later he switches the lights off again. Down in the corridor the ice and snow melts off his bike after 5 days of permanent frost, while leaving big puddles on the recently polished wooden floor of the hostel. He is the only guest since days. He is happy to recognise the shopping carts again, which were painted on hubs, handle bars and seat post in California. He tries the shower for a last time, which still has no hot water. It is the shortest day of the year, and 135km are sitting in his bones, all on one gear. The temperature never climbed over zero in the last seven days, and there was only one mean of transport that was reliable: the bike.

24 December 2010

Markus fiddles his iPod out of his pockets for the last time, scratches the ice off and looks for Amy MacDonald’s ‘Road to Home’. He enjoys the last 2 minutes of his ride while he happily slips controlled around a corner on which he accidentally shortened his moped 10 years ago by about 5cm. 2 hours away thousands of passengers are stuck in London Heathrow. It’s the first White Christmas since a long long time. The sun has been hiding away from the icy cold for about a week now.

For the last time Markus imagines his shadow, opens the door to the estate of his parents and smiles. It’s Christmas!

Check out more pictures from the trip on Flickr here