Vuvuzela muffled

Continuing the World Cup theme, it was interesting to note the entrepreneurial flair of one company who have unveiled a solution for TV and radio broadcasters which dramatically reduces the problematic sound of the omnipresent Vuvuzela trumpet favoured by South African soccer fan (www.waves.com:80/content.aspx?id=5798). For the geeks: A combination of dynamic broadband noise suppression and notch filtering are utilized to create the Vuvuzela noise reduction processing chain. Routing schemes and parameter settings were painstakingly adjusted, contrasted and, compared; multiple instances of each plug-in, with different settings, were ultimately used to achieve optimal results.

Not bitter but ... the ball was over the line

OK so the best team won (Germany) but this is 2010 and we should be able to tell if the big round Adidas thing (the ball) is over the long wide white thing (the goal line). For the benefit of FIFA, Mr Sepp Blatter and referees worldwide I mention the following, there exist simple chip in the ball/magnetic field technologies that will solve your problems see for example www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5743311,00.html and www.gaj-it.com:80/20069/so-what-is-goal-line-technology/

Charity ride time recalculated

Following a review of the time-keeping logs, including detailed examination of photographic records, my total time has been revised down to 3hours and 5mins. Given the two stops of 5mins each, my average speed was just under 16mph (24.3kph).

Of course, this was not a race, but these little details are important to some people.

My JustGiving site is open for additional sponsorship contributions for the next 3 months.

http://www.justgiving.com/RTA-Tour-de-Suffolk

... charity ride completed

In 3 hours and 12 minutes - including 2 stops at marshall's points for food, drink and more suncream - I have completed the 75 km (50 miles). The route was very well organised with a sign at every turn and confirmatory signs just after a lot of them. There were probably some 30+ marshalls both at check points and also major junctions waving riders across if the road was clear.

It seems that I was able to maintain my usual ~16.5 mph that I do on my 11 and 19 mile standard runs, despite the heat and longer course.

You can see the route at http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?client=firefox-a&hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=108414744479040183848.000487febb81a1bde4948&ll=52.235369,0.96302&spn=0.112487,0.267448&z=12

I need to follow up some sponsorship contributions and anticipate the total going over the (revised upwards) £1,250 target. Many thanks to all my sponsors.

Some photos on my JustGiving site http://www.justgiving.com/RTA-Tour-de-Suffolk

The big day arrives!

The day being the Suffolk Villages Charity Cycle Ride of course. Thanks to my wife Penny's support we get to Elmswell in good time before the 08:30 start. Already registered so just need to check in (the start time is logged as part of their process for accounting for everyone). Number attached to back and it's time to go!

Physics proves that Germany will win the World Cup ...

Professor Metin Tolan of the University of Dortmund has developed a mathematical formula which, he claims, shows Germany will win the 2010 World Cup.

Read about his World Cup theory at http://www.physorg.com/news191062132.html

More relevant to RTA, Tolan works in the area of synchrotron radiation science and has made substantial contributions to DELTA, the university-based synchrotron radiation source.

http://www.tu-dortmund.de/uni/International/Organization/Rectorate/Biographie_Prorektor_Forschung/index.html

Richard's cycle training

Need to get the bike ready today, cleaning the gear sprockets is one of those jobs ... it gets left undone! Also I need a replacement outer tyre which was causing the punctures (a small split in the sidewall allowed the inner to bulge through, then - BANG!). Weather forecast for tomorrow is hot and sunny, temperature up to 25C by mid-day. My start time is between 08:30-09:30, the earlier I start the better.

Beckham as physicist?

Another from the papers made available free of charge by the Institute of Physics during the World Cup.

http://iopscience.iop.org/0031-9120/36/1/301

Richard's cycle training

Day off yesterday as visiting customers - it happens! Today's training was in how to repair punctures, I found a flat on the rear tyre with the bike still in the garage. Replaced the tube with a previously repaired one. That then blew 2 miles down the road. Puncture was really difficult to repair and took 3 attempts. Additional spare tubes urgently required.

World cup physics

Soccer: Is scoring goals a predictable Poissonian process?
Free to read article courtesy of the IoP at

http://iopscience.iop.org/0295-5075/89/3/38007

Richard's cycle training

Nice 28 mile ride in new shoes with cleats, which seem to fit and work well. As a first time user I put the cleats on minimum force setting and practised unclipping at every junction ... Stopped at Groton church for a drink/stretch and BANG! Rear tyre puncture. Replaced tube and continued back.

If you want to explore cleats then these are useful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmwHqcFlOI4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KMPEzUeqJo

Tour de Suffolk

Weather forecast for the day of the ride - 27 June - shows a dry, still and sunny day. No rain forecast, which is good, but I will need suncream and lots to drink!

Richard's cycle training

Took the 19 mile ride at a good steady pace, must get my speedometer attached to give me a live idea of what that is. Usual groups of finches, gold, green, chaff and bull at different points. Quite a few hares around too - surprising more don't get run over by cars etc. My info pack for the ride arrived yesterday including my number "725". Donations have now reached £700, still some promises to convert and people to push!

Richard's cycle training

Early morning 11 mile ride at the start of what looks to be a very sunny warm and dry day. A few hares running around, they seem to have more speed than brains in finding a safe route back into a field. Current 7 day weather forecast suggests next Sunday will be cloudy and still - just what we need! Donations up to £620 with a week to go, I need to chase people up - this could be you ...

Richard's cycle training

Very windy all day and as it was Fathers' day, my daughter and husband came over and we a had lovely lunch - with even a couple of glasses of Marlborough Sauvingon Blanc ... what would my personal trainer say! Late evening ride to Rattlesden and back, seemed to be steadily climbing all the way - so much quicker coming back. My daughter has put links to my JustGiving site on her Flickr site and blog.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38351040@N00

http://carolinabena.blogspot.com/

Richard's cycle training

Early start as quite a few things to do today - including constructing the bantam run. Cool and cloudy, nice to go in a different direction, but not so nice to get lost, have to keep stopping to look at the map and the drizzle that developed!

Richard's cycle training

Evening ride following busy day, Jeevan was in the office and we worked on some projects. My shoe and pedal combination is still not right. Leveret sitting at side of road up 1st hill, 3 crias now at Brujens. Cloudy, windy and cold!

Richard's cycle training

Sunny morning, so wore my new shades (see picture on the JustGiving site!). Having trouble getting my shoes and pedals comfortable, I had some cramp in the left foot yesterday and need to get this sorted. There seems to be another cria at Brujens, I hadn't noticed before.

Richard's cycle training

A very early start allowing my longest ride yet, 54 km which is 72% of my target. Starting to believe this is going to be achievable! Families of greenfinches and pied wagtails out and about.

Richard's cycle training

Another cool dry early morning - it seems very unlikely that this ideal weather will continue until the 27th! However, coupled with an early start I took advantage of this to cover 28 miles. Both skylarks and yellowhammers singing strongly. The new cria at BruJens looking less wobbly on its legs. (A cria is a baby alpaca, Brujens breed alpacas on a smallholding in Lindsey Tye http://brujen.com/)

Richard's cycle training

Early morning 19 mile ride - seems to be getting easier, but the hills are still hard work!

Richard's cycle training

Easy paced 19 mile ride without a stop. Two muntjac deer scuttled into oil seed rape field by Groton Church. Dead adult hare on road near Drakestone Green and then overtaken by 3 maniac motor bikers going at around 80 mph ...

Richard's cycle training

Evening ride at 21:00 - 21:40, 11 miles. Highspot was 2 little owls on return into Monks Eleigh. Firstly being "territorial" one chasing the other at field edge. Then separately adopting classic position on telephone posts surveying the area around. Call was the male territorial call, hear at www.wildowl.co.uk/littleowls.html

Famous sponsor!

Delighted to be sponsored by another cyclist, although slightly better known than me. Especially as in our January newsletter we included an embarrassing goof ...

Two 5 time winners!
Who won the Tour De France five times in a row? Many readers might have to resort to Google to find the answer. Who has won the k-Space Associates Representative of the Year Award five times in a row? Hopefully, this is not so difficult to answer. (The first winner is Lance Armstrong, the second is RTA).

The correct answer to the first question is of course 7 times, but Lance has clearly now forgiven me.

Richard's cycle training

An early 11 mile ride, rain forecast later today and tomorrow. Adult hare sitting in road at Boyton, another (juvenile) at Kersey.

Richard's cycle training

An evening 11 mile ride, as it was raining first thing this morning. Chatted with couple by watersplash in picturesque Kersey www.escapeandexplore.co.uk/galleries/images/kersey.jpg. Met 5 road cyclists who had just tackled one of the steepest climbs around here, near Semer Church. We exchanged a few words, but then they whizzed past ... I have bought 2 new tyres for the Tour de Suffolk which arrived today!

Only seven

How many atoms does it take to make a transistor? Apparently the latest answer is seven (www.science.unsw.edu.au/news/quantum-leap-world-s-smallest-transistor-built-with-just-7-atoms/). Strictly speaking, as the Australian team actually replaced silicon atoms with seven phosphorus atoms to produce a "quantum dot" Si transistor, the device contains more than seven atoms. Do any readers want to speculate on the theoretical minimum total number of atoms (host and dopant) needed to produce transistor behaviour? RTA congratulates Professor Michelle Simmons, it was certainly more than 7 years since we knew her at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge.

Richard's cycle training

By leaving at around 06:00 I was doing well and added a 10 mile loop to my expected 18 mile ride ... never ridden 28 miles without stopping before!! There were 2 birds singing on a several 100m length of electricity line, a yellowhammer and a blackbird - but just 2m apart from each other. Seems a bit odd. Oh, and I am quite tired and my back is giving me problems ...

Richard's cycle training

Good for the first 3.5 miles, but then a sudden puncture messed it up. My attempt at repair was not successful so I opted to walk back. May go out again later, but weather a bit murky.

Richard's cycle training

An 11 mile ride at around 08:00 before it got too hot. Met Arthur, retired neighbour who has recently taken up cycling. Spent some minutes chatting and warned him he would get an email from me with a JustGiving link! Arthur is quite a bird expert, especially S American species. Skylarks singing and saw a little owl near Drakestone Green.

Richard's cycle training

19.1 miles in 1h12m. Route was Lindsey/Edwardstone/Boxford/Groton/Kersey with the extra loop at Groton. I took it at a steady pace. 2 bullfinches flitting into hedge on 1st hill.

Thought for the month 2

"If a man watches three football games in a row he should be declared legally dead" Erma Bombeck, Journalist (1927-96).

Tour de Suffolk

John: My colleague Richard Thomson, is preparing for a mammoth 75km cycle ride on behalf of charity (www.stowlions.org.uk:80/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=7). This noble and physically demanding feat will certainly be worth the aching limbs if he can raise significant amounts of money on behalf of the chosen charity, the British Heart Foundation. Would any kind readers care to sponsor Richard in his epic ride? Visit his JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/RTA-Tour-de-Suffolk

Thought for the month 1

"A lot of football success is in the mind. You must believe you are the best and then make sure that you are" Bill Shankly, Footballer and Manager (1913-81).

Congratulations

To Dr Frank Dimroth of Fraunhofer ISE on being awarded France's most prestigious science prize, the ‘Fondation Louis D’ award. Frank and his team have developed a metamorphic triple-junction solar cell which has reached a record efficiency of 41.1% within a concentrating photovoltaic module.

iScope

As the world goes iPad crazy (news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8710130.stm) and applications proliferate (www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/7772992/Apple-iPad-The-top-10-iPad-apps.html) the Editor would like to highlight the ultimate "must have" in iPhone and iPad apps - the oscilloscope app (www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=W8HsMc4U3f4&feature=player_embedded). Eat your heart out Stephen Fry, tweet Lissajous Figures?

Tour de M25

Congratulations to Imperial College (www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_27-5-2010-12-26-15) for completing two whole circuits of the London Orbital M25 on one battery charge of their Racinggreen electric car (www.racinggreenendurance.com/). Not surprisingly to those familiar with this road (or car park?) the team started the feat at the sensible hour of 2-30am, doing the 250 miles at a speed of 55-60 mph.