BLACK

Struggling Derby County have parted company with Paul Jewell today, leaving assistant Chris Hutchings in charge of the Championship team.

Despite leading the Rams to an exciting Carling Cup semi-final tie against Manchester United, their 1-0 home defeat against Ipswich Town was the last straw for Jewell.

Derby County are currently 18th in the Championship and chairman Adam Pearson expected this resignation as Derby County are in danger of slipping down another division.

"It was probably one result too far for Paul," said Pearson. "He came to see me after the game and said that he felt it just wasn't working out and didn't want to club to suffer as a result.

"He just feels that the club needs a fresh impetus and a new direction.

Tottenham Hotspur have had a £6m bid for Craig Bellamy rejected by cash-flow challenged West Ham United. The bid was made by Harry Redknapp on Christmas Eve and shows Tottenham's priority in this transfer window is to get a fourth striker. It is expected that Spurs will go back to West Ham and bid a second time but Chief Executive Steve Duxbury is insisting that Bellamy is not for sale.

Martin O'Neill is also rumoured to be putting a bid in for £7m, as well as ongoing interest for Bellamy from Manchester City.

Premier League Football Tips Boxing day 2008 Premier League

The Christmas period can make or break a Premier League club's season. I am really pleased to be visiting West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns on the 28th December with my beautiful girlfriend who is 4 months pregnant. We found out that he is a boy on Monday, so I would like to dedicate this post to him and his second Spurs match (1st one was at home vs Wigan....not a classic). Here are the Boxing Day fixtures:

Friday, 26 December 2008
Barclays Premier League
Aston Villa v Arsenal, 17:15
Chelsea v West Brom, 13:00
Liverpool v Bolton, 15:00
Man City v Hull, 15:00
Middlesbrough v Everton, 15:00
Portsmouth v West Ham, 13:00
Stoke v Man Utd, 12:45
Sunderland v Blackburn, 15:00
Tottenham v Fulham, 13:00
Wigan v Newcastle, 15:00

I fancy Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd and Tottenham to all win.

Happy Christmas to all!

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas will be out for up to four months after rupturing his knee ligaments against Liverpool in the Premier League clash on the weekend. the injury happened when Fabregas went into a challenge with Xabi Alonso and came out worst off.

This is a big blow to Arsene Wenger's league campaign with both Theo Walcott and Tomas Rosicky also injured and set to come back well into 2009. Fabregas is a clever midfielder who links up well with Robin Van Persie and his general composure will be missed in this four month period.

As Gary McAllister joins the list of other young managers to be sacked (arguably premature), he exits at a time when chairmen like Ken Bates are looking for instant results and will not wait for any manager to pull through a bad patch and create continuity in the long term.

It has to be said that Sunderland's chairman Niall Quinn has proven to be an exception with the recent issues at The Stadium Of Light. It appears that Quinn most definitely did not want ex Man United captain Roy Keane to leave the managerial post after 2 years in charge and wanted to support him in the long term. In the premiership it is fair to say that this is a rarity. Since 2001, Daniel Levy is now on his 6th manager. Now, in the case of Martin Jol and more recently Juande Ramos Levy would argue that he had no choice but to sack both coaches, as would many Spurs fans. It could even be said that Ramos was a success in his brief time at White Hart Lane as he did win a competition and bring in some decent players.

Historically, 'impact managers' were used in relegation battles to not only give the club a fresh start but simply do whatever it takes to survive. Managers such as Big Ron Atkinson and more recently Steve Bruce at Wigan Athletic were incentivised heavily to keep their club in the top flight. The transfer window now acts as a mid-point to give a manager the opportunity to improve his chances of better footballing performance. Chairmen will review the teams performance consistently and will only give the manager funds to buy new players if they trust them and believe long term that it is them that they want to employ as coach.

After being swiftly terminated by Newcastle United, Sam Allardyce is back where he belongs in a Premiership managerial position. His impact? Similar to Harry Redknapp he is a superb motivator of players and led his new club Blackburn Rovers to an important 3-0 victory against Stoke City. Paul Ince's loss is Allardyce's gain. Whether he will be given more time to succeed at Ewood Park remains to be seen.

What is the risk of this short termism? That you don't create a long term strategy from the club's Academy upwards to the first 11. Liverpool fans - take note. Benitez is a superb manager who got incredible levels of criticism last season for tinkering too much with his team. Is it possible that the Reds just weren't good enough in terms of ability last season? If the Liverpool board had made a hasty decision then they probably wouldn't be top of the Premiership this Christmas.

It is interesting to hear Alex Ferguson's views on this topic because he is the shining example of continuity paying off even when the team's performance at times is not what you'd want it to be. He blames 'hangers on' - non-director shareholders that want a say and try to influence senior decisions at board meetings. He refers to it as the 'second board' - corpoarate hospitality types that add pressure, demanding instant results that have a direct correlation on the financial health of the football club.

Gary McAllister is the latest managerial casualty of this football season as boss of sleeping giants Leeds United.

Leeds United chairman Ken Bates has taken action against their dip in form and sacked manager Gary McAllister after an 18 month spell.

Leeds, currently in ninth position in Coca Cola League One are in danger of drifting away from promotion with a 15 point gap between leaders Leicester City and themselves. After losing 4 consecutive matches including falling out of the FA Cup when losing against non-league Histon, McAllister looked vulnerable with Bates looking for quick results. It is expected that a new manager will be recruited quickly to give the new leader some time in the transfer window to strengthen the squad.

Ex assistant coach Gus Poyet has been strongly linked for obvious reasons as he was supposed to be instrumental in Leeds' success under Dennis Wise before departing for Tottenham Hotspur. Aidy Boothroyd has also been linked with the position.

Over the past few weeks since Helvellyn i've been getting back into the swing of a structured training plan.. working with Mark (Forgy) again for 2009... last year it worked really well with constant contact between the 2 of us we worked a really good programme and before my forced break i was in best biking shape of my life, unfortunately we didn't get to fully test the form but 2009 should be a good opportunity to see what i can do.

Weekdays are a mix trainer and gym sessions.. weekends are long slow base miles.. the weekend before last i was in Newcastle dealing with black ice... unfortunately not the AC DC album but the nasty stuff that drops you to the tarma hard withot warning... in just under 3 hours i took 2 heavy falls.. the first 10m from my front door.

Last weekend was a freezing 4 hours in the Manchester rain... testing the single speed mountain bike on the road an getting in some base miles... its just too undergeared on the road but a bigger gear would make the long and sometimes steep climbs here unbearable for zone 2 base miles.. so the bike is getting another build.. think it'll be version 5 and the finished product will be a 1x8 speed road mountain bike wih narrow range rear block and a thumb shifter operating the gears, well no one can accuse me of being run of the mill.
Unfortunately the rainy ride escalated an already sre throat to a full blown cold, even so training did not cease and think it aided recovery to do some sweating on trainers and do some good interval and single leg drills to ' The Flying Scotsman' film.. Obree is a living legend and the king of hard work and suffering.

This weekend was a classic peaks ride.. Ladybower figure of 8.. only managed to get one fellow rider to venture out, Dave from TSW cycles, good as haven't seen Dave much since moving to Manchester and good to have a chat and catch up while enjoying some nice muddy riding.

The weather was a little wet but unlike previous weeks wasn't unbearably cold... the first climb was touh going as grip was minimal although Dave looked to make lighter work of it than i did... felt like i had no grip and as i fin it difficult to spin up climbs i was frustrated at not being able to push a good gear and get normal low cadence going i prefer... later discovered this was due to me having very little grip and Dave using some nice mud tyres giving him a ton of grip.
The ride was going well... usual mix of muddy climbs and fast loose rocky descents, then we reached the last descent of the day... named by others as 'screaming mile' due to its flowing nature.. not as rocking as most but natural banks help the turns and keep the speeds high... that was until someone decided the trail needed sanatising:( this is unfortunately becoming more popular... basicalling involving cutting out natural and re instating sections with nice wide hardcore surfaces... although the sign indicated that the bridleway was closed at the top we thought we could pick our way down.. the top 200m metres remained unchanged.. then it became a 'motorway' style trail.. easily 4 times wider than it was then it became a ridiculous mud bath... you rolled when you could but if you had to dab your leg went in upto your knee:( The trail is now just memory in those that had previously ridden it an i am unsure as to what they can possible make of this muddy disaster.. time will tell but it won't be in the same league.

Well the forth coming week has fallen as both christmas and my first rest week... so Merry christmas to all.. don't over indulge and make sure the festivities don't get in the way of riding.. just think how quiet the trails will be with most users indoors watching tv eating mince pies.

CO2 E - RACE & COPENHAGEN HISTORIC GRAND PRIX 2009


Copenhagen Historic Grand Prix (Chgp) is organised according to the International Sporting Code of the FIA, the National Sporting Code of Danish ASN, DASU and the present supplementary regulations. DASU is a member of DIF. The CO2 E - Race will represent the future of cars in the 2009 race. When the Tesla's electric power will be compared to some of the fastest combustions engines the audience will for sure realize the advantages of the future of transportation.

See more about CHGP HERE

After 10 months out with a career threatening knee injury Croatian forward Eduardo pulled his hamstring in reserves. Last season Birmingham defender Martin Taylor strongly tackled Eduardo which led to the injury and this left him sidelined for the Gunners.

Despite picking up an injury that keeps him out until the new year, Eduardo is delighted to be back and remains positive about his prospects.

"I'm just so happy to be back playing after 10 months out. I hope to be back playing at the same level or even better, but now it's just good to forget about all the bad things in my life."

Ex Manchester United and MK Dons boss has been sacked by struggling Premiership club Blackburn Rovers after six months in charge. Blackburn Rovers have had a terrible run of form taking them to 19th in the division. Paul Ince started managing Blackburn on the 22nd June and joins Ramos and Keane to be the thitrd Premiership manager part company with their clubs. Blackburn's last victory was in September against Newcastle United and pressure has increased since Roy Keane's difficulties at Middlesborough lead to hs resignation.

Blackburn's club statement read: "The board, having selected Paul Ince back in June, were desperate for him to succeed and wanted to give him as much time as possible in the unforgiving environment of the Premier League, where time is such a precious commodity."

Ray Mathias, Archie Knox and Karl Robinson from the Blackburn coaching team will be managing agains Stoke on Saturday 20th December.

British coaches such as Roy Keane, Paul Ince and Tony Adams should represent the future of English management and will need the support and patience that Niall Quinn showed at Sunderland. Although there is nothing wrong with having a foreign manager for our national team I think most Englishmen's prference would be to see one of our coaches have the right types of opportunities in the Premiership and, for that matter top divisions in other European countries to see us have a truly English team.

FORMER DANISH KEWET IS NOW A NORWEGIAN BUDDY



Buddy is the sixth generation of the Kewet electric vehicle. Originally the Kewet was developed in Hadsund, Denmark, and the first model was made in 1991. Production alternated between Hadsund, Denmark and Nordhausen, Germany. During the first five generations over 1000 electric vehicles were produced, The vehicle was sold in eighteen countries. In 1998 all rights were acquired by ElBil Norge AS.

More information HERE

Finnish utility Fortum is promising to install 100 electric charging stations in the city of Stockholm in the coming year. Even though that probably won't put Stockholm or Sweden at the absolute head of the electric pack (Oslo will likely have well over 100 stations by the end of next year), Stockholm's move is a good one. The city unveiled its first two permanent charging stations, and three more at different points at the city's edges will soon be in place. Stockholm is aiming to be an "emissions free" city in terms of car traffic by 2030. Can they do it? The question for us here in Copenhagen is: Can we?

SpongeBob SquarePants runs across a grassy Japanese garden, mowing down 'smog monsters' and other gas guzzling foes with some sort of green gun as he goes. Every so often, he hurls a glowing green orb at a dead-looking tree and makes it sprout leaves.

Go to Nikolodian and play it HERE

ISTANBUL TRANSPORTATION


Once upon a time--way back in 1871--Istanbul had some of the most innovative public transportation around. The Tünel funicular, which still carries tourists and residents alike up the steep hill from Karaköy to the southern end of Istiklal Caddesi, was the second underground subway line in the world, after London's. Maalesef (alas), it took 129 years for the city to open another one.

The historic ferry system plying the Bosphorus between Istanbul's Asian and European sides is as scenic and enjoyable as public transit gets, but land-bound options have lagged behind. Though bus and dolmuş (private mini-buses) routes crisscross the city, most face the same traffic woes as private cars. A light-rail metro, opened in 1994, and the finally expanded subway are generally clean, quick, and efficient, but fall far short of full coverage. Istanbul's yellow cabs are also one of the main options used to get around the city, but they are everything but CO2 neutral.

More info from Treehugger HERE

Electric Porsche


German Porsche tuner Ruf has produced the world’s first professionally built electric 911, the eRUF. The prototype replaces the flat six engine with a brushless three-phase motor powered by lithium-ion batteries. Although not as quick as a petrol-engined 911, Ruf’s engineers say the eRUF is still good for a 0-100km/h (60mph) time of under 7.0sec and has a top speed of 255km/h (160mph). More importantly it’s claimed to have a maximum range of nearly 320km

More info from GizMag HERE

RESULT: Chelsea 1 West Ham 1 14th December 2008


Gianfranco ZOla's return to Samford Bridge West Ham was successful with a vital point against his old club.

The home team started brightly but West Ham managed to deny Anelka any space in dangerous areas.

Scott Parker worked hard in midfield to break up the rhythm of Deco and Lampard. The Hammers kept deep and defended well, with Matthew Upson continuing to show good central defensive judgement. Then in the 32nd minute West Ham got to the byline with Noble and passed in to Craig Bellamy who in turn controlled and volleyed in emphatic style past Cech to open the scoring very much against the run of play.

In the second half the home team statred more aggressively with Drogba coming on to join Nicolas Anelka upfront. It was the in form frenchman Anelka however that got the equaliser, volleying home a delicate chip in the box from Frank Lampard to net his 14th goal of the season.

More pressure followed from Chelsea as the had most of the possession, camping in West Ham's half forcing them to sit on the 18 yard line with little rest. West Ham 'keeper Robert Green commanded his area well, and in the last 5 minutes West Ham slightly came into the game possesssion wise. Frank Lampard had a well struck free kick that he steered straight towards Green, apart from that West Ham were good for a point on this frustrating day for the Premiership leaders.

Premiership result: Portsmouth 0 Newcastle 3 14th December 2008
Newcastle move into 14th position ahead of Tottenham on goal difference after their first away win of the season at Fratton Park against Tony Adam's Portsmouth. Portsmouth dominated in the first half but Defoe and Crouch were a bit wasteful of possession in the final third of the pitch. Newcastle hit the post with a fantastic twenty yard swerving drive from forward Obafemi Martins.

In the second half Portsmouth squandered more chances, then Newcastle took advantage of some inaccurate passing and put Michael Owen through in on goal. Owen took a heavy first touch but then more than made up for it with a delicate chip over Portsmouth keeper David James to open the scoring at 0-1.

Newcastle started to gain more possession and confidence after the first goal and it was Martins that scored the second goal in the 76th minute after some bad defending and a premature dive from James.

It was Guthrie who completed a great win for the visitors with the third goal after a through ball fell nicely into his path and he smashed it past David James who perhaps could have done more to prevent this goal as well as the second.

Spurs 0 Manchester United 0

Dimitar Berbatov's return to White Hart Lane was frustrating for him and Sir Alex Ferguson's Red Devils as Tottenham Hotspur managed to keep a clean sheet against the Premier League champions.

In the first half, this match was quite tight, Modric went close with a header from a David Bentley cross and then towards the end of the first 45 mins Manchester United began to dominate possession but with no end result. David Bentley also had a spectacular volley saved by Van der Sar. Christiano Ronaldo netted from a corner in the penalty box but it was judged to have been handled by the Portuguese international.

In the second half, Manchester United continued to pass the ball fluently but Spurs were resolute in defence with great performances fom Michael Dawson and Didier Zokora. Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes were brought on towards the end of the match to attempt to break the Spurs defence down but the home team managed to keep things under control and had a good chance from Modric going just over the crossbar. Overall, Tottenham were good for a point and moved Harry Redknapp's Spurs up to 14th position. However this result made things difficult for Man Utd as the gap between them and Chelsea increased to 6 points.

THE ORION PROJECT - ALTERNATIVE ENERGY



The Orion Project is a non-profit foundation created to transform the current energy, environmental and social crisis into a world of sustainability and enlightened abundance.
In the above video, project director Steven M. Greer, M.D., introduces the project and its goals.

More about the project HERE

AROUND THE WORLD ON SOLAR POWER



On December 4th a solar-powered car finished its 17-month journey around the World at the UN climate conference in Poland. It drove more than 30,000 miles without burning a single drop of fuel.



Above from his trip to New York City

More info HERE

Match Report: Everton 2 Villa 3

Ashley Young left it until injury time to score a fantastic winner to give Aston Villa all 3 points at Goodison Park, after Everton had equalised in the attack just before it.

Steve Sidwell scored from 20 yards with a strong shot to give Villa the lead and then left back Lescott levelled to 1-1 from close range.

Aston Villa were gifted the second when a terrible backpass from Phil Jaglieka was directed into Ashley Young's path and the England international slotted the chance home with great composure.

Joleon Lescott then scored a second with a spectacular acrobatic volley to bring Everton level again. Then came the drama. A long kick from Everton was headed by defender Martin Laursen which was then in turn passed on in midfield to Young who cleverley passed the ball around Lescott, picked it up after sprinting past him and then curled the ball around Tim Howard to win the match with the last kick of the game.

Match report - Manchester United 1 Sunderland 0

Manchester United left it until the 90th minute to secure 3 points against Sunderland, under caretaker manager Sbragia after Man Utd put heavy pressure on the visitors for the majority of the game.

After several attacks in the last half an hour, Berbatov put a close range header over the bar and it looked like with good defending from Anton Ferdinand it looked like Sunderland might hold on. Then, with only 2 minutes to go, man of the match Michael Carrick struck a 20 yard shot which hit the post and defender Vidic followed the rebound up like a striker would to get the win in typical Manchester United fashion and secure third place with Arsenal in fourth.

Carling Cup semi-final draw

Tottenham v Burnley (First Leg w/c January 5th, White Hart Lane)

Derby County v Manchester United (First Leg January 5th, Pride Park)

Manchester United left back Patrice Evra has been fined £15,000 and handed a four match suspension after the FA founded him guilty of improper conduct in a confrontation with Chelsea groundsman Sam Bethell. This occurred in the Man Utd v Chelsea match on 26th April, allegations of racism from the groundsman towards Evra have not been proven which was claimed by assistant manager Mike Phelan. Evra struck the grouundsman on the head and coninuted the row after it had been broken up. Chelsea were also fined £25,000 for this infamous 'Battle of the Bridge' incident.

“Manchester United notes the announcement from the FA and is disappointed with the decision and in particular considers the sanctions against Patrice Evra excessive,” a statement said. “Manchester United and Patrice will consider all options once there has been an opportunity to digest the full reasons for the decision. There will be no further comment.”

Evra’s ban starts from 22nd December, however he is also banned for the game on the 21st December 2008 against Spurs for receiving five bookings this season.

FISHERMAN'S NEW FRIEND



The super slick Electric car "Karma" by Danish designer Henrik Fisker, makes one wonder if it is good Karma to use the word Karma when selling products?
Despite a projected annual production run of approximately 15,000 units, the Karma comes much closer to the true definition of "exclusive" thanks to the plug-in's first-to-market status with lithium ion battery technology, full-electric range of 50 miles and a gas/electric fuel economy rating of 100 mpg.

ELECTRIC BONDING


The new James Bond adventure Quantum of Solace features several cameo appearances from Eco friendly Fords. The film's leading lady Camille makes her entrance driving a Gold 2009 Ford Ka while James Bond gets behind the wheel of a hydrogen-powered Ford Edge in pivotal scenes of the new action film.



Above Ford Ka video


...and the Bond driven Ford Edge Hydrogen Fuel Cell - Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle

Fashion house, Maison de Courreges’s Andre and Coqueline Courreges have embellished their electric vehicle line with the latest ‘Zooop’ that takes you 450 km per charge. The three-seater 690 kg car runs on powerful Lithium Polymer batteries (70 A/hour 370 V) that don’t let you down by generating 150 kW of power and still maintaining their cool, and charging and recharging fast. The Zooop can reach speeds of 180 km/h. Love the Orange.

found on Gizmag.com

(from 2006)

Roy Keane, ex Manchester United and Republic of Ireland midefielder has resigned from his managerial post at Sunderland after a bad spell of winning only 1 game out of the last 7.

This will be a big blow to Niall Quinn who has been in talks since the weekend after their heavy home defeat against Bolton to convince Keane to stay put as manager of Sunderland after a 2 year spell. Sunderland are currently lying in 18th with 15 points and have had resources financially and board support for Keane. However in recent matches Keane has stubbornly put key players on the bench and this has negatively affected the fans' perception of him as their leader.

Paul Ince, another one of the great Manchester United players under Ferguson will now undoubtedly be under pressure as Blackburn Rovers are now in 19th position. Similarly, he is relatively inexperienced for a Premiership club management position.

First team coach Ricky Sbragia is now the caretaker manager at the Stadium of Light and will have 2 assistant coaches in Neil Bailey and Dwight Yorke. Sbragia has a massive challenge in playing Manchester United at Old Trafford at 5.30pm - not exactly an easy first game in charge.

Burnley’s Carling Cup Run continues into the semi-finals

Burnley's incredible Carling Cup run continued this evening with an impressive 2-0 win over an Arsenal team full of the younger players.
Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen said before the game that he “didn’t want 6 more one-on-ones” after his penalty shoot-out heroics in the Chelsea match – and this is exactly what happened. Nicholas Bendtner was through on goal and couldn’t make it count, and the other senior player Silvestre also had a poor game. The Arsenal team were guilty of looking for the final pass too early but this was Burnley’s night.

Captain Kevin McDonald opened the scoring in the 6th minute after the Arsenal keeper Fabianski spilt the ball in his path and McDonald took full advantage. After holding up well the Gunners pressure, McDonald then made it 2 by curling home a shot from 15 yards out to complete a memorable victory at Turf Moor on this cold Tuesday night.

Premiership Result Liverpool 0 West Ham United 0

Rafael Benitez's men went top tonight after a frustrating 0-0 draw which narrows the gap to 1 point between Chelsea and the Reds in pole position.

After recently drawing 0-0 at home to Fulham, Benitez will be dissapointed to not have maintained their superb Premiership start and assert their authority as the early leading Premiership team. Zola's team were well organised to keep the Reds out. Quite a non-eventful first half led on to a second half with a flurry of goal mouth incident but Keane and Kuyt lacked the finishing power needed against West Ham keeper Robert Green who is growing in reputation as a strong candidate for the England team.

Despite Liverpool's dominance it was Craig Bellamy who struck the inside of the post from over 25 yards with Liverpool keeper Jose Reina well beaten. This indeed would have been an ironic winning goal for the former Liverpool striker but the wood work kept it out on what was a game that Liverpool will look back to as 2 points dropped too easily.

Chelsea 1 Arsenal 2
Arsene Wenger's Arsenal were given a lifeline with a brace from Dutch international Robin Van Persie. Chelsea opened the scoring when a strong attack down the right with a cross from Bosingwa was directed by Arsenal defender Johan Djourou into hs own net.

In the second half this tie was fought out in typical derby style, fast moving and physical. Van Persie's equaliser looked suspiciously offside and was commented on by Chelsea coach Luis Felipe Scholari.

"I accept that the referre is wrong sometimes. All I ask is that he says 'I was wrong' to me," said Scholari.

Wenger also admitted that this goal looked offside but implied that this is just part of the game as we currently know it.

Shortly after this the Gunner's crafted a second goal with a free kick from captain Cesc Fabregas, headed on from Adebayor to Van Persie who swivelled and brilliantly volleyed into the bottom left hand side corner making it impossible for Petr Cech to save.

This win puts Arsenal back into fourth just below Liverpool, Man Utd and Chelsea - just seven points adrift of the top position.

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba is apparently staying at Stamford Bridge amidst rumours that he is unhappy and eyeing up moves to potential other football clubs. African players award contenders Drogba, aged 30 is under contract for 18 months and Peter Kenyon insists that he will see this time out.

In the first half of this season it has been surprisngly Nicolas Anelka who has made Chelsea tick upfront, and with the imminent court action reagding the coin throwing incident at Burnley, it has been suggested that Drogba may want to move in the transfer window.

Chelsea club chief executive Peter Kenyon said: "Didier's under contract for the next 18 months. He will be going nowhere in January."

Drogba had been linked with Italian club Inter Milan to link up with his former boss Jose Mourinho however Kenyon emphasised that he wants Drogba until 2010.

With Grace away for the weekend and nobody around to play with i decided on a solo mission to the Lakes...

Helvellyn was the mountain of choice as the route i had ridden before so no navigational issues and i knew the descent down sticks pass was worth the 'hike and bike, to the top.. plus the chance to ride in snow is always fun and since we rarely see snow at low level these days the summit of Helvellyn at this time of year almost always has inches of the stuff.. its a given.

With an early start from home the first scare of the day was not on the bike but in the car.. turning from an A road into a minor road in the lakes i wasn't ready for ice and was taken by surprise as i turned the wheel left and the car was still going straight.. luckily i got traction back to steer away from oncoming stone wall.. low gear and driving with due care was the order of the day.

Getting ready in the car park it was cold.. i hate the cold... i have bad circulation so drop a degree or so and i can't feel my hands leading to much pain when they warm up.. to try and combat this i have invested in some thick ski like gloves.. i can't really change gear or brake properly but its a price worth paying to try and keep them warm.

The ride starts up a valley flanked either side by steep slopes... the first hour of the ride is fairly rideable, the hiking starts as you make towards grisedale tarn... alot of careful stepping up seriously icy rocks... didn't want to ruin my weekend before it had started so i took my time. When i got to the tarn it was spectacular... looked like glass surrounded with snowy hillside... amazing..




From the tarn you make towards dollywagon pike.. this is a bike on the back and slog up the step like stones that have been laid.. getting passed this section it was rideable as you pass the pike... a nice pole was used for a good photo moment..



From here you drop down a few rises climbing the other side with the summit almost in site..



at this point riding was in snow with the descending plenty fun sliding about in the snow... shoes and pedals had packed solid with snow so clipping in was difficult.

A brief lunch was had at the shelter near the summit of Helvellyn then off again.. the descending from the top to bottom of first rise is steep and twisting so saddle was lowered and one leg used to hang out there and steady on the turns.. leaving the front brake well alone and steering with the rear wheel... so much fun.

After another rise or so the start of the sticks pass descent began.. this descent is technical and in places way beyond my ability.. i may learn to descend one day but can't see it happening soon... i was hanging a foot for most of the descent in the snow.. there was a brief reprise as the trail levels to quite flat before the final tech section which i rolled into with confidence.. then realised i was on sheet ice..panicked.. and ejected over the bars running out and leaving the bike behind... first battle scar tot he Genesis Altitude.. scratch to the fox forks:(

After this section its fast switchbacks then full on speed all the way down to glenridding.

I made the ascent and descent in such good time i decided to lap Ullswater to finish... its a road ride to Pooley bridge then an off road climb.. with a few more ups and downs you get to the lakeside final 3-4 miles which are amazing singletrack.. very technical with great views when you dared take your eyes off the trail.



This finishes at Patterdale and back to the car and get changed.

I had decided to just camp as i was on my own it seemed the easiest option... campsite was only a few miles down the road and was reached just as it was getting dark... showers were plenty powerful enough and hot which was welcome.. food in pub was more than acceptable.

The nights camping can be summarised as being an acceptable temperature to eventually being really cold.. sleeping in all my clothes with blanket round my head made sleeping possible:)



Sunday, After such a big day saturday i wanted an easy ride so decided to go lap North Face trail at Grizedale forest... was a little concerned about the wooden board walk sections and the ice.. my concern was realised when i had to stop on a cambered icy bit of board walk.. i had a foot down then realised i had no grip on , my feet either, i tentatively reached down to hold the wood and steady myself and as i took hold my feet went from under me and i decided to call it a day at one lap... the rest of the trail was great.. other sections of wood were rideable... the rest of the trail was fast and flowy and the crisp air and great scenery made for a great short ride out...

Drive back to manchester and back to the reality of having to work tomorrow:(

Project Better Place Video



Better Place is a venture-backed company that aims to reduce global dependency on oil through the creation of a market-based transportation infrastructure that supports electric vehicles, providing consumers with a cleaner, sustainable, personal transportation alternative. The main obstacle to the mass adoption of electric cars is driving range and costly batteries. Better Place eliminates these barriers through the use of swappable batteries to extend the range of the car and by owning the batteries directly so the driver doesn’t have to. With an infrastructure of battery charging spots and battery exchange stations, drivers experience the feeling of infinite range at a cost less than the cost of driving an internal combustion engine (ICE) car.

More info HERE

Or scroll down to the end of this page for another video

After a tough first half of the Premiership season, Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has stated that there is fund available for Arsene Wenger to spend in the transfer window. Its well documented that the best players are bought pre-season and that buying players in January rarely changes a team's performance but the pressure will be on to strengthen the Gunners defence and defensive midfield where Arsenal have looked vulnerable. Arsenal are currently fifth behind Aston Villa and have lost 5 league matches already. There has been friction with the captaincy of William Gallas and have lacked the finshing of Adebayor, who should play today at Stamford Bridge in the 4pm match against Chelsea.

"He certainly has money if he wants to spend it," Hill-Wood told Arsenal TV.

"There have been suggestions we keep stopping him from buying - that is not the case.

"He's very sensible with the way he approaches the transfer market, he's not going to buy anybody just because the press or fans say he should.

"He's only going to buy somebody if he thinks they're going to improve what is a young squad but a very talented one."

The Big Ask: Climate change, "ACT NOW!"



On 10th August, more than 6,000 people took part in the recording of The Big Ask-video clip at Ostende on the Belgian coast. This was the largest event against climate change ever organised in Belgium. The CO2 E - Race is working on the same premises: Many people sharing the intent of making a change and ACT NOW.

TTXGP - World's First Clean Emission Carbon Free Grand Prix



TTXGP is about competitive innovation. Pushing the frontier and making the next leap. TTXGP allows different technologies, systems and methods battle for supremacy on some of the most glorious motorsport venues in the world. In a market place of free ideas, TTXGP is where you get your vision of the future valued.

More information HERE

After missing out on an entry to the first round of the Thetford Winter Series, a series that has always been my winter highlight, i was looking for something else... enter a brand new race series based in Wales so not far from my new base of Manchester... Pedal Power Enduro 3hr.

WOR Events are experienced race organisers, all be it in the field of Off Road Motor Biking, so a well organised race was expected it was just the course that was gonna be the unknown.

The race categories weren't like a normal enduro.. more a mix of xc elite/expert cats and then the lower cats organised by age.. i optimistically entered the expert category.. with no elite entrants this became the top category.

The weather on race day was bleak at best... as me and Grace left Manchester the rain was hammering down and Wales isn't famed for its dry weather so it was only gonna get wetter or wetter and colder.. welcome to british winter racing.

As we got to the race venue... a forestry access road.. we were greeted by a well informed marshall, level of organisation was already obviously good... park up and sign on.

The weather was showers of cold rain.. temperature wasn't too bad so went for arm warmers and Endura gilet over a long sleeve to give me options if i got too hot during race ( what was i thinking but gave myself marks for optimism).
Rode a quick warm up the access road and after another chat with a marshall who described the course as 3 major tight wooded sections with alot of hard pack fire road i opted to raise my seat a little.

Upto the start line... we were strangely arranged diagonally in a line towards start.. hard to explain but we were told this was common fair in motorbike racing in case someone stalls the others can still get round.. unsure what the mtb equivalent of stalling is but we found it funny on the line... the expert class got to line up first on the start and although i didn't know any of the other guys in the class from previous races good race line banter was had.. i offered up that we ride out the 3 laps (11mile laps) that we expected to complete at a steady pace and race the last 10m which was received well but as it turned out no one went for it.

The start siren went and i found myself out the front sprinting up the fire road... i am useless at gauging a start so i gave it do or die effort... unfortunately we hit the first tech section before the field could properly string out.. the wooded sections were techie to say the least... really steep in places.. off camber.. muddy.. with roots cutting diagonally across the trails and you were always trying to traverse the slope. I dropped a few places in here as i struggled to get to grips with this stuff.

It was during this section we came across the first major obstacle.. a big moss covered boulder with a big drop on the back side... 3 of us got to it at once and all anchored on confused at how to tackle it... easy... ride round it:)

The first major climb my lack of training kicked in and the faster guys pulled away from me... order of the day was just to maintain a pace i could sustain for the 3 hours and get to grips with the technical downhill sections.




As the race progressed i spent most of my time alone... there was a steady long road climb at the mid point of the course and i would have loved lock out for my forks as i tried to get low and power up..




There was one climb in the race from which you could see who was chasing you down and i noticed a guy gaining on me lap 1 and 2 and by the mid point of the 3rd he had caught me and was leading the over 50's race.. normally i would have been disappointed to be caught but hey i was riding a fresh bike and with no base miles i was happy to still be upright.

The weather really got a bit chipper towards the end of the 3rd lap... just as i had used every spare calorie turning the pedals the temperature dropped and the horizontal sleet kicked in.. i was so cold.. luckily only a road downhill and fireroad climb remained as i couldn't feel my hands or feet.




As it turned out they changed the race to 3 laps rather than 3 hours although only the winner would have got out for a 4th... 33 miles completed.. think i finished top ten overall but enjoyed the good kicking i got and looking forward to coming back for more.

A really well organised race and a great course... congrats to WOR Events for this excellent race.




All pictures i have used in this race report were supplied by CETRA gallery and studio @ Cetra.co.uk

Dodge Viper 500 hp Vs Tzero Electric Car



Only about 15% of the energy from the fuel you put in your tank gets used to move your car down the road or run useful accessories, such as air conditioning. The rest of the energy is lost to engine and driveline inefficiencies and idling. Therefore, the potential to improve fuel efficiency with advanced technologies is enormous. With an Electric Car it costs just $2.00 per 100kms with MUCH more performance than with petrol at $20.00 per 100kms. (from 2006!)

Detroit News: Dodge ZEO Concept



With the name ZEO being an acronym for, Zero Emissions Operation, Chrysler continues to beat the green drum with the sporty Dodge ZEO Concept.

Saab 9-X Biofuel Hybrid Solar Electric Concept Car



Renewable energy concept car uses a solar panel to assist with charging the hybrid battery. Engine runs on combination of battery electric motor and biofuel combustion engine.

Belt Drive Vs. Direct Drive on Turntables



Same concept can be applied to the Fossil Fuel Cars and Electric Cars

MINI E at the L.A. Auto Show Nov 2008



The BMW Group will be the world's first manufacturer of premium automobiles to deploy a fleet of some 500 all-electric vehicles for private use in daily traffic.

E - Scalextric



..and the Largest track in the world



The majority of Scalextric Products are 1:32 scale, though between 1968 and 1970 Super124 cars and track were manufactured at 1:24 scale. In the late Nineties, Micro Scalextric at 1:64 scale was introduced.[1] Cars and track are not compatible between scales; however 1950s models should run on modern Scalextric track and vice versa.[2]

At the beginning of the 21st century Scalextric did a major redesign to make the track easier to assemble. The new design is known as Scalextric Sport. Scalextric Sport track can be connected to the classic design of track using special adaptor pieces

IBM Study: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)



Placing an added emphasis on corporate social responsibility and ensuring it is at the core of a business' strategy can yield financial benefits, according to a study from IBM. The survey, "Attaining Sustainable Growth Through Corporate Social Responsibility," indicates many companies now view CSR as a growth opportunity and not just a regulatory compliance. Sixty-eight percent of those surveyed say they are using CSR activities to help generate revenue. In addition, many companies also view these types of initiatives as a way to gain a competitive advantage and access new business opportunities. Increased awareness by consumers on issues from climate change to product safety is, in part, driving corporate concern for these issues, according to the survey. In turn, the increased visibility of corporate behavior is influencing consumers' decisions on what to buy and who to buy from, who to work for, who to partner with and where to invest. The survey is based on responses from top executives at more than 250 companies worldwide.

Amr Zaki, on loan at Wigan from Zamalek will be sold at the end of the season and it will be the parent club that will be responsible for this sale.

Zaki has scored 8 goals in his last 12 seasons and has definitely impressed in the Barclays Premier League.

The following statement was made on Zamalek's official website:

"Amr Zaki has been in the limelight for a while, and the mass media have been fuelling speculations over his next move and whether Wigan would let him seal a new deal or not and so forth.

"We hereby assure that we have the legal rights to either accept or reject offers for the aforementioned player, and no other club are authorised to interfere in potential negotiations.

"We would accept the highest bid for the player."

If the Vatican Can, so Can We!



The first solar panels have been installed on top of the papal audience hall at Vatican City. Pope Benedict XVI's has made conserving the Earth's resources an important concern of his papacy. The plan is to make the Vatican State the first CO2 neutral state in the world. Does the Pope wear a green hat? No, but it's still funny.

Manchester City 1 Tottenham Hotspur 2

This was my fourth trip to The City of Manchester Stadium, out of the 3 I'd seen Spurs win twice so despite Man City having a very strong squad I was quietly confident of Tottenham gettng something out of this classic fixture.

Manchester City started brighter than Spurs in the first twenty minutes, with Shaun Wright-Phillips delivering the pace and Robinho dazzling quality with effortless through balls. This culminated in the opener with Robinho slotting home within the box after the Spurs backline crumpled under some pressure from the home team. With the early dominance, this looked to be set up for a home win. However there was a big surprise when Fernandes accrued two yellow cards for bad challenges, the second on Bentley led to his sending off which silenced the home support. Tottenham then did a great job of capitalising on the extra man by passing the ball continuously to tire the City players. Darren Bent scored shortly after Modric had a shot saved at close range and this set the scene for the second half.

In the second half, Spurs struggled to penetrate Mark Hughes' stubborn 10 men. After having most of the possession, in the 64th minute a long pass from Huddlestone reached Jenas who controlled the ball, passed to Bent who calmly side footed the ball into the net off of the far post.

Manchester City then had Dunne sent off towards the end for a foul on Darren Bent who was directly in on goal. After Ekotto was sent off for a second yellow card it was 9 versus 10 and Manchester City had some superb chances but Harry's men held on for another win. This lifted Spurs out of the bottom three and showed the home team that Spurs away support is very strong. A friend commented that the Tottenham fans were 'the best away support at Eastlands this season' and it clearly meant a lot to the Spurs players as they celebrated in front of the away folllowers.

Did we enjoy it? Oh yes. This was the real away tribal experience, standing all the way through the game, chants consistently flowing and plenty of drama. Great stuff Harry.

Bit of a trip out to Eastlands - an hour journey and I will be in front of my beloved Tottenham Hotspur. This will be an intriguing contest between two teams that are both well funded and in recent years have both had dramatic developments both on and off the pitch.

Manchester City with their huge budget fueled by the pre-season takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group have a fantastic talent in Robinho, as well as the return of Wright-Phillips. No doubt in the transfer window they will continue to add some very expensive signings to this squad, with a rumoured £190m to spend in January 2009.

Tottenham Hotspur contrastingly have had yet another managerial catastrophe with Juande Ramos struggling to get any wins in the Premiership and the set up between him and Damien Cammoli (also sacked) has given new manager Harry Redknapp an unbalanced squad with 4 left backs and 3 strikers. However, out of the last 3 games Redknapp has motivated the team to generate 7 out of 9 points, notably a win against high flying Liverpool and 1 point against North London rivals Arsenal. However other team in and around the drop zone have also had good results and Tottenham still remain bottom. Today will be a big test against the fashionable Man City - if King can keep Robinho in check then Spurs could win.

Prediction: 1-1

JFK Calls for a Revolution



From GREENPEACE's Energy Revolution

Why do people bet on football? My tips for midweek in the Champions Leagure were awful and a reason why 'dead cert' betting in football in particular the Premiership is a very risky game.

Perhaps so far my football betting tips have been totally rubbish, but I still think I can pull off this today:

Sunderland v Portsmouth
West Ham v Everton
Wigan v Stoke

All to be under 2.5 goals. we'll see!

Rafa Benitez is looking to quickly secure his new contract at Liverpool to concentrate on the job at hand. With 18 months remaining on the current deal and Liverpool looking good in the Premiership Benitez may be looking at a 5 year contract. Benitez's track record at Liverpool in his four year reign is good - winning the Champions League and the FA Cup in this period. Keeping this mangerial consistency is a similar approach to rivals Manchester United and Arsenal which may well pay off for them in the long term.

Arsenal v Man Utd 8th November 2008 Preview
What a fantastic fixture this is. Memories of clashes over the years come back - mainly of the fierce midfield competition between Roy Keane and Patrick Viera that fueled the atmosphere. How much would Arsene Wenger love Viera in that midfield today which has lacked the physical prescence since his departure to Inter Milan three years ago. The new Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari has recently remarked on the physicality of the Premier League this season and Wenger has hinted that this is Arsenal's biggest weakness. The Gunners have lost three games this season and will know that the pressure is on to get something out of this game to keep up points wise and prove that they are still a dominant force in the race to win the Premiership.

“The morale is of course down when we don't win,” said Wenger, in a recent interview to club website arsenal.com.

“One week ago on Wednesday night we played very well against Tottenham and we didn't win. But it doesn't take away the fact that we played in a very convincing way. Afterwards at Stoke we had a lot of possession but we were not really sharp and I believe it was a hangover [from the Spurs game].

“Against Fenerbahce we dominated and had 70 per cent of possession but we didn't score. If we had scored and forced them to come out we could have scored plenty of goals.

“That’s why we have to keep winning, learn from what has happened to us and continue to believe in our strengths.

“But now we want to focus on Man United because it is a fantastic opportunity to show how strong we are when everyone is doubting us.”

Manchester United did show signs of a hangover from the 2007/2008 season after their Champions League and Premiership double. They are unbeaten in their last seven Premiership matches and Berbatov is showing signs of adding a fantastic new dimension to the creative energy that makes Man Utd a team that you can never write off despite Chelsea's machine like success so far this season. Wes Brown will miss the trip to the Emirates but Gary Neville will be available for selection.

Despite Arsenal's recent dip in form Alex Ferguson's guard will be up. In early November Arsenal are 20/1 to win the Premiership but Arsene Wenger will be drawing on his 12 years of Premiership experience today to grind out some points today.

Prediction: Arsenal 2-2 Manchester United

Did Gerrard dive....do we care?!

Liverpool 1 Athletico Madrid 1

94 minutes into this game and Athletico Madrid must have thought that this Champions League tie was won. After Maxi Rodriguez's first half goal, Athletico defended gallantly in an attempt to preserve the lead and get to the top position of Group D. However Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard had other plans and controversially went down after a challenge with Marian Pernia. The Athletico Madrid players looked around shear disbelief when the penalty was awarded. Gerrard netted the penalty, 4 Athletico players got booked after as they showed their distaste to the referee/linesman's decision.

Predictably Steven Gerrard's actions has created a media witch hunt against this fantastic English footballer. Personally, I think its simple. Diving where there is no contact at all is definitely 'simulation' and can easily result in a yellow card with the use of modern TV replay technology. Where a player goes down where there is contact between two players can raise debate for days after the incident currently - and the game has changed to favour the attacking player in this scenario. Most professional footballers in a tight game will go down in the area if they are contacted by a defender. This is not a new phenomenon and I don't see much wrong with it. This type of activity is much more like gamesmanship in comparison to the traditional diving which originated in South America in the late 1980's as a way of influencing refereeing decisions.

Steven Gerrard may be a player that never excels at the international level but the criticism that he gets is ridiculous and football fans should enjoy his fantastic skills and talent as opposed to elements of his game that most international players possess.

OBAMA ON CLIMATE AND RENEWABLE ENERGY



...and his speech to MoveOn PAC on Energy Independence
(from 2006!)

Its the off season.. well as close to an off season as mountain bikers get, with the new popularity of winter enduros the racing season is now year round.

This doesn't leave much time for getting back to riding for ridings sake.. no agenda.. no intervals.. certainly no heart rate monitor.. just bikes, friends and big days out.

I have been keeping a low profile, swimming, turbo training, spin classes.. nothing too focussed just keeping the legs working before the real work starts.

With work now taking over a large part of my life i jump at the chance to warrant booking some time off to get away.. i am definately on the 'work to live' side of the fence and certainly never ' living to work' unless someone stumps up to pay me to ride my bike for whatever reason i don't care:)

The chance to take some time of came in the form of an invite from a fellow endurance racer, Richard Rothwell, to do some big days in the Lakes...

I won't pretend to know the routes we took as as Rich has spent a large amount of time in the Lakes he was the guide and i was the passenger... but the climbs were big, downhills were sizeable and bike handling skills were needed in plenty.

Day one started just outside of Ambleside...



(new bike but thats another story for the future)

The plan was to stay low and skirt the valley sides picking off all the choice sections and stringing them into a great days riding... we hit so many good spots with Rich wanting to show how good the riding is there without the need to head up a mountain.... weather was close to perfect.. just the right temperature and dry:)



I hav lost track of how many climbs and descents we took in that day... highlights being the badly timed 2 up timetrial we had to do to catch the ferry to get across windermere to take in the last descent which just so happened to be in the dark with no lights and Rich clling out which side of trail to be on and when the the stuff was coming up.. madness.

Day two..

This was all about height gain... starting in Coniston and heading up and over Walna scar.. the goign was ride and push but the descent on the other side was all rideable.. the top section has recently been resurfaced so was full on 30 plus mph descending then into the loose rocky section with some serious arm pump building up!!

Th pic shows the downhill cutting down the hillside...




Before we could get going furher we had to cross my worst nightmare.. wet stepping stones!!! My shoes are so worn they have zero traction.. i managed to get across without a soaking ( this time)..




The next section was a drag and a pull through boggy marsh.. followed by another choice downhill which dropped us at bottom of Wrynose pass.. luck was on my side and we wer turning left and away and not right and up.. i like the odd climb but 30% ers are another level.. We rode the road down the valley the turned to Boot and joined a bridleway onto another marshy climb.. when we crested this final climb we were 4 hours in.. nothing left now but to turn around and ride back:)

The return trip rode alot easier than the ride out and it was definately the prefered direction to be riding it.. highlights on the return trip were definately me and Rich getting bogged down literally in a bog.. the going went soft so we tried to gas it out only for Rich to end up to his waist and me to my knee in lovely cold water:)

As we got back tot he stepping stones it was dark so we lighted up.. i decided that as it wasn't that cold and i was wet anyway i wasn't gonna chance a fall so walked through the river:)

This just left Walna Scar to ride/push up in the dark... it definately seemed longer and tiredness set in... a lone wlker coming down that complained about our bright lights was lucky to get away unscathed as wind was now howling.. i was down to one overshoes as the other had fallen foul to the rocky walks.. and i was hungry but wanting to push it out till the top then wrap up for the descent..



On the descent Rich gave me a sound lesson in technical descending.. in the dark i was reduced to walking some sections but he destroyed them.. this is skill money can't buy and seems to belong to people that have spent large amounts of time riding the Lakes which is really the only place you can find these crazy long rock infested downs. End of the ride.. we got back and went for a well earned curry and beer.. off season race diet:)

Day three..

The last day of riding.. with back to back 8 hour days under our velts we decided to throw out a short one.. a route around Skiddaw was chosen.
This was a welcome change.. most the climbing was middle ring and the views were amazing..



The final descent was un typical of the lakes and more like the Peak district leafy steep flowy descending i can get involved with.. manual rolling.. jumps.. super fast.. it had it all.

All in an amazing few days riding.. big thanks to Richard Rothwell.. top rider and top lakeland guide:)

Hopefully i will update later with a more detailed route description.. or people could just ontact Rich directly for a first class lakeland kicking!!