Another Wednesday and another Killarney session that passed. Decided that same as last week I would start in the scratch group and see if I could hold on. Luckily scratch was big this week and it was also windy at the raceway so the average speed was slightly slower (40.5km/h vs 42km/h last week). Click on Read the rest to see some photos.

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Wednesday Killarney started last night again... Oh how quickly we forget the pain. Last night we didn't do the full 1 hour due to sun still setting fairly early but the 45mins or so of the race I managed to keep up with the scratch group. We weren't able to catch the +1 group due to them working together and the scratch group constantly attacking each other. Our group was small enough already and guys like Michael van Standen constantly trying to get away made it hard enough as is. Still, I didn't get dropped, did some work on the front and really enjoyed it. Quite a pleasant surprise after Sunday's dismal performance.

So after Sundays race I was a bit pissed and depressed and needed to sort the pedals and shoe issue out. Decided to stop at Crown Cycles on the way home and spank the credit card a little bit and got myself sorted.



First on the shopping list was a paid of Shimano SH-R131S road shoes. Very decent shoe with carbon fibre sole, ratchet strap etc. Price wasn't all that bad either since Crown gave me a decent discount.



Next on the list was a new pair of pedals and I decided on a pair of Shimano Ultegra pedals. The 105 version is a bit weak and I did not want my foot slipping out of a pedal again during a race. Cycled to work this morning on the new shoes and pedals and they feel quite comfortable, and the pedals seem to be holding the shoe down well. I'll only see in race conditions if it was worth the money though..

We had Boland Cycling organise a Kermesse in a quiet rural area this weekend and I decided along with the rest of the team to go and do it to see what sort of form I have. What a dissapointment. It was a 4.2km circuit that starts / finishes on a nasty drag. Then it's a elft, up a little drag, downhill quite far, left again through a dip, up a little rise, downhill through a sharp corner and then up the loooong start / finish drag again. The day itself was fantastic and with our race only starting at 12:45pm I could actually sleep late as well!

The race started placid enough and then responding to a attack my foot slipped out of the pedal and I nearly went down. Luckily kept upright, got the chain back on and raced. Foot slipped out again on the next lap and decided right there that I need to spank the credit card for some new shoes and pedals. I can't go in to the season with the setup the way it is. On lap 5 a dangerous break went, and I went to the front to help John and Christian bring the break back, and I mean I put everything I had in to that effort. Puked, pulled to the left of the group and then promptly got shelled on the long uphill drag. Did a lap on my own and pulled off the course. Not very happy with my performance but what can I do. If I'm just not fit enough, I can't magically get in shape overnight, even though I've been training really hard. The event can't be faulted, with good mashalling and traffic control. I'll definately support them again!


Thats me on the front working on one of the laps. Shortly after that I was off and a unhappy puppy!

After more than a year in Foundation I decided it was time for a change and I took my leave from them (departed on very good terms and I might return one day, but for now I needed something different). It's one thing I love about this game, there are always just so many other avenues you can take when you start feeling bored or burned out. After looking around on the forums and searching a bit I joined Pure Alliance. They are anti-pirate, mostly grown up mature members and in a very different part of this virtual universe we call Eve Online. After passing their application requirements I was allowed to join with both Ridley and Serotta, leaving Sharon to do her own high-sec thing.

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Saturday is a perfect example of just how a team ride can go completely wrong. John sent a mail in the week, changing the scheduled team ride from Four Passes to a 160km ride to Red Hill & back via some of the peninsula climbs. I spoke to John in the week, and he said it would be just a group ride, no crazy shit, and that he just wants the guys to ride together. Fair enough, we invite some of Theo's team and eventually all set off.

First problem with these team rides are that most people seem to think it's a race and as such come with their race equipment. Theo punctures (he was riding his race bike, race wheels). Then up the second climb, JP breaks a spoke. Yup he was riding his Mavic Ksyrium's. Now no matter how many people try convince me that it's a good wheel, it isn't. I've seen too many break. At the bottom of Chapmans Peak, on the Noordhoek side, they suddenly decide we're climbing Ou Kaapse Weg. Now I was ok with that, so up we go. Near the top Grant punctures. By now I'm getting a little annoyed at all the punctures. I'm riding my heavy-ass training bike with those 28c cyclo-cross tyres to avoid the punctures for a reason. So after waiting yet again for another puncture, we get going. JP breaks another spoke on the way down and now has to wait for help. Then the route up Constantia Neck changes, and the guys leave me and Arthur alone while racing the climb yet again. So by now I've fscking had enough. The route has changed, the ride pace wasn't what I was interested in, and the mechanicals are pissing me off to no end.

Finally after Suikerbossie there's a nice long flat section, so I get on the front with Grant and drive the pace. Not even 2km's later and the skinny guys and fscking screaming "slow down slow down"...like what the fuck?? They did not slow down on the climbs, now we have to slow down for them on the flats. Anyway, that was the final straw and I had some strong words for the guys when we stopped for coffee. If this happens again they can screw themselves and I'll do my own rides.

Sunday was exactly the opposite. Planned a mtb ride with Nick in Magic Forest, picked him up 7:45am, and had a fantastic ride. Was tired as hell when I got home but it was such a enjoyable ride and far more pleasant than the previous day!

Have a look at Hydra Eve Comic
Quite funny if you play Eve and pvp :)

Ok, so I haven't blogged about EVE in a while due to two factors. No.1 my training is going well, which meant less time playing, and 2. I'm at a bit of a odds with where the alliance is taking us. Essentially they've now set one of the biggest alliances in the game (TCF - Tau Ceti Federation - a bunch of French players) red, and just as an example, look at this fight... The guys went in to Curse to look for trouble and had everything and the kitchen sink dropped on them. I'm sorry but I'm not in to suicide quite yet. The alliance is very battleship heavy, and the problem is that I can fly only Caldari battleships well on my Serotta character. It's a shield tanking battleship, but the alliance requires armor tanking battleships. So now I've pulled all assets from our area and applied to a new corp in a new alliance and will blog about that when the time comes.

My Sharon character I've hidden in Aeon's corp for a few months, with the idea of just running missions and carebearing. Unfortunately I'm a bastard that can't sit still and always need to try some new things. I was off training the past week and weekend due to a bout of flu, and had extra time on my hands so I read up on invention and Tech II production and decided that I need a high-security space POS to do research and invention in. And so Unknown Element Research came about. I couldn't really think of anything original to call it, and watched 5th Element movie the other day again, and then light-bulb went on in the old brain.

The game mechanics require that you have certain standings with a certain faction in high-security space before you can deploy a POS (unlike the POS's I ran in 0.0 where it was a free-for-all) and standings are raised by doing missions for agents. After every 16 missions you are requested to do a storyline mission, and that in turn raises your standings with said faction. Once your corporation has a standing of 5.0 points, you can deploy a pos in 0.5 space, 6.0 standings gives you a POS in 0.6 security space. Your corporation standings are a average of the standings towards the faction of all your corporation members in the game, hence the higher your corp. Sharon has 6.8 standings with Minmatar Republic, and as the only member of my new corp, there is now "watering down" effect of the standings. I've found a empty moon in a nice quiet 0.5 system, and gathered almost every piece of equipment I need (including lots of guns for the POS..it might be high-sec but I want to deter anyone who war-decs it thinking they can have a easy kill). One thing 0.0 taught me, how to set up a medium or large deathstar :))

Another interesting note is the corp tax. Serotta and Ridley, as members of other corps pay about a 10% tax on all their mission bounties etc, and as a interesting experiment I see the tax to my new corp (Unknown Element Research) at 10%. Now since only the Sharon character is in the corp and runs missions to make isk, I was very surprised to see what an effect it had on the corporation wallet. I can't even begin to imagine what contribution I did to my old 0.0 corps wallet when I did those 100million isk a day ratting sessions!

Next is now to aquire the blueprints I want to research and while they're researching, I'm skilling up the Sharon character for Tech II production and invention. All this will take about another month, so it's a interesting experience but something new and keeps me interested in the game.

Fscking thought provoking movie...can't say much, but I want to put down two quotes from the movie that stuck with me:

When you forgive, you love. And when you love, God's light shines upon you.

Happiness is only real when shared.