Categories: uncategorized
Date: 21 October 2004 21:11:38
here's a warning to all you die hard fans of my blog who just love to read exactly how long each mile took in minute detail (all 2 of you). this entry only vaguely relates to running!
having managed around 30miles on the bike on sunday without too much trauma i'm feeling a bit happier about the rapidly approaching duathlon in november.
on monday i was in leeds with my boss and by the time we'd fought our way out of the city and down the M1 i was knackered, even though i wasnt driving. 2pints at lunch probably didn't help.
partly due to this my trip to the gym didn't materialise. the other part was during my absence some kindly fellows at work had been booking me flights to germany, ho hum there goes my week!
being the finance geniuses we are they managed to book me a flight to hannover via amsterdam on tuesday morning even though i didn't need to be there till wednesday. admittedly the flights arent great and the time difference works against you flying out. even so apperantly it was cheaper, not if you count all the travel time i'm about to book to the project it's not methinks! had i been there i'd have argued more but since someone else was sorting it for me i left it as is.
amsterdam schipol is an enormous airport and i thought we'd never stop taxiing about the place after we landed. fortunately for my sanity the sheer size took up plenty of the 2hr wait i had, and the other hour was taken up at an internet cafe.
flying out of amsterdam the weather was good and it looked a very pretty place, flat admittedly but green rhombus shaped fields with irrigation/drainage (not sure which!) on every side and the occasional farmhouse in one corner. impressive waterways and wind farms dotted all over. i guess it's relatively easy to dig a ditch and get it to fill with water but i was particularly taken by the star shaped housing development nested in two star shaped water channels.
i'm sure the captain said his name was fup, weird.
now residing in a pleasant hotel near wolfsburg to the east, it may as well be called VW-burg since large parts of it are dominated by the VW plant, offices & test facilities.
and much as i can winge about my job and this trip i have to acknowledge the privelidged position i'm currently in. not that i should say too much but the vehicle i'm currently working with is due to become the fastest production car in the world (until the new chrysler usurps it!). not that i'm insured to drive the beast but even so getting up to around 200mph feels rather like what i imagine being in a fighter plane feels like as the engine roars and turbos whine a few inches behind your head!
that said even that wears off after a while of bracing yourself in the passenger seat and clining onto a laptop. it's just not the same when you're not driving, driving i could do for hours on end whilst being a passenger eventually makes me very very green. testing was curtailed yesterday after i had to get out and have a long walk and alot of fresh air!
the test track is the most impressive i've been to to date, even better than the very secure audi track. the high speed circuit has a main straight 11km long!.. thats over 6miles, yesterday we drove to the test hills and it took us the best part of 15minutes, it is immense!
oh running, yes i managed to get out for a run on a route provided by the hotel reception on a photocopied map. i managed to follow it but detail was somewhat lacking. they said it was around 5km and i'm inclined to agree, maybe a little more as my gentle plod too 32mins.
time to head off their again. hopefully i'll be back in the uk (via amsterdam again) tomorrow, but even then i have to dash off to wales for an outdoorsie biased first aid course for four days.
no rest for the wicked. just what have i done that's so bad!?