r0dman.com

This is purely just ranting from my head. No direction and no research done.

Over the last six months to a year I have changed my diet, lifestyle and general habits considerably.

• I am eating a LOT less meat, from at least 10 meals a week (often more), down to just two or three.
• I am no longer consuming milk, and have cut my general consumption of dairy products down a lot.
• I am eating more fruit and vegetables, and generally trying to stay properly hydrated at all times.
• I am exercising more, specifically weight training.
• I am drinking far less alcohol than I used to, and less regularly too.

As an example, nowadays when I drink alcohol, I really feel it the next day. I used to be able to go out and have at least 20 standard drinks in a night, often many more, and as long as I’d had a decent glass of water before bed I would feel fine the next day. Nowadays I can have a half a dozen drinks and the next day my head is killing me.

Obviously our habits, traditions and general day to day living as humans are brought on by the way our ancestors have lived their lives. Are humans, for example, only able to consume large amounts of alcohol with large amounts of meat? Is it possible that only people that drink milk are able to “handle” smoking better? If you consume predominantly fried foods, is your body able to cope with energy drinks better? Will they have the same affect on you as they do someone who has a diet made up of more fruit and vegetables?

I’m sure there are plenty of foods, drinks, activities and habits that are linked. Complimentary foods if you will.

I think the way that I feel physically is also due predominantly to the fact that I am well hydrated most of the time. It’s like I’m setting a high standard for my body. When I go and have a big night drinking, I’m very dehydrated and by body tells me this by giving me a throbbing headache the next day. After a decent mountain bike ride it will often do the same as I’m usually unable to drink enough water during that time (I can only carry 3 litres with me).

It’s interesting. Not bad, not good, not anything subjective. Just another one of those things I’ve come across and still haven’t figured out what it really means or where it’s relevancy fits in to my life.

I haven’t posted much lately because I haven’t been able to articulate my thoughts. There’s just so much going on in my head right now.

I’m unsure about my diet – I don’t know who to believe and what to believe.

I’m unsure about weather patterns it’s affect on the future of this country – I always try to be two steps ahead, but I really don’t know where my fiancee and I should live when we return from our overseas trip. Water is of great concern to me, and from everything I have read and heard Adelaide doesn’t have too brighter future.

I’m unsure about finance – nobody can be trusted anymore. Worldwide, economies will do anything to hold power via money at any cost. Australia’s population is planned to hit 35 million by 2049 despite the environmental issues, in order to keep property values from crashing, keep the economy “booming” and to supposedly keep our nation secure. Do we try and place our money in the perfect location to try and “win” from the instability in the world right now? Do we just do as everyone else does and keep our money in property, assume it’s the best investment ever, or do we just exit the world as we know it?

On top of all this, I just can’t see how I can bring a child into this world. My fiancee feels the same way. It’s just not fair to be making a decision like that. We love kids, but without knowing our own future, how can we possibly bring someone else into the world with that uncertainty?

There are so many to list, and while I want to consider them all and decide where I stand and what I want to do, I also know that I need to clear my mind. I think way too much and need to relax.

Interesting times…

So I’ve recently sold two of my bikes. My dirt jumping bike, and my cross country bike. I now ride cross country on my single-speed 29er, and I’m loving it.. Only problem is that the gear ratio isn’t ideal for riding day to day, and I’d really like something with drop bars.

My commute is mixed. Some road, some gravel, some single track. I used to commute on my 29er with 37c “slicks”, and they provided more than enough control – I never had a puncture either, touch wood.

I was thinking about converting my 29er to a “dingle-speed” two gear ratios, but the same number of teeth. I run a 32/20 for XC, and would probably run a 36/16 for commuting. The chain length is the same so it doesn’t need adjusting, but to be honest I’m a bit of a perfectionist with bikes. Commuting on big chunky tires seems a bit pointless, and ultimately a waste of my energy and money.

Versa VRS-8 Alfine Levers - Allows you to shift an 8-speed internally geared Shimano Alfine hub with road levers - STI style.

So, I think I’ve figured out what I really want from a commuter…

The frame and fork should be a “monster-cross” style frame (cyclo-cross with disc tabs IMO). Ideally I’d be able to tension the chain using an eccentric bottom bracket (EBB) or track dropouts. Shimano Alfine 8-speed internally geared hub on the rear, and a “whatever” QR hub up front with some light 29″ rims and my 37c tyres. Road drop bars with Versa VRS-8 levers, so I can shift the Alfine hub, STI style, without any other messy shifters around the place. The rest of the spec would probably be fair mountain bike in flavour. Crankset, pedals and saddle would be similar to my 29er. Nothing over the top, since it is a commuter after all. The one thing I can’t decide on is whether to run discs or cantilevers. I know canti’s work fine, I just don’t know if I should because I can. Certainly finding a disc specific frame is harder, I just have visions of running this bike with a 2″ wide tyre in the future for some XC fun, and Avid BB7 Road’s would go nicely on it – not to mention handle the winter better as a commuter.

I’ve been on the frame hunt for a while now but unfortunately there aren’t a huge amount of options available, especially for myself living in Australia. The Salsa La Cruz covers some of my needs, just has no way to tension the chain. I’ve considered the Forward Components EBB but to be honest I’d prefer a frame that comes built for single-speed.

Singular Peregrine - Monster-cross styling - Cyclo-cross geometry, disc tabs and eccentric bottom bracket.

The Singular Peregrine meets my needs perfectly, only I can’t justify that sort of money on a frame yet (I’m guessing around AUD$1000 by the time it’s landed here).

It’s challenging, but I suppose it’s part of the fun of building something yourself. I’ll find my frame eventually – maybe I’ll just have to make some trade-offs first.

The world is over populated. No one can dispute that. We don’t have enough food, we don’t have a sustainable way forwards, and realistically for a healthy world we need to stop procreating at our current rate.

There’s plenty of information/propaganda/etc on the topic out there. If you break it down to the basics, essentially humans have reduced the number of situations in their life in which they can end. Medicine is lengthening our lives considerably. People are far less likely to die from disease nowadays. Food, albeit debatable as to whether or not it is healthy, is able to be produced in greater and greater quantities as the population increases.

World Population Growth

My fiancee and I have spoken a fair bit about the possibility of not having children. Not to the point where we have made a decision on whether or not to have kids,but it’s nice to know that the option is there (especially when the female in the relationship brings it up!).

I’m well aware by now, that I over think my decisions. I rarely act on impulse – maybe when I’m drunk or something. When it’s a life changing decision, like career, relationships, buying property and so on, I really think it through. It’s a good thing sometimes, but for having children, I ask myself “How can I bring a child into this world”.

Maybe it’s my cynical view on the earth – my need for something more. I’m not happy with the way that the human race lives. Our lifestyle, diet, and general values are just so misplaced – and it only appears to be getting worse. While I’m happy to be the odd one out and hold my “different” opinions, given what I know and what I believe in, wouldn’t it be irresponsible to force a child to live in that world?

One thing is for sure, we need to drop our population. Is this one of those situations where we say “what difference can one person make?” or should we really act on our beliefs? Obviously someone needs to have children, otherwise there is no future for the human race, but whether or not I am one of those people, I’m yet to decide.

Freedom is probably my favourite word. If there is anything that I want from life, it’s freedom. True freedom.

It’s interesting how we change during our lives. As a child we are completely free. We are happy to attempt anything, laugh and play and run and smile and whatever happens happens. Never thinking of the consequences, just acting in the moment.

As we begin to grow up though, we learn that there are consequences to our actions. While this is healthy – learning for ourselves that we can get hurt from jumping from something too high – we also learn a lot from our parents. We are told not to climb too high – “you will fall and hurt yourself, come down please”, told to slow down on our bike – “don’t go too fast, you will hurt yourself” and told not to eat too many lollies – “you will feel sick if you eat too many of those”. It’s not a negative thing – parents look out for the well-being of their children.

From the innocent advice given by our parents when we were young, we are then bombarded with why not to do things. Fear on TV, fear in the paper, fear everywhere. If we aren’t given the advice directly by the TV, our parents are. Stay in line and everything will be ok, you will be safe, but be different, and who knows what will happen!

Most people, myself included to an extent, grow up into people that just conform and do the same as everyone else. We no longer laugh and run around and jump and do whatever we choose. We know that if we laugh at the wrong thing people can be offended. We know if we run around and jump up and down we will look like an idiot, so we take the safe option.

We all call it “growing up” and “being sensible”, but from my experience most people hate the constraints in which they live… They crave the freedom that they had as a child, it just takes a long time to realise this.

It seems almost a textbook lifestyle cycle for the Baby Boomers – my parents’ generation. They were born, free spirited fun loving children, then “grew up” and did the “sensible” thing and bought houses, had families and so on. Now as the kids are moving out, they are wanting their freedom back. Some may be rich enough to buy a holiday house, some travel around the world by plane or on a cruise ship, while others buy a caravan and drive around, stopping wherever they please. It’s becoming less and less common for them to just grow old in their house nowadays.

It’s been something that I have been aware of for a few years now, but only now am I piecing it all together. Humans are creatures that are born in nature. We need our freedom to be sane. Early this year my fiancee and I made the decision to lead a life of change. We will still buy a house. We will still “be sensible”, but we will force ourselves to retain some level of freedom in our life. By “mixing it up” we hope to lead an exciting life, with plenty of choice and an easy going lifestyle. We don’t need a lot, but we need our freedom.