They way I like to read

Yesterday, after a nice talk with a friend about the different types of books available I decided to write a little post about the way I like to read them. However, it is important to clarify that this post is not dedicated to describe the most comfortable way to sit in order to read (which, btw, is one of the hardest things to find in this world), this post is rather to describe the sort-of-algorithm that describes the way I like to organize my readings.

The image above is just a snapshot of the little library of my study. There you can tell titles as diverse as Pocker for Dummies, Simon Bolivar, HP48G User Manual, Essay about Blindness, Lonely Planet Middle East, and History of Rock (just to mention some). This image is then powerful enough to expose the fact that there are plenty of types of books available for reading. Therefore I consider that it is important to have clear the personal priorities about own taste and preferences.

Personally, I tend to divide them into 4 categories: (1) Literature (2) Curiosity (3) History (4) Not-for-reading or Reference.

The categories number (1) and (3) are self explanatory. Then let's elaborate on (2) and (4). About (2) Curiosity, I could say that are those books that are explaining interesting science experiments, or fun management theories, or that are in general informative, easy to digest and fun. About (4) Not-for-reading or Reference, are those like travel guide books or technical stuff.

The most refined of all those are without any doubt (1) Literature, and more in my particular case that I like to read classics. Hence I consider it is not convenient to read two literature books in a row, as the perception of one might influence the perception of the second one. I use to put the example the situation of buying colognes: It is not fare to smell two colognes in a row, it is suggested to smell coffee in between.

Something similar is what I do with books, as far as I can, I like to read a book type (2) or (3) between each type (1). Happily I have a Kindle again, where it is very easy to get super interesting Curiosity and History books.

2 years without Magyarország

Tomorrow it will be 2 years since I left Budapest. A city that changed my life and that will always be in my heart and memories. I just had it in my mind today and I couldn't help myself from listening to some magyar music, here, my two favorite hungarian songs

"8 hours of work, 8 hours of rest and 8 hours of partying!"

Palinka Sunrise

too much tea and books

My blog has became a bit flat; I just talk about books and tea. Although today I wanted to write about tea again, I decided to talk a little bit about science...The following TED talk is a very interesting one about an mysterious behavior seen in animals...just take a look

The ferryman with a smile

Siddharta is the second book of Hermann Hesse I read in less than two weeks. I liked more the other one, still this one deserves a 4.00/5.00 or even a little bit more.

It is a book that I would call Hors Catégorie  not because its structure or technique but for its content.  The reading of the book is not hard at all. The narration is quite simple and easy to follow, as well as the story itself, nevertheless you feel that behind that simplicity hides a potential source of reflecto to change your life or at least your interpretation of it. A potential that seems, at least in my case, to be higher than my reach of understanding.

Similarly to The Steppenwolf, Siddharta is a book about a man finding its way out of spiritual crisis and unsatisfaction. It might seem like a depressing topic but in my opinion both books are all the opposite. I feel both books are quite positive and filled with hope.

I loved about Siddharta how it makes it beautifully clear that the way to happiness is unique to everyone and that no one can explain you the way to it. No one, even who already achieved happiness can guide you to it. It has to be yourself who take a journey to discover the path, let yourself experience and live. It shows how you shall not to stop seeking, the importance of voicing your interior and the importance of voicing the nature.

It is a book about individuality but also about unity, about love and about the importance of living and experiencing life by yourself. Others experience will never show you the path to your happiness.

Tea-ing around

Through out this blog I have made it very clear that I really really love tea. Sadly these days I ran out of my tea provisions I brought from Europe, some other I brought from India and some other my brother brought from USA. It was moment to buy some tea here in Colombia, the land of Coffee...challenge!

In that sense I am a bit sad to notice how expensive loose tea is in Colombia, although I understand the reason why: As Adam Smith would say "it's just a matter for the invisible hand, a matter of offer and demand". In Colombia, people hardly know what tea really is, no one drinks that.

Any ways, I managed to buy some and I have some stock now, let's see how long it lasts.

But today I really wanted to write about a magnificent tea I brew today.
Lately I've been experimenting adding some drops* of alcohol to me beloved beverage. I started first trying with my grenoblois alcohol speciallity: Chartreuse, a herbal stuff. Although it is a rather sweet liquour, it fits pretty well in a mixed brewing between black tea (Earl Gray in particular) and green tea (Gun Powder, my favorite one). All those brewed together with the omnipresent slice of lemon (Central-Europe style ;-) ). This blend gets superb exchanging the black tea for some mint leaves, it is perfect before going to bed.

Still I haven't talked about my tea today, but I still need to talk about other experiments, such as brandy, rum and whiskey. Let me tell you that with those it gets actually better and better, I realized that tea (black one pretty much) goes pretty well with those liquors that were kept in a wood barrel for a while (haven't tried wine yet, but I have the feeling it would work). To remark: a Second Flush Darjeeling tea with whiskey (My lord! after drinking that I could die happy!!)

Well let me tell you that today I brew what we could call a Mexican Tea, because I put some Tequila on it, and WOW it was simply as if god or all the gods of all the times were in that cup all together. The blend was pretty simple:  a TeaSpoon of Ceylon black tea + a bit less than a TS of Gun Powder tea + a slice of lime (not lemon) + 2 TS of tequila. I wanted to cry of happiness with that tea, and then I almost cried of sadness when it was over.

I can already forecast that this Tequila bottle in my place wont last much ;-)

This post was a mess, I know, I apologize...I just wanted to write, no thinking about structure, no thinking about nothing, just writing about my magnificent drink tonight, hope someone, some day, some where can give it a try and let me know what they believe about it...if you like it, feel free to send me some loose tea here to Colombia :P, it will be highly appreciated hehehe.

Long live to Tea!

*drops: It could actually be more than just a "drop" ;-)

Two songs for two moments of my life

It is hard to summarize four years of my life with just two songs. But these ones are representative as every time I listen to them I think about my time in Budapest and Grenoble. Here they are, respectively:

For Budapest

For Grenoble 

Spiritual lessons from a not-so-good book

I just finished the book: Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior.

You may wonder why is there a picture of Michael Jordan? Well the book is written by Phil Jackson, the coach of that dream-team of basketball the Chicago Bulls. And it is about how important it is to create a bond in such teams, and to give a spiritual meaning to whatever we do in life, and how a game (this time Basketball, but I believe football is too) is more than a game, it's a representation of life itself. In general, how beliefs can lift you up. It is more than just a sports book, for sure!.

I would rate the book 3/5. It's not a gorgeous book, nevertheless it was a bunch of pretty interesting points of view and reflections. I saw myself very connected with the author (Phil Jackson) in the sense of being a person who puts a lot of pressure to himself and self-punishes a lot. I feel that way quite often, driving me to loose my peace and blur my vision.

He explains how he explored different philosophies until he felt represented and found peace with some taughts from the Buddhism, Zen, and Lakotas (native American's belief). In this sense the book has been interesting, in discovering different insights about the world and life, as well as how different philosophies and spiritual beliefs can accomplish so much in people at personal and group level.

Main lesson: Do the things for the internal rewards, not for the external ones. Give meaning to those things you do and you believe in. Accepting things as they are and not as I want them to be brings peace and joy, plus it allows to focus energies better.

My Book Underlines 

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The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up. 
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The Associated Press reported that, in a survey of African-American children, Jordan had tied with God as the person they most admired after their parents.
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Good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to surrender the “me” for the “we.”
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Lesson one: Don’t let anger—or heavy objects thrown from overpasses—cloud the mind. 
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Lesson two: Awareness is everything. 
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Lesson three: The power of We is stronger than the power of Me.
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“Arguing isn’t where faith is. That just feeds the ego. It’s all in the doing.”
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What pollutes the mind in the Buddhist view is our desire to get life to conform to our peculiar notion of how things should be, as opposed to how they really are. 
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The point of Zen practice is to make you aware of the thoughts that run your life and diminish their power over you.
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It’s not uncommon for basketball players, especially young ones, to expend a great deal of mental energy trying to be somebody they’re not.
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In Zen it is said that the gap between accepting things the way they are and wishing them to be otherwise is “the tenth of an inch of difference between heaven and hell.” 
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The jobs I was best suited for (according to the career placement test I took) were: 1) housekeeper, 2) trail guide, 3) counselor, and 4) lawyer.
==========
FISH DON’T FLY When a fish swims in the ocean, there is no limit to the water, no matter how far it swims. When a bird flies in the sky, there is no limit to the air, no matter how far it flies. However, no fish or bird has ever left its element since the beginning. 
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In other words, you can dream all you want, but, bottom line, you’ve got to work with what you’ve got. Otherwise, you’re wasting your time. 
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Inevitably, paradoxically, the acceptance of boundaries and limits is the gateway to freedom. 
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Seven BEING AWARE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN BEING SMART
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Peace of mind produces right values, right values produce right thoughts. Right thoughts produce right actions and right actions produce work which will be a material reflection for others to see of the serenity at the center of it all.”
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St. Augustine said, “Anger is a weed; hate is the tree.” Anger only breeds more anger and eventually fuels violence—on the streets or in professional sports.
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Bottom line: there’s no need to overpower when you can outsmart. 
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“You’re not doing it for money. It may seem that way, but that’s just an external reward. You’re doing it for the internal rewards. You’re doing it for each other and the love of the game.”
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B. J. Armstrong, Jordan’s closest friend on the team, said he was worried for him because now he would have “the two scariest things in life: a lot of money and a lot of free time.”
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“You see this goblet?” Chaa asked, holding up a glass. “For me, this glass is already broken. I enjoy it; I drink out of it. It holds my water admirably, sometimes even reflecting the sun in beautiful patterns. If I should tap it, it has a lovely ring to it. But when I put this glass on a shelf and the wind knocks it over or my elbow brushes it off the table and it falls to the ground and shatters, I say, ‘Of course.’ When I understand that this glass is already broken, every moment with it is precious.” In its simplicity this story illustrates one of the basic principles of Buddhist teachings: that impermanence is a fundamental fact of life.
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There’s no percentage in trying to push the river or speed up the harvest. The farmer who’s so eager to help his crops grow that he slips out at night and tugs on the shoots inevitably ends up going hungry.
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The best part of winning, I once heard someone say, is that it’s not losing.
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Losing is a lens through which you can see yourself more clearly and experience in the blood and the bones the transient nature of life. 
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Walt Whitman got it right when he wrote, “I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars.”
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Buddhism teaches us that by accepting death, you discover life. Similarly, only by acknowledging the possibility of defeat can you fully experience the joy of competition.
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obsessing about winning adds an unnecessary layer of pressure that constricts body and spirit and, ultimately, robs you of the freedom to do your best.
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That’s when you realize that basketball is a game, a journey, a dance—not a fight to the death. It’s life just as it is.
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The journey is the reward. —CHINESE SAYING 
==========

Happiness

I'm Feeling great today: I got the largest group of guests in my company (18 people) and had an amazing tour, then I went for a lovely lunch with my brother and his girlfriend, once at home I opened my new box of GunPowder Green Tea, brew a big cup of it together with some Darjeeling tea and some spoons of Chartreuse (with a slice of lemon on it of course!).

Then, while enjoying the magnificent taste of it my music player plays The Suburbs of Arcade Fire. Life was perfect on that moment, I couldn't ask for more...well, just for the moment to last forever and to be with a friend to share the moment!!! still it was amazing!!

Good work + Amazing tea + Fantastic music = Happiness :D

My trip to Palestine and Israel

Bethlehem Check-Point to enter Palestine

My motivation to go to Israel was to see with my own eyes the reality* on the relationship between Israel and Palestine. And although I couldn't see much of it in the 6 days I stood there, it was enough to see and feel how sad and hard life is in the WestBank (I cant imagine how is it in Gaza Strip).

It's very sad to see the opportunities Palestinians have, to see how they are prisoners in their own land (protecting wall all around, barbed-wire all around, roads they can not transit in their own land, watching towers in their own cities, check points with metal detectors in the middle of their cities, their temples striped apart and under Israeli militar control, streets closed by militars...). It is sad to see the Jewish Settlements, it is sad to see that those are in the best lands in the middle of Palestine, to see the type of land they have left for agriculture...It was also very sad to see all the young people in Israel wearing an uniform, and being afraid of everyone who looks different that them.
It is sad to see how some of them have nothing, nor even the simple right to a nation and to move around their place, and it is also sad to see how those who have everything live with fear. It is sad to see how both parts grow up with hate and anger. In general it is very very sad to know this is the world we are living in, it's hard to see how lucky we are to live in the places we live in.
Don't expect me to judge or to explain the situation there. It's very complex to explain it here, just, as a person from this century, everyone should read and be aware of the political and social reality there.

t-shirt being sold in Jerusalem

The wall in the 21sth century!

Arriving to Israel from India felt like arriving to Europe. Israel itself looks great: Organized, clean, green in many places, nevertheless seeing all the young people in a green uniform and the locals with machine-guns in the middle of the street makes your thoughts start running and changes your mood.

I took the Old Jerusalem as my head-quarter. I stood there 6 days in a pretty old hostel that looked (and probably was) like 1000 years old. Although it has been the coldest hostel ever, people there were amazing and I got great time and indications from them!
I gave two full days to Jerusalem, mainly to the walled city.
The Old Jerusalem is divided into four quarters (Christian, Armenian, Jewish and Muslim). You can imagine which is the richest and which is the poorest. Although many sad realities there, the Old Jerusalem is one of the most incredible places I've been in, and I was lucky enough to see it covered by snow.

The other parts of Israel I went were Nazareth and Tiberias. Nothing special there, just it was nice to be in places I'd heard about since I was a child (My family is very religious and I went to a Catholic school).

Then I went to Palestine. One day I went to Bethlehem and Ramallah, the second day I went to Hebron (the situation there is horrible!) and to Jericho, next to the dead-see (the lowest point on earth). It was amazing to be in the west bank, and to see and live all the things there.

The view of Jericho from the mount where they say Jesus was tempted by the evil.

I am very glad I had the chance to go there, and I wouldnt mind to go again. Specially because the food is great. I just hope next time I go there, the political reality is better. That's the real victory for Israel, for Palestine and for the human kind as a whole. I just hope next time I go there, they follow the advice in this wall:

Make Hummus, not Walls

* I believe there are many realities, or at least I've seen several in the places I've lived in. But any of those realities I've seen with my eyes was always better than the one shown in the media.

Religious views and reflection after a trip to Holy Land

Let's start for my vision about religion:
I believe religion is an invention of the human beings.
In my opinion, the thought of religion being an invention, does not make religion bad or fake. Religion in my view is within the same category of many others of our inventions, let's put one as comparison: Science.

Science is an invention of humans to explain, interpret and mainly predict the world. The difference of science is that when a new model predicts the world better than the old one, it simple adopts the new model and re-adapts. Science is an invention for us to understand the world and predict it. And we invented it because we needed to solve those issues.

In the same way, I believe we (as humanity) invented religion because we needed to solve some issues. We needed to explain creation and death, we needed to give hope to the desperate ones, we needed to organize society, to control reproduction, diseases and other health and economic issues. Those needs are that universal that all societies found and documented have had religion. (take care, the fact that nowadays we have better ways to solve those issues does not denies the origin of religion as an invention to solve real-life problems)

Now, let me believe that I made myself clear explaining that Science and Religion are both inventions of human beings to solve real problems of humanity.

In that sense, I believe none of them are bad, evil, stupid or wrong, nor it is to believe on any of them. Not because we've used religion to kill people we can state religion is bad. It would be the same to say that science is bad, evil, stupid and wrong because we created the atomic bomb thanks to it. Religion has rescued people from suicide, depression and has given hope, energies and sense of life to people in deep existence problems. In the same sense science has saved lives through medicine just to put an example.

So none of them are bad in itself, the problem is in the subject who uses the invention.

I am not against religion, as I believe everyone has the right to believe in something, as I believe everyone has the right to choose how to orientate its political and sexual life.

But during my trip to the Holy Land (and a bit in India too), I realized something is wrong in how religion is lived: It is very sad that religions (or religious people) tend to worship objects (such a wall-the wailing wall-, a rock-the temple of the rock-, or a "grave"-the holy sepulcre-) instead of worshiping the greatest creation of those gods: Us, the Human Beings! And that twisted view, of worshiping objects instead of humanity has led us to humiliate, dominate, torture and kill each other, it has led us to kill the greatest creation of those gods. That's ironic, wicked and dam sad!!

Holy Sepulchre Church - People worshiping a stone

Heavily armed Jewish settler in Hebron worshiping a wall

unarmed Jew worshiping the wailing wall 

Poorly armed Muslim protecting the Temple of the Rock, where muslims worship a rock

Discussion: I still have parts of my vision that I haven't clarified yet. One of them is regarding the symbolic nature of the human beings. One could say that they are not worshiping objects but symbols, which as humans, makes us unique. I still have to thing about it.

So far my only conclusion, is that religions should worship the human being and nature as a whole, rather than particular human beings and particular objects from the nature.

My experience in India and tips

Thar Desert near Jaisalmer 

Disclaimer: I am going to express what I felt in India, my impressions during the trip and about the people I crossed with. Those opinions are framed within the circumstances I lived. I don't want to hurt nor offend anyone. 

In simple terms I summarize my trip to India like this:

* India is horrible, but the trip to India is a life-experience.

* One two three: NOTHING FREE, four five six: NOTHING FIXED: seven eight nine: INDIA SUPER FINE.

In India there are unique sights, just that the operative cost to get there is quite high (infinite noise, infinite dirt, cheating all the time, lies everywhere). Therefore you must have the right mindset in order to enjoy the trip.

The first 10 days of my trip were very tough, mentally I was not well prepared for India nor for the kind of people I met (mainly cheaters and liars who destroyed my trip). I got a breaking point in Delhi, where I changed my attitude and my plan, which was quite ambitious at the beginning. Those changes helped me to enjoy the trip better and to learn many things about myself that I didnt know before:

• I am very strict
• I can be aggressive while negotiating (at least with Indians that you know they are cheating you all the time)
• Although I am a loner, I am not as loner as I though I was.

In India your mind boundaries move forward, your tolerance increases to unexpected levels. All that makes you know yourself better and that is why I feel the trip to India is a life-experience.

My tips for those going to India

• Carry toilet paper with you all the time
• Get a SIM card as soon as you get there and register yourself into a web platform to book the trains yourself
• DO NOT TRUST travel agents (yea yea, not all of them are bad. but the majority of those I crossed with were.)
• book the trains yourself, either through the web platform (for which you need an Indian number to log on), or on the train stations (the main stations have an office for foreigners)
• Eat in the places locals eat 
• Don't let your self believe people are nice because they smile to you, or because they ask you where are you from or what is your name. Usually they want something out of you (to ask you for money, to buy them something, to drag you into their shop, etc), it's not just that they want to be nice with you. Believe me!, you are not the first nor the last tourist for them, you are not special for them!
• Carry a sheet for the bed and for some trains, or a thin sleeping bag
• Learn how to shake the head as they do, it is very useful during negotiations.

I recommend people to go to India, just go there expecting the worst and your shock might not be that hard. Dont expect anything to work smooth, most probably it wont. Still the trip is worthwhile to be done, you might meet good people, you'll see great places and interact with a culture of thousands of years. 

The least enjoyed book lately

 "The Steve Jobs Way, iLeadership for a new generation" has been the least enjoyed book I have read in the last years.

With this I dont mean that the book itself is bad. It's just that it was a book that took me more than one year to read, reading 2, 3 pages before falling asleep each night. I stopped reading it a couple of time to read other books, hence I couldnt appreciate it as a whole. However I think it's an interesting book and more for those lovers of Steve Jobs or Apple.

The following are the few highlights I made on the book:

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the greatest things about finding good people is that they become your best recruiters. They are the people most likely to know others who have the same values and sense of style that you and they themselves do. A good “Pirate” generally has a friend or relative who is just as good. Steve used to say to me that “great engineers are a huge multiplier.”

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“What matters isn’t what happens to you in life. What really matters is how you react to it.”

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Thoreau said, “Simplification of means and elevation of ends is the goal.”

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“I’m as proud of what we don’t do as I am of what we do,”

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To have true innovation, you have to build a culture to support it.

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Success can be self-defeating, if it leads you into the rut of repeating yourself. Too often we cannot envision a different world because we’ve gotten into the habit of looking at our world with the mind-set of what has worked before.

Facts about my trip to India

My trip to India was a whole life experience. I'll need several posts to develop and digest it, this one is the easiest one: the facts.

The itinerary and the nights is each place:

Mumbai - Udaipur(1) - Jaisalmer(2) - Deshnok(0) - Amritsar(2) - Chandigarh(2) - Delhi(2) - Jaipur( 2) - Agra (2) - Khajuraho(2) - Varanasi(2) - Bodhgaya(1) - Jhansi(0) - Patnem(4) - Mumbai(1)

View Away in India!!! in a larger map

• Duration: 30 days. From the 6th of December 2012 until the 6th of January 2013
• Budget: €750 without including the flight tickets, travel insurance and visa application.
• Start and finish points: Mumbai
• Airline used: Turkish Airlines
• Modes of transportation used: Flight (From Mumbai to Udaipur), state-owned bus (Udaipur-Jaisalmer, Jaisalmer-Deshnok, Deshnok-Amritsar, Amritsar-Chandigar) and trains (all the other rutes)
• Class in the trains: 3AC (the third most expensive class), Sitting chair (they call it CC if I'm not mistaken), and the SL or Sleeper Class (quite an experience!)
• Train bookings: I did it on the train stations, avoid as much as possible the travel agents!
• Approximated distance: 7300 Km
• Company: I made the trip alone although I met some old friends in Delhi, Khajuraho and Goa, and I also did some day-trip with people I met in the hotel or train
• Weather: I went in the Indian winter, in general the weather was comfortable, between 10 and 20 degrees, although in some parts it was about 4 to 5 degrees (Varanasi was very cold) and others about 35 degrees (Patnem in Goa)
• Price per meal: It is about 100 and 200 rupees (€1 to €3), but in the places where locals eat the price is about 50 rupees (€0.7), and in the restaurants of the Indian Railway System is 22 rupees (€0.4) ;)
• Price per double room: This is very diverse, but the lowest price I paid per night was 200 rupees (€3). The most expensive was 1500 rupees (€20)
• Price per tourist attraction: about 300 rupees (€4.5). The entrance to the Taj Mahal is 750 rupees (€11) (note that Indians pay 20 rupees for that) 
• Special days: Christmas was in Varanasi, foreigners in the hotel made a little celebration. New year's eve was in Patnem and I had dinner and little party with some friends on the beach

Snowboard equipment for sale

These are the stuff I have for sale, if interest call: 06 37 59 81 88 :


Snowboard 155cm + bindings  = 120 €

Boots Burton (size 43.5) = 60 €

Helmet =  20 € Snowpants + gloves + goggles = 30 €

Phone number: 06 37 59 81 88

The day I ascended Alpe d'Huez

I am happy to say that my personal project of ascending Alpe d'Huez on bicycle was successfully accomplished. There were a couple of last minute changes (including the traditional oversleeping and missing the bus) but nothing serious to stop me saying this:

I CLIMBED UP ALPE D'HUEZ ON BICYCLE!

more pictures here

I have only three advice for those amateurs like myself willing to do it:

1. The first part of the ascending is indeed brutal and you feel it is endless!, so do not waste energies there, keep it cool and just mind to get alive to curve 16. There you've got a chance breathe.

2. Prepare yourself mentally, so you don't get surprised by how hard it is!!

3. Get a personal reason to do it, don't do it for glory, a personal motivation will pull you stronger than just thirst of glory (at least in my opinion)

Personally I did it for my father, who soon will reach 14 years of death. I know Alpe d'Huez meant a lot for him due to the victory of Lucho Herrera in 1984, and I wanted to offer my ascending to his memory. Additionally the constant pain in my legs reminded me the constant pain and hurdles my mother had to overpass to rise my brother and me just by herself. After thinking about her life of struggling without quitting a single day I couldnt allow myself to stop pedaling. Those were my personal reasons.

The experience was awesome, I think climbing is something almost spiritual. I think the hardest part is in the head rather than the pain of the legs. Pedaling and feeling pain becomes mechanical, it actually becomes a background process that is just there and won't leave until you reach the top.

The real struggling happens in your mind, because there is a moment when you unplug yourself form the body and from the physical pain it feels, and then you start a discussion with yourself that actually holds you during the ascending. 

The struggling is between two parts of your mind. One pushes you to quit, to stop, to give up, it reminds you how painful it is, and the other part denies any of those possibilities, it uses your personal motivation to make you push and push and push until the moment that you realized you are at the top of the mountain. 

Here is my Strava information about the ride.

Even though the most important for me was to get there no matter the time, I have to admit that I was pleased to see that my time of ascending the 21 curves (1h29m38s) was few seconds better than my most optimistic timing (1h30m). I know I know, there is practically no difference, nor it is an amazing time but I don't care! it just makes me happy to know I made it.

If you live in France, in Italy or have the possibility to come, don't hesitate it! it is the Mecca of cycling, if you like this sport, you better come and do it at least once!

Le Petit Prince, Sixteen Years After...

Once I heard Crime and Punishment was that kind of book that everytime you read it, it become a different book. I've read it only once so I cant comment on that yet, instead I can say that "The Little Prince" is a book of that type.

The first time I read it in Spanish, back in 1996 when I was 9 damn years old. After sixteen years I read it again, this time in the original language (French), when -as arithmetic dictates- I am 25.

In general I enjoyed reading the book in French, it was easy without me being an expert on the language, it has interesting reflections but the best thing for me was to have the chance to reassess it. I give it 2 from 5 stars and I recommend to read it, though not to expect to be awesome.

It is widely believed that it is a children's book, but it is not!!. It's impossible to understand it and enjoy it when you are still a child and haven't lived the whole spectrum of things such as love or friendship, when you haven't taken decisions about life itself when you haven't left yet your planet and understood that there are many other planets around. Precisely for that impossibility for children to understand it, I think it is why the author rather dedicates the book to the child that is within us and that now is a grown up. In a nutshell it is a book written for our past, not for the present children...(the power of literature).

Personally, my impression is that the intentions of the book are to makes us reflect on mistakes and bad life-choices the grown ups make, thought I felt kind of uncomfortable with all the judgments the book has and with its simplistic and superficial approach to many of those.

Still the book has interesting parts and messages. The one I liked the most is the one with the fox, it is a nice reflection about what friendship (and love) is, about the power of those to enrich the world and the experience of life, no matter if there are tears, that's the part where the highlight of the book appears, from the voice of the good-old fox:

"... On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux..."

"...we can only see with our heart. The essential is invisible to the eyes..." 

Weather and company updates

This morning Julian has confirmed his willingness to die in the mountain, so we have booked a second bicycle for him. Now my ride wont be alone, I am very glad for that. I know he will be a good challenger.

Finally the weather for tomorrow seems perfect, between 16°C and 21°C. Probably we'll bike back to Grenoble instead of taking the bus.

Bike for the challenge: Checked!

The bike I have been riding on is this one, I call it "La Gorda":

A mountain bike Decathlon RockRider 6 Limited Edition with 21 gears, very thick tires and strong grip. About the weight, well mine weights 18.8 kg. Not exactly a route bike...

With a big challenge in front of me (Alpe d'Huez) I have decided to rent a more adequate bike for the climb and enjoy for the first time a route bike:

A route bike 2012 Specialized Secteur Sport Compact, 2.5cm tires, 9.5 kg and 30 gears. I am paying 35€ for one day. More decent bike indeed.

Sections of Alpe d'Huez ascending

I have just made a not-very-strict analysis* of the ascending parts of Alpe d'Huez, but I think it is good enough to be used as a "rule of thumbs" about the different sections of the ascending. 

I did it based on some readings describing the climbing. I included the number of the bends (yellow) and some guide values about the steepness of the segments (white), I tried to simplify the segments by colored bubbles (Red is "hard", Blue is "not-that-hard"). 

Note: Everywhere I read they agree the first part is the hardest, despite the 12% you'll find around curve 9!

Below there is a more detailed graph taken from here:

References: 

- Alpe d'Huez: La Subida

- Altimetrias Alpe d'Huez

- Alpe d'Huez mythical ascent

- Strava Segment: Alpe d'Huez "Vieil Alpe"

* If you see any mistake or have any suggestion to improve the graph, drop me a comment! ;-)

Personal project: Alpe d'Huez on bicycle

My new personal project is to climb this up the following weekend on bicycle. [update: The day I ascended Alpe d'Huez]

"La mythique montée de l’Alpe-d’Huez" (The mythic ascending to Alpe d'Huez) that's how are known the 11.9km on 21 bends at an average slope of 8.6%*. The segment starts at 720m.o.s.l. and climbs up to 1750meters.
It is the ending part of the Grande Boucle stage at the tour de France. The best time is held by Marco  Pantani "The Pirate" (37'35'') and second one is Lance Amstrong (39'41'' at an average speed of 23.4km/h).

 I have been biking for some days since summer, and without being an expert I think I can make it. Following is a chart comparing some of the climbing I've accomplished and the Alpe d'Huez (being the top-right corner the toughest).

As it can be seen, indeed Alpe d'Huez would be the hardest climbing I've ever done, but I've accomplished some others that are not far from it, specially Saint Nizier and Lans en Vercors (which I did the last two weekends without any inconvenient), those might not be as steep as Alpe d'Huez but are for sure larger and steep-enough.

I feel I am in shape for it, I estimate I can finish it between 1 hour and a half and two hours, but time doesn't really matter to me. Moreover I am planning to rent a proper bike for this. Because I have been biking all these days with a mountain bike, which is heavier and has thicker tires. So a racing bike should in theory ease the challenge.

I still have some logistics problems regarding the bike I have to rent and the way to get there (it's about 50km away from Grenoble) additionally I am kind of under pressure by the weather, it's getting colder and colder and up in the mountains snow is already appearing. So the sooner I make it, the better it is.

This ascending has a personal meaning and I will share it once I accomplish it (even if I don't ;-) ). Still, Alpe d'Huez has meaning for Colombians, because it was there where the first and the only time an amateur won a stage of the Tour de France, beating all the professionals. That amateur was a humble guy from Colombia, Lucho Herrera.

I'll keep updating about fixing the details, bike, transport there, weather. Stay tuned ;-)

*Those are the values of the climbing part, when including the flat part at the top the values are 13.8km at 7.9%
References: La montée de l’Alpe-d’Huez « La mythique »