Cycling to Gdog’s – Cycling Closes To An End
I finally began to run low on funds and in doing so decided to book a flight to Perth to see my good friend Gdog (Gareth). I could easily stay on in Asia (given the expense of going to Australia), but the trip was all about cycling to see my buddy prior to his wedding in 2012. I didn’t quite achieve the 13,000km I set out to do finishing short at around 9,300km (I may add another 500km in Australia). The missing 3,700km is due to me not going to India. While, by my original plans, I had enough money to go to India, I of course changed my plans along the way. The three weeks in Japan were not planned (it was expensive), nor was the one month in Vietnam to see my brother during Christmas and the New Year. Both of those effectively burned my budget for India. In a way though I’m sort of glad…
Cycling to Gdog’s – One Last Time In Shenzhen
Having spent Christmas and the New Year with my brother in Vietnam, I flew back to Hong Kong and crossed into Shenzhen to be reunited with my bicycle for my final visit to China. I had a week before flying to Australia, so made the most of my time in Shenzhen (pronounced Shen-jen). Originally, I thought little of Shenzhen (it has a similar population to London) but now regard it as one of my favourite places in China and definitely somewhere I could see myself living. It represents the best in modern, fast-paced Chinese development while still retaining some heart and Chinese culture.
Further Genesis Croix De Fer Modifications
Having cycled part of the way to Australia and done many miles prior to the trip, my Genesis Croix De Fer 2011 (converted to a tourer) has clocked up over 10,000km now without me replacing any parts. In fairness all of the components and the bike itself as stood up very well to all the abuse sent its way. Quite a few of the components (Tiagra shifters, Tiagra chainset, 105 rear mech, Tiagra front mech) still have plenty of life in them and don’t really need replacing just yet (although they are a bit battle-worn). I plan on re-using those parts on other bikes I own. There are still a few parts that do need replacing. The chain, cassette, chainrings, and bar tape, so I took it as an opportunity to correct some of the aggravations I have with the Croix De Fer set-up and build it the way Genesis should have in the first place.
Cycling to Gdog’s – Vietnam (Part 2)
Linux Mint 12?… I’ll stick with Ubuntu
I have for many releases (since Mint 6 or 7) been a Linux Mint user. Previous to that I was an Ubuntu user (since 6.06 Dapper). I switched from Ubuntu to Mint for a number of reasons. The cleaner designer and generally better theme. The MintMenu which I found worked very well and far better than the standard and rather dated Gnome menu’s in Ubuntu. Also Mint was more stable than Ubuntu despite being forked from it. I switched across my desktop and laptops, as well as my parent’s desktop and laptop. During all of this time I often played around with other interfaces, (Avant Window Navigator being my favourite) but generally stuck with Gnome2. This all changed when Ubuntu/Mint progression came to a crossroads…the switch to Gnome3 or Unity from the trusty old Gnome2.
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