The Golden Rules?

As part of our new life here in Málaga, Spain we decided to get the kids out the door a bit more and away from all the video games, computers, tablets, DS's, X-box and whatever else they are using that goes beyond my knowledge.

Now we do not have the excuse of the bad weather... Doesn't rain all that often and the temperature is just borderline perfect.. So NO EXCUSES...!!! 

Lets take a walk around to see the different activities... Karate..!!! MTB for kids..!!! (did you see the picture about this in the pictures page of the blog?) Basketball..!!! (so many memories!!) and lets face it this is España..... FUTBOL...!!!

After studying the different options for the little one and asking the main person involved in taking part of the activity we decided for.....:

The little man choose to play futbol... Don't ask me why I am not a futbol person and we only watch soccer when the world cup is on... But he can't deny the German/Argentinian gene pool he has right?

I was so happy to see him running and having fun with other kids his age just wearing shorts and a t-shirt under the warm sun of South Spain... This another reason we moved here.. For the kids to be that.. KIDS... Been outside run and play with others like them to us is very important and believe it or not the weather has a lot to do with this... Is impossible for them to be outside if the weather conditions don't allow it...

After the practice was done and we were walking out of the field I found one of the best picture and signs ever..!!! And perhaps should be golden rules when it comes to kids and sports.. But is not up to me to decided on this one... Is just up to me to put it out there and maybe help someone to remember why we wanted our kids to play sports.

Yes they are in Spanish but don't worry I do my best to interpret the meaning of each one... Translation doesn't make justice or gives the true meaning of them:

1- DO NOT yell at me and give me instructions.

2- DO NOT yell at me in public.

3- DO NOT yell at the coach.

4- DO NOT say anything bad about my team mates.

5- DO NOT say anything bad about the other team either.

6- DO NOT say anything to the referee.

7- NEVER loose control.

8- DO NOT tell me my mistakes after the game.

9- DON'T FORGET to smile and have fun with me.

10- DON'T FORGET this is just a game, I will do what I can but doubt I will become the next

"SUPER STAR'

Hope this lines can help someone out there or someone you know to remember the true meaning of playing any sport at young age, as a kid all you want is to have fun and even better if the parents join and have a smile while doing it.

Thanks for reading and sharing

See you at the next post..

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

Get to know a bit of Málaga City..!!

Yesterday we had to travel with the family to Málaga Centro (centro meaning capital) to look at some requirements and information to get the necessary paperwork to start a "normal" life here..

So we took the bus into the city… A lovely bus ride of about 1:30 hour and you go across lots of different small towns and cities that are beautiful.. Along the route you have this sort of views ….

Is so nice to be in a sort of warm weather… Surrounded by mountains and routes that are not heavy congested by traffic… (there is some traffic still) where you can dream of riding your bike all the time.. I saw a few riders along the way.. So riding in this routes is an option that I am hoping to start doing at some point..

We finally made it to Málaga City (is not the name but I will call it like that) where one of the first things that hit me was how clean it was.. Is a city and I am used to big dirty ones.. This is a smaller one but clean and guess what??? They have a bike sharing program..!!!

The bikes? Well they do not look as the most inviting ride you could get…. They are used a lot.. (good sign right?) and with this comes good users and bad users.. So they must be reliable and probably well maintained for everyone to use them in regular bases… But with so much use the bikes look like someone dragged them on the street or felt down the side of a mountain…

And if happened to be in Málaga and don’t know what to do or where to go here is a list of interesting places you can visit…

And when is time to return your bike there is a map of where the nearest bike station is…So just look at where the closest one to you is and ride the machine there...

Forgot to mention that the bike lanes and cycling structure looks safe enough to ride in the city… The side walks are split for walkers and bike users… Looks very neat but I failed to take a picture of this… Maybe next time..!!!

Hope you enjoyed the Tuesday Trip..!!

Thanks for reading and sharing 

See you at the next adventure

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy... Working extra for you in a Tuesday ;)

Bienvenidos a Coín...!!!

As I said on the title... Welcome to Coin..!

Yes the first step into following our goals, plans and dreams was taken last week when we took a plane from our former home in Belfast, Northern Ireland to travel to Malaga in between all the mountains and no more then 30 minutes from the Mediterranean sea...

What this week looked like so far? Well it is a constant learning experience when it comes to the way different things get done here... (paperwork is tedious anywhere but when you are doing it in a new language is a real pain..!) Luckily I am almost fluent in Spanish... No seriously it is my first language but it has been so long that the language evolved and there are some words I have no idea what they mean..

What the new town looks like? Beautiful..! Really clean..! and people are extremely friendly and willing to help.. Everyone is wishing you well and all the success in the new life at the new place...

The pic on top is from an old hydroelectric system, late 1800's early 1900's and is just a few hundred meters from our new home... The new home is situated in the middle of a hill that is most likely from bottom to top around a km long...

Have to think how to route my rides so I can finish on the downhill into the house.. The last hairpin before the house could mean walking after a long day on the saddle...

Coín is situated in the center of a chain of mountains about 30 km from Málaga city or capital, not sure what the right term is... and about 25 km from Marbella... Marbella really doesn't need much introduction right? Is like the West Palm Beach or Malibu of the Mediterranean sea... Lots of celebrities... Lots of people with lot of money living in the same town.. or that is what I heard.. I didn't see any...

Oh yes..! We went to Marbella and had a picnic at the beach while the kids ran around and soaked their feet in the sea under a warm sun... It was windy as hell and we had to keep everything cover from the flying grains of sand but all the troubles were well worth it for the end result...

Looking forward to keep exploring the new town and start riding my bike as soon as possible..!

Thanks for reading and sharing

See you at the next update

Pablo 

The Weekend Report Guy

Goals? Plans? Dreams? Bring 2016..!!

We all have them right? So do I...!!! But this is why I wasn't sure on how to name the post... We should start by knowing the difference between them...

Using my own words to define each one..

Goals: list of things I would like to achieve over a determinate period of time.. They have to be real, easy or hard to accomplish is up to us.

Plan:  they are more like a structured way of accomplishing a pre-determinate idea. Is making a way to reach this plans.

Dreams: anything that comes to your mind real or not... Fiction or reality... Everything that you would like to reach or do in life... Just remember sometimes you can reach them and make them your reality..!!

Lets start by naming what I consider goals for this year:

- I am riding 15.000 km.
- Climbing 150.000 meters.
- I am going to weight 85 kilos, and STAY THERE...!!!
- Write more often in my blog... and better should I say...

What about the plans? 

- We are moving to Málaga, Spain.
- Find a job that allows me to follow my dreams.. Is coming...
- Rent a nice big house for the family... And future guests.
- Go to Argentina to bring my older son, time for him to join the family.
- Start offering my cycling guide services to people in Málaga.
- Start a B&B business to go with the cycling services.

And the dreams??

- Buying a nice BIG HOUSE..!!!
- Have the B&B running in our big house... Did I mention it has a pool?
- Promote the already established cycling guide services all over the world.
- Meet thousands of new friends while enjoying the mountains and the Mediterranean sea.
- And last but not least... Make sure my family and I are as happy as possible..!!

Bring on the 2016 and lets start working on all those goals, plans and dreams..!!!

As soon as we are there you all will know about it..!!! 

And as soon as we are ready we will be waiting for you all...!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

Pablo & Family

See you soon

Thanks for reading and sharing

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

My Strava

Our Strava Club, join us..!!!

What did 2015 look like?

Yes is that time of the year when we come to look back and see what this year left us... In my case it was a year full of ups and downs but where I want to remember that I finish better that the way I started..

You remember how my year began?

At the end of 2014 they just removed the cast of my leg and at the start of this year I wasn't even allowed to step on this leg...

After a few weeks the doctors gave me the OK to start doing some "light" cycling indoors... Light cycling hahahaha...!!!! But so it began the route back to be on my feet...

It wasn't long after I got back on the trainer or turbo trainer like my friends here in the UK called it that someone recommended me certain indoor product to keep me motivated during my rehab period.. That was the start of a new friendship with the program..The developers and a whole new lot of other people riding indoors for different reasons.... That was the start of Zwift and me...

And the picture from the top explains how much time I spent on the bike when I wasn't able to do anything else basically.. 4305 km indoors..! That is a lot of time on the saddle..!!! But it really helped me to get back on my feet and walk almost normal now... Funny memory?? after a few sessions with the physio they told me "Keep doing whatever you are doing at home" that is much better then anything else they could do for me....

But to me was easy to spend that amount of time on the bike.. I had the support of my family and friends from all over the world.. And that made the whole rehab process much easier..

The key moments of the year? Let me think for a minute... If I had to pick one... YES..!!! Has to be the +Giro d'Italia +Discover Northern Ireland  you know the event to remember the time that the Giro started here in Belfast..

What was this all about? It was somewhere around 200 km of misery, rain, wind and cold weather that lasted over 7:30 hours... Where I had the pleasure of meeting a cycling legend like Stephen Roche...

Where Richie Porte was riding as well but I could not take a shot of him.. (he missed it)

There was lots of people, the organization was very good but I hope they do better with the rest stops and the food that they give there... Gels and whatever the other stuff was is not enough.. But they know they messed that part up...

But after all the hard hours on the saddle it was all worth it when I finally got home to get the kiss of my personal podium girl...

The +Strava link to the route of that event?? Giro di Italia Northern Ireland 2015

After June the weather was up and down... We didn't have a real Summer and that truly bothered me.. I never got into a real rhythm where I was comfortable on the bike.. So my fitness was on and off as well...

Had good months and bad months...

So now that we hit the end of the year I look at my numbers and see:

DISTANCE: 9536 KM

TIME ON THE SADDLE: 362.5 HOURS funny.. Almost 1 hour a day in average..

It was a great year if you considered where I was coming from... Now that we reached the end of it all I can do is look back and say THANKS to everyone involved in my getting back on the bike and almost at 100 % in everyday activities...

Thanks for reading and sharing

Pablo

The Report Guy

The Weekend Report Club Strava

It stopped raining...!!! Hurry up..! Lets go for a ride..!

I rode outdoors...!!!

Since work and life messed up with my training this I decided to actually slow down and back up a little with all the training… I was very tired all week legs felt made out of lead and I wasn’t enjoying the training anymore… That said… yesterday I had a complete lazy day where all I did was wash my commuter..

Today was a nice cold day where the rain gave us a break so I went out for a ride..!! Or maybe 2 rides?
First since I was planning to take it easy I took the CX bike and joined the B team at 7:30 to head out for a steady ride with some fair weather..

The boys before sunrise

I got the feeling people was chasing me today….

But this one has to be my best shot of the week… Sunrise..!

Finally sun light..!!!

And as I was riding by Samson and Goliath I had to try to take a picture..

So my ride became two rides.. as I joined some of the other guys on what they called a little more after the traditional Sunday Ride… Next time I have to ask what a little more means… At this point I had like 40 km on my legs at a nice steady pace.. Now it was time to go for a little more..

The little more involved all climbing..! over 800 meters in less then 60 km.. I haven’t climb that much in who knows how long.. Add to this all I had was a sandwich and a cup of coffee for breakfast.. Only a small water bottle and I was riding the CX bike… PERFECT RECIPE..!! To what you are asking? To meet the guy with the hammer…!!! No it wasn’t Thor.. It was Mr Bonk.. around 80 km I felt like shit and couldn’t pedal anymore… Well fast anyways.. And we were still going up and down the Black Mountains… Pedaling squares and seeing cakes and empanadas in my head…Till we reach the final point up, then I had a little to drink before the downhill and it was some sugary stuff that helped with the final push home for a nice 105 km and 1139 meters or so said +Strava 

Now I am ready to go to bed and sleep till Tuesday...

Thanks for reading and sharing

Pablo

The Weekend report Guy

True Belfast weather

Hello friends..!

Has been a while since my last post right? Well is sort of hard to find motivation to write anything lately...

Life is getting better and we are all healthy... We are all working and the kids going to school.. So life is falling into the normal category... I was off work for a long time and that was not good at all...

Well when it comes to riding let me tell you that I have a nice commute every day when it comes to riding to work.. Is 10 km each way where most of it is on cycling lanes or even cycling paths.. The infrastructure here is very nice and seems like a lot of people uses bikes to get around.. Lets face it is faster then the car in a lot of cases.

Everything is great right? Almost..! The only problem is that is raining every day...!!! No I am not exaggerating.. !! Is really wet here..!! OK we have different kind of raining here.. Light... Drizzle.. Hard... And biblical proportions..!

What you don't believe me??? Look at this..!!!

Man and I had 3 mini lakes this day that I had to cross that day... As you can see it goes from side to side of the street and over the side walk (is a cycling path there as well)

To all this lovely weather you need to add the wind factor.. Yesterday coming from work felt like climbing invisible hills for 30 minutes.. And you had to keep in mind the wind while riding in between buildings or a car go by you.. It was very interesting..

Did I mention that it seems to be always dark? I leave the house at 7 am... (dark this time of the year) and leave work somewhere before 5 pm when is also dark... Good thing I look like a Christmas tree on the bike and this helps riders see me right away.. (and I prefer to lose a minute here and there and no my life in a minute)

But Sometimes it stops raining and you can enjoy the place a bit more and spot some great images...

Thanks for reading an sharing

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy