The online home of Guy Laister, containing news of past, current and future activities as well as photo’s of trips far and wide. I was born in South Africa with the benefit of Her Majesty’s passport, and I am currently living in Surrey with my wife. I am a civil/environmental engineer and a founding director of an engineering consultancy in London.
I have intentionally kept clear of talking about work on the blog as I am a firm believer in leaving work at the office. However, recent developments on the work front have earned a place on the front page. Read the rest of this entry »
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Following hot on the heals of my mom’s birthday, a quick post to wish my old man a happy birthday for today. Dad, there’s a couple of bottles of 2001 Neil Ellis Cab in my collection waiting for you to decant and enjoy when you join us next month.
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The course has been altered, entries are no longer being accepted, training sessions have been arranged, the flow of alcohol has ceased, the weather gods have agreed to play ball. It is time. Time for the Hairy Legs Challenge 2006. After two successful individual finishes in 2004 and 2005, the standards have now been raised and the team event will never be the same again. Ladies and gentlemen I introduce to you the ‘dream team’, the team by which all other teams in all sporting codes will here on in be compared against - TEAM MACHINE
Yes, thats right Dan ‘The Man’ Roberts will be joining me Guy ‘The Beast’ Laister to form the fiercest duathlon team ever created. You will remember Dan from Hairy Legs 2005 fame, Ham Brewery Tap fame as well as (most importantly) Macie’s dad. Fresh from training with the TA, Dan has agreed to annihilate the field over the first 5km run, and then glide through the second 5km to the finish, leaving me with the easy task of cruising the middle 20km on the bike and take glory!
In all seriousness though, I am bleak that I cannot complete my third consecutive challenge due to my knee not recovering in time to get fit, but I have taken solace in being able to ride and compete. It should be a good day on Goring-On-Thames on Sunday 14th May, and anyone around on the weekend should join us. It is an awesome part of the world, and the atmosphere is usually really relaxed as the 500 odd competitors take to the hills of the Ridgeway. Laz and Dave have also thrown there name in the hat and I know a few others who are taking on the course individually so there should be a big crew competing and supporting. Check out the Hairy Legs website for details. See you there!
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UPDATE - Grayskull has spent post race time compiling a more detailed review of the race, from the competitors angle!
Today London hosted the 25th running of the cities marathon. The London Marathon has become an international phenomenon and marathons aroudn the world are generally marked against and compared with London’s staging. Despite this, I’ve never been down to the course until today, and it was awesome to be a part of the experience.
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In a controversy strewn yet honestly uninthralling contest Liverpool SMACKED Chelsea yesterday in the semi-final of the FA Cup sending the mighty reds flying into the cup final. Rafa Benitez won the tactical battle over Jose ‘The Special One’ Morinho and with it a schweeet 2-1 victory. Goals came from a first half John Arne Riise free kick and a second half wonder volley from Luis garcia. Chelsea may have the edge over Liverpool in league games in recent seasons but it is in the big, important, cups which Liverpool have triumphed (aside from an unlucky extra-time defeat in the Carling cup final). Liverpool will now play West Ham in the final on May 13 at The Millenium Stadium Cardiff. I’m really bleak now that Multiplex couldn’t pull finger and get Wembley finished in time, as it would have been awesome watching Stevie G lift the cup again, but for the first time at the new stadium. You can never trust the Aussies!
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Another week has flown by in the big smoke, can’t believe its been almost 2 weeks since we got back. Last weekend ended up being a really good weekend, despite it being Easter and having left family and friends in SA only 5 days before. Sar and I were due to hit Exmoor Forest in Devon for the weekend, but decided at the last minute just to take the weekend off and chill out. We got in a couple of good rides, 35 kms on the Saturday and 25 kms on the Sunday. Sunday afternoon Kam and John came round for a braai (and yes, it did rain) to catch up and share photos. Kam and John had a great trip to Aus for Tracy Prentis’ wedding and it was good to see photo’s of some of the places we are going to see at the end of the year. I just hope that we don’t have to endure a cyclone!! Read the rest of this entry »
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What a finish to last nights first round match in the snooker world championships at the Crucible in Sheffield. I have always been a big fan of Stephen Hendry so you must know how bleak I was when I turned on the box to see Hendry 7-3 down to relative unknown, but seasoned campaigner Nigel Bond. Hendry fought back hard thought to 7-7 (thanks to a bit of help for Bond), after which players traded frames to 9-9. First round games at the world championships are best of 19 so it went down to the final frame. The frame was scrappy as each player sought an opening whilst not taking on risky pots. Ultimately Bond got the break and sunk brown, blue and pink to take a 7 point lead (48-41). All that was required was black…. in went the black……… but wait Read the rest of this entry »
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Thanks to all those who sent throught good wishes today for Sars, I can report that she is safely back at home and doing OK. A little tired from the anaesthetic, but everything seemed to go well. Allegedly, cos the surgeon kindly visits all his/her patients as soon as they wake up from anaesthetic to report back. Good thinking. Just when the patient is at their most groggy and confused, sounds like the perfect time to describe in detail the surgery!! Idiots. Anyway, the painkillers seem to be from a really good batch, and the doc has booked sar off for 2 full weeks - a lot of time to stretch and rehab the knee!! Sar will see the GP in 2 weeks to take out the stiches and check progress. An appointment with the surgeon in 4 to 6 weeks should hopefuly wrap things up!
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Most of you know that Sar has been struggling with a knee injury for just over a year now which has prevented her from pounding the local roads in the London Borough of Wandsworth and forced her into the swimming pool….. well, today is the big day when hopefully things get rectified as Sar goes into St George’s hospital for surgery to the damaged knee. The surgery is scheduled for this afternoon and will include an arthroscopy as well as a ‘lateral release’ of the ligaments on the outside of the left knee. Both are relatively minor operations, and Sar is not scheduled to stay overnight, but all the same, I am sure she would appreciate your thoughts today as going to hospital is never the most pleasant of experiences.
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I wrote a few months ago about the Severn Bore, a tidal wave which funnells up the Severn Estuary in west England. The bore was at its best at the end of March in 2006 and a world record was set on Friday 30th March 2006 by Steve King (no not the author).
Railway engineer King rode the wave for 7.6 miles taking 1hr and 16 minutes - the longest continuous ride in history. See BBC for the story, including a video of the feat.
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