How to expand your mind – literally
Your brain is not in a fixed state during adulthood. It’s constantly in a dynamic state of self-repair and regeneration, giving birth to new neurons through a process called neurogenesis. Born in your hippocampus, neurons float around for a bit having a jolly old time and then either die of boredom or get annexed and […]
The Universe wouldn’t be the same without you
When you look up at the stars on a dark night, are you sometimes overwhelmed at the sheer scale of it all? Does it occasionally make you feel insignificant, like a tiny speck of dust whose problems don’t actually amount to a hill of beans? Not me. I like to look up at the night […]
Globalisation – for richer or poorer?
Can we truly ever develop a single marketplace, governed by a global set of standards, regulations and rules without destroying cultures and eliminating what is beautiful about humanity? My need for a logo came from an unusual angle. I wanted to support my daughter and her netball team so I decided to become their sponsor. […]
Riding with Respect – a trip to remember
On 23rd October 2018 I will be donning my best gear, cleaning and polishing my boots and saddling up my new F850 GS to undertake a pilgrimage to Savona, a town close to Genoa, both to put the bike through its paces but also to draw some closure to a story that spans a century. […]
Blood, sweat and breastmilk – we carry on
September has been a pretty good month so far. I’ll explain. I signed up to be a Blood Biker last year, which in case you don’t know is a volunteer post in which you give up at least two nights a month to be on call to collect blood or tissue samples from a hospital […]
Your perception is your reality. To control your bike, first control your mind
I was having a morning WhatsApp chat with my daughters the other day when No.2 mentioned that she had missed the Perseid showers the night before but had dreamt it and it was amazing, so was that the same? It was just an offhand comment but of course it mentioned dreams and the mind so […]
Left or right at this junction? How to avoid decision overload
Do you find that sometimes you just don’t want to have to decide where to go today, what to do, eat or buy? You wish someone else would come up with the plans and not ask your advice or opinion on each tiny detail? You’re not alone and probably have a form of decision fatigue. […]
Relativity: how riding fast actually slows you down
When I’m riding it tends to be an ‘in the moment’ experience. The feel of the wind in my face. The next bend, the next hazard, the sound of the engine. If it’s an uncomplicated road and there are no hazards it’s possible for an existential thought to pop up and smack me in the […]
Feeling at ‘one’ with your machine? That’s because you probably are
On my return from Africa I had a yearning to get out on the bike, the call of nature was strong, my body was telling me it wanted to assume the position. So, I’ve managed to clock up over 500 miles since last week, including demo rides of the new Triumph Tiger 800 XRT and […]
Why ride? Use the ‘5 Whys’ method to find out
In my former life I used to be a bit of a process improvement nut and even qualified as a Lean Six Sigma green belt at one stage. You could be excused for thinking it’s some kind of martial art practised on skinny people, but no, it’s a methodology with super complex statistical analysis built […]