Dusty wrote:
As a matter of interest, what camera did you use?? It handled shooting into the Sun quite well.
It is an AGFA DC-2030 - £54 from Tesco. I really ought to get another one in preparation for the inevitable time when this one gets run over or dropped!!
It has been discontinued, although they had one or two left on their ebay site... although they might only have it in pink by now!
You might even pay less by now.
12.0 megapixel, all the modes you could want, a decent video function - and the "engine" is actually a Sony item!
There is a identical model which was available - badged as an Hewlett Packard camera... but I can't recall the model number.
This one was hand held - against my bedroom window...
Does reasonably good close ups...
and if you know how to trick the electronics in the right way, it will even photograph star constellations for you!
That was taken with the camera laid on it's back on the roof of my car, on my hat (to stop it sliding off), using the timer function to avoid shaking/moving the camera on release. I have Cassiopeia too!
In February last year I came off my blood pressure medication which I had been on since 2007 - mainly as a result of my cycling.
I have made few changes to my diet since then (2007) - I tend to eat or drink whatever I please, but always in moderation, and always as part of a varied diet. I have not lost weight (well except for a few pounds) but my weight is steadier - and I feel I SHOULD lose a little from around my middle, but work spoils my eating pattern! Too much eating in a hurry during the day.
I have porridge every morning, with a banana chopped into it, or a small teaspoon of honey, not too many fatty foods, very few eggs unless they are part of something else - and during the day I nibble on walnuts or pecans (whichever are cheaper!) rather than biscuits. I do eat biscuits - but usually only one a day.
I'm not keen on fish, so I take a cod liver oil capsule a day and at present I am off the cholesterol tablet I was on - waiting for the results of a blood test to see if my levels are acceptable or not.
Recently I have had a few rides in temperatures of -5.4°C then -6.2°C but strangely felt coldest on a -3.6°C!
At those temperatures, my biggest difficulty is gasping in lung fulls of really cold air, which chills my teeth, and my mouth got so cold I was drooling when I got home!
In the real cold, all the usual effects from a ride are different - legs remain warm (they are doing all the work) but your chest and arms are warm but hands very cold, despite the effective gloves and clothing which has seen me through last winter!
Normally my arms and shoulders feel the cold from sweating - but I must sweat less in the severe cold, so they seem warmer!
I'm not aware of any affect on my heart rate - but I guess it is working harder when cold, as the blood vessels near the skin close up a little?
Anyway, if I drop dead from a heart attack, I'll be sure to let you know!