Archive for June, 2008

Wharncliffe Woods XC Trail 14/06/2008

Friday, June 20th, 2008


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The first mile or so is amazing purpose built XC.  The rest is fairly gentle, other than an unexpected gravel patch we hit at 25mph.  More about Wharncliffe can be seen at www.wharncliffe.info.

This is also the first time I’ve taken the GPS unit out with me, so I’ve been playing with the maps it can make, as seen above.  More detailed trip statistics can be seen at MotionBased.

Some rather wobbly unicycling

Friday, June 13th, 2008

A little wobbly, but at last!  Proof that I really do unicycle…

HSBC Startup Stars - well done team!

Thursday, June 5th, 2008

Kashef Ahmad and James Hill with Mark Tilleray

Kashef Ahmad and James Hill being congratulated for being a northern finalist up in the HSBC Startup Stars contest.

The five forces

Monday, June 2nd, 2008

I was at the first 2008 Enterprize event, and heard about a model I haven’t come across before, from the speaker Permjot Valia.

The full name of the model is Porters 5 Forces, and a full explanation can be found on wikipedia.

These are the forces that determine the overall attractiveness of a market.

The threats are:

  • Bargaining power of suppliers - how much power the suppliers have (customers/pharmaceuticals).
  • Bargaining power of customers - how much power the customers have (think farms/supermarkets).
  • Threat of new entrants - how hard is it to set up a new business.
  • Threat of substitute products - customers may drive instead of taking a train
  • Established competition - who’s already in your space.

House of Coins

Sunday, June 1st, 2008

Coin Henge

Coin Henge

Dome on…

From above

Happy birthday, car!

Sunday, June 1st, 2008

My little car has been around the clock!  More a rebirth than a birthday, but still a cause for celebration…

Almost there….

Well done car!

Well done car!

Leaning on my brand new car

James Hill leaning on his Brand New car!

Hope Cross (Ladybower, Peak District) 31/05/2008

Sunday, June 1st, 2008

Andrew, Andy, Chris and I went out for a little potter at Hope Cross.

Andrew has a .kml file and more information here.

Andy coming down from Hope Cross

Andy coming down a rocky path - pure madness at speed!

The damage for the day was:

Andrew - Skinned elbow, pretty patterns on his left calf from his front deraileur (pictures here).  Lost a tooth, but only on his rear mech.
Andy - Pinch flat on his front tyre.
James - TWO pinch flats on his rear tyre, and lost the bolt to the rear QR skewer on the way home.