Tour de Timor: Shout Outs

The race is less than two weeks away. Team Singapore Spirit is done with our hard ‘peak’ training and we are into the ‘tapering’ phase of our training, final gear selection, and packing. We are still short one team member, and although we are hoping the race director can hook us up with a strong female rider, If anyone is going to the race without a team, we are intermediate level racers looking for a 4th team member. Please contact me at adventurenomad@gmail.com.

Hammer Nutrition has agreed to sponsor all teams from Singapore going to the race. I completed last weekend’s training riding 250+ km all over Singapore with Hammer Perpetuem and Endurolytes and am impressed. I’m convinced that this stuff is the future of endurance nutrition!

The Chain Reaction Project

One team that deserves mention is Team Chain Reaction Project, an all women’s team that is doing their bit to raise some money to help make a difference in the lives of the people of Timor. Check out their website here.

Update: TCRP will be selling Tiger Beer during the race at $2 per can. Proceeds go to charity. Anyone still working on your hydration strategy take note!

Thanks also OCBC Bank for offering to give all teams from Singapore race jerseys and to Totobobo for antipollution face masks for training and racing. I would also like to thank my personal sponsors, The North Face, for their continued support.

Ferguson Hill Transparent Speakers

Ferguson Hill FH007. FH008 Sub not in image.

I bought a set of these last week. It’s one of the bigger purchases I’ve made this year that’s not related to photography or sports. It is a set of transparent speakers for my iPhone/PC. They are expensive, but boy, they sound great and they look awesome!

These speakers look as if they are designed and engineered purely for sound. There’s no exotic wood cabinet, no grilles covering the speaker cones, no frills. Just naked, pure looking speakers.

I did have a little trouble with the speakers when I bought them. I shot off an email to the company and got an almost immediate reply from the founder, Timothy Hill. He solved one problem with ‘crackling’ when I moved the volume switch (turns out to be dust on the volume potentiometer). The second problem was terminal, it turned out that the FH008 Subwoofer was faulty and needed to be replaced.

I found the literature a bit scarce and emailed Timothy Hill for some advice on the initial setup of the FH007/FH008. Here’s what he said:

“Use a small screwdriver to set the ‘bass level adjust’ on the back of the FH007 mini amplifier to about 3/4 of the way round;
Then set the frequency on the back of the sub to about 70Hz or just before half way;
Then set the volume on the sub to also just before half way.
After this, listen to a few different types of music and make small adjustments on the sub to suit.”

I’m no audiophile, and how these speakers sound really depends on what you listen to. To my ears, these speakers excel for anything with strong vocals, acoustic or natural sounds, which is what I bought them for.

Anyway, I like 'em :o)

Bad Air Days Are Here Again

Photo by Kevin Lim/The Straits Times, from the story Haze is back in Singapore.

The haze is back in Singapore. Yesterday was the worst day I’ve seen this year in Singapore. The acrid smell of smoke from forests burning in faraway Indonesia was pretty thick in the morning and I actually took wore my Totobobo Anti-Pollution Face Mask, something I haven’t worn since my bicycle tour of Vietnam.

Totobobo in use in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo by Laura Liong.

The mask came in very handy as I was training on the bike for the upcoming Tour de Timor. Francis, the developer of the Totobobo Mask, met up with me and reminded me to change the filters on the mask as it was getting to be quite a dark grey. He’s since upgraded the filters to N96 to offer more protection from viruses, such as the H1N1 Flu virus. Francis was also kind enough to offer riders going to the race in Timor a free Totobobo Mask.

My filters after a the bike tour of Vietnam, worn approximately 2 hours per day for 14 days.

Way to go, Francis!

For more information or to order the Totobobo mask, please click here. Enter "adventurenomad" into the discount code to receive a special price on the Totobobo anti-pollution face mask and filters!

The Magic Pill

For the past year, The Supplement Warehouse, a nutrition supplement store based in Singapore, has been kind enough to assist me with my sports nutrition requirements.

Keep in mind that there is no magic potion or pill that can substitute real training. But when used properly, there is a subtle, but noticeable, difference when using ergogenic aids such as this.

Champion Nutrition Muscle Nitro
Champion Nutrition calls this product a “V02 Maximizer” and “the secret weapon of top professional athletes”. It claims to provide up to 11% more exercise capacity and has studies to back this up.

I’ve used this in racing and hard training and have noticed a difference with and without it. The trick to using this product is with the timing and the amount, so some experimentation prior to an important event is required. Too little won’t give you any ergogenic effect and too much will play havoc with your stomach (and your results!). Unlike some other ergogenic aids, like phosphate loading, this product does not require loading prior to race, so it is relatively simple to use. I’ve had good results taking the low side of the recommended dose with a small meal immediately prior to race start.

Black and White

My present watch is a cheapo Timex that has proven to be simple and reliable, but when the duct tape holding my Timex together became a little too embarrassing, I figured it was time to get a new watch, recession notwithstanding.

I’ll admit that I’m vain, and began a search for an outdoor oriented limited edition timepiece. I also wanted a watch with built-in compass and altimeter functions, which will surely come in handy for the upcoming Tour de Timor with its massive hills.

Here’s a short list of what I found:


Suunto XLander Military Edition
Two of my previous Suuntos had issues with waterproofing. All my previous Suuntos had plastic faces, which tend to scratch easily. The military edition addresses both these issues with 'stinger' push buttons that can be used underwater (same technology as Suunto dive watches) and the use of a scratch resistant glass face. If you’re into the stealthy military look, this watch has a black negative face, comes encased in a black aluminum housing, and is equipped with a durable black rubber strap. Way cool!


Casio Protrek (Pathfinder) PRW-1300WFJ-7JR World Wildlife Fund Limited Edition
I got my first triple sensor Casio ‘Protrek’ watch in the early 90’s (80’s?). It was super reliable and super chunky. Back then, the limit of the altimeter was only 14,000ft. I suppose that was fine for Japan and most of the contiguous USA, but pretty useless once you’re in the big mountains of the Himalaya. It was still working great when I gave it away.

Casio has come a long way since then. Casio’s altimeter now works to 32,800ft (10,000m), more than enough for any terrestrial pursuit. The key feature is the built-in ‘tough solar’ panel, which recharges the internal battery so theoretically, you’ll never need to change batteries.

I ended up ordering the The Casio Protrek (Pathfinder) PRW-1300WFJ-7JR World Wildlife Fund Limited Edition from www.amazon.jp. The watch is white (which is still a cool color, though may not be for much longer :o), super slim and ridiculously expensive. Well, I hope I’m getting what I pay for: This watch is a limited edition Pathfinder/Protrek and Casio’s only made 1000 pieces.