Jamaicans get ready for Tomas

Hurricane Tomas lashed St Vincent and St. Lucia last night after roughing up Barbados earlier in the day, leaving behind billions of dollars in damage in the eastern Caribbean. Tomas has slowed in forward momentum, which is not good news for Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic or even Puerto Rico as the prediction of its path is pretty wide.

Prediction map from wunderground.com

The general consensus among the various models is that it will re-curve northward before reaching 75W which is bad news for the twin nation island of Hispaniola, especially Haiti which is still recovering from a devastating earthquake and now battling an outbreak of cholera. A late turn could also mean trouble for Jamaica as it could slam right into Jamaica, coming ashore between Morant Point and traversing the length of Jamaica. Tomas is currently a Category 1 hurricane but will strengthen significant over the next 4-5 days as it travel over exceptionally warn Caribbean waters with little or no shear to counter it. One model has it continuing west, passing south of Jamaica before curving slightly southward to slam into Nicaragua.

damage in St. Vincent (Barbados Nation)

Jamaica is ill-prepared to handle a hurricane right now much less one at a strength of category 3 or 4, as we have been having rains constantly throughout the summer and took a proper soaking last month from tropical Storm Nicole. Widespread flooding and loss of lives resulted from 3-4 days of constant rain, but we can expect even more flooding and loss of life if 150+mph winds are added to the equation.

The country is in a pickle,the damage from Gustav is expected to be about $ 20 billion. For a country under a tight economic constraints, we can ill-afford what will be the resultant destruction from a cat 3 or 4 hurricane. Prime Minister Bruce Golding is to meet with the various relief agencies tomorrow morning at 9 am after which he will announce to the nation steps being taken to prepare the country. I think it would have more prudent to meet with them today as time is precious. Plans need to be in place to evacuate people from flood prone areas and open up relief shelters before it starts raining.


Sunday October 31, 2010 11am update




This latest forecast takes into consideration steering currents as a result of a low pressure building up in the western Caribbean re-curving the storm to the north and then north-east, which is not good news for Haiti and Dom Rep.



To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

Where's My Baby ?

There she is, all alone in the washroom keeping company with a bag of Pedigree dog food and various containers - clothes basket, a mop, etc.

The past 4-6 weeks have been disasterous. We have had a couple weeks of rain, hard enough for us here in Jamaica to have some serious flood damages and loss of life. It all started one day after Andre and I started our walking so we got approximately 1 day in before the fun and games began. We are still having regular rain during the week but if I wait until the rain stop then I will never start back, so I am taking my baby out today, clean her up with a damp cloth, check her chains and brakes, pump up her tyres and go riding again.

I am not yet back up to 240lbs and I want to avoid that as much as possible. I have settled into work and am doing well so far, and a lot of the issues that have been distracting me are being dealt with.

As usual I will post my ramblings here for all to see (anyone here?)

Hope I can do Airport to Port Royal and back without getting a heart attack.

This Morning Was Great !

It finally got off the ground, Andre and I hit the road this morning and had a brisk 45 minutes walk throught his neighbourhood and a couple laps around the playfield.

Andre felt it more as he's a big shot Accountant/Auditor, so he gets to sit in a chair all day banging a calcultor, I get to walk quite a bit while working, but we need to do more as our middle has expanded with our age and thats not good.

I did an extra 20 minutes of quick walking when I arrived home and am just about to jump into the shower. More of the same for the rest of this week plus riding on the weekend.

Let's Get It On

Andre was here today and we made plans to hit the road tomorrow morning. I havent done anything too strenuous in 4 or 5 months and Andre probably hasnt done any in years, so the plan is to hit the road and start walking.

We need to establish a routine of hitting the road in the mornings and just walking and have fun doing it. We have an opportunity of making significant lifestyle changes and now that we are living close to each other we can motivate each other. Later on the weekend I will be out at Palisadoes on my bike. Nice and easy will be my mantra as I try to assess just how far behind I have fallen.

Walking during the weekdays and cycling on the weekend with rest days in between.

As I am writing this it has started raining pretty heavily, I am hoping that this doesnt affect our plans.

The Return is Nigh!

My return to the quest of changing my lifestyle to a more physical one is here.

The quest had gotten railroaded by numerous circumstances, all of which have been dealt with, mostly. I am now back in Kingston and am in the same area as Andre (we've been friends for over 20 years) who's on the hunt for a partner to walk with in the mornings. The plan is to walk in the mornings durin the week and cycle on weekends and add some weight lifting as cross-training. We will start later on this week after we finish unpacking from the move.

The last 6 to 8 months have thrown me some serious challenges, but with support from my wife and our family and friends, I am back on track.

Just need to check my bike to make sure that it's road worthy and its "pedal to the metal baby".

My 232 lbs have morphed up to 237 lbs, still 3 lbs shy of the 240 lbs wich is the heaviest I have ever been. No concrete goals but I would sure like to get to 220 lbs by December 31st.

I'll Be Back !! (Arnie accent)

I'll be back very soon.

I have been away from riding for the past 3 to 4 weeks. I have been very busy getting my work life sorted out, changing job, settling into a new one, etc.

You will think that I am using all of this as a reason to not ride and on a level you would be right, but there are other underlying reasons that have caused me to pause, and those are about settled now, so ...............

I need to change the pedals on my bike as my new dog got at it and bit off the straps. I thought of going clip-less but am leaning more to going back to what was there before. I also need to get a new seat before hitting the road, as my ass will sure as hell complain like it did the first few weeks way back last year.

I will have to get back in and fall back into my routine, I also need to supplement my riding with mucho cross-training. I have been maintaining my 232 lbs but I really want to kick start the losses and get down to 200lbs as quickly as possible (without going overboard).

More to come

Kingston to Negril 2010 Ride is On

I am not going anywhere near this, despite my post late last year that I would.

The Kingston to Negril run have riders going through Bog Walk George up to an estimated elevation of 1,650 feet to Moneague and then down to sea level into Ocho Rios, trekking along the north coast through Discovery Bay, Flamouth, Montego Bay and on into Negril. 140 miles, that is like a 5 1/2 hours driving at decent speed, much less on a bloody bike. Wasnt it last year it was along the south coast ?

I have been chugging along doing 35 miles on my best days and need to sort out a few things on my bike, like changing the seat to a more comfortable one but right now other things take priority. Last week I didnt get in any riding as it was rainy and I ended up spending the day with my better half and the guys from school finishing off an assignment. I am now free of school and am going to really try to get my ride time per week up.

This weekend will also be a tight one, but I am determined to get a good workout tomorrow. 35 miles is the target and I am going to work my butt off with the intention of riding a 100 miles trip before the end of 2010.

The home page for registration for the Kingston to Negril ride is http://www.jamaicabybike.com/

Check em out