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My colleague found this: type in "failure" (without quotes) in google and click on "I’m feeling lucky". Basically clicking on "I’m feeling lucky" just automatically takes you to the first web page returned for your query. Anyway, the return is a bit hilarious. Wonder if it’s a bug or pure "luck"…

I punctured my bicycle tyre after two days cycling to work last week, just two days. And I remember very well that when I bought the bike I was told that the tyres are kevlar tyres. In case you don’t know what kevlar is: Kevlar, also known as Twaron and poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide, is a synthetic fibre that is five times stronger than steel, weight for weight (according to the excellent wikipedia on Kevlar).

What’s the chance, my bike, equipped with kevlar tyres, punctured in 2 days, by a tiny stone. But that was what happened, "how bad luck can I get?". To think about it, is it really that small a chance?

I’m pretty sure that no one put that little sharp stone on the cycle path to puncture anyone’s tyre. I mean, come on, if someone did do that, he must be a genius, as he certainly had pulled that one off But when the condition is right, something amazing can really happen. Allow me to use this cake baking explaination. Flour, sugar, eggs etc each in itself is nothing special (well compared to cake). By simply mixing them together, you get something even less spectacular :). But with the right mix, the right temperature and the right amount of baking time, you will almost certainly get a cake.

I don’t mean to sound like I rode myself to that stone to puncture my tyre. But surely the fact that I cycled, on that cycle path, created myself partial condition to trouble. So becoming a "lottery winner" is probably just a matter of time. Or is it? If nobody has any notion of a "tyre puncture event", will I know this can even happen? I don’t think so.

To think about it, it’s probably been 2 years I had been thinking about cycling to work.

I used to have a car, but was stolen. Didn’t bother to get another one, as most importantly I haven’t got a British driving license! Thought about getting myself a bicycle, but the danger of cycling on roads had always put me off. Not to mention the harsh cycling condition the British weather could offer sometimes, prevalent bicycle theft in Reading etc.

I certainly had focus too much on reasons why I should not cycle. Even after I cycled to work for the first time this morning I had doubts whether this was worth the hassle. As the route that I took required me to climb up a hill, which was quite steep actually now I realised. And there were no proper cycle paths. This is unattrative as I can foresee myself being unnerved by some careless drivers one day, just as what they did to my french colleague, couple of times already.

Fortunately, there is a longer route, with long stretch of cycle path, that circumvent the hill between my house and the company. Not only was I relieved, when I arrived home just now, I think I’m going to love cycling to work.

Cycling is good, good for your body and the environment. The government is encouraging people to cycle to work, with a scheme called cycle2work that allows employees to buy bicycles using government tax breaks. This is quite an attractive offer, especially when the petrol price is threatening to get past the £1 a litre mark. But to be honest, until there are more extensive cycle paths around, it is always going to be difficult to get people to take the risk.

He appears on the front page of the Economist that I received 2 days ago. As much as I wanted to read about what they have to say about him, the iconic figure that people do hold their breath and listen to when he speaks, today was just not the day. I had more "important" things to take care of

W was not too convinced that a circle with a cross below is a female sign. "Red is not really the kind of colour you would associate with a male symbol, isn’t it?", we all asked, including the very pro cycle shop sales assistant, showing his disbelief. But he was very sure that’s a male bike.

We were about to leave the shop, but W pleaded that we should double check, maybe with anyone in the shop. I understood that it would be a grave mistake if I left this shop with a female bike. But it was hard for me to question the judgement of that pro, who had been really helpful and nice throughout.

I was a bit surprised that not many people in the shop know the answer to the male and female sign. This asian (or indian as we malaysian usually call them) sounded like he knows exactly which is a male sign, circle with a cross below. That alone prompted me to go upstairs to confirm with the pro one more time. He was all smiling, drawing me both signs on the back of a piece of torn cardboard. The explanation from him wasn’t convincing, even after he showed his muscular arm at an angle to explain that the arrow represents male power, or masculinity But he was absolutely 100% sure, as he showed no sign of any second thoughts. I could see why, when he started explaining that saddle on a men’s bike is narrower, and hand grip on ladies’ bike is thinner. Anyhow I still ended up asking two more people in the shop and checked the Internet. He’s right, and I’m glad that he’s right, as too many people around think they know something when they actually don’t; yet I wonder where they get such confidence from. In this simple case of male and female symbols, where you can either be completely right, or completely wrong. If you know the answer, you should have facts to back you, as you probably have read something about it. But if you are confident about a wrong answer…

It’s no coincidence why some people can command so much respect from other people.