Le Tour de.. Brendan?

Yesterday marked the beginning of the next chapter in my pursuit of what seems to be eluding me this winter - reasonable fitness. Or rather, the motivation to do what takes to attain this.

This week sees me house-sitting for my parents, which means I'm no longer within walking-distance from work (unless I leave before 6am to get to work at 9am). As a result of watching Le Tour de France for the first time this year, a combination of inspiration and ambition (and probably naivety) led me to set the goal of riding my bike to and from work this week.

To ensure I didn't bail out at the last minute, I left my car at my apartment and rode to my folks' place yesterday. Short of chucking a sickie, I had to ride this morning.

Canberra winters can be pretty brutal, and this year it has been especially cold. So I made sure I had plenty of layers: this morning I was wearing two pairs of leggings, a thermal undershirt, shorts, thick woollen socks, a woollen ski jumper, a wind-jacket, two pairs of gloves and a ski balaclava (with a sweet visor). I was well and truly ready to do battle with sub-zero temperatures.

So naturally it had been raining, was overcast, and it never got even close to sub-zero last night. In fact it was quite muggy. Plus a lot of the route to work is uphill. As a result I was way too hot. Good times.

Over-dressing aside, even though the ride this morning was pretty tough while I was doing it, my legs actually feel pretty fresh. I'm ready for the rest of the week! Although I reckon my legs may start to feel the burn towards the end of the week.

I guess the irony is that in order to ride to work and back, I'm going already in bed before Le Tour starts each night. And it's watching Le Tour that inspired me in the first place.

Lego Brendan is just not suited to Full-Time Work

Lego Brendan was born last year in Europe. He entered Australia illegally, without a passport, by stowing away in my friends' luggage. Shortly after, he came to live with me, and it wasn't long before he began working at my office.

However lately I have noticed that

Lego Brendan doesn't seem to be handling full-time work very well. In fact, I've come to suspect that he may be bipolar.

Above is Lego Brendan's reaction to some work that he and I had been given. It was a drastic overreaction on his part, as this work only too

k half a day to complete (or less if he had helped out instead of cowering in the corner).

And more recently, I came in one morning to discover that he had misplaced the hat that he insists on wearing even though he never goes outside.

Granted, his rise in blood pressure might have other contributors, and his mental state isn't helped by the company he keeps, however once again I believe he is overreacting. I mean the soldier who has tried to shoot him a few times hasn't hit him yet, on account of lacking a fully-functioning head. But even more disturbing than his overreaction to losing his hat was what he did next.

Lego Brendan's taste in fashion has always been somewhat eclectic. I think it's because he's European. But this latest addition to his wardrobe in a bid to replace his totally unnecessary old hat scared me. I feared that his manic depression was becoming increasingly apparent. He seems more than ever to display only two emotions; either very distressed or very ecstatic, with no in-betweens, and he can change from one emotion to the other quite rapidly.

I am considering suggesting he take a break and spend a few weeks at home, however I am apprehensive about how he will take it. And I doubt he will survive a Canberra winter if he continues to dress the way he does.