Software Review of the Month – Banner Wizard

Good morning everyone out there! I will be reviewing a piece of software each month from now to share my experiences (good or bad). Most of them will be aimed at blog or website development and they will all be on things that should make life more interesting and save us all time!

First off I thought I’d give this new banner making software a try to see how easy it was to use and to try to incorporate more visual content on future blog posts and indeed my online shop when it goes live in a few weeks time. Last night I downloaded a program called Banner Wizard and I’ll let you see what I was able to make in 5-10 minutes below (and that’s without reading the user guide)!

Here is my first attempt at using this piece of software:

So all in all not bad for a few mins work.

I found the Banner Wizard software very easy to use, given that I didn’t have to read anything to produce this banner in a few mins shows how easy it is for everyone to use.

In Summary I’d say there are loads of positive points:

• Free to try
• Easy To Use
• Loads of Effects
• Save as SWF or GIF
• Fully Customizable
• Add Music, Effects, 3D, Text, Image and Buttons
• Great Background Effects
• Inexpensive

I am now working on a banner for my online shopping website that will promote the main offer of the month on the homepage. I’m not going to show it here as the website is not ready for it’s relaunch, but I can say it looks really crisp and professional.

Why not give it a go and see what you think. It only takes a few seconds to download and will certainly liven up blog posts without increasing page load times too much. You can find the details on their website HERE.

Hi all,

I know it’s been a long time since my last post and that I have loads to catch up on, especially in relation to the cyclocross season, but I thought I’d stick this new post in about my plans for 2012.

I know everyone comes up with the usual new year’s resolutions, but I really want to change my life in the next year. I want to stop being so lazy, have more energy and most of all achieve more. So where do I begin this new life? What changes will I have to make? Will it all make me a happier and better person? Well read on and form your own opinion, this year will be different…

I want to start by listing a few goals for 2012, not resolutions, but goals, things that are achievable and realistic. I have started with the following 5 items on my list of ‘commandments’ and I will hopefully add things to that list as the year goes by:

• Work harder – get up earlier in the day (achieved by going to bed earlier at night) and work hard on my online business, harder work equals more success which will lead to a more comfortable and better lifestyle.

• Train more – not necessarily harder, just more, the harder training will come as I get fitter throughout the year. I want to train 20 days each month as a minimum. That could be any sort of training, such as cycling, running or doing core exercises. I know a healthier and fitter me is a happier me so this one should be achievable.

• Compete more – I entered the amazing world of cyclocross this year (thanks to Mike) and I really enjoyed it. Not just the racing but the camaraderie of training and racing each weekend is great. I’ve also met some other cyclists from Mike’s club (North Cheshire Clarion), such as Giles and Adam. In 2012 I want to compete more, included in this will be the Isle of Man End 2 End in September, possibly the 3 Peaks Challenge, possibly a summer cyclocross or MTB series and a few other challenges along the way. This will keep me focused, keep me training and get me fit! A running race of some description might feature as well!

• Train more (part 2) – With the dogs I mean. As Chester and Holly have grown up we have been failing them a bit on the training side of things, falling into the trap of training them once a week (at our excellent dog training class) and never in between. Yes we do train them when out on walks to heel, sit, retrieve etc, but they are smart and energetic dogs that need to use their brains so I want to work with them to make them happy and to let them enjoy life a bit more.

• Achieve something every week – I know that sounds easy, but how often do we put things off, sit on our hands or ignore things that are not that important? This year I want to actively do something each week that ‘puts something to bed’ and that’s it done and dusted.

• Eat Less – as in eat less rubbish and a more healthy diet. As any of you that know me will know I have a very sweet tooth. There is no point in me saying I will give up chocolate or go on a diet, instead I want to eat more fruit and veg, have slightly smaller dinner servings and still enjoy a treat when I feel like it. I am adding one stipulation though… I am only allowed a treat if I have done some form of training that day!

Basing my year on these points should result in a healthier, fitter, lighter and happier me. I think I’m going to grab this year by the scruff of the neck and get stuck in, no point sitting on my hands, if I don’t do it for myself who will???

Saturday 15th October saw the riders head up to Windermere for round 4 of the NW league, which was also the first of 3 Rapha Super Cross Races. This was billed as a super cross spectacular inspired by the US cyclo cross scene. As I was still on a high from my first race last weekend I decided to get stuck in and race. Mike wasn’t racing today as he was planning on racing the following day as this was a double header weekend.

We arrived up in Windermere nice and early and got a good inspection of the course. Some of the lines I chose ended up becoming unridable during the race as the course cut up, but I’d imagine that with time experience will help with this sort of thing. Stupidly I decided to ride down the steps to the car and as I was going far too slow I ended up face down on the concrete slabs just outside the toilets…how embarrassing! I shook it off and got ready for the start of the race!

Come the start of the race Nic, Sarah and Mike were there to support me. I had forgotten to take my gloves from Nic so I was standing at the starting line yelling her to come across! Thankfully she saw me and Nic and Sarah raced across a boggy, waterlogged field to get them to me just in time! I enjoyed the course but found it much tougher going than the week before, this was probably due to the large hill in the middle of the course and the very hot weather. I did receive great support all of the way round, especially the group on the hill, which did make it more enjoyable.

I was glad when this race was over and enjoyed some lovely pie and chips from the Brockhole visitors centre. I was a bit disappointed at the lack of Rapha Super Cross entertainment on the day as it was hyped up on their website, but it still ended up being a great day! Following my pre race accident my knee had seized up on the Sunday and I could hardly walk for 4 days. It eventually cleared enough to race the following weekend!

Horwich Humdinger Cyclocross 9^th October 2011

Well after my spectator introduction to Cyclocross last week at Clayton Vale in Manchester I decided that I’d give it a go this week up in Bolton at the Horwich Humdinger. We met up with Mike at the venue and after getting signed on we headed out to have a look at the course. It seemed to be quite technical with some sharp turns, short steep climbs, some steps  and a bit through a wooded area. As the weather had not been great all week and it was pouring down on the day we knew it was going to be a wet and muddy afternoon.

I currently don’t own a cyclocross bike, but the joy of this discipline is that you can enter races on pretty much any bike you like. I brought my mountain bike and after looking at the course I decided to change my tyres to something a bit more aggressive on the grip side of things (I stole these from  Nic’s bike which doesn’t get much use). I certainly had some advantages given the weather as my disc brakes would stop me better and the tyres would grip the muddy sections better, however I did notice during the race that the cyclocross bikes are quicker on the flat grassy bits (perhaps because of the bike-tyre combo or, more likely, because I’m less fit than the other riders around me).

Mike and I headed to the start a few minutes before the race and I was surprisingly not nervous. My plan was to go off easy and if I picked people off as the race went along then it would be a bonus. Mike had done a few races before so set off a bit harder and was relieved to avoid the crash on the starting straight as a rider in front of him washed out and brought down about 6 others!

After 100m I was already very wet and very dirty, but I was enjoying it! We raced for approx 1hr around the circuit and the support from the spectators was great (even for someone as low down in the field as me). Most of our support was coming from Nic who was on hand to take pictures and spur us on. The circuit quickly got torn up by the 100+ riders and mud started getting up under my glasses (I think it was coming off the front wheel) and irritating my eyes. As a contact lens wearer this was proving to be a nightmare and at approximately half way through I had to stop and ask some spectators for a tissue to try to clean some mud from my eye! They kindly obliged and I was on my way again. Half a lap later (when I next saw Nic) I promptly disposed of the glasses and surprisingly got less trouble from then onwards! I also lost my rear cassette on the last lap (I later discovered mud and grit had got up into the cable stopping it shifting up and down), so I had to work with my chainset to change up and down from then on.