One Thousand Miles!

Wow, I have finally hit the one thousand miles on my bike mark for the year. It may be later than I thought a few weeks ago - but it is much further than I ever thought I would be going at the start of the year.......I wonder what I will be at for 31st December 2007.

New cycling target for 2008

Well next year I have a big target for my cycling, on the weekend of 6th June 2008  I will be attempting the Paris-Robaix Cyclosportive. This is a 260km ride in one day over the same route used for the Spring Classic. It is run over the roads of Northern France and includes 46km(ish!) of Pave.

What have I done!

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Spot the Warrior?

Taking Pictures

Two old heads!

T-Rex and Triceratops at the London History Museum

Who is having more fun here???

Thoughts on the iPod Touch after a few days use....

Well I have had my iPod Touch over here in the UK since I got it from the Apple Store on Tuesday (they had some in as Steve Jobs was there for the iPhone UK launch) and I have the following thoughts:

1. The sound quality seems to have improved since the 5G iPod with video - no measurements, just listening comparison using the same headphones.

2. Web browsing with WiFi is fine - but I wish there was a way to store login credentials for services such as BT Openzone, T-Mobile or The Cloud. The screen is great and works and the device is easy to use on open WiFi - but having to login using a webpage is not great (I am sure I will get better at it).

3. My video screen seems fine and the picture is nice to look at for short form video, up to 30 minutes (Cranky Geeks) - but I am not sure I want to watch a film on it - or something with lots of picture details.

4. The interface is fun with photo and moving around. It fails as a pure music player as I have to take it out and look at the screen to change anything. This is annoying when you only want to change the volume - or skip to the next item in the playlist! I will be keeping my 5G for bedtime listening as I can drive it with my eyes closed (and my wife will kill me if I continue to light up the bedroom while playing with my iPod - she forgives me if it is under the pillow.......some of you will understand this, others will understand in time :-) )

Overall I like the device and will use it alongside my Nokia N95 until Apple brings out an iPhone with HSDPA in the UK.

Hovis Freewheel London

This event was great fun - if you got there early! The chance to ride around Buck House, Horse Guards, St James, The Embankment, Blackfriars, etc with no cars was great. At 11:00 this morning there was hardly anybody on the route and you could ride at a nice, steady, pace - with the chance to look at the sights.

By 12:00 most of the 40,000 people had arrived and the route was packed! Things were still moving, but very slowly. It was great to see the wide variety of cycling life - from small children on their tricycles, commuters on their folders, fixed wheelers and carbon fiber race bikes mixing it together. The only problem was that people were all spread out and some people do not know how to hold a line or take a corner - forcing everybody to go slower (not all bad!).

The best bit, however was the endless supply of free sandwiches thanks to the sponsorship of Hovis.

Thank you to everybody involved in making this a fun way to spend a Sunday Morning and let's do it again next year.

New Photo Gallery

I have setup a new family photo album on the web using the Web Gallery feature of iWork 08. This has made the task very simple and fun - lots of bits to play with.

Keep a regular eye on this as I plan to add pictures from our various trips!

This will mean less pictures posted here over time.

Jenny in the formal gardens at Cliveden

Shell Fountain

The beautiful Shell Fountain on the drive at Cliveden House.

A Ball of Fun!

Jason having fun in the Sun!

Cliveden fun!

Today we had a family trip to the National Trust property of Cliveden House. Here we see Tom working out the questions on the childrens guide.

Cycling update

Well I have been busy over the Summer- what with work and holidays - BUT I have kept up the cycling. I am now over 700 miles for the year, with a couple of events under my belt. At the start of August I did the 53 mile Amersham RCC ride as part of the Archer Sportive - took 4 hours with a stop for water and a puncture just before the end!

I also did a sponsored ride for  Sobell House which was 23 miles around home - fun if lumpy. I must be getting fitter as I was the first person back on the long ride.

Generally enjoying things (but must get out more) - I am going into London for the Hovis Freewheel event on Sunday - I maybe able to upload some pics from my phone.

Test of ShoZu

This is my first post using the ShoZu application from my Nokia N95 - perhaps this is what I need to start me off posting again!

Instructions for Life

I really enjoyed this!

The Ass family picture

200 miles and counting!!

Good news I have made my 200 mile target ten days ahead of my original schedule that I work out when I started my fitness programme - the objective was to get here before our family holiday.

I have some other targets worked out, but will wait until after the hols to rework them - I need to know how many miles I have done to ensure they make sense. The other good news is that looking at the Polar data from my rides, I am doing much more Level 2 and much less Level 3 fo similar rides to a few weeks ago - there is also a lot less red! So I guess I am getting fitter.

That Hurt!!

Today I went out for a short, hard ride on the hills - most of the time I was in Level 4 land - I had forgotten how much this sport hurts and feels good at the same time!

One point of note, today was the first time since I started getting serious that I have managed to break the 30 mph speed limit in Church Hill and I was not even trying!!!!!!!

Did I really need to know this??

Restarting exercise, weight and physique...

Why is it that when you restart to exercise in a serious way, that you gain weight (muscle - my fat % has dropped) and has parts of you tone up, the fat just starts to hang off in such a gross way? I have to say that my gut looks soooo much worse than it did a month ago - but hell I feel so much better!

I am sure it will be worth it in the end........

Cycling Update

Well I have been remiss in providing updates around here (too much work - not enough time...). I am happy to say that my mileage for April topped out at 115.46 miles - so well over my target of 100 miles for the month.

I am still taking it easy and going for time - rather than speed /power to build up my basic levels of fitness (and take some weight off - but this is secondary at the moment). I have purchased a new HRM - the Polar CS600 and attached it to both of my bikes. This along with the Polar software keeps me entertained and also provides a great way to track my progress (I am an engineer at heart and enjoy measuring things!). One nice feature on the HRM is the "Zonelock" view - once configured, this shows you exactly what zone you are in and makes doing a specific workout much easier.

Having said that I am getting fitter - it is now much easier to go slowly around the place in Zone 2 than it was a month ago!! This is reflected in my charts.

Anyway my target now is to get to 200 miles before our family holiday at the end of the month.

Great Computer Quotes

"If at first you don't succeed; call it version 1.0"

"The Internet: where men are men, women are men, and children are FBI agents."

"Some things Man was never meant to know. For everything else, there's Google."

"unzip; strip; touch; finger; mount; fsck; more; yes; unmount; sleep" - my daily unix command list

"... one of the main causes of the fall of the Roman Empire was that, lacking zero, they had no way to indicate successful termination of their C programs." - Robert Firth

"If Python is executable pseudocode, then perl is executable line noise."

"The more I C, the less I see."

"To err is human... to really foul up requires the root password."

"After Perl everything else is just assembly language."

"If brute force doesn't solve your problems, then you aren't using enough."

"Life would be so much easier if we only had the source code."

"Unix is user-friendly. It's just very selective about who its friends are."

"COBOL programmers understand why women hate periods."

“Programming is like sex, one mistake and you have to support it for the rest of your life.” — Michael Sinz

"There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't."

"640K ought to be enough for anybody." - This is not humorous by itself; but in the context it's a classic by Bill Gates in 1981

Microsoft: "You've got questions. We've got dancing paperclips."

"Microsoft is not the answer. Microsoft is the question. NO is the answer." - Erik Naggum

"Men are from Mars. Women are from Venus. Computers are from hell."

"SUPERCOMPUTER: what it sounded like before you bought it."

"Windows95: It's like upgrading from Reagan to Bush.

"People say Microsoft paid 14M$ for using the Rolling Stones song 'Start me up' in their commercials. This is wrong. Microsoft payed 14M$ only for a part of the song. For instance, they didn't use the line 'You'll make a grown man cry'."

"I'm not anti-social; I'm just not user friendly"

"A printer consists of three main parts: the case, the jammed paper tray and the blinking red light"

"The best accelerator available for a Mac is one that causes it to go at 9.81 m/s2."

"A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history - with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila"

"1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d"

"To go forward, you must backup."

"I would love to change the world, but they won't give me the source code"

"A Windows user spends 1/3 of his life sleeping, 1/3 working, 1/3 waiting."

"My software never has bugs. It just develops random features."

"Better to be a geek than an idiot."

"Windows isn't a virus, viruses do something."

"Geek's favorite pickup line: Hey, does this rag smell like chloroform? "

"Be nice to geeks when you're in school, you might end-up working for one when you grow-up."

"Difference between a virus and windows ? Viruses rarely fail."

"Evolution is God's way of issuing upgrades."

"The only problem with troubleshooting is that sometimes trouble shoots back."

"It's a little-known fact that the Y1K problem caused the Dark Ages."

"The box said 'Required Windows 95 or better'. So, I installed LINUX."

"Computer are like air conditioners: they stop working when you open windows."

"once upon a midnight dreary, while i pron surfed, weak and weary,
over many a strange and spurious site of 'hot xxx galore'.
While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour,
" 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, "give me back my free hardcore!"
quoth the server, 404."

"Mac users swear by their Mac,
PC users swear at their PC."

"Like car accidents, most hardware problems are due to driver error."

"Dating a girl is just like writing software. Everything's going to work just fine in the testing lab (dating), but as soon as you have contract with a customer (marriage), then your program (life) is going to be facing new situations you never expected. You'll be forced to patch the code (admit you're wrong) and then the code (wife) will just end up all bloated and unmaintainable in the end."

"Real men don't use backups, they post their stuff on a public ftp server and let the rest of the world make copies." - Linus Torvalds

"There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those that understand trinary, those that don't, and those that confuse it with binary."

"If you give someone a program, you will frustrate them for a day; if you teach them how to program, you will frustrate them for a lifetime."

"It is easier to change the specification to fit the program than vice versa."

"I had a fortune cookie the other day and it said: 'Outlook not so good'. I said: 'Sure, but Microsoft ships it anyway'."

"The nice thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from."

"The term reboot comes from the middle age (before computers). Horses who stopped in mid-stride required a boot to the rear to start again. Thus the term to rear-boot, later abbreviated into reboot."

"Programmers are tools for converting caffeine into code."

"The great thing about Object Oriented code is that it can make small, simple problems look like large, complex ones."

"Hacking is like sex. You get in, you get out, and hope that you didn't leave something that can be traced back to you."

With thanks to Geek24.com

A nice ride out...

Well it was a hard, Level 3/4 ride of 16.6 miles in an hour and eleven minutes around Denham and Uxbridge. On my return I did two sets of squats with the Buffalo Bar for a total of 36 - I am sure my legs are not going to like me in the morning!!

Having said that it was a nice sunny day and the rides are getting easier on the legs - but the Butt still huts....

Why Me?

Jason being thoughtful towards the end of a family trip to Osterley Park a lovely National Trust house and garden in West London.

Somehow this was all too much fun for Jason, who had to site and contemplate what it all means - while the rest of us just enjoyed ourselves.....

Friday Ride

Things are starting to get easier, today's ride was a nice ten miles in 48 minutes on my Roberts Audax bike. The good news is that I am starting to feel better with my cycling, my pedalling is getting more fluid and I am able to go along at lower heart rates - I am trying to keep to the upper 120s (but am getting into the 140s on even flattish hills). Oh well keep building the volume and I should start to feel better and loose some weight!

Keeping a healthy level of insanity in your life

1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.

3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, Ask If They Want Fries with that.

4. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It "In."

5. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.

6. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write "For Smuggling Diamonds"

7. Finish All Your sentences with "In Accordance With The Prophecy."

8. Don t use any punctuation

9. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.

10. With a serious face, order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat.

11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is "To Go."

12. Sing Along At The Opera.

13. Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme.

14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play tropical Sounds All Day.

15. Five Days In Advance , Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You're Not In The Mood.

16. Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock Bottom.

17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream "I Won! I Won!"

18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Toward The Parking lot, Yelling "Run For Your Lives, They're Loose!!"

19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner, "Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go."

20. And The Final Way To Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity ... Send This as an E-mail To Someone To Make Them Smile.

It's Called! Therapy.

Beer School Podcast

If you enjoy Beer and learning about Beer, it is well worth spending some time reading the Beer School website and listening to John Foster and Motor discussing various types of beer.

"And the best bit about Beer School is the homework - which is Beer"

Copyright Killed the Internet Radio Star.......

Hi, it's Tim from Pandora,

I'm writing today to ask for your help. The survival of Pandora and all of Internet radio is in jeopardy because of a recent decision by the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, DC to almost triple the licensing fees for Internet radio sites like Pandora. The new royalty rates are irrationally high, more than four times what satellite radio pays and broadcast radio doesn't pay these at all. Left unchanged, these new royalties will kill every Internet radio site, including Pandora.

In response to these new and unfair fees, we have formed the SaveNetRadio Coalition, a group that includes listeners, artists, labels and webcasters. I hope that you will consider joining us.

Please sign our petition urging your Congressional representative to act to save Internet radio: http://capwiz.com/saveinternetradio/issues/alert/?alertid=9631541

Please feel free to forward this link/email to your friends - the more petitioners we can get, the better.

Understand that we are fully supportive of paying royalties to the artists whose music we play, and have done so since our inception. As a former touring musician myself, I'm no stranger to the challenges facing working musicians. The issue we have with the recent ruling is that it puts the cost of streaming far out of the range of ANY webcaster's business potential.

I hope you'll take just a few minutes to sign our petition - it WILL make a difference. As a young industry, we do not have the lobbying power of the RIAA. You, our listeners, are by far our biggest and most influential allies.

As always, and now more than ever, thank you for your support.

-Tim Westergren
(Pandora founder)

BBC Post on the same subject: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6562823.stm

Country or Theme Park???

I am on my way down to South Wales this morning and it strikes me that I am not sure if I am going to a country or a theme park. Wales used to be a centre of heavy industry (the worlds first steam locomotive ran there amongst other things), but since the 1970's this seems to have been replaced with tourism and attactions.

To reinforce this view, the way the Tolls work on the Seven Crossing (old and new) is you pay to get in, but leaving is free - just like LegoLand or Disney World......

What are your thoughts on this?

Cameraphone test

This is a sample pic from the new N95 to test the quality. This picture is straight out of the phone with no edits/changes. Not too bad at all!

Fitness in One Hundred Words

• Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.

• Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast.

• Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense.

• Regularly learn and play new sports.

From Crossfit

The 10 Real Reasons Why Geeks Make Better Lovers

This article is taken from Wired: Link here

Editor's note: Some links in this story lead to adult material and are not suitable for viewing at work. All links of this nature will be noted with "NSFW" after them.

- - -

I've read recently that geeks make better lovers because they are so unaccustomed to romance that they will do anything for their mates. Also because geeks don't have the social skills to cheat (wanna bet?).

Yeah, ha ha, let's chuckle at the stereotypes. Might as well add that geeks won't waste valuable relationship time watching football. Or that geeks are clueless and fashion-impaired and have the social skills of a bowl of fruit.

But you know what? Humorous Top-10 lists aside, geeks really do make the best lovers, for reasons that have nothing to do with adolescent ostracism or puppy-like devotion.

It's all about sex-tech. (Tell us what you think below.)

Geeks build it so you will come

Second Life's SexGen animation system, Red Light Center's (NSFW) beautiful sex animations and open-source teledildonics did not simply coalesce out of the mists during a marketing department meeting.

These projects require strong technical know-how along with an open-minded approach to sexual variation. After all, you can't build sex-tech that serves only your own preferences if you expect others to use it. Especially if you want them to buy it.

That geeks have the passion to commit their technical skills to expanding sexual options for everyone is evidence enough of their enthusiasm and dedication as lovers.

Geeks get personal with tech

All engineers may be geeks, but not all geeks are engineers. Doesn't matter. You don't need to know how to build a platform in order to do a half-gainer in full pike with a twist into the river of love.

A geek is more likely to figure out how to customize toys and to design arousing environments for your avatars to play in than a non-geek. And that experience translates into a greater sensitivity to atmosphere and mood during sex -- beyond lighting a candle.

Don't be surprised if your geek lover puts more thought into arranging the boudoir than you do, or if common household items ("pervertibles") soon take on a new dimension. More than one geek has told me that Home Depot is their favorite adult store.

Geeks dig consensual role playing

Geek lovers combine a well-developed and oft-exercised erotic imagination with their physical technique. It isn't a big leap from "I'm a level-13 thief, evil-aligned" to "I'm the prison warden and you're the new detainee." Scientists and therapists alike claim that the brain is the most critical sexual organ; a geek's familiarity with fantasy arouses your mind even as the handcuffs -- or the bag of loot -- bring your body to attention.

Geeks interact

A technophobe mostly talks to you in person, but a geek is happy to be with you by texting your phone, flirting with you in a chat room, Skyping you, Twittering just in case you're on your vibrating couch (NSFW), sending funny cell-phone snapshots to your e-mail, playing online games, commenting on your blog, Digging articles that interest you, seducing you by instant message….

Geeks get things done

Geeks know all the shortcuts. They research your interests, send you surprise gifts, plan your perfect vacation, get the bills and grocery shopping out of the way, write to their mothers, and tease you mercilessly, all while pretending to work. And when you ask them to set up your home Wi-Fi or install a home theater, it's done quickly, expertly and without complaint.

In other words, geeks know how to get everything else out of the way so there's more time for lovemaking.

Geeks are hot …

… and wear the coolest glasses.

Geeks don't shock easily

Geeks have seen all the porn you can imagine and then some, priming them to be open to your sexual peccadilloes. They are not only less likely to be shocked by your exotic requests -- they might not even realize that other people think your turn-ons are exotic.

Conversely, your geek lover might be relieved that your wildest fantasy involves only two other people, five utensils and a trapeze.

Geeks know kinky people

Geeks haven't just seen a variety of positions, kinks and fetishes in blue movies. They know (or are) people who enjoy those things, so they don't dismiss entire categories of sexual interests as the sole province of a bunch of weirdos in San Francisco.

It's hard to sustain prejudice and bias against an abstract group when you develop relationships with individuals and discover they're just like you. It doesn't matter if they dress up like ponies, or refuse to conform to a societal idea of gender norms, or eat pancakes for dinner. Geek lovers know better than to try to impose their sexual preferences or standards on others -- including your friends -- and are more likely to love and let love.

Geeks understand multi-dimensional relationships

Geeks connect with their online buddies in several guises, often getting to know the person behind the avatar as friendships deepen and move from adult communities to personal IM.

A geek can flow seamlessly between conversation about a friend's partner and kids in one window and an elaborate group sex scene in another, without feeling any discontinuity between the personas. Even if the friend is a 43-year-old father of two in IM, and a 22-year-old dominatrix in the group.

With all that going on, a geek has no problem accepting that sometimes you want mocha ripple cherry fudge chunk swirl with almonds and a waffle and sometimes you want vanilla lite.

Geeks aren't threatened by new tech or "the future of sex"

Geeks have read the science fiction. They know the dire predictions of a world in which the sticky press of flesh is replaced by neural nets and sex robots that also do housework (or is that house robots that also do sex work?).

Geeks have imagined more sexual dystopias than the average person and are the first to see the technological developments that could lead us down dark paths. Which only makes sense, considering who develops those technologies in the first place.

At the same time, geeks know better than anyone that something always goes wrong when you lean on machines for your social fulfillment. A geek doesn't mind if you bring home the iiErotoTrix 5000 v3 -- as long as you share it.

Literacy and the printing press did not replace sex; neither did photography, automobiles, video, online porn or 3-D escort services. Geek lovers spend enough time with technology to appreciate the unique wondrousness of human touch.

See you next Friday, Regina Lynn

New Tech!

The last few days have been busy on the tech front with a new black MacBook and a Nokia N95 arriving at the house. The MacBook is now setup and works sweetly (much faster than my old PowerBook G4 - even if I seem to have lost 4" of screen somewhere in the house). I have all of the software configured and working (so can return to Blogger!).

Much of the time has been spent working with BootCamp and Parallels - it is nice to be able to run Windows XP & Vista on the machine alongside OS/X. Makes learning Vista for the Microsoft Exams so much simpler! I am still having some fun getting some applications (Polar USB sync!) working - but what would life be without challenges.....

More on this later

Sunday Ride

Well after a few days off the bike due to having a life, I went for a nice longer ride today - 15.58 miles and 1 hour 11 minutes. Bits of this hurt like hell as somebody put some hills in the way. I am starting to feel fitter - but I will pay for this later!!

A Green Car with style!

Flower Power as a response to the environment and need to go FAST

When thinking about supercars, one of the last things that spring to mind are their environmental friendliness.

Even though the very low and exclusive production volume of Koenigsegg can hardly be considered to have a measurable impact on the Co2 problem that global society is facing, it is an impressive statement that even a small and extreme company like Koenigsegg can afford to develop environmentally focussed solutions.

By following conscientious and forward thinking strategies, Koenigsegg has managed to create the Bio Fuel Powered CCXR - environmentally friendly 1200 with even more spectacular performance than the standard CCX.

These two almost conflicting results are made possible due to the simple fact that the ethanol in biofuel has the positive side effect of cooling the combustion chambers, as well as a higher octane value, well over 100 RON, which gives the high power. Due to the fact that the biofuel has higher octane and cooling characteristics, the power has gone up to 1018 hp at 7200 rpm and the torque to 1060 nm at 6100 rpm.

It is natural to expect a substantial gain in power when optimizing the engine for E85(biofuel) instead of Petrol. Still the actual gain obtained even surprised the enthusiastic engineers at Koenigsegg.

Following the long term strategy of Koenigsegg, all previous CCXs will have the possibility to be converted by the factory to accept the biofuel option and reap the performance and environmental benefi ts of this wonderful and eco friendly fuel.

The CCXR Biofuel upgrade has been developed in-house on the factory's engine dyno by the skilled technicians at Koenigsegg, led by Christian Koenigsegg, Marco Garver and Anders Hoglund from the Koenigsegg partner company Cargine Engineering.

Curiously enough the CCXR is the first homologated car currently in production to reach over 1000 BHP.

Here are some statistics for those of you who are thinking of selling your Toyota Prius because it’s to slow and to boring to drive, but still want a Green car to avoid the London Congestion charge:

Acceleration: 0-100 km/h (0–62 mph)
3.2 seconds. 0 - 200 km/h 8,5 seconds
Top speed: 400+ km/h (250+ mph)
Torque: 1200Nm (885ft lb)

Getting my stuff done....

Gotta Get My Stuff Done Funny animation about procrastination.

This little cartoon is so funny if you have lots of "stuff" that fills up your day and gets in the way of work! I enjoyed it and hope you do too.

Monday's ride...

Another nice day in West London (given that it is a Bank Holiday) for a bike ride! well todays effort was 10.51 miles in 47.54 minutes with an average heart rate of 134. I am starting to feel better on the bike and can start to build up on the distance and time - but still keeping the intensity low.

Times Past.....

A nice momento from my old unit that I was given at our dinner night a couple of weeks ago. The best thing is that you have to earn these - you cannot just buy one!

Easter Fun

Well the boys had fun looking for Easter eggs hidden in the garden - a good number were found, even though Jason did not really feel up to the task!

More bike fun....

Well today has been busy - I sold my old Klein Adoit mountain bike as part of our general clear out, (did a couple of miles on it, mostly uphill on the way to the sale). Walked a couple of miles home!

This afternoon I have been out on the Racer (6.93 miles, 33.13 minutes. Ave Heart Rate 132) with my old Polar HRM dusted off - it is hard work going slow. I am starting to get my exercise equipment sorted. Once I get my new MacBook I can install the Polar software under XP/Parallels and get some real info! I am currently using the Garmin training software on the Mac - very nice, but limited analysis.

Friday fun!

A busy day on the exercise front:

Bike: 6.69 Miles// 34 minutes
Power walk along the canal with Thomas: 2.5 miles/ 40 minutes

Lots of fun, but my muscles ache - oh well a bath will fix that!

Easter Boy

Jason is a happy boy today as he won a prize for his hat at the school Easter Parade - the egg did not last long!!

Another ride out

Well a second trip out on the bike for this week. Only 20 minutes today - but I need to get consistent, before I can get long/fast!!

I want to ride my Bicycle.....

much more often. Today was the first time I have ridden my bike for months (there seems to be a theme to my life at the moment) and it was GREAT - well okay I am out of breath and my muscles hurt after only 25 minutes/5.6 miles, but it is a start. Rather than the current fad for Fatblogging, maybe I can start one for BikeBlogging!

Well that's all for now, I will be back later with more........

A nice time at Kew Gardens

Today we had a nice family trip to Kew Gardens in West London. The main theme of the visit was the Spring Festival, many of the plants are showing signs of growth and there was an animal farm for the kids. As ever the scratch-card quiz went down well with Tom and Jason - although the prize of sunflower seeds was a bit of let down (but has sparked a challenge for the house to see who can grow a sunflower taller than Daddy!).

As ever a fun trip - made better by the fact that it started raining when we got home.

New Layout, New Start

Hello to my new look Blog. I know that I have not done much around here for some time, but Spring has arrived so out with the old and in with the new!

I plan to put more posts, pictures and content into here over the coming weeks - so let's see how we get on.

Ed