Merry Christmas!!!!

I haven't been getting out much, but I have been getting out a little :) It is a season of happiness and here are some bike related things that make me happy.

In MK they have a trailer type building that provides showers, changing facilities and bike storage for commuters (their web site isn't working at the moment but it was www.gear-change.co.uk). I saw it last year and I was glad that someone was thinking about alternative transport for MK. MK may be the city of the future but they are not very good about trying to get people out of their cars! They have a great redway bike route system but hardly anyone uses it - I often feel like I have the redways to myself. It does require a bit of local knowledge (I learned it pretty quickly, but then I navigated us around India and China :) but it is great once you get the hang of it. The local buses in MK are next to useless unless you want to go to the city center from where you are....and there is a bus from where you are.

All that negativity aside...they have changed the bike parking outside the MK library (somewhere I spend a lot of time :) from the standard row of poles to new *lockable* bike parking poles.

It is great that they provide the locking facility because I see the cheapest looking locks on a lot of bikes and they seem to be asking for a bike thief to snip through them. Even cooler? The bike locks are FREE! You put the chain around your bike (through the wheel and frame, please :) and the the end of the chain goes in a slot and you drop your pound coin in and remove the key. When you want to collect your bike you unlock it with the key and your pound coin drops out the bottom. I would think that you could even use one of those coin substitutes that you use for trolleys at the supermarket.

The other thing that I saw recently that was bike friendly was on a parking meter in London. Apparently they are phasing out parking meters and you can pay to park using your phone. They went to an extra effort (and cost) to let the cyclists know that they are removing the poles. They didn't have to but I'm glad they did (THANKS!). It would have been totally pants to come out of where ever you are to find your bicycle (or not to find it!) locked where you left it...I hate it when that happens!!!!! :(


That said...here is more news :) I am no longer unemployed, and neither is A. I will be starting my full time job in the new year and A has been temping already. We are getting settled back into real life again, and it's good. We do not forget our travels - they are there in the back of our minds, content and comfortable. It will be awhile before we set out on such a big undertaking again, but one day we may have the passion to do another big adventure. For now we will be content with smaller things, like going skiing (A is going to learn to ski in January!) and riding in the 24 hour bike races this summer and doing some smaller trips in Europe and the UK - all things we have put off because we were on the big trip.

Catch you all later, have a great holiday!!!

Wow...a year of travel!

We survived it, though. We would have posted more but we just didn't have time. I have some photos for you and some of the story. We did so much it was amazing! We never got on bicycles in Boston, but we did sit on motorcycles in Daytona Beach and we rented bicycles in Key West.

We started in Boston and it was lovely and HOT! Such a nice change from the cold UK. I was missing the Rugby World Cup (no one had it on television!!!) but the Red Sox stepped up to the plate and I was not even a little bit sorry (sorry England Rugby, but I thought you were down for the count when I left :). A and I walked down to the pub on game nights, drank some lovely beer and watched the baseball as the Red Sox made their way through the Division Series and on to win the American League pennant. Then it was World Series time and they did not let us down there, either!!!! My friend Michael had just set up his new TV - a 6 foot monster!!!! - and it was perfect for watching the game. The players were almost life sized there in his living room! We rooted for the heroes Dustin Pedroia and Mike Lowell, and Youkilis (who reminded A of a friend of hers), and of course Ramirez and Ortiz. The pitching was right where it needed to be....ah, it was amazing. And A has a first class education in baseball now...and a shirt with Varitek on the back :)

It was great to spend time with my Uncle and my friend Lucy was such a star - she drove us all over Massachusetts so that I could see where I went to college and lots of places I used to hang out (Northampton, Salem, etc.) and A could see my old haunts. We topped it all off with the most delicious fried clams you can get - from Woodman's in Essex, MA. YUM!!!!

This is the day we walked in the North End and along the harbor. The tea party ships were again not at their dock


Check out this beautiful fixed gear bike!!!! Sweet! That fork is a beauty.



We saw a glass building reflected onto its brick neighbor...


Then it was off to Florida to visit with my parents....and Charlie! You would throw the ball for this guy, wouldn't you? With those pleading eyes???? :)


We did a little road trip (2000 miles :) to see my sister and her brood in Tennessee and my aunt and cousin in North Carolina and then we came back down the Florida coast. My nephew Nicholas stole the show in Lil' Abner, a school production, and A was wowed when she saw her first American football game and marching band performance. Then it was off to North Carolina. The countryside was beautiful! We arrived at my Aunt's house in the wilds of North Carolina - it was quiet! Then it was on to Charleston, South Carolina for our first tourist stop :)

In Charleston A and I went down to Patriots Point to catch the ferry to Fort Sumter, where the US Civil War started, and we also took some time to explore the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown and the submarine Clamagore. Then we took my Mom out for her birthday dinner at the Charleston Crab House (I had some excellent tuna!!!!) and the next morning we headed for St Augustine. A and I walked around St Augustine and checked out the old fort and the small village area - it was nothing like I remembered from when I was a kid! Still cool, though :) Then it was on to Daytona Beach where we shelled out for a hotel on the beach....and it was fabulous! The drive down the A1A to Dayton took us right on coast but we still hadn't had enough of surf and sand.

The afternoon we were in Daytona A and I made the pilgrimage to the Harley store...you just have to, don't you???? We had rented a Harley the last time we were in Florida (a Road King) and we had a great time riding to the Everglades and seeing the alligators :). I will say the Harley shop was impressive - 100,000 sq feet and a few hundred bikes on the sales floors (yes, there were 2 floors!!!!). We had a better time in the other bike shop in the area, though - a Triumph and Ducati dealer! A could finally sit on the Street Triple she has been drooling over (it wasn't out yet when we left the UK).

She looks great on the bike, don't you think????


I was liking the Ducati Hypermotard A LOT! Another sweet looking bike. Anyway...as we drove out of town we checked out the Daytona Speedway and then headed for the Kennedy Space Center.

Our timing at the space center was perfect - that morning they had rolled Atlantis out on to its platform and there was a rocket on another platform ready for launch that night. We did the tour (which was amazing - more photos coming!) and saw the IMAX 3D movie about the moon and then headed back to meet my parents for dinner at the steakhouse :) Then we watched the rocket launch it's fiery trail across the sky - WOW. The next morning we headed back to the space center to do the shuttle launch experience and finish up the last few things and then it was time to head home.

Here's A at the space center...


We hung out for a bit at my parent's house and then A and I went off to Key West (my birthday present :). My Mom dropped us off early and we hopped the 3 hour ferry to the island.


We rented some bikes when we arrived, found our hotel and then headed out for margaritas!!!!


It's Margaritaville, so there's no excuse :) These are lovely!


We rode around on the bikes, A downing *5* margaritas!!! I got A up early (and without coffee!! miracle, I know :) for the gorgeous sunrise...sorry, I wasn't awake enough to remember my camera, but I have sunset pictures for you :) After a good breakfast it was time for a ride around the island - and it was amazing! We stopped at a beach and rented a 2 person kayak and headed out into the surf for an hour. Then it was back to town for the last wander around before we hit the key lime pie shop and then headed for the boat...stopping along the way for an order of chips and some Cuban black beans and rice :) It was a fabulous trip!!!!

More photos coming! Thanks for reading.

Hello folks...

Tomorrow morning we fly to the US. We have put quite a few miles on our bicycles on the last couple of months, personally I have been riding 3 different bikes - life just not get better than this!!! But we have been feeling the cold :)

This past weekend we did a ride with some friends around the country backroads and ended up at a pub for a nice Sunday lunch....you just can't beat that :)

We have some bicycles lined up for Boston and then we will let you know about the rest of the trip...we promise we will not descend to having our 2 wheels be a wheel in the sole of each shoe :)

Catch you later!!!

Hey all...

China in the news - all scary!

China tells living Buddhas to obtain permission before they reincarnate

And this bit of depressing news....

Beijing drivers ignore No Car Day

Obviously they are not thinking about the planet....are the people starting to think like the Chinese government and are living for the moment or maybe it's because they can't see beyond their daily existence? I don't know. If you look at China's report on No Car Day they say it was a success. Oh well...you all think green and don't forget to recycle! Turn that computer off and go our and ride your bikes or something :)

Later!!!!!

I know, we owe you an update, so take this one :)

We have been cycling around MK for the last month and a half - we rode our bicycles into the Buckinghamshire countryside on a couple of occasions (one was a nice 50+ mile ride) and we also did the ride into London from Milton Keynes. We have also been playing in the woods at Woburn on our mountain bikes (ah, that was dangerous! I couldn't get the grin off A's face for days!!!!!).

It has been such a pleasure to be back on our bicycles. I have been in and out of our storage facility swapping bikes (will it be road, the fixed gear or my mountain bike today....hmmmm? :) and digging into my parts box, replacing tyres, worn drive trains and things like that. I also helped acquire and repair a bike for a young guy that needed a way to get to his new job because the buses were not able to get him to work on time. Another new convert to 2 wheeled travel!

A is doing a stint of work before we head off to the US and I have been writing and starting to look for work for when we return from the US. All in a days work :)

I have also been following England in the Rugby World Cup and I hope that they can pull themselves together and start playing like a team and not so much as individuals. I know it's hard with all the injuries - and being the holders of the cup also put additional pressure on, - but come on guys, you can play much better than this! This year's World Cup has started off with some pretty weird rugby, so maybe things will improve...or maybe Scotland will have to carry the UK flag as the best we have to offer from the island :)

We are off to the US in just over a week and we have plans to ride bicycles on our journey, even if it's just renting a beach cruiser for a day in Florida :) We are looking to ride while we are in Boston - I haven't lived there for ages but I still remember all the riding I used to do - and of course we will ride Slickrock Trail when we get to Moab. I am hoping to hook up with a friend in St Louis as well and maybe do some more riding there. We shall see. We will keep you posted and we will be sure to take some photos. Now...where oh where have I stored that bikini for the last few months....

Later!

I hope you all don't think we are ignoring you or anything. We have been wicked busy trying to adjust back to life here, see people we haven't seen for ages, catch up on all the happenings we've missed and then get ready to head to America for a couple of months! Ever the adventurers, you know :)

We just had our latest adventure in Wales when we took the young nephews to Wales for a taste of WILD camping. And they loved it! I will have another post on that after I finally get those Tibet photos commented on...it's just me, now - A's back at work, making some readies for the next adventure :)

Later!

P.S. Tibet photos are coming, honest! :)

Enfield sounds!!!! I don't think I ever posted this....

I wanted to post the kick start sequence for the Enfield but I never got around to making a video of it. However, I got this video of A going around a corner up in the mountains - you can hear the Enfield idling :)

Check this:
click here to hear the Enfield (and see A ride :)

The beast sounds like a tractor! The idle is really slow....especially when there was not a lot of air for it to breathe :) And yes, A is riding slowly...she thought I was taking a photo, not video (she wanted me to get a good shot :)

Yesterday we got A's motorbike started - it's been in storage while we have been away. We drained the float bowls and it started on the second push (we had to bump start it :). This morning we took it into the shop to get the MOT done...and it's got an electrical problem, so it might be a couple of days before it's ready to ride) and it needs insurance and tax in addition to the MOT). But it's transport! :) And it is a great bike to ride - I have missed fast motorcycles :):):) Ah, I love motorbikes!!! and so does A - she was giggling the whole 30 minute ride back from the storage to where we are staying now (we took the curvy back roads, of course :)

It looks, on paper, like we have a lot of free time, but we feel like we are so busy! Always someone to hook up with or something to do. I have been squeezing in the reading books and magazines, trying to get back into the swing of things. I am working on the Tibet photos, too - they are in Photobucket, but I have to add the comments to post them here. I am also looking into some writing about our trip....I hope I can get some of it out there in the world.

It's nice to be back in the UK...but I miss London a lot, that is where I feel at home. Everything is so clean and neat and tidy! And the pubs are SMOKE FREE!!! That is one thing that makes a huge difference, it's the one thing I have always disliked about pubs. We made our pilgrimage to the Nag's Head and had a half of Broadside (we were out on the bicycles and we still had a ways to ride :)

We eat way too much food! Everything is so good or we haven't had it for ages or some other excuse. It's a struggle, but we have been out on our bicycles (with the recent Tour de France videos playing in our heads :) and riding hard, riding into the wind, riding up the biggest hills we can find or just attacking the not so big hills that are around :) Our legs are feeling stronger, our lungs are not letting us down and we are doing a good job at burning off everything that we eat (we are trying, anyway :).

The TdF was a bit frustrating again this year...cycling does need to get it's act together. There is a lot of collateral damage caused by individual riders and I feel bad for the riders that were caught up in the mess and didn't have any control over how their tour ended - it's like being taken down by a crash in the bunch! I am glad that there was a real battle to watch in the final time trial, though - wow, that was awesome!

OK...back to the photos :) Later!

Hello!

We are back to a UK that is media obsessed with the carbon footprint :-)

I have to admit that I suffered from culture shock upon my return. Driving on the M25 of speeds at 70 MPH made me feel nervous. I have been used to travelling at a slower pace and had not been in traffic that fast for months, I expected cars to pull out on us any moment. Everything has been feeling incredibly futuristic, the facilities here are amazing. Admittedly we pay the tax for it but it

Ah...real ale :) I have had several pints now and I am feeling good!!!! That is several pints over 5 days, of course...I'm not a lush, you know :) My first pint was a pint of Timothy Taylor Landlord...and it was delicious!!!!

And cheese! I have had Stilton and mature Cheddar and some Wensleydale with cranberries. Jacket potatoes, too! Ah, it is so wonderful. And we have had showers in CLEAN water - it was amazing to have that first shower.

We have just now gotten online to check email and let you know we are alive.

The flight back was easy as pie...just a bit of trouble with luggage - ours was overweight (they limit you to 23kg each and we were at about 32kg each). They wanted an extortionate 1100 rupees per kilo and they wanted to charge us for an extra 10 kilos - that is £135.00 for the 10 kilos!!!! (just under 250 US Dollars for you Americanos :). So we removed 10 kilos from our luggage (heavy bike locks and some bike tools for the most part) which would cost about £35 to replace and that was the end of it...well, not that we could actually get rid of it in the airport without causing a security alert - A had to beg the security guard to get rid of it for us as they wouldn't let us put it in the bin or take it outside (where we might have donated it to a rickshaw driver or someone else).

The drive back from the airport was fabulous - no horns, no wacky drivers, we were ripping it along faster than we ever rode the motos these past 8 months :) It was a beautiful day and we felt very welcomed home. That was for the afternoon...it's still the regular English summer - cool and wet - and we have our warm clothes and rain kit out :)

On Friday we got the bicycles out of storage and have been pedaling around town - A pretends that she doesn't know where she is and takes me on all sorts of routes, definitely not the shortest way to anywhere we might be going, but you can't get that woman off her bike - she is such a happy bunny :) We will get the motorbike out of storage this week and see if we can get that running and on the road.

That's all for now....more news as it happens!!!