Training - Portsmouth to Brighton

Three of us roadies (Rob, Pete, and I) have signed up to do the British Cyclosportive on July the 1st. It's a 200km (120 mile) meandering route from London to Canterbury, and will be a rather long day in the saddle for all of us (see: http://www.everydaycycling.com/news.aspx?fid=657). Until the end of June we'll be doing ever longer and faster rides to build endurance and power in our legs. All going well we should cover the 200km in about 7 hours on race day...

Pete and I met at Waterloo station at 7:45 in the morning with the intention of catching a train to Basingstoke and then cycling down to see Stonehenge. Unfortunately for us, part of the rail line was being repaired and they were operating a replacement bus service for that section. Buses and bikes don't go together, so we had to change our plans.

Pete came up with an alternative plan: 60 miles from Portsmouth to Brighton. We caught a train down to Portsmouth, got on the bikes, and headed out.

It turned out to be a very nice day for cycling. The route was mostly flat & smooth, but we did have a headwind most of the way.

Pics:

New York - Easter 2007

So five of us headed off to NYC over easter. The flight was uneventful, and we made it to our hotel in good shape. We stayed at the Gershwin Hotel, on East 27th Street between 5th and Madison. Gotta love US city grid references.

We split off into special interest groups and did various touristy things. I took lots of photos of various iconic buildings and locations. We also ate a meal at Gordon Ramsey's restaurant at the London Hotel, which was very good and not too hideously expensive (US $120/head).

I must say, people were generally much friendlier than I had expected from the city's reputation. I guess it's all relative; maybe they're brisk by US standards but certainly not by internation standards. The NY Metro is certainly not up to the same standard as the London Underground though; there's not much in the way of real time info on the platforms.

Pics

The "Flat iron" building (named for obvious reasons):



Central Park:










Up the Rockefeller Centre:




















On the harbour, Statue of Liberty and looking back at Manhattan:











Grand Central Station:













The Chrysler building, and downtown streets:













At the U.N.:




















Trump Tower, and St. Patrick's Cathedral: