Paris segway chic

Paris segway chic, originally uploaded by Alan Perryman.

A variation on a theme… still wading through photographs from various trips away and apparently coming down with man-flu. Rubbish!

Love how the guide isn’t wearing a helmet. Presumably he is insured differently to the tourists?

Sunset

Sunset, originally uploaded by Alan Perryman.

My Nokia N96 may have the most awful user experience and a pretty poor user interface but it can take a good photo.

This is Padstow bay in the setting sun. (Cornwall is lovely isn’t it?)

Maybe it’s worth keeping when the contract runs out, as an ‘internet enabled camera’!

It’s been a hectic bank holiday weekend – with visiting family and riding the Camel Trail at the heart of it, more on the cycling to come soon! Very glad I went home on Easter Sunday, I bet the trains and motorways today were mental…

Moo!

Moo!, originally uploaded by Alan Perryman.

As seen in Padstow town centre!

10 years

Le Champs-Élysées

It’s very nearly 10 years since I took this shot, from the ‘Paris Wheel’ in Place du Concorde as part of a sixth form school trip. So this is a fitting time to return to Paris as a ‘grown up’ and actually stay in the city! As per usual, I’ve hundreds of photos to sort though – I think back in 2001 maybe I shot 2 or 3 rolls of 36 exp and lost half of the prints – how times change! I finally made it to the top of the Eiffel Tower, promenaded round the gardens of le Chateau de Versailles with the lovely Ruth and much more. It’s been lovely to try to speak French even if I have lost a lot of the skills. More musings to follow – it’s a fascinating city.

To the edge and back

Lunch atop of the edge

This post has sadly loitered in my drafts for far too long… A couple of weeks ago I headed out with the guys I am doing the c2c with in June for a test run from Manchester down to Alderley Edge – a fairly steep incline, with Mr Potter kindly lending me his Revolution tourer for the trip.

Looking towards Manchester (behind us!)

Apart from the stop start nature of the inner Manchester roads (so *many* traffic lights) we had a fairly good run out, though we did prove that I am not really for the hills of the Lake District. Picking up some food in the posh end of Alderley Edge (fantastic pork pie from the butchers, mmm) we then took to narrow lanes and were due to head to the Middlewood Way, a cycle trail heading from Macclesfield to Marple. Sadly for me, a mechanical issue on the tourer kicked in just before we went ‘off road’ and I was forced to take the train home.

Home on the train

Sad times. But, it has spurred me on into planning some more hilly expeditions ready for the c2c trip!

If you live in the Manchester/Cheshire area, it’s worth going up to the Edge to to check out the view – Manchester’s Beetham Tower is visible even on really hazy days…

A view for a beer

Last weekend I took the bike down the Kernel brewery in Bermondsey, primarily because I wanted to stock up on beer! It’s a good 10 miles or so. On the way back I used it as an excuse to check out cycle Superhighway 3 out towards the Docklands, before heading up toward the Olympic Park at Stratford.

An Oast - used to store dry hops, at Bow Locks

Having been on the go pretty much all morning without break I popped into the Container Café / View Tube by the Olympics Park.

The View Tube

It’s a pretty neat location – you can see the building work going on all around you and enjoy a bacon sandwich. It’s a bit hippy-ish,  despite being in the middle of one of the most commercial projects in London!

Inside the container café

I guess it won’t be there much longer – I can’t imagine it would be allowed to stay during the games itself, so if you’ve got a spare sunny Saturday nip down the Greenway and have a look at progress.

Stadium

Aquatics centre?

Things I have learned this weekend…

Looking north from Sydenham Hill

• South London has far too many trees
• Both North and South London have some appallingly signed cycle routes.
• Crystal Palace is reasonably hilly, but probably not hilly enough to really count for c2c
• Tandem bicycles are more normal south of the water (saw two in quick succession)
• Epping isn’t actually that far away.
• Endomondo and my N96 really don’t get on well.
• Always eat before going to a beer festival (especially if you’ve never been to the venue before and they have live music)…

Ahh… It’s been a good weekend. Long may it last.

So that’s where TV comes from…

So that’s where TV comes from…, originally uploaded by Alan Perryman.

Just arrived in Crystal Palace, trying to find a north facing view now!

It’s not so grim in the ‘stow

Walthamstow Town Hall, originally uploaded by Alan Perryman.

I’d never really been to this part of town until last night… this is Walthamstow’s town hall! Pretty impressive eh?

New lens!

New lens!, originally uploaded by Alan Perryman.

Thank you ebay. Now I can be *really* pretentious!