The mileage is quickly mounting up, even with a day Taking the car because of a job interview.
Not much to say about most of the week, but yesterday was a trial and a half. 10 minutes extra to get to work because the wind made it like cycling through treacle, I swear at one point I was gong backwards whilst trying to pedal downhill!!!
Add to that the fact that I’d put my raincoat on (just in case) and I arrived at work soaked without the slightest precipitation
But here’s the thing, I was riding into the wind, so how could my colleague who rides in the opposite direction endure exactly the same problem? Surely he should have been jet propelled.
Moral of the story, God is taking the piss out of cyclists
Distance cycled – 541 Miles
Virtual Location – Bézu-Saint-Germain, France
At first I wasn’t sold with this game, but it’s beginning to grow on me now.
Having joined the PS3 brigade just before Black Ops, I played very little MW2, but I can tell you that this has a very similar feel to the gameplay. I remember huge amounts of MW3 players complaining that Black Ops wasn’t as good and I get the same in reverse from this game, but I think it’s a matter of familiarity more than anything else.
At this point I don’t like the maps, but then I was the same with the DLC for Black Ops until I got used to them, and I’m swiftly getting up to speed with these. I can also see the potential, since the maps seem to have more levels and intricacy to them. Give me a few more hours and I’ll be a lot happier with the game.
The upgrades seem a lot more regimented than with Black Ops, meaning you have to get them in the order you win them rather than choosing your own style from the offset, again something to get used to rather than slagging the game off.
All in all, you like this type of game, you’re going to like this one, but give it time.
It’s a year since I bought my Kindle, and Amazon have just added an updated version to the family.
At first glance, the new cheaper Kindle, looks like a second rate version of the original, take a look at the specs and it’s got less memory, a shorter battery life and it’s lost its keyboard along with the audio capability. Even though the screen is the same size, the proportions of the device make it look smaller.
BUT…
12 months on and I’m still nowhere near the memory limit of the new Kindle, never mind the old one, and since you can retrieve books from Amazon’s Cloud any time you have wifi access, how many books do you actually need with you at any one time?
The battery life is still more than enough to keep you going (and of course the USB charging makes it pretty travel friendly) and pretty much the only time I use the keyboard is when I open it up, so is the on-screen version going to be any real ball-ache?
As for the audio, any audiobooks or MP3s would quickly chew up the memory and the only time I tried the auto read function the dulcet tones of Stephen Hawking put me off for life.
The only conclusion I can draw is that the old Kindle was actually horrendously over spec, and to be honest the new one isn’t below par either.
The new format makes it lighter and the pages now turn a little faster, a plus on paper, but you’re hardly going to notice either of those things.
All in all, this has still got to be the most cost effective e-book reader, it does exactly what you need it to, without the bells, whistles and price tag of its competitors.
For those of you who want it, the old 3G version is still available, but I still don’t see the need, if you can get a 3G signal chances are you’re not too far from civilisation and a wifi hotspot.
Another good week on the bike with over 60 miles added to the clock.
Finally got fed up with the gears on the bike and took it to a local shop (Biketechs)to have them professionally adjusted, only to find that the problem wasn’t the adjustment, I’d done a fairly decent adjustment on that, the problem was that the freewheel had worn badly in the two months I’ve had the bike!!!
I could have sent the bike back, but to be honest it would have been more hassle than it was worth, so I got the freewheel replaced with a better version. The change was immediately apparent.
Anyway, with the miles this week my virtual journey has reached it’s next checkpoint.
Distance cycled – 483 Miles
Virtual Location – Paris, France
I’ve worked six out of seven days this week, so combined with the extended route to work I’ve covered 70 miles. Surprisingly, I’m probably more enthusiastic about cycling now than I was to start with.
To be honest the only real complication is trying to work out what clothes to wear. The Met office is little help as the current forecast rarely matches the actual conditions. Added to that, you have to build in the sweat factor. Am I going to get wetter through sweating than I am from the rain???
So far the temperature hasn’t dropped below 7°C, which doesn’t need more than a t-shirt, but then you’ve got to decide whether you need a fleece or something to keep the wind off.
If I’m not careful I’m going to need a bigger rucksack for all the clothes
Distance cycled – 420 Miles
Virtual Location – Beuvraignes, Picardie, France
Finally found that my car was leaking electricity out through the alternator, which has left me dependent on the bike for the whole week! I may not have used any petrol, but that fault has cost me dear
Anyway, since I knocked 5 minutes off the longer route to work, it has now become my route of choice, a little longer but psychologically if nothing else it’s a better ride. So I’ve been using it in both directions.
It’s been a little scary at 4:30 in the morning as the route starts down an unlit track, but I’m getting used to it now and nothing has jumped out of the bushes at me yet (almost getting hit by an airborne fox coming back on the other route on Sunday was a little disconcerting!!)
So with the extended route, I’ve clocked up my highest weekly distance so far
Distance cycled – 351 Miles
Virtual Location – Verquigneul, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France
My virtual journey has finally (after a couple of slow weeks) got me to Dover. Since my car has mysteriously run out of electricity and the weather has been depressingly wet, I’ve not been doing much “recreational” cycling, just the necessary journeys to work and back whilst trying to work out what’s wrong with my other mode of transport.
One of the great things (and the reason for getting the bike) is that I haven’t actually put any petrol in the car this month, and in fact I’ve still got 1/4 of a tank left with only a few days left until I get paid.
Decided to take a longer but flatter route to work yesterday, partly to increase my mileage (get me the last bit to my checkpoint) but also for the enjoyment due to an uncharacteristically warm sunny day. I arrived at work a lot more rested than usual and since I allow plenty of time, the extra 10 minutes riding wasn’t an issue. Of course coming home I want to get back as quick as possible, so back on the hilly route.
So my next journey starts me on the virtual route to Paris
Distance cycled – 299 Miles
Virtual Location – Dover, Kent UK (Calais, France)
Found I could make it all the way to work in top gear, not bad I thought, but later I realised the problem. Just because I can do it, doesn’t mean I should. After a couple of days, I was aching like mad.
Then on Wednesday night, riding home, some fuckwit in a red VW Golf swerved across the road to try and knock me off my bike!!!
I’d heard the car being squeeling round a corner and being over revved so I was already on guard as the car pulled round the corner and had adjusted my speed to make sure that I wasn’t in the junction as he approached, but after he’d pulled out onto the opposite side he then swerved straight at me and I had to mount the kerb to get clear.
I was a bit worried he was going to turn round and have another go, but luckily he decided to carry on on his merry way.
With the two elements I decided to have a couple of days off, so nowhere near the 40 miles I was hoping to do this week.
Distance cycled – 269 Miles
Virtual Location – Ashford, Kent, UK
Despite being on holiday, it’s been a pretty busy week, so not much chance to get out on the bike. With good weather on Wednesday however I set off along the canal once more.
The idea was to add to my previous trip round Hollingworth Lake by passing under the M62 and making my way up to Piethorne, an area I’ve walked regularly over the last few years, but for some reason I’ve never covered the gap between the two places.
I soon found the route to be impossible to cycle, the “sheep track” rutted so deeply there was no way to pedal, and so steep and wet you wouldn’t have moved forward anyway. Not to worry, I persevered, pushing the bike up the slope and hauling it over the odd stile that obstructed the path.
Getting to the tracks above Piethorne reservoire for some daft reason I decided to follow my old walking route round the back, only to find this too was impossible to ride. It all started out fairly well if a bit bumpy, but once I lost momentum (trying to work my way between scattered pieces of collapsed wall) there was no way to get moving again before the next bit.
Pushing again I got to the summit of the journey only to find the route down just as treacherous! Even with the back wheel locked I was going faster than seemed healthy and the scattered loose rock was constantly threatening to take my wheels from under me.
Once on the other side of the reservoir, however, I was back on reasonable ground and could continue my journey without further mishap.
Distance cycled – 245 Miles
Virtual Location – Leybourne, Kent, UK
Since I’ve been on holiday this week, I’ve not been out cycling as much, there may be no bad weather only the wrong clothes, but the cloud and rain hasn’t inspired me to get out much.
Last night I got called in for overtime, so did my usual route to work, the rest seems to have done me some good.
Bearing in mind I had to stop to put my chain back on, I still made it home in 23 minutes, I didn’t drop as many gears climbing the hills and there’s no residual ache in my legs this morning.
