Montreal...I've just arrived

The view for the entire journey looked like this...

Well, I say I've just arrived. We touched down, after a good flight of 6.5 hours (all very smooth but lots of cloud in Montreal) around 8.30pm and it's now 10.44pm. In my world, however, it's 0345hrs (UK time) and I should really be hitting the sack.

Staying in the Holiday Inn, Midtown, in the centre of Montreal. Bit of tacky reception area, I thought, and right now, as I sit here blogging, I can't find any powerpoints in the wall so I'm working off the battery, which is almost flat.

...and this!

It's warm here, which is nice. By warm, I mean outside. Obviously it's warm in the hotel. But listen, I really must be getting some sleep as little things are troubling me. The lift is controlled by a card system and it was taking me a heck of a time to work it out. Eventually, somebody told me how to do it and now I'm in my room and the TV's on. I've been flicking through the channels and managed to catch Usain Bolt's 200m win.

Montreal's a strange place. Everybody speaks and sounds French, perhaps because they are French Canadians!

Anyway, got to work tomorrow so I'm signing off. My plan is to hire a bike and ride around town. I'm here until Sunday afternoon so I should get the opportunity. After Montreal, I fly to Atlanta, Georgia.

Two years ago...

Doesn't time fly when you're enjoying yourself! Click here for what we were doing two years ago.

Putting the i in the phrase To Let

Check out those blue skies! Pic taken on Sunday 5th August 2012.

Compared with Saturday's appalling weather, Sunday was just fine (until later on in the day). We decided to cycle to Westerham. The sun was shining, there were blue skies and all was good with the world.

When we reached Westerham green the benches were wet so we stood by Churchill's statute and drank our tea. A man with an old Velocette motorcycle arrived, a black one, and a handful of original Minis drove past.

Our fantasy bike shop was still displaying a To Let sign.

Andy asked, "Is it just me or does everyone have the urge to paint an i in a To Let sign?"
"No, I feel the same way too," I replied.
"That's good. I thought I was the only one."

Less than one hour later...storm clouds over at Andy's.

"The thing is you'd have to do it properly, with stencils and stuff. I think if I won the lottery I'd buy a van, get some stencils and a high visibility jacket – you've got to look the part – and then travel the country doing it."
"Yes, we'd have a great time – pub lunches, staying in a Premier Inn...."
"And I wonder how long it would be before the police stopped us?"
"Not sure, but it wouldn't be a big crime."
"No, because you're not damaging anything other than a To Let board, which is temporary anyway."
"I reckon people wouldn't even notice we were doing it."
"No, and invariably the places we'd be doing it to would be vacant, so we wouldn't be disturbing anybody."
"We'd need ladders."
"Yes, and a decent tool box full of different-sized stencils and tins of spray paint."
"And a Pantone book to match the colour exactly."
"More tea?"
"Thanks."


The ride home was good. Andy parted halfway down the 269 and then, as we both approached home – Andy in Caterham and me in Sanderstead – we noted heavy black clouds over London. Fortunately, we both avoided a soaking this time round.

Caught in a downpour at the Tatsfield bus stop

Rapeseed oil fields near Botley Hill on Saturday 4th August 2012.

When I woke up on Saturday morning, it had clearly been raining. Everything had that drenched appearance and even the air seemed damp. The word 'abort' sprang to mind until I realised that it was only 6am and that a lot could happen within an hour. I held back and instead made a cup of tea and sat in front of the computer checking emails and blogs.

By 7am, I was almost ready to go, but was waylaid by this and that and when I finally reached the garage, I found that my bike was concealed behind a huge mattress. We had a new one on our bed and this was the old one, cast out and waiting for the local council to take it away. My bike was behind it and it was unpadlocked. I'd unlocked it earlier in the week, but never went out on it, preferring instead to walk to the pub. But that's another story.

Everything seemed sluggish as I hauled myself and the bike up Church Way. I'd sent a text to Andy explaining that I was running about 15 minutes late and eventually arrived on Warlingham Green at 0740hrs – ten minutes later than my intended time of arrival.

Time was short. I had what turned out to be a pointless appointment at the bank and Andy had to get back too so we headed off for the Tatsfield Bus Stop. The weather was looking alright, but we figured that it might rain and decided that the bus stop was the best place in a storm.

When we got there we sat and chatted about this and that and then, as the weather began to look really murky we watched a recumbent cyclist riding towards us with powerful headlights mounted on his helmet. He stopped to take cover and he told us how he bought the bike because he'd had a slipped disk at the top of his neck and it was easier than riding a conventional bike. He was out on a 30-mile ride.

The strange thing about cycling is that, for years, it's been regarded as a bit nerdy, until recently. Today, a lot of people are taking to riding bikes to save money on train and bus fares into work and because it's a good way of keeping fit. I think the nerdy aspect, however, has transferred from traditional cycling of the two-wheeled variety to recumbent cycling, which I think will always be a bit eccentric, probably because it's just a little too close to the Sinclair C5 for comfort.

The B269 about a mile north of Botley Hill. Note general dampness.

The rain was getting heavier and showing no sign of abating and soon Andy and I were looking at our watches. We decided to head back home regardless of whether or not we were going to get soaked. The conditions were treacherous so we stuck to the off-road path the length of the B269. Andy left halfway along, taking his off-road path towards Wapses Roundabout and I carried straight on. The rain stopped but there were plenty of puddles and the roads were wet.

I stopped halfway along the road and took the two photographs that accompany this post and then powered my way towards Warlingham Green, Sanderstead and home – where a warm shower awaited me.

Westerham and Hosey Common

Westerham on Saturday followed by Hosey Common on Sunday. The original plan for the Sabbath had been Edenbridge, but we're always up against time and the fact that we both have families to be with at the weekends. Don't get me wrong, it's not that we couldn't have got there – to Edenbridge – but there were, surprisingly, some big hills. Turning right just past Westerham Green and up Hosey Hill wasn't easy, but we managed it. There were plenty of woods on either side of the road and, if anything, it was a little bit gloomy.

My Kona at Hosey Common near Westerham, Sunday 29 July 2012.

We'd met on Warlingham Green at 7am instead of 7.30am, which gave us 30 minutes to play with, but when we hit what would have been an amazing downhill ride, the prospect of coming back up didn't appeal, not because we couldn't do it, but because of the time it would take. So we stopped, turned the bikes around and headed back towards Westerham. We had our tea on Hosey Common, in the sun, but both agreed that the green, which was really a car park for the woods, would have been far better with a wooden bus stop like the one at Tatsfield. Still, the weather was good so it didn't really matter.

Going that extra mile or so out of Westerham to Hosey Common was good; much more of a work-out than just going to Westerham and sitting behind the statue of Churchill. But no bench, no bus stop, no cover from the weather would mark it down as a final destination.

Andy said we'd travelled an additional 4.5 miles, making the total journey around 15 miles one way and then 10 back: a total of around 25 miles instead of the usual 22.

It was a good day and a good weekend for cycling and now we're looking forward to next weekend.

• Bradley Wiggins won Gold in the time trials today (1st August 2012). He is now the most decorated British Olympian, with four Golds, one less than Sir Steve Redgrave, but overall the Wigster has more medals. There was also gold for British rowers too.

If you missed it, watch it again now....

One of the best bits of television in years, thanks to Danny Boyle. Click here to watch Daniel Craig as James Bond and the Queen as herself. Absolutely brilliant!

Hats off to Danny Boyle...

I approach events like the opening ceremony of the Olympics with a fair amount of cynicism and, to be fair, when it started off, my initial thoughts were, "Hold on, this is like the school nativity play – a little bit amateur," but oh was I mistaken! The whole thing developed into something amazing, culminating for me when the Olympic rings, like molten metal, hovered over the stadium. Brilliant! And what I liked most of all was the way the actors – particularly Kenneth Branagh, who seemed to be reprising his role as Gilderoy Lockhart from the Harry Potter movie, kept up the 'acting' throughout. There must have been a temptation for all involved to be caught off guard by BBC cameras, but no, everybody kept the faith, so to speak, throughout. Loved the industrial revolution bit, loved the music most of all, especially Mike Oldfield. What a coup! Oldfield is reclusive at the best of times so how Boyle persuaded him to come out and play a bit of Tubular Bells I don't know.

The absolute best bit of the lot, though, was Daniel Craig, as Bond, in Buck House. I was thinking, "no, it won't be the real Queen, it can't be," but it was! Brilliant!

I didn't stay up beyond watching a few of the athletes enter the stadium and besides, there was something good over on BBC 4. In fact, there was a great documentary about a heavy metal band called Anvil that I would have loved to watch again (I saw it about a year ago, possibly longer) but it was getting late and there's some cycling to do, in a minute or so!

In a nutshell, Danny Boyle turned out a great show. It tailed off a bit towards the end, but up to the rings, the bit with the Queen, the industrial revolution stuff, Kenneth Branagh, JK Rowling – brilliant.

Cycling arrests near Olympic Park

Scuffles, apparently, between police and cyclists, according to a BBC report. The organisation involved  was Critical Mass, click here for more.

For details of the story, click here.

Cycling's good for you – it's official!

An article on today's BBC website argues that cycling is incredibly good for you because you can build a ride into your daily routine. Check out the details by clicking here.

Sunny ride to Westerham

The 'thumbs up' totem pole that marks to top of the hill

outside of Westerham. Note the great view.

The sun was out again on Sunday 22nd July as Andy and I headed for Westerham – me without any effective rear braking system. It was a good ride (no puddles or wet roads) and when we reached Churchill's statue, we sat and watched various vintage cars roll by as there always appears to be some kind of gathering going on somewhere. The other week there were a load of old MG convertibles heading west along the A25. Today, not so much a rally, but one single AC Cobra, a blue one, owned by some old bloke (hold on, who are we kidding) in trendy shades and shorts. Later he sought the friendship of an even older bloke in an old MG (that looked like a Morgan). There's something about old men in sports cars that I find both sad and rather annoying. Sad because it's a hopeless situation: who are they going to pull at their age and even if they did, what would they do? Angering, because it's the way of the world: you never have enough money to relax and enjoy yourself until you're almost dead and gone, making me often wonder, what's the point?

We moved on to discuss the G4S fiasco and I suggested that the UK's general culture of incompetence is finally coming home to roost – watch out for more similar stories in the press over the coming months and years. The G4S thing has reinforced my view that a large chunk of the private sector is out for profit and profit alone, it wants to be paid, but it's not really prepared to put in the work and opts instead for a shoddy, 'that'll do' approach based on cutting corners and compromising safety just to save money. There are so many examples, large and small and in my opinion, Nick Buckles – he of the stupid hairdo – is just one 'senior manager' who shouldn't be in such a position. Somebody sack him.

Other themes touched upon included the Olympics and the general perception of the UK being like a badly run SME (small-to-medium-sized enterprise) with Cameron and Clegg as the CEO and MD respectively. None of the staff have much in the way of respect for them and often laugh behind their backs and now, as the company sports day approaches, everybody is secretly hoping that, somewhere, somehow, there will be a disastrous cock-up, London's transport network will come to a shuddering halt and chaos will ensue. Should this be the case, I'd imagine that all over the UK you will be able to hear a huge guffaw from the many disgruntled employees of UK PLC.

As we reached the top of the hill going out of Westerham, Andy took the shot accompanying this post. That totem pole thing is some kind of sign for Surrey Hills. I think it signifies the top of a hill as, in this case, it seems to be in the spot where the sensation of climbing ends and the bike can coast a few yards. I must point out that within yards of passing the totem pole, the climb continues to the roundabout at Botley Hill and only eases up as we head north along the B269 towards home. Further down there is a smaller wooden sign that marks the beginning of our climb towards Botley.

• Oh, and talking of people being let off, I note with disgust that PC Simon Harwood of Carshalton, Surrey, has been let off for pushing over, with some force, newspaper vendor Ian Tomlinson, an act that resulted in Tomlinson's death. Since Harwood's acquittal, details of his far from exemplary police career have been revealed and widely reported. A civil case is likely, but isn't this just another example of people who should be banged up and treated with the contempt they deserve simply being let off? More are in the pipeline: watch out for Rebecca and Charlie Brookes and, indeed, the British tabloid press as a whole. Leveson, of course, will be a complete and utter waste of time and money. Likewise the Murdochs will be 'pardoned' and anybody else who puts an incompetent foot wrong can rest assured that they will also walk off free men and women.

• What is the point of Select Committees and the Leveson inquiry when all they're doing is creating the perception that the Government is serious about cleaning things up, when the reality is more to do with being seen to be doing something, but not actually doing anything? They must think we're all idiots.