Blessing of the Rings

2nd October 2016

After having Gilly's wedding ring re-made, we decided to have the ring blessed along with mine at Greatham Church, also it served to re-affirm our wedding vows after 27 years of marriage.
The blessing was included within the normal Church service but even so Dom the Vicar and his congregation along with close family, made this a very special occasion.
Writing this now made me realise several things;

• How lucky I am to be married to so such a wonderful woman.
• To have two fantastic sons who make me so proud of the men they have become.
• What a positive, inspiring and loving bunch of people these are.
• Platinum - bloody hell it's expensive!

London Zoo

3rd September 2016

Myself, Gilly, Philip & Gaby went for a tour round London Zoo courtesy of Michael Tully, brilliant day made by Michael as he knew the place inside out having worked there for the last 3 years, in fact Friday was his last day.

So many highlights but seeing the tigers and cubs was pretty awesome along with having a personal meeting with the penguins at the end of the day.

Welsh Wales

2nd July 2016

Short weekend in Pembrokeshire, usual haunts including Saundersfoot & Tenby. Stayed in a lovely country house on the outskirts of Laugharne, this small village on the edge of the coast was an interesting bonus. Sun shone on both days making it hard to leave.

Tour of Cambridgeshire

6th & 7th June 2016

Myself, Drew, Darryl & Rob set off in 1 car and 1 campervan Friday afternoon for this two ride event, a timetrial Saturday with a Gran Fondo on Sunday.

Traffic was a nightmare and after registering and checking in at the hotel we set off late to ride the TT course, which was fairly flat. Quick turnaround and off to meet Paddy and Seb for some pasta.

Saturday's TT was good and I posted a time of 43:50 ish a bit behind Darryl & Rob, Drew unfortunately punctured 400 metres from the start.

Met up again with the guys for an evening meal.

Sundays Gran Fondo was effectively an 80 mile race per age category, although myself and Drew sneaked in with the others in the slightly younger category. Also a very hot day.

Once off it was super fast with Seb & Rob slightly ahead with myself, Drew & Darryl playing catchup, few sketchy moments with lots of riders bunched up. After approximately 12 miles, Darryl was in the ditch & punctured, luckily not seriously hurt but we couldn't fix the puncture, game over for him!

I carried in and ploughed on weaving my way through riders, unfortunately after reaching 40 miles the first signs of tiredness crept in, the last 20 miles was a nightmare with cramp severely cramping my ride, the finish was a relief in just over 4 hours.

Felt light headed and sick afterwards and I guess that was down to the earlier efforts, heat and wind.

Rob & Seb had done amazing rides with Drews being respectable, all earning themselves UCI medals.

Great but tough weekend.

Barbados to Bracklesham

Great bank holiday weekend camping trip to Stubcroft Farm for Ali's birthday. Stayed over for 3 nights, amazing weather and really good fun. The usual football, rounders, fry ups and stories around the camp fire.

3 big tents and at times there were getting on for 22 people. 

Phil racing

2nd June 2016

Phil raced in this Surrey League handicap race finishing 3rd in the sprint with some top company:-

"I was away on my own for a bit, then joined by one more for ages. Then joined by Chris McNamara and one other. Lots of attacking each other, then 3rd in the sprint. Really tough race"

Chapeau!

New York & Barbados Diary

Left Heathrow on a Virgin flight 09:05, arrived in New York at around mid-day local time which in reality was 5pm due to the time difference. Thought we'd sample the delights of the public transport system using the subway, entertaining lugging 2 suitcases and at times felt vulnerable due to some unsavoury looking characters. Hotel Chambers is nice, quaint and in a great location. Meal at TFI Fridays, plus stroll around in the rain, yes rain. Back to hotel, sleep and more sleep.

Day 2
Woke up early and out of the hotel by 7am, gorgeous sunny morning. Streets were quiet and we stopped off for breakfast at Ellen's Stardust Diner, very lively place with the singing waiters/waitresses, highlight was them singing "Le Mis". Carried on with our walking tour, which included Times Square. Cafe stop at La Freud where unbelievably the waitress waived the bill as we were her first customers! Ground Zero was emotional and staggering. Stopped for a Subway and on to a ferry trip to Staten Island where we had a great view of the Statue of Liberty. Another boat trip to Brooklyn which was very pleasant and caught the river ferry to just past Long Island. Walk back via McDonalds to the hotel. Shattered!!

Quick nap and then a relatively short stroll back to Times Square where we had a meal at Bubba Gump, lovely meal at this popular and famous shrimp restaurant, very late back.

Day 3
Out at 9 and did a quick tour of the shops, underground Apple Store was cool, meandered down to Time Square, Burger King lunch, purchased some tickets to see "Kinky Boots" direct from the Theatre for the matinee. Went to Maceys which is the Mecca for shopaholics, fortunately or unfortunately had limited time as we had to be back for the show. What a show it was, funny, good story and brilliant. Walk back and a quick stroll around Central Park, pigeons, squirrels, woodpeckers and raccoons! Nice meal in an Italian restaurant and it was time to pack.

New York was great, unfortunately 2 days isn't really enough time to fully savour it.

Day 4
Up very early and we took a Yellow Taxi to JFK, driver was in a rush so we got there in plenty of time.

A 5 hour flight saw us arrive at Barbados for 1pm and we were whisked through security on a fast track service with a car waiting, this is more like it. Chatty but barely legible driver told us of the drought and the bush fires, hasn't rained for months! Checked in at the Mango Bay hotel, lunch and a quick dip and a sunbathe.

Day 5
Day on the beach, water crystal clear and warm. We both had a trip out on a Hobbie Cat which was fun. Turns out my Primani tee/shirt isn't UV protective and I've ended up looking like a lobster!

Day 6 Wednesday
Day on the beach, we both stayed out of the sun, although Gill still caught the sun, she now looks more lobster than me! Another go on the Hobbie Cat with the instructor, but very gusty. Just before dinner we got a taxi over to The Cliff, a high-end restaurant/hotel and boy what a place, restaurant and bar on stilts with large tarpon swimming below, if I ever win the lottery this is one place I would like to stay!

Day 7
Trip around part of the island today taking in St. Nicholas Abbey, which is famous for its history and rum. Then onto the wildlife reserve with it's turtles, monkeys and deer. Finally stopped off at Bathsheba Bay famous for its weathered rocky beach plus surf. Back at the hotel for a late lunch and then chill.

Day 8 Friday 20th May
Hotel made a real fuss of us today, table decorated at breakfast, went back to the room and that had balloons and a banner.

Caught the reggae bus into Bridgetown which was interesting, the town itself was nothing special, nice harbour area but the shopping area was a bit shanty. Reggae bus back, music was very loud on this one and we stopped at some more shops for a browse. Lunch at the hotel with more decoration. Afternoon by the beach, had a go at paddle boarding which was ok and then we both went out on the glass bottom boat which was very good especially swimming with the fish over the wreck.

Dinner at the hotel with even more decorations and when we got back to the room, petals everywhere plus a bottle of champagne! Unfortunately we'd had a lot of wine and cocktails so were done with alcohol!

Day 9 Saturday

Woke with a thick head! Went for a 2 hour trip on a Catamaran, swam with turtles, which was awesome! Rest of the day chilling by the beach. Managed to get another dose of sunburn, lobster part II.

Day 10 Sunday
Water skiing first thing, managed to get up first go and stay up, even with the best efforts from the instructor to shake me off! Gilly had a brief attempt but couldn't take the mess it was making of her hair!

Afternoon we both paid to have a go on a jet ski which was fun but because of the wind we were both drenched.

Day 11
Last day, chill by the beach, kayaking and more cocktails!

Met some nice people, Joyce & Tony (Alton) and Carol & Dave who were into their deepsea fishing. Lovely place and the beach and sea was perfect, resort very good, food got better as the week went on. Great all inclusive which included loads of cocktails and water sports.

New home

13th May 2016

Phil and Gaby completed today on their new home in North Holmwood, nr Dorking. A slow move in but have now settled in, although surprised to see not a single bike in the house!

Majorca

Majorca diary

Day 1 Monday 25th April 2016
Early EasyJet flight meant a stupid o'clock start, flight okay but a long delay with picking up the car meant it was getting on for mid-day before getting to the hotel, upgrade to a bigger room was nice. Bit of a delay picking up the Colnago v1-r's. Went for a hilly 2.5 hour ride. Felt very tired. Disaster, Darryl lost his passport picking up the bikes.

Day 2
Warm and sunny day and a big hilly ride including Sa Colobra. Not that impressed with the bike as the saddle kept slipping.

Now very tired.

Day 3
Drove out to Petra and did the Tour of the monasteries, well two anyway. Desperate for a recovery ride today but typically of Rob ended up being nearly 60 miles with 2 big climbs. Felt very tired so soft tapped keeping HR below 140. Very warm and sunny day, with coffee and lunch at the top of both climbs made up for the long ride.

Day 4
Drove out to Selva to do a climbing day, legs felt much better and generally not so tired. Had a light lunch in Soller. Weather very dull and damp, cold at the top of Puig Major and low cloud. Heating back on at the room.

Day 5 Friday
Just myself and John today as Darryl & Rob were on passport duty, Darryl had to get a train from Inca to Palma. Rode out to Petra and up to the Monastery, then to Inca where we met Darryl & Rob. Darryl came with us up to the Monastery while Rob did his own loop. The 3 of us then rode via the orange groves. Petra was really nice sitting in the square with coffee & cake. Coffee back in Pollensa in Tolos.

Day 6 Saturday
Up sharpish and out the door by 8:30 for the out to the lighthouse and back ride. Bit of rain made this a UK type of ride and especially easy on the descents. Nightmare traffic because of the ride 312. Late lunch in Santa Maria, typical Easyjet flight delay.

Great week of cycling with a good bunch of guys.

Cycling

2up Wessex Vets

Myself and John teamed up again for this one, John bless him suffered a bit on the climbs but we still both put in a reasonable time of 47:08 on this really hilly course.


Stockbridge April 2016

Phil finished 17th in his first "proper" road race of the year, each year these races attract a stronger field and he did really well to get in the front group.
Chapeau!

April owls

Sunday 17th April 2016

Thanks to Clare, we got to get up close and personal with several different types of owl today.

A charming couple have been keeping and displaying these amazing birds for years and we were very lucky to have been invited in to their home. 

Sussex 2up Championship

17th March 2016

Myself and John took part in this event on a very chilly Sunday morning, lumpy and country lanes makes for an interesting event.

20 seconds into our ride, disaster struck, John's left hand tri-bar snapped and was dangling! Fortunately he was able to keep going but not in an aero position, the second lap he managed to get in a better position and our speed increased.

Finishing in 1:10:00 ish was very respectable considering and we were both very happy with that, couple of minutes behind the chuckle brothers, Rob & Darryl.

London weekend

11th to 13th March

Friday;
Drove up to London and parked at Tower Bridge, we then walked to the hotel, which was the Tower of London Hilton with the amazing rooftop sky lounge. We had a light lunch in Leadenhall Market right in the heart of the City. In the evening we took a taxi over to Roux@Parliament Square, after champagne we had an amazing 10 course taster meal, with a few glasses of matched wine! What a privilege to eat at this restaurant, top class food & service. Not biased but my favourite course was the sea bass (prepared by Tom), oh and the pig, oh and don't forget the chocolate dessert!

Saturday;
We went for a stroll via the Tower of London then over to the Monument (The Great Fire), up the 311 steps to the top to enjoy the view! Coffee followed at the Hydrant courtesy of Sarah. More meandering before hooking up with Tom.

In the evening we took another taxi (courtesy of Uber) to the Dominion Theatre to see World of the Worlds, which was epic, the music was spine tingling. Finished the evening off with Prossecco at the sky lounge.

Sunday;
Checked out, walked over to the Shard where we had coffee on the 32nd floor, slightly awkward as I had to go back to the car for my smart shoes as I wasn't smart enough! Drove home via Richmond Park where we stopped for a quick late lunch by the river.

Fab weekend!

Worlds champs

3rd March 2016

World track championships at the Velo Park with Rob & Darryl, had the good fortune to see Wiggo in action in the pursuit, unfortunately after an epic final we just missed out on the gold. Superb ride from Laura Trott taking gold. The atmosphere was amazing.

Timetrials

First TT of the year on our clubs hard riders open event, second of the sporting time trial series, unfortunately I was unable to make the first event due to manflu and still felt chesty on this ride. Still good to get the first one out of the way and also try out the new TT helmet.

27:21 put me in the must try harder category and behind all my chums.

London

16th January 2016

Shopping & Natural History Museum with Tom & Sarah.