bikes and things

Fascinating set of images and story which accompany them over at It’s nice that on the legacy of the 2004 Athens Olympics.

All images © Jamie McGregor Smith

Via Angus.

We finally got round to choosing our print to have from from Marc Wilson and his “The Last Stand” project. The project was a crowdfunded project along the lines of Kickstarter (which wasn’t in the UK at the time). I funded the project in Jan and am now looking forward to receiving a 10×8″ print of the shot below to get up on the wall.

You can see the full set of images over at his portfolio site. I also liked the the below collection of iPhone shots from the various trips which I thought was worth posting too.

All images © Marc Wilson.

This one has been doing the rounds recently and justifiably so. The shots of the dolphins swimming are brilliant. The custom made “torpedo” housing looks pretty clever too and seems to have got a bit of attention from GoPro themselves.

A much needed escape from London was had last weekend. I managed to leave work at 5 after a fairly eventful week. Matt and Dave joined me in the van to head up the M4 to Afan. Fortunately there was hardly a soul on the motorway and ended up fairly quickly at a fish and chip shop at Port Talbot feasting on the local treats. After a few laughs at the local nightclub advertising a “sauna night” we headed up the valley to set up tents, sink a beer or two and turn in for the night.

After some torrential rain during the night, which always sounds worse under canvas, we woke up to surprisingly good weather. Breakfast was made, bikes fettled and energy bars purchased. The usual discussion of flats vs clips and suspension vs hard tail was also had and the usual inconclusive outcomes drawn. They’re bikes – they’re good.

We went for the W2 option as our trail of choice for the day. Whites was likely to be too short, Skyline too dull so W2 seemed about right. We set off at a fairly decent pace, mainly due to me having not being on a bike properly for a while and wanting to rid myself of some energy.

I’d taken the GoPro and mounted it under the saddle with the idea of getting plenty of footage. Unfortunately I hadn’t rally accounted for the wet weather and mud on the trail. The last time I had shot like this it had been bone dry on the Surrey Hills. For some reason I persevered with it and ended up with lots of useless footage so had to edit it down to something funny as per the below clip.

Had a great time on the trails and as usual once you’re out there you hardly see anyone. A few wet moments but generally the weather held. Plenty of stops and chats and lots of food consumed to get us round. We even found a new cafe to sit down and admire the view at.

Back to the trails and down to the end of The Walls descent to meet that awful slog back up. By the time we’d got back up that, round past the wind farm and out the other side of the energy trail I was pooped and regretting the fast pace I had set to start with. The same trail diversion was in place to it was back up to the top of the first hill and round to the Skyline descent. Great descent but we got stuck behind a few newbies who were struggling to stay on the bike.

After finishing I ate my own weight in lasagne, sank a beer and then enjoyed a crap shower at the campsite. The evening consisted of a trip to Maesteg and all the interesting thing that small Welsh towns hold. A big curry was consumed and the day dissected in great detail. We headed back to the campsite to watch some Olympic action and managed to see Mo win the 10,000m. As per the previous night we were in bed by 10.30. Too tied for massive drinking sessions and the midges were driving me mad.

We packed up the next morning and then headed down the M4 to do a natural trail round Cwmcarn. This idea was soon shelved and we decided to do the marked trail as the weather looked like it was closing in. The climb was pretty painful at first but we warmed to it and the trails at the top are well worth the effort. The final descent was also well worth the slog. I followed Matt down and got some slightly better footage than the day before – this time using the chest cam strap.

A superb weekend but I think it might take a while to get rid of the stench in the van – wet kit and farts still hanging within it.

Whilst not normally being a fan of the “things projected onto buildings” genre I have to say I’m quite taken with these images. Something to do with being proud of the games and the athletes but also due to the clever wide format used.

All images © Vaughan Denny

Many happy to returns to the wonderful weequizzie. Here’s one of my favourite pictures of her in case you don’t know. Hope you have a wonderful day Emma.

And here’s the birthday card I made her yesterday lunchtime, clearly leaving a lot to be desired in the Photoshop montage department. Looking forward to celebrating further tonight.

Had a guy in a rather nice VW T5 cut me up and ram his wing mirror into me on the ride to work this morning. After he exchanged wanker signs at me I caught up with him at the next lights. I asked him to wind down his window and before he could say anything said “I’m not going to argue with you, I just want to ask you one question” he looked slightly nonplussed and before he could shout at me I said “Do you have any kids?”.

His wife sat next to him said yes so I replied “Now think about that for a few moments, I’m someone’s son“.

Used to love this stuff as a kid. Good to see plenty of it about this weekend too.

A week from hell so far after a fairly stressful return to work after sunning ourselves in Wales last weekend, followed by an encounter with Mr Aggressive on Monday, a funeral today and some tough deadlines before the end of the week to achieve.

The one thing that’s keeping me going? The chance to ride my bike off road this weekend at Afan. Just sorting the camping kit out now. Looking forward to a decent stretch of the legs as well as the usual banter, Matt’s coughing and farts and endless miles of motorway.

Hopefully lots of good views like this – minus the snow and jackets though.

Image © Marc Jenks

That’s the charge I expect to receive through the post very soon from a rather aggressive British Transport Officer. Probably the most aggressive and unpleasant police person I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet but I expect nothing better from London’s finest boys in blue these days.

My route back from work takes me through Covent Garden and tonight a police van in front went to go through the pedestrian crossing and then stopped abruptly having noticed someone to the left. He was 3/4s of the way through the crossing by this point. So I went to the right of him and started going forward again after people had finished crossing. He was stationary so I indicated I was going to pull in left and find a safe place to continue down to the crossing at Waterloo Bridge.

This unfortunately meant I had committed a road traffic act of the most serious nature. My friend in the van started trying to drive his police van into me and then swinging his van from left to right as well as revving – anyway you get the picture. Bizarrely I’d normally rise to this but I just looked at him and carried on riding which seemed to annoy him even more. He then came screeching past and forced me into the kerb so I was forced to stop and talk to him. Two tourists came past and told him he was being aggressive which probably didn’t help his complex either. The three cyclists behind me seemed fairly bemused by it all really.

Anyway after a fairly lengthy lecture I was let on my way. I can live with being wrong – I often am but I have a lot more respect for those who calmly explain their position rather than waving their arms about and foaming at the mouth. In hindsight I wish I had refused to talk to him and only agreed to talk to his somewhat more reasonable colleague.

Anyway, judge for yourself*

*I didn’t realise I had such a plummy voice. No idea where that came from.