Mammoth ride preparations

Handlebar bag:

Trousers, t-shirt, jumper, pants, socks, balaclava, microfibre towel, tablet PC.

Toothbrush, toothpaste, shower-gel, ear-plugs, lip balm, baby powder (don’t ask), carbohydrate/protein drink powder, dextrose tablets, vitamin C tablets, electrolyte tablets, Creatine, head torch, cleat spares, shoe sole covers, two mini action cameras, batteries, USB battery charger, tablet charger, usb charger, mini-USB cable, maps, passport, bag strap, spare lock key.

Saddle bag:

Tyre levers, inner tube, multitool, patch kit, oil, back light, front light.

I have now figured out how to pack everything into the bags but it is very tight. About half the times I pack the handle bar bag and I cant close the zip, in which case, I empty it and start again.

Clothes:

Tights, two base layers, arm top, underwear, two pairs of socks, glovers, cycling gloves, SPD shoes, overshoes, foldable waterproof.

Back pockets:

Energy gels, grain bars, waterproof (folded), phone, money and camera (not pictured).

Cycle:

Raleigh Airlite 100, changed saddle, pedals and tyres, tiny pump, 750ml drinks bottle, thermos flask and a little map holder.

Route:

Day 1 Sunday: March, Wisbech, Boston, Stickney.

Day 2 Monday: Loncoln, Market Rasen, Barnetby.

Day 3 Tuesday: Hull, Selby, York.

Day 4 Wednesday: Bridlington, Scarborough, Robin Hood’s Bay.

Day 5 Thursday: Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Gateshead, Newcastle

Day 6 Friday: Amble, Seahouses, Berwick-on-Tweed

Day 7 Saturday: Eyemouth, Dunbar, Edinburgh.

There is a google map but it is pretty innacurate.

London to Cambridge ride

A couple weeks late postng this but I recntly completed the London to Cambridge ride. It was actually Cambridge-London-Cambridge ride as we cycled down the day before

Just to make it more interesting, Andreas and I went on a tandem. We got a pretty decent time with a 27kmph average.

Strange things you find while riding around Norfolk

Riding around Norfolk I came across this:

Here is a closeup:

I would be more suspicious, but there is an entire field of the stuff:

Acrylic on canvas

I got some acrylic paint and canvas board so I decided to paint copies of a couple of my favourite paintings by Luke Chueh.

“Possessed”

“The high price of enlightenment”

Eternal recurrence

Thanks to quitequirky for a great image that I used for a t-shirt design. The easiest way to copy a design onto a t-shirt was to trace it with a felt marker when the shirt covers a screen (I used the laptop).

I used three colours for the three recurring civilizations with then wrapping around.

The marker will wash off, so you have to fill it in with some kind of fabric paint. I used “UHU Textil Colors” gloss tubes.

The tubes are not the easiest to control and it is difficult to get the right thickness of paint, but the colours are nice a bright.

Can’t wait to wear it tomorrow.

Blueberry cheesecake

Pineapple upsidedown cake

Extra cake this week because I forgot Andreas and Matt last week.

Blueberry and coconut squares

Some blueberry and coconut squares I made for this week’s cake using the BBC good food recipe.

Goodbye Bieber РBlack Forest G̢teau

Bieber (aka Stefan) is leaving, so I made him a goodbye Black forest gâteau.

Chocolate pecan cookies and Steve Jobs

This week’s cake was actually chocolate pecan cookies with massive chunks of chocolate.

In other news, I decided to dress like Steve Jobs for a week. Che disproves.