Cycling

On Saturday I went cycling at Ladybower.  A Good Idea.  A simple way to get fit relatively easily.  Right?

Ha!  Yesterday I couldn't sit down or stand up without being in great pain.  The saddle related problems were anticipated, thanks to Zoe at MBIAT,  the knee problems weren't.  Apparently my knees do not like cycling.  I suppose they'll either break or get used to it.  Mind you, I have only had the bike for a fortnight.

But, apart from those problems and the chain coming off and getting smacked in the back of the leg with pedal when it did (I've a lovely pedal-spike shaped bruise), it was Fun.  Although I'm not too keen on the bumpy bits of path yet.

I won't be cycling to work just yet.  If the bus stuggles up Slack Hill then I don't think I should even contemplate trying.  But his suggestion of going to do some of the Tissington Trail  is fine with me.

I believe I just enabled comments.

I wonder if I have a reader...

Yesterday I went to London.  For work reasons, not galavanting - there was a condition survey to be done at the Ranger's House in Greenwich Park.  It took the best part of four hours each way - that includes the walk across the park - to get there and I was on site for for an hour and a half.

Anyway, what I wanted to blog about was actually the GLA building.  Or Foster's Testicle as one of the building press once described (to match the phallic symbol on St Mary Axe).  I saw it from the train as I returned to London Bridge from Blackheath.  I was disappointed.  Fleeting glimpses between other buildings is probably not the best way to go about architectural appreciation but that was all I had.

It's not a very impressive building.  Brian has written about it before and included "gratuitous pictures" in some of which it looks considerably more impressive than it is.  I agree with him in that the Porsche headlamp design phase was more striking.  I think it also shows a better relationship to the river than it has now as well.

It isn't very big.  I really thought it was quite a large building.  But the in the view I had it looked rather stumpy.  Perhaps it was just the angle of the view from the train.

On the other hand, I had been determined to dislike the St Mary Axe (Gherkin)  building.  On seeing it - from the same train - I found that it nearly so bad as I thought.  In fact I think I might like it.  It's growing on me.  Though I still think it looks rather large.

I also went through the new part of St Pancras station.  They appear to have moved the milling-about-not-knowing-where-your-train-is area into a new bit.  So, now one can mill about staring at blank info boards under a shiny new glass roof.

And someone has let the clock stop.

Rubbish blogging
 
OH dear I've been very poor at blogging.  And I've been reading some rather good ones, to whom I shall link in the generous fullness of time.  Then they'll all know what kind of rubbish "bloggers" lurk around theirs.
 
Well, one of the blogs I've been reading is Bandhag's  (Oh I hope that link works.  Very few things are worse than a broken link.).  A recent post there listed the first ten songs randomly out of Bandhag's mp3 player.  I thought I'd do the same.  Now, I only have a small selection of tracks on a USB gadget so it truly isn't a real reflection of my CD collection - an editted version only.
 
The tracks were:
 
1. Belle & Sebastien - Boy with the arab strap
2. Oasis - Half the world away
3. Electric Soft Parade - Empty at the end
4. The Calling - Wherever you will go
5. Appleton - 5 am
6. Stereophonics - Step on my old size nines
7. Belle & Sebastien - Dog on wheels
8. The Bluetones - Marblehead Johnson
9. Badly Drawn Boy - You were right
10. Wilson Pickett - Mustang Sally
 
Now, I'm sure that tell some manner of psychoanalyst something about me, but I don't know what.
 
I could do with a comments box.  Then maybe some manner of psychoanalyst would tell something about me...