A typical coastal route

Well, I’m back after a week spent in Germany at a consumer games show, sweating up a storm as I helped run our stand. Since I got back in the small hours of Monday morning I’ve been pretty much exhausted, which culminated in a day off today with an exhaustion-induced cold.

With not much more to do but sit around and get better, I was browsing around and found new site Bikely. It’s early days, but this seems like a damn good idea - it’s a mashup between Google Maps and a route-planning interface. So far a lot of the routes seem to be commuter based, and as I only found one other route in Brighton… I went ahead and doubled that amount.

Without further ado then, here’s a typical route for me - down to Hove Lagoon from my front door (potential stalkers, please consult with our local weirdos for tips on what to do that’ll freak me and the wife out).

Only problem with Bikely? It’s not their fault; it’s Google Maps’. Windows Live Local, much as I hate to admit it, has fantastically detailed maps of Brighton (and 3D views, to boot). We just need them to be a bit more free-and-easy with their APIs….

So, uh, like - what happened to July?

The observant among you - and as there’s probably only one of you, I’ll assume you’re observant for the sake of argument - have probably noticed there was a great big honking gap here between me buying the bike and then, apparently, blogging about riding it. So the question is, what happened in July (that stopped me blogging)?

The easy answer is “I got a bike”, ha ha. Truthfully that had something to do with it, but not very much really. I was biking all over the shop during July, getting acquainted with Brighton’s roads and seafronts… but not blogging. I think the honest truth is I got intimidated, clammed up, and just didn’t force myself to get on with it and get down my thoughts.

As you can see, I’m now trying to change that. Nothing like writing posts about why you’re not blogging to get you motivated to blog again.

So, what do I have to get written down? Let’s see:

1. The rest of the story of Buying the Bike, currently entitled ‘Nigel looks after me’
2. The Tale of The First Bike Ride (This one, I really should have gotten down on the day… thank God I did notes)
3. Something about my favourite routes
4. A classic ‘whinge’ post about ‘being a biker’ (so I can pretend to be part of the ‘in’ crowd)

And I think that’ll do for now. Other things I want to do, in no particular order:

• Take my digital camera out and get some snaps during a ride
• Figure out a way to show my most frequent routes (dull though they are)

And that’ll do for now.

WordPress, baby, WordPress

I switched.

Okay, I didn’t make that switch - not yet, at least - but I left Blogspot behind when I discovered this morning that WordPress also does free blogs. Which, considering the competition, is some fine news.

(Incidentally, the process was incredibly painless (importing was snap!) and the WordPress interface is much nicer than Blogger’s; although to be fair they’re in Beta for a new Blogger, no doubt spurred on by their perpetually-in-Beta-owners.)

Anyway. I have told myself that I need to keep this thing up to date, and that’s what I’m going to do, starting… now. WordPress is just an extra incentive.

Defeated by wind

The wind. Never before have I been so aware of air currents, as when I got on a bike.

A good wind will basically take the… er… wind right out of your sails when cycling. I knew this before I even saddled up for the first time - thanks, Nigel - but still, it’s one thing to know, another to experience, etc. Also, because my preferred route most days is along the seafront, that means I get the benefit of unfiltered sea winds, blowing straight in from the Channel and onto my face. Or, when I’m lucky, onto my back.

The difference can really be dramatic; I’ll easily drop or add five MPH depending on wind direction, and that can be a quarter of my top speed most days. With that in mind, I tend to look more at the wind speed and direction when I’m checking the weather forecast these days. Too high, and I’ll reconsider a ride.

Yesterday though, I was determined to go out. After my glorious discovery of the Undercliff Walk on Wednesday, I wanted to get back out there and see some more. There was also the small issue of my little ‘episode’, which I wanted to make sure, at least in my own mind, was only a temporary thing. So, out I go.

An unexpected afternoon

Wednesday afternoon, and I suddenly find myself with some free time.

I’ve been on an in-house course for two days, and it’s very much about self-improvement - so Jane, the HR manager running things, insists that we all take the rest of the afternoon to ourselves when we finish early.

Who am I to argue.

So I head home. It’s been a few days since I’ve been out, and then it was my first time out in weeks, so I figure I should take it easy. But not that easy. I need to get my mileage up.

On with the white fun-run t-shirt, shorts, helmet and iPod, and dialling in Franz Ferdinand as I hit the road. I weave in and out of the North Laines, doing my usual route… and then a set of roadworks I hadn’t seen before force me down onto North Street. I’ve done it before, so I weave through the traffic and onto the Steine.