Grumpy Old Men On Bikes

You probably thought I was dead!  With all this cycling and sitting by the pool to be done there just isn't time for blogging.   Just The Two of Us On Friday there was a tourist outing to the Kennedy Space Center (I have deliberately adopted the stupid Merican spelling system) but Neil and I, being made of sterner stuff, went off on our bikes.  We returned with a splendid 86 miles under our belts.  We even managed to find a few hills for a bit of variety.  Although I was pleased to have managed 86 miles I was royally pooped at the end and ended up having a microwaved lasagne and crawling off to bed by 9:30.   Do You Really Want to Hurt Me? My saddle does.    See You Later Alligator Yesterday we went for a long ride on a cycle trail though the Green Swamp.  60 miles of paved traffic free trail though fascinating terrain.  Apparently there are more than one million alligators in Florida and, though we didn't see any, they were clearly around.   We didn't swim.    In the eveni

The Arctic Monkeys version NOT Girl's Aloud.  I completely forgot to mention this.......on arrival we presented ourselves at the Hertz desk, only to be told that they had screwed things up and had no car for me.  Before I could work myself up into an appropriate rage she said 'unless you would be willing to accept a Love Machine?'.  I could have kissed her.  It obviously isn't THE love machine but still..... Today we rode out to the east and went through some proper swampland, complete with turtles the size of dinner plates.  I don't know where I imaged turtles live (not that I have given it  lot of thought) but, based on our experience today, they live in burrows.  At about the turning point for our ride we came upon a huge sports complex where some sort of Merican Rounders competition was in progress.  We stopped and watched for a while but, with our limited knowledge of the rules, it was hard to follow. By the time we got home we had clocked up a magnif

Our 'Condom' is a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom apartment on a gated complex with clubhouse, pool and other amenities.  It is very well appointed and was prepared immaculately for our arrival.  I am not entirely sure what benefit is derived from having towels folded into swans but I expect it improves their absorbency or something.  We have our own little balcony from which we can welcome the rising sun and, so far, this has shone strongly from clear blue skies. The cost of all this luxury for a week?  £300.  Not each, all in!  It is cheaper than staying at home.  Florida is literally covered in such complexes and, since the economy nose-dived here, there is massive over-supply and prices reflect this.   Today was sunnier even than yesterday with little wind...pretty perfect for cycling. We are doing a 65 mile loop that has taken us away from the endless holiday homes and into the real central Florida. The ‎riding is flat and easy and the scenery is interesting (not pretty but

I am aware that my entries reporting how wonderful life is may strike sum people as smug, or even bloody annoying. My defence to this is that I couldn't give a crap! Yesterday I endured the 9.5 hour flight to Orlando......I don't think I had fully anticipated how rubbish another long haul flight would be so soon after NZ but the answer turns out to be very rubbish indeed. To make matters worse it is a 'bucket and spade' route, full of common people. We arrived in heavy rain but today has been absolutely spiffy. We did a very respectable 57 mile ride in wonderful sunshine and the roads are much prettier and quieter than i had anticpated. We got home about 3:30 and then headed for the pool for a couple of hours where we soaked up the rays and drank a couple of cold ones. Later we went into town and i ate my own weight in ribs. Under any circumstances today would rate as rather splendid but, given that it is March in blighty, I would say it was a perfect day!

I have been 'recruited' by Virgin-Atlantic to take part in a new consumer research programme.  They have created a sort of social media site, via which selected travellers can record and discuss their experience of flying with Virgin.  We are a bit like mystery shoppers and we have an App that allows us to record (in writing but supported by photos and video) our views on various aspects of the flight, plane and service then upload these when we are connected to the tinterweb.  I will be negotiating free champagne in return for a glowing report with my trolley-dolly!  They are even going to give me £70 for my trouble :-) Over the years I have flown with Virgin more than 200 times - to the point that the whole family once went to the Virgin staff party at SRB's house.  I am something of a fan BUT, towards the end of my time flying with them, I was seeing a change as they became bigger and started to be another BA only with prettier cabin crew (though this alone still

There can be few more reliable harbingers of spring than the appearance of the first cyclist's knees.   Today I got the boys out for the first time this year - wasted and feeble though my legs may be, at least they have a bit of colour thanks to NZ.   ‎Another dent has been made in my mile mountain and another day put to good use (i.e. NOT working!). Time to pack my bucket and spade. Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the EE network.

Mary Chapin Carpenter to save you Googling it. The jet lag from NZ is slowly fading and I am getting up now at an approximately normal time.  I should just about have things sorted by the time I get on a plane to Florida and screw everything up again. With the improved weather I am, at last, able to get out on the bike and have managed a respectable 300 miles over the last 10 days.  I cannot deny that this has been painful and my lack of fitness has never been more apparent - from last September to my return from NZ I have probably ridden fewer than 1000 miles and boy does it show. This cannot continue, so I have set myself a goal.  As goals go it is quite a big one - to cycle 10,000 miles during 2014.  To put things into context, the best I have previously manged is about 9,800 in the year I cycled across the USA. I know the maths is pretty obvious but this requires cycling, on average, 27 miles every single day of the year.  Even more depressing, this means that, by now, I sh