South Downs Way 2011
Yes I really did just ride the South Downs Way again – this time with my cousin Steve.
The ride came about when last Christmas he mentioned that it’s always something he really wanted to do. Never one to turn down a cycling opportunity I agreed to do the trip straight away. So, a little later in the year than we’d thought (due to me being in Mongolia for 3 months) we set off on the 3 day, 100+ miles, hill climbing marathon from Winchester to Eastbourne.
And… it went almost entirely without any problems. No fallings off, some light rain on the 3rd day but nothing to slow us down, no mechanical breakdowns, relatively few aches and pains and most of all: NO PUNCTURES! After my previous experiences (with between 4 and 8 riders) having just 2 people (and 2 bikes – both in good working order) made things a lot more straightforward.
Thanks again to Liz for luggage support on the first day (after that we carried it).
We also discovered some amazing vegetable curry pasties in the general store in a little village called Jevington – last stop (and 2 hills) from Eastbourne. So good we went back for a second one (though they got my second one wrong and it turned out to be cheese and onion – still bitter about this!).
Here’s a video I put together of the trip – some gimmicky stuff in this one:
A great way to round off the summer of cycling. Now I’m not commuting I’m looking for some more cycling challenges to motivate me to keep the fitness up through the winter. Anyone???
Afan 2011
Team A’s third visit to Afan this year was as usual packed full of incidents. By now the B&B parking routine seemed like an old friend (you can only really appreciate this if you’ve been there but essentially parking dominates the first evening).This time both Chris and I hired full suspension bikes, leaving only Andy on a hard tail and we stuck to the best two trails: The Wall and Whites Level.
Afan Valley – Whites Level Black Run
Full write up of Team A’s weekend in Wales coming soon but to whet your appetite – here’s a video of just the black run on the White’s Level trail.
Mountain Biking Mongolia
The best of my summer with Hutch mountain biking in the vicinity of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Tourist spots in Mongolia
Just back from Mongolia late last night but I still have tons of photos and video footage to share. Starting with some of the tourist spots I visited during my time in Mongolia (in the breaks between working and biking!).
We have:
- Sukhbaatar square, the main square in Ulaanbaatar.
- Giant Buddah and Zeisan war memorial.
- Terelj national park where I stayed in a Ger for the night (amazing waking up to all those oranges and blues)
- Bogd Khan winter palace (run down apart from one section that has been renovated)
- Giant stainless steal Genghis Khan statue. Really really big, and only built in 2006 – the plans are to surround it with smaller statues of his army.
Tailoring in Mongolia
I turned up in Mongolia with 1 suit and 5 shirts – the minimum (hey my weight allowance was mostly used up by biking gear). But due to low prices and the presence of the expert guidance of Will (who has had an entire wardrobe tailored here) I decided to get some new clothes made.
Building a website in Mongolian
I’m currently working on a web project where the primary language is Mongolian and it’s thrown up a few interesting technical oddities. The Mongolian language uses the Cyrillic alphabet, but it’s not the same as (for instance) the Russian Cyrillic alphabet – oh no, there are a few extra characters.
What I actually eat in Mongolia
NB: My friend Michael has a “not for Mum” button for when he wants everyone other than his Mum to be notified about a new article (well there have to be some perks to programming your own custom web publishing software). Due to high meat content, if there is one time I’d want a “not for Michael” button this would be it…
After the translated Chinese menu post, some people have expressed concern that I am able to eat properly and am not living on a diet of exploded cows and Overlord’s elbows… (ahh bless – thanks for caring – I now know who the motherly types are!) So here’s my assurance that Mongolian food is actually relatively free of weirdness and is quite edible.
Having said that – it is also rather free of fruit and vegetables – its a traditionally nomadic society after all, living off the meat and dairy products from the family herd. For that matter it’s also fairly free of carbohydrates. Oh and flavor – not that much of that either. Yes folks, it’s like an enforced Atkins diet and if I didn’t try not to, it would be quite easy to end up eating beef 3 times a day.
Some photos to prove I’m actually eating rather well (albeit not particularly healthily):
I’m actually back in the UK right now for a short break before heading back to Mongolia for my second stint. In a backlash against the Mongolian diet, I’m eating tons of vegetables and fruit and am vowing to seriously cut down on meat when I go back there. For more on why this is a good idea, check out Michael’s article on how not to get cancer.
North Korean Restaurant, Ulaanbaatar
There aren’t that many North Korean restaurants outside North Korea. But Mongolia, having (relatively) good relations with North Korea does have one – in central Ulaanbaatar, just off Sukhbaatar Square, though finding the entrance wasn’t totally straightforward…
The restaurant was an experience not to be missed – we of course asked to be served specifically the most ‘north’ Korean dishes and the dining experience was completed with an overhead TV playing communist propaganda style music videos.
