a strange thing happened on the way to work

I've had a week of mixed luck on the bike this week. Tuesday saw me pick up a puncture at the midway point, Wednesday was wet, and today I had a car driver shout at me.
Normally a motorist shouting at a cyclist is as a result of the driver thinking they own the road (well they do pay road tax...), but today it was because of something completely different. I sensed I had a car right on my back wheel while going down a nice little downhill stretch, but there was also a hint of a following wind. I'd noticed I'd touched 52kph (about 33mph) on my speedo, but the driver was actually shouting at me to tell me I'd clocked about 37mph. Of course by him slip streaming me, I got a marginal advantage of about 3-4% on top of my own efforts!
I'll be taking the train tomorrow, so nothing can go wrong...

Red Balloon Appeal

A neighbour, and friend of mine has pointed me towards a new appeal that's been launched by the Birmingham Children's Hospital, the Red Balloon Appeal.
Click and donate to a very worthy cause.

Back from sunny Fl

After Key West, we drove back up to Florida City and then out into the Everglades. All I can say about the 'glades is that there are lots of mosquitoes and 'gators, and when it rains, its wet. Fortunately we didn't come across many dangerous snakes, unlike the unfortunate 'gator in this story.
After the 'glades we moved on to Collier Seminole state park, then Oscar Scherer SP (outside of Venice, less canals, nicer beach) and finally for camping, Ft De Soto, just south of St Petersburg/Tampa.
After camping, I got to spend a couple of days in Disney, while everyone else was spending a week there for the Lib Dem "wedding of the year" between Shaun Roberts and Miranda Piercy.

miami and beyond

Been out photographing the art deco buildings in Miami. Had hoped to get some good early morning light, but still smoke in the atmosphere from wild fires upstate.
Only spotted one Fairline boat so far (one of the UK's premier boat builders based in the very landlocked Oundle), and that was in Fort Lauderdale.
Off down US1 to Key West for a couple of days camping, after the slendid surroundings of the Albion hotel, Miami.

fort lauderdale

Just popped into a mall in Fort Lauderdale to do a bit of shopping (Chris, Colin and I have run out of clean underwear as we've failed to do laundry on any campsites yet).
Despite the entry in the Rough Guide, Fort Lauderdale doesn't have much to offer... The modern art gallery, shaped like a piece of pie, was in the process of shutting down for the summer.
Weather good, but occasional haze from forest fires in the north of the state. Spoilt the visit to Kennedy Space Center as we could barely see some of the buildings :(
Off to Macy's