Done 700 miles of cycling in November 2013

OMG! Can’t believe that I have done just over 700 miles of cycling this month! Just to think my goal at the start of the month was 450 to 500 miles.

Now the race is on to make 6,000 miles before the year is out. Which I am sure I will do, since right now my miles for the years stands at 5,817.3. So leaves me just 182.7 more miles to do…

I will leave you with my favourite cycling photo of the month. Which was taken at Rutland Water, while wearing my sexy blueseventy axium wetsuit.

Wetsuit cycling at Rutland Water

UK TV programmes to watch this week : 30/11/2013

The Lakes: Walking Through History (Channel 4/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Saturday 30th November 2013)

The second series continues, with Tony Robinson embarking on more spectacular walks through some of Britain’s most historic landscapes in search of the richest stories from our past. It was 30 years after the Romans invaded Britain that they were ready to take on the challenge of conquering the Lake District. With the toughest landscape they had encountered in the country, peopled by a rebellious tribe, it was no small task. Two full legions – 11,000 armed men – marched north, led by two top generals. This extraordinary commitment was rewarded, and within a few years, the whole of Lakeland was under Roman control. Tony Robinson tackles the journey, but, as he discovers on this 50-mile walk from Penrith past Ullswater to Ambleside and on to the Irish Sea at Ravenglass, the Romans encountered beauty and danger in equal measure.

Great Continental Railway Journeys (BBC 2/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Sunday 1st December 2013)

Following in the footsteps of early 20th century British tourists, Michael Portillo sets off with his 1913 railway guide to sample the delights of the French and Spanish Atlantic coast. Heading first to Bordeaux, he uncovers an historic British connection to the fine clarets of the region and marvels at the ingenuity of the city’s trams. In Biarritz, he discovers how Britain’s ‘railway king’ Edward VII made the region popular and how he amused himself in the fashionable resort. Across the border in San Sebastian, Michael learns how dynastic diplomacy brought Britain and Spain closer together and rides a hair-raising scenic railway. Heading into the Spanish Basque country, in Bilbao, Michael explores the industrial ties between the two nations and learns to cook a traditional Basque dish.

Britain and the Sea (BBC 1/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Sunday 1st December 2013)

Documentary tracing the crucial importance of the sea to Britain’s trade and to individual livelihoods of coastal communities. Joined on this leg of his epic sail by his son Fred, David follows the trade routes of the west coast of Scotland along the monumental channels that cut through the Romantic Highlands and brought wealth and prosperity to the heart of Scotland. The journey starts at Craobh Haven and takes David along the Crinan Canal, around the Isle of Bute and up the River Clyde towards Glasgow.

Tales From Northumberland with Robson Green (itv/HD | 8:00pm to 8:30pm | Monday 2nd December 2013)

Eight-part series in which Robson Green travels across his native county and discovers how it has played a role in shaping contemporary Britain. In episode six, Robson examines how Northumberland’s heritage is being reinvented for a modern age. He visits the medieval fortress of Alnwick Castle, ancestral home of the Percy family and familiar to millions as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films. At Barter Books in the town of Alnwick, he learns about the origins of the Keep Calm and Carry On slogan. Robson’s final stop is the giant land sculpture of Northumberlandia, recently created from the waste rock from an opencast mine.

A Great British Christmas with Sarah Beeny (Channel 4/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Monday 2nd December 2013)

Sarah Beeny and her husband, artist Graham Swift, explore the history of Christmas through the ages in their stately home, Rise Hall. After spending ten years restoring the Yorkshire property, the family investigate how festive celebrations in Britain have changed in the past 200 years as they delve into the history of Georgian, Victorian, wartime and present-day conventions. Sarah, Graham and their four children take on the challenge of harnessing the best bits of Christmas past as they don historical costumes and experience the reality of bygone festive frolics, finding out what the festive season meant both in their house and across the country. While making Georgian garlands and discovering the first ever Christmas card, the show explores some of the oldest festive traditions and their historical contexts.

The Choir: Sing While You Work (BBC 2/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Monday 2nd December 2013)

As the contest to be crowned ‘best workplace choir’ continues, choirmaster Gareth Malone enters the embattled world of high finance, high flyers and rock bottom reputation at one of the biggest investment and trading banks in the world, Citi, in London’s Canary Wharf. With Gareth imagining long lunches and cigars, he finds himself in a lock down during an anti-capitalist protest, learns how many noughts there are in a trillion and creates his most musically accomplished workplace choir yet. When the bankers choose to sing Man In The Mirror could it signal a moment of reflection or will they drive on with technical ambition and ignore Gareth’s attempts to find some heart?

24 Hours in A and E (Channel 4/HD | 9:00pm t0 10:00pm | Wednesday 4th December 2013)

The award-winning series, filmed round the clock at King’s College Hospital in South London, continues with an episode focusing on a busy day in A&E, with over 400 patients treated in just 24 hours. Peggy, who’s 85, arrives at King’s by ambulance with her doting husband Clement. She’s fallen at home and hurt her knee. It’s the second time she’s fallen in two months and medics want to find out if there’s something more serious going on. Peggy suffers from Alzheimer’s, and Clement reminisces about their life together, including how he proposed to her by accident. But he knows her condition is getting worse.

George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces (Channel 4/HD | 8:00pm t0 9:00pm | Thursday 5th December 2013)

George catches up with designer Max McMurdo, who converted a shipping container into a garden office. This time Max has gone back to his old middle school in Bedford to create a classroom out of two rusting shipping containers. George also visits a prototype for a mini home named QB2, that includes a living area, bathroom with shower, kitchen, double bed and storage space, and is so small it can be driven on the back of the truck. In Somerset, George meets a couple who have turned a vintage vehicle into a mobile cinema business. And there’s also a garden office and a beauty emporium run from a rare 1947 caravan.
(Subtitles, Part 7 of 9, Audio Described, 2012, 3 Star)

Keeping Britain Safe 24/7 (BBC 1/HD | 8:30pm to 9:30pm | Thursday 5th December 2013)

Series meeting the everyday people who keep Britain safe. In autumn, we witness the teams that keep the country moving in the face of the dreaded leaves on the line. Also we see the work of the fire crews of the Cleveland Fire Brigade on Bonfire Night – their busiest night of the year; and as the national birth rate rockets, the midwives of St Thomas’s Hospital in London face an autumnal baby boom.

Robbie Williams: One Night at the Palladium (BBC 1/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Friday 6th December 2013)

Robbie Williams takes over the London Palladium for an evening of swing classics and new songs. Special guests joining Robbie and his big band on stage are Lily Allen, Rufus Wainwright and Muppets Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog, and grumpy old men Statler and Waldorf.

Stobart: Trucks, Trains and Planes (Channel 5 | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Friday 6th December 2013)

Observational documentary series about one of the world’s biggest haulage firms. Trucker Tim watches his weight on a mega trip around Scotland, firefighter Darren reveals his scary side at Southend Airport and Adam, the boss’s son, gets to grips with the timber trail.

All TV guide information taken from DigiGuide — www.getdigiguide.tv/?p=1&r=15119.

Help needed! Getting a new desktop PC

Scan V10 SystemI need everyone’s help! I am in the process of getting myself a new tower PC. Some of you may know my laptop died a number of weeks back. Also my current tower PC, is getting very old. Had it since 2008, even then it was not new at the time. My older brother give it to me.

Right now I am looking at 3xs.scan.co.uk/ShowSystem.asp?SystemID=1634. At £415, it’s the most I am really willing to spend on a new computer. It will only be used for editing my websites, some photo and video editing. Never play games, so don’t need a high end spec computer.

Please comment below and let me know what you think of it!

All my UK cycle routes on a single map : 25/11/2013

UK cycled map (25-11-2013)Here is an updated map of all the places I have cycled to in the UK. The data is from 13th September 2008 (when I got the Garmin Edge 705 GPS), to 24th November 2013.

The map includes the End to End cycle, that I did in August 2009. Also all the places I have cycled to from Killearn and Little Bytham.

The map has been made using Memory-Map.

UK TV programmes to watch this week : 23/11/2013

Doctor Who (BBC 1/HD | 7:50pm to 9:05pm | Saturday 23rd November 2013)

Sci-fi drama. The Doctors embark on their greatest adventure in this 50th anniversary special. In 2013, something terrible is awakening in London’s National Gallery; in 1562, a murderous plot is afoot in Elizabethan England; and somewhere in space an ancient battle reaches its devastating conclusion. All of reality is at stake as the Doctor’s own dangerous past comes back to haunt him

Walking Through History (Channel 4/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Saturday 23rd November 2013)

Tony Robinson returns for a new three-part series of Walking Through History, embarking on more spectacular walks through some of Britain’s most historic landscapes in search of the richest stories from our past. In this first episode, Tony heads off for a 45-mile walk across Wiltshire to tell the story of life and death in the last centuries of the Stone Age. His route over chalk downlands and Salisbury plain takes him through the greatest concentration of prehistoric sites in Europe.

Doctor Who Live: The Afterparty (BBC 3 | 9:05pm to 10:05pm | Saturday 23rd November 2013)

Zoe Ball and Rick Edwards are live, getting the party started for the ultimate celebration of 50 years of Doctor Who. With an impressive guest list of Doctors and companions both past and present, celebrity fans and some very special surprises, this is the afterparty not to be missed. As well as all the gossip on the new episode The Day of the Doctor, there are exclusive interviews, showstopping monster moments and plenty of fun.

Great Continental Railway Journeys (BBC 2/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Sunday 24th November 2013)

With his 1913 guidebook in hand and clad in a luminous pink jacket, improbable Bohemian Michael Portillo explores the stunning art nouveau architecture of the Czech capital. In a cafe popular with artists of the time he discovers the dance craze of the day – the tango – and gamely gives it a go. In the spa of kings, Marienbad, now known as Marianske Lazne, Michael samples the sulphurous waters and wallows in peat and mud. At the Skoda factory in Pilsen he investigates how the machine products of peacetime gave way to the manufacture of armaments for war and test drives a state of the art passenger train locomotive made there today. Crossing the border from Bohemia to Bavaria, Michael encounters a fire breathing dragon in Furth-im-Wald and in Nuremberg he rides German railway history – made in Britain. Arriving in Munich, he discovers an early 20th century pioneer who laid the foundations for the city’s pre-eminence in science and technology today.

Britain and the Sea (BBC 1/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Sunday 24th November 2013)

David Dimbleby continues his voyage round Britain, sailing his boat Rocket along the south east coast from Hampshire to Kent. This was the front line coast, the edge of Britain essential to its defence and the first point of attack for invasion forces. From the great battleships of Nelson to the sea forts of Henry VIII, this is a story that embraces Britain’s darkest and most heroic moments.

Tales From Northumberland with Robson Green (itv/HD | 8:00pm to 8:30pm | Monday 25th November 2013)

Eight-part series in which Robson Green travels across his native county and discovers how it has played a role in shaping contemporary Britain. In this edition, Robson meets some of the proud Northumbrians who are keeping some of the region’s oldest traditions alive in the 21st century. He goes fishing for sea salmon with one of the last remaining fishermen to use a traditional Northumbrian coble boat, a vessel that dates back centuries, before heading to the Rothbury Traditional Music Festival to meet the young poets who are helping to preserve the region’s dialect. He also meets musician Kathryn Tickell, who has taken the traditional sounds of the Northumbrian pipe and fiddle to a global audience.

The Choir: Sing While You Work (BBC 2/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Monday 25th November 2013)

Choirmaster Gareth Malone returns to create harmony in five of Britain’s biggest workplaces. He feels the heat at Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, as he continues his bid to find the year’s best workplace choir. Bells and blue lights disrupt auditions but when rehearsals finally get underway Gareth tries to give the backroom staff the confidence to stand tall and be heard amidst the firefighters who attack choral singing with all sirens blaring.

24 Hours in A and E (Channel 4/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Wednesday 27th November 2013)

The award-winning series, filmed round the clock at King’s College Hospital in South London, continues with an episode that focuses on the strong bonds within families and the challenge of breaking bad news. Bill, who’s 92, arrives at King’s with breathing difficulties and a swollen leg. He’s accompanied by his stepdaughter Jo. As he’s treated, doctors suspect the shortness of breath and swelling could be due to a clot and send him for X-rays. But the test results suggest there may be something more seriously wrong. Meanwhile, Bill talks about reaching his nineties and his strong bond with his stepdaughter. Andy comes into King’s with stomach cramps. The 45-year-old had a liver transplant ten years ago and, as doctors investigate the cause of his discomfort, Andy reflects on living with someone else’s liver, growing up in the East End, his time as a punk living in a squat in Waterloo and his career with the Royal Navy

George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces (Channel 4/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Thursday 28th November 2013)

George is invited onboard a blinged-up double decker bus, which has been converted into a posh restaurant and bar. He meets a couple living in an old railway station and sees their amazing plans for the waiting room, and gets to see the next generation of high spec beach huts. George also meets the French couple who have converted an old 1974 Citroen van to bring a bit of haute cuisine to West Yorkshire. And on his own build, George has a radical idea that he hopes will open his tree house to the elements.

Stobart: Trucks, Trains and Planes (Channel 5 | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Friday 29th November 2013)

Observational documentary series following one of the world’s biggest haulage firms. On a mammoth 500-mile multi-drop trip across Scotland carrying a load of luxury 4x4s, Gareth is hit by delays on the notorious A9. Adam, the CEO’s son, has completed his training and joins the trucking team, taking the wheel of a fully-loaded 44-tonne log wagon.

All TV guide information taken from DigiGuide — www.getdigiguide.tv/?p=1&r=15119.

Seventh 30+ mile cycle of November 2013

That’s me just done the seventh 30+ mile of this month. Which takes my monthly total up to 494.6 miles. Meaning I, now only have to do 5.8 more miles to bet the most number of miles, I have ever done in any November. I set that back in 2010.

I will now leave you with the route map, elevation graph, route statistics and photos.

Route map:-

21-11-2013 bike ride

Elevation graph:

21-11-2013 bike ride elevation graph

Route statistics:-

  • Start time: 12:23 pm.
  • Distance: 35.62 miles.
  • Time: 3:01:17 (h:m:s).
  • Elapsed Time: 4:06:24 (h:m:s).
  • Avg Speed: 11.8 mph.
  • Max Speed: 29.1 mph.
  • Elevation Gain: 538 meters.
  • Min Elevation: 44 meters.
  • Max Elevation: 143 meters.

Data from: Garmin Connect.

Photos from the cycle:-

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Third 40+ mile cycle of November 2013

I am really on fire this month! So far done 459 miles. Which is 223.6 more miles than I did in November of last year (2012). It’s also the third 40+ mile cycle of the month! The way I am going, I will hit 600 miles before the month is out. Well if the weather plays nice that is!

I will now leave you with the route map, elevation graph, route statistics and photos.

Route map:-

19-11-2013 bike ride

Elevation graph:

19-11-2013 bike ride elevation graph

Route statistics:-

  • Start time: 10:41 am.
  • Distance: 44.43 miles.
  • Time: 3:41:45 (h:m:s).
  • Elapsed Time: 5:16:17 (h:m:s).
  • Avg Speed: 12 mph.
  • Max Speed: 27.3 mph.
  • Elevation Gain: 730 meters.
  • Min Elevation: 27 meters.
  • Max Elevation: 141 meters.

Data from: Garmin Connect.

Photos from the cycle:-

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Peterborough Greyhounds : Children In Need 2013

Every year at the Peterborough Greyhounds we dress up for Children In Need. This year we are did Cops and Robbers. I believe we raised £874.29. I will leave you with some photos from the evening.

More photos can be found at www.gordon-valentine.com/zenphoto/england/peterboroughgreyhounds/cin-2013/

UK TV programmes to watch this week : 16/11/2013

Great Continental Railway Journeys (BBC 2/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Sunday 17th November 2013)

Armed with his 1913 railway guide, Michael Portillo explores Scandinavia and discovers the royal roots of early 20th century British travellers’ close dynastic ties with the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway. After braving one of the world’s oldest rollercoasters in Copenhagen’s famous Tivoli Gardens, Michael takes the train across the Oresund Bridge linking Denmark to Sweden, where he retraces the tracks of a train which carried a revolutionary Russian passenger on an epic voyage. In Lund, he samples a Smorgasbord before having a Highland fling in Gothenburg, where he test drives a vintage Volvo. Crossing the border again into Norway, Michael discovers how in 1913 this young nation expressed its own distinctively modern identity in plays, paintings and polar exploration.

Britain and the Sea (BBC 1/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Sunday 17th November 2013)

David Dimbleby sails the south west coast of England – along the coast of Devon and Cornwall – in his own sailing boat, Rocket, exploring maritime history, art and architecture as he goes. Caught up in stormy weather, he makes it to safety in the nick of time, to tell the story of Sir Francis Drake and a fantastic array of adventurers, explorers, pirates and smugglers. It’s also a chance for David to enjoy some of Britain’s most beautiful coastline and turn his hand to a bit of art himself. David also gingerly submits himself to one of the oldest maritime art forms of all – the art of the tattoo!

Africa 2013: Countdown to the Rains (BBC 2/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Sunday 17th November 2013)

Kate Humble and Simon King report from Zambia, following the lives of the animals living along the Luangwa River at a critical time in the seasons. It’s been the longest dry season in living memory but the rains have finally come and now everything has changed. Thirst has trapped the elephants, buffalo and antelope close to the river where they’ve been easy prey for the lions, leopards and wild dogs. But now the grazing animals can spread out across the valley and the predators are going to have to work a whole lot harder for their food.

Tales From Northumberland with Robson Green (itv/HD | 8:00pm to 8:30pm | Monday 18th November 2013)

Eight-part series in which Robson Green travels across his native county and discovers how it has played a role in shaping contemporary Britain. In episode four, Robson discovers how Northumberland’s border with Scotland has affected British history and how the bloody battles of the Middle Ages turned the area into a constant war zone. He visits Berwick-upon-Tweed, a town that changed hands between the English and the Scots thirteen times, and drops in on a training session with Berwick Rangers. Uniquely, they are the only English football team to play in the Scottish league. He also attends the Flodden Ride Out, when hundreds of locals cross the border on horseback to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Flodden, where King James IV and the flower of Scottish nobility were slain on 9 September 1513.

The Choir: Sing While You Work (BBC 2/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Monday 18th November 2013)

Choirmaster Gareth Malone returns to create harmony in five of Britain’s biggest workplaces. As the contest to be crowned ‘best workplace choir’ continues, Gareth checks out the talent at supermarket giant, Sainsbury’s. When the choir’s deepest bass breaks cover with his passion for Dolly Parton will the head office high flyers and the shop and depot workers finally sing with one voice, united by the Queen of country?

24 Hours in A and E (Channel 4/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Wednesday 20th November 2013)

The award-winning series, filmed round the clock at King’s College Hospital in South London, continues with a touching episode dedicated to love. Concerned young parents Nicole and Stefian arrive in Resus by ambulance with their 19-month-old baby daughter Xah’Nae. She’s been vomiting, has a high fever and has become floppy and unresponsive. The King’s medical team are concerned that Xah’Nae may have a life-threatening infection around her brain and in her spine, possibly encephalitis. Doctors hope a strong mixture of antibiotic and anti-viral drugs will stabilise her.

George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces (Channel 4/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Thursday 21st November 2013)

George visits the ultimate in compact designer living – the Yo! Home, a futuristic living area that boasts ingenious space-saving technology, where the double bed rises from the floor and into the ceiling, to reveal the gorgeous living area, and the kitchen and bathrooms are cleverly hidden from view. Inspired by this design, George and William put together the main rectangular living area for the tree house, and prove that by folding everything into the walls it is possible to place the kitchen, living and bedroom into a 12-square-metre box. George also meets a couple in the Wirral who are willing to put all their savings towards building the ultimate wilderness beach hut.

An Adventure in Space and Time (BBC 2/HD | 9:00pm to 10:30pm | Thursday 21st November 2013)

This special one-off drama travels back in time to 1963 to see how Doctor Who was first brought to the screen. Actor William Hartnell felt trapped by a succession of hard-man roles. Wannabe producer Verity Lambert was frustrated by the TV industry’s glass ceiling. Both of them were to find unlikely hope and unexpected challenges in the form of a Saturday tea-time drama. Allied with a team of unusual but brilliant people, they went on to create the longest running science fiction series ever made.

Stobart: Trucks, Trains and Planes (Channel 5 | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Friday 22nd November 2013)

Observational documentary series following one of the world’s biggest haulage firms. Tim has his biomass credentials put to the test, a dodgy tyre puts Roy on the back foot on a bank holiday, a concrete staircase destined for Southend airport’s new terminal has a weight problem and Paul tries to get a 16-foot trailer through a 15-foot bridge.

The Graham Norton Show (BBC 1/HD | 10:35pm to 11:20pm | Friday 22nd November 2013)

The award-winning host continues his anarchic talk show. Together on Graham’s sofa are Oscar-winning actress and writer Emma Thompson, starring in new movie Saving Mr Banks; double Doctor Whos Matt Smith and David Tennant; top comedian Jimmy Carr; and pop star Robbie Williams, chatting and performing I Wanna Be Like You.

All TV guide information taken from DigiGuide — www.getdigiguide.tv/?p=1&r=15119.