Classic "lift music" scene:
OK, so they're not as good-looking as the real Girl from Ipanema,
but they're so much better than this.
Archive for 2016
Did the earth move for you?
It's the 1st of August and the layout of the north of England has gone barmy. The LDNP extended within Cumbria - I can just about understand that. But the YDNP extended into Cumbria and Lancashire? How does that work?
So, now there are even more bits of the LDNP that are not merely unmarked but simply don't appear on my worn-in but not yet worn-out OS OL English Lakes paper set, or my Memory-Map 1:25k Lake District 'puter maps, or even my two excellent AZ Adventure Lake District map-books.
How long before the OS tries to sell us Outdoor Leisure OL "7 and a bit"?
Clearly history taught us nothing:
Warmongering pluckers
Finding the limitations of Lycra and clip-ins
The first time we met we were stuck in traffic on the Aylestone Road. The pedestrilist*, unable to overtake or undertake the pulled-over bus obstructing the cycle-lane, and unable to nip onto the pavement due to there being safety-railings, was leaning on my car's roof-rail, apparently incapable of unclipping his Tour de Leicester cycling clogs from his pedals in order to use his own feet to keep himself upright. I wound down the window and asked him to desist but he didn't. Luckily, the traffic started to move on so there was no further set-to.
About a mile or so further on the traffic had stopped again. I looked in the door-mirror and again there was a Lycra-clad someone leaning on, or about to lean on, my roof-rail. I was fairly sure that it was the same miscreant.
The car in front of mine had pulled forward a bit and had left a car's-length of space in front of mine, so I duly moved into the gap. Sir Isaac Newton and stupidity did the rest. In the rear-view mirror I saw a perfect arc of toppling torso, through the open windows I heard a crumpling noise.
From the sounds being emitted from the patch of sun-kissed tarmac behind my car, I surmised the following:
- Lycra doesn't protect the wearer from impact;
- Clip-ins don't clip-out very quickly;
- My I.Q. and parentage are now questionable.
YouTube has a similar version:
*Pedestrilist: A cyclist who believes that it's OK to chop and change between using the road or the pavement according to whatever obstructions are encountered, such as prams, red lights and buses. No prior indication, life-saver look behind or consideration for others is required in order to execute such random, unpredictable and dangerous manoeuvres.
I should point out now that I have great respect for law-abiding cyclists. I just don't like selfish twats.
Kicking AML’s Ass: Up!
Two weeks of medically-unaided recovery have made the following kick-ass blood-count differences:
- Hb: up from 90 to 101 (normal range: 130-180 g/L)
- Platelets: up from ~70 to 223 (normal range: 140–400 (× 109 cells/L))
- Whites: up from 2.4 to 4.6 (normal range: 4–11 (× 109 cells/L))
- Newts: up from 0.82 to 1.65 (normal range: 1.5–7.5 (× 109 cells/L))
After today's check-up, the one outpatient appointment per fortnight has been changed to one per month 🙂
So that's good news for you lot, as I'll have to find something less boring to rattle on about.
Kicking AML’s Ass: Out of the woods, I can see the pub in the distance
Cycle 4 has finished.
