Straya Day

What a mess. It was nearly a week ago and it feels like months ago.



I've only now got the courage to look through the photos taken and you can see why.


Not a bad effort for a Wednesday night...


I've got heaps of them!



Happy (belated) Straya Day.

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Queen Libby's joint

Forgot to mention that I had a look through Windsor Castle on Sunday after the duathlon. About time too, I've wanted to check it out each of the 5 times I've been to Windsor.




It was pretty impressive- especially the fact that many of the parts open to the public are still used. Didn't see Libby, DoE or Charlie; they might have been playing croquet drinking games out the back. Who do you reckon would win something like that?

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Polaroid App

I thought I'd use this Polaroid app a little more often but on reflection the photos look nothing like a Polaroid...

Whack a white border on it and darken the corners and call it done? Oh well, here are my 2 LDN bikes anyway:




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Need a New Computaaaa!

I spent an hour last night and another 20 minutes this morning trying to post the video and photos from the Red Bull Mini-drome on the weekend but my computer is running like an old lady after too many shandies. I'll try again tonight.

Here's one pic from my phone:




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All Bull, No Hearne Hill

The Red Bull Mini-drome on Saturday night was brilliant. I loved it. But a slight downside was that there was no sign of anyone collecting for or promoting the Hearne Hill Trust. This was a massive missed opportunity considering there were 200 or so bike loving people there watching. Nevertheless, the velodrome looked fun, the people were slowly getting into it, and the stacks were brilliant.

For the finals it was a pursuit format for 10 laps. One rider on each side of the velodrome. Some races were over within 2 laps, some went right down to the wire and the crowd loved those. With the velodrome being so small it was less about power and more about bike handling abilities. The closer you kept the bike to the sweet spot on the banks the fast you went. One chick came from 3/4 of a lap down to eventually win after finding the right lines, despite having less power than her competitor. It was intriguing to watch.



I pulled out my camera for the first time since early last year and took a few random photos but because my wind-up computer is running slowly I'll put them in a separate post tomorrow.

Hearne Hill and Red Bull

I'm a fan of saving some historical locations which can still be used/ admired/ learned from. I think the Hearne Hill velodrome in London's South East can offer all of the above. It was built in 1891 and is the only remaining venue from the 1948 London Olympics. It's quite decrepid but there seems to be a local crew willing to do it up. It's a shame that this crew only became vocal when the council suggested they might smash it down, however, they seem to be getting a little attention now.
http://www.savethevelodrome.com/

I'm also a fan of taking established sports and offering them on a smaller scale in order to fit a party in there too. And thanks to this offering I have ended my one-man boycott of Red Bull after their poor treatment of should-be world F1 champion Mark Webber last season. This is the Red Bull Minidrome:

Red Bull Minidrome from Eyeball Moving Image on Vimeo.

The vid above was the last minidrome party in NZ (you can tell by people getting up after big stacks- cousies are hard!) but the German manufacturers of the velodrome claim that the new one for London is banked in a way that allows speeds of 80km/hr! There are 100 people entered and the top 32 go through to the finals at 7pm on Saturday night.

Luckily I will be there to induldge in what this blog post would have you believe are my two favourite passions; watching mini-sports and giving money to good charities because entry is through a donation to the Hearne Hill Velodrome Trust.

Come along and support if you can.

http://www.redbull.co.uk/cs/Satellite/en_UK/Event/RedBullMiniDrome--BikeSportsEvents--RedBull-021242923679584

Him & Her

In the absence of having a life worth telling you about(I'm on hiatus from working hard- I'll just sleep and watch BBC iPlayer for another week or two) I will show you a clip from my new favourite tv show: Him & Her.



Nothing ever actually happens in this show. It's just awkward humour about a young, lazy couple who don't go out and don't want anyone to come around. It took me a bit to get into this show but as you gain an understanding of the characters it gets funnier and funnier. There are only 6 episodes in the first season but luckily the BBC have put my TV licence tax to good use and approved a 2nd series. Looking forward to it.