An unexpected week chillin’ in surely one of the word’s most relaxed capital cities. I don’t know how a week with no agenda, no committments, no expectations went so quickly…
The weather was unbelievably good, the people were brilliantly friendly, it was a perfect week to stroll, drink cafe solo, buy cheap clothes, nap and then hit the cervezas. Muy bueno.

Not a pun about the bike riding kit the other girls are wearing but, in fact, proper green birds flying around in Richmond Park. I’ve mentioned them before but this time they sat still long enough. Sorry the picture’s not better, I still panicked a bit. Are they cockatoos d’you reckon?

Saw these very orderly young looking deer when I was bike riding. They’re so pretty with their light coloured fur. Sadly as I’d come into the Park I saw a sign explaining there would be ‘deer culling’ over the coming months. Makes me sad but presume somewhere someone knows what they’re doing…

Seven days turning sleepy, snowy Norway into the new girly holiday destination. We didn’t mean to have that much fun, we just couldn’t stop ourselves…

Highlights: the friendly’n'funny people we met, finding the arctic equivalent of Pizza Hut, dog sledding & snow planting, the Northern Lights (photos coming soon I hope) and finding after 48 hours that we no longer cared that beer was eight quid a pint.

Having been reminded that I wanted to run round Wimbledon Common (thank you) and given how nice the weather was today I kicked on my funky shoes and pinged off. The kit is still really good; this toe-strike thing is feeling more & more comfortable.
suburbs
Clapham Junction to Wimbledon is a funny zig-zaggy effort at the best of times (i.e. on a bike) and I hadn’t put a heap of effort into planning my route. In short I was lost within ten minutes of leaving the house. …

update
Hovering between 1 and 2 degrees this morning and a thick frost sitting on EVerything so oh-wise-one here went for a bike ride…
Well, I’d just got my little mitts on a road bike (thank you, thank you, thank you) and I’d just got my mitts back on it post-service so I was keen to give it a spin. Ah, I thought, how cold can it be… I won’t bang on; talking about the weather is dull. I’ll just say it was freezing, and that when I stopped …

update

Running shoes get knackered quickly don’t they. Annoying, but half the fun of sport is the kit. Lucky girl here because Marie bought my latest pair as a birthday present (thank you my gorgeous friend) AND they’re barefoot shoes, Nike Free 3.0 no less.

Over the last few months I’ve been doing a bit of running around the SW postcodes and it’s been fun. Actually at times it’s been knee-bashing (compared to usual off-roading), dark, rainy n grimy, and sometimes just way too my-gear-is-better-than-yours (yes, worse than Australia) BUT on the whole, good’n'groovy.

More teeth gritting outdoor sport in the Midlands. A glorious trail run with Mark across, around, up & down the Derbyshire hills.

Second proper mountain bike ride. There was mud, snot, frost, snot, frost, mud and some pedalling :)