You can’t call the Embassy to book an appointment, you have to go there in person to get the appointment. Because of the number of Danes in this country, I was told, so there is a massive waiting list to get that appointment. So all in all you have to make three trips to the Embassy if you want a new shiny Danish passport.

As soon as you set your feet inside the Embassy you are greeted by posters and magazines telling you that you should have a cycling holiday in Denmark, trust me it is a great place to cycle so do go if you have the chance.

Imagine my disappointment when I saw that the Danish Embassy had put up some massive flower pots outside, well let’s just call them what they are: concrete bollards. Yes, I know there were some issues with some drawings a few years back, but there is a better way to tell the “attackers” that we are not scared. Put up some bicycles outside with flowers in the handlebar baskets, that would tell them. And also leave me a place to park my bicycle when I go there to pick up my passport. I had to lean my bicycle up outside against the “flower pots” as there is nowhere to lock the bicycle to anything. Luckily, there was a security guard who looked after it, not much other use he could do, if perish the thought, a truck fully loaded with explosives drove into the Embassy.

It would also make Denmark look more inviting and put a smile on you as you cycle past the Embassy.

Rather than make the Embassy look like the fortress that is the American Embassy in London *). This is the new American Embassy in London to be build over the next few years, it just needs the drawbridge since it’s already got a moat.

*) I have seen it in Oslo and have been told about the one in Copenhagen and I take it elsewhere too always looks like a fortress.

Related posts:

1. Mental note to oneself When you lock up your pride and joy, your new...
2. London’s summer … … of cycling Eh ? I live in London and...
3. International travels   Well no matter what you say the terrorist have...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I jumped on the canal in NW6 and started to ride on what I really hoped would be a pleasant ride across London. Away from the cold north westerly wind and traffic, the sun even came out to play a few times on my journey. This part of London is generally very nice and at bit of nature in the city especially in the spring and summer. Spring hasn’t arrived yet in London. A wee bit late because it’s been cold for a loooong time and we even had snow that lasted more than a few hours. The canal does cut through a few parks and next to other green areas like a golf course, so plenty of green to look at. Even the odd wildlife like ducks, swans and the odd heron.

The various councils or the waterways people have been on the canal and cut back the foliage which made the ride much easier than in the summer where it narrows down the path quite a lot.

That also helped me to see the areas that the green leaves in the summer cover, and I really got depressed. The best way to describe what I saw is a landfill, pretty much like the photo. Under and next to bridges, behind and over back fences of factories and private homes and generally just scattered around.

There were piles of junk food packing, tins, cigarette boxes and then all the other garbage. Some places it was clearly people who had come down to the canal to sit on the benches that had just dumped their leftovers. Other places it was companies that just tipped it over the fence – “no-one will know”. And all over it was just drop, no that is a wrong word, thrown out stuff that someone couldn’t be arsed carry to the nearest bin. Yes I know the UK and especially London have a lack of bins, but then carry it with you, take it home and use the bin there.

Some of the saddest sights was the coots building a nest in and with the garbage.

This is not the only place in London where it is bad. The Welsh Harp in NW2, is a big park and reservoir with a walk and cycle way all around. The same goes there, plenty of just thrown stuff and fly tipping. It will take months if not years to clear this up.

At the end of the six or so miles I rather enjoyed getting back onto the busy roads, simply because I could not see this depressing sight.

Do we not care at all ?

On a lighter note: When arrived at the depot and handed over my paperwork so that I could get my parcel, the man behind the counter went into the back office only to come back and look at me a bit confused. He then asked if I had come all the way from SW6 out to Greenford? Yes, I answered. By bus or car? No, on my bicycle and I pointed to my Surly leaning up against the window outside.

You must be fit, man! He said in a very strong Jamaican accent.

Only a round trip of 23-25miles including work that day.

Related posts:

1. Boxing Day Ride 4.0 Well we didn’t see any boxing but there was plenty...
2. The Grand Union Canal … … started of in Parsons Green, and had a not...
3. A brrr Ride It is amazing that you can post on the...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Four sided : The four sided design made them extremely easy to learn to use. Simple to clip in, no flipping the pedal around to be able to clip in, e.g. just put your foot down and you are clipped in. The four sided design also meant that if you walk around in your cycling shoes or get mud on the pedals, the mud will just fall right off and you still can clip in.

Look : the eggbeaters just looks way cool, great design and the feel of them is like something that will last long and can handle a beating.

Simple : Being new to the game of cycling clip less and cycling shoes, back then, they looked well simple compared to others. Didn’t have fancy screws here and there to adjust them. Which can be a problem for others, if you like to set your pedals up, but I was a beginner, so KISS (keep it simple stupid). There are two settings for clipping out, 15 and 20 deg angle, plenty of float which I read was good if you have knee problems. Which I have especially with my left knee, I only had to change of the angle of one cleat a bit to get it to work, well it was the first time I have ever put cleats on my shoes. In the four years I have cycled clip less I have never had any problems with my knees, so that is a win for the Crank Brothers pedals.

And on top of that, their website look very slick and the packaging the pedals come in felt and looked like this is a good investment.

I have two sets off candy C, because now and again I would like to be able to cycle with out clipping in, the candy’s makes that happen for short distances, which I need. I also got one set off eggbeater SC and a set of eggbeater C on my other bicycles, you can get by cycling with normal shoes on the eggbeaters but you can easily slip.

In the last 4 years I have used both the candy and eggbeaters I have gone trough two set of each. That last pair of candy’s I got just managed to clock up just under 3000 miles before they broke*). That is not very long compared to other pedals out there. Many of my cycling friends use SPD’s and do many more miles than I do before they need service or new pedals.

*) that is mainly commuting with one week long tour over the last 6 months. And definitely not been knocked or banged as they are on my new pride and joy, the Surly Long Haul Trucker.

I don’t do MTB’ing or drop my bicycle onto the road or push hard on my pedals I use the gears. Most of my cycling is commuting in London and the odd cycle tour. And therefore I would like my pedals to last quite a bit longer than 3000 miles before they break on me.

What breaks all the time is the ball bearings, the spring and “hooks” hold on much longer. Though I did break one “hook” on one eggbeater but that is probably linked to the massive pedal strike I had on my fixed a half year before. And with only 3 hooks and therefore only 2 sided the pedal lasted a few more months before the bearings went.

I contacted Crank Brothers last year when my last pair died, and their answer was …

As to your comments on not having to buy rebuild kits; Crank Brothers pedals are designed to be rebuildable as this will provide the longest lifespan of the pedals. Other brands may appear to last ‘forever’ but after they break they will need to be replaced as a complete unit. A simple regrease of the spindle every now and then will reduce bearing wear significantly and reduce the need to do a full rebuild.

Well my argument against this is the friends I know who got SPD’s or the like, pretty much fit and forget their pedals and get many more miles out of them before they even have to think about servicing them. I talked to a friend the other day and he told me that he had a set of TIME pedals which have been going for ten years without service.

I should have some left over bits from my last repair and should hopefully be able to fix the candy C’s. I also do hope that the eggbeaters SC I just got will clock up more miles than just 3000 miles before they fall apart.

I really don’t know if this is linked to the price I pay for them, as I can’t afford the high end titanium pedals that Crank Brothers produce and therefore have to go for the lower end pedals.

The worrying part is that while I was writing this up I checked out ,citycycling always a good read and .anth is top bloke too. In his post on the blog “second fall in as many weeks” he tells us why he came off. He have come of his bicycle the other day because his Crank Brothers (candy) spindle snapped. I’m lucky and haven’t come off any of my bicycle when the pedals have failed but .anth came off quite dramatically. Lucky it was only a scrape to the bicycle and his jacket, though it could have been much worse since it was in rush hour traffic. Sadly as he report no one stopped to ask if he was ok when he was laying on the road all tangled up in his bicycle.

I really don’t fancy splashing out for 3-4 set of new pedals and cleats for my shoes, but if the pedals from Crank Brothers still fall apart I have to. Because I don’t fancy a drop just like .anth because my pedals have failed and I have had four sets fail in the last four years, that is too much.

Raitings:
I would have loved to give Crank Brothers more but because of so many failing in the last four years I can’t. Though the easy of use, when they work, and their look still pulls the rating up. If you still want Crank Brothers do spend a lot of money on the pedals as I do hope that the top end last a longer than the low end pedals. Which I can’t afford to test out for you.

LINK : Crank Brothers

Related posts:

1. Shimano XT HollowTech II bottom bracket When I was reading up what to get when we...
2. A final review of the Lake I/O SDL The Lake I/O have served me well for the last...
3. A love letter to my bicycle You came into my life in the summer of ’95....

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I’m kinda sad that I didn’t use this blog to list our last problems with running water that wasn’t inside the pipes. Some of you might recall the great flood of 2007/2008 and the resulting lack of kitchen for a year and the bath room for around 3-4 months in 2008. Just because of the “wonderful” tenants upstairs who among other things decided to take the washing machine with them even though it belonged to the owner. They were kind enough to not turn of the water to said machine, which resulted in 2-3 inches of water in the kitchen, hallway and living room upstairs, which of course ended up in our flat. I will not bore you with the other details such as calling out for plumbers, councils, housing trusts and the “brilliant” builders from ROC who had to come back three times to get the kitchen somewhat right. See I’m already going off on one and will leave it at this just for all of us sake.

Anywhoo, we called out wonderful landlady (who was brilliant throughout the great flood) and she told us to call Pimlico Plumbers and get them around tout de suite. Five minutes on the phone and less than 30 minutes later a very nice and friendly plumber arrived, let’s call him Steve because that was his name.

Steve and I then had a look see what could be the problem and agreed that it was coming from upstairs for sure. But the only problem was that in the famous flat upstairs no one was home, so we tried the one above that. Where we were meet by an dear old man who was very sorry for the spill because he had accidentally knocked the tap open and left it running. He haven’t heard it since he is deaf.

We also learned that person above the old gent’s flat is experiencing some issues with the waste pipes. She can’t have a shower while the washing machine is on because the water will not drain fast enough. But she have managed to work around that for the moment, but it is just leak in waiting. So while Steve and I was running around outside, Peli was busy on the phone to the emergency number to our council. Though that proved to be fruitless as the gent on the other end of the phone wasn’t very keen on sending someone out even though we know (from previous experience) that if this goes wrong we will be majorly f’ed. Even though we know that there is a problem with waste pipes and that is the council responsibility, I know that there have to be a big leak before they would even get out here. See what I’m trying to do here … preventative care, but oh no that is not how the council do things.

At least today was just a small leak. The joys of living in the ground floor flat, but at least we have a great landlady.

Related posts:

1. Say no to phonebooks The other day I was just thinking what a waste...
2. Well it is Friday the 13th Our combi boiler have a ghost in it, two to...
3. DIY finds … Today I was doing a spot of DIY, since we...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Google have just launched their own thing called buzz.google.com, some say it is the twitter/facebook killer, we will see. I do like the fact that it is integrated into my gmail, though I’m still waiting for it on the desktop but my iPhone can buzz already. I also like that I can “tag” my Buzz to a location and add pictures and from what I understand there is no 140 characters limit like on twitter. It is only users of gmail that get the best out of Buzz even if you mark the Buzz public and google picks it up on the map/latitude and live search.

So I still have to cross post onto facebook and twitter to make sure that all my friends will get to read what I have Buzzed. That is why I like wordpress since I can with a plugin get wordpress to post on twitter and facebook for me. But for some reason it is not a official feature or official plugin that does it, I have to test out a few to find one that works with the version I have or does what I want and need.

So please social network old and future ones make it so that your users can cross post. Because your users are not just using one (your) network they are on various network. The more open source and API you get the better. but please build in the feature from the start. What about making a standard like XML so that it is easier to post on the network you are socialising on. I can only see it as a win win for your users, because I’m sure it is not just me who are on facebook just because others are. I only use facebook as an address book, since people tend not to let others know that the have changed their email address but are happy to update facebook. And to see the photos that they want to share are people don’t upload to a gallery and send you the link or email the photos to you any more.

I like the fact that Buzz is integrated into my gmail because that means only one place to login for the both. And with the rumoured facebook email integration it can only become better, though I don’t think I will swap away from my gmail account any time soon.

Related posts:

1. Massive LEGO update II Yeah I’m getting a wee bit lazy and therefore only...
2. Don’t panic ! May the 25th is the best day of they year,...
3. Lego vs Rubik I know which love the most but I have always...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Here is a little background on why I did what I did last night. I ride in a zen-like way and don’t let others egg me on, because when I’ve arrived at my destination I really don’t want to spend time calming down again. Because my work and my friends do not want to hear me ranting along about the bad behaviour of some stupid plonker of a driver, pedestrian or cyclist.

So yesterday we had a day out with great friends and a beautiful ride and were on our way over to some good friends for a cup of tea and cake. This great day I was not in mood to be ruined because of some plonker with no road sense. So therefore I rode ‘zen’ and just wanted to get on with it and continue to enjoy this wonderful day.

I have read quite a few stories online about incidents when no one was hurt and the police just said ‘move along’. At the best if the police can find the plonker, they might go around and have a word. And honestly I find that worthless, if the plonker was dumb enough to do what he did, I don’t think ‘a word’ would stop him from doing it again. But to get to that you have to endure the police who are busy with other things. You really have to push the issue. And I really didn’t want to end a good day out in a police station filling in forms, to maybe have just a word spoken to the plonker.

So what happened yesterday, we were on Pope’s Lane coming up to the junction of South Ealing Road heading straight over to Little Ealing Lane. I was in front at the stop line, around 3-4 feet out from the kerb. Wow was behind me, around 4-5 feet away from the kerb, with Peli behind. Behind us was a row of cars and the first in line was Mr. Plonker. The stop line is set back some yards from the junction to let buses turn into Pope’s Lane. We are heading straight into Little Ealing Lane, where there is a narrowing with bollards in the middle of the road for pedestrians and traffic lights.

All three of us were in secondary to primary position of the lane and when it turned green we all set off. Though the plonker tried his best to overtake. But, he then figured out he couldn’t overtake, given the narrowing of the road ahead, and the oncoming traffic who were turning right. So, Mr and Mrs Plonker started to shout at us and pull in towards us, but had me and Wow shouting back and Peli squeezed at the back. He managed to push past, since we cyclists are soft targets and moved away. Mrs Plonker was also so busy shouting out the window while giving us the “reverse victory salute” though her hand got stuck in the window while rolling it up and she couldn’t pull her hand back in.

This of course made me laugh out loud. Since I have thought about it, I know laughing wasn’t a smart move. I should have kept quiet and I’m sure that the plonker would have zoomed along and out of our way. But my burst of laughter caused Mr Plonker to slam on the brakes and jump out of the car. Mr Plonker jumped out, headed towards me (I was still on the bike) with a large amount of aggression and gave me a good shove on the shoulder, which pushed me into the lane of oncoming traffic. Fortunately no cars were coming, and I did not fall off the bicycle. I did not physically retaliate. This is the point when I should have stopped and called the police and reported the assault, but read the above again.

Wow had now come up front of the car to block it from moving, and Peli was behind the car taking photos. Mr Plonker now was busy telling Wow where we should cycle on the road and I went over to tell him that he was wrong. In the car the Mrs Plonker was busy getting her phone out to take photos along with an approximately twelve-year old child we assume was their son. Wow also took out his camera to take photos.

Peli then moved up to front of the car on the inside of the car, and slightly nudged the car’s wheel arch with her pedal. This caused Mrs Plonker to jump out and shriek that Peli had damaged her car. Little Plonker was also out of the car trying to find the camera function on his phone. Mr. Plonker then rushed over to stand in front of Peli, blocking her way, shouting and swearing very aggressively in her face to hand over her license details. I had now parked up my bicycle and moved next to Mr. Plonker and he started to claim the same as Mrs Plonker: that the car was damaged. When Peli had parked her bicycle up she told Mrs and Mr Plonker that she was happy to call the police there and then, and got out her phone. He suddenly changed his tune and said he didn’t want the police involved. When I asked him to show me the damage to his car, he began to claim he could not understand my accent.

Wow, Peli and I were now all off our bicycles, taking photos and talking about calling the police. Mr and Mrs Plonker quickly got into the car and started to drive off at speed, before Little Plonker had got into the car properly which caused the kid to dangle out of the door for a metre or so, before they stopped to let him in.

This is the first time I had someone jumping out of their car and come at me. Plenty of swear words and hand gestures and then drive off, but never physical contact. I do hope this is a one off to never to be repeated.

This was clearly not a good way to end a fantastic day out. Honestly, spending a few hours in the police station in the hope that something came of it was not how I wanted to end the day. The main question is, is it worth it? Would a right plonker like him learn from it? I really doubt it.

I just hope that karma gets to him before he gets to others.

Anyway here is Mr and Miss Plonker in their car, Y509RLK.

Related posts:

1. Empty streets of London Well, nearly. I have seen, and been let to believe,...
2. The O2 Arena London Last night we went to the O2 Arena in London...
3. A rather depressing ride aka do we not care ? Thursday I had to got out to Greenford in west...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

1/ If the global warming, running out of oil etc is wrong and we do have plenty and there is nothing worry about.

2/ It is real and we are running out of oil etc and world as we know it will die in the next 100 years.

No matter which one it is, it isn’t that hard to do anyway, why the heck aren’t we doing it. Because it will be good for us.

- Getting on our bicycle is good for us, makes us smile.
- Better air quality, is good for us to cycle in.
- Cleaner water is good for us, for the thirsty cyclist.
- More work for us, more bicycle mechanics.
- More money (because it will create more jobs), the more bicycles we will buy.
- Happier and healthier humans, will cycle more.

And so I could go on and on.

So why the heck are we stalling and can’t pull out our fingers ? It is a win win for us, ain’t it ?

Related posts:

1. spam I don’t mind spam in that way, if they are...
2. Here we go again … When Peli came home today she heard the sound of...
3. The O2 Arena London Last night we went to the O2 Arena in London...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

No clear signs for a cyclist from Greenwich town centre and the closer we got we only got a dual carriage way and signs for the dome erm the O2′s parking lots, for cars that is. After been told at one car par that we couldn’t get in there, we doubled back and found a cycle path. This cycle path were not clearly marked as road marking had worn of and there was plenty of grit, gravel and glass on it.

We then by asking found our way to the bicycle parking, quite a few unused Sheffield stands, only used by 10 or so motorbikes and only our bicycles. That told us that the O2 is not a cycling destination :)

We then walked over to the O2 under a marquee which would be a great cover for our bicycles. Walking in it looked like mini Vegas (though I have never been there) with all that light and big screens. The escalators up to the different levels was in full use and pretty much no none was on the stairs. Inside there was good signs and help full staff telling us where to go.

EDIT : I forgot the security check. For some reason the drinks bottles you can take into the arena have to have their caps removed. But if you take your sports drink bottle you are a ok, eh? I can only see one problem with that, these drinks are going to spilled all over the place. Guess what happened, on the table next to us the security lady removed the caps on two coke bottles. She then managed to knocked one of them over and spill it all over the legs and shoes of an other lady.

And we sat down in the “gods” and was entertained by Eddie Izzard for the next few hours. Simply genius, smart and funny, do go if you can you are in for a treat.

Leaving the O2 was not a treat, we where by the look of it funnelled out the back of the arena and through out the indoor high street. Which clearly wasn’t built to handle 20+ thousand people leaving at the same time. The O2 is not fully build up and coming down the stairs we were looking down to want best could be described as a derelict building sight. Quite a contrast to the brand new, high tech arena we had just been in.

I spotted an exit which I quickly learned that we couldn’t use. And once outside I could see a whole “avenue” that was empty and could easy handle the flow of people. Yes you might say that the reason for pushing us into the high street was that O2 and its bar, restaurants could make a wee bit of cash before we all left the peninsula. Then if that was the reason why weren’t the amusement rides and all the market stalls open when we left ?

Naa everyone was clearly in a rush to go and stand in the queue for the underground or the queue for the parking tickets and subsequently the queue to leave the car park.

We found and unlocked our bicycles and hit the gridlocked roads. But it was not pleasant journey, yes there is the cycle path which we could use. The road was full with people who just wanted to get home out of the queue away from the crowds and therefore were not really looking out for cyclist. So we took the cycle path which was full with pedestrians walking all over the place, since the marking aren’t clear. And also full of glass and grit, which put our anti puncture tyres through their paces. And the other road users were in a hurry to leave the car parks and were not really looking out for cyclist on the cycle path they were crossing.

So in short, the O2 is a great arena for shows but if you are on your bicycle take your time and care arriving and leaving.

Oh and while there at the O2 I didn’t have any NETWORK on my MOBILE PHONE and I use… well have a guess and you will soon spot the irony.

Related posts:

1. Empty streets of London Well, nearly. I have seen, and been let to believe,...
2. A review of Brixton Cycles, London, SW9 9TN, UK Description: Brixton Cycles – Powering the individual for 25 Years...
3. Boxing Day Ride 4.0 Well we didn’t see any boxing but there was plenty...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The joy of play with LEGO is to search for that bit you just saw two minutes ago but can’t for the life of you find again. And then because you could not find what you were looking for, you either built something else or swapped with your fellow Lego builder for the day.

Now this Kiwi company, Box4Blox, have come up with a Lego sorter, NO! It is wrong and should put into the sin bin. As this is totally against the Lego spirit, wrong I say WRONG !

Oh, by the way, Peter and Moira Botherway it is not LEGOS, it is pieces of LEGO !!! And that is said by a Dane who ain’t great with gramma, just read this blog, but I know my LEGO.

Related posts:

1. LEGO soul What ever you say Lego does have a soul....
2. Massive LEGO update II Yeah I’m getting a wee bit lazy and therefore only...
3. LEGO history I don’t read the Daily Wail, well only there is...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I’m all for cars if we just use when thoughtfully and plan our journey ahead. Ask yourself can this journey be done on foot or on your bicycle before you grab the keys for you car.

Go on, get on your bike it will make you smile :)

Related posts:

1. Cycling the LHT in the snow I finally had the chance to cycle in the snow...
2. Public transport … … and me just don’t get on. The longer I’m...
3. Mental note to oneself When you lock up your pride and joy, your new...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.