The Patagonian Expedition Race 2012

I did another trip to the gym this evening and had that nice warm healthy feeling, but then I read about the Patagonian Expedition Race and that put my 25 minutes in perspective.

The "Last Wild Race" as it is also known, involves competing teams of four biking, orienteering and kayaking their way across remote parts of Patagonia including Tierra del Fuego and the Strait of Magellan. Each year's course is different and no GPS is allowed, just old fashioned compass and map reading.

Over around 10 days they will navigate across between 500 and 1000 km of incredibly beautiful yet hard landscapes.



There is a wicked part of me that thinks "Across the Andes by Frog" but that's probably because I'm jealous of the experiences they will have - if, that is, they finish it, as the drop out rate is around a third.

Anyway, good luck to the British teams and in particular Nick Gracie who is looking for his fourth victory!



Map of 2012 route: from Patagonian Expedition Race

London Skyride 2011

This morning I joined 55,000 of other Londoners on the 2011 Skyride.

For those of you that haven't done one of these the Skyride involves closing the centre of London to traffic and creating a bike friendly route that passes some of the capital's top sights.

I started on Westminster Bridge (above) and after passing Big Ben it was onto the loop up to Buckingham Palace and down the Mall to Admiralty Arch. Then we went via Whitehall onto the Embankment and the main route, following the Thames to Tower Hill, before returning back to complete the circuit back on Westminster Bridge.

It was such great fun I did the loop twice!

Many brought their own bikes in but I used one of the Boris bikes. Technically known as the TfL Barclays Cycle Hire everyone calls them after London's Mayor, here with Kelly Brook in a picture from the Standard's article on the Skyride.

Apparently super model Kelly Brook was there signing the free high visibility bibs they were handing out, but alas I didn't see her.

Boris bikes are a great idea: dotted all over central London are docking stations where you can hire bikes for short periods of time and then return them to any other docking station. If you have registered you just slot in a special key and are off and away in seconds, and having just signed up this seemed like an excellent way to try them out.

There was another benefit in using a Boris bike which was that the forecast was for heavy rain and hail which would have put a damper on the ride home, though in the end there was just the slightest drizzle for the shortest time.

And everyone clearly was having an absolutely great time. I don't think I've seen as many smiling people clearly enjoying themselves.

It was just brilliant.

Updated: might have been lucky with the weather as the heavens have just opened up, which is a shame for those who started the Skyride mid-day