Track Pump

I finally caved and got a track pump for my bike - a Blackburn Air Tower 1. Its a beauty. My beloved Brompton's tires have been a bit flat lately, and I can't get them up to much pressure with my teeny weeny hand pump, so I thought it was about time I became a proper cyclist with a proper pump. The tires on a Brompton go to a suggested max pressure of 100 - mine were at around 30. A mate in work who also has a Brompton's tires were at 20. I pumped up both bikes to around 80, so today we got in way faster with less effort, but with killer sore arses.

Some days I feel like stopping cyclists on the street and pumping up their tires - people cycle with such flat tires they put in so much effort and get nowhere. Their commutes could be way more enjoyable if only they knew!

Fran and Peter

Fran and Peter are visiting London at the moment. They arrived on Friday and we went out for a nice meal and drinks in Soho. Then over Saturday and Sunday we saw pretty much every single tourist attraction central London has to offer. A busy few days! Then yesterday we had afternoon tea, which is the largest amount of food I've eaten in a single sitting, and around a million cups of tea. Brilliant!

This is an odd little car that we saw in the Science Museum that matched Hugh's jumper.

Drum Hero

We got the drums for guitar hero! Here's a picture of Hugh giving it holly early this morning driving our neighbours nuts. Great craic though. Also note how fashionable Hugh's pyjama trousers are. Very rock and roll.

Half Marathon!

This is me and some friends from work looking pretty pooped after finishing the Run To The Beat half marathon last Sunday. In the picture is me, Alissa and Helen. I finished in 2:27:15, averaging around an 11 minute mile, which I was really pleased with. After the 11 mile mark, I must say I was totally going to pack it in, but there were so few people walking that I was too embarrassed to. A few of the guys from work did it too, and they got some pretty impressive times. Us girls will have to actually train for the next one and see if we can beat them.

Some other pictures of the race are available here. Look at Sony Ericsson Run To The Beat London and enter Mc Carthy (the space is very important).