Category Archives: summer

223. Cycling on Surrey and Sussex hills – from White Down to Ditchling Beacon

Posted on 1 July, 2010 by | 17 comments

climbing ditchling beacon london to brighton bike ride sussex england by roadsofstoneDitchling Beacon is the high point of the London to Brighton Bike Ride each year, in lots more ways than one.

A whole year of training is finally distilled into one breathless blur of uphill climb.

cycling ditchling beacon london to brighton bike ride sussex england by roadsofstoneAnd no matter how many hills I’ve toiled all winter, it never seems that success on Ditchling is guaranteed — because it’s the toughest ascent I do.

Here’s a map and a profile of the hill, and a comparison with White Down, the steepest climb in the Surrey Hills close to where I live, and the last training test I do before setting off to Brighton each year.
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Posted in 2010, cycling, summer, Surrey and Sussex, training

222. Cuba 2 – Viñales: Talking ’bout a revolution

Posted on 3 June, 2010 by | 1 comment

revolucion es unidad roadsign peninsula zapata bay of pigs cuba by roadsofstone I approved the proclamation which Fidel Castro made in the Sierra Maestra, when he justifiably called for justice and especially yearned to rid Cuba of corruption. I will even go further:
… In the matter of the Batista regime, I am in agreement with the first Cuban revolutionaries. That is perfectly clear.
— US President John F. Kennedy: 24th October, 1963

Daybreak, 210 km from Havana.

dawn in the rainforest vinales pinar del rio cuba by roadsofstoneIt’s dawn. The rainforest stands still etched in grey, the air dank and humid with half-forgotten warmth.

The sky is dimly promising a future brightening through blue, already revealing white-topped clouds in the firmament above.

Behind me, the friendly valley calls. The massive limestone mogotes above Viñales rise to frame a monochrome outline of last night’s perfect Cuban sunset. I turn the other way and run towards the sunrise.

tropical sunset in vinales pinar del rio cuba by roadsofstoneThe track is damp from unseen rain fallen in the night. The air is heavy, silent, folded thick amongst the trees and scrub lurking close around the path.

The Cuban Revolution started somewhere like this, in the Sierra Maestra above Santiago. The 82 men who sailed from Mexico in December 1956 on the yacht Granma were swiftly cut down to twelve when they landed on Cuba’s swampy southeastern shores.

che guevara mural bus shelter pinar del rio province cuba by roadsofstoneThe survivors, among them a charismatic Argentinian doctor named Che Guevara, fled for the refuge of the mountains where they could regroup and recruit fresh rebels for their cause.
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Posted in 2010, Cuba, divided by an ocean, history, politics, summer

219. Santorini, Greece: the Minoan eruption

Posted on 27 January, 2010 by | 6 comments

Monolithos was four fisherman huts along the water,
a miniature villa closed for years, and our farmhouse
a hundred feet behind. Hot fields of barley, grapes,
and tomatoes stretching away three flat miles
to where the rest of the island used to be.
— Not Part of Literature: from Monolithos, by Jack Gilbert (1982)

morning in ancient thera santorini greece by roadsofstoneA cold January in London is always the perfect time to head inside. Sunday finds us at the British Museum, gazing enthralled at a small statue which transports us to a different world entirely.

Inside the case, an acrobat is jumping over the horns of a charging bull — a feat of agility captured in Bronze Age craftsmanship more than three and a half thousand years ago.

minoan bull jumping acrobat crete greece british museum london england by roadsofstoneThe Minoans who made the statue lived around the eastern Mediterranean for well over a thousand years.

Settling from 2600 BC around Knossos, near modern Heraklion on the Greek island of Crete, they built rich palaces which were destroyed and rebuilt several times after 1700 BC, before their sites were taken over by the Myceneans around 1420 BC.

* * * * *

kamari beach santorini greece by roadsofstoneIt’s early morning and the sun is already hot across the blackness of the beach. To the south, the road snakes its way up the limestone cliff to Ancient Thera. It’s one of the most beautiful places on Earth, but the climb of Mesa Vouno will kill me long before I get there.

I head north along the shore, with the Aegean Sea on my right, and work my way slowly out of Kamari. The strip is quiet at this time of day, with just a few old folks up in search of breakfast. The rest of the resort is sleeping off last night.

The deserted boutique hotels and bars fall swiftly behind me, and soon I reach the end of town and the start of Greece.
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Posted in 2010, geology, Greece, history, London, summer

218. A turning tide – from Houston to Copenhagen

Posted on 18 January, 2010 by | 3 comments

summer evening arrival in houston texas usa by roadsofstoneJune in Houston. It’s 99F outside as we wait an hour at immigration.

A glossy US arrival video is playing on a giant screen above our booth, but we have to wait an hour and offer all our fingerprints before we’re free to pass.

Welcome to America.

Obama’s America — but has it really changed?

The freeway towards the city looks just the same. A little less traffic perhaps.

on the terrace cabo restaurant travis street houston texas usa by roadsofstoneWide blue skies are yawning high above the endless sprawl beside the road. The downtown towers inch nearer across the final swoop of our 5,000 mile journey to reach The Loop.

In the hotel at last, I flop my bag and body down and switch on the TV. There’s a programme talking all about energy costs, and today’s phone-in prize is (quite remarkably) a free green audit of your home.

And it strikes me that I’ve never heard this stuff in Texas before.

All fresh and showered by sunset, we walk on Main Street to find a place to eat. It’s hotter than July this evening, but after ten hours in an aluminium tube we’re in no mood for air-conditioned civility. Some al fresco nachos, a cold beer and a simple plate of enchiladas are all we seek.

actual size mini cooper s travis street houston texas usa by roadsofstoneWe find them at Cabo on Travis. A perfect terrace to catch the steamy breeze of sundown.

And then unexpectedly, outside the restaurant, we find surprise again. A parked Mini, with just the perfect bumper sticker. Actual Size.
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Posted in 2010, economics, environment, global warming, history, Houston, peak oil, summer, united in a future

216. Geneva

Posted on 4 November, 2009 by | 6 comments

rainy day geneva switzerland by roadsofstoneIt’s 6 am and raining. Mid-summer has somehow ended in the night, and a different kind of July stands waiting for me as I step outside.

The street is chill and almost empty. A fine wet shimmer is wrapped around the tramtracks as I cross them, and even now, in my first few strides, I can feel the morning washing clean the heavy dreams of last night’s dinner.

summer sunset from cologny switzerland lake geneva jura mountains by roadsofstoneI turn my collar to the cool and damp, and kick my heels slowly east along the lakeshore.

The first minutes of a run like this are always hardest. A body short on sleep but not so short on years is slower than it should be to get going.

My feet are heavy, and my stomach feels heavier still, with a not so faint taste of Swiss Gamay red lurking somewhere down inside.

I raise my eyes and look around. Across the grey lake, the city lies serene and timeless. Geneva is exactly as I remember her. Unchanged, if just a little wetter.
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Posted in 2009, life and times, summer, Switzerland, travel

213. The price of risk – a City of London view

Posted on 8 September, 2009 by | 4 comments

gherkin tower42 finsburysquare from citypoint london england july2009 by roadsofstoneHigh flying, adored
What happens now —
Where do you go from here?

For someone
On top of the world
The view is not exactly clear
Evita — Rice & Lloyd-Webber (1976)

I spent much of the summer visiting financial institutions in the City of London.

The fallout from last autumn’s global economic meltdown is still drifting through our streets. The world didn’t end last October, but it felt a close call at times.

For the moment,  it seems as if the worst is behind us. The dust is clearing slowly, and yet in the City uncertainty still clouds a faintly growing optimism. For many in the Square Mile, waiting out the storm a while remains the wisest game of all.

When recovery comes, what will it look like? Or is it here already, lurking in the lunchtime swagger of those traders who survived the carnage, and the evening calm of bankers working now for different masters?

summer 2009 clouds over the city london england by roadsofstoneLooking back, the causes of this crisis are clear to see. It was all about the price of risk.

In 2007, the City thought it had abolished risk, or at least knew how to measure it.
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Posted in 2009, economics, London, summer