Category Archives: summer

164. Kenya 2 – the dusk behind the beach

Posted on 20 September, 2007 by | 18 comments

the-shadow-of-the-sun-by-ryszard-kapuscinski.jpg‘… So often I had felt irritated with people who arrived here, lived in “little Europe” or “little America” (in luxury hotels), and departed, bragging later that they had been to Africa, a place in reality they had never seen.’
Ryszard Kapuscinski – The Shadow of the Sun: My African Life.

* * * * *

dhow-indian-ocean-beach-kenya.jpgThe sun is low in an African sky and my subcutaneous fat and I are running down the road.

The Indian Ocean lies behind me now, and with it the easy lifestyle of the North. The beach hotel. Comfort. Contentment. Ignorance.

And in front of me ? Adventure, uncertainty. Guilt. A touch of fear.
Continue reading →

18 Comments

Posted in 2007, Africa, Kenya, summer, travel, world

161. Kenya 1: The road to Mombasa

Posted on 29 August, 2007 by | 14 comments

kilifi-mombasa-road-by-putneymarkflickrcom.jpgAfrica.

The night air presses hot and thick outside the windows. The ancient bus groans and heaves itself another mile along the road. It’s four a.m.

A slim throw of light weaves ahead, as we slalom around endless potholes, the creaking chassis of the bus vibrating stiffly with every bounce of broken shocks.

And beyond our beam, it’s only darkness. As black as pitch – there is no distant orange streetlight glow here; no twinkling, reassuring glimmer of a distant homestead to break the gloom.

The rain is falling softly now, sluicing insistently down the windscreen. There are no wipers on the bus. But after a while, the drops somehow reassemble a filmy view of the road in front, and it doesn’t matter any more.

This is the main East African coastal highway – but don’t imagine any shiny roadsigns to announce that fact. No white lines, nor other traffic, either. Just deeply pitted, decaying tarmac. Puddles and blackness stretching far ahead.
Continue reading →

14 Comments

Posted in 2007, Africa, Kenya, life and times, summer, world

157. When Irish eyes are smiling – Harrington wins the British Open

Posted on 23 July, 2007 by | 5 comments

padraig-harrington-british-open-champion-carnoustie-2007-rma-padraigharrington_com.jpgIt’s been a long wait, and so long overdue. In the eight years since Paul Lawrie’s victory, we’d almost forgotten that a European golfer could win a major championship.

Sixty years after the last Irishman won the British Open, yesterday evening Padraig Harrington became the first player from the Republic to lift the famous Claret Jug.

It was an immensely exciting championship, with the result facing as many twists as the Barrie Burn which winds its way across Carnoustie’s closing holes.

sergio-garcia-british-open-carnoustie-2007.jpgIn the week that Severiano Ballesteros retired from competitive golf, it would have been marvellous for another ‘young Spaniard’ to follow in his footsteps as an Open winner.

Sergio García’s day will surely come. A day when the cellophane bridge above the hole will be far kinder to his ball than yesterday.

But it just wasn’t to be. As Sergio found out, it’s desperately hard to lead a major, wire to wire, and bring it home.
Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in 2007, golf, heroes, Scotland, summer

155. Le grand départ – the Tour de France in London 2007

Posted on 9 July, 2007 by | 3 comments

tour-de-france-london-2007-park-lane.jpg

The streets of London deserted … except for a million people lining the roads.

A Brit leading the Tour de France halfway through Kent, and pulling on the King of the Mountains jersey, later that same evening.

The best weather of the summer.

The Tour de France – in London, for the first time ever.

Truly, the weekend of a lifetime. And we were there, too.

On Saturday afternoon, we wandered happily from Green Park to the Serpentine, watching the cyclists flash by. The speed of the racers was simply unbelievable – Hyde Park Corner hasn’t seen traffic moving so quickly for many a long year.
Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in 2007, cycling, France, heroes, history, London, summer

154. Thinking blogger award

Posted on 5 July, 2007 by | 7 comments

thinking-blogger-award.jpg Hot news from the internet red carpets of Tinseltown is that thanks to EllaElla of From Scratch, this site has been nominated for a Thinking Blogger Award.

english-summer-2007.jpg That must surely have been a misprint, though.

Certainly Tuesday evening’s incredibly muddy Hash Run through a thunderstorm might much more easily have led to a Sinking Blogger.

The trashed state of my socks later could also have justified the soubriquet of Stinking Blogger (but let’s not go there, shall we?)

pyrford-lock-surrey-hash-2007.jpgAnd after ‘following’ a floating flour trail during a torrential cloudburst, a belated arrival at the pub was more than cause enough for my enthusiastic reclassification as a Drinking Blogger.

Honestly, Ella, there wasn’t all that much thinking involved, but thank you very much, all the same.
Continue reading →

7 Comments

Posted in 2007, heroes, poetry, summer

153. The green monster – Ditchling Beacon and the London to Brighton bike ride

Posted on 28 June, 2007 by | 24 comments

UPDATE February 2012
— For a Ditchling Beacon map and gradient information, please see here:
223. Cycling on Surrey and Sussex hills – from White Down to Ditchling Beacon;

— And for return routes back to Guildford, see here:
245. London to Brighton, and back;

* * * * *

ditchling-beacon-the-green-monster-2007.jpgSummer. Early afternoon. A soft and unassuming heat haze rising from the lush green meadows of Sussex.

And rising too, slowly but relentlessly behind this pretty village, lies the reason that we’re here.

The most famous climb in all of southern England.

The mean city streets of London seem such a long time ago. The start in Clapham lies almost fifty miles behind us, and barely a handful more remain ahead. The countryside is peaceful. Very peaceful.

The chatter and banter of those early miles has faded now. With a myriad and more of cyclists on the road, along the classic route to Brighton – you can hear them, all the way.

london-to-brighton-bike-2007-spirit-of-the-peloton.jpgNot just the whirr of spokes, the squeal of frantic brakes, or the grinding, mashing sound of crunching gears. There’s a richer, more lyrical sound to listen to, louder and more urgent still than the rhythm of the riders’ breathing.

Much more than that. Because I’ll swear that on these Sussex roads you can hear the spirit of the peloton. Continue reading →

24 Comments

Posted in 2007, A1 - the best of roads of stone, cycling, France, heroes, Spain, summer, Surrey and Sussex