Brent Cyclists and David had organised another bike ride out of London and I join again. And this time Ann joined us as well She only started cycling after she moved to London so it was great that she was now up for trying something longer.
The weather looked decent (typical London weather – it wasn’t really sunny or really cloudy but somewhere in between that made it really comfortable for a bike ride).

Ann, Chris and I took the tube to North Harrow were we met the other cyclists. We were a group of 12 in total as we headed off into the suburban sprawl of north west London.

We mostly drove on quiet streets and through a couple of green areas with more or less clever ways of making us get of the bikes and duck, crawl or lift our bikes over obstacles.

We also went along the canal and through the lovely Langley Park.

We were getting hungry as we got Windsor on the horizon. With the goal in sight we made a last stride to our designated pub in Windsor for a well deserved meal and a pint. Ann was reaching her limits but for a first bike excursion 32 km is very impressive.

After the refueling the rest of us continued back more or less in the direction we came. With a stop for tea (and ice cream) in Langley Park. Before making it back to Uxbridge were most of jumped on the tube to take us home.

Another nice ride with the people from Brent and Harrow.

Head over and read Ann’s account of the trip.

It was a perfect day for a bike ride. Clear skies and 18-20C and a light breeze. We were 4 cyclists from the Gladstone area and 5 from Kingsbury making it a good size group and with very interesting stories and chats as we went along the route.

After a steep climb in Kingsbury we made it up some of the local legendary architect Trobridge unusual houses.

Ernest George Trobridge designed some of the more unusual houses in Kingsbury, North West London. His buildings are striking and are either thatched elm wood cottage style or ornate houses with twisted chimneys or turrets and battlements. There has recently been an exhibit about Tronbridge at the local library. Unfortunately most of his amazing houses are in rather poor condition.

After Kingsbury we started to make our way out to the “green belt” with gates and bridges to cross in various parks.

We made it to an aerodrome to see a couple of small planes take of and someone getting lessons in flying a helicopter.

As our bellies were starting to growl we headed for The Battle Axes to quench our thirst, stretch our legs and fill our stomachs.

Before heading homewards we made a slight detour to see Grim’s Dyke Hotel where David could enlighten us in the story of how W. S. Gilbert lived and died here (trying to save a lady from drowning). There was the most beautiful cherry tree in the garden of the hotel.

We went to see the grand view of London from a viewpoint called “The City” end then made the trip back to London. On the way passing by an enclosure with deers that seemed even more curious about the bunch of us, than we of them.

David Arditti had done a wonderful job of planning the trip and could tell stories of the places we passed on the way – a few of them mentioned here. Apart from David the other lads also knew a lot about the places we passed and I thoroughly enjoyed the day in the saddle. Hopefully I’ll be able to join for more of the rides this season.

The trip for the Gladstoners (heh) was 49.43 km – the route is up on EveryTrail, GPSies and Google Maps.

UPDATE: David wrote a great report of the ride and more of the stories connected with the places we went.

“I must say: very British, indeed!” as my aunt commented. Yesterday was the date for the annual Tweed Run and we went out to enjoy the nice weather and see the spectacle.

We had some problem figuring out the route they were taking but finally found them riding through Kensington Gardens in front of Royal Albert Hall.

It seems like the tweed thing is a whole tongue-in-cheek movement of endorsing gentleman-ship, gin drinking and pipe smoking manifested in the magazine The Chap.

“The Chap takes a wry look at the modern world through the steamed-up monocle of a more refined age, occasionally getting its sock suspenders into a twist at the unspeakable vulgarity of the twenty-first century.”

The people in tweed looked like they were truly enjoying their ride but so were all the people looking and there was quite a number of people out taking pictures of the spectacle.

The weather has been great the last couple of weeks which worked out perfect for the things I ended up doing.

Three weeks ago some friends had organized a canoe trip. So we were 10 people who took the train to a small village where you could rent canoes and set out for a relaxed day on the river. Glee had a diving case for a camera so we could take some pictures and video while we were on the water.

Along the route there was a couple of small cabins where you could get cold beer and a sausage. Here we are at our first stop.

This is one of the cool things about doing outdoor stuff in Czech Republic you come across these small beer and grill places in many of the areas where people go to do outdoor stuff. The next place we stopped for a beer Dominic ended up behind the counter selling t-shirts along with a pretty drunk Czech guy. Good fun

A few times we had to cross some tricky passages and we tipped over and had to get the water out of the canoes but most of the time it was pretty easy sailing.

The next weekend I went with Cyril and Patricia to Karlovy Vary a famous Czech spa town 2 hours from Prague. The legend tells that the hot springs in the area was discovered when Charles IV was hunting in the area and one of his dogs fell into a hole with the hot water and started howling. From then on the city became a place were people went to get healed by the mineral-rich water.

Today the 13 main hot springs have fountains scattered over the city. The water varies a bit in temperature, but I’m not really sure the mineral content is that different from the different springs. There were quite a lot of people in the town and many of them were walking around with these silly porcelain pots that looked like a nose bidet sipping from the hot water.

The health tourism to the area really took off in the 19th century so many of the buildings are from that era.

In James Bond’s Casino Royal the hotel used in the film for the casino scene was the Grandhotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary so we of course had to go down and check it out.

After having walked around the city for half the day we decided to treat ourselves and spend some time in the outdoor pool with the best view I have seen. The water is 1/3 hot spring water and 2/3 regular sweet water. Here we are in front of the pool. (See it without us or as a panoramic view.)

Last weekend the good weather continued so Saturday I went on a bike trip on my own up along the the Vltava river that runs through Prague. There is a bike route right along the river. Sometimes a bit too close for comfort but I managed to stay on the path.

Here there also was little refreshment stalls for every few kilometer so no need to go hungry or thirsty. I went up the river about 20km and then took a boat across with my bike and rode back on the other side.

Sunday I went on a bike ride again, this time with two friends. We took a train two hours south east of Prague and biked on some small trail along a creek.

Here is one of the stretches in the open where I got my camera out. You can spot Aurel and Marcus as two tiny dots along the edge of the forest.

And of course there was a place in the middle of nowhere where we could get a beer and relax before heading off.

Once I managed to get ahead and get the camera out fast enough to get a shot of them before they rushed by me.

Around lunch time we came across some kind of sporting event that we first thought was a game of football. It turned out to be some sort of firemen competition where a team of 8 people would rush to a pump and set up tubes and try to hit some targets with water. Very good entertainment before we headed back to Prague.

I’m looking forward to spending the summer in and around Prague. Still so much to see and do. This weekend a couple from Cambridge and I’m a tour guide in Prague.

I dag (torsdag) tog jeg på Texas historiske museum og det var meget spændende.

Den amerikanske historie har altid interesseret mig og tilbage i gymnasiet skrev jeg 2. årsopgave i historie om den amerikanske borgerkrig. Jeg har ikke læst historieopgaven siden jeg afleverede den, men fandt den på min harddisk, så her er den Optakten til den amerikanske borgerkrig (Word dokument). Den er skrevet tilbage i december 1997 og jeg var lige så dårlig til at sætte komma, som jeg er i dag.

Hvis jeg kort skal prøve at fortælle Texas historie er der fra 1690 en tyndtbefolket spansk provins med navnet Teja og befolkningen er hovedsaglige Tejanos (folk af blandet indiansk/spansk herkomst). I starten af 1800-tallet kommer der mange angloamerikanske indvandrer fra det øvrige USA og Europa. For at blive indbygger skulle, man sværge tro mod Mexico og bekende sig til den katolske tro hvilket tilflytterne også gjorde.
Internt i Mexico er der uroligheder op igennem 1800-tallet og folk i Tejas får ikke den beskyttelse fra staten, og møder stadig strengere indvandringslove. Folk laver deres egne beskyttelsesværn (Bl.a. Texas Rangers blev dannet) og i vinteren 1836 starter en uafhængighedskrig mellem en utrænet texansk militia og en veltrænet mexicansk hær.

Den texanske identitet som The Lonestar State bliver grundlagt her og det er i uafhængighedskrigen at heltemyterne omkring Austin, Houston, David Crockett bliver skabt og dyrkes til den dag i dag.
Slaget ved Alamo, deres svar på Slaget ved Dybbøl, er historien om en gruppe mennesker som kæmper til den bitre ende for det de tror på de taber slaget, men myten er med til at samle folk om en fælles sag (Remember the Alamo – bliver slagordet). Hollywoods udgaven af slaget er spændende og god underholdning, men jeg ved ikke hvor historisk korrekt fortællingen er. Senere lykkedes det texanerne at overløbe mexicanerne i slaget ved San Jacinto.
Texas får sin uafhængighed i 1836 og prøver herefter at blive optaget i USA, men det tager flere forsøg før det i 1845 lykkedes.

Den dag i dag har Texas en meget unik identitet og man ser flaget og stjernen overalt i Texas.

Nok om maskuline helte og krig og tilbage til kollektivisme og en anden slags helte. Om eftermiddagen tog vi ud til Yellow Bike Project, som er en forening der indsamler cykler sætter dem i stand og giver dem til skoler og folk i området der ikke har råd til at købe en cykel.

Lokalerne har de fået stillet til rådighed af kommunen og alt arbejdet var frivilligt, men stadig havde de en enorm mængde af cykler og reservedele.

Inden aftensmad tog vi til Mt. Bonnell udenfor byen og så solnedgangen over Colorado River.

Austin kalder sig også Live Music Capitol Of The World og det er ikke helt uden grund. Der er en overflod af steder at se god livemusik I byen og selvom jeg ikke har fået udnyttet det særlig godt fik jeg dog set lidt denne aften på et par steder I 6th street.

Det er en 9 minutters tur igennem midtbyen af Ann Arbor. Jeg kan turen i søvne og valgte i fredags at tage kameraet med for at se hvad der kom ud af det.

Hvis du ikke gider kigge de 9 minutter igennem er højdepunkterne nok det flygtende egern omkring 4:40 og min kollega Robs skramlende bil lidt efter 8:50.

Se videoen i stort format

Musikken der spiller er Nomo et lokalt band jeg var til koncert med for et par uger siden. Her er et lille klip fra koncerten med overstyret lyd:

Se klippet her

Mandag var vi til pub-quiz ligesom vi også skal i aften. Onsdag prøvede vi yoga igen. Torsdag var vi en flok i Detroit-forstaden Royal Oak for at danse på en salsaklubben Sky Club. Jeg er ikke nogen haj til salsa, men det forhindre mig ikke i at sprælle rundt, så det gamle træben fik en ordentlig tur.

Vi var syv personer afsted og på hjemturen kom vi til at snakke om, hvor lidt vi egentlig lægger mærke til at vi kommer fra vidt forskellige steder. Holdet bestod af en amerikaner, en tysker, en koreaner, en fra polen, en mexicaner, en britte og en dansker.
Selvom jeg har været involveret i ESN med udvekslingsstuderende i Aalborg, er det først nu det går op for mig hvor meget et ophold som dette giver. Her I Ann Arbor har jeg kun mødt venlige mennesker og især de andre ikke-amerikaner bliver ens venner på ingen tid. De første folk er allerede taget hjem igen da deres ophold kun var for sommeren, og jeg er så glad for at jeg har haft muligheden, og taget valget, til at blive her i en længere periode. Lige nu går det strygende, men Femi og jeg går hele tiden og siger at det jo ikke kan blive ved med at være så fedt – så meget desto mere er jeg også klar over at der sikkert kommer tidspunkter, hvor det hele er træls og jeg kommer til at savne alt ved Danmark.
Fredag og lørdag kig med lidt moderat druk og kig på bil til mig og lejlighed til Femi. Der er ikke så meget nyt at fortælle ud over at jeg slet ikke føler mig klædt på til at handle bil. Men mon ikke jeg får gjort noget ved det i løbet af den næste uges tid Jeg har været ude at køre i et par stykker og Cougaren er stadig favoriten selv om de forlanger for meget for den i forhold til dens alder.
Søndag var der store rengøringsdag i Jones House. Eller der var 3-4 sløve hoveder som ikke kunne tage sig sammen til at lave noget og så var vi en 3-4 stykker der faktisk gjorde rent. Jeg er ret sikkert det er standarden her i huset med nogle af pothovederne, så jeg har ikke tænkt mig at bruge energi på det – der skal en vis ligegyldighed til for at kunne være i det her hus

Andreas, en anden dansk praktikant fra Aalborg, tog afsted fra Detroit i dag. Det var ikke så meget vi fik set til hinanden, men det var meget rart at have en man kendte herover, som kunne give lidt insider-tricks til en nyankommen. Og det var lidt underligt at sidde og snakke dansk med en anden herover.

Jeg er ikke begyndt at tænke eller drømme på engelsk endnu – og jeg tager nogle gange mig selv i at sige de første lyde af en sætning på dansk, indtil det går op for mig at de ikke forstår dansk. Men ellers går det ok med sproget – der er endnu en dansk klang i mit sprog, men Menlo Innovations, som jeg arbejder for har netop opkøbt English Communication Services, som er et firma der har specialiseret sig i accent-reduktion (Læs mere om det her). Firmaet er opkøbt fordi cheferne mener vi kan udvikle softwaren, der kan støtte i undervisningen.

Chefen kom i dag med en af deres gamle cykler som jeg kunne låne, så nu jeg kan cykle på arbejde. Jeg har allerede købt en cykelhjelm for cykelister er ret lovløse herover. Selvom Ann Arbor skulle være en cykelvenlig-by er det slet ikke til at vende sig til for en dansker.

Jeg må hellere se at komme ud af døren – Det blev tekstungt og ingen billeder denne gang – jeg beklager.