On the Road

Ooh you splashed me!

Leaving Chester behind on a rainy late winter's day, I thought I was going to find somewhat kinder weather in Dubai - not a chance! I encountered torrential rain and chaos. According to Lt Col Khazraj al Khazraji of the Dubai police force there were 514 reported road accidents in the city within 6 hours as Dubai's brief annual downpour paralysed the city. This photo was taken from our hotel cafe as the floodwaters rose. One of our meetings was cancelled as a result of the floods but everything else was fine. Dubai is certainly a multi cultural place - we had Iranian food one night and on the last day Japanese and Thai grub in a Chinese restaurant. Was I right to use the chopsticks?

I'll be in Scotland before ewe!

Back to my rolling coverage of the big bike ride, life is full of curious connections and coincidences - regarding our big LEJOG bike ride, as we started off at Land's End things were very quiet, we were met by some big seagulls in the vast carpark which is clearly there to accommodate all the charabancs full of tourists desperate to see the bottom end of England and buy all the fairly tacky souvenirs. At 8. 30 am in the morning on a wet August day there was hardly anyone around apart from someone picking up yesterday's litter, but we did meet an enthusiastic mother and daughter from somewhere in the midlands - they were clearly well prepared, lots of top gear but looking at doing a steady 18 days of cycling. We met just one other cyclist en route -  a very determined thin fellow on a fast looking bike who dashed past us in mid Wales -  we spotted him a few hours later at Church Stretton about to check in to his B & B. No other end-to- enders until we got to John O'Groats where we checked in to see some anxious relatives waiting for a father and son who were shortly supposed to arrive. And indeed down the hill they sprinted high as a kite (as indeed we must have seemed half an hour earlier!)