Qumana\/Blogjet<\/strong>: Haven’t really played with either much as I haven’t been posting but fully intend to as and when life quietens down a little.<\/p>\n Transport<\/strong>: For those that are new here or don’t ‘do’ archives, I’m a London-based former cycle courier, sometime bike commuter and occasional tourer, who somehow has turned into a 40 year old car driving middle manager. I have recently decided to ditch my company car in favour of a combined bike\/train commute to do my 50 mile round trip between East London to Heathrow each day. I am 99% set on using a Brompton<\/a> folding cycle to use at each end of the train journey.\n<\/p>\n Whilst an experienced cyclist, I have never owned a Brompton<\/a> before (though I am lining up test rides), I have been reading a bunch of sites like those of The Folding Society<\/a> and the Brompton Talk Yahoo group<\/a> to get myself up to speed. Some colleagues, including a Brompton owner, are supportive whilst others think I have lost my marbles, especially with winter coming on. Even though I won’t be getting the tax break advantages of one of the Government’s best kept secrets<\/a>, this move will hopefully diminish the stress of a daily drive through London, save me thousands in tax and congestion charges and do a bit for the environment.<\/p>\n Running<\/strong>: I have been a lazy illegitimate over the last two weeks but have got back into the groove this morning with a gentle plod around the Isle Of Dogs<\/a>‘ South Dock, where the brig Stavros S Niarchos<\/a>, one of the Tall Ships Youth Trust<\/a> vessels, is currently moored.<\/p>\n Family fun<\/strong>: With family over from Switzerland<\/a> and down from Wakefield<\/a>, much food is being consumed so this afternoon we plan to walk off some of the calories with a walk<\/a> along some of the East End’s canals<\/a>. Amongst the gifts exchanged, I was chuffed to get a lovely small framed picture of a 1927 supercharged 2.3 litre Bugatti<\/a> Grand Prix Type 35B like the one below. I had a small diecast model of this car when I was a child and the picture will now hang under a limited edition print of Graham Hill taking the Loews hairpin in his BRM on his way to victory in the Monaco Grand Prix a few months after I was born.<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.bignoseduglyguy.com\/bromptontfolded.jpg\")
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