A New Bike – Specialized Cross Trail

My current bike, a MTB Marin Hydro Edge, has been a good bike for the past four years. It has seen some really bad weather and some really good weather. It has given me heartache and pain when things have gone wrong, or the bike has literally gone from underneath me in the wet (summer tyres not changed for winter tyres early enough). All in all, it has been a big part of my everyday life.

With a grinding noise now emanating from the front stem (possible bearings worn) and the front suspension not as efficient as it used to be (sticking and “woody”), I can only see more money being spent on it when I could be riding a newer, lighter model.

With this in mind and weighing up the type of cycling I do; Commuting mainly with some leisure cycling thrown in for good measure, I have decided to purchase a new bike.

The bike I have gone for is a Hybrid, Specialized Cross Trail.

My new pride and joy.

Cycle Store Bike Details and Full specification

I have ridden it twice now, too and from work and I have to say, I have made the right choice.

I have gone from 26″ wheels up to 27″ wheels and I also have 27 gears instead of 24. This difference has increased my speed and overall cycling efficiency.

I have found a new lease of enthusiasm in my daily commute. It has become a pleasure to cycle again, rather than just a means to an end as it was becoming, due to the sluggishness of my MTB and the cost to keep it going, not to mention the effort required to move it along.

I have managed to up my average speed to at least 2mph+ more than I was doing before and I have also managed to shave time of my to and from journey of up to 5 minutes, which is a huge bonus.

I am very pleased with the bike and I am looking forward to more cycling throughout the year.

Buying Clothes for Your Ever Growing Child

Everyone will have their own point of view on what I am about to say and with that, everyone has a different level of budget and disposable income too.

From a child being born, to growing up into an adult, the cost to the parent can be astronomical in clothing alone.

My personal advice on this issue is, do not be afraid to accept hand-me-downs or seconds from family and friends, or even friends of friends.

Our first impulse is to go shopping mad and buy everything for our unborn/newly born child. I couldn’t believe the prices of some of the items on sale for babies. The price tags soon adding up to a lot of money.

A baby grows so quickly, it isn’t worth paying £10 or more for an item of clothing that isn’t going to fit them a week later, not unless of course, you get a size too big and even then, that £10+ could have been saved for something else.

My wife and I have been very, very lucky. My sister kept all of her daughters clothing up to about the age of 3. So we have accepted this with open arms. The beauty of not having to spend so much on clothing, means we can use that money to buy items we desperately need for her that no-one else has to pass on or, that we can borrow.

We do still buy the odd item that we like and usually in a sale, but that is using disposable income.

So what if you don’t have a sibling, friend or friend of friend that has saved their child’s clothing. Then another option is to never buy unless there is a sale on, or, even better, scour the internet for bargains. eBay is a good place for buying peoples unwanted baby/kids wear and you should be able to make your money go a lot further too.

Primark do some excellently made clothing for kids at a price you cannot believe. When it comes to saving money, you cannot be a prude, you have to be willing to route out that bargain.

This kind of hunting doesn’t of course have to be limited to clothing. You can source all sorts of items for your baby, simply by borrowing. Our cot is currently borrowed as is the bottle steriliser and the travel cots. Yes cots! The secret to finding out is to talk to people and put the general word out that you are in need of items, to buy, borrow or simply accept.

Just on those four items, we have saved ourselves in excess of £400!!

Toys are another huge expense. Again, we have been really lucky in the first instance, my sister had saved a lot of the baby toys.

If all else fails, there are always birthdays and Christmas events to ask for those items slightly out of budget that you could ask for, or even ask for money towards.

You won’t catch me doing that!

Many a time I have seen parents do things for their kids and I have always said, you won’t catch me doing that.

That was until the other day. My almost 2 year old wouldn’t have her afternoon nap. She is a very active child, even in her sleep, she never stops moving about; we have nicknamed her “Squiggle Bum”. The only sure methods of getting her to sleep are either a boring route in a pushchair, or, a drive in the car.

So, I found myself going out for a drive to get my daughter to sleep, despite me having said quite openly, I would never do that!

Sometimes it is easier to admit defeat than to carry on coping with a sleep deprived daughter.

Does anyone else have any unusual methods for getting their toddlers to sleep? I would love to hear about them.

My Daughter’s Evolving Language

I had to laugh yesterday when my almost 2 year old daughter came into the front room carrying the nappy changing box, as she approached me she uttered the words “Bum Box”. She was so cute and the words were totally unexpected.

To my knowledge, no-one who looks after Jasmine or interacts with her, has ever called the nappy changing box “Bum Box” and yet Jasmine has put two and two together and given it a very apt name.

Not long been awake. Loving the hair style!

Such is the learning curve my daughter is going through and each day one word is now becoming two and sometimes three. She is beginning to form sentences.

My wife text me advising me her sentence for today is “Wow! Brilliant!”. Again, I had to laugh at this. I have heard her saying “Wow” and she does it with that slowness you use when you are genuinely amazed at something. So for her to add the word brilliant to this as well, shows she has a very good understanding of words in her vocabulary. Either that or she is just plum lucky with her choices!

Peek-A-Boo

I never tire of how amazing my daughter is and how much of a chatterbox she is. Even when she had a very limited vocabulary of words, she would still talk absolute nonsense, using sign language (which we have taught her), or simple body language to express what she was saying.

We try never to talk down to our daughter and have always tried to have the best patience with her, giving her the freedom to evolve as an individual but adding the usual constraints any parent would to protect their child and to build on their manners and morales as we see them.

Lyme Park, Disley, Cheshire

Owned by the National Trust, this park has been well visited by myself and my family, having grown up just around the corner from it. With plenty of acres for walking, this is a definite favourite.

Spring Time Flowers at Lyme Park

The first sight you will see on the drive into Lyme Park is Lyme Cage, sitting on the top of a hill. This cage can be seen for miles.  It was originally a hunting lodge and was later used as a park-keeper’s cottage and as a lock-up for prisoners.

Once in Lyme Park, you have various options. Visit Lyme Hall and it’s expansive gardens. Take your children to the fantastic play park. Pay a visit to the pond next to a cafe and gift shop. Take the trek up to Lyme Cage, or simply walk off in any direction.

Taken from within the gardens.

Lyme Hall Green House.

One of my favourite walks is towards the south gate. It is a road sized path that allows you access to further walks too. and more importantly, the Three Bears Cottage. Well, that is how I came to know it, having been told the stories with reference to this cottage when I was a young boy.

If you are lucky enough, you may also see the Deer hanging out in the park. Usually near Lyme Cage.

An all year round park, where you will always find walkers and dog walkers alike. It is well worth a visit.

When the snow falls, Lyme park is the venue for sledgers big and small.

For more information and events, check out the National Trust Website

N.B. All photos shown are my own property.

NSPCC Bike Ride – Manchester to Liverpool

I am taking part in a charity bike ride for the NSPCC on June 3rd. It is organised by the NSPCC and is 40 miles. Salford Quays to Liverpoool.

If anyone would be kind enough to sponsor me and our team, please visit:

www.justgiving.com/nspccbikeride2012

If you fancy joining in on the fun, then you need to go here to book your place.:

http://bike-events.com/Ride.aspx?id=336

There is a slight fee for administration if you want to take part in the bike ride. It is a small price to pay to be a part of something great.

I hope to see you there or in spirit at least.

Munkey Warez – A New Venture

For any keen Aikidoka who likes to wear apparrel displaying their love for the martial art, then you need to visit: www.munkeywarez.co.uk

It is a new venture of mine where the aim is to provide fresh bespoke designs for the martial artist on apparrel and accessories.

For all other martial arts, watch this space, I will be branching out soon.

 

 

Delamere Forest, Cheshire

Delamere Forest is a great place to head for a great day out for anyone.

There are a lot of routes suitable for a pushchair or wheelchair users. Bear in mind though, the ground can be uneven and will not always be easy going. Horses are welcome as are cyclists.

We have been going here off and on over the years and we never get bored of the open space, the forest itself and the general good vibe you get from being out and about.

They offer Cycle hire, including childrens seats and carry trailers.

Bike Hire at Delamere Forest.

The cycling opportunities are bountiful as is the chance to go off the beaten track. Keen BMX’ers and MTB cyclists have created well used trails, including downhill runs with jumps and some really long and high jumps too for the more daring (or insane!). These areas are well off the main paths and so if you are worried your toddlers or young children would get hurt, fear not.

For the more adventurous, Delamere Forest is also home to the GoApe adventure. I have organised a yearly event here for the past eight years and everyone who comes along loves it. There is nothing like facing your fear of heights because the trip down the zip line at the end of each section is totally worth it. So too is the Tarzan swing into the cargo net. A guaranteed laugh.

There are plenty of places to have a picnic and if you prefer, there is also a cafe and small gift shop too.

So, there you have it, a great place for a great day out.

Don’t forget to take your camera!

Add Text To A Value

To append text onto a value, so for example, I have stored a value of 2,000 and when I visit another page it has a value of  “2,000 miles”.  To make life easy, I simply append “miles” to the 2,000 value, so I can verify it is present.

Copy & Paste into the source tab of the selenium test case:

 <!–Add word miles to number value of mileage–>

<tr>

            <td>storeEval</td>

            <td>’${Miles}’ + ‘ miles’</td>

            <td>Miles</td>

</tr>

 <!–This will display the stored value–>

<tr>

            <td>echo</td>

            <td>${Miles}</td>

            <td></td>

</tr>

British Bird and Animal Pedestrian Crossings – Where To Start!

Having read some interesting comments on a popular cycling forum, I decided to investigate and find out the difference between the public crossings offered to us by our government in the UK.

If I were to ask you to name all the types of crossings there are in the UK, you would probably say, Pelican crossing and Zebra crossing and if you are really savvy, maybe one other. I bet no-one would say them all off the top of their heads.

Did you know however, there are in fact five different types:

Zebra Crossing, Pelican Crossing, Toucan Crossing, Puffin Crossing and Pegasus Crossing.

The Pelican Crossing

The pedestrian lights (The red and Green little man) are situated on the farside of the road to the pedestrian.

Pelican Crossing

Puffin Crossing

Has the lights (Red & Green little man) on the same side as the pedestrian.

Puffin Crossing

Toucan Crossing

A crossing for pedestrians and bicycles. The Red & Green man and the Bicylcle lights are normally situated on the opposite side of the road.

Toucan Crossing

Pegasus Crossing

Allows horse-riders to cross.

Pegasus Crossing

Zebra Crossing

The most traditional crossing in the UK

Zebra Crossing

What if someone had a sense of humour at the Department of Transport?:

What if?

 

Interestingly, Cyclists are only allowed to cycle across a Toucan crossing. All other crossings, a cyclist  should dismount and walk across.