This is just so obviously the right thing to do: use a bicycle to get urgently needed help to someone hurt in London’s Heathrow Airport Terminal 5!

The fully decked out National Health Service [...]]]>

A medic at London Heathrow Airport, Terminal 5 uses a bicycle to get help fast to people in need.

This is just so obviously the right thing to do: use a bicycle to get urgently needed help to someone hurt in London’s Heathrow Airport Terminal 5!

The fully decked out National Health Service (NHS) bicycle has several bags of equipment hanging off the front and rear wheels, a couple of bright flashing lights on front and typical reflective yellow colouring of the NHS emergency services. There’s probably a horn somewhere on that front handlebar too.

The smile on the medic’s face can’t help but make anyone feel better as soon as they arrive!

Only thing missing is a trailer hitch to hook up a stretcher.

I am a regular cycle-to-work kind of guy. I started the Cycle Scheme at work to help everyone there get their hands on a good quality bike for a knock-down price (all legal – its a scheme promoted by the Government). For [...]]]>

King's Cross Station - waiting for the Hogwarts Express to Cambridge.

I am a regular cycle-to-work kind of guy. I started the Cycle Scheme at work to help everyone there get their hands on a good quality bike for a knock-down price (all legal – its a scheme promoted by the Government). For me, that meant buying a Brompton. That was over a year ago now – wow time flies!

Well, this week I took my first expenses-paid business trip by train and bicycle -I can claim 20 pence per mile for bicycle travel (cars get 40 pence per mile – outrageous! Cyclists should be rewarded more!).

WEIGHTLESS BUSINESS TRIP

The reason for the trip was to get up to Cambridge, UK for a conference all about the next generation of wireless communication called Weightless. The conference was put on by Cambridge Wireless and pretty much run by the guys at a local startup there called Neul. I decided to go up a day early so that I could meet with some customers alongside our sales engineer and marketing engineer who flew in from Munich HQ.

Cycle and pedestrian bridge over the tracks at Cambridge station, UK

I packed my overnight things and a couple cameras (one big, one small) into my Brompton’s front, detachable travel bag. I also tossed in a first-aid kit and a puncture repair kit — thankfully, neither were needed.

LONDON CYCLING

On Thursday, I caught the first off-peak train into London after cycling up to my local station here in Whitchurch, Hampshire. In London, I hopped on my (unfolded) Brompton and started the short cycle ride up to King’s Cross to catch my next train. People at work had asked if I had my insurance all paid up what with travelling in London traffic and all. I was actually more concerned that the car drivers who dare to put a scratch on my bike might not have insurance!

Mind the cows on Cambridge's cycle paths alongside the River Cam!

Boy has London changed for the better in the year since the Barclay’s Bike scheme (aka ‘Boris Bikes’ – named after the mayor) started. There are cycle routes, shared lanes with buses, marked paths, bicycle route signage and HUNDREDS OF CYCLISTS. It is true what I’ve read then: more cyclists make the roads feel safer. And according to the CTC, they are safer!

DING! DING!

Being London, it was a free for all. But one which worked – cyclists and motorists looked out for wayward pedestrians (one ran up behind me and around my front as I was just about to set off from a pedestrian cross walk – he survived me and the revving taxi beside me). Cars and buses accepted (they had no choice really) the half-dozen bicycles around them at any one time; and pedestrians generally kept out of the bike lane – ones that didn’t quickly learned what a loud bell sounds like. Ding! Ding!

Another person commuting to work in Cambridge - mind the swans!

There are some amazing routes in the short distance – mostly backroads and through some nice parks. Beats the Tube in time and beauty. Never has London looked so good. It helped, too, that we are in the midst of a record breaking heat-wave complete with bright shiny object in sky that some have started to call “The Sun” (it is rarely seen and so the name is often forgotten).

King’s Cross station is of course the place to go to run into walls with your luggage trolley. Many people try to recreate the scenes from Harry Potter books, and amazingly fail every time. Does make for an entertaining show, though.

PLATFORM ZERO

Anyway, it was onto the express train up to Cambridge. What platform? ZERO. Well, it was a Weightless conference I was going to (joke at the conference was that the technology isn’t cellular 1G, 2G, 3G or even 4G, it was ZERO G).

Cycle route signs are all about - but sometimes you can still get lost (that's all part of the fun, right?)

The First Capital Connect train was packed and I actually had to fold my Brompton to store it out of the way. Not much hassle to do so, but I still try to be lazy whenever possible (I’ve discovered various nooks and crannies on the South West trains where I can lean it during my daily commute to work).

CAMBRIDGE COWS

Once in Cambridge, I discovered a town that knows how to spoil cyclists! Bridges with cycle paths! Parks with cycle paths! Roads with cycle paths! And riverside paths with cycle routes…and cows! No kidding.

An easy cycle ride along quiet roads to the east of the railway line, and then alongside the River Cam, and before I knew it, I had found my way up to a company for my first pre-conference customer meeting. A quick change of shirt in their reception’s toilet and I was set to meet the engineers for a chat in their spacious offices (there were no chairs or tables in the conference room!).

Cyclists and pedestrians share the road in front of King's College - both mindful of tourists with cameras!

Meetings done, and it was time to head off around Cambridge for more cycling, plus a reconnaissance trip to find the Conference Centre for the meeting on Friday. The Møller Centre was located to the west of town, and so I weaved my way along the river into town – passing King’s College and witnessing my very first cycle collision.

CRASH!

The collision was between two cyclists: one was a woman on a dutch-style bicycle carrying groceries in her basket, the other a street racer complete with lycra and helmet. Guess which one rammed the other? Yup.

Do not enter - except cycles! My kind of sign!

The lady called out “Watch out!” as lycra man darted out of the pedestrian friendly area (open to cyclists too) and onto the main road where our basket lady was gently cycling home (I presume).

The carnage was spectacular: basket lady tipped slowly sideways and her fruit went rolling out of the basket. Lycra man circled back (he wobbled on after knocking her over) and asked if she was okay – she was, but boy were there going to be some nasty bruises on those apples. Her melons appeared to be unscathed.

They both continued on their way, and the cars hardly noticed the brief pause in their rush-hour commute.

WRONG TURN TURNS RIGHT

Meanwhile, behind me while composing this shot...CRASH!

Anyway, I continued on – along what I believed was the route west towards the conference centre. There was a lovely marked cycle route – It was super: well marked and alongside, rather than on, the road. Trouble was, I wasn’t on the right path!

So, turning around, I switched on my TomTom while parked beside the Welcome-To-Cambridge sign in order to figure out just where I had ended up. South-West. I needed to be more North-West. No probs – I was enjoying the cycle ride in the warmth – I doubled back a short bit and headed north. One more wrong turn (I had deliberately turned off my TomTom because sometimes it’s fun to discover things when you get lost) and before long I was at the Centre.

Now I know what the western welcome to Cambridge looks like. Time to turn around!

Reconnaissance done, it was time to head back into town and check into my hotel, the De Vere Group’s “University Arms”.

I cannot recommend the place highly enough: Friendly staff, lovely interior and exterior (except for the 1970s frontage on one side but I’ll forgive them for that late addition). Delicious British Breakfast too – best sausages and bacon I’ve had in a long time (sorry dear).

The hotel is right beside Parker’s Piece – a park that is a gathering place for students (presumably) out enjoying a summer’s autumn evening. All fine during the day, but there can be a bit of whooping going on – by the girls mainly – after dark. Nothing unsightly (that I could see from my window – damn it) but just youth enjoying themselves.

Local real ale on tap at the Weatherspoon's pub in Cambridge.

In the end, the happy sounds didn’t bother me much – I had popped across the street earlier to the Weatherspoons pub for dinner and a tasty Dickens real ale before relaxing with a couple of whiskys at a nearby bar. Good whisky and you’re good to go (to sleep) no matter what.

CONFERENCE THEN BACK TO LONDONTOWN

Filled up with food and coffee, I checked out, and hopped on my Brompton for the short cycle across town and up to the conference (I only had a minor wrong turn, quickly corrected). My Munich colleague didn’t fly over with his bicycle, so he took a cab up.

The Møller Centre in Cambridge - complete with cycle parking!

My folded Brompton fitted neatly into a luggage storage area near the Centre’s reception area. After the day’s entertainment (for a geek like me, it really was entertainment), it was time to head back to the train station for the return journey. “The Sun” was still shining and the temperature had hit a record of 29.2C. Perfect for cycling. Even better – I got to pass all the people stuck in their cars going nowhere.

I had hoped to join the Critical Mass London cycling outing at 6pm down at Waterloo Bridge, but unfortunately, the 4:45pm train decided to apply its emergency brakes just outside London – 90mph to 0 in just a few meters – and sulk like that for 15 minutes.

Secret cycle path gets you the best view of Kings College and punters on the River Cam in Cambridge!

Eventually, the driver figured out how to reboot the train’s computer (cut power to entire train then switch on again) and we were off albeit at 30mph for a few miles to ensure the train wouldn’t act up again. Anyway, all this meant that I didn’t get back to King’s Cross until after 6pm.

The University Arms hotel is a site to behold in a location overlooking a (sometimes noisy) park.

LOST IN LONDON

As it was, I got lost on the streets of London again. No big deal – every cyclist I met was very friendly and helpful (the ones with cycling helmets went whizzing past on their quest to break a world record, or their heads, so they weren’t evaluated – it must be true what I’ve heard: wearing a helmet makes you think you are safer and so tend to take more risks).

One lovely lady, Debbie, was able to get me going in the right direction because she was heading into the West End which is near to Waterloo station. At each traffic light we had a short chat. Turns out she is a dresser for actors in Les Miserables and was also stuck on that same train as me coming down from Cambridge. Good thing the train got going or else the French would have looked awfully English in the performance that night (how does one transform into a French person?).

Spacious room 215 at The University Arms - complete with creaking floor and super view of sunrise.

(I remember seeing Les Miz for the first time way back in the late 80s – or was it early 90s? – in Toronto. I’ve seen it in London since, but that was probably 10 years ago. Time to go again!)

LIGHTS ON

At last, Waterloo was in my sight and onto the train I got. Pretty packed but it was a Friday night – and not everyone has tickets to a show or a dinner engagement. I got out my Kindle (which now I cannot find) and continued my reading of Stairlift to Heaven by Terry Ravenscroft. Tip: be prepared to laugh out load and attract attention to yourself – it is a funny book! You’ve been warned.

Sunrise over Parker's Piece park in Cambridge as seen from room 215 of The University Arms

At last, several hours after leaving Cambridge, I was back in Whitchurch and had to turn on my lights and cycle home in the dark for the first time this year. All told, a fantastic business trip. More like that please!

The snow has stayed to the delight of our kids!  There were many opportunities to take some very pretty pictures around town (see our gallery).  That is, once I got into town after work…

I joined hundreds of others on the snow blown roads yesterday when the thick snow [...]]]>

The Square, Whitchurch, Hampshire

The snow has stayed to the delight of our kids!  There were many opportunities to take some very pretty pictures around town (see our gallery).  That is, once I got into town after work…

I joined hundreds of others on the snow blown roads yesterday when the thick snow started coming down (again) yesterday around 3pm in Fleet.

Lynch Hill Park in Whitchurch, Hampshire

The M3 was a slow crawl from exit 4a through to 5 with cars packed in tight.  At exit 5 there was a lorry blocking a lane under the overpass but it was mostly the thick and accumulating snow that was making driving up the hill there tough. I saw cars sliding about even though we were all going just 10mph.  Thankfully, I had left when I did for things just got worse and worse. I kept to 10mph right through to exit 8 for the A303, where the conditions improved marginally.

About two and half hours after leaving work, I arrived home.

Many others didn’t have it so lucky – especially in Basingstoke (exit 6) where the entire city became grid locked (everyone decided to leave work when the heavy snow started, and I heard they shut the Festival Place shopping mall too). Hundreds descended on the slippery secondary roads all at once. The BBC has a report of all the abandoned cars littering the streets even still tonight.

Lynch Hill Park in Whitchurch, Hampshire

This weather reminds me of winters when I was growing up in Whitby (Ontario) in Canada.  At least there you had snow ploughs (my dad says the cats eyes in the roads here would be ripped up if the same ploughs were used here; instead its mainly gritters).

The M3 near exit 6 for Basingstoke on Tuesday morning

The M3 was cleared of all snow this morning for my commute to work, so they must have something to do that. I left work a tad early today, too – the thaw never really came and what did melt began to freeze. I drove through ‘icy fog’ as its called for large parts of the drive home, but at least I could see the road markings!

We got back a week ago from our two week holiday in Crete. We stayed in a lovely villa in Prina – a town nestled in the mountains on the eastern side of the island.

...the view of Prina from villa Nicoletta.

We put a complete [...]]]>

The villa Nicoletta by Simply Travel...

We got back a week ago from our two week holiday in Crete. We stayed in a lovely villa in Prina – a town nestled in the mountains on the eastern side of the island.

...the view of Prina from villa Nicoletta.

We put a complete write-up into our Crete travel page, but suffice to say, it was a spectacular trip – as well as a relaxing break, with oodles of warm sunshine and salty seas!

One of the many highlights was riding donkeys through the most spectacular mountain trails in eastern Crete.  Our guides were a friendly Scottish couple (are there any other kind?) now living in Crete.  They are taking care of (at last count) no less than 8 donkeys!  You can read about, and help support, their donkeys over on their Walk With Donkeys website.

About to take a walk with donkeys...

I had to travel to my company’s headquarters in Munich, Germany this past Thursday and Friday.  I get over there a fair amount, but this was the first time that I had travelled through the infamous Heathrow terminal 5. The horror stories of its [...]]]>

Dancing, colourful fountains greet you at Heathrow Terminal 5

I had to travel to my company’s headquarters in Munich, Germany this past Thursday and Friday.  I get over there a fair amount, but this was the first time that I had travelled through the infamous Heathrow terminal 5. The horror stories of its opening days earlier this year have now subsided in the media.  But that doesn’t mean there aren’t things to complain about!

Yes, its impressive; however so are the new airports in Seoul, Toronto, and Hong Kong ~ all of which I’ve seen over the past few years.  In fact, I wouldn’t rate it higher than any of them.  And Toronto gets bonus marks for having some damn cool art all over the place!

The niggles?  Well, let’s begin at the beginning…

You arrive off the M25 by a brand new exit that looks like a motorway off ramp except you must crawl along at a ridiculous 40mph. I can only think the limit is so low because the architects want you to appreciate their hard work at making the glass monolith that is T5.

Giraffes serve up tasty food at T5.

I was heading to the short term parking.  Okay, a sign here, and there pointed me up a ramp:  I had to drive all the way up the height of the terminal to enter the car park! And then what?  You have to go down again, but around, and around and around on a spiral road.  This, I think, the architects did just so that you would appreciate the long straight bits in their big monolith.  Either that, or they get a cut from insurance company payouts for scratches on cars that don’t quite turn tight enough.

Okay, parked the car.  Off to the lifts.  There was no way of knowing beforehand if any level would let you walk straight into the terminal.  There isn’t.  The architects force you to travel in their big glass lifts in order to marvel at their big monolith.  Okay, fine.  But at least put a sign inside the lift to say what floor to go to for departures!  The only sign I saw was one OUTSIDE the lift before getting in.  Brilliant.  More time to marvel at that building.

The lift’s doors opened. I headed across a short bridge and into the monolith.  Wow, what a high ceiling.  But what is all that noise?  Ah, the giant TVs.  Its not that they have audio blasting, no, its that they have 40 foot fans blowing to keep the darned things cool.  Or perhaps its all part of the building’s cooling system.  I don’t know, but boy are those things noisy, especially near the security areas (hmmm, do I hear health and safety officiers coming?).

The world of T5 shopping overlooks the departure gates.

I had already checked in online, so I just had to get through security — there’s a north and a south, but no central, entrance.  And where do you come into the building? In the middle of course!

The security area has a fancy automated bucket machine in which you are supposed to plunk your carry-on items.  Seems good except that it doesn’t really speed anything up.  In fact, it makes people nervous: at the other end of the xray machine the buckets stop under an arch until you empty them, but many people think the bucket will automatically whisk itself under the flap so it can return to take the next passenger’s belongings through.

The result? People lift up the trays, ignoring the signs saying not to lift the trays (hint: if you need a sign then the design is flawed!). This isn’t too bad, except the security guy barks at you to say not to lift up the trays.  Sorry, but the system scares you to think that your laptop is about to disappear into some unknown void, never to be seen again.

Its a crafty technology (there is a camera in the arch that looks to see if there is anything in the bucket before letting it be whisked away) but it is let down by that craftiness.  I wonder how much that system cost compared to having a person return the trays.  Oh wait, health and safety! Empty buckets might be too heavy for people to carry!

After security, I entered the world of shopping.  Where are the gates?  Not here.  I had to pass by at least half the stores before finding the escalator that took me down a floor to the gates.  But before doing that, I stopped at a giraffe (no kidding) to have a quick snack.  It was nice, I have to say, to sit at the table in the restaurant and look out of the wall of glass at the planes outside.

The last niggle upon departure?  No newspapers to read in the waiting area.  There are in the Lufthansa gates over in Terminal 2.  But that whole thing is about to be knocked down.

Is it art or are people of Munich taking the piss?

Wait!  I have another niggle: the ceiling above the gates at the ends of the terminal, and in the various corridors.  In fact, its no ceiling.  The award winning architects were obviously inspired by the 1970s.  If you look up, then you will see lots and lots of polka dots.  And between these white discs is…nothing.  You can see right through to the metal cable trays and air ducts.  Maybe they expect many engineers to pass through this terminal.  That, or many baby-boomer hippies.  Now, if they had only had newspapers at the departure gates…

Okay, off I go to Munich.  Whoosh!  It was a typical business trip, except when it wasn’t.  I did find one worker that had a funky chair. And another who likes certain clubs (tip: Montreal has the best ones). Oh yes, and some Munich restaurants have funny looking urinals.

Arriving at T5...but where is the jetty for my plane?

The BA flight coming back to London landed a full twenty minutes before schedule.  Fantastic! Except…

We couldn’t get off the plane.

The jetty wouldn’t budge from T5 to the plane’s door.  The pilot told us of the situation, and reminded us all that we were 20 minutes early.  After 8 more minutes, but still 12 minutes early, he came on to say they were now positioning steps in front of the door.  We could finally disembark (and at our scheduled arrival time).   But, the fun wasn’t over yet.

We were treated to a tour of the north and west sides of T5 courtesy of the bus that we were forced to get on at the bottom of the stairs.  But I get a head of myself.

Leaving immigration upstairs, its time to go downstairs for...

The door into T5 was directly in front of the plane, across a two-laned “street” that the baggage trolleys use.  It seems the BAA management, who run Heathrow, in their wisdom, or fear of the health and safety police, require a bus to move people 50 feet.  But, the bus isn’t allowed to cross the street.  No, it had to turn left on the street, travel along one side of T5, hang a right and go down the west side, then do a U-turn using the roundabout put there at the end of the street just for this purpose, before doubling-back on itself to the door in front of the plane.

We were all relieved (ha!) to see that there were esculators to take us up to immigration and more esculators to take us down to the baggage hall and then into the arrivals hall.  Brilliant design.  The architect must have won an award for most convoluted routing of passengers just arriving at an airport.  Perhaps they are the ones who designed Terminal 2.  Have I mentioned that they are about to knock T2 down?

...baggage claim. Up, down, up, down. And what is with that ceiling?

Okay, all must be fine now?  No! Where the hell is the car park office?  I had to go there to get my car park ticket validated because I had pre-paid for parking to save a bunch of cash.  A sign would help.  No sign.  Ask someone in a bright yellow jacket.  They point me to another person in a bright yellow jacket.  He directs me down the road, across the crosswalk and to the tiny office under the car park. Fine.  Ticket ready.  Now, where did I park? Oh yes, upstairs.  Find the lift.  Ohhhh! What pretty fountains.  They were so fascinating that I forgot to look at the architect’s building. Up I go. I found my car right where I left it.  Unfortunately, no one washed it while I was gone.

I’m on the way home at last.  Wait!  Which way do I turn?  As a final insult to arriving passengers, the architects and BAA, decided that drivers, like me, leaving the car park need to be spun around by descending a long spiral road to get to ground level.

The dancing fountains bid me a fond farewell from T5

Once at ground level, I was left to my own devices to figure out which way takes me to the M25.  Now, I must say, they did put up a sign.  A tiny sign.  A tiny sign right beside the Y-junction.

Luckily, I kept my wits about me and thought: “If I was a daft BAA management fool with a smarty pants architect and I had to design a road layout, then where would I least likely think to turn?”.

I turned as they didn’t expect, went up a ramp (what is with all this up and down ramp business?) and found myself at a roundabout I recognized.

Free at last!  The clogged M25 was mine to enjoy!

Would I travel BA through T5 again? You bet.  That giraffe serves great nosh.