#buy branded watches in croydon

[panelshowsource]

a note about women’s month 💘

thank you to everyone who voted in the fave female panelists poll this year! last year was a blast and this year was even better! we’ve seen more woman on tv this year — and some improved, though grossly insufficient, diversity within that — and i love celebrating that with you everyday!

last year, i wrote this:

the lack of diversity in british comedy is an alarming issue that has only recently become headline news. statistics presented by this study, based on 50 years of panel shows and over 4,700 individual episodes, are beyond disappointing for women (here is an easy-to-read graph by series & by year); similar disappointment stems from the lineups at popular comedy festivals, like edinburgh. in 2014, the head of tv at the bbc promised to end all-male comedy shows, a “step in the right direction” that hasn’t been without fear of tokenism, fair criticism as well as some naysayers. women, people of colour, lgbt peoples, those differently-abled and those all of the above and in between are just as funny as cis-identifying white men and deserve a place on our screens. watch their standup, buy their books, stream their videos, listen to their podcasts, comment on and like their content, follow their social media. this support can directly help women become more visible in british comedy.

in the last year, have you been actively conscious of supporting women in comedy? i’d like to take a moment to talk about some ways you can do that :)

➡ from feminist discourse to tales of humans & their dogs to ghost stories, these women are providing some of the most touching, stimulating, and funny reading coming out of comedy:

How to be Champion: My Autobiography by Sarah Millican

Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body by Sara Pascoe

The Guilty Feminist: From our noble goals to our worst hypocrisies by Deborah Frances-White

The Actual One: How I Tried, and Failed, to Avoid Adulthood Forever by Isy Suttie

Cheer Up Love: Adventures in Depression with the Crab of Hate by Susan Calman

The More You Ignore Me by Jo Brand

Can't Stand Up for Sitting Down: A Memoir by Jo Brand

Look Back in Hunger: The Autobiography by Jo Brand

Born Lippy: How to Do Female by Jo Brand

Is It Just Me? by Miranda Hart

Peggy & Me by Miranda Hart

Nina Is Not OK by Shappi Khorsandi

A Beginner's Guide to Acting English: A Memoir by Shappi Khorsandi

Spectacles: A Memoir by Sue Perkins

East of Croydon: Blunderings through India and South East Asia by Sue Perkins

Once More, with Feeling: How We Tried to Make the Greatest Porn Film Ever by Victoria Coren Mitchell and Charlie Skelton

For Richer, For Poorer: A Love Affair with Poker by Victoria Coren Mitchell

Dead Funny: Horror Stories by Comedians featuring Sara Pascoe, Katy Brand, and Danielle Ward

...and that’s just to name a handful! my fingers would need a 5 min power nap if i tried typing out all of susie dent’s books 💪

➡ this is a list of a lot relevant active podcasts coming out of britain right now (though it is missing, most notably, off menu). for example, if you liked alice levine on taskmaster, why not listen to her podcast? or watch/listen her on rhlstp? this is such a fun way to get more deeply involved in the comedy of some of your favourite ladies! might i recommend isy suttie’s the things we do for love, anneka harry’s brown bread, or box set go! with nicola stephenson (the newest ep features rebecca front!)? most of these are free, or they can be found/requested at /r/notapanelshow p.s. suzi ruffell, rosie jones, tiff stevenson and more are scheduled to appear on rhlstp this season 😍

➡ here is a list of some radio programmes currently on the air. while it does look stacked with men (because it is), women do feature on so many of these series and absolutely smash it! did you know sandi toksvig hosted the news quiz for almost ten years, and its regular panelists include susan calman, rebecca front, zoe lyons, and more? or that victoria coren mitchell has hosted heresy since 2006 (because there’s nothing she can’t do)? or that sarah millican, jo brand, and sally phillips have each hosted series of the museum of curiosity? these are all on the masterpost! 👏 p.s. you can always search for and/or request more radio shows at /r/panelshow or, if they’re not panel radio shows, /r/notapanelshow :)

➡ social 👏 media 👏 determines 👏 relevancy 👏 do i agree with this system? no. is this the system entertainers are currently slaves to? yes. do you follow your favourite women on twitter, instagram, youtube, etc? one click. one like. one retweet. one reblog. here is a list of some of the comedians i follow on twitter to get you started — all of your faves are on there! when you like something they are on, tweet about it! tag them, the network, the channel, use the hashtags, post pictures! tell channels like dave or people like richard osman who your faves are, who deserves more exposure, who you want to see in the future! we’re already obsessing over how much we like these ladies anyways, so why not make that obsession even more visibile?

➡ we have a really sweet, modest community here of at least 10,000 people. this is not something i’ve ever talked about because i don’t want what i’m going to say to be misconstrued as begging for notes — that is not my concern. but you may have heard people on this site talk about something called the like/reblog ratio. a lot of creators are concerned that, apart from tumblr’s ever-evolving ludicrous algorithms murdering their visibility, people are so obsessed with their blog aesthetics that they’re not actually reblogging everything they like. here’s a couple of my gifset details, one from a nicher post and one from a more popular post:

while i appreciate any notes, numbers likes these aren’t always encouraging. i’m not here to tell you how to enjoy your spare time and interests, or to criticise people who enjoy aesthetic. i just want to point out that if you want someone to be successful, you play a direct part in promoting them and spreading their art. as the years pass, this becomes more and more true. i know how much you all love these ladies — i get messages about them every single day — but it’s a simple fact that a gifset of james acaster or noel fielding or richard ayoade or david mitchell is going to get more notes than a post about any of the women who placed in the top 5 of this poll. i am not bringing this up to this make anyone feel guilty about what they enjoy; i only hope my mentioning this encourages you to be conscientious when participating on social media, especially when your interest lies in the products of a grossly unjust industry that is taking a lot fucking time to get itself on the right track. more followers on a comedian’s twitter = more work for that comedian, because that’s simply the direction the film & tv industry is going. if your follow yields that much power, why not use it for good?

please support women. if you buy one of their books, please message me and tell me which one! if you think one of them is shining on a radio programme and we’re sleeping on her, please let me know (timestamps appreciated!)! if one starts a gofundme or patreon to start a podcast or a tour, please donate 50p and then send me the link! there is always more we can be doing and we are always underestimating what even smallest amount of support means for their bigger picture. i don’t have all the answers, but i love the feeling i get when i believe society is evolving in the right direction. rose matafeo won the edinburgh comedy award in 2018, and sarah keyworth and kiri pritchard-mclean took the top awards at the 2019 chortle awards. women are here to stay and they’re fucking killing it. because duh ❣️

if you took the time to read this, i appreciate you x

[itsbestsiteseverlove-blog]

Buy and sell Jewellery and Watches at Albone Jewellers. We are a family run Jewellers in South London. We buy gold, diamond jewellery & top brand watches!

[fashiontrendin-blog]

Why Every Stylish Wrist Deserves A Swiss Watch

http://fashion-trendin.com/why-every-stylish-wrist-deserves-a-swiss-watch/

Why Every Stylish Wrist Deserves A Swiss Watch

You’ve noticed the cheesy Patek Philippe ads, gazed at your boss’ Rolex during meetings, maybe even threatened to get your grandfather’s pocket watch repaired one day… and now you’ve saved a bit of cash, it’s time to bite the bullet and invest in your very own Swiss timepiece.

That last particular word is probably one of many reasons why it’s taken this long – do you really want to be the sort of man who calls his watch a ‘timepiece’? Or, even worse, a ‘chronometer’? It’s true, the watch world can be a rather snobby, anorak-clad institution, whose idiosyncrasies you might forgive if it wasn’t for the astronomical cost of joining this particular club. Even supercars manage to retain an everyman appeal (although, to be fair, there aren’t many teenagers’ bedroom walls pinned with Breitling posters).

The good news, if you’re seriously thinking about doing it, is that a decent Swiss watch is generally worth its price tag – crafted just as exactingly as a Ferrari, by artisans whose skills are generally limited to the valleys of the Swiss Jura mountains. But still, why wear one at all, when the precise time is displayed everywhere in our ‘always on’ digital age?

“There’s an element of status and style symbolism, for sure,” says ex-watchmaker and store manager Sandy Madhvani of David M Robinson jewellers, “much like that Porsche that rarely creeps over 20mph in town. But wearing any sort of watch, Swiss or not, is rarely about telling the time these days – instead, it is an investment into something sentimental and eternal…

“It’s no wonder more and more women are buying engagement watches for their new fiancés, in return for their ring.”

Greg E. Mathieson Sr./REX/Shutterstock

Madhvani’s notion of eternity isn’t so far-fetched. Just a little TLC will mean your mechanical wristwatch can tick forever – its timeworn technology is totally safe from obsolescence, unlike that shiny new smartwatch.

“With brands like Patek Philippe and Rolex,” he continues, “your watch could potentially accrue in value, even. In terms of mechanical objects, only a fully restored vintage Ferrari is capable of that. In terms of cost per wear, there’s simply no comparison – unless you can honestly name an item of clothing or pair of shoes that you’ve worn every day for years, which still looks and functions just as well?”

So Why Switzerland?

A mechanical movement is a beguiling thing to behold as well as listen to, ticking away at 28,800 vibrations per hour. Its hundred-odd tiny parts are all machined laboriously and precisely from steel or brass, polished to varying degrees of shimmer and shine, then hand-assembled by one of the world’s most skilled workforces in light-drenched mountaintop ateliers. A joyous anachronism in this digital world, with prices that can stretch to the equivalent of a three-bed Croydon semi (try Googling ‘Greubel Forsey’).

But while the underlying mechanical principles of mainsprings, gear-trains and ticking balance-wheel escapements were more-or-less shared around the world (and still are), the Swiss managed to mark themselves out from London, New York or Paris’s artisans. How? Division of labour.

It was down to the genius of goldsmith Daniel Jeanrichard (1665-1741), who devised a system called établissage in the Jura mountains. This cottage industry (chalet industry?) saw the closely guarded knowledge of a few watchmakers spread to independent workshops, each one with its own specialism. The system survives to this day.

In fact, many of the workshops dotting the valleys of the Jura were run by the local dairy farmers who, come the harsh, isolating winter snow, would round up their livestock and turn to their home workshops. Making wheels of cheese with cows turned into making wheels of metal with lathes.

REX/Shutterstock

“From the 1740s to the early 1800s,” explains Michel Golay, who runs Audemars Piguet’s watchmaking museum in Le Brassus, “the farmers-turned-watchmakers in the Jura walked to Geneva every spring to sell the movements they’d made over the winter to the cabinottiers and établisseurs, who finished the movements and cased them up as complete, branded watches.”

Soon enough, the hill farmers realised they could make more money by putting their own names on the dials, says Golay. “Many of them stopped farming altogether and began making watches all year. Families throughout the valley co-operated, and gradually the quality of the craftsmanship increased, as did their reputation.”

The Jura’s La Chaux-de-Fonds is considered the true ‘cradle’ of Swiss Jura watchmaking – the highest city in Europe at 1,000 metres above sea level, colloquially known as ‘Watch Valley’. Here, in this snowy backwater of central Europe, you’ll find the gleaming glass and steel factories of Tissot, TAG Heuer, Breitling, Cartier and countless others nestled idyllically in rolling, verdant foothills, surrounded by cows and their clanking bells.

REX/Shutterstock

Your Budget

So how much to spend, and what will that get you?

Like with holidays or property, that age-old adage applies with a wristwatch: spend as much as you can afford, as you’ll never regret it. But whatever that figure is, rest assured that with a Swiss watch, you will invariably get your money’s worth.

Under £500

Watch snobs be gone: less than £500 will get you a very decent piece of wristwear, with all the after-sales support you’d expect from a watch 10 times the price. You’ll struggle to find a Swiss mechanical movement much under £800 (with the noble exceptions of Tissot and Hamilton) but there’s no shame in a Swiss quartz watch, powered by a battery instead of a spring.

It uses the 32kHz vibration of the titular crystal to regulate the ‘tick’ of the watch – infinitely more precise than a mechanical balance wheel oscillating at a relatively agricultural 4Hz, and losing no more than 10 seconds a year.

For the most affordable watches look to Swiss-made Bulova, Certina, Tissot and Mondaine (but also note that Japanese watchmakers Seiko or Citizen are arguably the heavyweights when it comes to quartz).

£500–£3,000

This is the budget bracket you should be considering with your first company bonus – you’ll be guaranteed the prestige of a Swiss mechanical, preferably ticking away beneath a clear caseback, admirable in the same way as a mid-mounted Ferrari V8 growling beneath its glass engine cover.

An automatic mechanical movement is the most common, and this is where your money’s going. Fitted with an off-kilter weight, or ‘rotor’ that swings with the movement of your arm, this keeps the winding barrel tightly wound. In turn, the winding spring powers a gear-train to which hours, minutes and seconds hands are attached. Manually-wound mechanical movements are increasingly popular, though, as the lack of rotor permits a clearer view into that mesmerising constellation of moving parts.

Brands to bear in mind include Longines, Bell & Ross, Victorinox, Raymond Weil, Nomos Glashütte and Tudor.

Up To £5,000

This is where it can get overwhelming, as many make their first big horological investment in this price range and don’t want to get it wrong. So, for a start, do your research, take your time, visit your friendly local jeweller and don’t be afraid to ask stupid questions – chances are, they’re wiser than you think.

The good news is that so many of Swiss watchmaking’s enduring classics fall into this category, and you’ll never go wrong purchasing one, whether it’s a TAG Heuer Carrera, Omega Seamaster, Tudor Black Bay, or even a Breitling.

North Of £5,000

This is venturing into serious collector territory, where most of your cash is going towards a movement that – rather than being a standard-issue Swiss automatic mechanical movement – gets ‘manufacture’ mechanics, and is made ‘in-house’ by the brands, with exacting hand-polish applied to the tiniest parts as icing on the cake.

Think Rolex, Zenith, IWC, Hublot, Jaeger-LeCoultre; luxury watch brands with revered heritage in spades, innovation to rival NASA, and every single timepiece the result of months of painstaking work at the hands of some extraordinarily skilled individuals.

Decisions, Decisions…

To kick off, you’ll want a watch for every eventuality – or at least one that straddles a few of life’s regular scenarios. An easy choice for the office is a black leather strap and a clean, silver dial. But when Saturday comes, you may also want a watch that looks appropriate while trimming the hedge – in which case, a metal bracelet instead of leather makes it perfect for both.

People joke about a chronograph only being good for timing an egg – but if you do have soft-boiled eggs for breakfast, then a chronograph is far more convenient than finding the stopwatch app on your phone (and smearing yolk on your screen). Alternatively, a diving watch is useful for diving, yes, but if you harbour an abject fear of open water it still serves as an all-purpose, wear-it-and-forget-about-it watch for all conditions.

Obviously, ‘one watch to rule them all’ will only stretch so far – which is where the notion of a watch wardrobe comes in. It takes years of steady, considered investment, but a solid line-up for the top of your dresser (or sock drawer) looks something like this:

The Rugged All-Rounder

Slightly retro military-style watches work well here, with black dial, monochrome markings and maybe a brown-leather strap, e.g. Bremont’s Airco or Tudor’s Heritage Ranger.

Tudor Heritage Ranger

The Diving Watch

Water-resistance and ruggedness are key here, making diving watches great for strapping on and forgetting about – ideal for beach holidays, epic post-dinner-party washing-up sessions, or simply making a colourful statement, e.g. Victorinox INOX Diver.

Victorinox INOX Diver

The Dress Watch

What it says on the tin: classical formality for the boardroom meeting or black tie event, e.g. Longines Flagship or Cartier Tank.

Cartier Tank

Sports Watch

This usually means a stop-watch chronograph is in the mix, with either a rubber strap or metal bracelet, e.g. Baume & Mercier Clifton Club.

Baume & Mercier Clifton Club

The Classics

A rare breed of watch from one of Switzerland’s big boys that’ll never age or look out of place. Usually comes on a bracelet. Look no further than Omega’s Seamaster, Rolex’s Submariner (both diving watches, funnily enough), the IWC Portugieser and TAG Heuer’s Carrera.

Omega Seamaster

The Brands

Buy a watch from any reputable dealer or direct from any of the big brands, and you can’t go wrong – neither have come this far flogging dodgy tickers hung from the inside of their overcoats. But what sort of design, heritage or make-up speaks to you, and what does it say about you? There’s no getting around it; the brand you endorse is important, especially as it’s just about the most personal thing you’ll possess. Just make sure of one thing: go into the store and try it on. You’ll instantly know, either way.

Tissot

One of the grand dames of Swiss watchmaking, with heritage in spades, and along with Rolex and Omega, a member of the rarefied ‘billion club’ [its revenue was $1.1m last year]. Despite what you’d think, however, Tissot is one of the most affordable means of joining the rarefied Swiss-made-watch club – £395 will get you a supremely chic Le Locle automatic, named after Tissot’s home town.

Baume & Mercier

A member of Richemont Group’s unrivalled portfolio of luxury watch brands (stablemates include Cartier, IWC and ‘the German Patek Philippe’, A. Lange & Söhne) most people quietly respected 188-year-old B&M as the necessarily affordable arm of a formidable arsenal of haute horlogerie.

But just when you thought it was all inoffensive ‘sports luxe’ kitted out with third-party mechanics, the Baumatic comes along – genuinely ‘in-house’ innovation with antimagnetic silicon components, five-day power reserve and five-year service intervals… all for just £2,500.

Oris

One of the first Swiss brands not afraid to embrace industrialised techniques from across the pond, Oris has always been about quality mechanical watches at an incredibly reasonable price. The styles run the gamut from retro dress watches inspired by the smoky jazz clubs of the fifties to utilitarian pilot watches, never usually much more than a grand.

Most recently, as well as a handsome four-grand venture into prestige ‘manufacture’ movements, the focus has been beneath the waves, spearheaded by a number of noble ocean-conservation initiatives and arguably the finest retro revivals in a recent swathe of retro revivals – the Divers Sixty-Five.

Longines

A rung or two up the vast Swatch Group’s portfolio from Tissot, you’ll find Longines – a brand that rivalled Omega and Rolex back in the day, with a string of important technical evolutions in the early 20th century, including chronographs for the wrist, sports timing equipment and lifesaving navigational aids for those magnificent men in their flying machines (including one Charles Lindbergh, no less).

These days, the innovation is left to other Swatch Group brands like Breguet and Omega, but for good-value, classically designed Swissness, you can’t beat Longines’ Master and Heritage collections.

Tudor

From its 1940s conception, Tudor mirrored Rolex – it had the same designs and model names, but with a different logo and cheaper movements. Genius marketing initiative from Switzerland’s biggest name. However, Tudor’s ‘Submariner’ diving watch was quickly adopted by the Israeli naval commandos in the 1960s, followed famously by French naval divers and the US elite combat divers. And it’s this heritage that’s been drawn on so effectively in recent years, affording ‘Rolex’s little brother’ to grow up at last into a titan of Swiss watchmaking, complete with in-house movement factory. Still just as affordable, mind.

Omega

From Cindy Crawford to Buzz Aldrin via James Bond; from timing every Olympics event to pioneering the only major advancement in horological engineering in two centuries (the Co-Axial escapement, since you ask), the world of Omega is a vast, multifaceted one.

In terms of the watches themselves, though? Difficult to fault, in a nutshell. The ‘Moonwatch’ Speedmaster is still the only timepiece to have been ‘flight qualified’ by NASA and boasts one of the most classic chronograph designs in history. While the Seamaster diving watch is still the choice of 007, yes, but also real-life Royal Navy frogmen.

Rolex

Hans Wilsdorf founded the Most-Namechecked Brand in Hip Hop as recently as 1905, in London believe it or not, giving it a generic name that was easy to pronounce across different languages. He was a marketing genius, strapping his newfangled ‘Oyster’ to English Channel swimmer Mercedes Gleitze in 1926 and advertising its proven water-resistance on the front cover of the Daily Mail. The Oyster developed into the Submariner diving watch in the fifties, in response to the burgeoning craze for SCUBA, and was worn by James Bond well into the Timothy Dalton days.

Despite appearances, things never rest chez Rolex, thanks to it constantly honing a limited range of super-precise, super-reliable mechanical calibres and timeless designs like the Cosmograph Daytona. It might be a predictable choice, but Rolex watches are arguably the best in the world, and generally accrue in value.

Zenith

An early pioneer of the ‘manufacture’ process, Zenith brought virtually every trade in watchmaking beneath a single roof in Le Locle (over the road from Tissot) in order to speed up development and guarantee parts supply.

Its other claim to fame is the El Primero chronograph, which tied with Heuer’s Calibre 11 in 1969 as the world’s first self-winding stopwatch for the wrist, but still has the edge thanks to its high frequency tick. This essentially means it can time events to a margin of one tenth of a second rather than an eighth. ‘Basic’ El Primeros also happen to be the most bargainous in-house automatic chronographs out there.

Officine Panerai

If they re-made Wall Street, it wouldn’t be a yellow gold Cartier peeping out from Gordon Gekko’s starched French cuff, it would be the nineties pioneer of ‘oversize’, Officine Panerai, in gold.

Every corner office’s favourite timekeeper started life in the thirties, when the Italian Navy requested a diving watch from its preferred equipment maker. More used to making saltwater chandlery than finickity tickers, Panerai turned to Rolex, who essentially added a strap to one of its cushion-shaped pocket watches. The iconic cushion shape stuck, but the rebooted brand now makes its own, top-end movements. Expensive, yes, but not nearly as expensive as those original Rolex models at auction. (If you can find one…)

Nomos Glashütte

To finish with a wild card, this is the only brand in our list that isn’t Swiss. Germany is your first port of call if you decide not to buy Swiss and Nomos is one of the country’s most impressive watchmakers. It’s also the only brand here formed in our lifetime, in 1990 – immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Given the import of Swissness and heritage in the stuffy world of watchmaking, this makes Nomos’s meteoric rise as impressive as the watches themselves. They’re based in the tiny village of Glashütte, nestled – Swiss Jura-style – in the picturesque Ore Mountains, near Dresden, along with every other major German watchmaker. Ice-cool Bauhaus modernism married with in-house mechanical prowess and bafflingly low price tags makes Nomos a compelling case if you’re venturing out of Switzerland.

[alexydury]

London to Paris - cycling

London to Paris (L2P) cycling on road Thursday 15th – Saturday 17th June 2017 Last year, Steven just happened to ask me if I wanted to do the London to Paris cycle ride…. I said yeah, why not? Without thinking about it properly! I thought it would be an easy ride through the park thingy! I had been busy running after the London Marathon and had the all clear from the GP, so felt ready for a new challenge. So, after paying in full (£380) for the cycle trip including ferry, hotels, van hire and the Eurostar…. it was time to think ahead for the L2P. Steven then mentioned to me that he was worried about me using my old mountain bike for the trip! He said that it was too heavy and wouldn’t be able to keep up with the others in the group. So, we went shopping to look at the road bikes and to try some out. I then decided to buy a brand new sports bike! I have to admit that it was quite an irrational and rushed decision on my part. I Looked at second hand bikes on ebay etc but having had bad experiences of second hand bikes in the past and problems with my daughter’s bike, I decided to go for a new one. I went ahead and bought a brand new sports bike from Evans bike shop. This particular bike cost me £900! Ouch! Now I understand why Steven hid the true cost of his bike last year when he did coast to coast cycling! This time it was my turn! Haha. I bought myself a lovely Bianche bike – a specialist Italian hand-made bike. Once I had picked it up, there wasn’t much time to get a lot of training in with the bike. I only managed to do the CFC Stratford 30 miles a couple of weeks before the L2P event and then realised that I was quite naïve in thinking that I could do it without training. I had so much to learn, especially with gear changing and uphill cycling. Day One – Thursday 15th June Three guys Nick, Chris (both hearing) and Mike started from home to Trafalgar Square and met us there. The night before we went over to Gareth’s house (hearing, CODA who also has a deaf wife) who was the organiser of the whole cycling trip and gave him our clothes, bags and our bikes. The driver for the event was Marcus (deaf & Gareth’s baby brother!) who put all the bikes and bags into the hired van. We then met him at Waterloo Place, just around the corner from Trafalgar Square, which was our starting point of the London to Paris cycling trip. After a sleepless night at Steven’s house, we caught the train from Harpenden to Kings Cross and met up with 3 other deaf guys on the train – Adam, Simon and Gary who were also with us for the L2P trip. We were all pretty nervous and made our way to Waterloo Place to meet everyone. I was petrified at the thought of cycling with all of them knowing that I was the least experienced out of the lot. However, it was reassuring to know that there would be a van beside us in case anything happened. We were running a bit late but eventually arrived. Everyone got changed into their cycling gear and began to get their bikes ready. I arrived in my cycling clothes with a fleece jacket and a small rucksack for money and drinks. After several group photos at Trafalgar Square, we started off together along the embankment, over the bridge and through places I was familiar with like Brixton, Croydon, Purley and a couple of parks with cycling paths. We were cycling on the specialised cycling path along the road, it was beautifully smooth tarmac a lot of the way and of course being in a city, we stopped at many traffic lights along the way. I felt quite confident with my cycling at this point until after we went through Purley. We cycled up a big hill where we saw the beautiful skyline of London. That was the point when I realised that I had some big problems ahead of me! The roads soon became very hilly along the way. It was less busy on the roads through the countryside, but I did start to struggle a bit with the hills. I was at the back of the group cycling alone at this point which was really tough. Gareth and Steven supported me along the way and eventually Mike helped with some instructions on how to cycle properly uphill. Marcus met us at the top of the hill and also met us at different places along the road to make sure that everyone was okay. It was really reassuring to know they were somewhere behind me (they stopped at places and moved to catch up with us). Eventually we were in the Redhill area and suddenly I was in Bletchingley village! Oh gosh I thought….. I had to stop here and say hello to my dearest old friend Mark (also godfather of my daughter). Everyone stopped at a shop over the road opposite Mark’s café Lamington. I went over and just walked in the café. Mark was dumbfounded as he watched me walk into his café. He was putting a slice of cake onto a plate when the cake fell apart he was so shocked! (He later put that piece of cake into a takeaway bag along with carrot cake and some cheesey scones for me!) Unfortunately, my visit was right in the middle of the busy time at the café and Mark struggled to serve all of us outside the café with water as well as his regular customers. It was an unexpected visit for both of us! It was also good to see Lulu who was helping Mark out on the day. During the stop, Mike checked my bike over as he thought that my saddle was too high for me and put it down for me. There were then photos taken outside the café before everyone took off again! I felt a bit of pressure as I tried to sort out my saddle knowing I was holding everyone back from arriving at the hotel in a good time. Everyone wanted to get there so they could eat and relax and get to bed at a reasonable hour. So, I decided to put my bike in the van and rode with Marcus to the hotel. I think I made the right decision in doing this as I lost a bit of confidence, especially at the last part before arriving Marks café. I really enjoyed riding through London, I thought it was going to be awful but surprisingly it wasn’t! I would definitely ride again in and around London. I was amazed with Marcus keeping up with everyone especially the front two riders Nick and Chris (apparently they rode to work everyday). Mike admitted that he enjoyed being with the 2 front riders even though he went back a bit to ensure everyone had stayed together including his wife Mags, Simon, Gary, Gareth, Steven and Adam. There was a lot of hilly countryside roads at the beginning and then a very busy road towards Newhaven. I have so much admiration for everybody for riding up those hills. I hadn’t realised how much was actually involved with cycling. There is a lot of skill involved with changing gears and stuff. I also still had a bit of a cough at this point and wanted to save myself for the best part later on during the cycling trip and maybe on less hilly roads! John also came with me in the van and helped to keep Marcus company as he’d had a bit of a health scare recently so he took it easy and rode a bit now and then. I didn’t know John or Marcus at all before the day and as we were getting to know each other we realised we all had connections somewhere in the deaf community! We know of someone! Also, Marcus and myself went to the same deaf school but during a different era but we know a lot of the same people…. Small world! Strange how we never crossed paths before, but maybe we did and just didn’t realise! It was the same for John who is related to John Hay and his wife Shirley. At one point the gap between the riders became wider and wider meaning most riders rode alone not together! Thank goodness I was off the road otherwise I was embarrassingly far behind! Two of the riders weren’t happy and one thought that he had been left behind and may be lost (He was really anxious because he realised that he have no phone with him so no access to MapMyRide or contacts). We reassured him that he just had to keep on going straight ahead and he would be fine. Eventually Steven, Adam and Gary became one group. Mags eventually caught up and stayed behind Mike. Gareth and Simon stayed together. They stopped at the last 7 miles and rode together as a group for the last part of the journey to the Premier Inn at Newhaven. I was in awe of the riders as they all looked really whacked! I really admired them all. We were then allowed to put our bikes into our rooms, which was a brilliant opportunity to prepare the bikes ready for the next day. (We did put our bikes into bed and took a quick photo!! Haha!) After a quick shower we met up at the hotel bar next door and had a beer. I have to say that the beer tasted so gooooood! I was knackered but knew that others were worse than me. I could see Steven bearing up with the tiredness of the journey and feeling so hungry that he could eat a horse! Simon recommended a good restaurant (from his work friend I think) down the road called The Ark. We all went down there and enjoyed a good quality meal. I would have eaten anywhere and wouldn’t have minded staying at the restaurant next door to the hotel and having cheap steak. However, the service and food/drink at The Ark was particularly good. We got to know each other a little more over dinner and the guys wanted a few more beers so headed back to the hotel bar to discover it was closed! Haha. I was planning on going straight to bed anyway, especially after the previous night’s awful sleep. I went into a lovely deep sleep! Day Two – Friday 16th June It was a shock to wake the next morning and see Steven opening the curtains saying it was time to get going. The thought of more cycling worried me! My bottom was hurting like hell (another reason why Mike moved the saddle down a bit on my bike after discovering I had a sore bottom so soon into the event). I got up and got dressed into my Bianche cycling gear that Steven had given me for my birthday the previous week, also put my fleece jacket on top as it was seven in the morning and a bit chilly. We put our bags into the van and cycled ourselves to the ferry terminal down the road. We were all feeling relaxed as we cruised along at dawn. There was a bit of a chill in the air, but we knew it would be warming up later on. We then collected our tickets and went through passport control.There were a bit of a wait as there were many others waiting to be processed and around 200 people cycled onto the ferry. We then got off and walked with our bikes over the ramp into the ferry for safety. We were led to an area where we parked our bikes against the wall in twos. The van went separately and joined us later (he joined us at the back of the long breakfast queue!!). We assumed that the ferry crew had used straps to keep all the bikes stacked up to the wall like the motorbikes to stop them falling all over the place. We then enjoyed eating our breakfast, it was four long hours ferrying cross the English channel. Steven and I went walking about outside. The weather was very nice as it was warm and sunny out there and people were relaxing on the decking chairs. It was at this point when I Looked out to sea and thought of Andrew Rees (old deaf school friend) swimming across the English Channel – how amazing was that?! I met a couple of lovely riders on the ferry as I noticed one of them had an electric bike so I asked if we could swap bikes! She explained that she can now enjoy cycling with her husband who was into cycling with the use of the electric bike. She can charge up the bike and rely on its power to get her up the hills! Amazing. She also asked me questions such as where were our bags and luggage etc. I also enjoyed looking at the other cyclists and groups of cyclists. Anyway, we got off smoothly and safely. I realised that I had a wobbly back tyre so Mike quickly took off the wheel and sorted out the bearings and put it back together for me. All was sorted and off we went cruising through France! Riding on the left side of the road felt a little strange at first. We rode on the road for 7 miles before we came across the cycling path (old railway path) which was 30 miles long passing cafes and bars. It was practically flat but no freewheeling though as it was an uphill gradient so we have to peddle most of the time. There were many road crossings in-between and many other cyclists and groups of cyclists. It was great to be part of the cycling community! We stopped at places for water drinks and snacks. There was a nice clean toilet block somewhere along the way! I fell off the bike at one point as I was still stuck in my cleats on the grass laughing my head off. Steven had to help me out! Luckily no one was about! Steven and I cycled together most of the way and the rest of the group broke away. We met up nearly towards the end of the cycling path along with meeting Marcus and his van where we topped up with water and had some sweets! A nice treat! I got a mini Mars bar. There was a pretty chateau where we took photos. Steven used MapMyRide to lead us to the hotel at Gournay-en-Bray. It was very much a French hotel (Hotel Le Cygne) which felt like it was stuck in a time warp! I managed the hills, especially so during the last 10 miles before the hotel. I built up my confidence with gear changes on the flat routes and built up to the gentle hills. I was amazed with myself and felt so good. I enjoyed the ride much more as I was feeling good and confident rather than frustrated and miserable. The guys already had a head start with beers at the hotel and even sent a photo of them drinking beers to us as were still cycling. The beers were waiting for us on the table when we arrived! Marcus and Mike greeted us upon arrival which was a lovely feeling. Gareth was at his bedroom window looking down at us putting away our bikes into the garage and took our bags out of the van so we could go for our lovely showers (we had showers whereas the others got a bath! Ha) The hotel was very old fashioned a bit like a boutique old hotel in a quaint old sleepy French village. Luckily we managed to get a table at the restaurant a few doors down. At first we struggled with the French menu then the chef came out to greet people and discovered we were English so we sorted out the menu and got what we wanted. I got peppered steak with chips, which was just perfect as the protein stopped me feeling hungry later on. My bed was calling for me so I had to leave them all and go up to the hotel on my own. They all had a few more beers! The room was nicely dark with a lovely breeze from the open window….bliss! I woke up in the middle of the night in the pitch black and had to check if my eyes were open or not! I put the lights on and discovered that Steven was gone from his bed and found him on the toilet. He had found it difficult to find the bathroom door and probably woke me up in the process of feeling his way round the room! Day Three – Saturday 17th June I had already agreed with Gareth and Marcus the previous night that Steven and I would have a head-start before the others and so we cycled off straight after breakfast. I was determined to make it all the way to Paris. So we checked out of the room and set the bikes and everything up ready before breakfast. The French hotelier ensured that we got all we needed for breakfast. As I picked up a jam packet, he said to use his homemade jam instead and it was fab! We then ate French stick with yummy salted French butter and his jam! The others were amazed when we told them that we were ready for the off. Adam and Gary quickly checked out and joined us because they wanted a relaxing ride with no pressure to begin with! I took Ibuprofen for my bottom pains! As well as Chamois cream (I don’t think the cream helped much!) The four of us stayed together and we had a good laugh along the way. The French country roads were fab, hilly but manageable. That’s when I started to get the hang of using the gears on the bike. It was the perfect place to learn gear changing and the whole cycling thing! There were a few hills that were murder – I did try cycling all the way but there was one long hill that I had to get off and walk on and met the others at the top. Somewhere in the beautiful countryside between villages we stopped at a farm track and took a left and managed to get onto a track with MapwithRide app. Steven had his bright orange jersey on which he had to change as it was attracting all the flies!!! (Later I found out that Chris did the same with his yellow jersey (amazingly enough Steven and Chris were wearing the very same jersey – a black and white one from Aldi with the famous crane on the clothes!) At this point, I think this was probably the best part of the whole trip. We went very fast downhill and uphill chased each other along. About three hours later (one hour before lunch break) the other riders caught up with us. Adam and Gary went along with them. Steven advanced ahead with Mike and Mags though I was behind him. It was hard for us to look behind properly without being wobbly on the wheels – a bit dangerous if a car or lorry was next to you. I stopped at a traffic light and they went far ahead and left me behind! I carried on and ended up at the roundabout not knowing where to turn. I knew Gareth with Nick and Chris were behind me so I waited and they caught up with me and took me with them and found Steven further up! I was scared for a bit then. We found a pizza takeaway place in a very quiet village. We just looked at the picture pizza menu. Steven and I shared a super fab tasty pizza – instead of tomatoes sauce it was covered with crème fraige cream with sausages of all sorts on top with Orangina. Just what we needed! After a quick toilet stop, we were on the move again into the suburbs of Paris. More towns and surburbs and more traffic lights. I would love to have stopped more at places and explored the villages and towns. However, chop chop, we were moving fast! Steven was really patient and stayed with me until we met up with the others at the Lake. They were paddling their feet in the pools next to the lake in a beautiful shopping town. We stuffed ourselves with McFlurrys and moved on again quickly. It was tough and a very long day! We cycled together along the river Seine on a quiet road on the side. This was where my front tyre got punctured after skidding round a corner – luckily I put my foot on the ground to pick myself up quickly at the busy traffic lights as we took a turn along the river. Chris was behind me and stopped with me and the flat tyre! Why me?! Chris quickly caught up with Steven and they came back together. Amazingly they changed the tyre in 5 minutes flat! Changing tyres and pumping it up again… they were so fast! We were then ack on the road and I carried on and we caught up with others. They were also amazed how quickly I got back on the road!! They put me in the front behind Gareth – I felt more confident cycling together as a group especially in Paris. I felt a little more pressure as I kept up with Gareth so no tagging behind alone! The roundabouts and traffic light systems were weird in Paris. I stopped alone at one traffic light just before the roundabout and the motorbike next to me drove in front of me and took a turn while I was going straight on! I braked hard to avoid a collision and the motorcyclist just smiled at me! Oh crap! Approximately 15 miles later we could see the Arc de Triumphe, along with the famous big roundabout where we throttled along the cobbled streets of Paris. We could then see the top of the Effiel tower in view and it got closer and closer. Marcus and John waved at us past the Efiiel tower! Wow… I was overwhelmed and shed a few tears before we went underneath. It was an awkward place to take photos. So I suggested we move up on the side to get better photos with the Effiel tower behind us. We had several laughs lifting our bikes up in the air! Fab photos. The feeling was amazing, but I was really exhausted along with a very sore bum and neck! However, we weren’t done! We had another 5 miles of riding to the hotel (Campanile Hotel) East of Paris…. more cobbled streets and more of a sore bottom – I had to lift up my bottom off the seat and continue pedalling – hence the reason why I had a black mark on my leg from the oil on the group set. More gentle hills were encountered towards the hotel and my bike got stuck in the gears especially on the 2 gear on the left. So I struggled uphill and got off the bike. I walked for a bit and Steven sorted out the gears and I had to use low gears all the way to the hotel. It was nice to see the hotel in sight! We then stuffed the bikes into the van and chained them to the drainpipe under the basement once at the hotel. When I was in my room, I took off my clothes and lied down naked on the bed dead to the world! It was tough to try and wee at first with a sore bum! Afterwards I had a fabulous power shower to take off all the salt on my body from sweating all day along. I had done 80 miles! Crikey, really unbelievable! I was buzzzzzing and wanted to do it again, yet to do it properly next time and to go the whole hog and complete it faster!!Ha We then headed down to The hotel bar, which was good and we were all happy to stay there all night! We moved into the bar area after the buffet (fab puddings – back on the diet when I got back home!!) The guys loved the beer, especially with “beer on tap” and the opportunity of filling up with 7 pints of beer to share! I couldn’t drink more than one beer as I was really knackered! I was struggling to stay up. I went to bed and the guys partied till 2am. Two of the guys carried on cycling and explored Paris the next day! Crazy people but lovely! Hope they will come if we do it again and we can cycle again together! We all split up the next day to explore Paris we had one full day in Paris. It was Steven’s first time in Paris so we went up the Effiel Tower, as well as to see the Arc and walked along the Champ Elstee and the beautiful Montmarte area. We then had a meal together and a beer outside in the back courtyard on the deck chairs. More beer on tap! We cheered Marcus and Gareth for their hard work and all they had done to make the trip a success. They did an incredible job organising the whole thing…..brilliant stuff! I also want to say Thank you to Steven (same to the others) for being patient with me. He could have gone and left me behind and cycled with the others! Steven – I promise I will be better next time! Losing weight, getting fitter, and maybe spinning classes – who knows! Whats next?! Watch this space