Two Stories Related to Bikes

Saturday Evening.

I ventured over to Smithfield Market for the Nocturne Series Event: http://www.nocturneseries.com/smithfield/

It was pretty classic crit racing with a flat, spectator friendly course. I showed up in time for the folding bike race and then stuck around for the main event. My best guess is that there were 5,000ish people watching. The elite race was pretty small with maybe 50 starters and narrowed down to a field of 20 with half of the race to go. A single Катюша (Katyusha) rider was the only europro, and he was marked pretty well by the British teams. Overall, the racing was pretty lively and nothing stayed away. It was a good show, and I had fun listening to the very British centric commentary.

Sunday Morning

The forecast was for rain, so I wasn't planning on riding. But when I awoke the sun was out, and I quickly made plans to head across town to Richmond Park. About an 90 minutes in started raining. About 93 minutes in I got a flat. I had everything I needed with me, and quickly changed to tube and hit it with a CO2. It was still raining, but I was good to go. I decided to head for home but about 10 minutes later, yup, the front wheel was again flat. This time I had no clue what to do, but decided I would just walk till I saw a cab, then grab a ride to the nearest bike shop. At least it had stopped raining. After walking across the intersection, towards a road more likely to have an available cab, I saw a car with two bikes on the roof. I made a "hey, I need help" gesture, and the driver lowered the window.

After a very brief conversation while trying to avoid blocking too much traffic, my bike was on the roof and we were headed to a bike shop. This was amazing. I was cold and wet with a flat tire and 30 seconds ago had no idea what exactly I was going to do about it. Turns out the father and son, who was maybe 12, were riding a few laps of the park and packed it up once it started raining. The son is in a Hilltopper-like program for riding a bit outside of London. We had a great conversation while being stuck in traffic. They live a block from a Cyclopedia shop (http://www.cyclopediauk.com/), so it wasn't too far out of their way. The father also wouldn't let me leave without taking a spare old tire just in case there was a large gash (there actually was). Though if his basement looked anything like what we had at S. Taylor, this was a rare opportunity to meaningfully cull his collection.

Once at the shop, the guy working the counter was really helpful; this was a first for me in London. They didn't have long stem tubes, so I ended up patching the tube while standing in the store's showroom. He even gave me some rags. I bought a few bars and gels to avoid just buying the 2GBP patch kit, but will certainly be back to buy more substantial items when I need them.

Anyway, the sun was back out, and I peacefully rolled a couple laps of Regent's Park before heading home. After the last few weeks of being stuck in the school bubble, I really needed to be reminded of the kindness and generosity of people.

Live Music

Last week I made it out of my business school bubble to see two live music shows.

Telepathe was at 93 Feet East around Shoreditch earlier in the week.



Then, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart played on Friday at The Lexington.



Telepathe's two members played on an intentionally poorly lit stage without much more than 5 words spoken to the crowd the whole set. It also wasn't mixed very well, with the vocals getting lost under the beat. The singles are pretty solid, but I think there is some room to improve the live set.

Conversely, The Pain's one album doesn't come close to capturing the energy of their live set. It was one of those shows where it was clear that the band was having fun, which fed the crowd, and reinforcing cycle just grew.

Field Trip

Last weekend we took a field trip to Italy. The school picked up return tickets to Milan and we visited a helicopter manufacturing plant in Varese on Friday. After the official business was complete, about half of the traveled north to Lake Como for the rest the weekend. It was of the most beautiful locations I’ve ever been too. The pictures don’t quite do it justice, as the clouds hide some of the snow covered mountains that the eye could see in the background.

The planned 4 hour hike on Saturday got extended to a little over 6।5 hours as it took us longer to find the actual trail than planned, but it was entirely worth it. Even though some snow at near the top made it impossible to make it all the way to the summit, the views along the way were spectacular.

More Photos

India

A few photos from India......

London

I decided to take a slightly different route to the grocery store last week and ended up on an old, narrow brick road. About halfway down the block I saw the following blue sign:


I live less than half a mile from it and had no idea this was here. Maybe it is part of the reason that I can count on seeing a Bentley three or four times a day as I walk around the neighborhood.

I often I forget about all of the history in London, and it is the little things that remind me. Another perfect example was while I was getting fitted for a suit. On the wall was a small plaque stating that this was the former site of the Royal Geographical Society and photo from 1874 showing Dr. David Livingstone's memorial in the map room prior to the interment at Westminister Abby.

Snow?!?

It snowed. The news and locals are claiming that it was the largest snow storm in 18 years. My best guess is that we have less than 6in (15cm). Large portions of the public transit system were shut down, stores did not open, and classrooms were about half empty. I felt at home looking out the window in the first week of February and seeing a bit of snow.

Unfortunately the ground is really wet underneath, so the thought of skiing in a local park isn't all that appealing. Well, that, and I don't have any skis.


In other news, The Financial Times placed LBS (in a tie with Wharton) at the top of the table in the 2009 Global MBA Rankings. This shows the strength of the brand here in Europe, and hopefully it will lead to some additional recognition in the North American press.