Vlog: First cycling Lycra vlog of 2014

My first cycling Lycra vlog of 2004. So sorry about the background wind noise. Did not even think it was that bad when I filmed it! At least, you still get to see me wearing sexy Lycra, so it’s not all bad!! 🙂

UK TV programmes to watch this week : 29/03/2014

Our Gay Wedding: The Musical (YouView app screenshot)Border Country: The Story of Britain’s Lost Middleland (BBC 2/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Sunday 30th March 2014)

For historian and MP Rory Stewart, the building of Hadrian’s Wall was the single most important event in Britain’s history. Meeting experts and local people, and drawing on memories from his life in Iraq and Afghanistan, he explores the impact of Rome’s occupation and departure, and tells the story of how the powerful new Kingdom of Northumbria was born in Britain’s lost Middleland.

Clydebuilt: The Ships That Made the Commonwealth (BBC 2 Scotland & BBC iPlayer only | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Monday 31st March 2014)

Documentary series in which David Hayman explores the stories of four ships built on the river Clyde, that helped forge links with countries throughout the Commonwealth of Nations. In this first programme, David looks at the story of the Cutty Sark and travels to Australia to uncover the links the iconic ship forged with this Commonwealth country, and to reflect on her legacy.

Our Gay Wedding: The Musical (Channel 4/HD | 10:00pm to 11:05pm | Monday 31st March 2014)

On Saturday 29 March 2014, same-sex marriage becomes legal in England and Wales. Channel 4 marks this historic milestone by offering viewers front-row seats at one of the first gay weddings to take place. And this is an extraordinary ceremony, in more ways than one. Grooms Benjamin Till and Nathan Taylor have written and are staging their entire wedding as a musical, with sung vows, sung readings and show-stopping ensembles featuring the whole congregation of family, friends and special guests, including a heartfelt duet from the grooms’ mums.

Shetland (BBC 1/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Tuesday 1st April 2014)

Crime drama set on the remote Scottish islands. After a second body is found brutally murdered on Shetland, Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez wonders if the two killings are connected to corporate greed and corruption on the island or to just one woman – Evie Watt.

W1A (BBC 2/HD | 10:00pm to 10:30pm | Wednesday 2nd April 2014)

Comedy sequel to Twenty Twelve. A month into his job as head of values and Ian Fletcher is still trying to find somewhere to sit. But there are more important issues to get to grips with – not least the director general’s desire to shape the debate as to what the BBC is really for. Anna Rampton already knows what it is for and, in a thinly veiled move to further her own career, advocates moving Songs of Praise to radio, thus freeing up a prime slot for her own series, Britain’s Tastiest Village. The debate about the future of the BBC is not helped when Ian Fletcher’s salary comes under intense scrutiny in the press – why should the BBC’s head of values be paid more than the prime minister?

Spring’s Supermarket Secrets (BBC 1/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Thursday 3rd April 2014)

Gregg Wallace goes behind the scenes with Britain’s biggest food retailers over the course of a year to discover how they source, make and move the food we find on the supermarket shelves. With spring in the air, Gregg finds out what it takes to bring us millions of eggs for Pancake Day, discovers the clever technology behind Easter chocolate and reveals what our eyes tell us about the way we shop.

Have I Got News for You (BBC 1/HD | 9:00pm to 9:30pm | Friday 4th April 2014)

The popular news quiz returns, with team captains Paul Merton and Ian Hislop, guest host Jennifer Saunders and guest panellists Sadiq Khan and Richard Osman.

All TV guide information taken from DigiGuide — www.getdigiguide.tv/?p=1&r=15119.

Cycling photos : 28-03-2014

Here are two photos from today’s very short 25.67 mile pre-work cycle. Yep I am out wearing my USPS cycling gear again! At least it looks like summer is on the way. So I can start wearing other gear very soon indeed :).

USPS team cycling gearUSPS team cycling gear

Love the extra Freeview HD channels

YouView epg (26/03/2014)Got to say I am loving the extra HD channels that I can now watch via my Freeview HD tv and YouView box. Out of CBeebies HD, BBC FOUR HD, BBC NEWS HD, Al Jazeera English HD and Community Channel HD. I have a feeling I will watch BBC NEWS HD the most.

To find out when and if your area will get the extra HD channels. Check out the “Coverage Checker” at www.digitaluk.co.uk.

Had my USPS cycling gear since 2005!

Here are two photos of myself wearing my sexy USPS cycling gear. Just had a look, had the jersey since 26th March 2005 and the bib shorts since the 7 April 2005. The top is still looking very good, the shorts are starting to show there age. Need to wear underwear or tights under them. If I don’t show off a lot more, than I really want to!!

USPS team cycling gearUSPS team cycling gear

Can’t wait till Tuesday, getting more HD channels

Waltham transmitter mastMaybe I need to get out more. But I can’t wait till this Tuesday (25th March 2014), when my local transmitter starts broadcasting more Freeview HD channels :).

I can look forward to getting, CBeebies HD, BBC FOUR HD, BBC NEWS HD, Al Jazeera English HD and Community Channel HD.

UK TV programmes to watch this week : 22/03/2014

W1A 26-03-2014 (YouView app screenshot) Alex Against the Rock for Sport Relief (BBC 1/HD | 3:15pm to 3:45pm | Sunday 23rd March 2014)

The full story of Alex Jones’ attempt to climb Utah’s Moonlight Buttress, a sheer sandstone cliff taller than the Shard in London, for Sport Relief. The One Show presenter spends two nights and three days, including her birthday, on the face struggling against fatigue and her fear of heights.

Harry’s South Pole Heroes (itv/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Sunday 23rd March 2014)

Conclusion of the two-part documentary about the Walking with the Wounded-organised South Pole Allied Challenge 2013. The three teams of wounded soldiers, representing the United Kingdom – with expedition patron Prince Harry – the United States and the Commonwealth face the challenge of racing more than 200 km across the harsh frozen wastes of the Antarctic Plateau. In the very first hours, the extreme conditions start to take a severe toll on all the teams. Over the next few days, wounded and non-wounded alike succumb to frostbite, altitude sickness and exhaustion. The race element is abandoned and what was a competition becomes a band of comrades, united in their determination to reach the South Pole together.

Bang Goes the Theory (BBC 1/HD | 7:30pm to 8:00pm | Monday 24th March 2014)

Series presenting the science behind the headlines, and looking at the issues that have a real impact on all our lives. With the technology we use every day beginning to share, store and analyse our data, the team look at how the use of our information now known as big data will change the world in ways unimaginable. Liz Bonnin looks at how big data monitors Rolls Royce jet engines dozens of times a second wherever they are in the world, and how that same system of analytics can automatically detect secondary brain injury in intensive care units. Jem Stansfield creates a low-tech computer and storage system with hacksaw blades and magnets. And with the government about to allow private companies access to our medical data, Maggie Philbin examines the dark side of big data: privacy. Just how much information on each and every one of us is out there, and how easy is it to find?

Shetland (BBC 1/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Tuesday 25th March 2014)

Crime drama set on the remote Scottish islands. When an old acquaintance of Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez dies in a suspicious car accident on the island, he wonders whether his journalist friend had uncovered a story that cost him his life.

Keeping Britain Safe 24/7 (BBC 1/HD | 10:35pm to 11:35pm | Tuesday 25th March 2014)

The series following the everyday heroes who keep Britain safe, battling the unexpected challenges that unfold with each passing season, goes behind the scenes with the safety teams at the world’s busiest runway and the world’s busiest shipping lane as they are overrun by holidaymakers. As tented villages the size of towns pop up all over the country, the police as try to control the festival crowds. Plus, when the party’s over in Notting Hill, the country’s biggest street carnival, an army of workers are left to clean up the mess.

W1A (BBC 2/HD | 10:00pm to 10:30pm | Wednesday 26th March 2014)

Comedy sequel to Twenty Twelve. BBC Head of Values Ian Fletcher has only been in the job a few weeks and already finds himself at the centre of a media storm. Spotlight South West presenter Sally Wingate believes she has been discriminated against because of her age, so Ian’s mission is to take the sting out of what has become known as ‘Wingategate’. As he journeys North to Salford for his first big live interview in the job, he finds himself unhelpfully joined by brand consultant Siobhan Sharpe, who is in serious tweeting mode. Meanwhile, things are getting complicated for the Britain’s Tastiest Village production team. Having wooed and won Carol Vorderman as Clare Balding’s replacement, they have discovered at the very last minute that Clare Balding is unexpectedly available and keen to do the show. The problem is that no-one has told Clare that they were moving on and she unhelpfully turns up for her first production meeting at the same time as Carol Vorderman is leaving.

Mayday: The Passenger Who Landed a Plane (Channel 4/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Thursday 27th March 2014)

On an early evening last October, 77-year-old great-grandfather John Wildey was being flown home by his pilot friend after a day out in north Lincolnshire. The pilot suddenly started to feel unwell. Ten minutes later he had collapsed at the controls, 1500 feet up in the air. John had no flying experience, and it was starting to get dark. This documentary tells the story of how, against all the odds, he managed to land the plane in pitch darkness, with help from a small team who were scrambled to provide instructions from the ground and air. John’s ordeal lasted for over an hour, and was made far harder because he couldn’t find the switch for the lights inside the cockpit. He made four attempts to land: his first was on a short, unlit runway that was so dark, he had to abort at the last second.

All TV guide information taken from DigiGuide — www.getdigiguide.tv/?p=1&r=15119.

List of heritage railways I have been on

After having so much fun on the Great Central Railway on Sunday. I have now made up a small list of the heritage railway lines, I have been on in the UK.

Check out the list so far @ www.gordon-valentine.com/travel/railways/uk-heritage-railways/.

Why not, tell me the ones you have been on? By commenting at the bottom of that page. We can then have mini competition to see who’s been on the most :).