Aids Walk 2010

Last weekend, Team Pesky took part in the 2010 Aids Walk, raising an outstanding total of $4115. Huzzah!

iPhone Miscellany – April ’10

A Day at the Beach with Kev & Janie

Fulham

C’MON YOU WHITES!!!

Tomorrow marks the biggest day in Fulham FC’s history, as they take on Athletico Madrid in the Europa League Final in Hamburg. Last year I was a proud Hammersmith End season ticket holder as we followed the Whites through thick and thin (mainly thick, actually). This year I had to forgo my ticket to move on for pastures new, and I’m proud to say the boys managed to up the ante in my absence. All the best for tomorrow, Roy ‘Odgson’s Blacknwhite Army…

My mates were lucky enough to witness it all this year, and hopefully they got they managed to get tickets to the final. Have an awesome time lads. I’ll be watching it on TV, somewhere in Brooklyn. However, I feel that I have some investment in the European run as I was able to see a couple of games before I left England. I saw a spirited 1-1 draw against Roma which actually left Fulham on the brink of exiting the competition after the group stage, and I was also there on August 20th, 2009 for a 3-1 victory against the Russian team, Amkar Perm. Here are some photos I took that day.

And finally, a special bonus photo of Craven Cottage, taken from the Putney side of the Thames whilst on a bike ride in May ’09:

SUPER JESSIE

Erm, I did a painting.

The recipes of Love

In July ’08, for Jessica’s 25th birthday (and 11 days before we got married) I made her a cook book featuring a bunch of recipes that I thought she might like. It’s been on display in our new apartment for a couple of months, and recently Charlotte asked Jessica how many recipes she had made from the book. I think Jessica was quite ashamed to say ‘none’, and so she has resolved to cook all of the recipes (I believe there are 12) over consecutive weeks – which is very exciting for me!

Yesterday marked the first day of our new challenge. The very first recipe in the book is my mum’s recipe for Beef Stroganoff, a long-time favourite of mine. Despite lacking the patience to tend to the stew as it bubbled over, Jessica did a wonderful job and the food was delicious. I, meanwhile, realised that my directions were perhaps a little spartan for the non cooks of this world. But that’s what it’s all about I suppose – teamwork. Here’s to good food!

Nb I kind of forgot to take any pictures of the finished food. I think I was just too excited to get stuck in. Trust me, it was worth the oversight. Maybe next week…

Giggity

Montauk

The last time I visited Montauk was in February 2006. It was a memorable trip, for many reasons: losing my camera, unseasonably warm weather, an epic train ride, beautiful scenery, gavin marley, running from the law, beach fires, freezing at night and beach football. Happy days!

Last Thursday presented the opportunity to go back to Montauk. My friend Nate is in town, and his friend’s girlfriends sister, Lauren – a photography student – was keen to go there to take some pictures for a school project. Nate kindly volunteered his services as chauffeur, and I saw the opportunity to get out of the city on a pleasant, Spring day. Lauren’s friend Tyler, a Long Island native also came along, and he proved to be an invaluable resource. It turned out that we saw very little of Montauk and its surroundings back in 2006. With a hire car, we were able to explore much further, from the Hamptons all the way out to the lighthouse on the end of the South Fork. I had a really enjoyable day.

One Epic Ride

Caleb: “Ride tmo? Ridin to Nyack its epic”

On Saturday, I joined my friend Caleb and his friend Michael on their first long bike ride of the year, to Nyack, NY. Despite the fact that it would in fact be my first ride of any length – beyond bombing around the city – since last summer, I agreed. We met at 9am last Saturday 4/10 so Caleb could fit one of his seven bikes to accommodate me, and then set off on a brisk Spring morning, lamenting our lack of gloves. We met Michael in Williamsburg, grabbed an espresso and cruised over the Williamsburg bridge into Manhattan. It immediately became obvious that I would be treading a lonely path most of the day, playing catch up with two far more accomplished/fitter riders!

Anyhow, we crossed Manhattan and made our way up the West side on the riverside bike path – a treasure I was aware of but had never utilized. Around 180th Street, we took the path that would lead us up onto the George Washington Bridge, and on a steep incline, Caleb’s chain suddenly broke. Aware that it could have happened in a worse situation, we walked for 15 minutes to the nearest bike shop in Washington Heights (thank God for smart-phones!). After a quick fix, we traversed the bridge into New Jersey. What had been a pleasant ride up Manhattan, suddenly became glorious as we fed down off the main highway onto Henry Hudson Drive, through the Palisades Interstate Park. The sun was shining, strong enough now to warm our fingers as we cycled along a gently undulating nearly vehicle free road along the Hudson river – suddenly free of the city’s hustle and bustle.

A ‘Road Closed’ sign failed to stop our excellent progress. We were on bikes after all; see you later traffic. However, a minute or so down the closed road, it became obvious that we weren’t going to have it all our own way. Tens of trees, several of them fairly substantial, lay across the road for the next couple of miles, completely blocking the road! Obviously the result of a large storm that swept across the North-East about a month earlier – and of State budget cuts too. Nevertheless we ploughed on, pushing, lifting, climbing our bikes, clipping in and out every few metres. It felt like we were participating in a weird mix of Cyclocross and the Krypton Factor.

The road eventually cleared, only to reveal itself in a steady 2-3 mile climb that left me reeling as up to that point I had been doing a good job keeping up with the others. At the top of the ascent, Caleb and Michael sat in the sunshine, grinning as I slumped beside them. Too soon we were back in our saddles as we joined highway 9W, heading North and back into New York State. Again, I soon lagged behind, now regretting my lack of breakfast and several beers drunk at the previous night’s Met game. Gamefully, Caleb and Michael waited for me a couple of times, and soon enough we reached Nyack, a quaint little New England town, albeit rammed with cyclists.

We stopped for lunch at the Runcible Spoon Cafe and enjoyed the mix of warm sunshine and cold breeze. Having refueled (or strictly, fueled), I felt much better as we headed back South out-of-town until after a mile, as we reached our first climb on the way back, my own chain broke! Two in one day. Caleb and Michael were keen enough to push me back into Nyack, where once again we cursed our luck but felt better that we were again so near to a bike shop. Soon enough we set off once more, back along the same road we had taken earlier. The next twenty plus miles back down to George Washington Bridge flew by as we raced South along the 9W. Even if I slowed them down a little, in not much over an hour we were heading back into Manhattan.

At this point I was feeling good, obviously settled into a groove and relishing the prospect of bombing back home in double quick time. However, Michael decided that he wanted to relax a little and so we sat down for 15 minutes on a beautiful lawn bordering the Hudson River, as a guy practiced his trombone, facing out on the river as if its currents were an audience. As soon as we got going again though, I suddenly hit a brick wall. Whether it was because of the rest, because of the earlier fast pace or because I’m unfit I don’t want to speculate, but the rest of the ride was pure agony for me and again I lagged behind the other guys. After meeting them downtown, Michael headed home for Bushwick, whilst Caleb and I tackled one last hurdle in the Manhattan Bridge before we painfully arrived back in Park Slope.

All in all then, it was what was promised – an epic ride. Because we forgot to reset the milometer at the start, the exact distance wasn’t calculated, but by all approximations we covered some 80+ miles. This is probably the furthest I’ve ever cycled in one day, so no wonder it hurt. The prevailing breeze wasn’t kind either, as it seemed to be head on both going upriver and coming back! It was a great day though, and I had a lot of fun. Hopefully with practice I’ll be able to keep up with the other guys better and then it’ll be even sweeter. Here’s to next time…

iPhone Miscellany – March ’10

It seems like I’m posting only iPhone photos nowadays. But it’s just such a handy little tool, and I love the possibilities afforded by the various apps, and how easy they are to use. Here are some favorites from March, that slipped through the cracks…