Things are looking good on my Internet connection – checked it this morning and the speed rating is high. I pay for a 20Mb/s line with Virgin Media and that’s what I appear to be getting.
Thought I’d share this as it’s a useful way to to see what performance you’re getting from your Internet Service Provider. Run your own test over on SpeedTest.net.
I’ve been using a long neck cord on my Canon G11 since I bought it at the end of last year as I couldn’t find a suitable wrist strap. The G11 isn’t supplied with a wrist strap so I’d been looking around the usual places (such as Amazon and eBay) but couldn’t find anything that I fancied. Then I stumbled across Gordy’s Camera Straps whilst randomly browsing Flickr.
Other Canon users were discussing the benefits and quality of these straps so I visited Gordy’s website and placed an order straight away.
These are hand made leather wrist (and neck) straps which give you the security and support needed but with added ‘class’.
Made of California Latigo belt leather, which comes from range toughened steer hides, my hand made camera straps are tough, flexible, and pliable, with a natural luster that only improves with age.
Each strap is handmade by a little old man (that would be me), or my faithful helper Kim, from real natural cowhide that is not always uniform like plastic.
If the leather is good enough to hold up your pants, it’s good enough to hold up your camera!
The leather is served with .040″ (1mm) diameter polyester cord that is heavy duty and waxed for durability. [Extract from Gordy's website]
When you order you can select the colour of the leather, the length, fitting type, string colour… to match the strap to your camera or tastes. Another plus is that it only costs $18 (USD) – including international postage! I ordered mine on the 24th of January, it shipped from Washington state (USA) on the 27th and was with me, in Rochester (UK), on the 2nd of February.
The quality is excellent and is a vast improvement on the mass-produced ’string’ which it’s replaced.
If you’re looking for a high quality camera strap then your search has ended, look no further: www.gordyscamerastraps.com
Here’s a great bit of kit: a Sea To Summit Compression Sack.
I’ve been trying to sort out one of my cupboards and I’ve always struggled to store my sleeping bag – I very rarely use it but it’s handy to have around. It’s quite a bulky warm bag I have continually failed to tie it up or pack it in a small and convenient way.
A friend stayed the night, earlier this month, after a night of beer and laughter around town and his sleeping bag was in one of these compression sacks. I watched, the following morning, as he rolled and packed the sleeping bag into the sack and then with a few pulls on the straps it shrunk to a fraction of its size.
I had to get one and I’m glad I did. It cost £11 over on Amazon and I’ve just packed the sleeping bag up and it’s ready to be stored. It creates a neat, tight bundle which is far easier to store than when I simply used a piece of string around the bag’s middle.
I bought the large size for my sleeping bag and Sea To Summit say that this will compress 20 Ltr down to 6.5 Ltr.
Sea To Summit have their own website with lots more kit, many products which may prove useful for those long bike rides…
I broke the Trek out this afternoon and went out for a leisurely ride. Covered just under eight miles, looking around and taking in the changes around the town. There’s a new Premier Inn being built near the M2 motorway bridge so I had a quick look at that from the bridge and then down at ground level, not sure when it is scheduled to open but it’s popped up quite quickly over the past month or so.
I got up to just short of 30mph on one of the down hill sections and it was great to be out with the wind in my face after having been off the bikes for such a relatively long period of time.
This was my first outing in 2010, hopefully the first of many. Now I just need to plan my major rides and excursions for the year and spend some more time in the saddle.
The bikes haven’t been out this year! I must free them soon…
Need to charge the lights and get the bikes ready to go at a moments notice.
Lots of snow. Snow and more snow. The roads and pavements around here have been pretty bad over the past week as the UK suffers under the cold weather.
I really do need some snow tyres on the bikes!
Took a (slow and careful) walk out yesterday and stumbled across the Kent Air Ambulance just sitting in the park. Somebody out enjoying the snow, sledging, had had an accident and was being treated by the emergency services (hope that person is going to be okay). There were around five police cars, an ambulance and the air ambulance in attendance. I took some shots of the helicopter and the police cars (after the patient had left for the hospital).
Photos from the walk over on Flickr.
Happy New Year!
This post was pre-written as as the clock ticked over to 0000GMT I was (will be) enjoying some alcohol and some pleasant company! 
Good luck for 2010, both with the cycling and with life in general. It’s a new year and so many opportunities to get out there and do exactly what you want to do.
Oh, this photo is one I took earlier today (New Year’s Eve), I’ve called it ‘The Passing Of Time‘ – it’s over on Flickr.
The last day of the year and naturally I’m looking back at all elements of my life over the past twelve months.
2009 was a pretty good year for me and my cycling. Got up to quite a bit and bought my second new bike in less than a year (the Trek, February). There were quite a few cycling-related purchases as I continued to kit up with cycling gear as my interest grew in the pastime.
Ride-wise, I completed a 77mile ride to London’s Hyde Park and back, began my Rochester Challenge and took the Dahon across The Channel to Calais – amongst others.
The last couple of months of ‘09 have been pretty quiet though primarily due to weather and work which is quite depressing but in 2010 I’m going to fight both inhibitors and get out more.
There are no major cycling purchase planned for 2010, I thinking I’ve now bought all I need and I’m running out of storage space – that definitely rules out a third bike!!!
We’ll see what the new year brings…
Good luck to everyone for a great year of cycling in 2010 (and of life in general).
The Trek hit 70mph over the weekend! On the back of the car!
I headed over to Pembrokeshire for Christmas and took the Trek on the back of the car using my Saris Bones 3 cycle carrier. It worked really well and held the bike securely for the 300 mile journey, mainly at motorway speeds. It was definitely a good purchase and at £50 via eBay I couldn’t really go wrong.
It was the first time that I’d needed to use the carrier since buying it so I experimented with the fitting during the day before the journey. It’s simple to fit and should fit most cars.
I unfortunately didn’t get around to using the bike though during the four day visit due to a mixture of the weather, beer and too much food. Oh well, at least I know the carrier works well.
Merry Christmas everyone!
I hope you all have a great day with family and friends and I hope there’s a couple of cycling-related gifts under the tree.
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Just listened to: Dave’s Weather
