Noticed that Boardman II has a flat rear tyre when I visited the garage yesterday. I think I'll take an opportunity to change the tyres, as well as the rear inner. The yellow ones are a nice match for the colour scheme of the frame but they look tarty. Plain ones, I think.

8th March, 1982

Sovereignty discussions between Britain and Argentina have taken place irregularly since 1964, when the United Nations passed a resolution calling on the two nations to negotiate a peaceful solution over the disputed islands.

Deputy Foreign Minister Richard Luce met with his Argentine counterpart Ernesto Ros in New York last month. But last week the Argentine Foreign Minister Costa Mendez announced that Argentine reserves the right to "employ other means" if Britain refuses to cede sovereignty.

Two days ago, a Hercules aircraft operated by the Argentine military airline LADE landed at Port Stanley, ostensibly due to a fuel leak. But several senior Argentine military officers were aboard, and the local LADE commandant provided them with a tour of Stanley and the immediate vicinity.

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher instructs the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence to prepare contingency plans in case of an Argentine blockade or invasion of the islands.

Was really scratching my head over the third word, today. I play in "hard" mode which means only using possible solutions on each go (rather than words that you know can't be the solution, but which yield useful clues). In the end the correct guess was the only word I could think of that would fit.

Wordle 262 3/6

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I liked the Val Kilmer one, didn't really see Michael Keaton as Batman. But the Clooney one was poor. For me the Bale ones are Peak Batman but I haven't seen the new one. I don't really want to actually, I think it's been done to death now.

Prompted by discussion of The Ipcress File, I've been on Amazon and bought a Len Deighton novel for my Kindle, Horse Under Water. I've added the Audible narration for £8 so will listen to it while cycling.

About 20 years ago I read Deighton's XPD, about a coverup of a secret meeting between Churchill and Hitler during the Second World War. Very good and this one seems to be in a similar vein - albeit that one wasn't a Harry Palmer story. Horse Under Water was the sequel to The Ipcress File and does feature Palmer.

I haven't seen much of Rupert PJ since Spooks. Just looked it up and incredibly it was 2008 when he was written out of that. Over 13 years ago.

Beautifully bone dry, sunny afternoon in the East Midlands. I left work reasonably early and set off on the southbound route. A Twycrosser wouldn't have worked out too well with the wind coming from the east.

I wanted to do about 30 miles, but I got as far as Kirkby Mallory before I decided I'd had enough. I'd wrapped up a layer or two lighter than of late, and I definitely shouldn't have. Bloody cold out there. I had a brief incursion into the grounds of the race track (Mallory Park, of course), which I hadn't done before. Then I turned back for home.

I briefly gave some consideration to the idea of coming back via Sutton and Bosworth, but I assumed I'd regret it because it would take longer. Actually looking at the map on Strava it would probably have been quicker.

Back on 26.34 miles which takes me to 123 done this month.

I trialled the new AA-powered bike light I bought a week or so ago and while the light itself works nicely, the mount it comes with is rubbish. It's really cheap plastic and it was impossible to tighten it enough to stay in one place. I suppose I'll end up affixing it to the bike with a plastic tie, or quite possibly it will end up in one of several crates of barely-used retail therapy detritus in the garage.

The new phone my company has sent me is bigger and heavier than the one I smacked against the unforgiving tarmac of the A5132, so I've reverted to an older one. Unfortunately the old one doesn't take photos nearly as well as the last one, and I was unable to capture the majesty of the sunset on the way back.

So I CGI-ed one in. I hope you like it.



https://www.strava.com/activities/6788514731

Wordle 261 4/6

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Unlucky not to get it on the third go.

I saw an ad for it last night on Amazon - it's on Prime, though not for free unless you take out an ITV Hub trial.



I love cold war thrillers although they have a slightly disturbing resonance at the moment.

Here's one that annoys me. People crawling behind you in a car when they have plenty of time to overtake. What's that about? I had a woman stalk me in a Mini for about a mile along Heather Lane once.

Quote from: R6GYY on March 07, 2022, 08:27:04 AMThe Ipcress File (ITV series)

Any good, Reg? I loved the film though I don't think I've seen it since the '90s.

Motorists overtaking too close is a very frequent source of irritation, but another very annoying one is oncoming motor vehicles with headlights on full beam. I find it useful to wear a powerful head torch so I can aim the beam at their windscreen for a brief moment.

Usually makes them stop, the same way a quick flash of full beam would if you were driving.

Here's a useful tip for night-time cyclists - if you see a car coming in the distance with suspiciously bright lights, keep one eye closed until it's passed. That way you'll still have night vision in one eye.

Just done this one as well, taken the same day of course. My brother Bill (on the left) took the first one; I think my dad would have taken this.



Bill is 10 years older than me. He would have been 20 when this was taken. Around this time he was fond of Zeppelin, Sabbath and especially Fleetwood Mac and Cream, so I was exposed to a lot of music that I wouldn't otherwise have heard at a young age.

I once thought of YouTube as being primarily a way to share fuzzy old VHS and camcorder recordings from the '80s, but there's some really slick, professional content on there now.

One of my favourite creators is Jay Foreman. I like short (less than 15 mins) documentaries. They're a much better match for my attention span than 30 minutes or an hour.


Nice to see the Transporter Bridge get a mention at 4:22.  Used to go over it often as a kid,in my parents' car. In later years I often cycled there and back from my mum's house.

Wordle 260 4/6

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Didn't take long this morning, but - without intending to, I broke my rule of always using a viable solution on each go.

It can be a good strategy to use a word you know doesn't fit, but I don't like to do that.