April 2016 in the Life of Ben (Blog)
Design at Somerset House (29th April 2016)
Design exhibition. We went to the Cortauld Gallery afterwards for some coffee and cake.
(More to follow.)
Cycle Revolution at Design Museum (17th April 2016)
Under £10 to get in and got to see the Lotus 108 time trial machine. It’s like the Formula 1 of bicycles, from the early 1990’s.
Before entering the Design Museum we had a delicious lunch and dessert looking over the Thames. There was live piano playing, much like a cruise ship. It was called Browns Butlers Wharf. About £20 a head with sharing a half litre of cider.
50 Bicycles which Changed the World
Sadly the UCI are stuck in the 1890’s. The regulations make modern bicycles more closely resemble the Rover Safety Cycle from that time. Which was also at the show!
Recumbents and enclosed pedal vehicles are like the Le Man prototypes of the cycling world. The Lotus 108 has exposed wheels and no canopy, which is very light but higher drag. Just as with Formula 1. No enclosed cycles were present in the show and only a couple of recumbents that I recall. Those are a bigger revolution than the abundance of Time Trial and track cycles, imho.
Follw Up
There were a number of video excerpts from documentaries. Several from Bicycle. Maybe we could find it on a streaming service.
We cycled all the way there and back. It was a breezy day but bright and dry.
(Photos to follow.)
Turkuaz Lovely Restaurant (11th April 2016)
(More to follow.)
Spending Spree (8th April 2016)
A few choice purchases I have made recently for the newest place I’m renting. (Which isn’t really that new any more.)
Dyson V6 Animal
Upright vacuum cleaner, refurbished, from Dyson Outlet on eBay. Trying one out in PC World with Fiona convinced me it was a good buy.
It’s battery powered, like a DIY drill. That means no power cable to trip over or have to unplug and plug back in as you move around the property. Should be ideal for my stairs, too.
Imagine an oversized but well balanced Dirt Devil or Dust Buster. Add a long pipe and cleaning head like a conventional cleaner.
Zeal Oven Mitts
One per purchase – be sure to buy two at once and the packaging is combined.
Cateye Strada Wireless
Got one 2nd hand with parts missing. It was half the price of the cheapest new ones and I only needed to computer. That part is easily 50% of the kit’s value and I didn’t want a load more spare bits. Previous one got knocked off while wearing a rucksack in front as well as behind. Couldn’t safely retrieve it from the road before it got squashed. So glad to have one again!
Definitely want white accessories instead of black next time. Better visibility when grabbing stuff out of my bag. When checking to make sure I’ve taken everything off it when parking up a more visible colour is better, too.
(More to follow.)