What Triathletes Read....

On a Friday night.....

My two Isle of Wight roomies were ready to paint the town red. Good thing I dragged them out. Reading. Geesh!

Second Longest Pier

We actually took two ferries during our journey from Windsor to the Isle of Wight. For the first one, we just basically cut the corner rather than cycling all the way around the coast.

Queuing up for transport.

As usual, Jeeves is on the wrong side of the road.

 When we hopped on the ferry, we just avoided the rain. Our earlier sun disappeared and it became quite cloudy and windy. Luckily, it blew over and we had sunshine on the other side.

The interesting fact about this ferry crossing, is that the ferry docks at the second longest pier in the world. It is so long, they built a little train on the pier to take passengers from the ferry to the shore. A train on a pier!!!

We had to walk. You could ride, but the gaps between the planks were wide enough that your bike tire got stuck. A bit risky......

2nd on the Island Tour

After returning from Zanzibar, I quickly turned around and headed for the second stop on my island tour. I met up with the usual triathlon crew and cycled down to the Isle of Wight. I don't really have too much to add, just that we had fun, we ate and drank quite a bit, and we fixed a lot of punctures (flat tires). Ugh.

Those of us who decided to play hooky (skive off work) to cycle down. Jeeves, Louise, Simon and John. 

At our first coffee stop, Simon checks the map. We made it 1.5 hours before deciding a latte was in order. (Notice the sun!!! This was the last nice weekend before the monsoon season began)

Feeling decadent while resting in the sun during a work day.

Simon ponders if he should cycle really fast and ditch us all. Or, he's enjoying his coffee.

At the lunch stop, we decide we need carbohydrates and fluids so we combine the two.

The food was great as well. Love the excuse to eat a lot when you are cycling 80 miles today and 80 miles tomorrow. Oh yeah.

There were some lovely views.

I really only stopped and took in the views when we stopped to change punctures.

A lovely view of a farmhouse......

...because of another puncture.

A lovely rest and view of Louise......

.... because of another puncture. Poor Darran and Paul who were waiting at the ferry wondered what took us so long.

Not to be outdone by Day 1, Day 2 started with ... a puncture. Actually, it started with two before we even left breakfast. We think Jeeves needs some new tires.

And, at the end of Day 2, the group looks a bit shell shocked as we refuel again. Or, they are just really sick of my camera! A bit more from the Isle of Wight coming up and then Mallorca. I promise those pictures are more interesting than changing a load of tubes.....

I Like This Pub

On a recent cycling expedition, we stopped for lunch at this lovely pub.

I really like the time that the quiz starts. Why start on time when you can start at 7ish?

By now you may have heard that England is in a severe drought. This pub is just doing its part. Good stuff - and the food was lovely to. Photos of that soon.

Zanzibar - the Activities

I've just come to the realization that I have visited three different islands in three different countries the last month. Pretty cool, eh?

I didn't do much in Zanzibar. It was one of my first real 'relaxing' vacations in a long time. It was the first time I didn't run or cycle on a holiday in about 3 years. This was a rather strenuous day. We had to walk on the sand to get to the boat to go snorkelling. I was wiped out looking at all the pretty fish. 

Admiring the white sand beaches and blue water of our destination. We went snorkeling just off the reef of this island.

Not exactly the Titanic position, but I was enjoying the view from the front of the boat.

Another view of the island, from our return to the beach. Lovely. Ahhhhhhhh......

On this trip, I met friends from university. Neysa, Chrissy and I all played soccer (football) at Michigan together. We are getting ready for a night at the Full Moon party. Oh yeah.

The Full Moon Party in full swing. Really enjoyed being outside the whole evening with loads of people.

Neysa and Chrissy are groovin' on the dance floor.



The next day, after a day of scuba diving, I thought this photo of my evening activities were appropriate. My lounge chair, my wine and my book. Yep, I struggled to relax. 

And lastly, my other activity outside of reading, diving, snorkeling and relaxing was eating. The food was great! I tought I'd take a picture of my octopus carpaccio.

I liked it.

Photos from the English and Spanish islands next......

Zanzibar - the Resort

Arriving at Zanzibar after my fun plane ride, we found out that it is low season at the resort. Apparently we arrived during the rainy season so the island was grossly underpopulated of tourists. Excellent! And when I mean the rainy season, I mean that it rains everyday at 2pm for about 10 minutes. Perfect timing for a lunch break......



Here is the view from outside our room door. We looked out over the pool and across the way to where Julian stayed. Unfortunately, Julian booked a romantic week away for two with his girlfriend, only to break up with her 72 hours before the trip. He went anyway.. and got upgraded to the honeymoon suite. Yikes! Needless to say, we made his room the base of operations since it was large and had a private deck. More on that below.

The entrance to our room. I spent some quality time reading in the fluffy chairs. My translucent skin could only take about 10 minutes of sun a day.

The view from the pool looking towards the Indian Ocean.

The opposite view from the pool looking towards the bar and restaurant.

Another view of the beach. When the tide wasn't out and I was swimming, I was the ONLY one in the water. It was very disconcerting.

Some of the difficult decisions I had to make while I was there was whether to drink Kilimanjaro or Safari beer.

 

The other decision was whether or not to lie by the pool, on the deck or by the beach. Such fun!

This was Julian's crib. His suite was on a corner so we made ourselves at home on the lounge chairs outside his room.

A view from one of the lounge chairs looking out over the palm trees and water.

Lastly, I'm contemplating my surroundings while wearing my new native hat. BTW - this is the first time I've worn shorts for leisure in about two years. Yeah to warmth!!!!