6 May 2005
I read in
Cycling Weekly that London has seen a large increase in the numbers cycling. Hurray. Apparently it's all due to the introduction of the congestion charge. I imagine people must feel encouraged to cycle in the City due to the reduction in motor traffic?
Anyway, if a significant number of people are getting on bicycles because of the friendlier environment surely this should send a signal to the government? Apparently not. An extra five million pounds, over the next three years, has been set aside for
Cycling England by the Department of Transport. Five million? Five million doesn't build many cycle paths, parking areas, better access to public transport. I don't know the cost of a decent national marketing campaign these days, but would 5 million cover the cost of a concerted effort to persuade people that it's a good idea to leave their car in the garage and opt for a heathier two wheeled option? I'm left wondering what each each of national parties
actually spent on articulating their message during the last month of campaigning?
Maybe I should have voted for the Green Party?
5 May 2005
I did my first bike race in three years last night, and finished 6th! Told myself not to do anything silly, first race an'all; what did I do? Got in a two man break after the first lap - needless to say I got dropped within half a lap and spent the next three laps hanging onto the peleton, or should I say by this point: a rag bag of fifteen riders. I hung on for dear life, wound it up for the sprint, and surprisingly found myself passing quite a few riders before hitting the finishing line. Pleasantly surprised.
The race was held at
Floyd Bennett Field an old disused runway, organised by
Kissena Cycling Club. Credit must go to the organisers for a very well run event. I arrived 45 minutes before race start and found sign-in well under way; racing started promptly at 7pm; and each of the three races had a lead vehicle. Not bad for a mid week event. Oh yes, and a copious amount of safety pins to attach race numbers. Bravo.
The circuit consists of a
2.3 mile loop with wide roads (or should I say runways?). The road surface isn't smooth, so I'm hoping not to crash; most of the riders seemed pretty sensible, so I have high expectations, although I don't want to tempt fate!
21 April 2005
I was doing research on the name Iadicicco, my grandfather was Simmaco Iadicicco, and in doing so came across the
Ellis Island web site. I found some very interesting immigrant
documentation regarding possible distant relatives that travelled to New York from Naples around the turn of the century. What an amazing site! They have the original ship manifest, which includes details of how much money they were carrying, their final address in New York, what skills (calling) they had, and strangely, if they were an Anarchist (isn't everyone?). There are even pictures of the boats they journeyed in.
Closer to home, I found some of our relatives listed on
Ancestry's website.
Rachael, Sarah and my grandfather Simmaco are all listed. Also, there appears to be some people looking for other Iadiciccos on the
message boards.
20 April 2005
So it's official, we're expecting a
baby! Janet is already getting fat and has started whinging. As a loving and supportive husband I've given up watching Premiership football on TV.
At the moment, the current due date is Novemeber 3rd - I've got a book running (don't tell the wife), so if you want in, drop me a line ;-).
11 April 2005
Just arrived back from Florida, here are the
photos.
Check out news buzz:
The
UK's 2005 General Election is coming up. I've applied for a proxy vote, so my mum is going to vote for me (as I'm currently working in the States). I took a
test and found that I should vote Liberal Democrat. I've never voted LibDem, always Labour. What should I do?
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