Long time no see...

Unfortunately it's been way too long since my last web blog update. I've just been much to busy with too many other things to do. Anyhow, here is the first of a few updates from things that I've been up to in the past month.

The new Cabot Circus shopping centre opened up in Bristol a few weeks ago. A week after it opened Debbie and I took the opportunity to pop down there. They have kept half of the old shopping centre and just added some new areas to the place. It's a shame that they didn't demolish the entire centre, as the old half looks really run down in comparison to the new parts.

A lot of thought has obviously gone into the planning of the new centre, as there is a new cinema and a few restaurants/bars on the top floor of the shopping area with easy access to the car park. Most of the shops are much the same as any other shops in a shopping centre, but they were all much bigger. The only big downer to the redevelopment as that they still insist on charging for parking spaces. It even costs £2.50 for late night parking there!

Here's the new Nandos at the shopping centre.

One of the best things about the new centre is that it has a Yo! Sushi!!! Despite it being an expensive meal, it's one of the things that I really love. If I could eat there twice a day and every day of the week then I would do. There is also a new official Apple store which is nice to have in Bristol.

I also went on a short ride along the Bristol to Bath cycle route on the same weekend. It was very foggy that morning, which made the ride all the more enjoyable. Despite it not raining the amount of moisture in the air meant that I was quite wet afterwards.

The fog made for a very atmospheric ride along the long cycle path tunnel.

On the following weekend I was up in Manchester to see Debbie. I took the opportunity to have a bike ride near her place. She lives in Stalybridge, which is ideally located next to the western edge of the Peak district. I'm really looking forward to many more rides around the Peaks in the coming months.

I went on a short local ride up towards the Hartshead Pike. I'd seen the tower near her place from a pub that we visited once before.

Here is the Pike.

It was a very nice ride around the local area. Most of the ride was on the roads to get towards the Pike, but some of it was also off road around the Pike.


I had a really nice long climb up to the Pike without stopping along the way. As per usual once I started to climb up the hill I didn't want to stop till I got to the top.

The ride up to the Pike. I saw a couple of joggers running around on the Saturday morning. They must have run up to the top, bloody nutters! ;-)