L'Alpe d'Huez

Finally, an honest rider reaches the podium. Spong Bob soaks up the hills. Allez allez.

Biking France

I know you all want to see the new bike - here we are near Grenoble.

Petit dejeuner

Lac Leman, Lausanne

Switzerland - just like a postcard

Am laying up in Lausanne for a few days while I recover from biking the Alps.

Without the magic 'juice' my mortal legs get pretty tired. Stayed a few days at Bourg d'Oisans, at the foot of Le Tour's most famous climb, L'Alpe d'Huez. It consists of 21 switchbacks climbing 1000 metres in 14 km. A parade of Tour wannabes rides each day in summer, me included. Increasing frequent stops to catch my breath saw me drag my arse up there. No drug test for this grimpeur.

Heavy overnight rain flooded my tent so I sougt refuge in the eaves of the laundry. Ah the pleasures of camping.

Recovered to ride the Lauteret, another Tour perennial.

Shame about the Tour - they had years to sort it out. Hopefuly this scandal will trigger new and better testing.

With the Time Trial tomorrow the Australian Cadel Evans could still win.

Well, am relaxing in the Swiss lakeside town of Lausanne (thanks Melissa for the stylish accommodation), where the Swiss do not permit unseasonal rain. 26 degrees this evening.

Melissa's friend Marion found me a ticket to Paleo (www.paleo.com), an outdoor festival, where Bjork performed an excellent show. Also saw Clap your hands say Yeah, and tried fondue.

I wonder about the Swiss - how long can their affluence protect them from global changes? There is an air of business as usual. People are well-groomed and polite.

Some highlights: French pastries, stinky cheese, great weather, trying out my French, bike lanes.
Lowlights: overcooking it on the Alp, wet tent.

Sorry no pics today, more to come. Each one just like a postcard.
A bientot.

Ken paints London

London mayor Ken Livingstone has made solving London's traffic schlerosis his mission. Congestion charge of £8 per day to drive in the city is funding new buses, Tube upgrades, bike lanes and subsidised cycle training. The results: buses are much more efficient, the Tube less unreliable, and the number of bike commuters is up 84% in 2 years.

You can pay £8 for the pleasures of driving for a day, or the same £8 pays for a cycling lesson with a lifetime of benefits.

Cycling has become a symbolic solution to a host of issues: sustainability, congestion, health, liveable communities and a remade, saner world. Mainstream newspapers run columns and features; there's a heap of new books; and cycling is no longer just for lycra-clad road warriors. The new cycling tribes include fixies, fakengers (wannabe bike messengers), old skool vintage riders, cargo bikers, recyclers and even suits on folders.

Vive le Velo!

Boy heaven

No, boy heaven is not a swinging London nightspot, it's this toystore at Camden Lock markets. Here's Patrick, 4, wondering how many stars he'll need to earn before he gets a treat. You earn stars by eating dinner, getting dressed and having teeth brushed by your dad.
Patrick's interests include Star Wars, lego, and Star Wars lego. If you don't make up the Imperial Shuttle exactly right he will put you right.

Meanwhile, I have been exploring charity shops, where you can buy a perfectly good t-shirt for 99p and help a needy pet at the same time. Why buy new?

Other discoveries:
- biking is quicker and less smelly than the Tube.
- what a 'window licker' is
- You can make a belt from used bike tyres (www.velo-re.com)
- these guys are the best bike instructors: www.cycletraining.co.uk. Now I am a provisionally qualified instructorI will be keen to share my new skills with anyone looking to upskill.

Am off to France tomorrow with the famously reliable budget airline RyanAir. Will seek some big Alps to test my new dream bike and new bike skills. Zut alors!

Big thanks to Alan and family for sharing the posh mansion in West Hampstead. I plan to recreate the Death Star in 1:1 scale from lego before I leave.

High cost of housing

After years of price inflation, young people are forced to seek new housing solutions. Here, new migrants create a living room on the south bank of the Thames. This property recently changed hands for £4 million. Their lease runs for 11 hours between high tides. They remodel the lounge after each tide.

Canfield Gardens

Nuclear family sets off on expedition to Star Wars convention.

More bike school

Pretty soon we'd moved onto the advanced stuff.

Bike School

All those years I wasted in regular school when I could have been in bike school ...

Here's David teaching 'absolute beginner' Desmond to ride. Desmond pedals, David steers.

How to beat high parking fees

Taunton to Bridgwater canal, Somerset

Next I went to the west country, Somerset, to pick up my dream bike. Rode it along canal paths and quiet country lanes in the Quantock hills. Got rained out - need a better tent. But the bike rides well.
Got into a waterfight with youths on the train.

Bank

Here's Jenny and me waiting for the Tour to come past. We're outside the Bank of England, basking in the English sunshine.

Tour de France prologue

Tour de France prologue

Here's some dude racing his brains out in the 7.9 km time trial around Hyde Park. The winner completed the course in under 9 minutes. Traffic has never moved faster in London.

Cycle magic

Hyde Park bikers

Tour de France in London

Goodies: I joined some biking buddies - cheers Ben and Martin - on this 1907 triple. Its owner, Peter, rode with us on a tandem. He rode the triple from UK to Greece in 1962.

Singapore on the cheap

Almost made it throughwithout reaching for my wallet, but a headache meant I needed some pills. They hide the supermarket at Changi well.
Hint for travellers: don't engage fellow passengers in air miles discussion, unless you want a frosty trip. There's a bunch of trees with my name on them going into the ground this year.
13 and a half hours to London ...

Pedalling dreams

The plan: ride my bike in France. Tres simple, n'est-ce pas?

Join me on some adventures and meet my new friends along the way.