Tuesday 26 July 2016

Tuesday 26th July: Rapha Womens 100, 2016











After the biblical wind and rain of last year's Womens 100 ride , this year's conditions couldn't have been more pleasingly polar opposite and pleasant!!  The date fell on the weekend of the bike-courier holiday ride "The Dunwich Dynamo" so I combined both trips, incorporating the 100k into the overnight 120 miler to the Suffolk coast.  It was warm and dry for the duration of the night making it a much quicker and enjoyable experience than the last DD I did 2 years ago.  Therefore this was the most magical and blessed journey to have taken part in with memories of these 2 previous weather thwarted expeditions!  I was literally fist-pumping into the beautiful sunrise gradient sky despite not being able to cycle with no hands on the bar!!  This is going to go down in history of my top favourite times on 2 wheels.  BLISS!!!! 

Monday 25 July 2016

Monday 25th July: London Notting Hill Carnival Launch 2016.












The 2016  London Notting Hill Carnival Launch party became a celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the event.  The story was told with a narrated dance and a personal account from founder Leslie Palmer who explained how he integrated the local Jamaican soundsystems into the Trinidadian Carnival in 1973.  This was followed by a concert from Ebony Steel Pan band and calypso section with Alexander D Great.  It felt like the entire 3 day celebration condensed into one evening (complete with Carribean catering!) which made me want it to be Carnival EVERY day of the year.  I CANNOT wait till August Bank Holiday weekend!  

(old photos here from Leslie's archive in an exhibition and final image here of the Moko Jumbie Carnival Arts workshop at the YAA Centre with TouchDSky and Adrian Young who had just arrived from Trinidad to demonstrate how to "walk Stick" on stilts)

Mondat 25th July: "Healing With Wounds" by Matthew Stone in Utopian Voices at Somerset House