My New Chapter In Life @UK

Sharing of Cycling, Travel, Baking, DIY and personal feelings

Category: Riding in UK

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Challenges / Cycling / Cycling Routes / Family / Life / Riding in UK / UK Immigration

Summer Holidays Ride 2024 暑假單車遊 2024

Summer in the UK is quite short, only lasts for about three months. By August, the sun starts setting after 8 p.m., and soon the days get shorter again. A few days ago, my son suggested we should going on a long-distance cycling trip given the slightly longer daylight and the fact that school hasn’t started yet. As he was so excited, I should have no reason to say no. However, in view of the pain in my right wrist, which probably caused by tendonitis, that haunting me for a few months, a long ride might make it worse!.

英國的夏天日子不算長，只有短短三個月，踏入八月，下午八點後便開始日落，又回復日短夜長的日子。早幾天兒子提議趁日間時段稍長，而且仍未開學，不如一起來個長程的單車一日遊。難得他有這個興趣，我理應義無反悔的應成，但心想近幾個月右手腕隱隱作痛，相信是筋膜發炎所致，勉強踩長程車，一不小心，可能手尾會更長！

My cycling journey to Hammersmith and Notting Hill 3

Challenges / Cycling / Cycling Routes / Life / Riding in UK / UK Immigration

Round Trip Ride – Hammersmith & Notting Hill 走一轉系列 – Hammersmith & Notting Hill

Looking back often brings surprises or delights, much like when I recently moved my blog posts to my new site. I noticed that there were several half-written cycling posts left gathering dust. Instead of letting them as they were, I’ve decided to tie up those loose ends and hopefully boost some more traffic to my new blog. Although these rides were made over two years ago, in the ever-unchanging British landscape, I don’t think there will be much difference today.

回顧通常都會帶來一些驚或喜，就像我早前把網誌文章搬到新網站一樣，竟發覺有好幾篇單車遊的紀錄只寫了一半，但又不知何解地被擱置於一傍。與其繼續放低不理，我決定要為這些紀錄做個了結，亦希望可為網誌增加多一點流量。雖然我這些單車騎行已是兩年多前的事，但以英國的千載不變的生活環境，相信今天看來亦不會有太大的差別。

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Challenges / Cycling / Riding in UK / UK Immigration

Bike Climb Improvement Project 單車爬攀改善計劃

Riding uphill places a greater strain on the heart, which can be challenging for individuals like me with cardiovascular conditions. In my early days of road cycling, I got my first road bike, the Giant TCR SLR1, that came with Shimano Ultegra 6800 53/39T racing crankset. This made it quite tough for a beginner cyclist like me. Two years later, I used this bike for cycling tour around Taiwan and despite I had already switched to a bigger 32T cog, climbing the challenging slopes of Shouka and the North-Yilan Highway was still a struggle to me.

騎乘斜坡對心臟的負荷較大，對於我這類有心血管疾病的人來說不是易事。早期對公路車認識不多，第一部購入的公路車 Giant TCR SLR1 是配備 Shimano Ultegra 6800 53/39T 的競賽 Crankset，令我這單車初哥騎得非常之吃力。還記得當年到台灣環島騎的亦是這部車，縱使已轉用了 32T 飛輪，攀爬壽卡及北宜公路的兩段路仍是苦不堪言，因此在我購入的第二部公路車 Giant TCR Advanced SL1 時就指定配上 50/34T crankset。

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Cycling / Family / Riding in UK / UK Immigration

New Family Member 家中新成員

Last October, my son’s bike was stolen from the underground carpark of my apartment. You might think that I didn’t properly lock the bike, but the truth is that I used a set of Cable Locks to secure it. Regrettably, those security measures were not sufficient, and the bike thieves easily cut through the locks.

兒子的單車在去年十月尾被偷了，地點是我住的 apartment 的地下停車場。 你可能認為我沒有把單車鎖好才給賊人下手的機會，但實情是我已用到一組 Cable Locks 鎖上，遺憾的是保安程度不夠高，輕易地被偷車賊剪斷了。

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Challenges / Cycling / DIY / Riding in UK / UK Immigration

Localisation for my bike? 單車也要本土化?

Those two Giant TCR bicycles that delivered to UK were bought through authorised dealer in Hong Kong few years ago.

Being the world’s biggest bicycle manufacturer, Giant bicycles sold in different parts of the world have to conform to local regulations and riding practices. As such, there are variations in the use of components and settings for these bikes across the world.

隨行到英國的兩部 Giant TCR 公路單車，於香港的代理購入已有數年。

基於全球單車第一品牌 Giant Bicycle 產品行銷世界各地，需配合當地的法規及使用習慣，因此無論在設計細節，零件使用或設定亦會有一定的差異。

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Challenges / Cycling / Life / Random Thoughts / Riding in UK / UK Immigration

Life is just Bits and Pieces 生活就是一些無聊的點滴

Since moving into our new apartment in late May, it seems that I was extremely busy. Spending most of the time tidying up those bits and pieces, moving the furniture around and went shopping household items. I considered myself so exhausted that I didn’t even have the mood to write any post for this blog.

自五月尾搬入新居後，每天總是看似非常忙碌；不是執拾東西，便是把家具移來移去，又或是再添置家居用品，亦因此總提不起勁去寫文章。

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Challenges / Cycling / Life / Riding in UK / UK Immigration

Round Trip Ride – London Eye 走一轉系列 – London Eye

Even though I have been living in UK for nearly one year, I still found London’s winter very cold and couldn’t stand the piercing cold wind especially riding outdoor. That explained why I had not go cycling for several months. Anyway, it just happened that I still had a number of cycling trips that I could share with you here.

Comparing with those previous journeys around suburbs or countryside, I attempted some completely different trips across cities. When mentioning city, the first came to mind was definitely our famous cosmopolitan city London. And my destination was central London, the Parliament House, Big Ben and London Eye.

雖然在英國住了差不多一年，倫敦的冬天對於生長於香港的我仍是有點冷，騎單車的話，迎着陣陣刺面寒風更不好過，因此自去年十一月後已有數月沒騎車出外，還好先前尚有多個行程可在此和大家分享。

相比早前走的市郊路線，去年九月尾想過要作不同的嘗試，來個穿越城市之旅。説起城市當然第一時間就想起英國的國際大都會倫敦，而目的地就是倫敦市中心，國會大樓，大笨鐘以及 London Eye。

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Challenges / Cycling / Cycling Routes / Family / Life / Riding in UK / UK Immigration

Riding with my boss 與 Boss 走一轉

Studying in UK is really wonderful, there are so many term breaks throughout the school year. Just like the recent Spring Term Break that began on 1st of April, my little boss started staying at home with nothing to do again. Early Sunday morning, he suggested to go cycling, which I had no reason to turn down despite of the cold and windy weather.

在英國讀書真好，年中 term break 多到難以至信，剛過去的四月一日又是 Spring Term Break 的開始，家中小老闆又再百無聊賴的 hea 在家，星期日早上，難得他提議午後騎車出外走走，雖然天氣非常寒冷，我也無法拒絶。

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Challenges / Cycling / Cycling Routes / Life / Riding in UK / UK Immigration

Round Trip Ride – Putney Heath 走一轉系列 – Putney Heath

For the past cycling trips, I used to take those relatively flat roads and footpaths. In this round of my Round Trip Ride, I would include some bike climbs in my visit to another adjacent district, the Borough of Wandsworth and with Putney Heath as my destination. The return trip would go through Richmond Park and back to the Kingston twon centre. The total distance was estimated to be around 29 Km.

過往的單車路線大多是以較平坦的車路或小徑為主，今次會嘗試加多一點爬坡路段。行程以 Borough of Wandsworth 的 Putney Heath 為目的地，回程會穿越 Richmond Park 返回 Kingston 市中心，行程預計約 29 公里。

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Challenges / Cycling / Life / Riding in UK / UK Immigration

Round Trip Ride – East Molesey 走一轉系列 – East Molesey

There are seven Local Government Districts adjacent to Kingston Upon Thames. Wimbledon and Raynes Park that I recently rode to belong to one of these, the London Borough of Merton. In this round of my Round Trip Ride, I will share with you my visit to another district, the Borough of Elmbridge. The destination is East Molesey.

與 Kingston Upon Thames 接壤的地區政府管轄區（Local Government Districts）共有七個，早前往 Wimbledon 及 Raynes Park 時已到訪過其中一個，亦即 London Borough of Merton。今次要介绍的行程會到另一個區 Borough of Elmbridge，目的地是 East Molesey 市。

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Round Trip Ride – Wimbledon 走一轉系列 – 温布頓

In my previous posts, I had mentioned that I found it a bit boring cycling in parks within the Kingston. So I changed my mind and planned to visit nearby areas with my bike. Not only served as great exercises for me, but also help me to understand more about the areas nearby.

上一篇提過在 Kingston 市內公園踩單車有點悶，於是改變想法，打算到鄰近地區走走，運動之餘又可熟習其他地方。

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Short Ride – Bushy Park 灌木公園單車遊

There are several places near Kingston town centre that are great for walking and cycling. These includes Barge Walk and Hampton Court Home Park that I had visited before as well as Bushy Park that I am going to introduce in this post.

Kingston 市中心附近有數個適合漫步或騎單車的著名景點，包括早前我去過的 Barge Walk，漢普敦公園及今次要介紹的灌木公園（Bushy Park）。

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Hampton Court Park and River Thames Ride 漫遊漢普敦公園、泰晤士河

Stepping into September, the temperature had slightly dropped to around 15 or 16 ℃. A little bit cool but not that cold. Just as my son had back to school, my wife and I went our for cycling in nearby areas. Some exercise for both of us as well as to search for new cycling routes.

Last week, I rode with my son along Barge Walk. This time, my wife and I would go cycling in the Hampton Court Park.

踏入九月，早上氣溫已降至大約十五、十六度，雖有一點點的涼意，但又未至於寒冷。兒子悠長的暑假剛結束，再重返校園，既然閒著便與太太到附近踩單車，順便找尋新的路線。

上次去了 Barge Walk，今次嘗試往漢普敦公園（Hampton Court Park）走走。

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Challenges / Cycling / Life / Random Thoughts / Riding in UK / UK Immigration

My Boy’s New MTB 兒子的全新攀山單車

In my previous post, I had talked about getting a new bike for my son. This not only allowed him to ride with me during holidays but also help to reduce playing online games at home. After several rounds of product research and shop visits, I finally got his new bike last Saturday.

早前提過要為兒子買單車，除了放假時能與他出外遊玩，亦可盡量減少他留在家中玩 online games，經歷數輪資料搜集及實體店舖拜訪，上星期六終於收到新車。

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First Ride in UK 英倫踩單車：落地篇

It has been almost three weeks after my bikes were delivered. Nevertheless, I lack the motivation to go for a ride.

I did not sleep well last night and could not fall asleep again after waking up early in the morning, so I decided to go for a ride.

我的單車回到身邊差不多有三個星期，但不知何故，總是欠點動力出去走一敞。

昨晚睡得不太好，晨早起來又沒法再入睡，決定出去走走。

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Cycling / Life / Random Thoughts / Riding in UK / Riding overseas / UK Immigration

Cycling in UK 英倫踩單車

The last riding I had was the time I waved goodbye to my old classmates and cycling buddies back in end March this year. As all my belongings had already been picked up by the international relocation company in mid-March, I had to rent another road bike from the bicycle shop. With quite a big difference in the components and bike settings, that 50+ Km bike ride seemed to be much harder than before. My muscles got sore and it took me few days to fully recover.

對上一次踩單車已是今年三月尾，亦是我的與一眾老同學和車友門道別的一天。而跟移民隨行的物品包括我的單車已在月中經國際搬運公司裝箱，當天只好在相熟單車店租用另一部 road bike。由於租用的單車與我自己的在配置及設定有頗大差異，那天五十多公里的行程踩得較辛苦，肌肉亦酸痛了好幾天。