Sunday 30 December 2012

Hyde Park Brompton Spin

As I hinted yesterday, this morning I ventured to South Kensington to meet fellow member of the Brompton Club, David P (navigator extraordinaire).

The meeting point was the Albert Memorial. This memorial was approved by Queen Victoria herself after the untimely death of her husband. Up to a few years ago, for as long as I and my parents can remember the statue of Albert was covered in black paint. Things look much better with the gold leaf, taking things back to what was originally intended.




The weather was glorious considering the last few days. We had a leisurely spin around Hyde Park for just over an hour before returning to a coffee shop in nearby Kensington Church Street where David and I chewed the fat and talked of rides for 2013.

Returning back to the Albert Memorial we said our goodbyes and I got out my new and rather fetching X100. I am still somewhat learning the ropes with it but I have been very pleased with the results so far.

The pictures posted with this blog were taken with it. Unfortunately, the iPad app I am using to write this very blog, compresses the photos quite drastically which means they will not show their true resolution / detail. The 35mm equivalent prime lens works incredibly well with the APS-C sensor to produce some sharp images. (When zooming in on a Mac in iPhoto the detail is quite amazing).








With the f2 prime lens you can achieve impressive bokeh. Not sure you can see on this photo but the bike is in sharp focus with the background slightly blurred. Had I stood nearer the bike the bokeh would have been even more pronounced.












It was standing adjacent to Albert Court, taking the last photo that some tourists approached me to ask how they would get to the Natural History Museum. It was perhaps the out of the blue nature of the question or the fact that I was preoccupied with my new camera that caused me to go blank. What I uttered could have come from the lips of Bertie Wooster.

"Yes...the Natural History Museum. Lovely place, lovely. Now, let me see. Well, I'd go down there a bit and keep walking straight...then go on a bit more." I was quite surprised when they thanked me and went on their merry way.

Hyde Park is a lovely location for a gentle spin but I have to confess I missed the more demanding Richmond Park. I suspect that Richmond Park will be the location I return to for more serious training. Hyde Park is too flat, too crowded and too easy for me now. Besides, I actually missed the hills at Richmond!

So, I am sure that you might read about me going to Richmond Park in the not to distant future! Below you can click on the link to see the data collected by my Garmin Edge 200.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/255814850

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