Mr & Mrs Bikes.

Ed and I love our bikes! We have been biking to work the past week and it has been wonderful, I find it a nice way to wake up which has really surprised me as I don't really like exercise that much. I won my bike on eBay last year, it was about £40 and I was over the moon when I found out that it was mine. Ed gave my bike a really good going over and bought some spiffing white rimmed tyres for it. Ed's bike is really special to us because it belonged to my Grandad. He passed away a couple of years before I was born and since then his bike has been kept safe in a garage waiting to be ridden once more!

Ed had been looking everywhere for a cool, vintage bike that wasn't horrendously expensive. When mum found out she rung up and asked Ed if he would like it because she knew he would take care of it and get it back in good working order. So Ed became the owner of this beautiful Triumph, he has fixed it up, bought white tyres for it and he even cleaned the bell and got it ringing again. 

Ed and I love the fact that these bikes were both made in Nottingham. My Grandad's Triumph must have then been taken to sell in Shropshire. The sticker is still on it from the shop he bought it from in picture 3. Mum thinks that the shop was called Hannetts which I think fits with what is left of the sticker. And now it has returned to Nottingham to have lots of frolics with my sparkly blue Raleigh. 

We heart our bikes sooooo much <3 I hope you like them too.

xkx

BrewDog Wednesday.

As it is a bank holiday on Friday, today is more like a Thursday. So to celebrate this weird logic Ed and I decided to go to BrewDog for a couple of jars this evening. I had Dead Pony Club which is one of my all time favourite craft beers, then I tried one called Chaos Theory which was pretty damn awesome as well.   

BrewDog is possibly our favourite place to drink, and maybe Ed and I are biased but we think BrewDog Nottingham is the best! We have been to the one in Edinburgh and Birmingham but we still love the Nottingham one most. The vibe is always really cool and you don't get those scary, letchy, beery men in there either *yey*.  

Ed and I had a lovely few hours chatting and drinking then we went home and cooked a delicious curry using my mum and dad's own curry blend that they give us in jars. It has been a pretty good Wednesday, roll on the bank holiday weekend with all the fun that we haven't planned yet.

Any exciting plans for the extra long weekend?

xkx

Nottingham Beer Festival 2012.

Yesterday we went to the Nottingham Beer Festival and it was a lot of fun! The festival is held over the whole weekend and this year there was over 1000 beers to try and over 200 ciders. Ed and I met up with a bunch of our mates there and it was a blast.

We were even in luck with the weather it was a lovely sunny day, it did turn a little bit cold as the evening drew in. There were some really yummy beers there, my favourite beers were Abduction from the Dancing Duck Brewery, Lord Marples from Thornbridge Brewery and I fell in love with Bee's Knee's from The Nook Brewhouse. This fine hoppy bitter is brewed with Yorkshire honey and it was like drinking beery sunshine, perfect for summing up the lovely day that I had... And obviously Ed and I made sure we drank responsibly hehe.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.

Eds Bike Ride

Let me introduce you to my vintage Triumph Roadster. It's an old bike. I couldn't tell you how old, because I just don't know. What I do know is it was handed down to me by Kirsty's mum, as it once belonged to her dad. It needed some tinkering to get it on the road. New tyres, an overhaul of the brakes and a fair amount of polish. It is now my second and above all most laid back means of transport.

Sometimes I just like to jump on and see where it takes me. With no gears and 50 something year old "rod brakes" hills are not this bikes natural environment. But there are a few places in Nottingham where I can cruise and really enjoy a slow pace. 

A little piece of English Victorian technology. Like my bike, it still does it's job. 

My cruse took me over the river Trent a couple of times. This is the view from the Wilford Suspension Bridge, a nice spot to get away from the city traffic. 

And this is my view from the saddle.

Geese a me don't mix.... This gang were ruling the Nottingham Embankment. I ended up riding around them because they wouldn't move!

Next to Trent Bridge I came across these engravings. I guessed they were showing the heights the river has risen to in the past. With all the rain we've had recently I'm glad they didn't need a new marker for 2012. It's crazy to think the river has been all the way up here though. 

The cycle path lead me onto the Nottingham Beeston canal. Kirsty and I often walk along the canal path, watching out for passing cyclists. Today however was my turn to cruse down the canal side.

The urban historian in me enjoys taking in sights like this. There is something about seeing old industrial buildings mixed into the landscape that gets my mind working. I guess a lot of the buildings in this area would have been used to make lace, something Nottingham was once famous for. 

Nearly all of the industrial buildings have a new life these days. This is the home of the Glee Club and a few other venues. 

I decided to turn off of the canal path as the sun was setting (and my bike has not got any lights, yet) but before heading back home I passed Nottingham Castle. The castle itself is perched on top of a huge cliff face. This is one of the cave entrances at the base of the cliff. 

After taking in the sites of the castle I peddled home. I'll be jumping on my bike to explore some more of Nottingham soon.