David Kitchen

It’s only 7am, it’s a Saturday and I’ve had a stressful week. By rights I should be in bed, but instead I’m sitting here naked waiting for the P20 to bond to the skin and give me sun protection. On the hob is a pot of water boiling, pasta for breakfast. The weather report is 26′c, bright blue skies… and today is a day for cycling.

So what’s happening? Well, at 9am there is the London Dynamo Richmond Park Ride. I didn’t complete the last time I did it because I got so frustrated with a guy in front who fell over in front of me, and was a little shaken by seeing a club mate down near an ambulance on one of the laps… it didn’t feel right, so I ducked out. I go with how I feel a lot of the time, and usually it’s the best thing to do. So for me, the 30 miles or so this morning will be a re-entry after not completing the last one and having bonked on a Surrey Hills ride. A start (I hope) of far more cycling once Candy arrives.

And then this afternoon I shall be taking part in the World Naked Bike Ride. It’s a protest ride against oil dependency, and additionally to promote the use of cycling as one of many means to help reduce our emissions from, and dependency on, oil. We congregate around 3pm at Hyde Park Corner, undress, and then cycle 6 miles through the most populated part of London on one of the hottest days of the year. Hence the greased up body covered in P20 sun protection.

So that’s my day. Not quite the average one, and no plans for tonight, though perhaps I might just be a little sunburnt and tired by then that I’m thankful for that. I’ll take the camera… I’ll share what I see this afternoon. Hopefully you’ll be looking at the spirit and atmosphere of the protest rather than all of the bodies.