Wanderlust

"Not all those who wander are lost."

J. R. R. Tolkien

A Living Legend

Roger Bannister running the first sub-4 minute mile . . . 

. . . and today, on the same track

Games of the Olympiad

Can you remember your first Olympics?  When I was little, all we had for a television was this old black & white monolith from I don't know where, but for an event as important as the Olympics, we rented a brand new color television and for me, it was game on.  I haven't missed one since and that includes 1980, when we just happened to be in England all summer and I was able to watch the complete BBC coverage of the Games while NBC joined the American boycott.  How far back can you name the correct Olympic host city?

2012 - London                       My Olympics
2008 - Beijing                       Visually spectacular
2004 - Athens                       Back where it all began
2000 - Sydney                       Australia's Cathy Freeman wins the 400
1996 - Atlanta                       I went to the Track & Field trials instead
1992 - Barcelona                   Spain's Fermin Ruiz Cacho wins the 1500
1988 - Seoul                          Ben Johnson, NOT
1984 - Los Angeles               Alonzo Babers
1980 - Moscow                     Coe vs. Ovett
1976 - Montreal                    Dwight Stones & Mickey Mouse
1972 - Munich                       Tragedy
1968 - Mexico City                Bob Beamon
1964 - Tokyo
1960 - Rome
1956 - Melbourne
1952 - Helsinki
1948 - London
1944 - none
1940 - none
1936 - Berlin                         Jessie Owens shows up the Nazis
1932 - Los Angeles
1928 - Amsterdam
1924 - Paris                           The Chariots of Fire Olympics
1920 - Antwerp
1916 - none
1912 - Stockholm
1908 - London
1904 - St. Louis                    I ran on this track at the AAU Junior Olympics
1900 - Paris
1896 - Athens

Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon

On the southeast coast of England, there is a town with the same name as another town just southwest of Pueblo.  The English Rye is a town made famous by smugglers as far back as the 13th Century.  The  pebble beaches both north and south of Rye separate the English Channel from the lush fields of County Kent.  Today, the sun was intermittent, the clouds were spectacular, and the sea air was full of healthy negative ions.  

Typical medieval Rye houses 

Lost in London

Today, I am glad none of you were with me because as a tour guide, I would have been awful.  My plan was to get lost in the walkabout way, but I ended up getting lost in the literal way and walked miles and miles on Hampstead Heath.  Ray Davies, of the Kinks, grew up just east of here in Highgate and it's been one of my favorite places to explore in London.  On a clear day you can see all the way to London town.

Slightly smaller than Central Park in New York, but much wilder

360 degrees of peaceful woods

Canary Wharf is on the left and St. Paul's & the Shard are on the right.

With all the walking I did today (a good five hours at least) the train ride home never felt so good.  When I am driving across Kansas, I think about each of the stops the train makes from Tunbridge Wells to London Charing Cross.  High Brooms, Tonbridge, Sevenoaks, Orpington, London Bridge, and Waterloo East always sound much more appealing than Topeka, Salina, Russell, Hays, Oakley, and Sharon Springs.  What saved me from total exhaustion was the fantastic bicycle system they have in place.  For just £1, you can take a bike from one location, ride around London, and drop it off somewhere completely different.  The first 30 minutes are free and it was really fun racing around traffic on a Saturday afternoon.  Tomorrow's Grand Prix had nothing on me!

Under 30 minutes, you don't have to pay!

Sports. Sports. Sports.

How many times in your life can you say that you know exactly where you will be in seven year's time?  Well, seven years ago today, it was announced that the 2012 Olympics would be in London and I knew that without a doubt, I would be here.  People tell me I'm lucky that I don't have a family or a job to keep me away, but that's bollocks!  I would be here no matter what and if I was lucky enough to have a wife and children, they'd be here right with me.

Olympic fever is everywhere!

The Opening Ceremonies are still three weeks away, but there is plenty of hype.  If my Kansas City friends are getting tired of the All-Star Game promo's, think times ten and you've got the hype here.  EVERYTHING is Olympic related!  We've also got Wimbledon and Le Tour de France to enjoy.

Scotland's Andy Murray has just qualified for the finals and will take on Roger Federer on Sunday with the weight of a nation upon his shoulders.  Quick lesson for my American friends . . . England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have separate identities under many classifications, but together they form the Great Britain or the United Kingdom.  Andy Murray is the first man from Great Britain to make the final since 1936, so he is everyone's home town hero this week.

Le Tour de France has also completed its first few stages and is about to approach its first mountain range.  If you're watching each morning, you might see me before it's all over!  I will be heading to France for the final mountain stages of the Tour and as long as I make it safely back from Spain, I will be in Paris for the ride along the Champs-Élysées.