In the brisk 5 degree temperatures of London in October. On the South bank of the Thames. A bit of running around now sounds like a damned good idea; could raise the old body temperature a few degrees. Why then, do I get the feeling that the guys and gals zipping hither and yon in their multi-coloured PE kit (would’ve been made to do it in their under-pants if they’d forgotten their kit!) aren’t helping their cause. Answer: the wall to wall traffic accompanying and over-powering their i-Toys as they flog down the Embankment. I’m guessing for every one of those naughty heart-stopping calories burned doing their crazy “smogging” (Trademark applied for). Regular fitness freaks on the banks of the Thames must take on board a boat load of particulates – geddit, boat load 🙂 More harm than good, n’est ce pas? Don’t get me wrong; I love running, I do. Indulge myself a few times a week to keep the wolves from the door but not sure where the tipping point is for these folks?

A stones throw from the park bench I have adopted for a while to consume my Sainsbury’s meal deal lurk the newly-minted Golden Jubilee Bridges. Guarding the portal to Charing Cross railway terminus these guys are a welcome new route across the Thames – btw more tech strapped to the arms of passing joggers than the biggest branch of Phones 4 You in the centre of Gloucester … just saying! Taking in the skyline of the capital you could be forgiven for keeping eyes above the horizon so to speak. It’s always worth a look down too. 40 or so feet down in fact, below the bridge span, minding it’s own business in the Thames is a weird epitaph to the currently in-vogue (again … still remember my first board in the 70s – right up until the lapse of concentration when the No. 197 took it out) skater craze. I’m talking of course about the skaterboard graveyard. What the devil, I hear you ask, is that? Glad you asked. The whole of the deck of the bridge support near Waterloo station is where the last rites are read for soon to be deceased skateboards (see pic) I couldn’t work out why these guys would heave their dying wooden steeds over the parapet building upon the growing fire hazard below. Answers on a postcard in not more than your own words please!

2.10pm and the either the lunchbreak or the fumes are now getting the better of the dwindling stream of smoggers. Now where did i leave my Adidae?