2011 Streak 77/365: What Duck?

2011 Streak 77/365: Walk - 4.13 miles, Time 1hrs 18min, Weather - steady rain

Because, yesterday, I only wanted to talk about the cycle proficiency training I didn't say anything else about my walk, which is a shame because it was an illustration of how my habits have changed this year.

I was actually went to London and I saw the cyclists on my walk to the station. Once in London I didn't use buses or tube to get about, I walked everywhere. It is amazing how easy it is and how close together some places are. It is also more enjoyable because there is always something to look at.

The London Underground Map  (some pedants insist on calling it a diagram) is a hugely famous example of good design. It took something visually confusing (i.e. a geographically accurate map) and made it clear and easy to use. However, necessarily,  it is not to scale and  it can give the impression that some places are further apart than they are in reality. In some cases it is quicker to walk, whilst in others the slight difference in time is more than compensated by the pleasure of being in the open as opposed to underground.

I think it is worth remembering that most old cities were built for walking.

But back to today. It was wet and rather miserable, with a solid grey sky and steady rain. But nevermind - there were still things to see. In particular there was this mongrel duck.

I would guess by the shape of the head, its size, the curled tail feather, and the amount of white, it is a cross between a mallard and an aylesbury. He was still playing with the other mallards though, so maybe they just look upon him as differently abled.