British National Road Race Championships: NRRC

Last Sunday I enjoyed my first ever cycling road race event in Glasgow. It was the National Road Race Championships. There had been time trials in the preceding days but I was only there to catch the men's road race. However I did arrive in time to see the end of the women's race.

When I arrived I was surprised at there being so few people out to watch. But perhaps they'd drifted off as I caught the last lap of that race only.

I opted to stay around the city centre area to watch. First up was a spot at the top of the Buchanan Street section. Right outside the Apple store. It was a nasty left hand turn and with the spots of rain that started it made the first few laps a bit tricksy there. Thankfully I only saw one faller and he was as quickly up and away on his as he was when he fell off.

To say it was utterly exciting to see people such as David Miller, Ben Swift, Mark Cavendish and more on the roads was a massive understatement. I was starstruck. It was brilliant. I kept snapping pictures and videos then had just about enough time to rush into the Apple store to recharge the phone up some more.

Around lap 6 I decided to head up St Vincent Street as there was a bit of an incline, and how would they fare on this. It's not of Alpine proportions but a little bit of a punt up there no doubt. The pavements were fairly quieter up there. Plenty of room to catch a great view of the leading train. Well, there were 2 leaders for a long time then the Cavendish, Miller, Kennaugh and Swift group for a good few laps. Towards the end that lead group was down to 4. They were flying. It was great to actually see this in person having watched the grand tours for most of my adult life on TV. I can only imagine what it's like on a stage of the TdF. The whooshing of the wheels, the clicking of the gears, the chatter... Magic.

By the last lap I'd made my way around to the George Square side and got a quiet spot on the pavement to have a wee seat. I watched for the last time as the leaders flew past at an visibly more increased rate. Wowsers. It was time for my train home and since I was nowhere near the start/finish line I'd watch it all unfold on Twitter from my comfy train seat.

Mark Cavendish won. You wouldn't really bet against him in a spring finish now would you. Brilliant racing from everyone who took part. And good organisation from everyone involved. Scottish Cycling; British Cycling; Glasgow City Council and the volunteers and event staff who were on hand all day to shepherd you across the route and give a little whistle to let you know the riders were on their way.

All in all a great day out in Glasgow, Miles Better! ;)

Angela x

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That Perfect Ombre Hair: the search goes on...

So, I got my hair done again last week after a little over 5 months. I went back to the same place, and frankly I'm a little disappointed with it. So much so that i spent the past few days researching THE perfect hair colour for me on different websites based in places as far reached as LA to Miami to London. Argh, does anyone else have this much angst when you're getting your hair done? I swear I'm more scared of the hairdressers than the dentist. Serious.

Anyone, you might wonder what went wrong this time. Well, I don't really know except the colour is totally wrong for me. My much desired perfect ombre looks like grown out highlights with a hint of the dreaded stripey look on the sides. Serious. I don't like it that much. I mean, it's passable for summer. You could say the base colour (which I wanted just like my natural colour), looks like the 'sun-in' look from the 1990's. Oh yes people. I used to spray that stuff on my hair hoping for that sun-kissed look, but what you actually ended up with was, well, not exactly that.

That's my current base colour. With blonder bits at the end, which i did ask for. I just expected it to be nice and blended. Which is sort of is and in the salon it did look very nice. But on closer micro inspection in my 5x optical mirror, I can see the edges of where the blonde starts and ends. And I can definitely see a ginger tinge in the base colour. OMG.

Crap. I'll have to let it grow for a month or so and see what evolves. It usually ends up okay once the colour starts to fade a little bit. Fingers crossed.

Anyway, I've decided that the only person I'd trust now to do my hair in Mr Johnny Ramirez. Unfortunately there's about 5000 miles and a big wide ocean that separates us. (You don't know how many fingers and toes I had crossed on Friday night to win that EuroMillions lottery so that I could visit his LA salon. Serious). Anyway, I absolutely adore his work. I follow his website, Box No 216, 'Like' his Facebook page, found RamirezTran on Tumblr, and Instagram.com/ramireztransalon and I'm always excited when they post a new 'in the salon with..' story every couple of days. Yes, I'm obsessed in that 'I love your work' way, not in a stalkery way!

He seems like a genius with hair colour. And his partner in crime, Anh Co Tran, seems like a genius with a pair of scissors. Reading the stories, they often spend up to 8-10 hours in the salon with a client to get the colour just right. Just right! Wouldn't that be great! How many times have we been whisked in and out in 2 hours in our salons here in the UK, whilst in-between your colour and cut your stylist heads of the cut Jessie's hair who has popped in on the off chance of a last minute appointment. Not exactly customer care. I know they have to make money but it does feel like a bit of a conveyor belt instead of good customer care, at times.

Anyway, to say I would DO ANYTHING for a chance to have Ramirez Tran let loose on my hair would be an understatement. If I had the money I'd be out there in a flash. With each photo that's posted I am so jealous of those women who have their colour perfected by the man himself. He's famous for his well blended, faded even, ombre look. Ombre incase you didn't know is like really grown out highlights (darker roots and lighter ends) here in the UK. In Johnny's chair you get baby-like hair. You know when you were a kid and it was those long hot summers (I know, we're in the UK but humour me)? anyway your hair was sun-lightened around the face and the ends were lighter too because your mum always tied your hair in a ponytail. Well, you know that hair? That's what he's famous for.

Hair that I would absolutely LOVE.

I mean, the only other haircut and colour that has been pretty much perfect for me was when I visited London salon Jones and Payne and Charlotte coloured my hair. She pretty much gave me my own hair colour as a base and then lightened my ends a little bit. I loved that hair too. (Oh and the reason I need my base colour done is that since I'm mid-twenties (ahem, okay I mean thirties!), there is a little bit of silver slivers showing through now. It happens to us all. Otherwise I would never get my base colour done. Sadly I need to. But when Charlotte coloured me, she pretty much nailed my colour. That was 2 years ago and I've been striving for that ever since.

The reason I'm bothered so much is that my hair is pretty much my favourite thing about me. Apart from my flat stomach - wink. No, but seriously, some people don't mind using packet dyes but I'd be too nervous to do that myself. Plus I don't want to damage my hair further. The ends are now a bit dry due to the bleach that was used to lighten them. No, I'll wait a month or two and try to get it corrected or coloured with a flat, non ginger-tinged natural looking base colour. I wonder if that's possible?

Until then I'll try not to let it dent my confidence and I'll leave you with a few pictures of what my ideal hair colour would be. You can also find more examples of my favourite hair on my 'Hair I Love' Pinterest board.



This is pretty much what I'd ideally like...




OR this...



Or this...



You get the idea. Lovely, natural looking faded ombre hair colour.

Please someone in the universe, make this happen?!
Love, Angela X

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NOTD: Essie DJ Play That Song

I've got a couple of purple nail polishes in my collection but every time i reached for them i was met with this pang of doubting niggles in my head. It's too dark, it's too lilac, it's too reddish. Until now.

This, my friends, is what i'd call the perfect bright true purple from Essie neon summer collection - which may not be released in the UK yet (if at all). It's called DJ Play That Song. I know, great name right! And it's bedfellows in the summer collection are all a little bit bright and neon. Perfect for summer (if we ever get one). But if not, perfect to cheer up these dreary grey showery days.

I got this from my trusty favourite eBay store in the USA so it has that thin brush. I was a bit wary of using it but the formula is good. I put a very thin first coat on (that looked almost jelly-like), then made it more opaque with a second coat. Lastly, and unusually for me, I put a coat of the famous Seche Vite top coat on. My first use and i'm impressed, although 2 days on and i have a little bit of tip wear where i have a ragged nail.

The colour is great on my light freckley skin tone. They call it 'jammiest neon plum'. I'd call it freaking delicious! It pops without being ultra neon bright. As I'm looking at it now it does in some ways have an almost jelly-like look about it. Perhaps that's the top coat though.

Really pleased I picked this colour purple, finally. I don't know what I was afraid of.

Angela x

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