Barcelona

July 2026 Stats

| Richard

July 2026 saw a couple of heatwaves hitting the UK and of course July always means the Tour de France. I’ve been watching the coverage on TV for as long as I can remember now but never really got involved in any way … until this year.  This year, it started in Barcelona with two and a bit stages and finished in Paris on the Champs-Elysées.  I asked Alison if she wanted to go to Barcelona to see it and she jumped at the chance.  I booked the InterContinental Barcelona as it was on the route for both the first and second stages:

Tour de France 2026 Stage 1 Map Tour de France 2026 Stage 2 Map

And then Alison said, “Well if we’re going to see the start, wouldn’t it be lovely to see the finish?” So that’s how I ended up booking the Paris Marriott Champs-Elysées Hotel with a suite overlooking the Champs-Elysées itself, so we could watch the riders doing their laps and the finish line.

The Yellow, Green, Polka Dot, and White Jerseys on the Champs-Elysées

The Yellow, Green, Polka Dot, and White Jerseys on the Champs-Elysées

Business Class flights with British Airways and limousines from Blacklane all made it a little pricey… I’m hoping August will allow my wallet some respite from the absolute battering it got!

Other than that my normal exercise regime continued with a combination of rides on ROUVY as well as getting some of my usual  John Hallas’ Weekly Challenges on FulGaz done.  On ROUVY, I was doing their challenges and an occasional Sunday morning group ride.

I still need to actually go ahead and arrange a partial knee replacement, which we’ll do later this year maybe, if I can resolve when I won’t be travelling.

I also decided to try again with some Apple Fitness+ workouts, concentrating on upper body and core, as my legs get plenty of workouts already!

So, here are July’s stats:

July 2026 Statistics

July 2026 Statistics

Activities: 78 Distance: 626.79 km Time: 25:47:32 Calories: 18,827

Turning to my weight, at the end of June I weighed 92.7kg and at the end of July I weighed 93.4kg, so a gain of 0.7kg change over last month.

Body fat percentage was up from 27.5% to 28.0%, which is not really surprising.

Barcelona Treadmill and Gym Bike

| Richard

Went to the gym before breakfast at the H1898 and found the treadmill was occupied by a walker, so whilst I waited I did a stint on the bike.

Then I was too hungry to run to far – plus Mrs RHM had finished her workout – so just a short treadmill run.

Barcelona Images

| RHMP

In other news, I’ve just had a quick city break to Barcelona this week and took in some of the sights and sounds whilst I was there.

Sadly, a lot of the Gaudi architecture was hidden by scaffolding and hoardings as there appeared to be a lot of renovation going on, but I managed to grab some images I quite like whilst walking around.

They can be found in the Lifestyle and Scenic portfolio pages.

Kites

Dear Lazyweb…

| Richard

… I need some help. BlueCo would quite like me to take next week off using my carried-over holidays and frankly, I could do with a break.

Now I would prefer to go to Corralejo yet again and hang out with my friends at the Rock Island Bar but I really want to fly out on Monday and back again on the Friday and sadly flights aren’t looking hopeful for that sort of itinerary.

So I think a city break might be better with flights from London City Airport – a short ride away and a quick and efficient terminal – to either Amsterdam or Barcelona. A nice bit of luxury for my stay, so 5* hotels for a bit of pampering as it won’t add too much to the overall cost.

With Amsterdam, it’s probably the NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky as it’s central for all the museums, canals and sights and I’ve heard of it, but where to stay in Barcelona? TimeOut has some suggestions, but which one would be best for a chic, luxurious and cool base? Preferably close to some great restaurants, bars and cafés.

Recommendations?