I cycled to work this week. I figured it would help me keep fit, save money, be kind to the environment, nice to animals and so aid restful sleep.

After a quick shower I got changed from cycling gear into more suitable office attire. What I hadn't counted on was a female member of the fashion police pulling me over in the office to point out I was "Wearing my belt the wrong way round!" I checked it wasn't back to front. It was fine. Yet my colleague insisted I was wearing it the "girl's way".

The "girl's way"?  Ok I know that some ladies shirts have buttons on the left, and zips are on the other side of coats, but I had no idea that all my life I'd been wearing a belt the "girls way"!

In fact, I refuse to accept that there is a "girls way" for belts (there's nothing on wikipedia about it - nuff said). And then my colleague found some old navy regulations online (she had to dig deep to find them though…)

"Belt:

• The brass on the belt will be shinned and mark free
• The belt will be fitted so that the buckle and the brass fitting on the other end of the belt will perfectly line up when worn
• Female midshipmen wear the belt in such a manner that the belts tip points to the midshipman's right; male midshipmen wear the belt so that the belts tip points to the midshipman's left
• The end without the belt tip will be in line with the shirt edge and trouser fly edge to make a straight gig-line" 

Whatever! So how do you wear yours?  With the end pointing to the left or right, (and who told you to do it that way?) - or are you like me in that you've never really thought about it until now?

APAT are running another 'National' event in August, this time with the added twist of a Team Challenge element to it as well as the individual prizes (included the added value of a GUKPT seat & package for the winner, worth a few grand in itself).

For a bit of fun, BlueSQ who are the sponsors of APAT this season (it was PokerStars last season when I was lucky enough to win the English APAT event and a seat to the EPT in Copenhagen), have put a book on the individual players and the teams competing.

For some strange reason, I'm currently one of the second favourites at 66/1 - which isn't particularly good value.  There is some good value on some other players though, some who are sitting at 125/1.  An each-way bet is for anyone reaching the final table and pays 1/8 of the odds.

The odds are here.

I'm captain of the blondepoker team.  We're currently 3rd favourites and this might be a good bet, depending on how seriously we take the poker rather than enjoying ourselves in Blackpool! 

A good few years ago, (18 to be precise) I gave up playing cricket to spend more time on other sports. But for the past couple of years Anna has been trying to get me to take up the bat again.

Her reason is mainly that she likes the idea of coming along - sitting on the veranda of a pavilion, eating sandwiches, sipping wine, and reading.  In other words: coming along, but not to watch the cricket - more to get some peace and quiet and keep an occasional eye out for me.

This got me thinking… I suspect that in the same way most parks have benches on which parents sit to keep an eye on their children at play - so cricket pitches have pavilions. The polite applause, when a cricketer deftly sweeps the ball for four - equates to the "well done dear" when a young child swings from the climbing frame and shouts "Mummy look at me!"

I struggled to keep this "play-pen" view of cricket out of my head last night when I participated in my first game for 18 years. It wasn't easy - I was rubbish and the other boys threw the ball harder, hit it further and made nasty jokes about my shoes and bowling action. I wished Anna was there to give me some support - especially as I scraped my knee which could have done with a magic kiss to make the nastiness go away!

As you may already know, I met the queen earlier this year. It was such a great experience that last weekend I took the opportunity to spend a day at the races in her presence at Royal Ascot!

An article in the Sunday Times described the socio-economic demographic of Ascot visitors as a blend of the 'Haves' and the 'Chavs'. Although not obviously belonging to either of these groups, I can see what the Times was getting at.

Ascot is no longer the place to take Eliza Doolittle in pursuit of good grammar. Pursuit of a good gram a' coke is more like it. Most of the patrons of the "Silver Paddock", where we spent the day, had their tickets tattooed on their arms…

But I digress - the experience was brilliant fun and a great day out no matter whether you're a "Have" or a "Chav" or somewhere in between (and to my mind the two groups aren't mutually exclusive). A flutter at the races, in the presence of the queen, is the quintessential 'English' experience.

Here's the good, the bad and the ugly…

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Just returned form another cycling trip - this time in Poland around the Tatra mountain range and border with Slovakia.

We flew into Krakow and stayed in the city for one night at the beginning and at the end of our 1 week stay. It's a pretty city; not too dissimilar from other Eastern European cities in so much as the city-centre squares that, over the years have witnessed such political, economic, social and religious turmoil, now fall victim to Britain's latest export - "The Stag-do." And whilst the purpose of this blog was not to rant, can I just say that it's bad enough that "booze-britain" is a recognised anti-social phenomenon in this country; so let's not take a perverse pride in turning that into a global reputation. "Stag dos should stay in Britain!", subject for a future blog no doubt.

Krakow, was interesting, but the remote Tatra Mountains and their surrounding countryside were worlds apart.The countryside at this time of year is simply breath-taking - and the strip farming regime using horse drawn ploughs and carts, transports you to a time a century or so ago when cars, electricity, and cycling helmets weren't even dreamed-of. It was strange to think that although I felt I was looking at scenes from a past era, this sustainable, environmentally friendly, self-sufficient approach to life could also, quite easily, be a glimpse of our future.

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Funny is subjective, and what tickles one person might not make another even smile.  This is probably the piece of TV I laughed the most at, it's absolute genius.