retrolasered

(in mini europe, brussels)

I was shown a picture of lots of different activities at a seaside. I was asked describe what was happening in the picture. So I described the individual activities. The fact that I did that instead of describing the larger picture as 'vacation' is evidence that im autistic. But those people could have lived at the coast, it might just be a saturday for them .. right?

So the mark of not being autistic, is to draw assumptions based on partial evidence? I joke, but also I dont really joke.

I was at a training course for work and they were talking about the difference between big picture thinking and evidence based thinking - as though those two have no crossover. They show us a picture of stone henge and tell us to say what we notice about it. I get picked first: "it looks like the grass has recently been cut". Everyone laughs, its probably an odd thing to point out. Next person: "its summer solstice", very good, well done. But is it?? Why? "The sky is red". Yeah okay, I saw stonehenge and thought summer too, but nothing in the picture shows that. So I looked for evidence of summer - the grass is yellowed, parched? No its only a patch, the rest is quite dark and the stones appear to be damp, the yellow is probably some dead grass from having been cut - yes, the grass is short around the bottom of the stones and there seems to be some grass blades powdered to them, the grass has been cut, there is no evidence of it being solstice. Red sky and damp, its probably dawn.

Back to the test, the theory is that someone with autism cant assess the outer context, or the big picture, in the first instance of thought (<200ms). But actually maybe that is what is happening to me if im dismissing the context as not proven, its coming later in my processing of what I am looking at 🤔 either way, whether the test works or not, those people could just live at the coast 😤

Was much bigger than I expected.

I remember the last time I tried to find a cheap webcam that works on linux, I gave up pretty quickly and just used my laptop for video calls. Saw this guide to build one with a zero 2, had a spare board in my parts drawer so thought why not. I'm surprised by the quality of it. I've been using it for work meetings.

Can anyone suggest a plug and play USB mic for my raspberry pi (that you've used and know it works). I've managed to avoid work meetings on teams for a long time but there's one I can't get out of and my laptop broke so I'm computing only on my pi for the time being. Don't really care for webcam, noone needs to see me, but I need to be able to speak to them.

I was diagnosed 7 years ago as autistic, though I didnt realise at the time it was a diagnosis, I was informed a few years later that what I thought was a specialists opinion was actually a formal diagnosis. But due to family history, my adhd was addressed first. They were supposed to refer me to autism specialist after the adhd stuff but due to mistakes I got discharged and it took a few years and a few phone calls to correct the mistake. So I knew I have adhd, I understood I was a bit autistic. Fast forward to this week, I got a call after my assessment, and I score extremely high for autism. I was a bit surprised by that, as I function mostly quite well in my day to day despite some things maybe being a little harder for me than other people. My specialist explained that an ability to function does not measure someones level of autism. So now I guess im very autistic.

Its bittersweet. Its helpful to know and im being given resources and access to groups for coping and one that helps you stay in work - which is the important one for me as before my current job where my manager has been very patient and understanding, I have always had a lot of problems with employment. Im still not quite processing it fully, but Ive felt some hints inside myself that this does also make me feel a bit sad, but I probably wont be sure of that until later on one night when I cant get to sleep due to delayed processing.

Groups like this and others have been a big help throughout my diagnoses journey, and alongside reading about autism research and speaking with people in these groups, ive learnt a lot about myself and ways to manage my daily life and lessen the impact of everything.

I still feel like a bit of an imposter when seeking help, as I am very high functioning, and can pass as quite intelligent in most settings, and working at a job where I often encounter low functioning and even non verbal poung people, its hard to feel like I deserve to ask for help in the first place.

3 punctures, all in different places so not the rim or anything, just bad luck.

I gained a travel companion en route to Paris. We both camped near Dieppe the first night, then we both stayed at the Cyclist Halte in Dampierre-en-bray, so we decided to travel together. It was really nice having a companion for the first half of the trip. They are 64 and have done a lot tours and taught me lots of neat tricks and how people toured before GPS, which saved me a lot of battery in the end. They were using a Brompton folding bike as they came over from Canada (see pictures)

After Paris, I got the train to Calais and cycled the Euro Velo 4 route along the coast back to Paris. I didn't know the fast trains require bike bags, I thought there were lots of options to get to Calais, but in the end it was one of two regional trains that you can just walk bikes onto, and I had just missed the early one, so got to Calais to late to ride that day. The next day was rainy, and I did my 50 mile quota plus about 30 more to make up for losing time the day before. However the next day was gale strength head winds, I tried my hardest to get to Dieppe so I could make the ferry in the morning, but I just ran out of energy 30 miles short, and had to give in. I booked a ferry for the following day instead and took the last 30 miles at a relaxing pace to recoup.

My rear brake was broken. It failed going down a few hills and I had to foot brake to stop. I could temporarily fix it, but it would stop working again after a while, and I had to keep fiddling with it before going down a big hill. Need to get it fixed at a shop before any more tours.

Arriving in Dieppe:

A view of Normandy on the Avenue Verte:

Gisors:

Camping in Dangu:

Travel companions:

Some cool wall art:

A coastal town view:

She said she planned to travel to Norway pulling this little bicycle caravan! We met her in Dangu, about 50 miles ride NE of Paris. I hope she is enjoying herself and not working too hard to pull it along.

After Paris I got the train to Calais to ride back to Dieppe. I got to Calais to late to cycle as intended, so I found a campsite, then went for a walk down the beach, and found a pretty cool bunker, where the sand beneath it had been blown away. I don't know who it is that was sat inside it, they invited me over to sit with them, but it was late, and I am not that brave..

Was cycling one of those small access roads that straddle the very large main roads. There was a wall between that and the main road. A police van and fire engine were blocking the road, and it was cordoned off with tape. I went on the pavement, very slowly, walking pace. But the municipal police stopped me and asked for my passport. I didnt know what was going on so I just gave it to them, I should have said I dont have it with me. So they fined me. I dont really know the rules in paris, I asked them but they didnt explain them to me. My travel companion did the exact same thing as me, but wasnt fined. I feel like it was entrapment a little bit. Also, it took a while, so I smoked a cigarette, knowing this policeman was an arse I knew better than to toss the butt on the floor. But I had to put the thing out on the floor rather than my own bare skin, and the bastard tried to fine me for that even as a was putting the butt in mp pannier pocket.

I have a really long and complicated address through living in a tower block in london, and the guy seemed to struggle with logging it and it seemed like he eventually gave up on his third attempt to write it, as I spelled it very fast trying to blur as much detail in my accent, he said I have your name thats enough. So hopefully I dont even receive the fine. But I think I am considering not paying it, since im not french, and that guy was an arsehole.

Has anyone been fined in france? is it the kind of thing that will make it difficult to come back here if I dont pay it?

But ill post them when im home. Text update instead for now.

Stayed at a campsite in the end after I got off the ferry. Had to leave the campsite in uk in a rush to get to the ferry port for 8am, so going with a campsite when I got to dieppe was worth it even if just for the shower. Beautiful site about 10km along the avenue verte route just where the old train track starts. Cheap pitch, €13 with a can of coke, so about €11 to camp. Cant remember the name but it translates to two rivers I think.

Had a neighbour from canada that first night. We are both pitching at the halte cycliste in dampierre en bray tonight. An amazing facility, toilet, tap water, electronics charging, a japan-esque vending machine filled with meals prepared at a local restuarant and a microwave to heat them, and best of all you can pitch for free between 7pm and 8am. I will share photos of the facilities when im back. Its almost exactly one third of the way from dieppe to paris so a perfect first stop if anyone chooses to tackle avenue verte over 3 days.

Not sure where I will stay tomorrow, just going to wing it, I might stop short of my planned quota and make it up the next day, otherwise there is a forest somewhere after gisors that I might be able to wildcamp in. I will see how many distractions I encounter tomorrow and decide nearer the time. I did my 50 miles today with plenty of time to relax before tents are even allowed to be put up for wild camping anyway..

I've just finished packing up my bike, and I'm looking forward to leaving in the morning :)

Weather doesn't look great once I get to France, but fingers crossed I get some sun or some dry patches at the least ..

Had to make a last minute alteration to my trip: I had planned to do the first leg of the trip by train from London to Newhaven. My ferry leaves at 9am on Tuesday, but I just learned that I am not allowed on a train towards Brighton with my bike before 10am (I always thought this was 7-10am, and I had hoped to get the train at 6am). So now instead I will cycle the official London to Brighton route (my first time doing the official route), get a train to Newhaven and hopefully find somewhere to camp before I go get the ferry in the morning.

I will find a spot to camp near Dieppe in the evening after I get into France, then start the official Avenue Verte route toward Paris - I think it's about 150 miles on the French side, and I plan to take it easy and just get 50 miles in a day, so I can enjoy myself on the way and take a look around the towns I will be passing, or just find a nice patch by a river to sit down at with my book. I have 3 nights booked at a campsite near Paris to do a bit of tourism and wash my underwear at a laundrette, then I'll be taking Donald Hirsch's shorter route back to Dieppe - only 120 miles or so, which I will do only 40 miles per day toward, hopefully leaving me rested enough to tackle the 100 mile segment of the official Avenue Verte route from Newhaven back to London on the British side. I have a friend who lives in Tunbridge Wells which is near the halfway point of this last leg, so if I'm lucky, he will be home, and give me an excuse to break that part of the trip into two days by way of a shower and a trip to a pub, but otherwise I might just try and finally finish my first one-day century (closest was return trip from Amsterdam, Harwich port to my place in London got to 97 miles, and I refuse to count it as having done one :P )

It's my first tour this year, with a much longer and more challenging one coming up in June! I'll be back with pictures soon :)