About every three months or so, I take off to another city for culinary exploration. I have a few tenets to my trips:

I travel during off peak season and/or off peak days. I typically travel Saturday to Tuesday and often during what is called shoulder season – that lull between high and low season. I want to experience a city when it is having fun (Saturday), relaxing (Sunday) and working (Monday).

I stay at smaller “boutique” hotels or Bed and Breakfasts just off the beaten bath but within walking distance of the action. I usually get a good deal.

I only go where I can take public transportation to 90% of the places I want to dine or things I want to do. Google maps comes in real handy for this. I just plug in where I am staying and where I want to go and select walking or public transit directions. This is also how I decide which place I am going to stay – if I find my lodging is too far away from what I want to do – I keep searching. You learn a lot about a city by walking from point A to point B.

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The rider, who joined Team Sky from Italian outfit ISD, impressed last year when he clinched third place amid atrocious conditions in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, and this year had British fans gripped as he rode off the front of a breakaway group in... However, one of the team's more seasoned British riders, Russell Downing, is now trying to secure a new team for 2012 with no new conract forthcoming. He also played a leading role in the Great Britain team that supported future Team Sky rider Mark Cavendish&rsquo. s top young road cycling talents, Ian Stannard, Peter Kennaugh and Ben Swift, have signed new contracts with Team Sky, which finished the 2011 season in second place in the UCI WorldTour ranking. The trio of younger riders, like Downing, all signed with the team when it was launched in the run-up to the 2010 season, with Swift&rsquo.

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