I’ve seen this bike around a few times the East Dulwich and Peckham areas, usually locked up, but I’ve also seen the owner riding around on it. I’ve always been struck by the sheer size of it, just look at that head tube! It’s obviously been custom made for the owner who is a very large man indeed. What’s even stranger is that when he’s riding it it doesn’t look out of proportion to him, just a scaled up bike. Those are 700c not 26″ wheels by the way, just to give the image some sense of scale.
Interesting how the pink is brighter and more visible than the yellow. Although clearly you shouldn’t judge this from an Instagram with a filter applied. Does make me think that one of these isn’t such a bad idea after all.
Two interesting things popped up in my timeline this morning. Firstly this picture via @urbanphoto_blog of interstate 10 in Houston, Texas. It’s complete madness that this even exists.
And secondly contrasted by this brilliant article which shows that if you include the additional time it takes to earn the money to run your car in your overall MPH and compare that to a bike it becomes a vastly slower means of transport.
Not forgetting that you get far more pleasure at the same time from a bike. Win, win as they say.
Furthermore, of the total time Brad has invested in his bike, ninety percent is spent doing what he usually enjoys – bicycling! Whereas Max spends two-thirds of his time working for the privilege of driving his new car the remaining one-third.
Jeremy Vine, of BBC R2 fame, has been cycling recently and has written a pretty balanced article about it for the Daily Mail of all places. It’s a pretty depressing read overall though about the sate of cycling in the UK.
Despite such narrow run-ins, I am OK. Today, yes. Far, far fitter than when I belonged to that gym (and nearly two stone lighter). But tomorrow? I don’t know if I will be OK tomorrow.
Every morning when I leave the house, my wife says farewell in the manner of Japanese women who waved off pilot husbands in World War II.
If nothing else, cycling in a major British city reminds you to make a will and tell your mum you love her.
And he also makes a pretty solid point regarding car use.
Car drivers have no reason to hate cyclists. If we all gave up our two wheels and bought 4x4s, the whole country would be stuck in a jam from Kingston to Kilmarnock.
It’s best to stop scrolling when you get to the comments as it gets pretty grim as usual. It is the Daily Mail remember.
On Sunday I wanted to get a ride in but without the faff of mountain biking. My road bike is out of action as it’s being re-sprayed and all I have at the moment is the fixed (and the Brompton). I also had my tax return hanging over me so wanted to get a good bit of exercise without spending too much time out of the house. I thought about having another go at my favourite trail from the design museum east which I’ve done a few times before. I managed to talk Jonty in to meeting me and coming along for the day. The weather looked like it would hold til at least 2pm so we met at 9am for coffee on Bermondsey Street and then headed out East.
I’ve done the ride loads of times before with various options. Once I got the Woolwich ferry and rode back along the North side. Other times I’ve got the clipper back from Greenwich as well as various permutations of. It’s always a good ride though, nothing too fast or challenging but nice to see some sights as well as the changing context. Riding by the river is great too.
I ended up sounded a bit like a tour guide explaining things I’d seen before or pointing interesting items out. We kept going and going, past Greenwich and on to the Thames Barrier. The idea was to see that and if it was working and come back.
So we had a poke around the Thames Barrier and thought we’d push on. We ended up at the Woolwich ferry which is the furthest I’d been along the path. The bit after was more like a larger towpath and was nice riding. Again nothing too fast or crazy but just nice pushing the pedals and admiring the view.
I was also riding with a pannier for the first time which is surprisingly good. Whilst it doesn’t win any awards for looking cool it is amazing to ride without a rucksack. I’ve been using the same this week for commuting and love it. Apparently it really comes into its own in the summer though to avoid that awful sweaty back look which is so unpleasant.
Anyway by this point we’d gone a fair way east and spotted a big concrete housing scheme to go and have a look at. We looped round than had to decide what to do. The Garmin said we’d got to 35k so thought it best to head back and we knew that at some point the weather was going to turn. We got a little more sun on the way back and the stinky Tate and Lyle factory was looking pretty good in the winter sunshine.
We also came across this odd little pavilion which has fallen into disrepair. Not sure what it was but it was set in a formal pair of pools. No idea what it was or what it was used for it was intriguing. I’ll ask the book of knowledge old Matthew Wickens and see if he knows.
And then there was lots of this kind of stuff. Heavy industry, derelict factories, ship yard, docks, gravel pits etc. But then lots of it is all changing and being replaced by housing. The old electronic factory has started to be demolished too. The whole area keeps changing each time I cycle this way.
After a quick stop for a burger in Greenwich we were back to SE1 and another coffee to finish off (at the same place). Not a bad run out and managed to nudge the Garmin over the 70k mark which I was pretty pleased with, especially being fixed. It just started to rain as I was doing the last few kilometres. A great day out and so nice to ride directly from the front door. Maybe push it out a little further next time.
And here’s the route map which kind of looks a bit funny.
No, not a zombie apocalypse film set in the UK with Christopher Ecclestone, but the amount of time I’ve been off my bike since a little spill on a big ride* around Bath on the 1st December. It was annoying for a number of reasons but not least because I was just starting to get fit and starting to enjoy riding a lot more. It also meant that bruising and a reactivated shoulder and back injury kept me off the bike until now. The other thing being how slow the local bike shop are at ordering parts and a new helmet, should have just ordered from the net but I want to support them. Nevermind.
Matt, myself and Hamish met at Swinley for an early start. Unfortunately this meant a 6.30am alarm but was well worth it to get a decent start on the trails as well as getting back a little earlier than usual. The journey there was the fastest we’ve ever done due to hardly a soul being on the roads. It also meant beating the crowds and we had the trails almost to ourselves for a while.
The usual issues of not being very well dialled in appeared as expected due to time out of the saddle and as well as fitness issues on the last leg. The trails were also icy with that lovely mix of pebble like stones, hard packed, with ice over the top proving to be fun at first. Fortunately the sun rose a little further and warmed it all up leading to a little more grip.
As the sun streamed through the trees and the frost thawed we were treated to a spectacular light show. I reached for my camera (Fuji X100) in my bag to realise I had left it in the van! Annoying at best but was surprised at how well the iPhone dealt with the situation. A few of these were shot with HDR on to balance up some of the extremes of the light and catch some of that lovely mist. All were processed with VSCO cam.
Whilst it was sloppy in places it was nowhere near as bad as we had thought it would be. Most trails were riding well and all the berms never seem to be ridden at the fast bit at the top so were all lovely and fast. Riddiculator was great as well as labyrinth. I even managed to get a few personal records on Strava.
We did the blue, then the red and came back for a quick bite to eat. Hamish had to go so we did the blue again which was great fun, especially having just ridden it. It was faster and far more fun the second time. I still can’t get over how nice the weather was. So much so that I had got sun burn on my nose!
Not a bad return ride and pleased with almost 35k. Bit more next time and then again. Looking forward to upping that mileage. Interestingly Magnus posted a link to Twitter last night showing how a reduction of exercise affects your fitness. Well worth a read.
So good to be back on this thing again!
*A 90k ride is big for me at the moment but I need to double that distance soon before LEJOG.
Impressive stuff, which is obviously due to the law of conservation of angular momentum – of course!
The trick begins with a tight backwards flip, which happens quickly because all of the weight (human + bike) is distributed close to the center of gravity. By opening his body up in the middle part of the flip, Roberts slows down the rotation, just like a figure skater, diver, or ballerina would by throwing out their arms or legs. And then he gathers himself back onto the bike, which spins quickly again because the weight is all back close to the center. Boom, physics.
I’ve heard a few people talk about how hard riding up Mt Ventoux is, having ridden them after training and using a nice light road bike. I’ve also ridden a Boris bike a few times in London and the worst thing about them is that they are so damn heavy. So much so that when you lean the bike against the inside of your thigh at the lights it almost knocks you off.
He’s not the first to have tried to do silly things on a Boris bike of course. Leo’s Dunwich Dynamo trip and the tricks thrown down at Stockwell skate park come to mind but this seems a little tougher.
The challenge is to hire a bike, get to France, ride up Mt Ventoux, drive back and check the bike into the docking station all within 24 hours, avoiding the £150 fine. Incredible and moving stuff and I have an enormous amount of respect for the guy for doing it, worth watching all the way to the end.
That man speaks a lot of sense! Such a shame the transport select committee wasn’t so enlightened and restored to the usual lazy cliches.
The MPs that sit on the transport select committee should be embarrassed by their performance yesterday in an inquiry that was meant to be about why six people died riding bicycles on London’s roads in the space of two weeks.
In front of them sat experts from campaigning bodies, transport research and the police – all ready to get into a proper discussion – and yet the MPs demonstrated that they didn’t even know the most basic of facts. Evidence and statistics were bypassed in favour of opinions and anecdotes on sideline topics.
Such a clear demonstration of lack of research and understanding at this level of seniority would, in any other business, be classed as negligent.
“This was an opportunity to discuss how we can make our roads fit for people to get around by bicycle, improving our nation’s health, the environment and cutting emissions. This will deliver benefits for everyone, not just cyclists, and to do it we need to transform infrastructure, tackle dangerous junctions and encourage people to use bikes to get around.
I’d like to see a proper, fruitful evidence session, rather than opinion-based discussion, on how to protect and encourage cycling as a mode of transport. To that end I am going to write to the MPs on the committee asking them to meet with British Cycling representatives to get to work discussing the real issues that can lead to the transformation of not just cycling, but the environments that we live in.
It’s good to see that this blog has become more bikes than things at the moment. I’ve been out every Sunday for at least the last 8 weeks now and starting to get fitter as a result. The last few weekends have been on the 40k trail around Surrey which has been great and feels like you’ve had a proper ride.
I still struggle with the idea of going out for a road ride at the weekend when the trails are there to be ridden on the mountainbike. As I have tomorrow off in lieu and am in Bath to see my mum I thought I’d try and break the habit and do some riding around the local area. I also had a ride planned to Wales for the Monday so technically I was still going mountain biking this weekend.
I plotted a route out of Mum’s house that I thought would be good and not too epic as well as trying to follow as many back roads as possible. I dragged myself out fuelled by coffee and a massive bowl of porridge. I also had it in the back of my mind that I would have to face Landsdown Hill to get out of Bath and out to the other side of my planned route. It started off well and I seemed to be keeping a reasonable pace. I did think better of leaving the overshoes at home though as the temperature dropped. It was great riding without a rucksack and just tucking all the necessary bits in the back of my jacket.
Neston, Atworth, Stonor School, Great Chalford and then ended up on a horrid B road heading towards Bradford-on-Avon. It didn’t look too bad when I planned it but wish I’d followed the club ride off it. It was then up to Hinton Charterhouse and along some nice small backroads through Limpley Stoke. I noticed the back wheel was slipping a bit on the climbs when out of the saddle a bit so had to sit down on most. I didn’t feel too bad on the climbs which was hopefully due to the last few weekends in the hills. Then it was over past Ralph Allen school and down into Widcome to get round the one way and over the bridge.
I was going round the corner to get over the river when suddenly I hit the deck. Both wheels went out from underneath me and I smashed the side of my head, shoulder, hip and tore a nice hole in my new tights in the knee area. I also trashed a few components on my bike. Fortunately the coach driver behind me was paying attention and stopped in time. I picked myself up and a nice couple came to see if I was ok. Pride damaged and unsure if the bike was working I got myself together. I had to bend the mech back to avoid it going in the spokes at the lowest gear but carried on. The main issue was getting out of the saddle for hills as my shoulder was in a bit of pain.
To my surprise I managed Landsdown Hill and up onto the horrid road at the top which I had forgotten all about. I then found a tea shop for hot chocolate and some water. Then I headed off round Hartham Park and onto some lovely back roads and through lots of pretty villages, all with their churches and small greens. Head further North I was riding along an open stretch when I passed a single tree. A massive bird of prey flew out and glided in front of me for a while before sweeping off to the left and landing in the field. It can’t have been more than a metre in front of me. Not the kind of experience you would ever have in London!
As I turned one of the corners I said good morning to a guy in an orange jacket and caught a look at his face. It turned out to be my friend Piers! How strange to come all this way and bump in to people in the middle of nowhere. We had a quick chat and then went on our way.
One of the things I was looking forward to was the two crossings over the M4. The first was up a muddy road which was more mountain biking than road riding but provided a nice spot for a break and a bite to eat.
There’s something quite peaceful about being above all those people rushing to get somewhere with just your bike and thoughts for company. Sometimes when I’m driving I wonder who is on those bridges and how you get there. Now I know.
After that it was head down to get back. The last 10k was pretty horrid but I managed to stop at a garage and fill myself with a Yorkie, Haribo and an energy drink to get me home in a reasonable state. The vital stats of the day include 87.6km riding, 1,250m climbing, 3:32:29 actual riding time and 2,462 calories. Surprisingly I really enjoyed the ride, not withstanding the off, but it did make me think about getting ready for LEJOG. Having to do more than that every day for 10 days is going to be hard, but then there will be longer during the day to do it.
