I completely understand people’s choice to wear a helmet or not. Personally I do but don’t look down at others who don’t – unless you’re at a trail centre where it’s just dumb not to. But I’ve still never understood the “helmet clipped to bag” or “helmet hung from handlebars approach”. If you’ve gone to the bother of buying one, taking it out of the house then why not wear it?
And a great response from Richard on Twitter.
Cycling through Camberwell this morning I had a cab come a little close and did the usual “check behind and make him know I’m there” head turn. He was still close and I shook my head a little. A few seconds later…
Cabbie “Sorry mate I was a little close there wasn’t I? I saw you shake your head”.
Me “Ahhh, no worries, thanks for saying sorry, really appreciate it. Just a little grumpy in the mornings”.
Smiles and thank yous all round. Then 200m up the road…
Cabbie “Hope you cheer up but the time you get to work mate”.
Me “Ha, thanks, take it easy”.
A much needed escape from London was had last weekend. I managed to leave work at 5 after a fairly eventful week. Matt and Dave joined me in the van to head up the M4 to Afan. Fortunately there was hardly a soul on the motorway and ended up fairly quickly at a fish and chip shop at Port Talbot feasting on the local treats. After a few laughs at the local nightclub advertising a “sauna night” we headed up the valley to set up tents, sink a beer or two and turn in for the night.
After some torrential rain during the night, which always sounds worse under canvas, we woke up to surprisingly good weather. Breakfast was made, bikes fettled and energy bars purchased. The usual discussion of flats vs clips and suspension vs hard tail was also had and the usual inconclusive outcomes drawn. They’re bikes – they’re good.
We went for the W2 option as our trail of choice for the day. Whites was likely to be too short, Skyline too dull so W2 seemed about right. We set off at a fairly decent pace, mainly due to me having not being on a bike properly for a while and wanting to rid myself of some energy.
I’d taken the GoPro and mounted it under the saddle with the idea of getting plenty of footage. Unfortunately I hadn’t rally accounted for the wet weather and mud on the trail. The last time I had shot like this it had been bone dry on the Surrey Hills. For some reason I persevered with it and ended up with lots of useless footage so had to edit it down to something funny as per the below clip.
Had a great time on the trails and as usual once you’re out there you hardly see anyone. A few wet moments but generally the weather held. Plenty of stops and chats and lots of food consumed to get us round. We even found a new cafe to sit down and admire the view at.
Back to the trails and down to the end of The Walls descent to meet that awful slog back up. By the time we’d got back up that, round past the wind farm and out the other side of the energy trail I was pooped and regretting the fast pace I had set to start with. The same trail diversion was in place to it was back up to the top of the first hill and round to the Skyline descent. Great descent but we got stuck behind a few newbies who were struggling to stay on the bike.
After finishing I ate my own weight in lasagne, sank a beer and then enjoyed a crap shower at the campsite. The evening consisted of a trip to Maesteg and all the interesting thing that small Welsh towns hold. A big curry was consumed and the day dissected in great detail. We headed back to the campsite to watch some Olympic action and managed to see Mo win the 10,000m. As per the previous night we were in bed by 10.30. Too tied for massive drinking sessions and the midges were driving me mad.
We packed up the next morning and then headed down the M4 to do a natural trail round Cwmcarn. This idea was soon shelved and we decided to do the marked trail as the weather looked like it was closing in. The climb was pretty painful at first but we warmed to it and the trails at the top are well worth the effort. The final descent was also well worth the slog. I followed Matt down and got some slightly better footage than the day before – this time using the chest cam strap.
A superb weekend but I think it might take a while to get rid of the stench in the van – wet kit and farts still hanging within it.
Had a guy in a rather nice VW T5 cut me up and ram his wing mirror into me on the ride to work this morning. After he exchanged wanker signs at me I caught up with him at the next lights. I asked him to wind down his window and before he could say anything said “I’m not going to argue with you, I just want to ask you one question” he looked slightly nonplussed and before he could shout at me I said “Do you have any kids?”.
His wife sat next to him said yes so I replied “Now think about that for a few moments, I’m someone’s son“.
A week from hell so far after a fairly stressful return to work after sunning ourselves in Wales last weekend, followed by an encounter with Mr Aggressive on Monday, a funeral today and some tough deadlines before the end of the week to achieve.
The one thing that’s keeping me going? The chance to ride my bike off road this weekend at Afan. Just sorting the camping kit out now. Looking forward to a decent stretch of the legs as well as the usual banter, Matt’s coughing and farts and endless miles of motorway.
Hopefully lots of good views like this – minus the snow and jackets though.
Image © Marc Jenks
That’s the charge I expect to receive through the post very soon from a rather aggressive British Transport Officer. Probably the most aggressive and unpleasant police person I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet but I expect nothing better from London’s finest boys in blue these days.
My route back from work takes me through Covent Garden and tonight a police van in front went to go through the pedestrian crossing and then stopped abruptly having noticed someone to the left. He was 3/4s of the way through the crossing by this point. So I went to the right of him and started going forward again after people had finished crossing. He was stationary so I indicated I was going to pull in left and find a safe place to continue down to the crossing at Waterloo Bridge.
This unfortunately meant I had committed a road traffic act of the most serious nature. My friend in the van started trying to drive his police van into me and then swinging his van from left to right as well as revving – anyway you get the picture. Bizarrely I’d normally rise to this but I just looked at him and carried on riding which seemed to annoy him even more. He then came screeching past and forced me into the kerb so I was forced to stop and talk to him. Two tourists came past and told him he was being aggressive which probably didn’t help his complex either. The three cyclists behind me seemed fairly bemused by it all really.
Anyway after a fairly lengthy lecture I was let on my way. I can live with being wrong – I often am but I have a lot more respect for those who calmly explain their position rather than waving their arms about and foaming at the mouth. In hindsight I wish I had refused to talk to him and only agreed to talk to his somewhat more reasonable colleague.
Anyway, judge for yourself*
*I didn’t realise I had such a plummy voice. No idea where that came from.
So the idea of showing how busy the roads were with cyclists and cars didn’t really work out as I set off at 7am. Still I’ve learnt a few things by putting this together in Premiere so though I’d show it. I think the rear facing camera works pretty well compared to looking forward. The GoPro 2 seems to be much more consistent with its exposure and white balance too which is well worth the upgrade.
No no that awful end of the month cycle ride* from the Southbank that aggravates taxi drivers and has people lifting their bikes over their heads and doing wooooooo haaaaa’s outloud. I mean the increase in cyclists on London’s roads. It’s brilliant, utterly brilliant. All kinds of them from all the various tribes riding along Kennington Road, up over Waterloo Bridge and then dispersing in Covent Garden. There’s a real energy to it. It seems like we’re able to have entire bus lanes to ourselves and even the large ASL at Waterloo Bridge / Strand isn’t enough to get everyone in at rush hour.
It was also odd to see large parts of my commute this morning at complete gridlock. Mainly Waterloo and Waterloo Bridge which brings a kind of smug satisfaction that you aren’t sat in it but also the worry that people are getting agitated and then going to do something irrational once they do get free of the jam.
I think I’ll be recording the commute with a timelapse tomorrow morning to show how many cyclists there are and also how bad the traffic is, especially considering that the games lanes go on tomorrow.
Here’s my last timelapse effort.
*Confession – I used to go, but thought better of it as I grew older. It seemed to create confrontation when there was no need for it. Nice idea but let down by the idiots who turn up.
I’m catching up on a few things from the Instapaper feed and thought I’d post this one. A nice little clip shot from an aerial camera and a Canon 5D. Shame it’s just the one jump and not more trails, but still worth watching.
The slightly more impressive thing (to me) is the rig they used to shoot it with. A carbon fibre frame with four rotors attached. Slightly evil looking too.
After close to eight weeks off the mountainbike it was finally time to venture out for a gentle ride round the Surrey Hills with Matt. Nothing too crazy but was great being back on the bike. A little less fit than last time but not as bad as thought and surprisingly no pain the day after either. The trail were still a little muddy in places most were fairly dry. I even managed to catch the sun a little. We took in some stunning views looking South as per below.
We also tried a bit of video. Most of it was crap as per usual but this one was quite fun. Think I like the rear viewpoint and would be better if the rider was a bit closer. One to try on the next trip to Wales I think.