This is a great story, not content with riding round the world for charity but this guy has decided that he wants to do it the fastest too! He was averaging 120 miles a day and has now upped it to 150 miles a day. My knees and arse feel sore just thinking about it!
A few more details and pictures on the Flickr blog.
Good luck!
Not sure what to make of this. Must have given these guys the fright of their life!
Not content with having two courses in the lovely Quantocks Seb Rogers has added an Alps Course to the mix in sunny Les Arcs.
Would love to go on this one in 2010. Couldn’t think of a better place to ride and take pictures. Lots of other destinations and activities vying for attention but this sounds pretty good.
So Rob has got himself a little website to promote his cycle coaching that he is now doing at Herne Hill. Looking forward to seeing some more posts from Rob. Worth attending one of his sessions if you get the chance.
Apparently this has been published in this month’s MBR magazine. Not a winner in their photo competition but nice to be printed. Will see if I can find a copy in WH Smiths at lunch.
Really like this!
Sean Denham and Renovo’s hi-tech wood frame bicycles – Core77: “You can’t get much greener than Portland-based Renovo Hardwood Bicycles’ R4 Pursuit, made from two CNC’d halves of wood bonded together lengthwise (yielding a hollow core).”
On Weds Emma went to Paris with her cousin Jane. So without my sidekick I decided to have a bit of an explore round some of the finer places of South London on my bicycle. I started by picking up a few bits and bobs for Emma’s Birthday in Camden then back to London Bridge and headed East along the river path. I’ve done this route a few times before but not headed out this far. I went through Bermondsey, Rotherhithe, Greenwich, past the dome (or O2 as it’s now called) and onwards to the Thames Barrier.
Cue cliché style picture of Thames Barrier. I dread to think how many similar pictures have been taken of this. What is most interesting about the trip so far is just how quickly the path by the river descends into quarries and factories. As soon as you leave the O2 then you’re going past industrial units and odd bad housing development. It really is an odd area. It completely lacks the cohesion of central London and feels distinctly suburban and very un-loved.
After the Thames Barrier I headed on past more broken windows and people smoking dope by the river to the Woolwich Ferry. Surprisingly it’s free for pedestrians and cyclists. Only takes a few minutes and you’re over in beautiful Woolwich. When I say beautiful I mean smelly, run down and just nasty really. Anyway, back West along a cyclepath next to the main road and on to the Thames Barrier Park.
Had been meaning to go and see this for a while. It’s a beautiful park in an otherwise grotty area. Had a bit of a rest here before continuing back along the river. On the North side it’s a lot harder to stay next to the Thames. I managed to pick up a trail every now and then but it was mainly roads. Bizarrely as I was going through the Isle of Dogs I stopped at a pedestrian crossing and waited for a guy to cross, the car next to me tooted and gave me the thumbs up! Thanks for stopping I guess.
Anyway, headed back to the City and down Bishopsgate and over London Bridge. Met Vaughan for a quick coffee and chat then went to meet Jim for some drinks in Camberwell.
It was actually a long old ride and was one of the hottest days of the year. Anyway, nice to see a different part of London.
I went to the track day induction at the Herne Hill Velodrome this morning which was put on by Rob and the guys from Rollapalluza. Pretty weird riding on there at first even though I ride fixed around town.
A good few laps and some interesting different types of training exercises. Sprints and different types of races. All good fun but completely shattered after it. Will be back soon hopefully.
..by stepping out in front of you or just having a go. Don’t know what started this but the response is pretty severe!
…don’t ask the police to help.
No really. Don’t they don’t give a shit. Instead they’ll try and say that you should be arrested and charged an £80 fine. Small price to pay for dying on the roads I’m sure you’ll agree.
So, the full story. I was riding home after work tonight and I head through the top of Camberwell just past the Black Sheep pub. I pass another cyclist in the bike lane and a silver BMW comes past me honking his horn. He then rocks his steering wheel from side to side trying to knock me off. I obviously shout at the car as he’s a real danger to myself and the guy behind me. He’s getting even more aggressive at this point and starting to come very close to knocking me off. I go through the next junction on red as I was pretty scared at this point. He wheel spins through the lights after me and then does a U-turn in the road to try and knock me off.
I stop at the next lights and he’s one behind a police car. So I knock on the window and say that someone is trying to kill me can they help? So they get out, he gets out, details get checked including mine. At this point two other cyclists have stopped to offer witness statements. They tell one of them to go away. Thanks.
So they decide that the best way to settle it is with a ‘chat’ between us. He alleges that I banged his windscreen which is utter rubbish which the witness agrees with. Another guy turns up at this point who witnessed it all. Again they tell him to go away, thanks guys. So at this point it’s going nowhere so the numbnuts who pass for police officers offer to arrest us both and charge us £80 each for something or other? Unbelievable. So with a witness and some guy trying to kills a cyclist they still can’t be bothered to deal with it.
They then tell me that I can report it in the morning if I wish? Hold on, I have two police officers here, why can’t they deal with it? Not interested it seems.
Their solution, let me cycle home whilst they hold the guy. Brilliant thinking guys. If you thought he wasn’t actually a danger, why offer to hold him back?
So two things to do tomorrow, report to the police and then write to the IPCC. Thank you so much police people as well as Mr silver BMW. You’ve been great.
Updated:
It turns out it’s not the first time he’s done this. I’ve found someone who got knocked off by him recently. He drove off! They got his number plate though.
I was VERY lucky!
EDIT: Six months after the event. We have decided not to prosecute. Well thanks a fucking bunch.
