More Words on #30Daysofbiking, The Best of Times, the Worst of Times.

A sunny commute, last week.

I'd intended to write this at the end of last week, the third full week of #30daysofbiking,

It turned out that we were rather busier than I'd anticipated over the weekend (in a good way), so it's being written now, part way through the fourth full week of the challenge.

Last week was a particularly pleasant time to be out and about by bicycle. The weather was glorious, and the 15°C threshold for knee friendly shorts wearing was reached on several days (although still not at the time I set off from home). Commutes were mostly uneventful, with light half term traffic contributing to a general feeling that things weren't so bad after all out here.

Bluebells

On Friday, I took a quick ride out on the rougher part of the Cheshire Cycleway near to home.

The Bridlepath forming part of NCN 70

The ride up is on road, and then there's a stretch of gravelly, holed bridleway. It's interesting to ride for someone used to tarmac, and I discovered fairly quickly that I don't ride it particularly well.

Just over the bridge you can see in the distance on the pic above. The LHT is a heavy bike, but it should be ok...

My speed topped out at around 13mph on the gravel, and I wandered a bit on it, torn between trying to make the bike hold a line, and trying to stay on the bike full stop! Riding the crown of the road doesn't work here because of the strips of grass down the centre.

Cherry Tree & NCN70 Signs

Once off the bridlepath, it's back onto tarmac again, and as the sun warmed my limbs, the blossom trees along the route created an odd, snowstorm like flurry to ride through. Rather than retrace my steps, I rode on through the blossom to the main road, and then home. It was a short ride, but really enjoyable.

On Sunday, after returning from my sister's 18th birthday party (Happy Birthday Sis!) I took the opportunity for another quick ride, this time on the SCR2.

Another Lovely Day to be Out

This time, I rode one of the back road routes up to Sandbach - another old route of mine that's a quick 16 mile or so loop.

Granted, it's no Kapelmuur, but this Church is on a Hill.

There's a couple of nice hills on this route, and a decent loop bit at the end that allows you to retrace your steps.

No ride on Monday, (Happy Birthday Son!) but Tuesday meant that commuting resumed.

Another Bridleway, this time part of the commute home.

The half term traffic is still (not) there, and the roads are still pretty quiet, but I've had a couple of nasty run ins with drivers over as many days.

The first was a Cravendale logo'ed truck, that stopped at the same lights on the roundabout I was waiting at, about 6 inches from the bike and I. Now if you know anything about trucks and bikes, you'd be pretty worried by that. The driver gesticulated, well, something, in his mirror, I guess at me, and then roared off at speed up the exit to Crewe station...where he had to stop at the pedestrian crossing anyway. A pointless move from a "professional" driver. (The lane next to the one he and I were "sharing" at the lights was empty, or, god forbid, he could have waited behind me and overtaken safely).

Anyway, can you guess whether I'll be buying any Cravendale product in future?

Oh Shit.

As if to prove that that was not my day, I managed to hit a load of debris in the bike lane just after the Handforth Roundabout, and ended up with this (see pic) in my tyre, and a rather less obvious thorn. Then my spare tube was punctured, so a roadside puncture repair was my only option (thankyou, Rema, for your nifty TT02 kit). That done, I rode on, only to find that the less obvious thorn had caused a slow puncture (impossible to find by eye). It soon became clear that I needed to stop every mile or so to top up the tyre, making the ride home somewhat tiresome.

My last morning commute of the week was enlivened by another truck driver (no company logo) who took exception to my moving out to stop him trying to squeeze past me (he'd have overtaken into the path of a coach that I'd seen, and he, evidently had not, no less). An angry hoot, and a stupidly close overtake followed (again, with a now completely empty lane alongside that he could have used to overtake safely). I'd estimate he waited an extra half second, if that, to pass, and for this, he was entirely willing to risk killing me. It's dispiriting when car drivers indulge in this sort of petulant attempted murder, but when people who drive for a living do it, it's hard not to lose hope entirely.

Posted via email from monkeyphoto's posterous

From Bike Commuters: Rainy Day Biking reflective fender mudflaps

Read More at Bike Commuters.com

They're not sexy, but it's the time of year that the commuter's thoughts turn to mudguards, waterproofs, and other ways of keeping the rain & roadspray off you and the bike.

Full 'guards are good for this, but I've been thinking of some proper mudflaps to keep my feet, drivetrain, and the folk behind me drier for a little while. These, from Rainy Day Biking have the added advantage of giving your bike some extra visibility in the dark. Read the full test at Bike Commuters (link below the picture).

Posted via email from monkeyphoto's posterous

STUFFE

INFOGRAPHIC
You've seen some of these before, but this is a nice round up of Movie Infographics, from "The Bonus View".

THE HORN

Standing in front of their cars, my brother and I asked them if their truck had the iconic Tour de France car horn. They didn't understand what we were asking. I mimicked the sound, that sound that I hear in my sleep during hot July nights after days of watching the Tour. Over the years, I've developed a Pavlovian response to it. The horn means watching races, it means riding in short sleeves. That sound has been bouncing around in my head since I was seven years old, and I listened to the Tour on the radio for the first time. Once I mimicked the sound, the guys finally understood what I meant. They honked the horn, I recorded it...and now I share it with all of you as my gift.

From the Cycling inquisition blog.

BIKEWAY CENTRAL
Left ponders, Bike Commuters points you to Bikeway Central, which aims to be;

"a clearinghouse for U.S. bike maps and advocacy groups — and he’s asking for your help to add more to his lists. If you know of a good bike map produced by your local/regional/state planning groups or advocacy organizations that deserve some extra recognition, please let him know by using the “Contact Me” buttons on the Bikeway Central site. "

TWITTER DATA BUFFET
Is how Flowing Data aptly describes Infochimps' Twitter data repository. It's an enormous set of data subsets, some of which can be accessed for free, and some of which are paid for.

You'll be pleased to know that "users by background colour" is in the free set.

Exciting Things

Exciting Thing No.1
The new Ragley Rodwell frame - I'm not sure why I'm excited about this, as the chances of my building one up are next to zero. I love the idea behind the frame though, and the attention to detail on it (see the designer's flickr stream for more, here).

The roller above the chainstay bridge allows a bottom pull mech (i.e. a road mech) to be used with the bike's top tube cable routing. The headset mounted cable hanger is also a thing of great beauty, although my personal feeling is that fork crown mounted hangers work better unless you have your bars set up pretty high.

These frames look like they'll build into really nice fat tyred road bikes - ideal for someone wanting to go in that direction but not take the Tourer route that I took with my Surly LHT.

Exciting Thing #2
Regular readers (ha!) may remember my dithering over a folding bike earlier in the year. I finally got a chance to test ride a Brompton last week (an S6L, in case you're wondering) and was impressed by it. Far less twitchy than I'd expected, and a lot of fun to throw around the car park near the bike shop where the test ride took place.

I've decided on an S3L (I do live in Cheshire, after all, so six gears seems like overkill) with a "C" bag as luggage. The bike is being purchased via cyclescheme, and I found out recently that my voucher application has been approved. I have that new bike feeling all over again...

Le Tour for Commuters

Cyclists are an unusual bunch (no pun intended) in many ways. Not least, in the UK, is the tendency for those following the sport of Pro Cycling to be cyclists themselves. (I could be wrong, but I don't see the same proportion of fans of other sports participating and spectating).

In the cycle commuter, the excitement of a grand tour, like the Tour de France, can bring out a certain enthusiasm for the course, and a desire to emulate your heroes in a way that can be inappropriate on the public highway.

Being a civic minded monkey, I thought it might be useful to outline a few ways to relive the Tour on your commute in a responsible way, rather than Silly Commuter Racing.

The Early Years

Maurice Garin (centre), Image from Wikimedia Commons

Given that the tour De France began over a century ago, you'd be forgiven for thinking that you had little hope of emulating the very first riders. But don't despair!

The Spares and Repairs Experience

"The sky is gloomy and washed out. Huge, grubby clouds extend to the horizon. It is as if nature itself were grieving. In the outskirts of Valenciennes, Eugene Christophe stands on the pavement. He pushes in front of him, the saddle towards the earth, his bicycle: the fork is broken. It seems to me a mighty lyre whose broken strings sing his final misery." -Henri Desgrange

In the early years of the Tour, riders were expected to carry their own spares, and effect any repairs required themselves. Obviously most of us bicycle commuters do this already. However, do watch out for people offering to lend you tools or assistance as you crouch by the road refitting your punctured tyre - should they help you, the commissaire will undoubtedly impose a hefty time penalty upon you.

You should also beware of allowing anyone to pump the bellows of the local forge for you if you need to fix your broken fork.

The Second Tour (1904) Experience

"The Tour de France is finished and the second edition will, I fear, also be the last." -Henri Desgrange

There are several ways the bicycle commuter can relive the uneasy atmosphere of the 1904 tour.

Instead of gesticulating futilely at the car that passes too close, imagine yourself to be Garin, or Pothier, who were attacked by masked men in a car trying to delay them on the first stage of the race.

Cycle paths (or the Etape Caledonia) provide ample opportunity to relive the 1904 tour's fifth stage, during which nails were strewn on the route. Users of cycle paths will have to substitute the (usually) ample broken glass for nails, but isn't it the spirit of the thing that matters? Extra authenticity could be gained by finishing your commute on two flat tyres, like eventual winner Henri Cornet, although this monkey advises that there is authenticity, and there is buggering up your wheels, and the former should be sacrificed in favour of not doing the latter.

The Octave Lapize Experience

"++Have crossed the Tourmalet on foot stop ++
++Road passable to vehicles stop ++
++No snow stop ++" -Telegram from Adolphe Steinès to Desgrange

Relatively few of us have a commute including anything much resembling the Tourmalet and Col d'Aubisque, beyond a general trend upwards. However, if you have a hill that leaves you knackered and grinding away in your lowest gear to ascend it, why not shout "Assassins!" at the top, to relive a moment of tour history from 1910?

Gear(s)

"I still feel that varable gears are only for people over forty-five.
Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer?
We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear!"-Henri Desgrange

Those of you using fixed gear bicycles can be smug in the knowledge that you're reliving cycling early years, although if you're not also rocking tweeds and an enormous handlebar moustache, you've only gone part of the way. All is not lost for those of us with variable gears though - why not pretend that you're Stéphanois Panel, who experimented with variable gears in the 1912 edition of the tour? For full authenticity, ride a fixed for the next 25 years, as variable gears were banned in the tour until 1937.

The Modern Tour

Very much a feature of the modern tour, the doomed French breakaway allows riders that are French, or Jens Voigt to ride ahead of the pack for most of the stage, only to be reeled in and passed with 5-10km to spare (usually).

The Doomed French Breakaway Experience, #1

".... just discount this breakaway right? It has Voeckler in it, thus 99% doomed" -Poster on PodiumCafé (Voeckler went on to win the stage)

Easily done if you're a city rider.

Inevitably, there will be times when you find yourself ahead of a group of cars, simply because the motor vehicle isn't that efficient at getting through cities. Ride away, and then allow the "catch" to occur once the roads have cleared enough for the "peloton" to get to you.

The Doomed French Breakaway Experience, #2
Again, more easily done in the city.

In this case, the cars passing you are the break, and you're the peloton. Inevitably (unless you're riding at three in the morning) the cars will choke the street and slow to a stop - at which point the "peloton" makes the catch.

A fortuitous combination of traffic conditions can sometimes mean that you get the rare (although less so in the 2009 tour so far) occurrence of the successful breakaway, with your pursuers left fuming in your wake. In such a case, you're welcome to zip up your jersey and roll to the end of your commute with your arms aloft.

Although you may never live this down if your workmates catch sight of you.

The Mountains Experience
Again, the poor state of Britain's cycle paths comes to your rescue here. As you're unlikely to encounter crazed fans waving flags in your face, why not pretend that those branches and bushes the council fail to trim back every year are the flags of the Basques, or the trident of the devil? Ride through them with a grumpy look on your face, but don't get carried away and throw your bidon at them, there's usually nettles in the bushes as well...

Added authenticity can be gained if you can bring yourself to believe that the frequent graffiti along the path names famous local cyclists, in the style of the names painted on the roads of the tour. Hard to do when all you have to work with is a spray-painted Dazza, or Wayne, but needs must.

The Marcus Burghardt Experience

Lots of Britain's dog walkers seem keen to recreate this, with you in the position of Burghardt.

DON'T - it's not the dog's fault their owner is an idiot.

(See also, The Sandy Casar Experience)


The Astana Experience
For this, you'll need some sort of group ride - if you have a "Critical Commute" or similar organised ride with a dedicated leader, that could work.

Ride until the group splits while the back markers wait for traffic to pass, or a green signal. At this point, ride like fury on the agreed route, ignoring the protests of the designated leader. If possible, put "your people" on the front, and either;

a) explain to anyone that asks that "the road has decided who is the leader".
b) explain to anyone that asks that "my legs felt good, and it was a spontaneous attack to gain a few seconds".

Coming Soon;

The Denis Menchov Experience
In which you forget which way up your bike goes.

Repeatedly.

Cycling Proverbs

Born out of musings on avoiding slippy crisp packets, oddly enough, on this morning's ride, and mostly posted to Twitter.

Any person posting to a cycling message board asking for "which bike" advice as a new commuting cyclist MUST be recommended a hybrid costing not less than £700, and a further £200 worth of accessories by at least one respondent. The fact that the person asking is only commuting a 6 mile round trip shall not be taken into account.

The best time to realise that the rain *is* hard enough for you to need overtrousers is BEFORE you leave your house.

No matter what bike you have, or what kind of riding you do, someone, somewhere is waiting to tell you that it's the wrong bike.

No motorist's car is so old and rubbish that they won't say you'd be better off with one of those rather than your bike.

Most cyclists agree that taking up cycling to save money would probably be a good idea, in theory.

Surveys including the question "Why don't you cycle?" will never offer the answer "Because I'm too bloody lazy" as a possibility.

People who don't ride wonder why you'd want to on rainy days. People who do ride wonder why you wouldn't want to.

Junk food that you "earned" by riding all week tastes far better than junk food normally does. (Also applicable to beer, chocolates, takeaway curry, chinese food &c).

People will assume you're saving the planet and/or ridding the roads of Britain of cars even if all you want to do is enjoy riding in the sunshine.

No bike lane is so crap that motorists won't demand that you use it so that they don't have to reduce speed for half a second.

Riding your bicycle in ice is the best way of breaking your elbow and/or wrist (that doesn't involve interaction with other road users) yet discovered.

Whenever you decide to drive or take public transport, you will feel a deep sense of regret at the first cyclist you see enjoying their ride.

Anything shouted from a passing car will sound like "Blargh blah blaaaaargh" and is best not given too much thought.

Wearing any lycra at all allows people to jokingly call you "Lance Armstrong" and ask if you're off to the Tour De France.

Red light jumping, pavement riding cyclists allow any motorist to put your life at risk even if they've just watched you scrupulously obeying traffic law throughout your ride.

Injure any part of your body whilst cycling, and people will say that you should have been wearing a helmet.

Injure any part of your body whilst cycling, and people will say that it was good you were wearing a helmet.

The best day for a long ride will always be the day where you can't be out of the house for more than a couple of hours.

The further you are from your bicycle, the more ridiculous you look in lycra (unless you are a member of a glam rock band).

If you don't want to get wet, pack your waterproofs. Because then it won't rain.

No queue of stationary traffic is so close that a motorist won't overtake you to reach it.

The wet crisp packet is summer's equivalent of damp autumn leaves.

In Which Buying Another Bicycle is More Difficult than Expected

I've been taking the train all the way to work a lot more than I do normally, and this results in a walk of around 3 miles each way, in total. (Two miles to the station, a mile from the station at the other end to work, and the same journey in reverse in the evening).

As any fule kno, 3 miles is a distance that any bicycle laughs at, so I've been seriously considering a folding bike for those days when 28 miles a day of riding seems a bit much.

Why a folding bike? In their wisdom, Britain's railway companies offer little in the way of carriage for full sized bicycles, and will occasionally make you reserve in advance, pay a supplemental charge, &c &c. (A to B magazine provide an excellent summary of train operators' cycle policies here). The rail part of my usual commute is handled by the excellent and pragmatic Northern Rail, who will carry bicycles on a first come, first served basis, so long as they do not block exits &c.

However, because my "long train" commute is at a later time, I can end up travelling with different train operators, and at busier times, so my chance of being "bumped" from the service increases. Here's where the folding bike comes in - almost all operators will carry folding bikes without restriction. Plus, of course, on my later commute, I can unfold the bike at the other end, and cycle to work, an advantage over using a full size bike to get to the start of my train journey only.

Having read around a little, I'd pretty much decided upon the British designed "Mezzo D9" which looks to be a nice bike with compact fold and what's claimed to be "a big bike ride". (I think this is at least partly to do with it having a steering offset (it has a conventional stem on the fork, as opposed to a steering column directly above the forks).


(Mezzo bike Video)

Of course, no plan survives contact with a bike shop, so I've now convinced myself that the battle to be my folding bike has been joined, between the Mezzo, and the Brompton. Your take on either bike would be welcomed, but I suspect the final decision will hinge (no pun intended) upon a test ride, to be undertaken some time in the next couple of weeks.


(Brompton Folding Demonstration)

Useful Links;
The Folding Society
A to B Magazine
Mezzo Bikes
Brompton

In Which I Relate an Unusual Happenstance

(Not the updating of the blog, although that's unusual enough, given that I've not touched this since June last year).

It's been a fairly grim start to the year, at least in terms of cycling. The cold winter, and a large number of icy days (I don't ride in ice) have kept me off the bike, and on the days I have ridden, I've found Manchester's motorists in a worse humour than is usual. I've also read of a couple of nasty incidents recently, particularly this on Carlton Reid's "Quickrelease.tv" blog.

I was on my way home up Wilmslow Road (a quick road, nominally a 30 limit, but it is not unusual for the traffic to treat it as a 40 or 50).

I'm at the lights in a lane that can be used as a left turn onto Turves Road, or straight on along Wilmslow Road. It'd taken me a while to turn out onto Wilmslow Road, and waiting in the queue at the lights I usually stay in the centre of the left hand lane to discourage left hooking. (A left hook is when a vehicle makes a left turn across your path). A chap pulled alongside me and rolled his passenger window down - I have to admit that I was expecting a tirade about moving over to the left (has happened before along here, and as I said earlier, drivers have seemed unusually grumpy after the new year in Manchester).

So, I marshal my retorts, and get ready to reply, when the chap says...

"Hey mate! Your lights are excellent - absolutely first class - I can see you proper!"

There's a bit more in which he thanks me for considering the other folk on the road by making myself easy to see, during which I, being completely confused, mumble some sort of thanks, and then the traffic lights change.

It was nice to have something good shouted at me though.

(If you're wondering what a first class lighting setup looks like, it consists of a Torch 9x light with integrated reflector on the third flash pattern, a Blackburn Mars4.0 on steady (both on the seat post) and a Smart Superflash on flash mounted to the seat stay). Up front there's a Knog Frog on flash and a high power, Cree emitter torch.

La Bas

La Bas, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

I must apologise for not posting context for my more recent images - I've been a little bit busy, largely repairing my daughter's bike (every time she falls off it, she seems to lose a piece from it).

Most recently, she managed to mess up her front brake (in that one side came off completely - the housing carrying the cable through, I think it's called a brake noodle, had also broken). Using bolts &c supplied by the excellent Bicycle Boutique (in Manchester, just behind the Sugden Centre off Grosvenor Street) I've made them good as new.

Bicycle boutique also supplied the natty new brake hoods I've fitted to my tourer (my main commuting bike). New tape for the bars will be the next treat this bike gets, I think. I rode my hybrid again (the bike to which I was fitting mudguards) yesterday, and was amazed by how sluggish it feels compared to the tourer - the seating position feels somewhat odd too, after riding drop handlebars.

This week will mark the second week of my commute to work on the bike, an experience I've largely enjoyed, despite occasional and momentary bowel loosening terror thanks to my fellow road users. I'm not sure how many car drivers read my blog (or how many people full stop), but in the interest of fostering greater understanding;

1) Yes I do know there's a cycle path. I generally prefer to use them when they aren't so pitted and potholed that bits fall off my bike when I ride through them. I also prefer not to use that one where the camber is so steep that I end up fighting it alll the way just to stay off the kerb. I also don't like using the ones with broken glass strewn liberally across them. Rest assured I do use them when it's safe to.

2) I do have to come away from the side of the road/out of the cycle path to pass parked cars. I try to do this in good time because I don't want to suddenly swerve in front of you. I'm sorry that I'm straying into the bit of road you regard as yours, but I'm not up to jumping vans/cars/lorries in a single bound just yet.

3) Yes I am quite a long way from the kerb. I do this because when I cycle nearer to it, some people (not you, I hasten to add, I'm sure you're very responsible and considerate) take it as an invitation to pass me with barely a cigarette paper's width[1] between me and their vehicle. Cycling where I do also gives me room to manouver out of your way/someone else's way should there be a need to. I might also be keeping out of glass/potholes/grids. I'm not trying to annoy you, I promise, as I'm very aware of the discrepancy between the sizes, weights, and speeds of our vehicles, and an annoyed person + their car is not a combination I'm anxious to deal with.

4) It does help if you don't roll your car into the marked cycle waiting bit at traffic lights. If I can get in there, I can clearly indicate whether I'm going ahead, left or right to you, and I know that you or another driver isn't going to turn left in front of me. Speaking of traffic lights, whizzing past me, nearly sending me flying, just so you can arrive at a red light two seconds before me seems a bit pointless, don't you think[2]?

5) If you're waiting to pass me, please do so by following about a cars length behind, if not more. Sitting just off the right side of my back wheel means that I can't turn right (I may need to), that a pothole might bounce me into you and reduces my capability to give us both room in the event of something happening ahead. Please also pass me giving plenty of room (at least half a car's width is terrific), for the latter two reasons.

6) A huge thank you to the many considerate and patient drivers I've encountered - I try to acknowledge people that wait for me to pass parked vehicles &c where I can - it is much appreciated. Sadly, I only have to encounter one person who isn't like you for something very bad to happen - hence my somewhat defensive style of riding.

[1] This happens particularly often on narrow roads - if you can't pass me where I am, it is not safe to pass me when I'm nearer to the kerb, believe me.

[2]Grey Xsara Picasso, Turves Road, Cheadle last night - I hate people who pass me next to traffic islands - neither of us have enough room in case of emergencies, and the draft from passing so close can quite easily send me into the kerb or another car.

No picture post last night, because I finally got 'round to developing the roll of HP5+ that has the last of my holiday shots, and PaD shots on it. I've decided to go back to my roots with this roll, and dev in 1+29 LC29, which you may remember (or not) was where we came in with this whole homedev lark. I'm not sure how many rolls I've done in total, but there's still something very satisfying about unspooling the negs and leaving them to dry - I guess peering at them trying to figure out what you have is the closest film comes to chimping.

I shall be scanning the cut negs tonight, and then hopefully posting the final days of the PaD challenge.