Baby is back

My baby is back, but I am now counting the cost.  After a week in a box, following our tour of the Low Countries, I have re-assembled my humble but cherished Tourismo24 bike.


Now for the butcher's bill.  A spoke is gone in the rear wheel - maybe it happened in transit, but I did wonder at various points whether I could feel a little wobble.  The left-hand rubber grip on the handle-bar is ripped - I had to cut it so as to pack the bike, in a bit of a hurry, at Schipol airport.  Brakes need tightening, and the gear indexing is all over the place.


So, as soon as I can, it is back to the shop in Prestwich.  Get my pride and joy mended and start cycling again.

What is a 'cyclist'?

"Woman dies as bus avoids cyclist in Manchester".  This is the BBC's damning headline today.  The police are looking for this 'cyclist', we hear - and therefore, in the eye of the community at large, any of us could be the monster who appears to have caused this tragedy.

But of course, look at the image the BBC has released and what you see is not a 'cyclist' - not if by this we mean a person who takes cycling seriously as a sport, a mode of transport or a passtime.  This is a youngster in a BMX - the kind who you often see jump pedestrain traffic lights, ride dangerously on pavements,  or indeed harass other cyclists, as it happened to me a couple of years back. 

Of course, I know nothing about this particular 'cyclist' - apart from his photo and the fact that GMP are looking for him.  He may be inocent, a scapegoat.  I don't know, and shouldn't assume that riding a BMX makes him automatically guilty.  My point is more about how loaded the term 'cyclist' can be, and whether perhaps the BBC and the media in general should mind these nuances, lest they stoke negative attitudes towards us, the cyclists.

In the Low Countries

Photo0066
Originally uploaded by cocosolis

First of all, apologies to the couple in this picture. Neither of them is me, I'm afraid: I'm the one behind the camera, taking a subreptitious shot as I shared this stretch of the road, just out of Norwijk.

But I say road: I mean cycle path. One of thousands of wonderful, dedicated cycle paths, veritable highways for pedal powered vehicles (and a few scooters, but more on this later).

I won't bore you with the details: suffice to say my two friends and I had a wonderful time cycling from Bruges to Amsterdam in three days. This was our itinerary:

21 May: travel to start line - Manchester, Schipol, Antwerp, Bruges
22 May: Bruges - Goereedere (70miles)
23 May: Goereedere - Norwijk (60miles)
24 May: Norwijk - Amsterdam (30miles)
25 May: tourism in Amsterdam, fly back to Manchester

The accommodation was good in all cases, with similar prices:
Bruges: Botaniek hotel
Goedereede: De Gouden Leeuw
Norwijk and Amsterdam: Stayok (Dutch youth hostels)

We were very lucky with the weather, which may have influenced my perception of the experience of cycling in Belgium and the Netherlands, but I really felt this was cycling's paradise on earth. For those who follow David Henbrow's informative blog, you'll understand if I say I feared I'd be disappointed - but I was not. The cycling infrastructure is genuinely superb, and the cycling culture is really widespread. What the initial spark was for this revolution, nobody seems able to say. But I was bowled over by the sight of cycling by old and young, male and female, with or without dogs, bbqs, babies, etc. 

I saw people cycling to work, to a party, cycling for pleasure or for sport.  I saw 'normal' bikes, recumbent bikes, trikes, 'bakfiets', tandems and even one (only one) Sinner 'mango'.  We, the 'brits' could be easily recognised, not so much because of our helmets, which many a racing cyclist did wear, but because of our 'hybrid' status - riding hybrid bikes, hybrid clothing and a speed that was faster than your normal commuter but slower than the colourful lycra-clad racing lot. 

I also saw a couple of crashes, or their aftermath - in the more congested cycle roads arounds towns - and I can say that in Amsterdam cycling is no fun - it's just like driving a car in a big, busy city, such is the high proportion of cycling in relation to cars.  I reckon that's a price worth paying for living in a country where people 'get' cycling and just get on with it.  Only in Sheveningen (the Dutch Blackpool?) did I feel cycling was a bit like in the UK - in conflict with car traffic and with carefree pedestrians along a busy waterfront.

Now my bike awaits to be re-assembled after being packed for the return flight.  I will then hit the British roads and relish the challenge - but in my mind there will always be the thought that there is somewhere where things are different, where cycling is not a 2nd class use of the highway.

A new era

This is my first post in nearly two months, and what two months they have been. In a nutshell, I took voluntary redundancy from where I used to work. So, for now at least, I will not be 'cycling and working in Manchester'. Cycling yes, but working... not exactly.

This season as a gentleman of leisure was officially inaugurated today when I took to the bike and rode round Heaton Park, to Heywood Old Rd, Birch, Hareshill Rd, Pilsworth and back home. It's a pleasant ride, aprx. 12miles, with ups and downs and few traffic lights after Heaton Park. One has to brave the heavy vehicle traffic at the end of Hareshill Rd, site of an industrial estate between Heywood and Pilsworth.

This route has plenty of potential as it can be extended - eg. continue to Heywood and from there to Bury, or from Heywood on to Scout Moor and Edenfield. I've plans to do a big circular ride encompassing all of the above and then on to Ramsbottom, Holcombe Brook, Affetside etc etc.

New shoes

When I started cycling I was against what I saw as 'cyclist paraphernalia' - I thought I would stick to cycling in 'normal' clothes as I did when I was a kid, and dismissing cycling clothing as show-off and unnecessary.

So, it takes a big man to eat humble pie and admit not all cycling gear is unnecessary, and that there's truth in the maxim about there being no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothing.

So, like in all Western films where battle-hardened 'indians' seem to dress in a mixture of their own stuff and items taken from the enemies they've scalped, I have gradually acquired bits of kit which I've mixed in an unorthodox way. First I got 'normal'-looking cycling trousers (the baggy ones, which could pass for cargoes on a dark night). Then I replaced these with tighter lycra trousers - first big inhibition down. The I got the lycra tops, short and long sleeved so I could 'layer' in winter. And a micro-fleece for the really cold days. Then the Altura high-viz cycling jacket (what took me so long?).

And yesterday, as my multipurpose walking shoes' soles have grown as thin as rice paper, I acquired my first pair of proper cycling shoes. Normal-looking, you understand - and absolutely no intention of ever using anything other than 'normal' pedals (with half-toe clips, ok). Never...

Black Ice

I must really make this the last posting about the snow and ice season of the last four weeks. The good news is, I made it to work on my bike today. It took me twice as long though - I had to walk the first 1/2 mile, treading carefully as the pavements were treacherous - but the roads were absolutely impossible. A thin layer of ice covered them, and combined with the rain it made them into the most slippery surface I've come across yet.

Only when I got to the main road (A56) was I able to start cycling - what a delight! After so many weeks, it felt fantastic to be, to use the cliche, back on the saddle. But traffic was very heavy at first, and only the main part of the tarmac was clear - stray to the side and you'd be back on ice, so until we reached Prestwich I had to crawl with the traffic. Only as I approached Cheetham Hill did it become possible to cycle properly and warm up.

I am hoping a lot of the stuff will have melted by the time I go back home, and that the heavy rain and over-zero temperatures forecast for today and tomorrow will clear it all up so that next week I can resume normal service, get back into my cycling routine, begin looking ahead to some good rides this year.

PS: I made it back in one piece - again, main roads fine but there was still ice on the side streets, though not quite as much or as bad as in the morning. I followed the car tracks, nice and slow, especially when approaching junctions.

Ice and snow

Just a quicky - I've already mention in reply to a comment that, this week, I have not cycled. It's not the snow, it's the ice - and is not the whole journey, only the 'last' mile, the side streets where I live and which don't see a gritter unless the snow fails to melt in a week: an event so rare, I've only seen it once in ten years, last week!

The Guardian offers advice on snow cycling - cheerful and positive tips. It all sounds sensible so I'm doing the lazy blogger thing of agreeing with them and providing a link. They don't like ice either - I've tried falling on it while on my bike, and it's not nice. The trouble in the UK is that ice does not get cleared quickly enough - from neither pavements nor roads. And it never will be, unless snow becomes a regular feature of winter - which in most of the country, it won't.

Snow

Yes, snow fell overnight and made the journey in the morning "interesting". It's fine on the main roads, generally - although I noticed many stretches where the cycle path had been carefully avoided by the gritters - so on to the main carriageway, positioning and good observation the name of the game.

The main problem is the mile between home and the main road - here the gritters didn't make it, so the snow stays, freezes up and becomes slippy. I go slow, on a low gear. If going downhill, I walk - bikes are not good at stopping on ice. The late Sheldon Brown is spot on in his advice: front brake is best on dry surfaces, but on slippery ones you have to use the rear one. Since this one takes longer to stop the bike anyway (ie even on dry surfaces), the conclusion I reach is that you have to really slow down on ice. Really. Call me Sherlock.

Jack Frost

What a beautiful morning the last couple have been. Cold, but dry - no ice on the roads, and very little wind. Less and less traffic too, as we near Xmas. No complaints. May it long continue!

Danger! Risk! Menace!

Tell you what is dangerous these days: entrust journalists with the results of scientific research, especially if it involves emotive but little understood subjects - like climate change and, er, cycling...

Let's start from the end. I'm watching the morning news as I get ready and - oops! - the BBC is covering cycling! Surely, surely, the BBC who devote so much time and attention to climate change, subtly supporting those who care about it, will say nice things about cycling? But alas, no: they've picked up on 'scientific research' that 'proves' that cycling is more dangerous than driving.

For the sake of impartiality they interview a few random cyclists - we don't get to hear the question put to them, but the consensus amongst them seems to be - as edited - "yeah, cycling is pretty scary, what with all them cars and traffic, like". As the BBC are not just impartial but a saintly thorough lot, they need a quote from someone 'official' - cue a Sustrans volunteer, who tries to explain that the more cyclists there are the safer it is. This is true, and is what for instance CTC argue tirelessly - but he forgets to say (or the BBC remembers to edit out) that for all the perceived risk of cycling, there are huge benefits etc etc.

When the recorded report ends, it's back to studios and we have the live presenters 'completing' the picture by reading viewers emails - the usual rants about how cyclists are a damned race of road hooligans, in stark contrasts with holy drivers who never ever break the speed limit or push their way through an amber/red light. Thank you, Auntie Beeb: you've just caused a few people to abandon cycling, increasing their cardiac risk and impoverishing their lives.

The Guardian picked up the story - they are a little bit more balanced: at least their headline makes it clear where they stand, ie if cycling is more dangerous than driving then it needs to be made easier and safer for the benefit of everyone. Commendable, innit?

But hang on a minute. It is clear, when you read the Guardian article, that the research quoted seems to lump pedestrians and cyclists together in most instances. They are looking at what kind of cases arrived at A&E departments in UK hospitals.... between 1999 and 2004 (so, not exactly current,is it?). I've only had access to the abstract (I wonder if the BBC journalist who started this read much more) and in it the objective of the research is stated as "To report on seasonal variation in hospital admissions for traffic injuries to car and truck occupants, motorcyclists, cyclists, and pedestrians". It concludes that, while for car occupants seasonal variations are not significant, cyclists appear to have a harder time in winter. In passing the abstract remarks that "From April to September, there were more admissions for pedestrians and cyclists in England (44 875 in the six years of the study) than for car occupants (34 582)".

The italics are mine. In short, this is a non-story - and I can see someone, somewhere, being rattled by it, staying off their bikes and missing out on the benefits to their health, just because some stupid BBC journo (but I repeat myself) spotted a news angle in a piece of science they neither understood nor cared about. All paid by the TV licence-fee payers - us, ze pipol o'brittn.

Eye of the Storm

Gale force winds today - or at least, that's what I expected. I did consider chickening out (I sort of did yesterday - had an appointment, just 'had' to drive), but I'm glad I didn't. Going into town in the morning there was a steady head wind - hard but didn't feel dangerous (it's the sudden gusts I don't like).

In the evening, I must've caught, literally, the 'eye' of the storm - it was fairly quiet almost all the way, having been windy earlier, and even windier as I write this. Thank Heavens, good luck when it comes is not to be sneezed at.

Moments of joy

In my journey back home there's three 'moments of joy' - three 'checkpoints', if you like, where I feel I've achieved something.

The first one is precisely leaving the city centre - reaching the MEN Arena or thereabouts.

The second one is leaving Cheetham Hill and heading for Heaton Park - don't get me wrong, but Cheetham Hill's shopping area, buzzing it may be, but traffic-wise it is chaotic in all sorts of ways - parking is haphazard, speed limits are ignored (if traffic is moving at all!), pedestrians are notoriously careless (my Sep 2007 fall bears witness). Then you reach the crossroads with Middleton Rd and the change is stark - the same road becomes quiet and residential.

And the third one is turning into Thatched Lane in Besses O'Th'Barn - the home run begins there, and I know I'm 10' away from home.



View Three moments of joy in a larger map

In the bleak midwinter...

Well, not quite - it's a few weeks until winter 'proper', but we've had the first frosty mornings. Two weeks ago I checked and replaced batteries as my journey back home is now done after dusk. Last week I replaced shorts with long trousers and light mittens with fleecy gloves. Other people I've seen wearing hats or skull caps, so I'm not the only wimp!

It's not bad when, like this morning, it's bright out there, and dry. Other days I've got drenched, soggy shoes (must sort out better ones) being the main problem (I think by now I've got the right all-weather gear on the other departments).

Meanwhile, the city begins its Xmas preparations - the markets are being assembled, foreign vans are unloading their goods, the lights are on or soon will be. There is also that added bustle of people spending more time shopping. It's not a good time for cycling in Manchester city centre, I tell you - it is bad enough as it is, with poorly lit streets, careless pedestrians and diabolical one-way systems. But I dread Xmas time as it exacerbates all these things.

Yellow leaves

Yellow leaves cover the roads now: they shine under the October early morning drizzle. Very poetic, except they accumulate on the side of the roads - if there's a cycle path, they completely cover it. Once moist with rain they are as slippery as a laundry floor after an overspill of soapy suds.

As I get to Lower Broughton a kid cycling to school with his mates proves my point the hard way - they are riding on the pavement (just as bad) and trying to climb the kerb slightly off angle ends up with him on the floor. At least he combines lower height and lower mass - sorry, but better him than me: when I fall, it hurts. He, on the other hand, bounces straight back and carries on, to my relief.

So, I ride well away from pavements and leave-covered cycle paths, and keep an eye on my speed downhill, especially if there are traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, traffic etc.

Learning to ride

You can read it in books, but teaching your child to ride a bike is one of those life's experiences. Each child is different -

my 2nd one learn to ride at nursery, one day I turned up to pick him up and he was pedalling this tiny bike all on his own. My eldest didn't seem interested, but eventually learned the same way I had - you push them by the seat until they gather speed, then at some point let go.

The method involves a few falls, which is why I favour grass surfaces these days (my younger brother back in Peru wasn't so lucky; come to think of it, neither was I - it was pavement for us in them days). So I took No.3 to the park a couple of weeks ago, and gave it a go. Long overdue.

The good news is that she did get to ride on her own. We just run out of time as the weather closed in, and have not had the chance since, so next spring we'll have to try harder, for longer - so that she can reach that tipping point of self-belief that enables us all to carry on when our senses tell us we shouldn't be able to, without anyone else holding on to the back of our seat or rack.

Come to think of it, how handy reaching that tipping point would come in other spheres of life.

Something I saw last week

Nothing to do with cycling - except that this is the sort of thing that tends to get missed when in a car: somewhere between Cheetham Hill and Heaton Park a bunch of orthodox Jewish kids are going to school. Out of one of their rucksacks something falls - they don't notice it and walk briskly on.

A muslim gentleman picks up the thing - a notebook or pencil case - and follows them. He catches up them at the traffic light and hands the thing over with a kindly expression. The kids look mildly bewildered.

That's it. The whole thing lasts 30", then we all move on, get on with our busy lives.

Should've got on me bike

Went to the Southport Airshow yesterday. Yes, it's like admitting to liking bullfighting or Top Gear: I shouldn't, but I do. Hadn't been since 2005 - because then, getting there took hours stuck in traffic jams. But I thought this year I would be clever. Think again.

Going in took 2 hours - of which the last 4 miles took 1 hour. Getting out took 3 hours, of which getting out of the car park took 1h15min, the next 4 miles took 45' and then it was fine again.

What I should have done - what I saw others do - is cycle in. Perhaps not all the 45 miles, not with the children (yet!), but easily the last 5 miles. And who knows, one day we could do the whole hog on two wheels. In fact, I saw plenty of cycle lanes, just like in Crosby and Morecambe, so perhaps there's a 'West Lancs' cycle ride waiting for us?

More cyclists out there?

At first I thought it was all down to pesky 'fair weather' cyclists - those who when the sun shines get the old bike out for a bit of exercise, then store it away at the first sign of rain.

Sorry, I'm talking about cycle parking and shower facilities where I work. In the past, most of the time I had the freedom of the building yard when it came to parking, and a choice of showers as there's one on the ground floor (open to all building occupants) and another one upstairs in my employer's offices (two in fact, since one is designated 'male' and the other 'female' but they are both individual showers, so the distinction is purely academic).

Yet recently I experienced for the first time a queue for all 3 showers - OK, a queue of 1 in each, but it meant a wait of 15'. And I notice that the yard bike racks are busy even in bad weather. So, it must be a sign that more people are cycling than before - or that the building's occupancy has risen. Or perhaps that Manchester College (one of the tennants) is using more of their space here as classrooms. I suspect is all of the above.

Now, it would be fine if it wasn't because many fellow cyclists (and this is an old bugbear of mine) tend to park their bikes in between racks, rather than mount their rides ON them. I know, these racks are not the best and they risk being 'wheel benders' but there's only so much room, yet people merrily plonk their bikes, on the ground, in between two racks. In some cases this is because they've got D-locks and that's the only way they can wrap it round both frame and at least the bike wheel. In other cases, it's just sheer laziness. In all cases, it feels inconsiderate and is a bit of a bugger for those of us who, after the school run, arrive at work that little bit later.

There is of course extra (and more secure) parking in the building's basement, but getting to it is like making it through the 36 chambers of Shaolin - three flights of stairs, four doors, a combination lock. The basement in question is the old factory loos of when this building was some sort of factory, complete with wooden panels separating white toilets against a background of green tiles. Behind so many doors, it is a very eerie place - nobody would hear you scream if you came across a ghost...

The James Martin Bandwagon

Yes: me too! me too! I too have read about James Martin's silly (and now edited) little article, ostensibly about a modern electric car.

Despite the Mail editing out the description of James Martin callous offence, Mr Martin's infantile diatribe against cyclists has remained:

"God, I hate those cyclists. Every last herbal tea-drinking, Harriet Harman-voting one of them. That's one of the reasons I live in the countryside, where birds tweet, horses roam, pigs grunt and Lycra-clad buttocks are miles away. But recently, there's been a disturbing development.

Each Saturday, a big black truck appears at the bottom of my road, with bikes stuck to the roof and rear. Out of it step a bunch of City-boy ponces in fluorescent Spider-Man outfits, shades, bum bags and stupid cleated shoes, who then pedal around our narrow lanes four abreast with their private parts alarmingly apparent. Do they enjoy it? They never smile. I'm sure they just come here to wind me up.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1211917/JAMES-MARTIN-The-Tesla-Roadster-electric-supercar-thats-fast-Ferrari.html#ixzz0Rb4qJ7Nz"

So, "we" - ie all cyclists - drink herbal tea and jump red lights as a matter of routine, while the likes of Mr Martin, surely, have never broken the speed limit in their lives and drive their cars with saintly restraint and patience?

Just like Nigel Havers before him, here's another moronic part-time journo trying to pander to their ultra-conservative (nay, bigoted) audience, by showing that they 'hate the things you hate' and that they can match their audience's ignorance (of, for instance, taxation - there is no such thing as 'road tax'!).

James Martin goes to show that a flashy car does not make you into a knob - but it helps!

Missed chance

We went to the Peak District this weekend. Alas, we didn't go cycling - we thought about it, knowing that the Tissington Trail and the High Peak Trail run near Hartington Hall (where we stayed). We decided to keep it simple and spend Saturday walking instead - and Sunday visiting Chatsworth House - the ultimate haven for the terminally aspirational. We felt that packing enough bikes for everyone would be too much hassle for a Friday night, that the weather may not be so good, that renting bikes would be difficult.

Funnily enough, the weather was extremely good, and at the youth hostel we run into friends who had organised themselves and did go cycling - they carried some bikes, hired some and with a bit of planning managed to get two days of family fun on two wheels - why, they even hired a tandem bike to cater for a young lad with special needs, who thoroughly enjoyed it.

I try not to be consumed by shame when I make mistakes - we have vowed to return, properly equipped and armed with knowledge. Our friends' friends were also full of good advice on adult bike rides other than the C2C, so we had a good conversation about, for instance, Brugges to Amsterdam...