Search found 348 matches

by ArMoRothair
2 Oct 2017, 2:57pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Plans for CS9 Superhighway
Replies: 6
Views: 1209

Re: Plans for CS9 Superhighway

ANTONISH wrote:They probably don't want "proles " on bikes riding through their borough.


They certainly don't. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and The Royal Parks, constantly try to outdo each other so see which of them can be the most anti-cycling. The City of Westminster has form on this too and occasionally steals their thunder.

Surely the whole reason to devolve transport policy to the mayor's office was to give him the power to knock their heads together. What a shameful state of affairs.
by ArMoRothair
11 Oct 2016, 12:58pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Where do I start...
Replies: 20
Views: 3037

Re: Where do I start...

Welcome to the forum.

In this country you will find that cyclists are always:
too slow, they hold up 'real' traffic; too fast, they are whizzing though villages;
too noisy, they are shouting and ringing their bells; too quiet, they never ring their bells and sneak up on terrified pedestrians;
too much on the pavement, they should cycle on the roads; too much on the roads, they should get on the pavement;
too darkly dressed, impossible to see; too brightly dressed in horrible garish colours;
too poorly lit; too brightly lit.

You can't win. I've had drivers blaring their horns at me and my 7 year old daughter because we had the audacity to ride on "their" road.

Just keep doing what you are doing. From what you have explained, it sounds like you are consideration personified.
by ArMoRothair
11 Sep 2016, 9:47pm
Forum: Helmets & helmet discussion
Topic: The helmet section?
Replies: 586
Views: 30402

Re: The helmet section?

Dave W wrote:I find it baffling that anyone actively encouraging helmet use isn't aloud to speak. Most odd.


Of course they are allowed to speak, and do so at every opportunity.

Indeed the driver of a BMW felt it necessary to stop me and my family today and lecture us on why we should be wearing helmets - completely oblivious to the fact that he had is four-year-old daughter in the front passenger seat without a child seat.
by ArMoRothair
6 Jun 2016, 11:56am
Forum: On the road
Topic: Learning to Ride : Getting Started
Replies: 13
Views: 1084

Re: Learning to Ride : Getting Started

All kids are different. Just stick with it.

My daughter is fairly well coordinated, good at anything involving balance, skied well at an early age, rode her balance bike and scooter with ease from aged 2 onwards but despite all this she really struggled with pedalling, steering and balancing simultaneously. It's easy for regular cyclists to forget how many bits of information the brain is having to process.

She'll be zooming around soon.
by ArMoRothair
11 May 2016, 9:26pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Janet Street Porter
Replies: 41
Views: 5189

Re: Janet Street Porter

Si wrote:
As related elsewhere it shows a subtle change in attitude. We no longer have the loonie leftie cyclist howling against the common sense of the normalised behaviour of the masses and establishment....


Good observation.
by ArMoRothair
11 May 2016, 9:15am
Forum: On the road
Topic: Falling Off
Replies: 35
Views: 3099

Re: Falling Off

Up until last November I was happy to say I had not fallen off in thirty years.

Apart from childhood prangs the only offs I had previously were (1) Around 15 years old, racing to school, downhill left turn in the rain: both wheels slid from under me. As motor-racing commentators say: it was ambition over adhesive. (2) Late teens, art college, riding with an A2 portfolio under my left arm, which I did regularly, reached down to the down tube for the gears (that's how long ago it was) and I don't know what happened but the next moment I was in a tangle on the ground. (3) Early '80s commuting home in the rain, mis-judges a pavement dip which had a bigger lip than I expected due to it being concealed in a puddle, hit it at an oblique angle and went down.

After that thirty years of crash free riding. Until November when I was taking my 7yo daughter on her BoBike seat along the canal tow path. There are three very steep bridges near Kensal Rise. Three in a row and spaced out, so awkward for both of us to get off the bike and walk. Over time we experimented with various approaches: speed up first, or go steady and gear-down. On this occasion I tried it slowly in a very low gear and near the top, with my daughter's weight behind me, the front wheel just lost lateral adhesion on one of the pedal strokes and flicked sideways without warning. We both shouldered the ground laughing.
by ArMoRothair
11 May 2016, 9:00am
Forum: On the road
Topic: Janet Street Porter
Replies: 41
Views: 5189

Re: Janet Street Porter

Andrew Gillingham deserves a sainthood for his patience in the face of that storm of rubbish.

I fear I might have resorted to violence in the same situation.
by ArMoRothair
8 May 2016, 9:19pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Folding bikes - H&S not "gone mad"...
Replies: 18
Views: 3195

Re: Folding bikes - H&S not "gone mad"...

gaz wrote:There was a lady wheeling her solo MTB around the aisles of the local Tesco yesterday, with a toddler in the child seat on the back.

I didn't stay long enough to see if she got challenged by security. Perhaps she could have tried to explain it away as a designer pushchair :wink: .


I managed that once. "this is not a bicycle, this a baby buggy".
by ArMoRothair
7 May 2016, 10:05am
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: New City Mayors
Replies: 20
Views: 2135

Re: New City Mayors

Boris opened the new E/W superhighway yesterday and I made a detour to use it in the afternoon.

It is genuinely good and I hope will work as a benchmark for how things can be done. Sadiq has blown hot and cold about cycling, I do worry that he doesn't "get it". Hopefully he will see this new evidence before his eyes and continue the work just started.

He should keep Gillingham who has a thorough grasp of his brief and is effective at the politicking necessary to get these schemes built. Maybe he should keep him but rebrand his role from Cycling Commissioner to Active Streets Commissioner, or Liveable Streets Commissioner. This is about more than just cycling.
by ArMoRothair
3 May 2016, 9:26pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Bike Cameras: Are They Worth It?
Replies: 15
Views: 2269

Re: Bike Cameras: Are They Worth It?

millimole wrote:I know when I had an Air-Zound horn on my commuting bike I seemed to find more occasions to use it than were probably really required.



I gave up on mine for the same reason.
by ArMoRothair
26 Apr 2016, 9:56pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Casual cycle clothes
Replies: 19
Views: 2286

Re: Casual cycle clothes

Phil66 wrote:Jeans on the bike just seem to cut me right in half, exactly where I shouldn't be :shock:

Cheers all.


It depends on the jeans. I've been commuting 20 miles a day in these http://www.decathlon.co.uk/mens-climbin ... 75777.html - comfortable stretchy lightweight denim; and very important for a man of my age: a comfortable elasticated waist. I love them so much I have three pair.
by ArMoRothair
26 Apr 2016, 9:52pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Casual cycle clothes
Replies: 19
Views: 2286

Re: Casual cycle clothes

meic wrote:To the shops, to visit friends, Audax or an 1100 mile camping tour of France, I wear these.

http://www.rohan.co.uk/mens-bargain-tra ... e=03598730

I used some elastic cord threaded inside the hem to keep the bottoms from getting overly intimate with the chain.
Both legs (not because I have a tandem but because it would look silly otherwise).

They dry out very rapidly and are quite windproof, which are the important things.


Also worth a look, for an amazing price http://www.decathlon.co.uk/arpenaz-50-m ... 41486.html
by ArMoRothair
24 Apr 2016, 7:02am
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: "Château la pompe?"
Replies: 6
Views: 670

Re: "Château la pompe?"

I always specify 'tap water, please', to avoid an expensive bottle of mineral water turning up, it also avoids the follow-on 'still or sparking?' question.

I've no embarrassment asking for it, and have never had a problem obtaining it.
by ArMoRothair
23 Apr 2016, 10:49am
Forum: On the road
Topic: Is this Justice for killing some one?
Replies: 21
Views: 1968

Re: Is this Justice for killing some one?

hatless wrote:But I also agree that driving bans are too short. Our culture seems to think that a driving ban is like being sent to Botany Bay, exclusion from society. Cyclists know that you can have a good life without a driving licence. The short bans reflect society's addiction to the car.


I agree. The driving licence is a licence, it's not a right. I think driving licences should automatically be revoked once the driver has caused a death, regardless of however accidental it was, or remorseful the driver is after the fact.

Don't we do the same with a gun licence?
by ArMoRothair
14 Apr 2016, 9:50pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: First time on a Boris bike.
Replies: 26
Views: 1819

Re: First time on a Boris bike.

Richard Fairhurst wrote:The biggest issue I have with Boris bikes is a result of their success - it's difficult to find one in the centre of town late at night when you want to cycle back to your hotel/station/whatever, presumably because everyone else is doing so.


I've given up using them for this reason. Town centre docking stations are full during the day. Finding somewhere to park your Boris Bike now takes longer than walking in the first place. I took one on a short hop last summer from Lower Regent's Street over to St Martin's Lane - the sort of short hop they are supposed to be ideal for - at Trafalgar Square I couldn't find an empty docking station. The smart phone app pointed me to Cambridge Circus being the nearest space, and only one space available. I headed there quickly as time was running out. When I arrived I discovered there was indeed one space but it was broken and wouldn't accept bikes. There was a queue of other Boris Bikers in the same boat. We checked the app again and headed to Soho Square in convoy. By the time I docked the bike I had a longer walk back to my destination than if I had walked in the first place.

My London short hop bike is now my Brompton, much more dependable.