Cycling UK Forum

Perhaps next week you could set out to get video of all the times that drivers of motor vehicles act responsibly around you. You could put together a ten minute video and stick it on YouTube as an educational film.

The following week you could put together a video advising other cyclists in your own neighbourhood where the quieter and safer routes are.

I think concentrating on the good aspects of cycling for a few weeks will do you good.

You could then put together a video of how bad infrastructure puts cyclists into conflict with cars: unnecessary road narrowing, pinch points, crap cycle lanes etc. This video could be sent to your county highways department. You could also send them a video of good cycling infrastructure in your area if you can find it. We've got some good stuff here in Watford that I want to hilight.

Excellent stuff!

Mark Tearle has created a Twitter List of UK participants. Let him know you've registered and he'll add you to the list (if you've got a twitter account that is)

http://twitter.com/#!/marktearle/uk30daysofbiking

Hi All,
Long time since I've posted here but I've been cycling nearly every day.

I'm just trying to rustle up support for a little project started by a couple of blokes in Minneapolis. It's called 30 Days of Biking. All you do is ride your bike every day in April and then share your adventures online. This is the third 30 Days of Biking (it ran in April and September last year). I took part in September and since then, cycling has become a bit of a habit. The more people we can get involved, the more 'non-cyclists' we're likely to attract. In a small way, we're also increasing safety for our fellow cyclists through the 'safety in numbers' effect. I've managed to recruit a few people who would normally only cycle once in a blue moon, so hopefully they'll get addicted too!

To quote from their website:

The only rule for 30 Days of Biking is that you bike every day for 30 days—around the block, 20 miles to work, whatever suits you—then share your adventures online. We believe biking enriches life, builds community, and preserves the Earth. This is the second year, and third round, of 30 Days of Biking!

More info here:
http://30daysofbiking.com
http://twitter.com/30daysofbiking

Cheers,
David

Hello All!

My short commute into work, along cycle paths in Watford, takes me over five pedestrian/cycle crossings - the type where you press a button, wait for the traffic lights to change to red, and then cross when the green man/bicycle is displayed.

Two of them cause the traffic lights to change immediately, which is great, but the other three have a delay on them that takes forever. In fact, most pedestrians/cyclists end up crossing before the lights have changed because the delay is so long. This is particularly unsafe at one set of lights where the crossing is on a corner where there is no hope of seeing/hearing coming traffic.

I was wondering if there was a reason for this delay - they're all simple crossings and aren't part of a set of traffic lights so I don't see why they don't just change immediately. What's the advantage?

Cheers,
David

If you're racing, then you should have worked out a suitable food and training regime by now involving carbs, sports drinks etc.

However, if it's for fun then I would recommend a good breakfast - perhaps cornflakes or muesli and plenty of water. Then after each 20 miles have the following:

20: Snickers and a fruit juice
40: Ham and cheese sandwich and a lemonade (with ice and lemon)
60: Cup of tea and a piece of cake (coffee and walnut is my favourite)
80: Packet of peanuts and a pint of lager
100: A good drink of water, shower, three course meal at a nice pub. Half a bottle of Pinot Grigio.

Tee hee!

In reality, you don't need that much food for a century ride if you're going to be doing it at an enjoyable pace. As has been said earlier - you'll be surprised at what the body can do - so if you're doing an enjoyable ride then have enjoyable food along the way too. Just make sure you have plenty of water with you. Feeling thirsty is one of the worst experiences you can have on a bike (speaking from bitter experience).

Each train station in Spain has a big yellow timetable of all train journeys leaving the station on that day. There is a little picture of a bike next to the journeys that allow bikes. I used the trains three times and didn't need to pack my bike up in a bag or anything.

Also, be aware that the trains aren't "roll-on" - there's usually three steep steps up to the carriage. It's best to get a train that starts and ends at a terminus as this will give you plenty of time to get the bike on/off the train. I arrived in Barcelona one morning, took the bike off the train, went back on to get my panniers and the doors shut behind me. The train continued on to the next station. It was the worse part of a disastrous evening, but it all came good in the end.

Yes, I agree with everything Tail End Charlie has said. That really is the best way, although I do need to have my map in a map holder on the bar bag so I can check where I am - my memory, alas, isn't so good and having it there right in front of me is a blessing.

I'm all in favour of providing showers at the workplace to promote cycling. I can work up a sweat just thinking about cycling so it was essential for me on the seven and then thirteen mile commute I had at my last two jobs.

It also benefits many others too such as runners, people wanting to go out straight after work, and anyone with a boiler that's on the blink. It's even come in handy when I've been working overnight and have just wanted to freshen up before driving home (when I was in the car).

So, I think yes, employers (where possible and especially offices) should provide showers to encourage people to cycle into work - probably cheaper than paying to relocate somebody four miles from the office to encourage cycling

Apparently, going down hill is harder than going up hill because there are no brakes on a unicycle (or so I was told by a unicyclist on one of this years L2B.)

I'll refer you to this post...

viewtopic.php?p=137596#p137596

I still stand by it (and for the record, the brakes worked in the wet too), but the disclaimer still stands too!

I am back at home in North Wales for christmas so I will ride the route and make some notes. Is there anything in particular you would like me to investigate?

Details of a trip I did in Europe with a fully loaded tourer:

Spain:
Granada to Almeria
3pm on a Monday (14/12/2009)
15 euros

There were four steps to haul the bike up in to the carriage. However, there was a special space for the bike and I was allocated a seat next to the bike. I actually got on the wrong carriage but it seems they have one of these areas near the doors on each carriage. You're actually supposed to hang the bike vertically from the front wheel - there was not much chance of me doing that so I left it standing up. It did stick out into the aisle a bit but it wasn't massively obstructive. The conductor didn't mind at all and none of the other passengers seemed to mind either.

They say on the website that the porters are not obliged to help you (Health and Safety???) but when trying to haul the bike off the train I did get some help from a legion of people who turned up to help a blind man off the train.

If it wasn't for the steps into the carriage the journey would have been without fault.

As an RSPB member I get a nice glossy magazine four times a year and free entry to most of its bird reserves. Personally, I'd prefer it if they redirected the money used to print my edition of Birds to fund the charity work that they do - campaigning, and buying and maintaining more reserves. I do not expect a service from them - I just want them to help the birds.

When I joined the CTC my expectations were much more different. I was hoping that by paying money annually I would get a service. I was hoping I would have access to a wealth of resources, namely the information sheets, but these are hopelessly out of date and I can only find them using a bit of Google trickery that I'm sure would be beyond the capability of many members. I also thought that I'd be able to join up with my local group, but they didn't get in contact with me and when I turned to their website the information on it was again out of date!

However, I also feel that CTC as an organisation represents my views towards cycling (especially recently with regards to safety in numbers, fill that hole etc) so I also want them to continue campaigning vigorously on my behalf.

If the proposal goes ahead, will the member benefits be improved to a level where I am satisfied (or more) with them? Will CTC still be able to campaign independently? And to campaign independently does CTC need to make as much money as possible or no more than is required?

Thanks for all the advice.

Having talked to another tourer who got stuck in Torremolinos trying to cycle south along the coast, I decided it would be best to head inland. I went from Tarifa to San Roque to Ronda to Antequera to Loja to Granada.

I decided I was stuck in Granada and took the train back to the coast (Almeria) - on the same day that most of central Spain got -14 degree temperatures and deep snow. That was lucky!

Since then I've gone from Almeria to Carboneras to Mazarrona to Murcia to Alicante. Decided to fly home for Christmas to see the family though. Staying in guest houses out of season is no fun really. I'd rather be camping, so roll on spring. At least it's the winter solstice tomorrow!

I love my Brooks B17 Special. It looks great and feels great. I attached it to the bike about three days before I set off on an extended tour. Took about two weeks to break in (I always carry a small tub of Vaseline with me when I travel but I haven't needed it since week two of my current tour).

Whenever I'm riding with other people I notice them squirming in their saddles even after just twenty miles or so. I no longer have this problem. I tell them to get a Brooks.

A good indication of how good the Brooks saddles are is this... Many people have posted mails on this forum with exactly the same question, but instead of rolling their eyes and saying "here we go again", people are quite happy to reply with their experience of their Brooks. That's a mark of quality if you ask me!