Search found 363 matches

by Jon Lucas
11 Apr 2023, 9:59pm
Forum: Helmets & helmet discussion
Topic: Random helmet-based abuse
Replies: 250
Views: 28758

Re: Random helmet-based abuse

mattheus wrote: 3 Apr 2023, 1:59pm I've had quite a few random people - some of them on bikes - shout at me about my bare head over the years. I thought it would give some balance to the "polite discussion" in the forum for us to list them.
Here is Saturday's, which was so bizarre+outoftheblue, I have to recount it ...

I was about 100 miles into a very soggy audax (very little rain, but the roads were mostly submerged). Once again I approached a small flood with caution, noting the oncoming cars. The 3rd driver wanted to let me through, but as I'd already stopped I waved him towards me.
As he cruised past in his 911, the only thing he shouted out the window was an angry
"WHERE'S YOUR HELMET?!?"

I was so surprised that I didn't respond! It was so odd, on a day when (almost) every driver seemed to realise how hazardous conditions were, and - perhaps without realising it - held a little respect for us daft souls choosing to ride through such chaos ...
I have had many experiences of random comments about not wearing a helmet, quite often from other passing cyclists, which I tend to just ignore.

But the strangest I had was many years ago when I was cycling quiet rural lanes in Carmarthenshire one summer evening, and passed an isolated house miles from any village. Two young children came out on their bikes as I passed (they were probably about 9 or 10 years old), one shouted something about me not wearing a helmet (cannot remember his precise words) and then they both followed me making surprisingly realistic police siren noises. In such a quiet area, with virtually no traffic on the lane, that I felt completely nonplussed. This continued until they fell away after about half a mile and a little later I reached the b&b I was staying in, still not quite believing that it had happened.
by Jon Lucas
11 Apr 2023, 9:43pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Looking for Shops (placename)
Replies: 38
Views: 4361

Re: Looking for Shops (placename)

Mike Sales wrote: 11 Apr 2023, 11:22am
Jon Lucas wrote: 11 Apr 2023, 9:43am It also happens to be on what I think is the most beautiful lane for cycling along in Britain.
I think that I have probably ridden every lane on Anglesey, so I would love to know which lane this is, please.
I might choose either of the lanes which lead to Point Lynas, or Carmel Head, the top corners of the island, but it is a very difficult choice.
I would agree that it would be a difficult choice, as Anglesey has many lovely lanes. I haven't cycled anywhere near all of them, so there may well be some much lovelier than the one I mentioned, but yet to be discovered by me, though I agree that the top corners of the island (which is the area I know least well) has some stunning scenery.

The lane I was referring to is the one that leads from Llandegfan village, which is where my partner was brought up, to the top of Baron's Hill, which itself leads steeply down to the south-western side of Beaumaris. This corner of Anglesey is well sheltered, so has a rich landscape sheltered from the prevailing winds, and is full of wildflowers at all times of the year. The lane starts in the village more as a road, but with fantastic views over the Menai Straits, overlooking Bangor pier, and across most of the Snowdonia range. It then becomes a lane, only wide enough for one vehicle, that goes through an intricate landscape of small lumpy green fields, rocky and boggy grassland, all full of gorse flowering away around the many rocks. The lane twists its way up and down small valleys and steep hills, so you feel you go past numerous different landscapes in its short length, with tall trees in its rich valleys and typical stunted trees on the boggy tops. Now and again, an overflowing stream will empty its way down the lane. Hardly any vehicles go along it, as there is a parallel alternative from Old Llandegfan that is a bit wider, so it can be enjoyed by pedestrians and cyclists without having to worry about traffic. .
by Jon Lucas
11 Apr 2023, 9:43am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Looking for Shops (placename)
Replies: 38
Views: 4361

Re: Looking for Shops (placename)

Shop in a place name is found only in the Celtic parts of the country, due no doubt to the different way that settlements developed there. In the Saxon and Viking parts of England, villages developed around a nucleus where all that was needed for the village to function were, so villages tended to be named from landscape features that locate them rather than a specific function. In the Celtic areas, settlement took place along trackways as more isolated farms rather than as nucleated villages, with modern villages being a later development. So a village shop may often have been in an isolated position along a trackway, sometimes some distance from the nearest village, serving the farms around it, and thus would have acquired its own name, which would have included Shop.

In Wales shop is found as 'siop', not in place names but as building names in isolated positions. Where my partner grew up in Anglesey, there is an isolated house a mile outside the modern village, that has the name Siop-y-Lon (the shop on the lane), which has always fascinated me precisely because it is so isolated from any other population. It also happens to be on what I think is the most beautiful lane for cycling along in Britain.
by Jon Lucas
10 Apr 2023, 2:09pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: No Corran ferry for a while
Replies: 5
Views: 680

Re: No Corran ferry for a while

There used to be a small foot ferry that crossed directly from Fort William to the opposite bank. Does that still operate? If so, it would at least cut down 16 miles (8 to the end of the loch and 8 back) that a cyclist needed to divert onto, although it wouldn't help with avoiding the very busy main road into Fort William..
by Jon Lucas
7 Apr 2023, 9:16am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Newbury to Bath Route
Replies: 20
Views: 1230

Re: Newbury to Bath Route

Although I have ridden the whole way between Bath and Newbury, I only really know the Bath end well enough to comment on. From Trowbridge your route to Westwood is good. From there, be aware that the route down and up through Freshford to Limpley Stoke is very hilly, and the track at Monkton Combe (which is part of the NCN route) that takes you to the lanes which lead you to the Two Tunnels Path is one of the worst conditioned tracks I know, and leads you to a very steep and narrow path in the school grounds that you have to walk up (it has a barrier at the top which cannot be ridden past). The lanes themselves are absolutely lovely, as is Freshford and the area around it, but if you are getting tired at the end of the ride, I might be tempted to take an alternative to reach the Two Tunnels path. One is to follow Midford Lane west from Freshford to reach Midford village, where you have 200 yards of main road before turning right into the pub car park to reach the Two Tunnels path (probably best walked unless you are very confident as the right turn after the pub has poor visibility). Another, if you don't mind cycling along the B road, which can be busy, is to avoid Freshford altogether and take the lane from Westwood to Hinton Charterhouse, and then cycle along the B road (half a mile up and flat and then one mile downhill with stunning views) into Midford.
by Jon Lucas
4 Apr 2023, 4:04pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: warmshowers
Replies: 17
Views: 3529

Re: warmshowers

That's very odd, and unusual. In all the years we have hosted, we have never had anyone try to turn up in a car, and obviously they shouldn't be (unless they are about to start a cycle tour and have got to the start by driving). And while everyone is different, we've never had a bad experience like that, the worst being the occasional person who doesn't show up.
by Jon Lucas
2 Apr 2023, 11:17am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: North Coast 500
Replies: 51
Views: 3541

Re: North Coast 500

I cycled around what has become this route about 20 years ago, and then it was absolutely fantastic - magnificent scenery and very quiet roads. I wouldn't return now, advertising it in this way will have ruined the area, as I've heard from various people who have gone up there to do it themselves (by bike and also ironically from those driving, who have complained about how many others are doing the same!). The peace and quiet is what made it stand out so much for me, you could just stop and enjoy the mountain scenery and sheer emptiness.
by Jon Lucas
2 Apr 2023, 11:10am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: warmshowers
Replies: 17
Views: 3529

Re: warmshowers

al_yrpal wrote: 25 Mar 2023, 10:43am We have a large garden and an annexe with a sofa bed. Downstairs toilet and shower upstairs in the house. Shop and pub and Sustrans route 3 to the West Country within 50 metres. Panniered cyclists pass many times a day. I havent toured for a couple of years but we both like meeting people.

Interested to hear peoples experience of hosting?

Al
You sound like an ideal host.

We have been Warm Showers hosts for about 12-15 years, and probably host about 20 overnights a year, so have hosted hundreds of cyclists. It has been almost all very good and enjoyable. We have one spare room plus room for one tent on our lawn, and did once host two different groups on the same day - one single cyclist in the room and then were contacted by a family who needed somewhere that night, and they camped. We always cook an evening meal for them and give them breakfast, obviously all without charge, but we get the benefit of enjoying their company and hearing their cycling tales. We probably get at least twice the number of requests, and have to turn down half, mostly because we are not available on the days they request, or are very busy then.

Most of our visitors come from abroad, probably just a couple each year from Britain (but as you are on Lejog it might be different for you). As we are in Bath we do get a lot of requests, mostly in the summer when it can become a bit too much, but we have learnt to not over commit. Most visitors are doing quite long tours, some very long - the longest was a French man who was at the end of his 2 year round the world trip. Some are doing shorter outings, and very occasionally maybe just a day out and want somewhere to stay at the end of it.

We have met some fascinating people, some of whom have kept in contact. Many are obviously very experienced cycle tourists (one American had cycled in well over half the countries of the world), but sometimes you can get people who have never cycle toured before, and last year we had one woman who had hardly ever ridden a bike before and was doing about 10 miles a day (and getting lost every day as she couldn't map read, and had let down the previous host by failing to find their home - they ended up late at night driving out to pick her up from some distance away).

We have probably had visitors from about 30 countries altogether - we haven't kept a record which is a bit of a shame - mainly European or American, but occasionally from further afield. One of my favourites was the woman who on her request said she was the Mexican Brompton racing champion. As Brompton riders ourselves we were intrigued, as I couldn't imagine there being more than about 3 Brompton riders there. It turns out Brompton riding is a big thing in Mexico City, and she was indeed the racing champion, something we definitely learnt when we accompanied her cycling to Bristol, and found that she could ride more than twice as fast as we could. She was heading for Land's End and then back to Sussex, all in one week, to take part in the World Championships there.
by Jon Lucas
29 Jan 2023, 11:38am
Forum: On the road
Topic: "Chartbuster: cyclist rides 7,000 miles across every Ordnance Survey map"
Replies: 21
Views: 1857

Re: "Chartbuster: cyclist rides 7,000 miles across every Ordnance Survey map"

axel_knutt wrote: 28 Jan 2023, 9:08pm
Mike Sales wrote: 28 Jan 2023, 5:51pm
An architect with a love of cycling is aiming to ride to every lighthouse in mainland Britain to raise money for a charity founded by his late wife.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-64348031

If by mainland Britain he means omitting rock lights, which would involve wet tyres, this itinerary would still involve many cul de sacs, roads to headlands which might be avoided on another circuit. Mull of Kintyre for instance, or Ardnamurchan.
I bumped into a guy from Derbyshire cycling the whole coast of Britain on a Mercian, he was doing whichever road was closest to the coast, including dead ends.

I saw him at Woody's Top in 2005, then again in Cornwall the following year at Newquay, Tintagel, Elmscott & Lynton.
I don't suppose you know who he was? I rode the whole coast in those years (2004-6) but it wasn't me, but I did ride down every dead-end road to the coast, and can attest that there are a lot of them! (and most are very hilly). Woody's Top is a bit off the coast though, presumably he was taking a break then, or just couldn't find anywhere nearer to stay?
by Jon Lucas
29 Jan 2023, 11:33am
Forum: On the road
Topic: "Chartbuster: cyclist rides 7,000 miles across every Ordnance Survey map"
Replies: 21
Views: 1857

Re: "Chartbuster: cyclist rides 7,000 miles across every Ordnance Survey map"

ChrisButch wrote: 26 Jan 2023, 3:56pm
Cugel wrote: 26 Jan 2023, 12:56pm I once gawped at a TV arts programme that included some stuff about the bloke who did "an installation" (if that's the right terminology) by walking in a dead straight line drawn on a map from an A to a B, ignoring the roads, paths and so forth unless they happened to lie on the line.
Cugel
As above, probably Richard Long (A Line Made by Walking)
However, Nicholas Crane's Two Degrees West describes a north-south walk across Britain following a line 2° W of the meridian
Nicholas Crane's book is wonderful and completely bonkers at the same time. He refuses to leave the line to get essentials, and attempts to cross reservoirs and MoD land when it lies on the line.
by Jon Lucas
3 Nov 2022, 9:43am
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: WATCH BBC 1 tonight @8pm panorama
Replies: 48
Views: 4229

Re: WATCH BBC 1 tonight @8pm panorama

simonhill wrote: 3 Nov 2022, 9:26am Not sure I'll bother dragging it off the iPlayer after all these comments.

I heard about it as a news item on my newsfeed and it mainly mentioned some driver survey stats. One was that a majority of drivers didn't think bikes should be on the road. Then again, if asked they'd probably say no HGVs during the day; no over 70s; no learners in busy times; in fact anything that would slow them down.

If they want bikes off the road I want cars off the pavements. It would be gridlock where I live as many of our roads aren't wide enough for double parking.
I didn't see the programme but heard the news story early yesterday on the radio. Apart from the statistic quoted above, it also quoted that one quarter of drivers admitted to deliberately driving closer to a cyclist as they passed, which accords with my recent experiences.
by Jon Lucas
26 Aug 2022, 6:05pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Why do people hate Cyclists?
Replies: 140
Views: 7209

Re: Why do people hate Cyclists?

One group of people who have not been mentioned here are the elderly and disabled. There are some people within these groups who certainly fear cyclists, and for some this becomes a hatred of cyclists generally.

I lead health walks for people who wish to improve their health through exercise. Most of these people are elderly (over 70 generally) and most are not that confident on their feet or have specific disabilities, and appreciate walking within a group of similar minded people.

Many of our walks will include paths that are shared with cyclists. They also take place on paths that are not formally shared, but which some cyclists do choose to use.

Although all the walkers know I am an ardent cyclist, whenever a cyclist is met with, however they behave, the conversation invariably goes into their fears of cyclists, and beyond that.

We do all need to be aware of how some elderly and disabled people see us, based on their perception of their experiences with cyclists whilst going out and about.
by Jon Lucas
19 Aug 2022, 5:01pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Deviock Cornwall?
Replies: 36
Views: 1686

Re: Deviock Cornwall?

Mick F wrote: 19 Aug 2022, 4:11pm Isn't it wonderful to be known eh? :D
Well remembered!

I bet you haven't seen this one from North Wales in the early 50s of me.
I was born there.
What, you were born on the mountainside? I'm sure Ysbyty Gwynedd would have taken you in. :o
by Jon Lucas
15 Aug 2022, 10:40am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Deviock Cornwall?
Replies: 36
Views: 1686

Re: Deviock Cornwall?

What struck me about the picture, apart from it looking more like Hampshire than Cornwall, was the lack of hills. You just wouldn't see any view like that in Cornwall without large hills rising up immediately behind (that would certainly be the case in Hessenford).

My uneducated guess is that someone has cycled through Deviock, thought it was lovely, and got home and decided to try to sketch it from memory, getting some details wrong (such as the church) and missing out other details completely, such as intermediate buildings and hills.

Either that or they were completely lost, which wouldn't really make any sense at all.
by Jon Lucas
14 Aug 2022, 9:32pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Lowestoft - Ardnamurchan: anyone done the full east-west?
Replies: 27
Views: 2882

Re: Lowestoft - Ardnamurchan: anyone done the full east-west?

Slowroad wrote: 14 Aug 2022, 8:44pm Ooh, now there's an idea! I like that far more than LEJOG. Is there a recommdended route?
I doubt it.

I suspect the most important bit to decide on first is whether to head up the east side of Scotland and then across, or to head across Galloway and make for either Arran-Kintyre or to Bute-Cowal and make your way north from either of them.