Cycling UK Forum

Hi Rainbow,
I too am in a similar position but I think I have worked away around the issues!
I am hitting my mid-century this year and wanted to do something challenging and memorable. I last did any serious cycling 18 months ago when I cycled from London to Paris and then lost a lot of motivation to ride due to work and family pressures. Having got these back under control LEJOG beckoned.
Domestically:-
1) I found a cause that appealed to my wife - in the case the MS Society - a good friend of ours was diagnosed with this disease 15 months ago;
2) I agreed to limit my training to 3 times a week;
3) We both agreed that as I was hitting Hawaii (work it out) this was the time
4) There were two possible sets of dates and I chose the set that best suited family commitments

Work
I am also getting support from work - only moral support really!
1) Tell everyone what you are doing and why;
2) My Facethiong link appears on the bottom of my work emails;
3) So when I'm not around or answering email/phone calls everyone knows I am training
4) And I'm using Facething to keep everyone informed

On the training front the question was then how.
I was very comfortable on London to Paris - even the longest day (110 miles in 30c), despite my longest training ride being around 50 miles. I had also done a five day charity ride a good few years ago and handled that fine too so the day after day eat-ride-eat-sleep-repeat routine was fine. But 12 days of circa 100 miles day? So:-
1) I found a book :- http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Time-Starve ... B00BBADT1A ,read it and planned accordingly;
2) Current plans are for two short weekly rides and one long ride;
3) This last ride will get longer and longer;
4) The other two will become more intense - faster, pushing hills more etc…
5) I am running a 4 week training cycle: base-build-peak-drop back;
6) I have then a higher level plan that sets out the maximum distance ride I hit in a month;
7) Currently looking at hitting 100 miles in June and then doing 3x100 mile back to back days in July -
Keep it there and the event is the end of August

In summary:-
Communication is key
Have a plan, share it and stick to it as best you can
Get everyone to buy in to supporting you!
Good luck!

I prefer a mix. At the rear I use a flashing light (its combined with a BS compliant reflector) with a constant 'Fibre Flare' fitted to the offside rearmost arm of the rack. I swear that the 'Fibre Flare' makes all the difference when it comes to passing motorists!

On the front I run a 3 LED MTB light on mid intensity setting and constant. On my helmet I run a much smaller single LED set to flashing for areas with streetlights but when it comes to pitch black country roads I set it to constant. If its really murky or dark I can set both lights to maximum power and see a long way ahead. Oh and if its foggy the flashing helmet mounted front light comes into its own for being seen by other road users!

I doubt whether a policeman of any sort has sufficient educational experience for the role! It reads like a post masters or doctoral level research post (which are badly written). The need for a bike? Can't really do good research unless you experience the 'phenomenon' (cycling) at first hand! Sounds like a good post - also I suspect the retired coppers pension more than outweighs the salary for this!
Interesting to see what the results will be...

Whats the legality / insurance position on this one.
Cumbria: Sunday. I'm driving my two sons to a great fishing spot via a spot of lunch. Two cyclists (one male, one female) pull out from a side road in front of me - no problem.
The road is narrow, uphill and there is a blind corner at the top of the hill. I'm leaving plenty of room behind them and I'm in no rush. They furiously flag me past. I look at the road and think, no, unsafe, too risky. I wait, no revving, no rush, plenty of room.

The other side of the hill. I can see at least half a mile and pull safely past the cyclists leaving plenty of room - at least 1.5 metresnroom, drivers side wheels practically on the verge. I get a furious head shaking from both cyclists as if to say 'you idiot'. What did I do wrong? Surely its my risk to (over)take, my insurance if I have an accident?

Thanks for this. I will bear this in mind. Within the last few hours, these two individuals have been roaring past (no lights either) around the blind corner where they nearly hit me. As this corner is where my wife, children and I drive or cycle away from our house, this is now a more serious issue as they are neither taxed nor insured and are almost certainly underage drivers too. I will check with the boss, but it looks like I will have to inform the local police. I have no wish to be hit by or hit an any road user and these two are certainly increasing the chances of an accident.

Hi,
An unusual question this. Today, whilst observing my two sons enjoying cycling a quiet cul de sac , I was 'near missed' twice by a youth on a very powerful electric scooter (he used the footpath behind me). I remonstrated with him and having had no intelligible response said I would call the local police (non emergency number) to register the incident. Well the youths parent soon had a go complaining about my sons cycling and said that the scooter was the same as a push bike or pedelec. They said the maximum top speed was 15mph, enough to be lethal to a pedestrian I said. We parted on poor terms, but the father did apologise for what his son had done.

What is the legal situation with these machines? At that speed I would have thought they needed VED and insurance as well as a drivers licence. Am I correct?

You survived unscathed I guess! That's good news!

Next time you might have a broken arm or be knocked under his rear wheels. What then?

Report it. You might just save someone else's life!

Hmm. Interesting. The evidence (and by that I mean proper scientific evidence) is a little thin here. The physiology of eye movement is well understood: I understand that Premiership football clubs do try to train their players to compensate for this by engaging in proper environment scanning. Hence the occasional 'how did they see that player?' type pass... but note it takes training.

My recollection is that the effectiveness of flashing lights (based on DfT tests) was weak. It was not clear that motorists or pedestrians could better distinguish a flashing light from a constant one.

Are the military any better at training? The evidence is less clear than one might think. Near misses and collisions do happen. Two Tornados collided off Scotland earlier this year? The behaviour of former military pilots when flying airliners has been problematic in the past - they tend to engage in solo problem resolution and not communication with their flight deck colleagues. Old habits die hard.

Are the military better at accident investigations? Again the record is mixed. The pilots of a Chinook helicopter en route from Northern Ireland that ploughed into a hillside in Scotland killing 22 anti-terrorism officers (could be wrong on the number) were blamed for many years. They were exonerated posthumously after a long campaign by their families.

Whilst the advice is useful (but remember its limitations), its time to remember the bigger point. We have a driving test that was conceived in 1935 dealing with 21st century driving conditions. The nearest analogy I can think of is called 'practical drift' - an idea developed by Scott Snook in 'Friendly Fire: The Accidental Shootdown of U.S. Black Hawks over Northern Iraq'. Practical drift is the slow, steady uncoupling of practice from written procedure. Sound familiar? At many levels? Driver behaviour? The driving test? The law? Police investigations?

Its time to put driving in its proper place - a proper role with minimum levels of physical performance day or night with skills that need to be regularly refreshed and reviewed. A mid 20th century driving test just doesn't cut it any more.

I too have had this problem with A Specialized Rockhopper with fluid operated discs. It was nigh on impossible to get clearance between the fixed pad and the disc on the wheel if I had taken the wheel out. However, what I knew was that before I had taken the wheel out there was clearance so there had to be a solution. Given the sub-millimetric clearances involved, I found the solution lay with the quick release. It needs to be properly bedded in. And it must be done up no tighter than the original installation. Any tighter and the forces are sufficient to move the parts of the frame that support the callipers inwards thus eliminating the minimal clearances. Since then I have always been able to take the wheel out, replace inner tubes or tyres and if the clearances were poor, then backing off the QR an 1/8th of a turn would do the trick.

Oh and cleaning the pad to get rid of dust also helps - there is often a great deal stuck in the calliper so removing it makes for an easier fit.
Good luck!

Dear All,
I had not realized I would stir up such a hornets nest of passion!

Just to clarify a couple of things. I too have an engineering degree from the days when it meant something, but I worked on far larger scales - skyscrapers and the like, so I appreciate the comments. But....
1) The bolts lost have been from the outboard end of the mudguards and they were nyloc nuts. I was somewhat surprised too, but that was the reason for the query;
2) Grease can be a strange material. I recall one charity bike ride overseas when I had to dissemble my bike and the pedals would not come off with my allen key. I called for the bike mechanic who had a pedal wrench and after much swearing and popping of veins out of the forehead they came off. He thought I had used Loctite - I hadn't. The grease had dried hard!

Anyway, thanks for the advice - I will Loctite the mudguard bolts but nothing else!

I am not thinking of component bolts as such, but what I would term as 'accessory' bolts. These cover bottle holders (lost a few bolts from those), mudguard bolts and rack bolts. I would not consider using such material elsewhere (I use a torque wrench and the manufacturers instructions)!

This is a stupid question. But as a keen cyclist with no access to cycling clubs (who would know), I thought this forum would be the best place to find out!
I have read and heard much about the use of Loctite to secure bolts and nuts.
A trip around my local DIY emporium revealed various versions of Loctite.
What type of Loctite is everyone referring to?

Delighted you got away relatively unscathed. Better a cracked hat than a cracked skull...

And don't slow down, for as George Bernard Shaw said "Use your health even to the point of wearing it out. That is what it is for.'

If you can do it, do it!

Thanks Graham and Alpgirl. I was hoping to give the kit to a charity that helps riders from less advantaged backgrounds either here or overseas. I will see what else gets posted before I decide what to do (and I am in Keswick every 2 months or so, so Oxfam there is an option!). Keep the suggestions coming please!

I have a Ridgeback Attache which I use for various rides (pubs, car servicing, getting about London when I have to visit). My view is its a re-badged Dahon. It comes with a rack and mine came with a bike bag for storage / transport when its folded. Its a comfortable ride and with 7 hub gears has a goodly spread of gears that can cope with most things. It is not the quickest thing to fold, but I have now got it down to a fine art - about 90 seconds. Its a bit over your budget but you won't need to buy a rack. My rides on it are around 3-4 miles maximum and I ride in ordinary clothes so the soft, well padded saddle is fine. I know saddles are a personal thing, but I would probably fit a more rigid saddle if I was commuting 12 miles twice a day!