Cycling UK Forum

I wish the Rally the best, but it will take time for it to recover from the lean years of the pandemic. I should also say that the days when a lot of local clubs riding to York at the weekend are probably over, unless I am very much mistaken. This is a pity.

My memories of the Rally go back to the early 1980s, but those days are gone. Things have changed beyond recognition. The trade (what's left of it) is no longer interested in having much of a presence at the Rally in the internet age. Again, it's a pity but change is part of life.

At least the Rally is still with us, despite Cycling UK. That's great to see and celebrate.

swagman wrote: ↑16 Dec 2023, 8:12pm A decent cycling infrastrusture needs to be put in place first in this country to get people out of their cars. Put that in, then cheaper commuting on bicycles will follow. The commuters will buy sensible bikes if they are available.
Without safe infrastructure Britain wont be going anywhere fast, and cycling will remain a niche hobby.

Agreed.

pwa wrote: ↑8 Jun 2024, 10:12am

Psamathe wrote: ↑8 Jun 2024, 9:56am

al_yrpal wrote: ↑8 Jun 2024, 9:28am I was surprised last night by the Green, SNP and LD candidates who all spoke well and somewhat better than Nigel. They must have garnered a bit of support for their parties.
...
Al

I'm uncertain about this (though didn't watch the debates). I wonder if most people attending/watching on TV might be those who are interested in politics and thus have probably already decided. Somebody can think candidate <x> spoke better than candidate <y> but if you don't agree with <x>'s party agenda you wont switch your vote.

Ian

I had the same thought myself. The minority interested enough to watch these debates are likely to be dominated by people who have already been thinking about the options, and have already made their minds up. The undecided are likely to be folk who don't engage with politics, and are very unlikely to watch debates. I don't watch them. I'd be more likely to watch Bangers and Cash or Pointless, if they were on at the same time. I find these debates to be farcical and annoying, and likely only to turn me off politics altogether.

On another matter, I'm very gratified to see Farage syphoning off Tory support, greatly helping Labour. Who says he does no good?

I prefer to watch the Star Trek Voyager repeats currently on Sky Mix- can't beat Seven of Nine..resistance is futile..

I am always sceptical about the phrase "beyond economic repair". Alarm bells begin to ring.

Although I'm not overly mechanically minded I do most routine bike servicing myself. I would love to do wheel building but I am time poor. That should change a few years hence when I retire (from paid employment that is). Roll on the trueing jig and dishing tool.

The skills are worth learning. I also do all my own computer maintenance. I've never costed how much I've saved over the years but it all adds up. Not to mention the satisfaction gained. It's like eating a really great meal, knowing you prepared and cooked it yourself.

If only I was better at home DIY...and unfortunately my sewing skills don't cut it.. which is a pity given the cost of cycling kit.

al_yrpal wrote: ↑25 May 2024, 12:39pm The only strategy for the Tories is to put the wind up voters about Labour. Mr Lammy is a prime target and if Dianne Abbot comes back into the fold she will be too. Angela Rayner as deputy is pretty scary. Starmer doesnt have a particularly good track record either with his support for Corbyn. But on the other side the Torys have an awful track record, whilst 70 not coming back is a great clearout it probably wont affect the florid faced dinosaurs.

Hung parliament coming up....?

Al

Angela Rayner is scary...if you're at the receiving end of her at PMQs, just watch her in action. A formidable opponent, not a lady to mix it with. Starmer needs to watch himself. Diane Abbot is near the end of her career, no threat to Starmer. Better to let her stand for her seat. Going for Corbyn has made him a martyr, not clever.

As for the Tories, there's that one about never interrupting your enemy when they're making a mistake.

Jdsk wrote: ↑25 May 2024, 11:18am

francovendee wrote: ↑25 May 2024, 8:53am Looking at TV coverage of the inquiry I wonder if anyone has sympathy for her when she's being questioned?

I have. I want to see due process in the inquiry, the compensation, and further processes but I don't derive any pleasure from seeing her suffer.

Jonathan

I couldn't watch it, it was nauseating. My sympathies are with the subpostmasters, and only the subpostmasters. Vennells was paid handsomely to do a job of work. The evidence suggests she did anything but. Ok Fujitsu are at fault but the people in IT there won't have been paid what she was, and they would have been vulnerable themselves.

Carlton green wrote: ↑23 May 2024, 9:59am

22nd May, 2024, 6:00 am

Labour has approximately 100 general election candidates left to publicly announce, LabourList can reveal, despite the party twice accelerating its selection process.

The fact around one in six Constituency Labour Parties has no candidate, dozens more have only been recently announced and some CLPs have felt left in the dark have all sparked controversy.

Many members have voiced their frustration, given the lack of a focal point for campaigning and attacks by the Lib Dems in what Labour has called its “non-battleground” seats.

https://labourlist.org/2024/05/labour-p ... und-seats/

I’d have thought that that rather played into Sunak’s hands …. there are going to be rather a lot of people wondering who to vote for and maybe without a Labour candidate. If Sunak had delayed that advantage might have escaped him - pretty smart for a drip.

It’s not so much that the Tories win elections, it’s that Labour loose them ….

Don't think the Tories are too well prepared given how many of their MPs have chosen not to stand this time. Rats deserting a sinking ship? Gove has bowed out now. That speaks volumes. What did the lookout on the Titanic say..."Iceberg dead ahead".

I'd laugh if the Tories were all but annihilated but Corbyn kept his seat. Given how inept Sunak seems to be who knows how bad it could get. Some Portillo moments are beckoning perhaps.

The thing that might save the Tories is our gerrymandered electoral system, as it favours certain areas eg rural ones. And don't forget older people are more likely to vote Tory. Wouldn't bet on those red wall targets all going red again, a lot of those old pit areas could vote blue, as they're quite rural and more upmarket now. And there was the Kinnock anticlimax in 1992 "all.....right!".

Last time there was Tory meltdown in 1997 I didn't stay up to watch it. But this time round I just might change my mind.

millimole wrote: ↑17 May 2024, 7:52pm

atoz wrote:

End of nostalgic post..

Surely this is a large part of the issue (I hesitate to say 'problem').

You and I could wax lyrical about the 'good old days' but we are not the Youth of the YHA name any longer.

Like it or not, but the world has moved on, and tramping from hostel to hostel on foot or awheel doesn't seem to appeal to much of the tiktok generation.
Working all God's hours and living over the shop as a warden wouldn't appeal to many (and would probably break most of the employment laws too).
Staying in drafty dorms on lumpy mattresses on creaking bunks in a fire-trap may have been fine when I was 17 but I'm not convinced many of today's youngsters would be back.

It's a different world - in many ways better, but something intangible has been lost. Accept it.

Actually fire regs in hostels are good.

I accept change, although it may not always be for the best. But don't be too quick to slag off the tik tok generation, we could learn a lot from them.

There's an interesting post and blog on this subject on the roadcc site https://road.cc/content/news/martin-por ... ast-308409

The timing of the legislation is no accident. Methinks there could be a general election a-coming. Just a wild guess but don't think cyclists are too popular in some quarters. See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cyxex5p7ylxo

I have happy memories of hostelling when I was a lot younger. Did quite a few cycle tours courtesy of the YHA. Sadly a lot of hostels have closed and arguably the YHA has lost it's way. The last time I used one was way back in 2007 on a week's Lake District jaunt, it was Helvellyn. So my memories are quite historic.

I date from a time when you had to do "duties" many years previous to my 2007 visit. That was to keep costs down. Wasn't an issue for me.

I rarely used big hostels such as Ambleside as both me and my late parents (who used to be life members) preferred the more basic hostels, which were often in great scenic locations and you could meet interesting people. And back then it wasn't unusual to be able to read back issues of Cycle touring (now Cycle magazine) in the common room.

End of nostalgic post..

Braceby wrote: ↑10 Apr 2024, 10:40am

al_yrpal wrote: ↑9 Apr 2024, 9:40am Just trying to remember any Socialist politician that rode a bike? Never seen Starmer, Rayner, Benn, Nandy, Brown or the Shadow Chancellor on two wheels? Dave and Boris set the standard.

For anti bike scruffy white van man takes some beating....

Al

A couple off the top of my head.
Corbyn was often mocked for riding a bike by the likes of the Mail and Express. Dennis Skinner was a lifelong cyclist, even a keen Time Trial rider in his younger days.

White van man is usually very right wing.

Agreed. I would also point out that some of the aforementioned Labour politicos could not be described as "Socialists" I mean, Starmer?- I love the way the s word started with a capital S in that post. Posted with feeling..

White van man also doesn't like male cyclists wearing pink..again, this is experience.

Cowsham wrote: ↑6 Apr 2024, 3:12pm

atoz wrote: ↑6 Apr 2024, 10:01am Cheap can be good. I have been using cheap Wilkinson cycle bells on my old bikes. They don't fit the bars but do fit quill handlebar stem. Paid around £1.50 each at the time. Recently acquired bell from LBS for the "best bike", cost was £5.99.

Sadly Wilkinson's are no more ..

My go to bell is now this from decathlon £4

Screenshot_20231126-213547_Chrome.jpg

Small, neat, has a nice positive action to it and a nice traditional gentle ting-tong to it -- harsh one ting bells I think annoy walkers at times -- they annoy me.

In my experience some can't hear bells. The Wilkinson cheapo bell is quite loud, but recently when using it on canal towpath got the classic "Where's your bell?" I'd just rung it! People of a certain age can be hard of hearing (and sometimes not so old). My parents hadn't a hope in hell of hearing a cycle bell when out walking, and freely admitted it. The voice can be more audible but it can go down badly. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

jgurney wrote: ↑6 Apr 2024, 10:44am

atoz wrote: ↑6 Apr 2024, 9:02am Hitler was not pro cycling, he preferred cars, after all that's when the autobahns started,

He was not opposed to cycling: the Hitler Youth purchased a fleet of bicycles and organised cycle-touring holidays for members. One such tour, to England in 1937, was suspected of being cover for future Nazi officers spying out the land. (See: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/ ... boy-scouts).

The autobahns (or kraftfahrstraßewere, 'motor roads' their earlier name) were a Weimar Republic idea, the first, from Koln to Bonn, being opened in 1932 before Hitler came to power. Hitler did keenly embrace the idea and was happy to have propaganda present them as a Nazi innovation.

As far as our right wing are concerned .... It's not surprising, some of them are bought and paid for by the petrochemical industries, construction, and the motoring lobbies. ..... Cycling is seen as green so instinctively many on the right are against it. It may not be logical but politics is often nothing to do with logic.

Quite so.

Interesting video on Hitler and cycling https://youtu.be/IHeQ364II1o?si=dtrWJnw084htxV9_

A free alternative is using Osmand (free offline mapping app) on your smartphone to record your rides. It will save in GPX Format. But if you get the paid for version it will connect with your ANT or Bluetooth sensors so you get more data. Cheaper option than Garmin or Wahoo but not tried it though.

Before I blew money on a Wahoo Bolt I used the free Osmand app for recording rides. The Bolt uses FIT files as recording format so is better for training data, heart rate etc but for basic logging Osmand does fine. I still use Osmand as additional mapping as the Bolt map display is quite small compared with your average smartphone.

See https://osmand.net/

Cheap can be good. I have been using cheap Wilkinson cycle bells on my old bikes. They don't fit the bars but do fit quill handlebar stem. Paid around £1.50 each at the time. Recently acquired bell from LBS for the "best bike", cost was £5.99.

Also have a cheapo Wilkinson rear light that can attach to D loops on ancient Carradice Nelson saddlebag. Around 15 years old now, good as supplementary backup rear light for winter bike and shopping trolley CB Dalesman.

Sadly Wilkinson's are no more ..