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Re: Introductions - tell us about yourself
Posted: 21 Oct 2017, 4:20pm
by ThePinkOne
Hello (again).
I'm back- sort of. Been a "difficult" year. Illness, serious work stress (of the kind that makes you very unwell and deeply unhappy) and excessive hours, then redundancy then starting my own business and finally getting some income coming in again. Then trying to get my health back.....
I've probably inadvertently offended some people and put my foot in stuff when going through all that- my autistic traits (the "disability" bits) are much harder to cope with when things are like that, and I cannot always figure out how to do stuff or interact at that point.
On the positive side, I have found a new slower and kinder life-balance, and I have found out who the good people are.
Sleeping enough is good, and getting a share in an allotment plot was a real help. The bikes are out again, and some projects I started but lost heart with last year are finished or back up and running. The back garden has been overhauled and a pond put in, and following a lot of digging, I even got a late crop of peas and lettuces off the allotment. Digging is very therapeutic, as is the cycle ride to and from the allotment.
Does "re-introduction" count in this section....?
Hope so.
TPO
Re: Introductions - tell us about yourself
Posted: 28 Oct 2017, 7:25pm
by PumpLegatoo
Hello All; got off to a bad start with my first posting earlier this eve so hopefully more success this time. I've got three bikes, a mountain, a tourer and a carbon racer all used regularly depending on what I need to carry and/or the weather. I ride most days and all weathers - I use my bikes for work cos my office is now in centre of town and parking is not free (win, win!). Looking forward to exchanges here although I shall be wary of making any recommendations or suggestions which involve a brand name!
Re: Introductions - tell us about yourself
Posted: 14 Nov 2017, 11:27am
by Ken Johnson
Hello all
A new member from Cambridge disabled bought a Brompton folder to try and keep active not a good idear I laid the bike up and after a long while decided to sell. opened a Gumtree account and placed a for sale and 24 hours later was band? There replies was so many are being stolen I thought I would let this forum know they are trying to stop theives selling on there I am a 69 year old that has never stolen a bike.and if they wanted the bike serial number that could have been photographed and placed on there site would not have been a problem. Wish you all well and envy you on your cycles.
Best Wishes Ken Johnson
Re: Introductions - tell us about yourself
Posted: 15 Nov 2017, 11:04am
by Pastychomper
Greetings all!
I am (or was) a long-time cyclist who's getting back on the saddle after a break of several years. I'm basically a tourer and commuter. I also love camping and wild walks but never got into offroading because my 15-stone-plus-tax tends to break enough bikes just on the roads.
I first started to get serious in the '90s when I became old enough (I'd always been daft enough) to do the Derby - Sheffield run to visit a friend. I used to dress in purple tie-died trousers and the loudest shirt I could find, on the theory that if the worst happened, no car driver would ever stand up in court and say they hadn't seen me, and head up the A38 & A61.
My favourite bike so far was a large-frame Raleigh racer. Actually I went through two of them then switched to a Dawes Kalihari, which I eventually retired when I unofficially gave up cycling (for various reasons) a few years ago.
Recently I've been in training, trying to regain some stamina and have been given a generic "mountain"bike that's a bit small for me, but in good enough order after a few tweaks, and I've started using it harden up my sitting apparatus. I now live about 50 miles from John O'Groats and my goal is to become fit enough to do some serious miles on the Highland roads, then upgrade my wheels and catch up on some wild camping.
Re: Introductions - tell us about yourself
Posted: 3 Dec 2017, 7:48pm
by Onyourbike.wales
Greeting to one and all,
Just signed up with a view to gleaning advice and info on my forthcoming two-month cycling trip from Sweden back to the UK.
I've toured within the UK to date and do a bit of Mountain bike bike-packing as well as touring.
My trip begins in June 2018 where I plan to cycle from Umea Sweden to Dals Ed for a few days canoeing, then down to Amsterdam and through France back to the UK.
As with these things, my plans are fluid and change constantly in the planning stage but the first month will be wild camping and then a mixture of Wild Camps, Camp Sites and maybe even the odd Yurt thrown in.
Re: Introductions - tell us about yourself
Posted: 12 Dec 2017, 11:30pm
by OnYaBike1979
Hi everyone
New to the forum just saying hello.
Re: Introductions - tell us about yourself
Posted: 19 Dec 2017, 4:46pm
by citrojim
Hi All, name's Jim...
Just joined. Been a keen cyclist for ages - mainly sportives, pleasure and commuting... Hardly a day goes by when I don't cycle...
Also a keen distance runner and swimmer. A Triathlon is on the list of things to do one of these days...
Keen now to do some Audax and longer distance stuff. I will be cycling to Amsterdam in June 2018 but before that I plan a four day ride from Milton Keynes to my birthplace in Somerset and back...
Also very keen to get involved with local groups in the Milton Keynes area...
Re: Introductions - tell us about yourself
Posted: 10 Jan 2018, 11:30pm
by Bikes`n`guns
Ahoy
Name is Mark. 50 yrs young and been a roadie since I was 14.
Just had a Rourke 853 built so will stick a photie up.
Live S.E of Edinburgh so am a hard as hell bad weather, hill climbing animal.
That last part may only be partly true.
hello....
Posted: 23 Jan 2018, 11:13pm
by cyclemad
hello, new to the forum...mainly been a mountain biker for many years but caught the road cycling bug about 5 years ago.....loving it too.
looking forward to chatting with many of you
Re: hello....
Posted: 24 Jan 2018, 8:26am
by eileithyia
Hello and welcome ... waves
Re: hello....
Posted: 24 Jan 2018, 1:25pm
by Spinners
cyclemad wrote:mainly been a mountain biker for many years but caught the road cycling bug...
Same as me but about 25 years ago! Welcome.
hello
Posted: 24 Jan 2018, 9:04pm
by cyclemad
new to the forum so just saying hello
Re: hello
Posted: 25 Jan 2018, 10:39am
by LollyKat
Hallo and welcome! You'll find lots of useful information and inspiration here.
Happy cycling!
Re: Introductions - tell us about yourself
Posted: 25 Jan 2018, 12:57pm
by Cyril Haearn
redway_charley wrote:Hello everyone.
I'm Charley, 28yo. I live in Milton Keynes, but originally hail from Manchester. As well as being a railway station manager, I am a town councillor.
I was an avid cyclist (utility, MTBer, folding commuter) until I learnt to drive at 17. After that I just did infrequent leisure rides on the NCN and Trans Pennine Trail. Lately I've got back into the daily habit again and not looked back.
Cycle-wise I've done:
- four-fold increase in cycle parking at Milton Keynes Central (100 to 400 spaces)
- lobbied MKC Highways for footway and redway repairs to/from/around CMK - nearly 6km of new smooth, wide surfacing laid
- won a national award for Leighton Buzzard after spending £51k to triple cycle parking (only from 24 to 64!) and provide free air pump
- modal share of cycle to LBZ station was at 20% - and still rising
- achieved funding for replacement wayfinding throughout CMK - to be installed this Autumn
- promoted Cycle2Work with colleagues and secured dedicated staff parking to free up spaces for customers, converted first-time cyclists into daily riders
Still to achieve:
- getting the fleet to convince the ROSCO (who own the trains) to allow cycle stickers on the outside to show which set of doors have the tip-up area for bikes
- implementation of full (rather than partial) priority to pedestrians and cyclists in Central MK, to be then rolled out city-wide (to the estates)
- construction of an 'east-west' CMK redway, as part of NCN Route 51
- cycle hire scheme, with either full-size, pedelec or Brompton Dock (yet to decide!)
Anything changed in MK since 2012?
Re: Introductions - tell us about yourself
Posted: 25 Jan 2018, 1:36pm
by mjr
Cyril Haearn wrote:redway_charley wrote:I'm Charley, 28yo. I live in Milton Keynes, but originally hail from Manchester. As well as being a railway station manager, I am a town councillor. [...] Still to achieve:
- getting the fleet to convince the ROSCO (who own the trains) to allow cycle stickers on the outside to show which set of doors have the tip-up area for bikes
- implementation of full (rather than partial) priority to pedestrians and cyclists in Central MK, to be then rolled out city-wide (to the estates)
- construction of an 'east-west' CMK redway, as part of NCN Route 51
- cycle hire scheme, with either full-size, pedelec or Brompton Dock (yet to decide!)
Anything changed in MK since 2012?
Well, the cycle hire scheme has come to pass, as there's Santander Cycles MK.
I don't understand the east-west redway idea, as the H8 Redway connecting what's now NCR51 to Bedford/Cambridge with NCR51 towards Buckingham/Oxford was built before the mid-1990s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfJ3bLX-DLg - obvious improvements are possible and it's not currently labelled as NCR51 which instead goes on a Sustrans detour through the centre and mostly uses the older estate-level redways instead of the faster grid ones.
I've no idea whether there's more explicit priority (satellite pics make it look like the same old inconsistent generally-not mishmash that it's always been) and the new London Northwestern Railway's camouflage livery doesn't seem to have bike symbols on it anywhere.