The age of bike

[Geriatrix]

He's not my politics but IMO this is a great article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/10039417/Follow-me-Im-doing-my-clanking-bit-to-speed-up-the-Age-of-the-Bike.html

He does make me wonder if he knows the difference between a tulip and a daffodil though

[Mr. Viking]

His cycling style sounds remarkably similar to mine. And is he not right about the tulips? I saw tulips walking home yesterday

[byegad]

Mad as a box of frogs, but good on him. I'd guess a certain inhabitant of Downing Street is hoping he'll get halfway round and not come back.

[Whippet]

At least Boris appears to put his money where his mouth is when it comes to cycling.

[7_lives_left]

At least Boris appears to put his money where his mouth is when it comes to cycling.

Disclaimer: I am not a fan of Boris.

Not his money, London Tax payer's money perhaps.
He is spending some of his political capital on cycling however.

I am also familiar with some of the places that he mentions on his route out of London which are worth visiting on a bike. I am not sure that I would have followed his exact route though. I would have checked the Transport fot London travel planning website first. I think he was trying to make a point about the A40/West Way being a cycling no go area. It is a bold move to steal back some of that road space and use it for bicycles.

Just a reminder, the West Way was the road near West Drayton where the RAF officer got rundown from behind by a Van about a year or so ago. There was a sucessful prosecution of the van driver.

[iviehoff]

And is he not right about the tulips? I saw tulips walking home yesterday

He said they are "still out". "Just out" is more like it, this bizarre spring. Its my daffodils that are "still out", though on their last legs after the warm weekend.

[661-Pete]

And is he not right about the tulips? I saw tulips walking home yesterday

How much had you had to drink? Or had you stumbled on the set of Day of the Triffids re-make?

BJ may have been right about the flora, but he exaggerates a bit about the geology:

Billions of years ago there were trillions of little sea creatures who all died and left their chalky skeletons in vast mounds around London. They are called the Chilterns, and they almost killed me.

It's millions, not billions, my dear Boris, chalk goes with the Cretaceous, the age of T. rex and that ilk, which ran from around 140 million to around 65 million years ago (as every schoolboy knows). And the 'little sea creatures' didn't actually pile up their skeletons in 'vast mounds' - they most likely bedded themselves down flat. It was later geological activity that created vast folds in the land, leading to the Chilterns, the North and South Downs that we know today. I lurnd this in Skule Jography as any fule kno.....

[661-Pete]

On a more serious note, is the great Boris expecting to do 100 miles in six hours? Or should that be 'kilometres'? An average of 17mph over 100 miles, especially in hilly terrain, is really pushing it, I couldn't have managed that even in my 20s. As for me now ....

[Mr. Viking]

On a more serious note, is the great Boris expecting to do 100 miles in six hours? Or should that be 'kilometres'? An average of 17mph over 100 miles, especially in hilly terrain, is really pushing it, I couldn't have managed that even in my 20s. As for me now ....

I wondered a bit about the speed, never having done any long distances myself I wasn't sure, but it did seem fast. Think I average about 10mph at most, but I don't cycle fast at all, unless it's downhill of course

[661-Pete]

I wondered a bit about the speed, never having done any long distances myself I wasn't sure, but it did seem fast. Think I average about 10mph at most, but I don't cycle fast at all, unless it's downhill of course

That's about my average too, nowadays. At your relatively youthful age, with a bit of training, you should be able to get yourself up to a respectable 'road' speed. But only if you want to ... no compulsion .

[Tigger]

Mad as a box of frogs, but good on him. I'd guess a certain inhabitant of Downing Street is hoping he'll get halfway round and not come back.

Wonder if he lives here...

Frogs Hall

Spotted today, by coincidence, after reading the first few posts of the thread!

[easyroller]

On a more serious note, is the great Boris expecting to do 100 miles in six hours? Or should that be 'kilometres'? An average of 17mph over 100 miles, especially in hilly terrain, is really pushing it, I couldn't have managed that even in my 20s. As for me now ....

I wondered a bit about the speed, never having done any long distances myself I wasn't sure, but it did seem fast. Think I average about 10mph at most, but I don't cycle fast at all, unless it's downhill of course

Had me wondering a bit too as that's quite some pace. Is Boris riding clean? Hehehe!

From the RideLondon website: "All participants will need to be able to finish the 100 miles within nine hours in order to finish safely in advance of the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic finish and ride safely within a large group."