Cycling UK Forum

hubgearfreak wrote:... what defines an ordinary? ...

I assume that this is the name because once it was the standard, or ordinary design of bike. When the new-fangled safety bikes came along with rear wheel drive and two wheels the same size, the old stuff had to be called something and it might just as easily have been 'the common or garden.' I suppose the name ordinary stuck (in CTC circles at least) because CTC BOFs objected to penny farthing, used by 99.99% of the population.

I can't imagine here was any sort of verification of the original ride just the stiff upper lip and you are only cheating youself if you say you did it when you didn't. On that basis somebody could now use any old bike they liked - the more ordinary the better I suppose. But unless they rode something pretty similar to a 19C original, all the BOFs would point out that in those days LBS meant local blacksmith etc.... A hiding to nothing.

IMO the shabby thing the UCI did was to define bike specification retrospectively in such a way that the hour record reverted to Eddy Mercx. They might just as well have said you can ride any bike you like so long as you are Eddy Mercx.

Ben Lovejoy wrote:

thirdcrank wrote:No back-up. No mobile for sending for help or doing anything else such as contacting the Tourist Information Centre - which didn't exist anyway.

GPS units were also pretty crude in those days: the satellites were made from wood and had to be towed into orbit by oxen.

and no Mick F to help him plan the route and escort him through Cornwall!!!

pwillis wrote:

Ben Lovejoy wrote:

thirdcrank wrote:No back-up. No mobile for sending for help or doing anything else such as contacting the Tourist Information Centre - which didn't exist anyway.

GPS units were also pretty crude in those days: the satellites were made from wood and had to be towed into orbit by oxen.

and no Mick F to help him plan the route and escort him through Cornwall!!!

I think you'll find he was!

Mick F was instrumental in the design of the ordinary so I hear, having done LEJOG in 9 days on a velocipede Mick came to the conclusion that having a crank powering a large wheel might be better. He mentioned this over a pint one Sunday afternoon to a one 'James Starley' - or 'Starles' has Mick affecionately knew him. After a brief 6 month tour of the colonies on the ironclad HMS Vanguard, Mick was apparently startled to discover on his return that his old chum had pipped him at the post and built his first ordinary!
Mick then witnessed his velocipede record destroyed by George's attempt first hand (although his memory plays up a bit these days) and although he had vowed never to ride "that infernal contraption" as an act of comradeship he took to helping End-to-Enders - a task he maintains until this very day!

Ben Lovejoy wrote:

thirdcrank wrote:No back-up. No mobile for sending for help or doing anything else such as contacting the Tourist Information Centre - which didn't exist anyway.

GPS units were also pretty crude in those days: the satellites were made from wood and had to be towed into orbit by oxen.

Ho ho!

Reading that made me choke on my Jerk Chicken lunch a little bit.

>;o)

Gazza

2Tubs wrote:

Ben Lovejoy wrote:GPS units were also pretty crude in those days: the satellites were made from wood and had to be towed into orbit by oxen.

Ho ho!

Reading that made me choke on my Jerk Chicken lunch a little bit.

>;o)

Gazza

That's not how we did it. The steam contraption to receive the directions was too big and could only be afforded by royalty.

No, what we did was make a 'lazy susan' type device from two bits of wood and nail it to your dashboard - then when you wanted to go somewhere (say Lands End) you'd simply tie a homing pigeon that lived there to it. From then on in you simply had to 'follow the beak' - so to speak.

You could get pigeons for most locations mail order from 'Hom Hom'.


[edit]
For the scientifically minded amongst you, I thought you might be interested in how the wooden GPS systems actually worked!

Basically they relied on quantum entanglement - even back then the concept of tying string to two bits of wood and 'entangling' them was well known - the behaviour of one would then affect the behaviour of the other.

Once you'd got your 'satellite' into orbit and the other bit on your dash you could do your navigation!

Sadly the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle severely limited the effectiveness of the system since it stated that due to uncertainty you could either 'know where you where' or 'know where you're going' but never both at the same time.

The system was accidentally destroyed not long after when someone accidentally un-entangled the system whilst doing up their laces.
[/edit]

Matlock teacher to have a crack at the record story here

130 years ago, that was the ideal physique for a cyclist. Things haven't changed much....

cheers

No wonder he's posing like that.
He has a spike up his bum.

possibly it is a Victorian idea of an 'anatomic saddle'....

cheers

If the teacher plans to ride 20 hours a day over 5 days that would nearly equate to an near average of 10MPH. I recognise that for a penny farthing that is probably a good speed, but I wonder if riding slower actually makes it easier.

If those of us who ride standard bikes attempting to average say 15 MPH for say a 125 mile ride in say 9+ hours slowed to average 10MPH over 12 hours for the same distance, would the end result in terms of covering the same ground actually result in not only making the ride 'bearable' but encourage doing the same distance the next day, and the next ...?

Good luck to Mr Thoday who seems like a nice chap. His bike looks to be made using modern materials and technology - especially the tyres - so it's not quite the same as some Victorian pioneer with iron rims on unmade roads. eg It would be interesting to know the difference in weight between a typical 19C ordinary and that modern version. I presume he'll also have a tad more support than used to be the case in those far off days.

I hope my first sentence doesn't sound sarcastic because I genuinely wish him well with this. It won't be easy. Think MickF riding his modified Chopper. The miles still have to be ridden.

thirdcrank wrote:Good luck to Mr Thoday who seems like a nice chap. His bike looks to be made using modern materials and technology - especially the tyres - so it's not quite the same as some Victorian pioneer with iron rims on unmade roads. eg It would be interesting to know the difference in weight between a typical 19C ordinary and that modern version. I presume he'll also have a tad more support than used to be the case in those far off days.

I hope my first sentence doesn't sound sarcastic because I genuinely wish him well with this. It won't be easy. Think MickF riding his modified Chopper. The miles still have to be ridden.

Indeed. Much like the hour record made moribund by insisting on a comparison to Merckx, it's pretty specious to insist on exact comparisons when the thing is to get out there and get the pedals turning. Chapeau for even thinking about having a go!

Pete.

When's he attempting it?
What route? No doubt major roads all the way.

Mick F wrote:No wonder he's posing like that.
He has a spike up his bum.

And a very impressive cod piece

Mick F wrote:When's he attempting it?
What route? No doubt major roads all the way.

More information here: https://www.facebook.com/pennyfarthingendtoend/

Start late July, major roads all the way based on Michel Broadwidth's route.

Richard has built the bike himself, but believe me, it still has substantial weight! He will have plenty of support, but as said, he still has to turn the pedals. The attempt is not recognised by the RRA, but there may be a Guinness record to be had - Richard is doing this for Children in Need and there is a link to the 'just giving' page from the Facebook page.

If anyone can do this, it's Richard. He's a thoroughly nice chap and any support would no doubt be welcomed.

Andy