Cycling UK Forum

This has really got me thinking and it has brought back early memories that I had completely forgotten about.

My first memory of riding a bike without stabilisers was on the hill outside my first home in Carlisle. I must have been 4 because we moved when I was about 5. My dad was at the top and mum at the bottom. He just let me go and off I went.
After that I always had a bike to get to school on and progressed from a blue and orange bike with solid tyres to a Raleigh Shopper. I loved that bike. Every Saturday I rode 15 miles to the stables, helped out all day and cycled the 15 miles home.

I stopped cycling once I left home at 17 and took it up again seriously after I destroyed my knee in a riding accident. I got told I would never play sport again and a year to the day of having surgery I came third in my first mountain bike race. Mountain biking came and went but I still have the bikes and then came touring. I have regularly toured for the past 10 years but having retired this year I have gone back to horse riding and am now the proud owner of a very beautiful German Westfalian pony.

Once the weather gets better I plan on cycling to the stables every day, it's only 10 miles and will keep me fit. Don't think I will ever give up cycling but I have to admit that I found this years tour harder than it used to be.

ukdodger wrote:I lugged my daughter to her school and back on one of those. Wood seat covered in thin black plastic with bent metal arms. Being a lunatic even at that age she would hammer my back with her hands shouting 'faster faster'..

Mini V used to push on my backside shouting at me to go faster, even if I was already going 20 mph.

During the late 60s in inner city Manchester there were two bike shops near our house. One was a
back-alley sort of place whilst the other was near to my primary school. Coming from a poor family
my parents could never afford to buy be a bike. A girl in my school who lived near me had a bike which
she let me ride (no further than the lampost down the road.

During the early 70s I can remember (black and white) footage of a european bike race on World of Sport.
I can remember wondering why all the cyclist followed each other in a snake-like fashion.

I bought my first (2nd hand) bike in 1978 for £5. It was a basic single speed bike with drop handlebars.
I kept it until I bought my first new bike in 1982 for £75 from Sale Cycles in Manchester. It was a 3 speed
straight handlebar bike with dynamo and front shopping basket. Kept it until 1984 when I sold it for £25
just before I joined the RAF.

As a toddler I used my brother's pedal car and had a scoot along toy of my own. I am told I wore the plastic wheels through on it.
I learnt to balance on two wheels on my 4th birthday and for an often clumsy child, I was a natural. I was restricted as to how far I was allowed to go on my little bike as there was a fairly steep hill not far from the house. A bit before I was 7 we moved to a modern house in a cul de sac and I was bought a 'proper bike', a Halfords Gemini 44 small wheel bike (a bit like a RSW).

For Christmas 1979 I was given a brand new Raleigh Arena bike (cost £86!).
I loved that bike and it seemed such a progression from the Gemini. I went over the handlebars when I was showboating; cycling really quickly through the housing estate I live(d) in and didn't raise the pedal fast enough as I went hammering in to a bend. Result: concussion and a suspected fractured skull. Even now, almost 35 years on I have no recollection of the accident. The first decent length ride I did was about 1980 on this bike and was from Swansea to Port Eynon on the Gower for a church camping trip.
Christmas 1982 brought a Viscount Sprint, a 12 speed touring bike, cost £136 (the Raleigh Arena was part exchanged for £36). As a then 13 year old I was fairly amazingly tall. The bike had a 25" frame. I think we were sold in to that on the basis of I would grow in to it. I'm not sure I ever did. I loved that bike and it felt so so grown up. I rode it lots and did a couple of longer rides on it. I remember aged 16 or so doing Penarth to Swansea. I kept it a surprisingly long time.
I passed my driving test in November 1986 and I guess that I was so excited to drive that I pretty much forgot about cycling. It probably carried on at a much lower level. I went away to Uni in south London and from 1988 to 1991 I probably didn't cycle at all.
I was persuaded to do the London to Brighton bike ride and started cycling again to get fit for it. I remember cycling around south London (Woolwich, Plumstead especially)
Sadly I don't remember what happened to the Viscount but I have very fond memories of it. At the time I did the London to Brighton ride there seemed to be a new type of cyclist; the mountain bikers. I remember pushing my bike up the latter half of Ditchling beacon whilst being amazed at a very big man determinedly slogging away on his MTB determined not to be beaten by the hill or people on racers and tourers. He pulled so hard on the handlebars that his stem snapped. I avoided MTBs until 2012 because of him!
1991 saw me return to south Wales and I bought a Raleigh Record Sprint. This was an amazing thing after the Viscount and it spurred me on to do some day rides. I think I used to manage Penarth-Southerndown return (56 miles) in 2h45m. A spell travelling in 1992 and part of 1993 got in the way of cycling which was compounded by a move to London in 1994.
I think I bought new bikes in 1994 and 2001 and managed not to ride them more than a couple of times.
I bought a Carrera TDf in 2007 determined to lose some weight and enjoyed a couple of rides. On one ride, I met my then partner at a local park but she had not kept the dog (a greyhound) under control and the dog bolted to meet me and I was left with my confidence shattered and some really bad aches and a fair few cuts.
About the same time I bought a folding bike on ebay so I could cycle to and from the station so I could stop driving 75 miles a day. The folder was awful and it never got ridden more than once or twice.
I started doing contract work in late 2007 and my daily commute rose to almost 150miles and cycling was forgotten altogether. In 2010 I moved to Rugby to cut my then 200 mile daily commute and shortly afterwards bought a Brompton M3L. This was a revelation as it was so good (comparatively) to ride and just so handy. Finding some friends to cycle with, I started to cycle for pleasure again. I began to find that I wasn't enjoying riding the Brompton as my mileage was increasing. One particular memory is that of cycling from Bridgend to Penarth with a friend who was in training for a triathlon. I was finding it very hard going but I still almost managed to pass someone on a time trial
In 2011 I moved back to south Wales and spent six months living in Travelodges in the week for work. The Brompton came into its own and saved me from madness.
I was spurred on to buy a Dawes Clubman which proved to be an amazing bike. For no reason other than n+1 I persuaded myself to buy a Kona hybrid as well. This was joined by a Specialized Hard Rock MTB.
I have since sold the Clubman and built a Croix de Fer frame up as an audax/light touring bike. The Kona was sold to a friend, who sold it back to me, then I sold it on to another friend and it was stolen recently I still have the Brompton and Hard Rock.
2012 had some training on Newport Velodrome
2013 saw me doing 2 night rides and I hope I can do the Dunwich Dynamo in 2014.
I love cycling and cycling culture and am doing my best to walk or cycle for shorter journeys. My car is a thirsty petrol sports car so it makes eco and financial sense even if people do seem astonished that I often prefer to cycle
I want to go cycle touring in 2014. I am hampered by chronic fatigue/ME and have not yet managed to cycle more than 200 miles in a summer week without needing to take to my bed for days to recover
N+1 is nagging away at me and I have spotted some decent deals on 2013 Raleigh SP Comp (carbon race bike)

Ooops, war and peace. sorry
Edited to include other people's photos of similar bikes

De Sisti wrote:During the late 60s in inner city Manchester there were two bike shops near our house. One was a
back-alley sort of place whilst the other was near to my primary school. Coming from a poor family
my parents could never afford to buy be a bike. A girl in my school who lived near me had a bike which
she let me ride (no further than the lampost down the road.

During the early 70s I can remember (black and white) footage of a european bike race on World of Sport.
I can remember wondering why all the cyclist followed each other in a snake-like fashion.

I bought my first (2nd hand) bike in 1978 for £5. It was a basic single speed bike with drop handlebars.
I kept it until I bought my first new bike in 1982 for £75 from Sale Cycles in Manchester. It was a 3 speed
straight handlebar bike with dynamo and front shopping basket. Kept it until 1984 when I sold it for £25
just before I joined the RAF.

If I remember right most bikes in those days were single speed. You either had a fixed wheel or a freewheel. Gears were for those who could afford classy bikes. The gears were either Simplex or Benelux. I only tried a fixed wheel once. My long trousers got caught between the chain and chainwheel ripping them up to my knee. My mother went spare. I also used to ride my bigger brothers Raleigh. It was so big and I so small I couldnt ride it sitting in the saddle. Each pedal stroke had me lunging from side to side. Also If you wanted to be really flash you'd turn the drop handlebars upside down.

Those were the days. There were four bikes shops within a mile of us. All small independent concerns. Everything was over the counter and not a blister pack in sight. Sweet bird of youth thou hast flown.

Claireysmurf wrote:As a toddler I used my brother's pedal car and had a scoot along toy of my own. I am told I wore the plastic wheels through on it.
I learnt to balance on two wheels on my 4th birthday and for an often clumsy child, I was a natural. I was restricted as to how far I was allowed to go on my little bike as there was a fairly steep hill not far from the house. A bit before I was 7 we moved to a modern house in a cul de sac and I was bought a 'proper bike', a Halfords Gemini 44 small wheel bike (a bit like a RSW).
For Christmas 1979 I was given a brand new Raleigh Arena bike (cost £86!). I loved that bike and it seemed such a progression from the Gemini. I went over the handlebars when I was showboating; cycling really quickly through the housing estate I live(d) in and didn't raise the pedal fast enough as I went hammering in to a bend. Result: concussion and a suspected fractured skull. Even now, almost 35 years on I have no recollection of the accident. The first decent length ride I did was about 1980 on this bike and was from Swansea to Port Eynon on the Gower for a church camping trip.
Christmas 1982 brought a Viscount Sprint, a 12 speed touring bike, cost £136 (the Raleigh Arena was part exchanged for £36). As a then 13 year old I was fairly amazingly tall. The bike had a 25" frame. I think we were sold in to that on the basis of I would grow in to it. I'm not sure I ever did. I loved that bike and it felt so so grown up. I rode it lots and did a couple of longer rides on it. I remember aged 16 or so doing Penarth to Swansea. I kept it a surprisingly long time.
I passed my driving test in November 1986 and I guess that I was so excited to drive that I pretty much forgot about cycling. It probably carried on at a much lower level. I went away to Uni in south London and from 1988 to 1991 I probably didn't cycle at all.
I was persuaded to do the London to Brighton bike ride and started cycling again to get fit for it. I remember cycling around south London (Woolwich, Plumstead especially)
Sadly I don't remember what happened to the Viscount but I have very fond memories of it. At the time I did the London to Brighton ride there seemed to be a new type of cyclist; the mountain bikers. I remember pushing my bike up the latter half of Ditchling beacon whilst being amazed at a very big man determinedly slogging away on his MTB determined not to be beaten by the hill or people on racers and tourers. He pulled so hard on the handlebars that his stem snapped. I avoided MTBs until 2012 because of him!
1991 saw me return to south Wales and I bought a Raleigh Record Sprint. This was an amazing thing after the Viscount and it spurred me on to do some day rides. I think I used to manage Penarth-Southerndown return (56 miles) in 2h45m. A spell travelling in 1992 and part of 1993 got in the way of cycling which was compounded by a move to London in 1994.
I think I bought new bikes in 1994 and 2001 and managed not to ride them more than a couple of times.
I bought a Carrera TDf in 2007 determined to lose some weight and enjoyed a couple of rides. On one ride, I met my then partner at a local park but she had not kept the dog (a greyhound) under control and the dog bolted to meet me and I was left with my confidence shattered and some really bad aches and a fair few cuts.
About the same time I bought a folding bike on ebay so I could cycle to and from the station so I could stop driving 75 miles a day. The folder was awful and it never got ridden more than once or twice.
I started doing contract work in late 2007 and my daily commute rose to almost 150miles and cycling was forgotten altogether. In 2010 I moved to Rugby to cut my then 200 mile daily commute and shortly afterwards bought a Brompton M3L. This was a revelation as it was so good (comparatively) to ride and just so handy. Finding some friends to cycle with, I started to cycle for pleasure again. I began to find that I wasn't enjoying riding the Brompton as my mileage was increasing. One particular memory is that of cycling from Bridgend to Penarth with a friend who was in training for a triathlon. I was finding it very hard going but I still almost managed to pass someone on a time trial
In 2011 I moved back to south Wales and spent six months living in Travelodges in the week for work. The Brompton came into its own and saved me from madness.
I was spurred on to buy a Dawes Clubman which proved to be an amazing bike. For no reason other than n+1 I persuaded myself to buy a Kona hybrid as well. This was joined by a Specialized Hard Rock MTB.
I have since sold the Clubman and built a Croix de Fer frame up as an audax/light touring bike. The Kona was sold to a friend, who sold it back to me, then I sold it on to another friend and it was stolen recently I still have the Brompton and Hard Rock.
2012 had some training on Newport Velodrome
2013 saw me doing 2 night rides and I hope I can do the Dunwich Dynamo in 2014.
I love cycling and cycling culture and am doing my best to walk or cycle for shorter journeys. My car is a thirsty petrol sports car so it makes eco and financial sense even if people do seem astonished that I often prefer to cycle
I want to go cycle touring in 2014. I am hampered by chronic fatigue/ME and have not yet managed to cycle more than 200 miles in a summer week without needing to take to my bed for days to recover
N+1 is nagging away at me and I have spotted some decent deals on 2013 Raleigh SP Comp (carbon race bike)

Ooops, war and peace. sorry

No not W&P Clairey. A fascinating insight into someone's cycling life. That was a good read. Shame you are afflicted with fatigue but you dont sound the sort to give up.

There's an interesting sub thread here on how someone, anyone, learns to ride a bike in the first place.

My two sons, ages four and five maybe, had a bike (I think only one between them at that stage) and wanted to learn to ride. The bike came with stabilisers but I had taken them off. The boys each used the stabilisers to create a lob sided trike, rather than as the manufacturers intended. They would clatter along, deliberately throwing themselves from the left hand stabiliser to the right and back. They were having fun, but they were getting no nearer to bicycling, as opposed to tricycling.

So I took them to the superannuated Norton airfield. There were narrow concrete paths through the field such that the learner, riding on the concrete, fell harmlessly on to grass. We practised away for some time. No progress at all. Each attempt ended in almost immediate collapse.

So we had our picnic. Lunch over, each child, one after the other, seized the bike and pedaled off into the distance without a wobble. I have a very vague notion that Zen Buddhism explains this experience, but it is a very vague notion indeed.

ukdodger wrote: Also If you wanted to be really flash you'd turn the drop handlebars upside down.

Or fit really wide cowhorns. Word from the wise, don't fit grips with washing up liquid as lube, or you will end up in a heap on the road when you try and honk up a hill in the rain when you're doing your paper round, when trying to look cool on your Raleigh Arena with cowhorn bars. at age 14.

Neilo wrote:

ukdodger wrote: Also If you wanted to be really flash you'd turn the drop handlebars upside down.

Or fit really wide cowhorns. Word from the wise, don't fit grips with washing up liquid as lube, or you will end up in a heap on the road when you try and honk up a hill in the rain when you're doing your paper round, when trying to look cool on your Raleigh Arena with cowhorn bars. at age 14.

I wouldnt mind betting that most of us did that. It's such a surprise when the grip comes off in your hand and your arm flies off to one side. All followed by a sickening wobble, crutch hitting the rear of the handlebar stem and Hello road.

ukdodger wrote:

Neilo wrote:

ukdodger wrote: Also If you wanted to be really flash you'd turn the drop handlebars upside down.

Or fit really wide cowhorns. Word from the wise, don't fit grips with washing up liquid as lube, or you will end up in a heap on the road when you try and honk up a hill in the rain when you're doing your paper round, when trying to look cool on your Raleigh Arena with cowhorn bars. at age 14.

I wouldnt mind betting that most of us did that. It's such a surprise when the grip comes off in your hand and your arm flies off to one side. All followed by a sickening wobble, crutch hitting the rear of the handlebar stem and Hello road.

Both at once as I stood up, off the back of the bike, lying on the road with a grip in each hand wondering what happened and had anyone seen it

I wonder how many here had a WWll gas mask carry case for their first pannier. This pic of moi was taken on the old A3 near Chessington. The bag is around my back. Usually I tied it to the underside of the saddle. Please note with appropriate envy the cycling shoes (plimsolls) & 'Terry' cycling clips. My first real bike. Ten old shillings. I still use those type of peddles today. The rake on that old bike seems a severe now but dont recall any problems with it then.

Anyone else have any old pics of themselves and their first (or nearly the first) 'proper' bike? Would be fascinated to see them.

The Arena is a very attractive bike. I like to curve in the forks particularly.

In fact I like everything about it.

ukdodger wrote:

The Arena is a very attractive bike. I like to curve in the forks particularly.

In fact I like everything about it.

Seeing that picture brought back some fond memories. I loved mine, can't remember what happened to it though, probably gave it away when I got too big for it.

Another ex Arena owner here...great bike for a kid (especially compared to some of the rubbish you find them riding today). I think that mine cost £86 too! £86, of course, being a fortune in those days.

However, I'm sure that mine didn't have pump pegs on the cross bar. Although it did have the next to useless mudguards which I found turned blue if you pealed the protective plastic off.

Half of my Arena got painted bronze for some reason IIRC.

Whilst I was away my dad loaned it to my cousin so he could get to work at the paper shop and it got pinched from outside there never to be seen again.

Before that I had a Grifter - coolest bike in the village but slow as anything with those big fat tyres and the frame made of lead. This is probably what encouraged me to do cycling more as all of my mates (who were in the school football and rugby teams) had Arenas or the white ten spd version (what was that called?), yet I could still beat them up hills - it was great finding a 'sport' where I could trounce the sporty kids. Plus living in the middle of nowhere meant I needed a bike to get around.

Before that I had a yellow and white bike with big white balloon tyres.

And before that a fixed wheeled trike.

Si wrote:Another ex Arena owner here...great bike for a kid (especially compared to some of the rubbish you find them riding today). I think that mine cost £86 too! £86, of course, being a fortune in those days.

However, I'm sure that mine didn't have pump pegs on the cross bar. Although it did have the next to useless mudguards which I found turned blue if you pealed the protective plastic off.

Half of my Arena got painted bronze for some reason IIRC.

Whilst I was away my dad loaned it to my cousin so he could get to work at the paper shop and it got pinched from outside there never to be seen again.

Before that I had a Grifter - coolest bike in the village but slow as anything with those big fat tyres and the frame made of lead. This is probably what encouraged me to do cycling more as all of my mates (who were in the school football and rugby teams) had Arenas or the white ten spd version (what was that called?), yet I could still beat them up hills - it was great finding a 'sport' where I could trounce the sporty kids. Plus living in the middle of nowhere meant I needed a bike to get around.

I had pump pegs, but never used them, someone would just nick it. Mine got painted red at some point.
My brother had a Grifter, but never rode it. I wasn't supposed to ride it, but I borrowed it for my paper round when there was snow.
There was 3 of us that had Arenas, we went all over.
The mudguards went pretty much straight away
I thought they did a 10 spd Arena, same colour. IIRC my parents would not /could not pay the extra for the 10 spd
Brakes were pretty crap in the wet, rubber on steel rims, just kept going. Think I had to use my feet sometimes.
And the saddle was a killer
I still see them from time to time on ebay