Travel for free

 

Cafe chat on bank holiday Monday. 

"Isn't it great that you can ride your bike to anywhere, and it doesn't cost anything."

Matt is right, up to a point. Destinations over about 100 miles would need an overnight stop. You could wild camp for free, with landowners permission. Otherwise it's a B&B. This would be even easier if main roads had segregated cycle paths. They tend to be flatter and more direct than the quieter roads that are safer for riders. It is encouraging to hear that HS2 may have them.

Now riding to work a few days a week. He is fitter, has lost weight and is saving a lot of money. There are sections of the route that cause concern, the interaction with other roads users is the reason. 

I have written posts about my thoughts on this. A big change in attitude is needed from government, media, drivers and motor manufacturers. Road violence has to be seen as a serious danger. It cannot be dealt with lightly, as it is at present.

I visited my mum and sister yesterday, a round trip of 32 miles. Completed in not much more time than it would have taken by car. No cost or pollution. I went to a bbg a few weeks ago, another a very pleasant ride. Obviously traveling as a couple we would need the car. How many other people without health issues drive because they don't consider an alternative even for very short distances. Many people will drive as little as 2 or 3 miles.

The National Travel Survey 2021 makes for some interesting reading. Did you know that 72% of all journeys undertaken in the UK are under 5 miles. A manageable distance for many people on a bike, yet over 50% of these journeys are driven. That’s 18 billion journeys that could be cycled.

Maybe some of those needed to be motorised; could an e-bike have been an alternative for a few?  How many were local deliveries? Cargo bikes are increasingly being used for quite bulky items, and people.

Disabled people, depending on their condition, can find walking difficult but riding isn't. Another reason to make our roads safer.

Local businesses see a rise in revenue where more active travel options are provided. Crime is reduced, making our streets safer.

Community spirit is often said to be lacking in our villages, towns and cities. This could be improved if we get out of our cars and interacted with our neighbourhood.

The weather was fine for the ride yesterday; I have ridden it in the rain. I'm not made of sugar so I didn't dissolve. I just put on a jacket.

Need for speed

 

I was awoken from an afternoon kip on bank holiday Monday by the sound of a motorbike being ridden at speed not far from my house. I often hear car drivers doing the same. It got me thinking about a post a made from 2020 called 20 is plenty. I use the same picture as I did back then, because nothing much has changed. 

Most drivers admit to speeding, the media don't take it seriously. Car and motorbike ads still push speed and performance. Reviewers encourage driving aggressively, especially on country lanes. These are statistically the most dangerous roads, especially for vulnerable users. Until attitudes change so that it is seen in the same way as drink driving; our roads will continue to kill almost 1800 people every year, that's around five a day. 

There is technology to stop speeding. But the new laws mandating limiters allow an override; why? 

I occasionally watch those fly on the wall police programs, they usually include a high speed persuit. Always deemed dangerous; they would be very much safer, or not happen if the driver couldn't exceed the speed limit.

My local councillors and MP's are a mix of it's not my responsibilty and not interested. 

There are other measures that can be taken to make our neighborhoods safer: altering side roads to prevent them being used to avoid main roads, (rat running). Stop pavement parking. Setup school streets to encourage alternatives to the car school run. Organise groups of children into cycle buses. Play streets. Safe, secure storage for bikes. Unfortunately these will need those who can implement them to have more determination, and not be persuaded by a vocal minority. London boroughs have installed some of these schemes, and councillors have been re-elected, saying they will keep them and install more. So residence want them.

Police forces need to be more consistant in their treatment of bad driving reports, and be better funded.

Courts have to acknowledge the part they play. Harsher sentences and stop accepting undue hardship defences. 

Figures from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) show that neary 9,000 drivers still hold a licence despite exceeding the 12-point threshold.

Britain’s worst offender to still be legally permitted to drive has 68 points but a further six have more than 50 points and 39 have between 30 and 50 points.

I said I wouldn't but I did

A couple of weeks ago I did my first time trial. Finding time for it in on a Tuesday evening isn't easy. So I was happy to put my racing career on hold.

However.

And this will please Russell, the Oxted CC chairman; I may be hooked. By the Thursday I was eager to do it again, and couldn't wait eight or nine months. So I booked an afternoon off work. And started looking for a time trial specific bike, I couldn't help myself. I didn't buy one though. Not sure I could justify such a focused bike.

I arrived a little earlier, and did a longer warm up ride. I covered a greater distance, varying the intensity. 

It seems to have worked; my time improved. Taking into account that I had to slow down to pass some horses on the fastest part of the course, and come to a complete stop at a junction while three cars passed. I am very pleased being seventeen second quicker at 28:42.

It felt less windy too, which helped. I wasn't at my max heart rate for anything like so long.

I tried to adopt a lower riding position, and really push hard away from junctions. 

There is only one more chance this year, I'm not sure I can get to it. Watch this space.

Against the clock

My plan was to sample competition this year, TT's to be precise. I didn't fancy the cut and thrust of group racing or track events. Hill climbs are another discipline, but they don't run until the end of summer going into autumn.

The course I choose for my debut was 10 miles, with a target time of 30 minutes. I have often ridden the roads so I had an idea what it would be like. Pacing was the main unknown. Going too fast at the start could mean I'd be exhausted quickly. But not pushing enough would also produce a slow time. 

There is more I could do to the bike and what I wear; but that's for another day. And will depend on how seriously I take it. This time I just wanted to see what's involved. The season will finish before I can attend my second event.

Arriving early to sign in and do a warm-up ride helped control the nerves.  Russell, Oxted CC chairman, was also competing. He does a lot of these and took me through the prep. A ride around the course to stretch the legs and open the lungs. It gave me a chance to checkout the lanes, paying attention to the junctions. I didn't do too bad, posting a time of 28:59. 

How do I improve it? 

I was at my max heart rate for nearly 90% of the time.

So I can't increase that very much.

There are eight junctions; I could attack them harder. And accelerate out faster. 

The human body causes most of the drag so a lower profile position is more aerodynamic. A bike designed for speed would also be an advantage. 

Stronger legs would get me up to speed faster, and allow a higher gear. As would a lighter bike.

It seems like I'm talking myself into buying another bike doesn't it? That will have to wait for quite some time, unless a premium bond number comes up.

For now I will work on free improvements: strength, position and technique.

Freedom

As I rode to meet Matt this morning I passed by a newly harvested field. The smell of fresh hay wafted over me. It took me back to my early teens. My brother and I owned a pony one summer. We spent most weekends at our uncle's livery yard where is was stabled. We slept in the hayloft. I say hayloft; it was actually a lorry body on some bricks. My aunt, uncle and cousin slept in a caravan. After mucking out we'd ride around the small field or along the local lanes. Sometimes there was trip in a horse drawn cart, very occasionally driven my us. The rest of the time was spent exploring the surrounding woods. I think I was about eleven, my brother eighteen months younger. We often travelled there by ourselves on bicycles. A distance of just over ten miles each way. We always rode on the road and it never felt unsafe, mum and dad weren't overly concerned. I think we had been riding to friends houses for while by then.

We were free for the weekend. 

This was over forty years ago, so no phones, I don't even think there was one at the yard. Today's children don't know what that feels like, most wouldn't be interested, some would but don't have the opportunity. 

It's such a shame roads are so congested and made dangerous by uncaring drivers that our early experiences are not available today. It's why I am so passionate about the need to provide infrastructure that would encourage more outdoors activity. There are so many benefits I don't know why it's vigorously fought against.

I know adults who would adopt alternatives to car trips if they had the confidence to ride some of them. Their children could be set free in the way I had been.

London Calling

A training day at work could have meant a Saturday off the bike. But James suggested we ride in, a second Moof IT CC event.

My only reservation was the route, if we followed the one I would have driven it didn't appeal. Congested main roads and junctions could have made the journey a bit of an ordeal. But James had  ridden in before and said it wasn't that bad.

I meet him outside Purley hospital at just after eight in the morning. It started as expected; a painted line to indicate a cycle lane, not a safe solution. Going through central Croydon was better, bollard protection and a shared use path on North End. Although on the return journey this was a little tricky due to the number of people. We just slowed considerably and it was still much better than the Wellesley Road. The council have closed a lot of side streets to motor traffic to prevent rat-running. I'm not sure if they have affected the West Croydon section of London Road. It was much quieter than I expected, the 20 mph limit that most seemed to accept helped a lot. As we rode on there were more bollards, quiet back roads, cycle paths and fully protected lanes across the bridges. I had a rough idea where we were as we got closer to Moof IT's westend office. It still surprised me when we popped out onto a road I knew and I realised a busy, potentially dangerous road or junction had been bypassed. The pace was relaxed but we still made it to Trafalgar Square quickly, so much so that we had time to stop at the Rapha store on Glasshouse Street.

You can take your bike in whilst you shop or drink coffee. It was just ten minutes from here to the completion of my first bike commute. I'm not sure I'd want to do it, as James has done, during the week though. 

My thoughts:

I saved money by not using public transport.

The journey was quicker than the aforementioned public transport. I don't think it would have been affected by much if it had been a busier weekday.

Why would anyone drive into London? Public transport or a coat would have been fine if the weather hadn't been so good.

Generally the provision of bike infrastructure is good or brilliant. Especially as you leave Surrey and get closer to central London.

I know my home county is more rural, but there is still plenty that could be done in our villages and towns. And making the many A roads that join them safer to use on a bike would insentivise more active travel. Instead most councillors and MP's either do nothing or work to block any improvement.