A lovely evening out

There is a group of guys at work who go out cycling once a week during the longer days (April – September).  I’ve been out with them before but not as often as I’d like to.  The busy evenings of a husband and father sometimes preclude it and, to be honest, I’m getting plenty of cycling in on my own!

Nevertheless, last night I went out for a spin after work.  The weather was really nice (apart from one random heavy shower) and our 24 mile route took us out through some leafy lanes, VERY nice villages and even a couple of those “special” barely-surfaced tracks so beloved of sat-nav devices!  The bikes coped with it better than many cars would to be honest.

They are a good crowd of lads who, for the most part, ride lightweight race bikes although the outings tend to be pretty sedate.  Even so, it was with a little trepidation last night that I took the Dahon out with them.  I know it’s not really up to the same sort of average speeds I manage on a 21 speed bike but I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised!  I was nothing like the slowest in the group and didn’t feel at any point as though I was holding them up at all.  More than one person commented on how capable my bike was on its little wheels.  Distances of that order on country roads are no problem for the Dahon - they are the bread and butter of my commute and I’ve done 20 miles+ on it several times.  I think the slightly raised gearing (of which more later…) have helped to boost my average speed too.  Both the Dahon and I are capable of a lot more and I have a numerous adventure plans bubbling away as I type…

Of course, once we returned to the office, I still had to get home and so tacked my usual commute onto the end of the ride.  I ended up cycling the last leg back from the railway station in the half light after sunset which, on such a clear evening, was a beautiful treat.  All in all (both commuting legs included) I covered 47 miles yesterday and I arrived home starving for a hot shower, fajitas and a mug of tea – lovely!  My legs were a little tender last night but I still felt OK this morning and got straight back on the bike for another day in the office.

Another highlight of last night’s ride was the bike ridden by another of my colleagues.  It is a 45 year old, 5 speed British road bike with proper “old-school” handlebars and pedals.  It really is a cracking machine and the guy who rides it has owned it since receiving for Christmas at the age of 14.  How lovely to see a nice bike like that being cherished for so long and not struggling to keep up with the pack either!  I’ll get some picks and do a bit of a write up for the vintage bike fans when I have the chance.

Which brings me neatly (!) to my most recent mileage update.  I will at some point figure out how to put mileage tracker on the front page of this blog (like I’ve seen others do) but for now, the latest stats, to the end of last week) are as follows:

Week 21 – 95 miles

Week 22 – 89 miles

Week 23 – 74 miles

Grand total to date = 1,496 miles

There will clearly be a load more to add in from this week as well when I next do an update.  Happy riding all! :-)

It's been a while!

Well it’s been an eventful cycling week!  In a break from the norm, I spent last week away on a training course which entailed me spending the whole week in a hotel at Manchester airport.  Having had a look for cycle routes in the area, I found a link to what looked like a really pleasant eight mile loop around the airport.  And so, hoping for a nice way to unwind at the end of each day’s training, I packed my Dahon into the car along with my luggage.

The Dahon, tucked in the corner of my hotel room

I’ve had some fine experiences on national cycle network routes and so it was with some excitement that I ventured out on Monday evening.  The first part of the route followed a dual-use footpath alongside a fairly busy road.  That notwithstanding it was lovely to be out on my bike just for the hell of it.  A couple of miles into the ride came a real treat though in the form of the tunnels that take to road and footpaths under both of the airport’s runways.  I’ve cycled in some odd places before but I think this has to take the biscuit.  There are two large car tunnels a couple of hundred metres long (one in each direction) and to the outside of each a smaller tunnel solely for the use of bikes, pedestrians and (judging by the odd pile of poo) horses as well.  All of the pedestrian/cycle tunnels are surfaced with the smoothest and most cycle friendly tarmac in the world.  If only all cycle paths were so pleasantly covered.

The tunnels under the runway (pedestrian tunnels on the far left and right)

Inside the tunnel

Just after the tunnels, the route turned left, away from the main road and onto some lovely tracks and trails alongside the airport runway itself.  The route turns away from the road but unfortunately on Monday I did not.  It took until the hard-won top of the next hill for me to realise my route finding error and turn back.  At least I got to cycle down the hill again.

After riding alongside the runway for a while (and pausing to watch a few jets take off and land – the big kid in me, I’m afraid) the route joined some lovely leafy lanes for a couple of miles.  This route certainly had variety of terrain in spades!

Much more like it :-)

At the end of the lanes, the next section started to get a little more built up.  However, it was still well signposted and alongside the busier roads consisted of traffic free, dual-use footpaths.   Finally the route turned off the road again and through an urban park (complete with feral kids and bull-terriers galore) before rejoining the original road, about half a mile from my hotel. 

On Tuesday night, I managed this final section without a hitch.  Monday night was a different story.  I missed the turning into the park and ended up following the main road into really rough looking estate!  I had the route on my phone but needed to take care finding somewhere safe enough to stop and get my iPhone out.  I know I’d have been fine with a paper map but my ongoing disgruntlement with satellite navigation continues.  The root of the problem (other than the fact that I got lost in the first place) was that the little arrow on the Cycle Network app seems not to point in the direction you are facing all of the time.  This resulted in me stopping, checking and retracing my tracks more times than I care to remember.  All this at the same time as trying very hard not to look like someone worth stabbing for their phone/wallet!  I did eventually find my way back on track though after adding a couple of miles or so to the total distance ridden.

A fellow course delegate knew the area and told me the next morning that the estate I got lost in is where the sitcom “Shameless” is filmed.  I certainly looked like it too!

Requiring  something a little more restful on Wednesday I chose to follow the first part of the loop as far as the runway tunnels before turning right off the main road, away from the airport (and “Shamelessland”) into a network of lanes and villages.  I had much more luck with the sat nav this time especially as it was on terrain that I’m more used to riding.  I even managed to find a really rather good pub for a mid-ride pint and bag of pork scratchings.  There’s nothing quite like it in a sunny, summery evening!  In the end I covered about 16.5 miles and arrived back at the hotel feeling grand.

Lovely!

All in all, a nice week’s cycling really and it served to show yet another benefit of folding bikes.  Whenever I’m away with work from now on, I’ll be packing the Dahon along with the rest of my stuff.  Adventure beckons!

An impromptu adventure

Since borrowing the Sustrans National Cycle Route book from the library the other week, I've been itching to explore some of the routes around where I live.  One of the routes I've been thinking about riding goes from the town before my usual railway station on the way home, along a canal towpath for a few miles before picking up the route of a disused railway line.  Eventually it ends up back on my usual commuting route for the last few miles home.

Well this afternoon I'd had enough of work and desperately needed to blow out a few cobwebs.  So getting off the train a station early, I checked my route on the Sustrans App and started my iPhone cycle computer to check the overall distance ridden.

The first part of the route passed through quiet roads on a couple of housing estates. Out in the lanes near home, I've noticed very clear National Cycle Route signs - proper metal road signs - so I wondered how they would manage this in a more built up area. I needn't have worried though - using large stickers on lamp posts and similar, the route was clearly pointed out negating the need for hasty iPhone map reading!

After a mile or so, the route picked up the tow-path of a canal.  Talk about a change of scenery!  The path was really well made and fine for bikes.  Even given the heavy rain we've had recently there were very few puddles so it was top-gear flat out for the most part.  I really enjoyed the varied bankside scenery along this part of the route.  From open fields to allotments, a boat repair yard and more built-up areas.  I rode the few miles of towpath with a big grin, greeting all and sundry with a smile and even giving the odd shout or whistle under bridges like a ten year-old.  Brilliant!

I've had worse commutes to be honest...

...and busier ones too!

Eventually the signs led from the towpath to what the map shows as a disused railway line.  I was expecting wide, well surfaced loveliness but in truth it was narrow and pretty rough in parts.  As a walking path it would be great (there are signs for walkers too) and a lot of fun could be had there on a mountain bike.  As it was I had to tiptoe through the roughest bits and take care not to lose the bike on the slippier parts.

There were no mountains to climb but a few "streams" to ford
(OK puddles) and this bugger was deep!

This bit was narrower than it looks - really overgrown
and slippery, but mercifully short.

Eventually the path widened into this :-)

However, glad as I was when eventually the path joined the tarmaced lanes again, I enjoyed the whole ride rather a lot.  As cobweb blowing activities go, it was a good one!  Bizarrely though, I found that my bike felt a bit weird once back on the road.  Stopping to check things over revealed that my seat-post had slipped down into the frame an inch or two (making me glad for the umpteenth time that I have a marker pen line showing where it needs to be set.)  A quick readjust and tighten of the quick release sorted it and I was on my way.

At this point, my wife sent a text saying she had to pick up our eldest from school.  So rather than cycle home I decided to make a detour to go and meet them.  It shortened my ride by a mile or two but I was pretty tired and didn't mind too much.  I ended up having done 10.7 miles which would probably have been 13 or so if I'd gone all the way home.  No big deal really.

So, all in all a lovely ride back.  Probably a bit much to do regularly as the rougher, muddier bits slowed me down quite a bit, but as a change from the norm, just what the doctor ordered. :-)

National cycle network

When I was out last week, I noticed that some of the lanes I was riding were part of one of our national cycle routes. I'd heard a bit about about them from cycling friends but knew very little really.

Looking into this a little more revealed that we actually have a huge number of these cycle routes which combine genuine traffic free routes (disused railway lines, byways and so on), quiet lanes and cycle paths next to larger roads. They are set up and managed by a body called Sustrans.

So yesterday in the library, I was delighted to find a book by by Sustrans entitled "Cycling in the UK" which shows, region by region, the cycle paths (including whether they are on road or traffic free) with more detailed review of a select few. It also lists some longer routes, points of interest, places to stop and eat etc. It's a really nice book to read, the information is easy to interpret and it's in large scale full colour too.

It really has me fired up for another day out now. There's a route I'm keen on that would involve a train ride out followed by a forty mile ride home including about sixteen miles on a totally traffic free path! Wonderful - and just the stuff folding bikes were made for!

Sustrans also have an iPhone app (free to download) showing all of the cycle paths on maps which are zoomable to a high level of detail. It uses the iPhone's GPS technology to locate you and show paths near to where you are.

Part of the fun of adventure is in the planning for sure, but now I can't wait for a warm dry day to take the Dahon out on some new roads.

Bring it on!

A grand day out

What a brilliant, brilliant day I've had!

Some time ago my wife organised a girly day away with friends. Consequently today, in my temporary wifeless condition, the school-run and various other childcare duties fell to me. With plenty of holiday left to take at work, I booked the day off.  Not wanting to waste the day on housework, DIY or other such drudgery, I rather fancied I could get a bike ride in between the school drop off and picking my youngest up from pre-school at lunchtime.  So, I packed my Dahon into the car along with the kids and, after the school drop-off, headed out.

I'd decided to go and have a play on the lanes round where we live but wanted to avoid my usual commuting roads where possible. So with only a loose plan, I pedaled and followed my nose...

The weather at the moment is glorious - clear blue skies and high temperatures.  A stiff breeze today took the edge off a little but was welcome additional cooling all the same.  And so miles of sunny lanes, dive bombing finches, swallows doing the most impressive aerobatics and field after field passed with a smile on my face.

The Dahon taking five.

A brief stop for a drink.

The beauty of the Dahon is that because I know it's not as fast as a higher-geared bike, I don't try to ride it like one.  Rather, I relaxed into the ride and just enjoyed the journey. I got passed by a few guys on race bikes but cared not a jot. If speed was measured in smiles per hour, I'd have won by a long way!  Kind of like the difference between driving a Porsche and driving an old (proper) Mini Cooper if you catch my drift.

I passed along some roads that I know, detoured onto others that I didn't and in the process found some lovely new routes and villages I've never before been to. I know I'm blessed to be able to live in a rural village but we aren't really that far off the beaten track. There are so many beautiful places just a short bike ride away from most towns and for all the moaning we sometimes do, we British live on a beautiful island indeed.

Babbling stream photographed by a babbling cyclist.

A lovely thatched cottage - quite a few quid's worth I'd imagine.

Typical English country church - picture postcard stuff (with a better photographer...)

"You'll have a bit of a wait for the express!" said an elderly local when I stopped to take this picture.

Another drink stop (it was hot) next to the canal.

I also tried out one of those bike GPS Apps on my iPhone (Cyclemeter)and while I don't really want to become obsessive over numbers, I did want to know how far I'd ridden. For the princely sum of 69p, I have to say I'm pretty impressed.  It tells me distance ridden, average speed, top speed, calories burned  (by putting in my weight) and a bunch of other stuff.  You can set the distance units to nautical miles too - anchors a-weigh!  It's even smart enough to know when you've stopped riding so that it can deduct that time from your average speed calculation.  If the operator is smart enough to enable that feature of course...

Anyway, long story short I rode a little over 20 miles and even with stopping for drinks and photos, arrived back in plenty of time to collect my youngest offspring from pre-school.  Lovely!

In the afternoon, i had a couple of errands to run and my daughter fancied feeding the ducks by the canal. And so began bike adventure number two. We hooked her little bike to my wife's hybrid with the trail-gator attachment thing and complete with handlebar mounted whicker basket, off we went.

The "errand-mobile" bedecked with whicker basket.

We rode a six or seven mile round trip to the post office a couple of villages away and back via the ducks.  I have to say that towing a chattering four year-old up a short but sharp hill is a serious workout for the legs. Col de Tourmalet? Pah!!

So I've burned thousands of calories and sweated buckets today which all helps to diminish my waistline. Far more than that though, I've had a really fabulous day. The long-promised recreational ride on my Dahon was brilliant and being able to combine cycling with time with my youngest was also a real pleasure.

I'm sitting here, hours later, showered and with a mug of tea, still smiling from ear to ear.  I predict a few more days like this one before the Summer's over.

The open road beckons...

A bit of an update

"It's been a long time since I rock and rolled..." sang Led Zeppelin and it's also been a long time since I blogged too. In the main this is down to my inbuilt idleness but also because I spent the weekend away cycling.

I went down to Herefordshire with a bunch of work colleagues where we rode 100 miles around the Malvern Hills and Forest of Dean in two days. Unfortunately (for this blog) I didn't take the Dahon, rather my hybrid.  I have no doubt at all the I could have done the distance on my folder but I worried about its slight lack of top speed.  I have ridden with the same crowd a few times before and it tends to be a speedy experience! That said, there were a lot of hills to climb which slowed everyone down although hammering down the other side of them proved to be exilerating indeed - I have never been so fast on a bike!

I was also really pleased at my general level of fitness and how well my legs stood up to the experience. Clearly the effect of high weekly mileage, even if broken into smaller chunks, builds up and makes a strong body. Everyone felt a bit dead at the end of the second day to be honest and who wouldn't with 100 miles of cycling in their legs

There's always an upside though and being able to indulge in much beer and curry on Saturday night without so much as a thought for the calories was wonderful. I did however also discover that a pint of bitter and a bacon and egg roll are not ideal sports nutrition prior to the longest, highest climb of the weekend...

We have a few Sundays out planned and maybe another weekend away too. I've offered a "home match" of a Sunday out in the lanes near where I live so one way or another, the Dahon will have its day!

Ready for the off.  This looked better on my iPhone!