*interesting* bikes

[juliet]

I learnt to ride a penny farthing yesterday! (It belongs to my friend Charlotte, who rode it to Dunwich earlier this month, and it's a *lovely* machine.)

Turns out it's surprisingly straightforward (though apparently I got the hang of it quicker than average), but getting *down* again is a bit more tricky.

In other bike news, I've been offered a part-time cycle instructor job by CTUK, about which I am inordinately happy. Starting late Sept or early Oct.

Comments

[yvi]

Wow, looks cool. But now have to wonder, how *so* you get off that thing?

[juliet]

There's a little peg on the frame (the long piece of metal between the two wheels) that you stand on to get up on it, and then when dismounting you reach back, put your foot on that, and use it to hop off backwards. Getting off is harder than getting on!

[half_of_monty]

Yay bikes! Am just deciding whether to buy (and then resell when I leave) a bike for NY, or if that would be silly. (Prob not for commuting, but for out-of-city wanderings).

I see CTUK only really do London-based lessons. :-( Pity, I could probably do with being told which of my habits are really bad.

[lnr]

Yeah, I'd noticed that too. It makes the name seem a little over-ambitious :) I think Cambridge now offer Bikeability as part of being a cycling demonstration town, rather than a local scheme which I think is still offered in the rest of the county, but it's not well advertised and I don't know if they do the same one-on-one stuff, which looked really useful when Juliet did it the other year. I should find out.

[juliet]

Bikeability Level 3 has to be one-on-one, as I understand it, so if they're doing it for grownups then they should be covering that sort of lesson. (level 1 is 'how to ride a bike', level 2 is 'basic road riding', level 3 is more advanced road riding, roughly.)

[lnr]

It doesn't seem to be very well documented, but this seems to be what I'm looking for:

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/transport/safety/education/adult+cycle+training.htm

£5 an hour seems very cheap!

[juliet]

They'll be subsidising it, I assume. It's definitely worth it!

[juliet]

Well, when I'm trained I might be talkable-into doing a private lesson next time I visit Oxford :)

I think there are other organisations/individuals doing similar things in various parts of the UK - I'd be surprised if Oxford didn't have *someone* operating, tbh!

[catsgomiaow.livejournal.com]

HURRAH HURRAH well done on the job dude :):):)

[juliet]

I am v pleased! They will pay me to ride my bike & to teach other people to ride their bikes! Dream job! And part-time which is the *other* part of current Dream Job as I do not wish at present to return to full-time regular type employment :)

[zebrallama.livejournal.com]

Wow to both those pieces of news.

[mr-tom.livejournal.com]

vg. Please to be imparting clue to the army of nodders.

[juliet]

Will do my best. Although likely to be operating in S London so may not be able to assist directly with your local variety. However do feel free to point anyone on either side of the river to CTUK for helpful riding instruction :)

(I did an observed ride type lesson with them last year & found it useful.)

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on the job!

Is there a reason the mounting/dismounting part of the process is missing form the movie?

[juliet]

Because Charlotte wasn't poddling along on the Brompton at either point :) (Mounting was fine - pretty straightforward. Dismounting required C to be on hand in case of error, because I could only *just* reach down to the little peg, and you can't see it cos it's behind you... I did it fine by myself the last time but it was reassuring to have someone there ready to assist!)

[titaniccapybara.livejournal.com]

I did wonder whether the mounting and dismounting might have been a little less polished-and-professional-looking myself...

[friend-of-tofu.livejournal.com]

Cor, well done, it sounded *terrifying* when we talked about it at the pub!

[lnr]

I've seen photos of Charlotte and the bike, courtesy of David, and it does look awfully difficult to get on and off. Having been scared to death on the back of David's tandem I think I'm feeling a bit cautious towards unusual steeds at the moment though :)

Very many congratulations on the job, it sounds like an ideal fit to your freelance writing!

[sbp.livejournal.com]

The aspect ratio makes you look a weird shape.

[juliet]

I did wonder! And then I thought, hey, I've never seen myself from that angle, maybe I really am a weird shape.

[damerell.livejournal.com]

I also spotted that and I don't believe you are that shape.

When Joff moves his workshop to London (September) I'm going to go and have a bish on one...

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

Rar!

[wezpez.livejournal.com]

YAYAYAYAYAYAY! well done :)

[juliet]

oops, sorry, I meant to text you! Yay indeed, though!