the perfectability of the bicycle

[juliet]

I was reminded, as uon & I pedalled our way to Brighton in the sunshine on Sunday, that bikes really are the perfect speed for transportation[0] . Fast enough to get places (e.g. Brighton!); slow enough that you can see where you're going through.

There's something enormously satisfying about getting somewhere under your own steam, as well. A particular sort of independence. Not to mention that the process itself is inherently enjoyable. I have to be pretty damn hungover before my commute ride fails to raise at least one smile. Leaning for the turn into Parliament Square at speed; St James' Park in the sunshine; the sprint through Hyde Park as something particularly appropriate comes on the ipod[1]. I do not recall the Tube tending to produce this feeling.

Sunday morning, looking at the South spread before us from the top of Reigate Hill & knowing that this was the best possible way to be spending a sunny Sunday morning; then doing nearly 40mph down into Reigate and giggling manically (or Brixton Hill on fixed for a similar kick). Stopped halfway up Snowdon at midnight, staring at the stars. Riding through a deer park 80km out from Ruislip & feeling unutterably joyous. The sun rising on the Dun Run. Pootling along past the Gormley Quantum whatsit on the river.

It's easier in the sunshine, maybe. But then there was the last 2 hrs of the Hailsham 400 - Charlotte & I drenched to the skin, been on the bikes for over 24 hrs, riding up hills that had suddenly become rivers, swearing & laughing because, well, it really was ridiculous, and strangely exhilarating. Cycling in the snow with strangely empty roads & other forms of transport grinding to a standstill. Fighting winds that had half the parks shut to traffic (but not to bikes!) & then suddenly finding a tailwind pushing me home faster than I could get the pedals round.

Bikes. Most Fun Ever. And they get you places.

[0] I know I got this idea from someone but I forget who.
[1] This morning it was Hey Mr Blue Sky, and it kicked in just as I swung round onto the road through the park & put the pedal down. Awesome.

Comments

[marnameow.livejournal.com]

You = big stinking hippy. Cycling adventures this weekend?

[juliet]

See email!

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

i must say i do enjoy the "me and doop have just done 100k before breakfast" twitter updates on sundays whilst i lie on the couch trying to build up enough energy to go and buy a paper ;)

[juliet]

It was worth it though!

(Anyway, by proper audax standards that one was practically a lie-in - leaving from front door rather than having to get to a start somewhere meant we didn't have to start till 9am. This is one of the reasons I think I might do some not-audax rides for a bit....)

[bootpunk.livejournal.com]

Aaron has just got himself on 2 wheels. Very cool.

Its just a really huge bummer that Fran can't ride a bike (eyesight) :o(

[lnr]

Tandem?

Juliet: love this post. I'm 90% with you. Just not so much on the 40mph downhill as I am scaredy cat. Biking is ace.

[juliet]

I used to be scared of downhills, but have got a lot better over the last 6 months. Things I have found helpful:

- Practising the leaning thing (steering the bike by leaning rather than turning the bars) on the flat / slight downhill slope. You can turn a lot faster & under more control once you get the hang of this. On drop bars, put your hands on the drops & push down with the relevant hand. Start off doing it on a wide straight road, & then try corners on the flat.

- Useful for increasing confidence in the bike: stand beside it, put one hand on the saddle & one on the centre of the bars, & push down (fairly hard - you're trying to replicate body weight). Start walking away from the bike, still pushing down, so it starts tipping over. See how far it will go before the tyres slip (well over 45 deg IME). I found this most reassuring :-)

- Practice braking downhill - if you're confident in your stopping power that's a massive help.

- Practice on nice wide downhills - the sort that have a full lane in each direction (& thus safer!). The best are ones that go down & up again, because you know that the uphill is there to slow you (& you can see the road clear) so you can go full out.

The most helpful thing, mind, was the finall 100k of the 300k I did, when I was sufficiently knackered that the thought of wasting any of my precious momentum was far worse than the thought of splattery brain death ;-)

Having said all that: I'm still a bit rub at twisty little descents (because of wishing to be able to stop in the distance I can see to be clear). Reigate Hill is ace because it's wide.

[lnr]

All sounds like good advice, will try work on it.

Am also working on getting less scared on gravel, which is probably less of a problem for you since you're always on road. (I'm mostly on road too, but with occasional bits of path and they're sometimes a bit gravelly). It's the fear of falling thing again though - hate it when the wheels go sideways. I'm getting better though.

Anyway, driving not cycling tonight. 2 hour lesson today, mock test next weds, then lessons the follow webs/fri/mon then test. Scary too! Not that I intend to get a car, just would be useful to be able to hire one sometimes.

[juliet]

I bloody *hate* gravel. Better on the fixie, mind (because you're under power all the time so have more control). It is horrible treacherous stuff, though.

[lnr]

Mike's advice to me was to stick it in a really low gear. Same effect basically, and it definitely helps, so long as you're not going downhill.

Urgh, downhill on gravel. Sometimes I'd rather just walk!

[lovingboth]

Isn't most steering by leaning? The proof for me is the people who can ride 'no hands' (something I never mastered).

Or did I just learn to do it that way so early that it feels natural?

[juliet]

Yes, absolutely. (Which is why bike tyres are rounded, unlike car tyres.) But if you consciously do it *more* so when going downhill, you can corner better. (Basically, on the flat you lean a little bit; the faster you go, the more you need to lean to get the required effect.)

Another useful trick (only works when freewheeling!) is to put your outside foot down, & press down on it - again, you'll corner faster (I think this is because you unconsciously lean to the inside a bit more to counteract the pressure on the outside).

This is a lot easier to do when you're happy that your tyres will hold you on the road - hence the suggestion to experiment off the bike.

[indigo-violet.livejournal.com]

I can SO ride a bike ffs :o/

And a horse.

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

good old musical synchronicity! I often get it with Mr Blue Sky :)

[kake]

Ha, much of this is almost exactly how I feel about walking!

[juliet]

I can't walk very far :-/

I do feel that walking has the speed thing lacking, though - bikes are fast enough to be very practical transport, which isn't true for distances over a couple of miles with walking.

[lovingboth]

Hmm, yes, I do like the speed I can generate.

[kake]

Oh, yes, I'm sorry – it must suck to have trouble with walking. I didn't mean to rub that in.

I think the reasons I care less about the speed thing are probably (a) since I don't have to commute to work, almost all my travel is for fun; (b) I actually enjoy travelling on trains, tubes, buses, etc, probably partly because of point a; and (c) I got a good dose of the woods/wilderness kind of stuff you can't easily get to from London by foot or public transport due to living in Wales, where you could get to such places on foot.

[juliet]

It doesn't bother me that much, don't worry :-) (I mean, it's irritating, but it's just One Of Those Things.)

Yes, I suspect all of that makes a difference - particularly the not having to commute bit! (I really would have massive trouble going back to commuting by public transport (& I never would by car) - the couple of times I've had to for various reasons it's been *vile*.)

[jhg.livejournal.com]

There is ***loads*** of top-notch countryside within an easy hour's train ride from central London.

See http://www.walkingclub.org.uk/

[kake]

Oh, I know — I visited some of it earlier this year. I'm not sure what the "or public transport" was doing in my comment! I meant being able to get there on foot.

Thank you for the link!

[fingerbones.livejournal.com]

Great post and true. I wonder if I will ever graduate to your sort of distances though. I get the similar pleasure just from a day out to Richmond park.

[juliet]

Thank you!

If you want to ride longer distances, you can. Just up it by 5 or so miles every time. First time I rode the Dunwich Dynamo, last year, was off the back of my regular commute (6 mi each way) & one 40 mile ride the weekend before as a feasibility check. I made it fine. That's true for plenty other people as well. (Although the "gradual increase" method is more sensible :-) )

Richmond - Brighton is about 60 miles, & there's lots of pubs to stop at en route for a break :-)

But yes, I get the same thing too from days out down the river, or going round Richmond / Regent's Park, or indeed the daily 12 miles of commute :-)

[mrs-leroy-brown.livejournal.com]

sigh, I need to strip my broken bike of it's pannier rack and lights and find a way to dispose of it. the douches at work are refusing to acknowledge the dead easy and totally supported gov't cycle to work scheme and I can't afford to buy a new bike (still holding out for poss. cheaper ex-rental bikes from OYB) so for now, no biking for me.

[juliet]

I'd say it might be worth replacing the derailleur but tbh it wasn't that great of a bike anyway... Hmm.

Second-hand: there's the recycling place by Elephant? Hang on, I'll ask on ACF (although a fair few folk are away in France atm so might have to ask again next week) - what size are you? (frame size on the existing bike if you know it; otherwise height.)

[mrs-leroy-brown.livejournal.com]

I'm about 5'6" I think, in old money, not sure in metric. I am pretty much *exactly* the same height as Marna, as we discovered to our amusement.

[juliet]

Old money is fine.

Seriously, though, dude, you can get a derailleur for around a tenner on Wiggle. I'd be happy to fit it for you. If you can take a photo of the damaged bit (as up-close as possible) then I can check which bits are actually likely to be buggered :-)

(also: count the sprockets on the rear wheel, so I know how many speeds it's supposed to be!)

[mrs-leroy-brown.livejournal.com]

okay, I shall take a photo this evening and send stuff to yr email. Obv fixing >>> buying, even if I di have the cashmonies!

[juliet]

OK, cool!

And then once we have it fixed again I am going to make you set a date/time for Work Cycle Route Experimentation! :-)

[mrs-leroy-brown.livejournal.com]

hooray! also not sure what is going on tomorrow, will consult & get back to you this evening.

[juliet]

The photo may be enough for diagnosis - let me know, anyway. (Mind you, if I come visit, I might be able to fix it to rideability without replacing the derailleur - enough that you could get it to Bermondsey, anyway. ftb it will be easier to fit the derailleur if I know I have all necessary tools to hand rather than having to bring them down!)

Totally totally off topic.

[indigo-violet.livejournal.com]

Afternoon :o) Tell me - which Special Effects blue hair dye did you used to use, please? There are many available via Bee Unique and I am suspecting that some have better staying power than others. I may foray into blueness for a couple of weeks and thereafter back into purple. Any advice greatly appreciated! xx

Re: Totally totally off topic.

[juliet]

I used Blue Velvet, which I found was the best in terms of length of time lasting. Also it fades to a reasonably pleasant lilac/pink colour :-) The brighter blues are nice but don't last as well.

I'm keeping mine green for one more dye session & then back to blue! Green doesn't have the sticking power :-(

Re: Totally totally off topic.

[indigo-violet.livejournal.com]

Ok the blue velvet looks to be quite scarily dark but, as you suggest, that's probably what it takes to get the required lasting intensity eh. I haven't bought Special Effects via the interweb before, preferring the excuse to go to NYC or something; but I've now set up an account at Bee Unique and I'm thinking that as long as my hair is fairly short... how wrong can things go? xx