Just a Little Run Around the World by Rosie Swale Pope
OK, I know this is a cycling club website, and this book is about running, but anyone with a love of the outdoors, the love of a challenge, and the love of an amazing story of guts an determination, will appreciate this stunning account of a woman's round the world 'trip'. Some of you may remember Rosie from her sailing days. In the 1970's she sailed single handed across the Atlantic in a 17ft dinghy, and sailed round the world with her husband and young daughter, giving birth to her son at sea! This trip though was not by sea, it was on foot, running from her home in South Wales, it took her almost five years to circumnavigate the globe - no support vehicle, just a rucksack and bivi tent, and a sat phone in case of emergencies. To stay on land as much as possible meant running as far north as she could, where there are less oceans to cross. That meant crossing Siberia through winter (-60C), Alaska, and Canada. She got frostbite, had encounters with wolves, bears, a crazed gunman, and a bus that knocked her off the road and into hospital! Her inspiration to take on this crazy journey was the death of her husband from prostate cancer. She wanted to raise awarness of the need for early diagnosis, and to raise funds for the charity. So, on her 57th birthday she left her cottage in Tenby and set off, returning last year (she even passed through Garstang), almost 62yrs old. After reading her book, I can never make the excuse that it's too cold/wet/windy to go out and do something - be it run or bike. Thouroughly recommended reading!
Mike Coleran
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A few handy definitions
Have ever wondered what words and phrases such as 'fast but safe' actually mean? Use this to decode the real meaning behind the 'weasel words' of the popular press.
Accident - A crash, especially when death or injury is involved.
To go out of control - as in 'the vehicle went out of control'. The driver lost control of the vehicle.
I didn't see you - 1) I didn't look. 2) I looked but as you are only a cyclist I decided to pull out anyway.
Road tax - Motor vehicle excise duty.
Fast but safe - a driver who habitually speeds and is a danger to other road users.
Killed (by a motor vehicle), as in 'the cyclist was killed by the lorry' - Usually used to deflect responsibility away from the driver of the vehicle and as a way of avoiding saying 'The cyclist was killed by the lorry driver.'
In collision with, as in 'the cyclist was in collision with the car'. The cyclists was run down by the car driver.
Hurtling, as in 'the cyclist was hurtling along'.The Cyclist was doing 14 MPH.
Racing, as in 'The Cyclist was racing along''. The cyclist was doing 16 MPH.
Madman or 'maniac' as in 'The cyclist was riding like a madman/maniac'. The cyclist was doing 18 MPH.
Dawdling, as in 'The driver was dawdling along'. The diver was only exceeding the legal speed limit by 2-3 MPH.
Obstructive, as in 'The driver was deliberately obstructing me.' The motorist was driving along at 29 MPH in a 30 MPH zone.
Social inadequate - 1) any cyclist, 2) a motor vehicle driver who keeps to the speed limits.
Two wheeled terrorist - any cyclist who in consideration of their own safety takes to a section of footway.
Lycra lout - Any cyclist who rides in an assertive and confident manner or appears to expect other road users to recognise that they have equal rights on the public road.
Innocent motorist - All drivers of motor vehicles, including those who speed or drive without due consideration of others.
Persecuted motorist - A driver who has been prosecuted for breaking road traffic law.
Occasionally drift over the speed limit - 'habitually and wilfully flaunt the speed limit.
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Round The World Cycle Record
A SCOTS man has completed his record-breaking challenge to become the fastest person to cycle around the world. Mark Beaumont, 25, has circumnavigated the globe by bike in 195 days and six hours - smashing the current record of 276 days. He was reunited with his family today when he crossed the finish line at 2.30pm British time at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris - the city where he started his epic bid nearly seven months ago.
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What’s smug and deserves to be decapitated?
The following scary tirade by journalist and ex Conservative MP Matthew Parris appeared in The Times newspaper on the 27th December. Unbelievable that someone in his position would write such an article, but also incredible that The Times would print it!
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A festive custom we could do worse than foster would be stringing piano wire across country lanes to decapitate cyclists. It’s not just the Lycra, though Heaven knows this atrocity alone should be a capital offence; nor the helmets, though these ludicrous items of headgear are designed to protect the only part of a cyclist that is not usefully employed; nor the self-righteousness, though a small band of sports cyclists on winter’s morning emits more of that than a cathedral at evensong; nor even the brutish disregard for all other road users, though the lynching of a cyclist by a mob of mothers with pushchairs would be a joy to witness. No, yet another cyclist-generated horror – and a new one – has come to my attention this Christmas. They’re chucking their empty cans of hi-energy drinks into hedgerows as they pass. Bin-liners in hand, a group of us, infused with the seasonal goodwill that illuminates this column, of course, decided to walk a mile of a pretty and winding lane that had become particularly badly littered this winter, and collect it all. It’s amazing how much of the stuff there is when you start looking, and we ended up with a whole sackful. And what was the principal offending item? Plastic bottles and empty cans of Lucozade, Gatorade and other blood-sugar-boosting products were lodged high in hedgerows at cyclist level. Forgive me, but pedestrians were not the culprits here. What is the carbon footprint of a panting, sugar-gulping, chocolate-chewing, Lycra-clad leisure-cyclist? a) His or her journey is totally unnecessary; b) whole convoys of cargo boats steam the Atlantic to bring the molasses to be energy-intensively refined for them; and c) the chemical processes that generate the vile materials that clothe, shoe and helmet a cyclist – not a man-made fibre among them – will be poisoning entire provinces of China. But it’s the bad manners one cannot forgive. Driving or walking, don’t you just hate the way that, riding two or three abreast, they shout and curse at you or whir their angry little bells, as though it’s your problem that they need to clear the way? In just one little posse of these monsters there are levels of self-satisfaction that could power a small religious crusade. Does cycling turn you into an insolent jerk? Or are insolent jerks drawn disproportionately to cycling?
RELATED LINKS • A joke that will sicken cyclists
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LCC Cycling Stategy - Follow this link to read Lancasire County Council's Draft Cycling Strategy
http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/environment/cycling/policy.asp
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All members
are requested to read the Club's Generic Risk Assessment which can be
seen HERE. Also, please be aware that in the event of an accident or incident
of any kind during a club ride, an Incident Report Form should be
filled in and submitted as soon as possible to the Club's Safety
Officer, John Spencer. A copy of the Incident Report Form can be found in PDF format for easy printing HERE
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DRUM BREAKS? - By Ken Roberts
Besides cycling I have always enjoyed
music & having been a teenager in the 60s was privileged to live
through the music of that era & even better the progressive rock music
which evolved throughout the 70's. At about the age of 14 my dad
bought me a 'very basic' drum kit which I proceeded to learn to play
with great enthusiasm, so much so that our next door neighbour changed
his employment to shift work to alleviate the noise from our attic.
My great hero from that era was 'Ginger' Baker, who I first saw
playing for the 'Graham Bond Organisation' & latterly along with Eric
Clapton & Jack Bruce in super band 'Cream'. What I didn't realise at
the time was that my drum hero had in fact been a racing cyclist, viz,
"as a boy Ginger had a very special interest in bicycle racing and he
was constantly racing on a regular basis but by his mid teens he
developed a big interest in music, drums and Percussion". This is at
odds with myself who had a very special interest in drumming but by my
mid teens developed a big interest in bicycles & cycling.
The story continues that, "it
was through ginger's bicycle racing that he would develop his leg
muscles that would help him develop the drumming style that other
drummers would follow, using double bass drums". So it just goes
to show what riding a bike can evolve into, one minute you're
riding a PETTS evening 10 & the next you're playing musical
instruments better than everyone else because you're able to
achieve a short 21 on a regular basis. As well as enabling Ginger
to play his drums so incredibly well, from his background in
cycling ensued a piece of musical iconic history, viz, "it started
as a joke. Mick Turner one of Cream’s roadies was discussing with
Ginger Baker, how he fancied one of those bikes with’ Disraeli
gears’. He meant, of course, derailleur gears, but the band found
the mistake hilarious and so the name of one of one of the UK’s
premier psychedelic albums was born". Along the way Ginger met
Phil Seaman, an established jazz drummer who was greatly into
African rhythms but even more greatly into heroin abuse &
somewhere along the way Ginger fell into heroin addiction himself
& so you can see a familiar cycle emerging, bikes, drugs & rock 'n
roll, some things have never changed!!!!!!! |
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Ginger Baker |
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I often think that I don't drink anywhere near enough when I'm on a
long ride. I did a hilly 87 miler recently and was feeling totally
knackered in the last 15 miles. I think I had eaten enough but began
to wonder if my water intake was sufficient. Looking for an
explanation on the internet I sifted out all the technical stuff and
found this article at Bicycle Source which made me think that I must
have been de-hydrated. Or maybe I'm just getting too old for long,
hilly rides?
Drinking large volumes of water is a must for cycling. Nearly
every calorie of heat you produce must be dissipated by evaporating
water from your skin, which adds up to tremendous volumes for
replacement: one large water bottle of 750 ml or 24 oz per hour of
riding. Water is especially vital in hot or dry weather, or when at
altitude. Losing as little as 1-2% of your body's water volume can
impair cycling performance by 5-15%. My own personal experience
corroborates this, and you should start drinking in the first 15
minutes of a ride. Severe dehydration can cause heat stroke, heat
exhaustion, and even death, especially in the summer. By the time your
feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated! Drink water pre-emptively.
Drink more water than you think you need, and you will simply pee out
whatever your body deems is the extra. A good measure is that if you
are not generating a relatively clear stream of urine every two or
three hours, then drink more! Otherwise, you are probably getting
dehydrated and impairing both your performance and health. There is no
physiological reason to save water for later. Your body will sweat
just the same whether you drink now or save those swallows for later,
and you're not changing the weight being moved around either. The only
reason to save water is for the comfort of rinsing your mouth out on
occasion.
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CHANNEL TO
MED ON A LOW I.Q.
Bob Raftery's account of his recent exploits
across Le Channel
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Chairman Phil asked me to
string a few lines together concerning my recent trip to France.
In
essence it was a diluted version of Mike Coleran's earlier Channel to
Med route but wereas Mike averaged 100mls a day over 7 days, my target
was an "age related" modest 70 miles a day which, despite a constant
headwind, I managed to achieve. Starting from Dinan to Narbonne Plage I made 10 overnight stops on
the 700 mile journey. Accommodation was a daily cause for concern. The
majority of hotels & b/b were closed. A few more weeks down the line
when the French holidays begin life would have been much easier. The fortified hilltop villages were the best part of the trip. On
arrival at the top it was always worth enduring the long steep WALK it
entailed to get there. But did anybody really live here ? There was
always a welcome party of the town's animal population consisting
mainly of cats and dogs and the odd goat who would then accompany me
in my exploration of the place [I FELT LIKE THE PIED PIPER!] They were
charming companions. Back in the real world I found the French people MAGNIFIQUE!
So helpful and friendly. It was a privilege to meet them. I also
became aware of the rapport between cyclist and motorist - the latter
being so polite and patient. Accommodation comprised mainly of guest houses, farmhouses, and
hotels , with a price range of 35 to 40 euro's [£28], all of which
were excellent value. So there we have it! You don't have to be superfit, have a
superbike, or be all that young. Unless of course you have to get
there in 7 days!
AU REVOIR - BOB RAFTERY
[PS NEVER HAD A PUNCTURE]
Footnote from Mike Coleran
Well done Bob, and congratulations on your excellent
achievement! I did it with the company and support of three other
riders which helped with the day to day things along the way. Doing it
on your own was a much more challenging and difficult encounter. I'm
sure 70 miles a day solo must be equivalent to 100 miles a day in a
group. Let's
hope your spirit and determination will be inspiration to others
(young and old) to take on such adventures.
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Killer
Dentdale - Submitted by Malcolm Hartley - Bob (Rafferty) has been goading the A
group to try the Killer Climb included in Cycling Magazine a while ago and it could well be included
in the return leg of the Kirkby Stephen ride. The climb described was
past Garsdale Station over to Dent Station. Having been over the pass
from the South, and it is a brilliant route rising to 537 metres, I
decided I must give it a go from the North (Cycling mag’ route). Yes
it is steep up past Garsdale Station, you will need low gears and be
labouring for a while but the grade eases and the length up to the
summit is more comfortably rideable. All in all, I don’t think the
climb from the North is any harder than the other way, out of Dentdale,
and it started me thinking that Dentdale has more than its fair share
of killer climbs. In fact if you are in Dent and don’t like climbing,
you are in trouble if you follow any other route than the valley
bottom to Sedbergh. The way out to the North, I have already
described. The valley level in the vicinity of Dent is around 130m and
escape to the East is perhaps the easiest climb going up to 422m
before meeting the Ingleton/Hawes road. To the South there are two
options with easiest being the reverse of our club ride, over to
Barbondale where you have a good stiff climb up to 283m. Which leaves
the real killer over to Kingsdale an unbroken climb to 473m but with
two gates to interrupt your rhythm. So which ever climb “Cycling” determines as the killer climb, perhaps
Dentdale can lay claim the title of killer valley.
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Report Potholes - If you
encounter any potholes on the roads whilst out on your bike, you can
get them repaired by reporting them on the CTC's FillThatHole website. If you need proof that reporting them
works, Paul Robinson reported one on Sunday, got an acknowledgement on
Monday, and the pothole was fixed by Wednesday! Maybe local
authorities are more responsive to big organisations like the CTC than
they are to individuals?
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Most members know that Michael succesfully
completed the gruelling Marathon de Sable (the Sahara Marathon) last
year. Here, at last, is his day by day account of this punishing test
of strength, stamina, and sheer determintaion. Read his fascinating
account HERE
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Cycle to work scheme - Submitted by Paul
Robinson
In 1999 the Government introduced a cycle to work
scheme which would allow savings of up to 50% of the cost of a new
bike. In simple terms the bike is purchased through your employer who
loans it to you to primarily cycle to and from work. The savings are
made on VAT and because the cost of the bike (up to £1000) is deducted
from your salary as a salary sacrifice you do not pay income tax or
national insurance on the amount loaned. The money loaned can be paid
back over 12 or 24 months without paying interest, fantastic I hear
you shout. If you want to see a calculation of how much you can save
try www.evanscycles.co.uk and look up bike2work. Why am I telling you
this you may ask. Well a colleague of mine has decided he wants to buy
a new bike to cycle to and from work plus the usual pleasure rides so
rang his employer Lancashire Education Authority and enquired about
the scheme. Guess what they do not operate it although they will lend
up to £1000 as an interest free loan in order for you to buy a bike.
This is good but fails to pass on the other savings that can be made.
This prompted me to wonder who else may not operate the scheme as
being a sceptic I do think that lip service is often paid to these
initiatives and then due to lower take up the schemes end up being
stopped. I work in Lancaster a Beacon City for cycling, guess what
they are thinking of introducing a discount scheme but do not operate
the tax saving bike to work scheme. Next stop Lancashire County
Council, they make a big play of advertising a cycling friendly
County, yes you have guessed right they do not operate it either. Call
me a cynic if you like but I cannot say I was surprised. I have to say
I am staggered though, here we have a Government initiative which can
benefit employers and employs alike, might encourage people to buy a
bike ditch the car and cycle to work and our local Beacon City and
Cycling encouraging County Council and neither of them can be bothered
to take up the scheme. If you look at Evans web site it could not be
simpler to take part in the scheme, they do it all for you. What
should we do? Well if you work for Lancaster City Council or
Lancashire County Council or Lancashire Education Authority ring your
HR department and ask them why they are not part of the scheme. If you
have a friend who works for Lancashire ask them to contact them
regarding the bike to work scheme, in fact why not just ring yourself
and ask why they are not pushing these schemes, if enough of us make a
noise we may see some improvement in the situation. Ask your own
Employer do they know about the scheme I am led to believe that they
also benefit financially if employees take advantage of this scheme.
If we are really serious about encouraging the use of the bicycle
something that we as a club are doing very successfully we need to
make our voice known to those who are supposedly encouraging cycling
using our money paid via the Council Tax etc. A few signs and the odd
white line does not show you are serious about cycling. Apologies if
this reads like a bit of a rant, it is!! We need to use initiatives
that are being offered to cyclists otherwise we will lose them.
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The Lancashire Cycleway (A ride
of two Grandad’s) - Report
by Paul Robinson Earlier on this
Summer Pip asked did I fancy riding part of the Lancashire cycleway,
why not I thought 135 miles in good weather what could be better? Well
we set out last Thursday when the weather forecast was not good but if
nothing else we were optimistic and it always looks brighter in the
distance. We picked up the route at the cross-roads at Bay Horse
setting out anti-clockwise riding out via Cockerham, Pilling,
Singleton, Staining and Wrea Green where we had our first tea stop at
Dizzy Ducks. Suitably refreshed we then headed via Woodplumpton to
Bilsborrow. Looking at the distance we had covered it was hard to
believe that we had cycled 51 miles to end up about 2 miles from where
I live!! We were now heading for Whalley via Inglewhite, Longridge and
Ribchester and as we were doing well for time we decided on another
tea stop at Whalley before starting the climb up to Slaidburn. So far
the weather had been good, no rain and the odd glimpse of the sun just
perfect for riding. Pip was convinced that we faced a head-wind all
day but it could have had more to do with the weight in his panniers,
( I am convinced he rides with a wine box in there). Despite signs
saying Slaidburn 6 miles the circular route the cycleway took meant
that after 3 – 4 miles of riding we were still 6 miles from Slaidburn.
Dark clouds threatened and despite Pips optimism that they would miss
us this proved not to be the case as once we were out in open
countryside the thunder and lightning crashing around us was
accompanied by heavy rain. Two rather wet travellers were met very
kindly by John Spencer in Slaidburn who had arranged for us to leave
our bikes overnight at the pub. Friday morning we
were dropped off in Slaidburn to continue on our route. Optimism about
the weather was waning a little as it started raining as soon as we
set off. The climb from Slaidburn to the Cross O’ Greet proved
challenging but it was managed with only the odd mention of
undulations or at least I think that is the word Pip used. A fast
descent into Hornby via Wray and we agreed that we would push on and
save our tea stop for Arnside. The weather over the Bay looked
brighter as we wended our way via Gressingham, Borwick and Priest
Hutton just crossing over the border into Cumbria and whilst it might
have looked brighter it was still raining as 2 bedraggled riders
arrived at Arnside. Tea and cakes were taken at Witherslack Garden
centre and whilst we apologised for our rather soggy state the owners
were very accommodating and the chocolate flapjack seemed to hit the
right spots. Leaving Arnside we travelled via Carnforth, Halton and
Caton before picking up the road over Quernmore. The rain by now had
turned into an absolute downpour with rivers flowing down the road
towards us. Having had a brief conversation regarding water –butts it
was at this point Pip was glad he hadn’t bought one as by now it would
have been overflowing, he did think that wearing one with 2 slots for
eye holes may have kept us dryer. Strange what you discuss in adverse
weather. The descent from Quernmore deposited us back at the Bay Horse
our original starting point 145 miles completed over the 2 days. The
Lancashire Cycleway is an excellent ride, well signposted varied
riding and if we could have seen through the rain excellent views. Why
not give it a try, if two Grandad’s can do it what is wrong with the
rest of you??
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Driving Cyclists Off the Road - Chris Wylie sent in this piece of news which could have an adverse
effect for all cyclists.
A seemingly innocuous addition proposed
for the new Highway Code, which tells cyclists to 'use
facilities....where provided', could have serious legal implications
for those who choose to cycle on the road. The fear is that insurance
companies will claim that a cyclist hit by a car whilst cycling on a
road instead of a nearby (and often inappropriate) cycle 'facility',
is negligent and therefore deserves less compensation. For more
details of this proposed legislation and your chance to voice your
concerns visit the CTC website's campaigns page. http://www.ctc.org.uk/desktopdefault.aspx?tabid=3330
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The following extract which highlights how ludicrous the
situation is was spotted by Malcolm Hartley
On a rainy evening at London Bridge last
week, a man had to shroud his bicycle in wrapping paper and pretend
it was a package in order to board the 18.04 to Lewisham.
Train companies have never been afraid to
go their own way (or more likely no where at all); now, with
awe-inspiring audacity in this green age, they are clamping down on
cyclists travelling at peak hours".
"Fear not, rail companies say, for we have
taken bold initiatives with councils to provide bike storage in
stations. You can hire a bike when you get where you are going.
This is ludicrously short sighted; it also
betrays an incredible lack of understanding. You buy a bicycle
after great deliberation. You add a rack and a special seat to
ensure that you stay fertile. One crisp morning on the Old Kent
Road, you become one with the bicycle; pedestrians can hardly tell,
as you whirl by, where it ends and you begin.
Promising that you can hire another bike
"when you get there" is like offering to substitute your wife of
five years for a prostitute. It may sound tempting but you never
know what you may get, you're bound to feel guilty afterwards and,
chances are your balls will ache."
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Submitted by
Mike Coleran
Ever wondered how long it is going to take you to cycle 63 miles at
an average speed of 13.5 mph? Or how far you will get if you cycle for
4 hrs 40 mins at an average speed of 16 mph? Or maybe you are going
out for 6.5 hours and want to work out what average speed you need to
do to cover 57 miles? Of course the mathematicians amongst you could
work it out easily on your fingers and thumbs. For those of us who
want (need?) a helping hand with this sort of thing there is a website
that has calculators to work these things out for us. It's well worth
a look at if you are planning a long trip or just a day's ride. There
are also links from the webpage to other interesting bicycle related
calculators. Just don't forget to come back here when you have done!
http://www.machinehead-software.co.uk/bike/speed_distance_time_calc.html
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Tom Simpson's biography
by William Fotheringham.
Submitted by Steve Thomson
Put Me Back On My Bike has
been described as "the best cycling biography ever written" but that's
hard to gauge for someone who has only previously added Lance
Armstrong’s efforts at writing to the bookshelf.
For a British fan of cycling
in the 60s, Tom Simpson's was the name that stood out. Sadly, despite
his amazing string of race results and heroic rides, he is now
remembered for the other reasons.
He died in pursuit of his dream of winning the tour de France on the
slopes of Mont Ventoux in 1967 and the world was scandalised by
revelations of doping that, it seemed, had driven him to ride himself
beyond endurance in the heat of the French summer.
Speculation over the cause of
his death has been rife ever since, but William Fotheringham has
carefully finally laid bare the facts many of which had been shrouded
in mystery or clouded by self-interest. He builds a picture of a man
full of self-confidence with an obsessive will to win who would ride
himself "into unconsciousness" to win even without the help of drugs.
By 1998, I had almost forgotten the furore over the death of Simpson
but when, in the Tour of that year, the Festina team was busted for
drug use the whole unsavoury business became headline news again.
Then, Fotheringham, a
journalist reporting on the Tour, was forced to ask the questions that
called into question the validity of the entire sport of cycling, the
same questions that were posed when Simpson died.
His book provides some of the answers.
Stephen Thompson
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Insurers snub cyclists who don’t wear helmets.
(Sunday Times 30 Jan 2005)
Submitted by Malcolm Hartley
Some
insurers claim that cycling without a helmet constitutes negligence
and are cutting payouts to cyclists who do not wear helmets in their
latest bid to reduce claims.
Whilst it is not compulsory to wear helmets, it is becoming
increasingly common for insurers to claim that cyclists were negligent
if they were not wearing one at the time of an accident.
Industry commentators have said that cyclists, or their families,
should not accept lower payouts without a fight., “Insurance companies
are very good at scaring people off by claiming negligence; it is part
of their job to minimise payouts after all. But I would always advise
cyclists to pursue their claims because, in my experience they almost
always get full compensation”.
The
best way of course is to wear a helmet in the first place – you get
the protection and in the event of an accident/claim, the argument
does not arise.
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A French Coast to Coast -
Channel to Med
Submitted by Mike Coleran
Following previous cycling trips to Normandy and Brittany, I had
ambitions for a longer, more adventurous, more challenging, French
tour. A French coast to coast appealed to me, a ride to the sunny
Mediterranean. After a trip to Waterstones I was back home with the
maps planning what was to be a 700 mile route across rural France,
diagonally from St Malo to Canet Plage. I mentioned my idea to my good
friend and well known bike shop owner, Joe Heatley who said he would come with me. Tragically Joe
contracted cancer and passed away before the ride became a reality. OK
I would do it alone, and raise money for St Catherine’s Hospice in
Joe’s memory. But after mentioning it at work I soon had three
colleagues on board and a date was set. We would sail from Portsmouth
to St Malo and begin the trip on Friday 25 April 2004. Our target was
to do the 700 miles in 7 days and raise £7,000 for the hospice. (Well
they say 7 is a lucky number!)
After dipping our wheels in the sea close to St Malo we set off on
our diagonal route to the Mediterranean. The route took us through six
French regions, almost all on quiet, rural roads. We only passed
through one big town, Bergerac, on the whole trip. We passed beautiful
chateaux in the Loire, characterful mediaeval towns in Poitou
Charentes where we just had to have café stops. The weather hotted up
as we got further south through Aquitane and Midi-Pyrenees where we
stayed in hilltop fortified towns with views of snow capped mountains.
Passing the vineyards of Corbieres and Fitou we eventually arrived at
our destination. We rode straight down onto the beach and, to the
amusement of onlookers we pushed our bikes into the Med. We had done
it! Just eight miles under the 700, we made it in 7 days, and beat our
target by raising £9,300 for the hospice. It was time to celebrate!
We had two nights in Canet Plage before catching the European Bike
Express back home so we had plenty of time for fun and relaxation –
and a 50 mile round trip on the bikes to the Spanish border.
Apart from a few heavy showers, the weather had been kind to us – the
sun shone a lot and the temperatures rose the further south we got.
For most of the trip though we had to endure constant headwinds.
The best memories for me are of the hospitality shown to us
throughout the trip and the motorist’s respect for cyclists on the
road. We were invited into a farmhouse where Madame cooked us a free
three course meal (with wine). We were ‘taxied’ for no charge by our
hotel owner in one village to a restaurant a few miles away – and
picked up by her late at night. And what about the Welsh man we met
toiling up a mountain pass on a too heavily laden bike? He had been
touring Europe for eight months, sleeping in his small tent in any
forest he could find. Now he was heading home to his Great
Grandchildren – he was 83 years old! It puts our efforts to shame!
Anyone contemplating a cycling trip across France? I have the route
on CD and would recommend it to anyone.
Full trip report
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In praise of the fixed gear – Steve Thompson
Other than a unicycle, a track bike is the purest form of cycling.
Lightweight frame, no gears, a single front brake. Nothing else is
required. So, after a couple of years of thinking about it and talking
about it, I have finally gone back to "riding fixed" .I was aiming not so for a pure track bike, a la Manchester
Velodrome, more a "messenger bike" like the cycle couriers use In New
York, London, Manchester etc (Not Garstang, obviously).First problem: finding a suitable frame with "track ends" -- the
drop-outs that hold the wheel at the rear which are horizontal rather
than vertical or inclined as on normal road/mountain bikes.
There were plenty of oversize tubed aluminium frames available but
I wanted a traditional steel diamond frame. Internet searches, shop
visits all proved negative but as I bored for Britain on the subject
in the pub one night, a neighbour piped up: "I think we've got one
down the side of the English White was mine for £40. Stripping it of
its touring bike bits was the easy part but things got complicated
thereafter.
I fitted a new bottom bracket, cut down a double chainring to a
single ( the double I had previously used with a fixed gear on my Bob
Jackson road bike). Put in my old fixed gear rear wheel as used
on the Bob Jackson, 30+ years ago. Then the trouble started.The original fork from the Claud Butler was twisted. I thought
finding a replacement steel fork would be easy. No such luck. I
finally came up with a heavy chrome monstrosity fro £12 from Bicycle
Magic in Lancaster which I thought would put me on. In the process of
fitting it I mis-measured and cut it a fraction short but there was
enough thread still left to fit a new 1-inch head-set ( remember that,
I will ask questions later). On went a smart, elegant Cinelli stem. I
cut down the old drop handlebars, messenger bike-style, found some old
alloy pedals in the drawer, popped in the front wheel off my Ribble
and went for a wobble . . .Everything OK.
But the fork looked hideous so a replacement was needed. Steel road
forks were available but only those using A-head style head-sets
with those gruesome mountain bike style stems. Then I remembered
having seen some carbon fibre forks with a one-inch steerer. Could I
find one, could I bu**ery. Bicycle Magic said I'd never find one ,
Harry Halls Manchester said "You'll be lucky" And I was . . I found
one on a website for St John's Cycles, Bristol. An eye-watering £84.
Then came the brakes, or rather the brake. I had a couple of old
ones in a drawer but they were Imperial sized. As I planned a new
front wheel and the forks were for 700c wheels, I needed a brake
to match. So when Bicycle Magic made up my wheel using an old Shimano
hub I found in a drawer, I asked them to source a brake. Colin of BM
found one ( probably in a drawer) for a fiver. He also machined down
the steerer of the carbon fork to make it fit the head set ( I'd have
had to file it) and cut it to length, thus saving me the misery of
inaccurately chopping up 84 quids worth of high-tech kit. All I had to
do was fit the brake cable and go out for a ride.So, it's up and running, bar a few problems with the seat tube and
pin.
It's wonderful to feel the silky, continuous flow of movement
through the taut chain but I may feel differently if it pitches me off
and over a hedge. I'll let you know.
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