Bike to Work

Tally Ho!

Tall Friend’s Wife says that I’m competitive, and get the impression that she doesn’t mean it in a good way. I’ve always just shrugged it off as projection, but I also have the feeling somewhere at the back of head that she may have a point. Especially after this morning. I ended up racing another...
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Posted in Bike Culture, Bike to Work, Whitley Bay | 4 Comments »

“That’s Not Appropriate”

No, we’re not talking about what’s coming up in this Friday’s Photo Caption Contest (though I do advise viewing on an empty stomach). No, this was actually what one of by clients said to me today about riding a bike to work in ordinary clothes - she’d passed me in her car some time...
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Posted in Bike Culture, Bike to Work, Newcastle | 2 Comments »

Broken Glass

Broken Glass

No - not that early ’80s thing with Hazel O’Connor, but the type that gets left all over the road. Actually it’s generally not left all over the road, and if it is, passing cars soon sweep it aside / grind it down to a harmless dust. No. I’m talking about the kind that gets...
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Posted in Bike Culture, Bike to Work, Cycle Infrastructure, Gateshead, Newcastle, Photographs, Ranting, Whitley Bay | No Comments »

Life Imitates Art & Relaxation Techniques

Life Imitates Art & Relaxation Techniques

(You’ll have to click through to read the text of today’s Yehuda moon strip) Today on my ride into Newcastle, I had a passenger of a car lean out the window as he passed, shouting something or other (doppler - don’t you love it?), and pointing at his shaven head. He may have been indicating...
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Posted in Assassination Attempts, Bike Culture, Bike to Work, Newcastle, Road Safety, Silly Stuff, Too Much Information, Whitley Bay, helmet | 5 Comments »

Stop Start - The Weak Link

Stop Start - The Weak Link

There are actually some great facilities for cycling around here. They connect up useful places that people would want to travel to or from. They have great smooth surfaces, and they’re wide enough for two-way traffic. Almost universally though, they have the stop-start problem: These two examples are from National Cycle Route 72 as it crosses...
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Posted in Bike Culture, Bike to Work, Cycle Infrastructure, Newcastle, Photographs, Road Safety | 6 Comments »

Let’s Open This Baby Up & See What She’ll Do!

Let’s Open This Baby Up & See What She’ll Do!

So for my Important Presentation this morning, I had to go in looking like I meant business - suit, tie, shiny shoes. You know the drill. It was also kinda important to ride there, as I knew this was the sort of thing that would go down well with the audience. This wasn’t a...
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Posted in Bike Culture, Bike to Work, Business, Newcastle, Photographs, Whitley Bay, Wind | 10 Comments »

Spring, Or A Mouse’s Death Throes?

Spring, Or A Mouse’s Death Throes?

Today looked like spring, so what better weather for riding could there be? Not too hot, not too cold, but just right. So I visited two clients on Siegfried, and on the trip to the second one (just after lunch time) it was warm enough to put my nice red woolen jumper in my...
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Posted in Bike maintenance, Bike to Work, Newcastle, Stuff, Weather | 5 Comments »

“If Only There Were More Parking Spaces”

“If Only There Were More Parking Spaces”

I had to nip into Whitley Bay at lunchtime today to get a new strap for my watch. The old one had come unglued (for the second time), and the watch had fallen off my wrist and into the road a few days ago. Miraculously, it was undamaged! Anyway, while I was in the jewellers,...
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Posted in Bike Culture, Bike to Work, Business, Community, Cycle Infrastructure, Photographs, Politics, Road Safety, Where I Shop, Whitley Bay | 2 Comments »

Friday Photo Caption Competition

Friday Photo Caption Competition

Once again here’s your opportunity to win fame and admiration from your peers. This week you can try your hand at satire. Remember that Nice Congressman Patrick McHenry?  The one who’s such a hoot at parties, with his instantly recognised catchphrase, “I’m not making this up”? The one whose funding includes $30,000 from the National Auto...
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Posted in Bike to Work, Industrial-Strength Sarcasm, Photographs, Politics, Silly Stuff, USA | 3 Comments »

Oh, I Hate The Romans Already!

Oh, I Hate The Romans Already!

Reading a couple of pieces over the last few days by Magic Roundabouts and Padded Pants, and Treadly and Me, and even this piece in the New York Times, I’ve been struck at the way we see differences in our fellow human human beings rather than the similarities. There’s some switch inside our brains that...
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Posted in Bike Culture, Bike to Work, Blogroll, Cleveland Steelman, Community, Everyday People, Gateshead, Photographs, Ranting, Silly Stuff, Video | 2 Comments »