Bike to Work

I started riding again because I realised that doing the same thing, but expecting different results is a pretty workable definition of insanity. It suddenly struck me about four years ago that sitting inside a tin box going no-where fast, and expecting everyone else to get out of my way wasn’t working. And that expecting...
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This probably isn’t something you do if you live somewhere where everyone rides a bike. But for the rest of us - for me anyway - it’s a bit of a novelty seeing someone else riding. Not as rare as seeing two-headed horses, but rare enough that I feel the need to acknowledge them with...
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As I said before, today was a trip up to Ashington to visit a prospective new client. I rode Siegfried, and it took about 65 minutes each way - that’s about 30 minutes more than the driving time. But if I’d driven, I would have followed some dull-as-dishwater route along boring motorway-grade roads, and arrived...
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Today was a ride up the coast to visit a prospective new client in Ashington. About 15 miles each way, and in the past I’d have driven this, to arrive looking smart & business-like. But now that I’ve got Siegfried - an Eminently Sensible Sturdy Commuting Bike (ESSCB), I can ride that kind of...
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Big day to day on Siegfried - dropping in to see Carlton Reid (excellent coffee - thank you!) on my way to the Team Valley, then across to a meeting near the Metro Centre, before heading home. In all, around 30-35 miles, and some ‘challenging’ hills. The last of these was on my route home...
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So today was my first real trip on Siegfried - into Newcastle, then out to Walker and home. Somewhere around a 20 mile round trip. And I was presenting a workshop in the afternoon, so I had my laptop, projector, lunch, and a set of waterproofs with me (the weather forecast was for RAIN...
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So I’m almost cycling in ordinary clothes now. The exception is my footwear: Yes, these are industrial-grade safety shoes. Because, after all, cycling is dangerous, isn’t it? Actually, the reason I’m wearing this is that they’re my work shoes - I visit all sorts of factories, where you really do have to wear shoes with...
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You may have gathered that I got a new bike. It’s a Pashley Roadster Sovereign. That’s not a photo of my actual bike, but one just like it. I’m waiting for a decent sunrise over the sea to take my own photos and scoop the EcoVelo photograph prize. After much agonising, I’ve gone with my first...
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By and large, cycle infrastructure in the UK is a mess. It’s not joined-up, doesn’t go where you need to get to, and always, always seems to play second fiddle to roads for motor vehicles or footpaths for pedestrians. Many local authorities do things that could only charitably be seen as making any effort, yet...
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There was an interesting question raised on the Commute By bike blog yesterday, as to why the world at large seems to view cyclists as “Kooks, Freaks and Weirdos”. Basically in societies where the car has usurped the bicycle as the mode of transport of choice about town, people riding bikes are very much...
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