Cycle

Falling over on the ice at the beginning of last month has left me quite spooked - today was only the second or third time since then that I’ve ridden to work (though thanks to the Brompton, lots of riding once I’ve got to work), and yet again there was a frost last night....
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Not. What. You’d. Think. Bike to work - 14 miles each way in gusting cross-winds: Get changed into sensible clothes, and wonder up to my desk, where The Puppy slept last night: Wake myself up with a cup of coffee. Wake The Puppy up (just whisper the word w-a-l-k-i-e-s), and head off to visit clients. Arrive back at...
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The last three times I’ve ridden to work, something’s gone wrong: Fell off bike on black ice three weeks ago. Some beautiful road rash & bruising. Two weeks later I was healed enough to get back on that bike for the ~30 mile round trip. Four miles in, I realised that the roads were completely frozen...
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I rode the Brompton to a couple of client meetings again today. It seems to attract attention - everyone wants to see how it folds / unfolds. At Glenton’s Bakery they came up with what I think could well be the perfect name for a Brompton: Little Nellie! Actually, every since I saw You Only Live...
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Turns out it was quite cold last night. I’ve been caught out by this before - as we live right next to the sea, we experience a maritime microclimate. What that means is that it’s a couple of degrees warmer than it is just a mile or so inland. So I left home thinking it...
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You know you’ve got a regular commuting route when you know every pothole along the way. You know them so well that even years after they’ve been repaired, you still subtly alter your course as you pass to kiss them gently on their lip with your tyres. Heck, you could probably do this with...
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Actually I’m not sure that I ever was, but today it took a new turn. First up a confession - I DIDN’T ride to work yesterday. I was woken up just before the alarm by sleet and hail battering our bedroom window. This had been forecast to stop in time for my trip in to...
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Another day, and another ride to work. This time was heading across the top end of Cramlington and over to Morpeth - roads that I don’t generally ride on during the week. Having experienced first hand how people drive along these roads, I was surprised that anyone would want to ride them at all. But...
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So here’s a question for you: Drinking and riding. Tuesday night, I was supposed to be running in the North Shields Poly Grand Prix 5k race. But owing to some serious man-flu (and a note from my mum) was only able to stand at the turn-around point to feebly cheer my team-mates’ efforts. We were supposed...
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Monday morning - early o’clock, and I was back on the road on two wheels. After the snow & ice we’d had for the previous two weeks, I was starting to go stir crazy. It’s strange how quickly you loose the edge for riding in traffic though. For the first couple of miles I...
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