Brightening up my homebound winter commute
As the nights draw in and each ride home from work is submerged in darkness that much sooner than the previous day, I’ve been thinking much more about my visible presence on the road. Can other road users see me as well as I assume they do?
To be honest I haven’t taken this subject as [...]
Video: Black Run on Afan’s Whites Level
Early start Saturday morning, headed over via North London to pick up Gavin on route to a day’s riding in the hills of Southern Wales at the Afan Forest Park, hosting what are arguably a handful of the best trails in Europe. With the Santa Cruz Blur and Spesh Enduro safely packed into the [...]
Video: How to cycle safely in a city
Cycle commuter numbers appear to be increasing steadily on a daily basis. The popularity of cycle/ride to work schemes has made cycling accessible and more popular than ever, but typically, those new to cycle commuting will not necessarily be aware of the laws, etiquette, and general behaviour they are expected to adopt on the roads, [...]
Video: How to cycle safely in the dark
You’ve probably noticed over the past week or so that the nights have started to draw in and we’re losing light on those commutes home. Boo! On an overcast evening it’s pitch black by 8:30 pm, and it’s not long now until the clocks change and we’re plunged into darkness for another winter. This got [...]
Images: Cannondale Bad Boy 8 close-up and dirty
It’s been over a week now since I’ve had the pleasure of owning a Cannondale Bad Boy 8 in which time I’ve managed four in/out commutes to work, so 120 miles so far. I’d like to offer this brief short term review of the bike and follow it up with a longer term review, maybe [...]
Poor show on the blog front, but training is picking up
Oh my goodness, has it really been almost two months since I posted? Poor show. Can’t have been very interesting for those of you looking in and not seeing anything particularly new.
Rather than talk about what I haven’t done I’ll tell you about what I have done. Despite my promises to start training in a [...]
Déjà vu three months before my next triathlon
I’ve been here before not once, not twice but at least three times. Each time I sign up to another triathlon or duathlon, I start off with the best intentions, meaning to establish a habitual training regime that is more consistent than intensive. Of course there’s always plenty of time for that, until of course [...]
First ride to work since the snow
It’s been over two weeks now since the snows fell over London preventing me from riding to work, and just three days ago the remains of the snowman my son built in the back garden morphed from a small hand sized lump of ice to a puddle consumed by the lawn. Time to ride again…
Snow go, failure to commute this week
So the UK has been covered in a blanket of snow, which during varying times of this week brought entire cities to a grinding halt, including London into which I commute from the Essex borders.
Monday morning, as anticipated the snow fell. A full six inches of the white stuff in my neighbourhood as promised by [...]
Hail the commute. Stay toastie in the cold
I was a reluctant commuter this evening, tired and cold ridden, my energy levels down, all I wanted to do was get home ASAP. Saved in the end by …
1,000 miles of tarmac, potholes and adrenalin. That’s commuting
It must have been no more than a full week or two after starting my commute into work that I became curious about the specific stats of my riding. You know, speed, average speed, fastest speed, distance, all that stuff, so I got myself a computer. It has revolutionised my ride into work.
Night Rider: Commuting in the dark
Since the clocks changed for daylight saving a couple of weeks ago (a time that I dread each and every year), this has meant riding home from work in the dark. I don’t mind riding home once the sun has set, but things change out there on the streets and it can get seriously dangerous [...]
Commuting on the bike in the cold
The merino wool base layer arrived this morning and the Gore Windstopper leg warmers are next on the list. It really is getting cold out there, bit is it really worth it?
For the first time this year I was happy to be wearing my fully loaded thermal/waterproof sealskinz socks, which meant my feet were nice [...]
Loving it, loving it, loving it
OK, so I've ridden into work another two times since my first reintroduction to the cycle commute. Got to say that I'm really enjoying it and already starting to feel the benefits with parts of the body tightening up a little more and the tummy is already feeling firmer.
One thing that surprised me was the [...]
Riding to work. What a buzz!
Following my fastidious preparations I did make it out on the bike for my first cycle commute into work for 5 years. I've got to say that I was a little nervous as I'd only ever completed this particular ride once before during a weekend on my road bike …
