Too much like hard work?

I cycle for exercise,
I cycle to rid myself of the hum-drum tediousness of ‘The Daily Grind’,
I cycle because it makes me smile.

I don’t cycle enough.



As I ride to work I look at those around me and wonder why the other ‘Gutter Bunnies’ (http://www.twinsix.com/gear/gear_t609t05.htm ) do it..
None of them smile; very few even acknowledge my wave or ‘Morning’, and for once it’s not just the Roadies, even those riding Mountain bikes and Hybrids are tight-lipped and scowling at the road ahead. OK, so first thing in the morning I’m not at my best until at least the second coffee and I’m sure only 5% of the population really want to do their commute.. So why do we ( they ) zone-out like the car drivers do? It’s often said that drivers travel in their own bubble, isolated from their surroundings, treating everyone else on the roads as just impediments to their safe and speedy arrival at their destination – what’s the difference? I see it as being a variation of “Target Fixation” that is infrastructure agnostic. 

QED: On the way to work: traffic often stops to let me across busy junctions, busses give me room on narrow country lanes and even White Vans pass without trying to decapitate me with their rear-view mirrors. Should I be surprised that on the way home things are VERY different..? ;-)

Interbike

Well I did get to see the Interbike TV live feed of The-Spokesmen, last night at 8pm GMT ( or was it 9pm?? ). It was great to see them all in one place still unable to agree on anyting. ;-) Tim - MASIGUY - Jackson looked very fit and healthy after his bad crash. TimG ( commutebybike.com ) has announced their new Gutter Bunny T-Shirt and I WANT ONE! Wonder what the shipping is or if I could pay for it and get Carlton to post it to me when he returns to the UK... I doubt it. ;-)

Keep an eye on Flickr for Carlton's pictures, commutebybike.com for TimG's comments and pictures, Google for MASIGUY for TimJ's stuff and look on twitter and THEFREDCAST for David Bernstein's commentary - He's blogging live from the Lance Armstrong event - 9am in Las Vegas...

http://www.interbike.com/ib/press/media-center-live.jsp

The-spokesmen LIVE from Las-Vegas :-)

World Car Free Day - who’d have guessed!?!

My routine at my new employer is still a bit up in the air, cycle commuting is equally random…. I’ve now got a suit, tie and shoes in the office, and I now have my own key to the office bike shed. But, knowing when I’m doing the school run or need to stay late is down to the flip of a coin.. :-(

Monday was World Car Free Day – proclaimed on our Intranet site with a poll of “How will you get to work?” So I was up and out early, determined to sort out the equines and then continue the cycle before the expected masses of fellow cyclists hit the road.. I needn’t have of bothered, only one other bike got locked in the shed and they’re a regular. The numbers of cars didn’t appear to drop at all. :-(

I didn’t loose anything this time. But, I think I need to fine tune the seat height down a little and push it back its rails a tad, also need to put more air into the tires as I’m still bottoming the rear tire on some road debris. A question for experienced road riders: what angle should the ‘tops’ of my bars be? Pointing up, flat or pointing down?

World Car Free Day

Not the best day to collect a new chainsaw. :-(

Car Free Day

World Car Free Day is on Monday, 22nd September.

My employer is pushing it heavily.

http://www.worldcarfree.net/

Going Solo

Due to work, school-run & livestock commitments I can’t ride in everyday, so some days I do have to struggle the 6 miles to my office in the dry warmth of my motorised metal womb. Yesterday was my first day on the Bowery.

It rained.

Yep, that was the biggest anguish of the day. The Bowery performed faultlessly, I’ve mostly got used to the handling, I very quickly learned to avoid the potholes I used to blast across on the MTB and my legs coped with the singlespeed weirdness. :-)

In the past I’ve found car drivers to be the sworn enemies of cycle commuters..  But not around here! I am dumbfounded when Bus's keep a respectful distance on narrow lanes and today one car driver even stopped a row of traffic to let me take a right turn across a busy main road! Brill! :-)

Alas there was one fatality: The clip-on Topeak LED rear light, designed to fit the Topeak rack, committed suicide on the first set of potholes by jumping off the rack and under the wheels of a following car. I’ll go back to using an old seatpost mounted thing I’ve had for years and years..

ttfn

Commuting in a box…

The other day a box arrived at work, a large box. You could even say a Giant box….


My last bike I built up from a frame and forks with odd bits and bobs, so it was very refreshing to open the box and find the bike mostly built. The notice on the outside side “Ready in half the time” and they weren’t kidding! With help from my six year old daughter it was rolling in under an hour: bolt on the bars, fit the front wheel, set the brakes (fitting the cable rub stickers), clamp the seat and pump up the tires – voila! OK, I didn’t fit the provided chain guard, I’m just lazy…

The Bowery is a cheap-as-chips singlespeed road bike with an Ali frame and Cromo fork. The wide flange track style hubs give a fixie/free option on the back thanks to the two 17t cogs which should be bearable for my flattish ride to work and back and the 44cm wide ‘Ergo-Bend’ bars appear to be fine, but a massive difference to the wide riser bars on my other bikes. For now I intend to run the bike as it came out of the box.. No changing things until they wear out or I break them, which should be some time as all the kit looks sturdy and well made, if not flashy.

I’m not sure what market sector Giant have aimed this bike at as it’s too ‘Cheap’ to be a fashion accessory for a Fakenger and the lack of rack and mudguard mounts could discourage commuters. My usual bike for commuting is an expensive full suspension Mountain bike, which has had no changes for its road duties. Compared to this the Bowery is very light and eager and I’ll not have cold sweats about chaining it up outside all day. Oddly the lock/chain combo weighs almost the same as the bike!

As this Bowery is to be used for commuting, it’s now fitted with lights and has a Topeak rack clamped to the seat post with a chunky QR lever… The aluminium seatpost shouldn’t mind the clamping forces.But, I’d have to check its suitability with a Carbon Fibre post if I ever feel the need to fit one. The MTB specification rack should provide extra luggage lugging and act as a spray deck; it’s a bit longer, wider and heavier than the Road version but I don’t care. Both types have all sorts of options: side bars for use with panniers, clip in luggage of various sizes and lights to replace the fitted rear reflector – perfect for the gadget freaks out there. ;-)

I'm back!

Finally I've managed to get this heap of a laptop working. :-)

I will get around to commenting on Life, The Universe and Everything...  When I remember how. 

Oh, one thing - My new job is great. There are two ways to treat it:

1, It's all a big challenge and a massive learning opportunity.

2, RUN AWAY SCREAMING AND HIDE.

So far I'm going with option one.  :-)

( Good luck to the ROAD.CC boys, check back here for my Bike Commuting updates )