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Yeah, you can just see my partner's bum cheeks at the top of some of the frames - the camera was attached to the seat tube...
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I'm definitely getting better at riding it now...
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Well I rather enjoyed it. But then I seldom get involved in any aggro and tend to just smile at people and thank them for letting us past. If you get a thousand cyclists together in central London, there will always be people wanting to promote their cause, make a point or be stupid. There will also always be a few who want to cause trouble.
Anyway - for those of you who weren't there, have a look at this to help you make up your minds about whether you'll come in future. I'm rather proud of my first proper helmet-cam video which I've just uploaded to YouTube. A Penny Farthing makes a fantastically good mobile filming platform...
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If you think eBay's shit, I'd have to agree. But Facebook's worse.
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looking for a bright front light for my girlfriend, trying to get her to commute to her new work but part of it is unlit country lane. Anyone know where I can get one for reasonable money (pref less £30 ish) or better have one to sell?
cheersIf you're really trying to stick to the budget, have a look at Fenix torches.
I have the L2DQ5, but they do cheaper, like the E20, which runs on AA batteries, so your girlfriend can use rechargeables or primary cells. The run time's good (over 3 hours) and it'll punch a hell of a hole in the night for the money. If you can stretch to the L2DQ5 or similar, do have a look at it, because it has a "tactical strobe" mode that is 100% full of awesome WIN.
Nobody misses me when I'm rolling with that (although beware for pedestrians collapsing in front of you from epileptic fits...)
Secure to the 'bars with a velcro strap like this (it really works, I have one of them). Robert is her father's brother and you're on a promise.
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You have mail :)
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Don't care what you call them, sandals with clipless pedals are full of WIN.
I wore nothing but my Shimano ones all the way through a four week tour of the west coast of the States last year and they were the business. Mind you, I can recommend putting sun block on your feet for the first week or so...
Srsly.
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So did any LFGSS forumgers get their kit off for the WNBR in London last year?
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Greenbank's a bloody hero. Here he is at the start:
And here he is at the Dolgellau control after 200 very wet kilometres, with another 170 or so to go before he got to doze for an hour or two and attack the final 230k:
(More pictures available here)
Chapeau!
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No, I'm not going to ride or crew at LEL. I'm Race Director for TRAT this year, so I'll be having a basin full of long distance rides from the other side of the handlebars...
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When I was eight, I stole a GAT air pistol belonging to the son of one of my parents' friends. Although it wasn't loaded, I put it to my little sister's temple and pulled the trigger. For those of you unfamiliar with early eighties air pistols, the GAT used a design where the heavy metal barrel pops out with considerable force to fire the pellet.
She still bears the scar and the grudge...
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The Brian Chapman Memorial 600k is one of Audax UK's biggest rides of the year. My partner and I were considering doing it on our tandem, but I've done it twice, she's done it once and neither of us have anything to prove. Besides, her coach has got her working on her speed prior to her big summer event and a hilly 600 would have crocked her for a fortnight.
So when the call came from the organiser, I volunteered to go and help out at the midway control, Kings YHA in Dolgellau. The original plan had been to leave work on Thursday night and ride up to the youth hostel for Friday night. It's 200 miles and I was planning on doing it on fixed as an overnighter with my bivvy bag.
As it happens, in retrospect I'm not in the slightest bit disappointed that the organiser called me and asked if I could ride straight to his place in Tewksbury for Friday night so he could have all hands to the pump on Saturday morning at the start in Chepstow. Although I didn't know it at the time, I'd have spent a very wet night out there if I'd have been riding all the way to Wales. Maybe some other time...
Anyway, I set off at midday from my office in NW London, with my saddlebag stuffed with cereal bars and a change of clothes. I'd programmed a back road route into my GPS and although the weather wasn't looking marvellous, I had waterproofs and Rainlegs. I also knew that no matter how wet my ride was, I'd have a warm bath waiting for me at Tewksbury and my experience would be as nothing in comparison to the poor souls about to ride the BCM.
The ride started well. The weather held off and I grimped my way out of London and then Hertfordshire via Chorleywood and Amersham. Here's what my bike looked like as I rode northwest:
I had my MP3 player set to eighties cheese mode and I was determined to get some food down me every hour to keep my energy levels high.
Unfortunately, my GPS-fu isn't strong. I'd hurriedly put together a route, basing it on the "pedestrian" facility in Google Maps to give me the most direct roads from place to place and stay off the big A roads. Sadly, what I didn't know at the time was that Google's database clearly includes green lanes and other unmade roads, suitable only for Landrovers, horses and those peculiar bicycles that are actually designed for going places where the tarmac doesn't.
The first time this happened, I managed to re-route myself. The second time, there was no way round without putting in an extra couple of miles. I was going so well on my 47x19 gear that I didn't want to backtrack and the lane in question looked like it was less than a kilometre long before it reached the safety of the tarmac again, so I went for it:
Sadly, despite the derision I'm bound to attract from members of the Roughstuff Fellowship (who sound like a bunch of doggers anyway) for me, it was unrideable on 28c tyres.
EPIC fail...
All I can say is hoorah for Time ATAC pedals and their magic mud-shedding design.
Once I was back on the road, it started to rain quite hard. This at least had the plus point that it washed some of the mud off my drive train, because I was sounding like a poorly-oiled wheelbarrow by that point. Although the rain followed me most of the rest of the ride, when the weather cleared I saw a great many red kites, some very close up on the wing and they were just magnificent.
After the roaring calamity that was my hashed together route, I opted to switch my GPS to autorouting and asked it to take me to Tewksbury by the fastest possible route. Sadly, this meant I had to abandon the lovely back lanes I'd been riding on and I ended up pounding along some less than lovely main roads. On the upside, I was making good time and there were bound to be a better series of options for afternoon tea. I had my heart set on a Little Chef or something and I was holding out for custard if at all possible.
It wasn't to be, though. By the time I felt I'd broken the back of the ride, I could find nothing suitable. I'd been reaching into my saddlebag every hour to self-medicate with Boost bars and the like, so I wasn't in any need of calories. It was then that it occurred to me that I was actually going rather well and that I was fairly sure I'd never cracked off a century on fixed in under eight hours. That sealed it - I pushed on.
My only other stops were of the slightly drafty, hedgy kind. Finding porcelain has never been high on my list of requirements whilst riding. I made Tewksbury well before seven o'clock which pleased me no end. Not bad for a sturdy lass on fixed with a Camper Longflap, I thought.
When I got there, I had a nice bath and some dinner then went straight to be, as we were up at 3:30am to get to Chepstow early enough to open up the community centre and put on some food for nearly 100 riders before the 6am start.
The BCM600 is a bloody hard event, regardless of the weather. This weekend was very wet indeed and a lot of riders abandoned. The route, if you're interested, looks like this:
[ame="http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/BCM-1"]The
%22%5DThe way up[/ame]
[ame="http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/BCM-2"]The
%22%5DThe way down[/ame]Both times I've ridden this, it's been with thirty of Campag's finest gears. This year, a couple of LFGSS members rode the event on fixed. Hopefully they'll be recovered enough to tell their tales soon. I've posted some pics over at YACF if you want to see what it all looked like.
What worries me is that I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever give it a crack on t'cog.
Plz to talk me out of it...
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One wall of the SEEKRIT BUNKER, where all of our fettling takes place.
I need a shadowboard next...
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Is that an IKEA cock pump?
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Back OT - I carry a feckoff great big Zefal HPX aluminium pump strapped under my toptube. This is because I'm fed up with making my hands sore trying to get crappyarsed little minipumps to bring my tyres back up to pressure when the Pu***ure Faerie visits.
I don't carry it as some kind of "rescue a roadie" service for people who are too cool to stash a pump in their jersey pocket. You've just spent three grand on a feckin' Colnago? Very nice - now go and spend a tenner on a decent pump, you poseur knobend.
[/rant]
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50/14 - Parsons Green
Aroogah - Lake of the dead (Mortlake)
AndyW - Putney
Anthony (wolfenger)- Twickenham
Backwardation - Notting Hill
Big Daddy Wayne - Putney
BigFatAl - Ashford, wrk in Chiswick
Broker - Kew
Buddha Fingaz - Putney
brett - work Chiswick (so in the area a lot!)
Charlotte - Sexual Ealing
chatters - West Ealing
crankenstein- West Ealing (work in h'smith half the month, half in soho)
Cornelius Blackfoot - Stockwell/ work in the bush, shepherds bush
dancing james - Kew
dante - Twickenham
dominiclincoln - Northolt
Donut - West Ken
Dov - Acton
Elguapo - Suxbridge
essbee - South Ealing
fib-Fulham (work)
hippy - West Ealing
JackFlash (& shaw) - kilburn/west hampstead (yes, i know it's more north-west...)
JimmyP - Chiswick
Joelounge - Grove Park, Chiswick
kipsy - Richmond
Khornight - Wimbledon (town house) and Stoneleigh (cuntry house) *
kx.001 (shepherds bush)
mmccarthy - Uxbridge
Mini..Cooper - Putney
moog - Uxbridge
Mouse - 'Brackenbury Village' (AKA behind Secrets) as of Thurs!
nv55 - Isleworth
pigfarmer - Fulham
piran - Kew
PistaGem - Shepherds Bush
provenrad - Shepherds Bush
Scrapper - Kensel Green
simon77 - West Ealing
SLag - (North boy but works @) White City (also used to be New Malden)
Soul - Shepherds Bush
Stuan - Fulham
Tea_Bee - Part time in Hillingdon (that is also where the tandem is stabled)
Ved - Richmond
VelocityBoy - Kew Bridge
Vinylvillain - Battersea -
Just cut them sensibly. 12 o'clock, 6 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 9 o'clock, and keep going round...
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Its good to know that people feel that its up to them to decide who really needs money and who has enough. I'm glad I don't have that responsiblility.
I don't have that responsibility either. I'm not setting myself up as arbiter of who's deserving or not, I'm just saying what motivates me to 'fess up and hand back the goods. I'm no saint.
@Charlotte re the Tesco change. What if Tesco deducted the mistake from the person's salary? Or accuse them of stealing the money etc...
Actually, I don't have a problem with that. Mainly 'cos unless I have the raving munchies in the middle of the night and nobody else is open, I'll shop somewhere else. Tesco are a big, bad bunch of evil corporate motherfuckers and I avoid buying stuff from them as much as I can because I'd like to see them wither and die.
If they want to screw their staff over for an honest mistake (not that I'd imagine this is legal) then it's their bad karma, man...
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I've gone for both options in the past. If I'm in Tescos and they give me change for a twenty when I gave them a ten, I'll keep schtumm. If it was my local corner shop, I wouldn't.
Similarly, if I'd been sent two expensive doohickies from Wiggle, I'd probably STFU about it, but if it was someone like Charlie the Bikemonger, of course I'd send one back.
Does that make me bad?
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it is a legal requirement to have control of both wheels of your bike.
if you really don't understand why, please pause to consider that there may be something you've overlooked / not thought of.... ask yourself: what if all those engineers and mechanics over the 100 years of evolving bicycles were actually right !
is it responsible to start talking about physics and justifying your illegal, dangerous actions?
if you succeed in convincing some poor innocent who then dies because they swallowed your preaching, how will you feel then?
No brake, no brain. we all need to spread this message.
if you have no front brake on your fixed wheel, the motorist who hits you cannot be prosecuted. if you have perpetuated the fallacy that its okay to ride without adequite control mechanisms, you share the blame for the consequences of that fallacy.
grow up and become aware of your responsibility to promote safety and to oppose ignorance.
sorry to preach, but it really fucking pisses me off !xxGreg, chill out. You're going to rupture something.
People ride all sorts of bikes. Some are really sensible. Some are totally batshit.
What matters to me isn't so much the physical setup of the bike, as the way that it's ridden. Sure, if you put a total dick onto a SS with just one brake and he rides off at 25 mph down Holland Park Avenue, he's going to smear himself all over the road because he's riding like a muppet.
Me, I sometimes ride a penny farthing. It's got a brake on the front wheel, but it's largely cosmetic so I never use it. If I do anything more than feather it, I'll more than likely take a header, you see. So effectively, I'm riding a brakeless anachronism - and in your world, I'm illegal and dangerous.
Actually, riding an penny, brakes or not, is perfectly legal. Riding a track bike with no brakes isn't really adhering to the letter of the law, but here's the thing; If you don't ride like a dick, you won't get into trouble.
When I'm not riding my penny, I commute on a heavy old fixed with two brakes, mudguards and a rack. You know what? If I rode that like a dick, I'd be in far more danger of hurting myself and other people than on my track bike.
It's a bit like the helmet argument. Learn to ride a fucking bicycle properly and don't interfere with what I want to do because I make informed choices, okay?
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and
job done
Ah yes. "Minty Arse Lard" as a friend of mine refers to it.
My preferred unguent is always going to be Sudocrem before and Savlon afterwards. Both applied as thickly as possible...
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I have a huge crush on Dr Alice. There, I've said it.
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Bright red Oakley Half Jackets with XLJ Transitions lenses. The best sunglasses I have ever had.
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Victorian tech FTW
LFGSS
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
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It's weird. Yeah, it's not easy to ride and if you think a brakeless fix is a bit daft, this is a whole new level of stoopid. But I'm so used to riding a regular fixie round town and being on the defensive that I'm totally attuned to bigger vehicles being a threat to me. If I hear a revving engine or a horn, I make the assumption that it could mean danger and I react accordingly.
On the penny, it's great. I get waves and smiles, applause from pedestrians, people leaning out of car windows with cameras - everything. If I hear a horn, it's always someone saying hi and grinning at me. When I'm stopped at lights, everyone wants to talk and nobody ever gets frustrated at me if they can't overtake. When they do pass, it's wide and slow, 'cos they want to get a good look.
If you're getting pissed off with always being treated like shit by London traffic, get an Ordinary!