The Pleasure of Cycling

 Activity wise, well this week has been a quiet one with the arrival of cold weather curtailing nature in its tracks, and keeping my indoors when I've not been shivering and getting wet on my bike rides to work amid the snow and hale we've had, often at the same time.

But the weekend before that was glorious, and I seized the opportunity to get out on my Raleigh hybrid bike for the first time in months. 

I did two rides, totalling just under 50km in all, firstly on a loop out to Elston on Saturday, and then to Norwell and Muskham on Sunday. Compared to my hack work bike, the hybrid goes like a bomb although skinny tyres make for a rough time on some of the cratered local roads. 

It's a good fitness activity too, and feeling warm air rushing past your skin is you scoot along at 30km/h is joyful, not to mention the vitamin D you are getting after the dark days of winter. Aboard the bike my tourettes is controlled, and my general anxiety about the world is lessened, although occasionally my anxiety about bad driving isn't. 

I intend to get some more riding in this spring and summer, nothing heavy, nothing Bradley Wiggins, but just to see the local villages and find some nature sites.

And maybe get some tan lines as well, the mark of any proper cyclist!

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 02.03.22

Unusual Transportation

 Admittedly initially because I don't have a car, I've always been a passionate advocate of active transport for getting to and from work, that being cycling, walking or scooting. 

Nowadays, despite being still technically illegal, many folk are using electric scooters as well these days, something I suspect more people will be taking up in the coming months, and then even more when they are finally legalised in the no too distant future, hopefully relieving the pressure on parking. 

However, I'm also an advocate of that transportation being safe, which I can hardly say about the old Raleigh Twenty until about a year ago one of my colleagues was using before just dumping it in the cycling shed. 

Deprived of its original seat, they had been using a bean bag roughly strapped to the rusting metal seat, which must surely have been a huge risk for nether region tetanus. The handlebars were so rusted they looked they could have snapped at any time, and the brakes and gears were note exactly in a fresh out of the box condition.

It was a wheeled death trap, basically.

Then when I was going home, I noticed someone going passed me in their pride and joy - an ancient Reliant Rialto 2 three wheeler that looked like all the back seats had been removed.

Don't go round corners too fast in that baby!

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 26.09.21

Bike Riding Funs

 Now that good weather and lighter nights are here I've been able to get some decent 20 mile bike rides in on my new - ok new-ish now - Raleigh Cadent One hybrid bike.

It's a much racier ride than my mountain bike which I still use as a hack bike for going to work, and also a much bumpier one as it lacks suspension. It also gives me numb hands for some reason, so last night I tried out some fingerless padded gloves, which helped a bit but weren't completely successful.

I'm enjoying the rides though, you burn through a lot of calories while riding this bike with its bigger gears, and it goes pretty quickly on its skinnier hybrid tyres. 

I mainly ride the country lanes to the south of town, with last nights ride taking me through Cotham, Shelton, Hakwsworth and onto Screveton, where there is a memorial to the victims of a wartime air collision over looked by a giant sculpture of a woman farm worker. 

You then get the pleasure of going through Flintham and then mainly riding downhill on the old A46 back home. This would have been suicidal before they built the new A46 duel carriageway, if ever I found myself on the old road back then I was always terrified. 

I've been able to average over 30kmh on this stretch of road before, but last night there was a strong headwind and I was rather tired. 32km covered in the end.

Or in old money, 20 miles.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 28.06.21

A Sleepy Butterfly

 Well, even as a British person the events of the last 24 hours have been at times unbearable to watch, and I turned off all my social media to avoid it. I am feeling a very little better tonight.

Yesterday was the first anniversary of my mother's death, a difficult day for my family especially as our Tier 3 status meant we couldn't meet as a family and had to make do with a conference call. I spent the main part of the day having a nice long walk, and finally biting the bullet and buying a new bicycle.

I tested it out today with a quick ride to North Muskham Lake and back, I saw quick but I got stuck at a level crossing barrier for about 15 minutes.

My new bike is a hybrid with racing bike sized wheels so it goes rather faster than my old hack bike I will still use for work. However to make up for the swiftness, it has no suspension and a higher pressure tires so it's a much bumpier ride! 

I haven't owned a new bike in so long! 

I made a great little discovery in the passage way that leads to my flat today. On a dangling strand of thick cobweb, a small tortoiseshell butterfly is hibernating! 

Heaven knows if it will make it to spring!

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 04.11.20

A Lovely Retro Bike

My cycling colleagues surprise me sometimes. You'd expect most of the bikes to be mountain bikes in various states of repair - like my Decathlon - mixed in with some new Halford's Carerras that get bought every tine a "Cycle to Work" scheme comes around.

That is indeed the case, but there are some more eccentric velocipedes, like the ancient foldaway bike that has a bean bag for a seat or the old model e-bike that weighs 3 tonnes and has uneven handlebars, and some bikes that indicate either by luck or by choice the owner is a bit of a bicycle conneuseur.

Such was the bike I came across today, a lovely late 80s Reynolds 501 steel framed Kellogs Tour of Britain edition Raleigh road bike. Complete with down tube shifters and the glorious Raleigh logo on the front, dating from a time when these bikes were actually made in the UK at a huge factory in Nottingham, this is a super retro bike that any cycling hipster in a tweed cap would be happy to take to an Eroica festival.

Slightly strangely, however, the owner had swapped out the proper drop handlebars for a flat bar.

I love finding old Raleigh bikes with their heron badges. They remind me of a brilliant documentary I watched about that Raleigh factory in the city, where hundreds of skilled workers turned out these classic machines for work, play, and of course racing.

What's there now? A University campus and flats. There used to be a pub called The Handlebar as a last sort of memorial, but I think that's gone now too.

There's a few ipics of other retro bikes here too.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 20.08.20

A New Cycling Cafe

I was told yesterday that a new cycling cafe had opened very recently, called "Bike Chain" and today I went down for a look.

And a cup of tea of course, although £1.95 actually provided me a very generous pot of tea.

At the moment it doesn't feel very "bikey" - there's a couple of shiny frames hanging from the wall and various 50s pictures of Coppi types in their woollen jerseys and hidden vials full of amphetamine mixed with strychnine. It also doesn't have an ideal location from a cycling point of view; organised rides are more likely to start from Rumbles because of its location slightly out of town nearer quieter roads.

However it is doing a roaring trade from the retail park, I'm told, and soon there will be a bike shop, sports massage clinic and repair facility on the site. So I hope it goes well for them.

Not far away, behind the retail park, a little oasis of wildflowers was providing food for a high number of bees, bumbles, butterflies and a little mint moth - I think.

Further along the river, an angler on a cruiser hauled out a big bream from the castle reach while I watched.

I love living near the river.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 13.08.19

All the Bikes

Around town, everytime I see interesting bikes, or cycle clubs out on runs, or anything like that, I love to take pictures, dreaming perhaps of the day where I might have a bicycle that actually works and is really nice and fast and easy to ride.

Some hopes!

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 12.05.17