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

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