Ride 9 Boris Bike 1/3/14

Right. Time for the rematch. Having been put on the deck by a Boris Bike once, I was determined not to let this happen again. I prepared by - well, not getting much sleep as poor old Orly was teething! Having learnt from my previous errors, I studied weather forecasts, I got up early and I took a backpack with lots of food and liquid.

The bikes were there and ready for me. I walked up and down the line and found myself a likely looking candidate. Checked the tyres. Turned the pedals round. Changed the gears. Paid my money, inserted my code and was off!

Literally within about 5min of riding, I remembered what I hated about Boris Bikes. The weight. The ridiculous riding position. The thick, inefficient tyres. The incredibly lumpy and uncomfortable saddle. The fact that the gears seem cruelly organised so you are never in a comfortable gear for riding. The odd noises from the whirring front dynamo, the squeaky back end and the crunchy gear box. It was going to be a LONG ride...

Incredibly the Croydon Road out of Purley into Caterham was shut for virtually its entire length. Really mad it was - massive piping running the length of the road, huge holes in the road. Luckily it was ok for a bike to pass - and actually made for some nice cycling.... No cars revving past me and I got through fine. 

The riding was as painful and slow as it always seems to be on a Boris Bike - every uphill becomes an ordeal as you lug the 23 kilos of bike up it and every downhill, you spin out at about 18mph and sit bolt upright with your body position acting as a massive airbrake!

Particularly horrific were Turners Hill where it felt like I was pedalling through treacle and the area around/just after Walstead where the succession of small steep hills took all the power out of my legs. I was stopping regularly (every 45min or so) to try and get some feeling back in my legs, take on food and water and to stretch out. I had also worked out that if I hunched over the bars and ducked down, I could get a more "aerodynamic" position. I felt very stupid, but it did make a difference - downhill I could carry the speed for longer which meant less pedalling which was very good!

 

 

Before attempting the Beacon, I stopped at the café in Ditchling and had a very hard earned coffee and sandwich. I cannot remember the name of the café (I'm so exhausted when I get here!) but that's the second time I've stopped there and they're always very nice. I then took off (slowly) and headed for Ditchling Beacon. I think that it must be the location of Ditchling Beacon which makes it so hard - it never really ramps up to "silly" gradients, but you are pretty tired from all of the riding you've done to that point. Luckily the gearing on the boris bikes is so low that you can just about keep turning the pedals despite fatigue and weight.

 

I managed to get to the top without stopping - a Motorcyclist cheered at me coming the other way and there was a group of guys on road bicycles at the top who gave me a cheer too. My triumphant entry was rather ruined by the immediate and painful attack of crippling cramp that I got when I pulled into the side - I slumped over the bike so someone had to hold it for me whilst I rather ungracefully dismounted! Was glad that didn't happen halfway up the hill though....

I cannot tell you what a relief it was to get to Brighton Pier - it was gutting to have been defeated by this last time out and in my head I had built it up to be an impossible task. Turns out it was perfectly possible, just pretty hard! Thank you to all the people that gave me very nice words on the way - and to the lovely lady on the train on the way home (diverted via Littlehampton and 2hrs 25min rather than the usual 55min) who not only gave me an energy bar to keep me going, but also made a donation to the cause. Thank you. Right - 9 down, 3 to go!

http://www.strava.com/activities/116986128

Ride 8 - Brompton Bike - 2/2/14

I have a bit of a soft spot for the Brompton. If I ever have a spare £1k knocking about(!) buying a Brompton is definitely on my list of things to do. It is a triumph of design - no other folding bike comes close to the footprint of the Brompton - it seems to fold to a size that is even smaller than the sum of its parts. They are also all made in a factory in Chiswick (London) and each bike can be traced back to who made it. They have been accused of being slow to innovate and to leap onto new technologies, but to be honest, they do just "work".

£1k is an exaggeration - the most basic bikes start at around £600 - and thank you very much to Munir from work who kindly lent me his bike so I didn't have the excuse to buy one!!!

Also, really lucky today - I had the pleasure of some company for my Brompton bike ride!

Chris, who I used to work with and his friend Rich got up very early today (especially Rich who drove to Brighton from Bournemouth, caught the train up and then met up with us at Wandsworth) had very enthusiastically offered to join me. Chris was claiming that they were both not "bike fit", but to put this into perspective, Chris has run a sub 4 hour marathon wearing a chicken outfit and he knows Rich from running. Rich was also cheating by riding a Dahon (slightly bigger wheels!). They both looked pretty cheerful as we set off!

It was a lovely day, but by the time we got out of Croydon, I think both Rich and Chris had learnt that Bromptons really are more suited to relatively short pootles through town and that a long distance ride probably wasn't the best (they were smiling slightly less!). I however, was really enjoying the ride. The short wheel base makes the bike quite "twitchy" and the 3 speed sturmey archer gear box almost worked best by back-pedalling when you changed, but it felt like a bike with character...


Hills were a challenge - there wasn't the natural out of the saddle position that you get on a "normal" bike and the saddle was "rustic", but everything was eminently possible - and the weather was fantastic.

We stopped regularly for drinks and to keep energy levels up - and for the "usual" photos. The Brompton doesn't have "bottle cages" so we kept everything in backpacks and had to stop if we needed to rehydrate.

It was great riding with people and the time passed by really quickly and without a hitch - although we did have a bit of a concern coming into Lindfield where there were massive "road closed" signs up everywhere. Fortunately we could get through ok on bikes and although the road was pretty mucky, it was accessible enough. We stopped in Ditchling before tackling the Beacon (my Northern companions were pretty damning about the seeds and the balsamic accompaniment with their cheese and ham toasties!)

We all got up ok - although Chris stopped to "peruse the scenery" at one point! The journey did not pass off entirely without a hitch though - Rich punctured midway through and we ended up washing the oil off our hands with puddlewater(!) and Chris very unfortunately punctured 400m short of Brighton Pier! Which meant our first act there was to mend the bike! (no easy task with a hub-geared bike).

Thanks guys for a really great day of cycling - and THANK YOU Chris for your fantastic fund-raising as well. Legend. http://www.justgiving.com/ChrisFletcher-Brompton

 Strava details here: http://www.strava.com/activities/113279924

Ride 8 - Boris Bike - FAIL - 15/1/14

Oh dear. I mean, I know this was a pretty hard challenge, but I wasn't expecting this.

I got up and out of the house slightly later than I wanted to and cycled over to Putney where the new extension westwards and southwards of the Boris Bike scheme has seen a lovely row of Boris Bikes put in. I got there a lot later than I wanted - about 10.30am...

After some initial teething problems (not being able to get the bike released due to the machine being out of paper to issue me a code, although the helpline sorted me out pretty quickly), I managed to pick out my bike of choice and set off.

Its a bit of a leap of faith picking out a Boris Bike for a long journey like this - you check the tyres, make sure it doesn't look too battered and hope there is nothing integrally wrong with it!

Due to Xmas illness and the horrible weather (headwind and rain), I wasn't feeling too confident about this and when you aren't feeling good, little things just seem to count against you. There was the bloke who leaned out of his car just outside of Croydon to scream abuse at me (whilst going the other way), there was the guy in a lorry who pulled back in on me as soon as the cab had passed me (forgetting that the lorry was some considerable length) and the guy in a white van who kindly and deliberately blocked a cycle lane and then mouthed off at me as I cycled past. You normally shrug off this kind of incident - but when you are feeling a little dispirited anyway, those things kind of count against you and I never got into a real flow on the bike - even some of the odder bikes I have ridden, I managed to get "into" the bike - to enjoy its foibles and distinctions, but not the Boris Bike. I'll write it up properly when I do it properly, but I was having a horrible time riding it.

After about 25 miles, I was properly struggling. Cold, wet, feeling a bit miserable, I had in my head - "just get up Turner's Hill and go to the pub and reassess". I got to Turner's Hill and REALLY laboured up over it and by the time I got there I was properly beaten. I had been riding for 3 hours, done 33 miles, taken 3 1/2 hours and I still had 23 miles to go. And I could NOT face it. At 2pm, I estimated it would take me a minimum of another 3 hours to get into Brighton, at which point I wouldn't be able to get on a train and I'd have to wait for another couple of hours there....

I made the shameful call to my Dad (who lives locally) - he wasn't in, but his partner was (thankfully) and she very kindly came to the pub to pick me up and take me to the station at Haywards Heath so I could get home. The bowl of chips I had in the pub whilst waiting was the most delicious thing I have eaten in a long time.

So failed. And properly beaten. But I did do 33 miles. Let's call it "training".... We have unfinished business Mr Boris Bike.

http://www.strava.com/activities/106565253

Ride 7 - Fixed gear bike 30/11/2013

"What's that Mark? That's just a Racer" I hear you cry. Look carefully.

"OK, it's just got one gear - but so has a BMX and it has smaller wheels and you did that last ride" I hear you say. Look more carefully.

"Hang on, that cog at the back doesn't have a freewheel - that means every time the wheel goes round, the chain goes round and so the pedals go round too!" Yes - this ride was on a fixed gear bike - so named because the single gear is "fixed" meaning if you turn the pedals, the wheel turns, if the wheel turns the pedals turn.

This means on the ride to Brighton, I had to pedal every single wheel revolution of the way - there was no freewheeling down hills, no resting my legs and taking it easy, it was continuous hard graft the entire way!!!!

This is the bike I commute to work on. I bought it on the cycle 2 work scheme 4 years ago. It lives outside, it does 8 miles to work and 8 miles back Monday to Friday. It receives very little care and attention. It has been battered, dropped and scraped. The seat is peeling, the paintwork is chipped, the bar ends have been lost, its covered in tape. I had to "true" the wheels (tighten the spokes) once because the wheels had gone out of true a little bit, change the front and rear rings once, the tyres twice and the chain a couple of times. Other than that, I've had to do nothing to this bike - and that is one of the beauties of a fixed gear bike - there's nothing to go wrong on them.

You've probably seen a fixie rider go past you. Probably with an elaborately sculpted hair do, implausibly skinny jeans, thick dark framed glasses, one brake on the front (or even no brakes) and very unlikely to have stopped at a red light. There is another type of fixie rider who believes having the one gear makes you at one with the bike and that it is a spiritual experience. Well, I'm the other sort of fixie rider - I ride fixed because it gives me an extra brake (if you stop pedalling the rear wheel stops) and they are cheap and easy to run.

And this is the bike I rode to Brighton. This morning I pumped up the tyres and got on it and rode. The ride to Brighton is about 50 miles more than I have ever ridden in one go on the bike before, but at least I was pretty sure that I fitted the bike and that I wasn't going to have any issues with it. Those were famous last words!

A crisp, slightly blowy morning saw me take off from Barnes and follow my usual route through Putney, Tooting, Croydon etc with a big difference - as with my second ride, I stopped to pick someone up at Purley. This time it was Elliott who has recently ridden London to Paris for the Foundation. That ride was a bit of a leisurely stroll - so I was interested to see if he'd keep up the pace on a brisk ride to Brighton. The first thing that he did when I arrived was pop to the loo (for what seemed like half an hour), so he was obviously trying to keep as light as possible!


It was really nice riding down with someone, although it was a little bit annoying when we hit a downhill slope. Basically at that point, the bike would want to go fast, but my legs could not spin around fast enough to go any more than about 27mph. Elliott would then cruise past, without pedalling, enjoying using gravity and momentum and slowly disappear into the distance.







Although he regretted doing that when he missed a turn off!

So we picked up my traditional windmill photo - and it is obvious what time of year I took this photos - Christmas tree purchasing time already!!!!

We stopped at the Co-op in Lindfield to fill up with sports drink and crisps and Elliott confessed that he was not feeling quite as chirpy as he was at the start of the ride. I noticed as we rode through Ditchling that he had started to drop back and wondered how he'd manage with the challenge of "the beacon". I managed to get up most of the hill - but then got caught behind a car behind a cyclist going very steadily, but very slowly. The problem was, with the gear that I was running, I just could not keep the pedals turning over at a pace that would keep me upright. Then when I got off the bike - my calf started to cramp. Hence a small push up the hill - gutted. Elliott manfully plugged away, but did confess that he was ecstatic to have got up the hill - the toughest he has ever done apparently!

The downhill into Brighton wasn't as smooth as I hoped it would be - basically the speed was such that my chain hopped off a couple of times, but despite this minor mechanical - it was  resolvable pretty easily and quickly. Christmas tree had just gone up at the pier too! I've got to say, my legs were very very stiff at the end of it - never getting a rest is not the best thing!

Strava details here: http://www.strava.com/activities/97834253

Right, just one ride behind now!!!!

 

Ride 6 - 23 November 2013 - BMX Bike

Not just any BMX bike - oh no. Nothing less than a Raleigh Burner... In the classic blue and yellow - look at that bad boy!!!!

 

 

I always wanted one of these as a kid. I had a different Raleigh BMX instead and when I saw one of these on ebay - I thought "that'll do perfectly for the 12 in 12". I picked it up in Fulham, from a lovely fella who was, I think it is fair to say, a bit of a hipster. He said his girlfriend was making him sell it and either there was a bit of sadness in his eyes as I rode it away, or he couldn't believe that he'd got rid of it for cash.




It needed a bit of TLC, new chain ring, new freewheel, a new seatpost (as the seatpost that was on it was about 2cm big and had me riding with my knees around my ears), new cables, new brake pads, a new chain.... But look at it - doesn't it look lovely?!

I probably should have leapt out of bed this morning with the idea of riding this bike, but it was cold and I was nervous about the prospect of riding yet another hideously uncomfortable bike all the way to Brighton.

Indeed, my knees started creaking about 2 miles into the ride, but they didn't seem to get any worse. The problem was that I couldn't extend my legs fully at any stage - the saddle just wouldn't go high enough.


 I was also hanging off of the back of the bike in the saddle position, so pedalling was a bit difficult - and to get out of the saddle, I had to drape myself over the top of the bike. As is usual on these rides, I had to get the magic spanner out just after Croydon as I noticed only one of the back brake pads was on the (Mag) wheel rim and one of the front brake pads was seemingly using the tyre rather than the rim for purchase.



What was nice was the reaction of some people I went past - shouts of "nice bike mate!" from the street and a cabby winding down his window to ask me if it was my actual bike and wishing me luck. What wasn't nice was the impact of the hills which were difficult. The gearing wasn't particularly tough, but I couldn't get any leverage to get power into the wheels and on the first major hill, my legs gave up the ghost and the chain started "misfiring" on the freewheel. My fault of course - I hadn't tightened up the wheel bolts enough and the chain had pulled the wheel forward and lobsided.

I will say this for the Raleigh Burner - it does push well. The other thing that it does well is descend. You'd look at the bike and think (especially in comparison to the TT bike and the recumbent) - that is the most un-aerodynamic bike in the world. Look at your body position. Look at the silly, heavy steel piping, look at those massive nobbly blue tyres (oh yes!) But something about it was just amazing fun to descend. With one gear, there was no point turning my legs over 17mph as I couldn't spin them fast enough to make any difference to my speed - so I "tucked in", made myself as small as possible and enjoyed trying to make the speed as fast as possible. Yes, the speed wasn't that high - but it FELT fast, which is the single most important thing.

Ditchling defeated me again. As did Turner's Hill. But all the rest were climbed (albeit slowly). My legs felt very tired at the end, but those moments going downhill, the time in Brighton where a big hell's angel type roared up to me and shouted "a RALEIGH BURNER!!!! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!!", even the tree surgeon who leant out of his truck to say "That's a sh*t bike mate!" all made me smile. My average speed wasn't horrendous. Whilst I needed a restorative bath for my aching legs when I got home, I can still walk. It was a beautiful sunny day and I'm so happy that I finally got a chance to have a rag (and a very long rag at that) on the bike of my childhood dreams.

Strava details here - 13.3mph average!!!!! I think the max speed of 47mph MUST be wrong!!!!

http://www.strava.com/activities/96648454/overview

 

 

Ride 5 19 October 2013 Recumbent Bike

Right - my riding has gone a bit skew whiff I'm afraid. I got knocked off by a taxi in the summer and I'd just got over that when I managed to fall off (all my fault), broke a finger, sprained both wrists and then managed to fall off again and did the same thing again to my wrists.

I wasn't 100% better, but needs must, so I got out there and rode!

This was the machine I was on this time round:

So what is it I hear you cry. Well, it is a Challenge Twister Recumbent. It has one big wheel and one small wheel. You sit in the seat, steer under your legs - and pray!

What's the point I hear you ask. Well, a very good question. Generally as far as I can work out, the main advantage is being aerodynamic - you present a much smaller "wall" to the air so you can go faster.

Also, you get a proper seat so you don't have to worry about saddle sores or any other such injuries.

There are a number of unique challenges to the bike though - so we'd better run through them.

Firstly it is the fact that the thing is a bit longer than a normal bike. This leads to a few "manoeuvrability" issues - especially as you can't steer it as hard as a normal bike. Secondly, when you start off, you don't seem to get the immediate balance that you do on a normal bike (granted this may be practice). Thirdly, as an "ordinary" cyclist - it seems incredibly "weird" to be riding lying down - given my recent prangs, being in the position you are normally in shortly before hitting the floor is a bit odd. There was one further issue that I had - but I'll get to that!

The main concern that I had before riding was that I would not be visible enough. This was NOT a concern in the end - people generally were intrigued by this "unusual" looking machine and I think the uniqueness of its look meant it was more visible than a "normal" bike.

As I had a proper seat, there was no need for the lycra padded shorts - so I wore normal knee length ones - I forgot that of course as soon as I got up any speed, the wind went right through them and up the leg of the shorts, rolling them up and making me cold! The other thing was the fact that you are so low that when most cars come past you - their engines are at your head level which was a bit unnerving - I did REALLY like having a mirror though:

There were lots of gears on the recumbent - but after about 30 miles or so, I started to notice a pain at the top of my thighs. Basically the different position was totally testing muscles that I did not normally use on a bike - I was kind of bracing myself between the seat and pedals and what I understand to be my hip flexors were taking the punishment. Things were ok when I was moving, but when I stopped - I was in a LOT of trouble.

I had to get off and walk Ditchling. I was cold, wet, it was windy and I was really struggling with my legs. This was a little concerning as there is still the last hill into Brighton after that - but that was "fine":

As was the lovely downhill into Brighton, but once I'd got into Brighton - I was in real trouble. I couldn't use my right leg to get going. It had seized up so badly that I was lifting it onto the pedal with my hands and then hoping I could send the crankset whizzing around fast enough to keep the momentum going that I could catch it with my left foot again and not use the right. This was fine downhill and where there was no traffic, but just TOO hazardous at the bottom where there is always loads of traffic. I ended up having to walk the last mile to the pier....

 It was such a relief to get there, I didn't mind the final ignominy of pushing it, I was cramping, shaking with cold (despite the mudguards) and very late for my Grandad's birthday party! Thankfully it was all done and that was another "funny" bike ticked off. The cost was the most painful ride that I have ever done. It was like a combination of the hypothermia of the first ride and the discomfort of the Time Trial ride x 1,000!

Strava details here: http://www.strava.com/activities/96521538/analysis I think the slow time is a reflection of how much I was suffering in the last 20 or so miles of the ride. I have just seen that my max speed with 43 mph(!) which is certainly the fastest I have been on these rides so far.



Ride 4 Time Trial Bike 17th August 2013

Right. This should be a breeze right? I mean a time trial bike. That's the bike that Bradley Wiggins rode to Olympic glory and gold. This should mean London to Brighton is a stroll in the park.

Right.

This is Bradley Wiggins on his time trial bike:

Pro - an example to all.

This is me on my time trial bike: 

Wobbly!

Not a lot of similarities there, I think you'll agree - we're both riding a bike, but Wiggins' Time trial bike is a lot spanglier than mine - he has what is termed a "very good shape" on the bike, I don't and he also looks like someone who has been fitted and spent days of training on his bike, honing his position and style in wind tunnels and roads around the world. I look like a bloke who has bought time trial bike bits on the internet, tried to put it together, failed due to the really tricky internal cabling, got help from a nice Australian man called Bruce (seriously) and ridden it once. To Brighton.

Right - let's explain this machine a little bit.

So this is a time trial bike. It is designed to be "slippery" in the wind, to be as aerodynamic and quick through the air as possible. This effect is totally ruined of course when you put a human on it which destroys all the clean lines of the bike. As you can see - the seat tube (where the saddle goes on top of) is designed to fit around the wheel to reduce "drag". The wheels are made of carbon and are "deeper" section to reduce "drag" and also to reduce "drag", you have to lean on the funny bars with your elbows. These are worth looking at in more detail:

Basically, when you are going along, you have your hands on the bits in the middle with your elbows on the pads. If you need to brake, you put your hands on the bits on the outside and hope you've moved quickly enough. The aim is to spend all of your time with your arms on the middle bits. Which after three hours is pretty painful. But it makes you "quicker" (see blurry photo for proof!).

 

My usual early morning set-off was undertaken with the family still asleep. I hopped onto the bike and headed off. In an attempt to maximise my speed, I had put a contraption on my seat which would hold my water bottles behind my backside (again reducing "drag"). As per usual, this "genius" idea could have done with some prior trialling as I lost my first bottle out of the holding cage going over a speed bump 40m from my front door. By the time I got out of London, this had happened 6 further times and I had to pull over and attach the cages to the frame where they did a faultless job of retaining the bottles. Oh well. 

Useless!

Apart from the antics of my flying bottles, things were going smoothly - compared to the Dutch Town bike, being on a fast, skinny tyred bike was like driving a Porsche compared to a Fiat Doble. I was flying along and making decent time. I was even able to take a photo of my flying along and of a windmill I spotted for the first time along the way! But the aggressive position was taking it out of me a little bit - I was getting pretty uncomfortable in my neck and shoulders - unused as they were to me being bent double and taking the weight through my forearms.

 

 

But to be fair, I was making very good time despite the discomfort - Ditchling Beacon was a challenge dispatched with aplomb and even the sneaky last hill into Brighton was dealt with ok. A very nice man at the top of Ditchling complimented me on my nice bike and I tried to be gracious as I rolled the knots out of my shoulders and arms.

 

 

 

So my analysis of time trial bike is - yes, it is fast. BUT it is also the sort of bike that you should build up to long rides on so that you can get used to the position and I probably should have started/done a couple of short rides before trying a really long one. I doubt very much too that I was considerably faster than I would have been on a road bike (largely because towards the end I was getting out of my "aero" position a lot to try and get comfortable!

 

Strava details here: http://www.strava.com/activities/75426959 getting closer to the 3 hours than the 4 hours plus on the other bikes and the 6 hours off road!