Central London CTC blog

A forum topic on the excellent Roadcyclinguk.com recently asked: What is the optimum number of bikes?

One waggish poster proposed a formula. It is n+1, where n is the number of bikes one presently owns. As an alternative, he suggested, one might use x-1, where x is the number of bikes that will provoke your partner to leave.

Mindful of this, I spent rather too long this past weekend prepping my oldest road bike for sale. more »

My guide and coach turned up at my hotel at 6 on the dot as I wheeled out the bike he had prepared for me. Setting off together was the first time I had mounted the bike and, indeed, the first time it had ever been ridden. It was the first time I had cycled in Italy, and the first time I had ridden a full-on carbon race bike, the same model Focus as Milram campaigns. I had my own Look pedals, and the 3T front end – forks, bar and stem – was instantly familiar. The bike was dauntingly light, and it picked up the pace remarkably. This was all to the good, as my guide wasn’t hanging about.

Already the commercial traffic was building up. The province of Bergamo is a thriving commercial region and, because it’s so hot in the middle of the day, people start work early. To the north, the Lombardy mountains, our destination, were still wreathed in mist after overnight rain, but on the plain the temperature was already in the mid-20s. As soon as we crossed over the Milan–Venice autostrada the road tilted up, alongside the Torrente Imagna. Traffic was streaming down, but was agreeably light in our direction. The shaggy foothills of the Alps closed in around, hanging over the valley road. Inevitably, we soon turned off the valley floor to engage one of the minor roads, snaking up the mountain to Berbenno. more »

Here are a couple of reports that I intended to post earlier but that got overlooked:

6th September: Botolph Claydon, British Time Trial Championships

An extraordinary day: Geoff and I went to see Bradley Wiggins beat Michael Hutchinson over 50km on a course on the Aylesbury plain, further west and north from our usual Chiltern rides although we’ve been round here before with John Snuggs and could do with a repeat visit.

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Copenhagen is one of the world’s best cities for cycling. It is ideally engineered for bike riding, with broad bikeways laid alongside almost every road in the city centre. Bike use is a planned, integral part of the transport network, not a retrofit.

It’s the obvious way for the tourist to explore the city and that’s what my wife and I did when we paid a visit to ‘the salty old queen of the sea’. We were able to rent bikes at our city-centre hotel and and got a useful briefing from the desk clerk. In Denmark, a cycle is not legally a vehicle, and obeys different rules. In particular, this means no left turns at traffic lights on main thoroughfares: you must pull off to the right and wait for the lights to change in your favour. You must give way to pedestrians at the many zebra crossings, and also have lights after dark. more »

Sitting at screen on Friday afternoon. The sun is pouring in. “Hang deskwork!” say I, and cast down my mouse. Not even pausing to change, I grab the old Jack Taylor and head for the door..anything to be out in the glorious late-September sunshine.

Whither? Up the hill to Whitestone Pond. Bit of a push this, on the single speed. Hampstead Heath beckons, basking in golden light. Offroad it is then. I follow the old trail that I first beat on the Carlton track fixed, long ago. Caution on the dry dust and little pebbles that shed grip like a carpet of marbles. Up to Parliament Hill Fields, with its magnificent view clear across Central London to the North Downs beyond. I stretch out on the grass and it is so warm I doze off.

I slide off the hill and bomb down Kentish Town Road, through Camden Town and on to Regent’s Park Outer Circle, a familiar circuit. A hairy-legged ogre on a Giant comes past. I jump on his wheel and spook him for a lap. As I overtake, I am overtaken in turn by the gold-and-blue jersey of an Eagle RC. I hunker down on the bar extensions and chase. But I know this guy, and he is far too good for me, even if had my new bike and lycra instead of the 1953 Taylor and denim fatigues. I turn into the Inner Circle for a warm-down, then cross the Park on the Broad Walk, mixing with the pedestrians – it is legal now, though some scofflaws have always done it.

At exactly the appointed hour, I rendezvous with my wife at her school in Primrose Hill. Together we amble home through the back lanes of St John’s Wood.

It was the wrong bike for the hillclimb, the offroad, and the pursuit. But it was the perfect ride.

On previous visits to Marseille we had noticed people skimming by on the grey system-rental bikes offered by the municipality. This year we decided to join them.

It’s easy to find a ‘Le Velo’ rental station. They cluster thickly around the Vieux-Port and the Bourse area where most tourists stay. They vary in capacity but most have half-a-dozen or more bike docks. Each station has a mini-tower to house the rental screen and a city map with rental locations. The obverse of the tower is given over to advertising, the principal revenue stream for the system’s operator, JC Decaux.

The first task is to release a bike, using the station’s touch-screen and card-reader. Problem: any screen facing the brilliant Mediterranean sun is illegible, even when shaded by a newspaper. We walked on to another, facing away from the light. To business. Instructions (in French only) prompt a two-part process, the first to buy a buy a long-term or short-term (7-day) subscription, the second to select and release a bike. more »

The Millionaires Club had good intentions – a quick half day spin in the Chilterns, back to work for the afternoon.  But it was not to be. Our regular 10.06 from Finchley Rd did not appear, so we were on a late start. At Chorleywood, the temperature was decidedly lower than in town, and it was clear there would still be some ice around, especially if there was run-off in the lanes. 

We headed up the climb to the A road, only to find the road blocked. Now a few road signs have never swayed us in the past. We pressed on, to find a brand new ford. Or more precisely, a Ford in a ford. On chatting with a passing local cyclist, it appears possible that works for the much-needed new golf course have caused problems for drainage in the fields.

Ho hum. Having been given more warnings of ice in the lanes we retired home. We’ll just have to find an excuse to bunk off next week.

Geoff and I went to La Lavandou on the Cote d’Azur by Eurostar, TGV Ter (local train) for 10 days, ending last Thursday. We had nearly three days of constant uninterrupted rain leading to the worst floods in living memory, as well as another crap day – but overall weather was better than here. Here are some pictures of me and Geoff plus views over the sea. more »