tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85707348602192921992024-03-16T01:10:03.753+00:00Real cyclingEveryday biking from A to B, via other lettersRob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.comBlogger777125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-31376506919774484332013-06-15T23:23:00.001+01:002013-06-15T23:25:26.991+01:00Feeling faint: Northern Rail's invisible bike signs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixJ6YgBthJU1aNESbqcUYbijiv87BqEB42I4q594oTMLsIBlc9i88YFVops5ys8uNh0j2_PsL2dXaiQ8f7RU0kaZsjifQwSXAr996LxjmOfpGKUXIUhc_ixLAkHLVKi5Ifg5kF2J6jAb0/s1600/bikeontrain1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixJ6YgBthJU1aNESbqcUYbijiv87BqEB42I4q594oTMLsIBlc9i88YFVops5ys8uNh0j2_PsL2dXaiQ8f7RU0kaZsjifQwSXAr996LxjmOfpGKUXIUhc_ixLAkHLVKi5Ifg5kF2J6jAb0/s1600/bikeontrain1.jpg" /></a></div>I've been busy blogging elsewhere, cycling <a href="http://e2e2e2e.blogspot.co.uk/">Land's End to John o'Groats</a>. <br /><br />
But back home in York, I was pleased to see that Northern Rail continues to make those of taking bikes on trains feel special. Such as on the service to Hull (picture).<br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuheAfVfmVLAAX7WLGCBFmfuI97AoX9k_eru0V0Qgcv9jyd28HWWcDercjEYG33aS-_aRa2edvWBnaAse1TU3S8M5JH_1mIkv2v8cNcNlLnVNQrf4ZVVUakO2-DPqxpLJQTEv88CyveyM/s1600/bikeontrain2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuheAfVfmVLAAX7WLGCBFmfuI97AoX9k_eru0V0Qgcv9jyd28HWWcDercjEYG33aS-_aRa2edvWBnaAse1TU3S8M5JH_1mIkv2v8cNcNlLnVNQrf4ZVVUakO2-DPqxpLJQTEv88CyveyM/s1600/bikeontrain2.jpg" /></a></div>Most passengers would naively expect the cycle spaces - which, in fact, are behind this door here (picture) - to be indicated by some sort of visible sign.<br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_H5GBi2zCJhZ9HtGK0AXNdfWCIze6v46w2Sh83Q3Cj39odD5un-V1s_Py9v2zl2Ru3TeLOUscl1dstaTDbTto4nPecTU3TolQQKtDPA06AvwcKHZXMPvjL7uGX69lTG202Jk8UVRfKt4/s1600/bikeontrain3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_H5GBi2zCJhZ9HtGK0AXNdfWCIze6v46w2Sh83Q3Cj39odD5un-V1s_Py9v2zl2Ru3TeLOUscl1dstaTDbTto4nPecTU3TolQQKtDPA06AvwcKHZXMPvjL7uGX69lTG202Jk8UVRfKt4/s1600/bikeontrain3.jpg" /></a></div>Hah! Not likely! The magic mark (above the yellow rectangle on the left-hand side in the image above) is near-transparent, applied in special non-seeable paint (picture - heavily modified by software to make it more prominent), so that only the chosen few, 'real', cyclists know where to go.<br /><br />Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-21102829340413744482013-05-01T06:40:00.001+01:002013-05-01T21:50:43.077+01:00Moving story: Kotor's cargo trikes<img border="0" align="right" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQQPhNLbOPzo4QRLBckEIIqlSdCOroQLrrn78-CtTWjECjbuWcBzDH1a6LktL6jh724A7joWTgR8Hj9jUfPuP-cLCBEXYehlPk6vgiKFRNcdMNwuqMLPfPROiCIMN-SvhWlLFqBVhRVus/s320/kotor.jpg" />I've just been in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotor">Kotor</a>, on the coast of Montenegro. <br /><br />
The walled old town (picture) is traffic-free. This makes walking around its cosy lanes and squares delightful. <br /><br />
Until the cruise-ship daytrippers arrive, when you pine for the relative tranquillity of the North Circular.<br clear=all><br />
<img border="0" align="right" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMYtI1dnMk34S7ie040x7shvZT6fOP6btYR8gTZbOlTbblgNEGxg-BQtwdDjVPk2qudrAlC783bN4j9VssTt3flmu_H5TT7AgcWzrRcg5PW7RTwsujj5n71533dQHUxbrFBE36XvEoKBI/s320/kotorbike1.jpg" />The only way to move things around (apart from an electric cart which takes the bins in and out) is therefore by trolley or bike. <br /><br />
So many of the locals either own or rent cargo trikes like this (picture). <br clear=all><br />
<img border="0" align="right" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwugNwCJ3RJhwrJ5wcnIQirqEHfz3YPAMgvylRTHxo9jQJfnBXrWP0aI8pDPqJK3xnyIFtrmC-romHa1bCSF9eQpHRprHD5E5OoXRSoWblduVc99pMfGsrOLJk7LerXgRp-w3IufYdQ_k/s320/pavement.jpg" />Although it's apparently taking up a car-parking space, it causes no problems with motorists in the main town's streets. <br /><br />
That's because Balkan drivers just park on the pavement anyway (picture). <br clear=all><br />
<img border="0" align="right" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimWMjNO8b6aKh0i5T9fEWrOie4-BEk8iTW-_mfpiJvyHenjCT_y76PSrXt8eQpQ2h5H5BuPqaMuB8e9jNFjJiZO5HykNmKtEK9j-kL1POqVutef_BCJM0-zDql8yAY7MOw1Owj1zzhKzQ/s320/kotorbike2.jpg" />Anyway, here's a Kotor family back from the supermarket run (picture) on a model of more rusty vintage. <br /><br />
The bikes tend to be pushed when in the old town, as cycling per se seems to be prohibited too. <br clear=all><br />
<img border="0" align="right" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivEz7kIqzQtX6o5laMgLliP6SaP8qheZcjs7WEd3b_6smVncM1oyhnJExTGfRyQj2WRQE1pZv5-lW4cyUhEZx8Hwih1_KTIF8g1CcXhJZEr4Zf8UfC09fPdBfiFOac5Nz2f4qq1fAs0aU/s320/kotor2.jpg" />But definitely open to bikes - and closed to cars - is the shoreline road 20km to Tivat, along the headland in the top left of this picture. Kotor old town is the red triangle at the bottom (picture). <br /><br />
It's a stunning ride, and - rarely for mountainous Montenegro - flat. <br /><br />
So I was told. Though if that information is as trustworthy as Podgorica's taxi drivers, you'll need crampons and oxygen.<br clear=all><br />
I would have done it, except the only bikes available for hire in Kotor were those cargo trikes. I could have taken quite a picnic with me, though.<br /><br />Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-10571134351492551252013-04-18T08:37:00.002+01:002013-04-18T08:43:18.064+01:00Midi life crisis: Cycling the Canal du Midi<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbn77fcbxpxBZNTW2-1lL9qr1pTIAKSGxGhiDKk00fCmbEBBxeWAEkJwplw66djY6hnDnpejoMLeiac4b5fJpaq2PBOpo7HEBao4M2Y2ELnB7_eTdmVm1FjsZeNvyv6LMzpmNQMgCFySE/s320/midi1.jpg" align="right" width="250" />I was in France last week, cycling the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal_du_Midi">Canal du Midi</a> (picture). <br /><br />
The 240km long engineering marvel, linking Toulouse with Beziers via Carcassonne (and hence, with other watercourses, the Atlantic and the Med) offers a flat, traffic-free cyclable route through the south of France. What's not to like?<br clear=all /><br />
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgssA6GXmg5s4apNFwRZl_AeoTs1im79T4UDgMYUelGX9fKbLJyTxaRe8yplu63kFBMfvmHvVwCYd6aaCryV63rPcGNK7h4MpnFdi34OcF_l_ndQMttKIY-SVtFRX9GrxDJVo6xD4OTkIA/s320/midi2.jpg" align="right" width="250" />Well, er, quite a lot, actually. The 40km east out of Toulouse is superbly surfaced, and skatable-smooth. But the scenery is as dull as yesterday's croissants, and you don't go through any towns or villages. It's plain boring. <br /><br />
About the only noteworthy sight is this car sculpture in a farmyard near Gardouch (picture), which may be a comment on French driving.<br clear=all /><br />
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA6KnhzSJ8DcbJTjpXgiqLGEC57r7sde9bxTtRwuAhu3obLzw5ZjERDMpfmxhuWbAw2OYVqD4_nQfYeMPAxdXx4aBpjw7hpsK7m9CbjyPT-JIOXnUpLp8JIUavXdYAF2NnD66AbW_awvI/s320/midi3.jpg" align="right" width="250" />Once the tarmac finishes, you're into the canalside lottery familiar to English towpath riders: a mishmash of smooth gravel, bumpy gravel and muddy, lavishly-puddled paths (picture). <br /><br />
Fine on a mountain bike, but what's the point of a mountain bike without mountains? I did it on a shopping bike, because at least there were some shops. And the front basket was big enough for a baguette, bottle of red and slab of pate.<br clear=all /><br />
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhilhe_7cJEOr-cYjV_CjmH8hpEhzuVhkHizrNcZhYR83TkGkk291IP7NZMhpH-2WfgjiiqNGnCDeKgS0l6R5AoovdQWITQGVw2JiPXknQUyYxs2Ac-Rkok9stQbU3ZZSp5ZRyyeDVnE0c/s320/midi4.jpg" align="right" width="250" />Carcassonne, with its magnificent medieval walled town, is a highlight. You can cycle to it across the traffic-free old bridge (picture).<br /><br />
Its old town is magnificent, though some aspects, such as the towers' pointy roofs and the cycle parking by the entrance, are evidently inauthentic.<br /><br />
The Canal du Midi is, in sum, a bit dull; for me, exploring France by backroads is much more interesting. <br clear=all /><br />
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfIdcWMDYBgIeelxyhGiWRhv14T7u6qgVe7vPv6ftN8VdUYSNblZrOuLfXSoM6vhIf91TApm99YQ-p7E4oJQpqCaR1VFGJwnL3h8ES2TcD6jEnQp5nAh7cQE4TSplt4L-7B-qffn5ko_U/s320/toulouse1.jpg" align="right" width="250" />But Toulouse itself is of interest to the real cyclist. It has a bike hire scheme (picture) along the same lines as that in <a href="http://realcycling.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/boriss-blues-cycle-superhighways-launch.html">London</a> or <a href="http://realcycling.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/velibs-striking-success.html">Paris</a>.<br clear=all /><br />
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixhH_wFbi8_YaHAam1Bm1t4NjuokXolEC3PfAonfL95Ue4ADhI34sJugrarF474IjePTqPzNvOwNJ7H-2yHbbCbG41HSiQZpds9Q7fG9_XDVmi3QpXq1t5wQfmkRimBZVJdfRvs8lB8xU/s320/toulouse2.jpg" align="right" width="250" />You wouldn't call it a Cycling City - it's not Cambridge, but then, where is? Oxford, perhaps - though Toulouse has a steady trickle of everyday cyclists (picture). <br clear=all /><br />
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWz9oxJcvBTV4ElEspdoaqWya1NxTQ0UmCAY9hOWCwgHYa1mLYhkZKOXyNjRPrrFYLoIzPyYlYocvsO8yNIYWg6RF77nbylMT8McPzia24LxAE9RtYWP8dXecCv99s3Jq-Gj1IwwBZJ3Y/s320/toulouse3.jpg" align="right" width="250" />The flatness helps, but so does the permeability. In the centre, it seems every street, even if one-way for cars, is two-way for cyclists. <br /><br />
Often these lanes are startlingly narrow, but I had no problem with the salmon-thing, cycling against oncoming traffic (picture). <br clear=all /><br />
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdSYX_za-mKl8J6OEPsSm916sljwkGCWgP1iOqG2njx_4VI13m5h0Sv34CgYs2minyp1TKEP6W-Wq2FrkMKe1TlC3vhJZdzBFY6bBifxeJS8NZ9vblM8TE62-AD47qmXu8gWM7ooXF_Bs/s320/toulouse4.jpg" align="right" width="250" />Indeed, French drivers seemed on this trip very good at overtaking me with plenty of space on rural roads, and driving safely and steadily on cramped city streets such as this (picture). I wish English cities were as flexible with bike contraflows. <br /><br />
Perhaps that farmyard sculpture in Gardouch isn't a comment on French driving after all.<br clear=all /><br />Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-13160844750624822872013-04-15T11:44:00.000+01:002013-04-16T16:20:09.147+01:00Lost and found: Home Counties wilderness by bike<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK5j2ir0sBsmRHph4SqQI-mgi7lnikEWF1h9cRHBCbH_Tq7ICOZ4F_tTgIv5IMl_JDTAIJmaDIwOeb8Fl5ciAVjj9I_Vwe1KHvfYGFhCkMnS-0DUYVKcE5N2xY71g_ZasnvrE5K1ZEkcY/s1600/lostlanes.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK5j2ir0sBsmRHph4SqQI-mgi7lnikEWF1h9cRHBCbH_Tq7ICOZ4F_tTgIv5IMl_JDTAIJmaDIwOeb8Fl5ciAVjj9I_Vwe1KHvfYGFhCkMnS-0DUYVKcE5N2xY71g_ZasnvrE5K1ZEkcY/s320/lostlanes.jpg" width="250" align="right" /></a>
<i>Lost Lanes</i> – published today (see <a href="http://issuu.com/wildswimming/docs/lostlanes">sample</a>, or <a href="http://thebikeshow.net/lost-lanes-shop">buy it online now</a>) – is a fab cycling book by Jack Thurston, of <a href="http://thebikeshow.net/">Bike Show</a> renown. <br /><br />
It’s a sort of routes-guidebook, describing 36 Home Counties rides; but it captures the real essence of cycle-exploring far better than the average cobbled-together <a href="http://www.bike99.com/">routebook clone</a> you see bookended in Waterstone’s. <br /><br />
Real cycling, as Jack knows, is not about cycling; it’s about what else it enables you to do. Those of a cake-stop or pub-destination mindset will know exactly what I mean. <br /><br />
And, indeed, the book’s routes – from marked ones such as the Crab and Winkle way to bespoke back-lane delights – are rated for, say, pub and good-food opportunities en route. But they also reveal the sort of mildly bohemian adventure you don’t usually associate with the posh South East: wild camping, wild swimming.<br /><br />
It’s possible to see wildlife in London, of course, though this is usually the sort that throws stones at you on the Walworth Road. <i>Lost Lanes</i> gives you a genuine taste of wilderness, a more metaphorical stone’s throw from the capital. <br /><br />
These routes don't require helmets, lycra longs, or a 4x4 with a bike rack (train access is listed for every route): only a sense of adventure. And, perhaps, a picnic, your trunks and tent. And your iPhone, to make your Facebook friends insanely jealous of your carefree, vibrant lifestyle.<br /><br />
So get this book and set out on your bike the next warm sunny day. Er, when the warm sunny days actually do arrive. Clearly, the photoshoots for the lovely images in the book must have been done on last year’s one rain-free weekend...<br /><br />
Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-22321677436353599272013-01-18T09:26:00.000+00:002013-01-18T15:16:58.298+00:00Aye, what a Grand Depart: 2014 Tour de France comes to York<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwzDkQpQU14dyyVf0Z7ifXCRQGW-BEN1a7HWrkqzcq-VfjL2ijMaew3Cmpv1L4-N0cqnfxGSCAWUIw9-p69UYaCQulvypPxcPYR40ofWfZMSHr-jBUTZ6OTW9DjrIYBlPJ5eIcrlms1SA/s1600/grand1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="333" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwzDkQpQU14dyyVf0Z7ifXCRQGW-BEN1a7HWrkqzcq-VfjL2ijMaew3Cmpv1L4-N0cqnfxGSCAWUIw9-p69UYaCQulvypPxcPYR40ofWfZMSHr-jBUTZ6OTW9DjrIYBlPJ5eIcrlms1SA/s400/grand1.jpg" /></a></div>On Sunday 6 July 2014, Day 2 of the Tour de France will start here in York. <br /><br />
This is astonishing and fantastic news. It means that, for once, bikes will have priority through the centre of town, unencumbered by vans delivering flatpack wardrobes to Argos, cars displaying disabled badges whose occupants miraculously walk unaided to Barnitts, and tourists stepping out backwards in front of you as they try to get the Minster frontage on their iPhone.<br /><br />
The press launch of Yorkshire's Grand Depart for 2014 - aye, grand indeed - was in Leeds Town Hall, last night (picture).<br clear=all><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8G2r1_k6_ruAR82ZsTwT9lrrDD-yoBM79GrjEJuKJRH7QasJ6Xx1vxGET5cnhOzT6XOki9a6y1edwijolDUYiIUzAolstq6qVemTmzyxWPNmqYn_m9Prj2L8qLies_ErrShQBvscO3Ck/s1600/day1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="350" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8G2r1_k6_ruAR82ZsTwT9lrrDD-yoBM79GrjEJuKJRH7QasJ6Xx1vxGET5cnhOzT6XOki9a6y1edwijolDUYiIUzAolstq6qVemTmzyxWPNmqYn_m9Prj2L8qLies_ErrShQBvscO3Ck/s400/day1.jpg" /></a></div>We learned brief details of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/21056721">the route</a>: that Day 1 (good for sprinters, picture) will go from Leeds to Harrogate, and Day 2 (good for attackers) from York to Sheffield.<br /><br />
Perhaps wary of the links between drugs and past, now-forgotten, Tour winners, the launch involved no performance-enhancing chemicals. There wasn't a free glass of wine or canape to be had. <br /><br />
Well, this is Yorkshire. If you want a drink and a snack, there's a Wetherspoon round the corner, you know. We're here to work.<br clear=all><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidBYWnL8mO5CwZRu5SwYQx5TjP0YEAywp2SxiUXcBhIUF2ZIDOyIhdVOcR1A33p6uiNIAadYjAN6OIC6w4RLrLIHGAkCAn_B8o3hy9s_tg-cc8ojNwbWvT0Zrnap80j9NMdOez-QsJNbg/s1600/grand0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="163" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidBYWnL8mO5CwZRu5SwYQx5TjP0YEAywp2SxiUXcBhIUF2ZIDOyIhdVOcR1A33p6uiNIAadYjAN6OIC6w4RLrLIHGAkCAn_B8o3hy9s_tg-cc8ojNwbWvT0Zrnap80j9NMdOez-QsJNbg/s400/grand0.jpg" /></a></div>But it was still packed out, with standing room only (picture). When Welcome to Yorkshire announced they were bidding for the Tour it was something of a joke. Now it's happened. <br /><br />
To paraphrase Bob Monkhouse, when I told people I wanted to be a comic writer, everybody laughed. They're not laughing now.<br /><br />
If you'd said to me 20 years ago that in future people will pick up dog poo in plastic bags, pubs will be smoke-free, and people will show you videos of their cat on a mobile phone, I'd have just about believed you. Even, maybe, that we'd have a British Tour de France winner.<br clear=all><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtimVjhg1uHnC0GpMvuTl5njNILODzmXqgK8lyPnMkDkhdsrR7D96LzHeTgPgEW66xgw_Gk78GkpEANzUe-LBfgZX7Q4Nhv3409qjloivn6jQfeGAaoEz9Z7afTzaro60jHYSwI_lZTM4/s1600/day2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="275" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtimVjhg1uHnC0GpMvuTl5njNILODzmXqgK8lyPnMkDkhdsrR7D96LzHeTgPgEW66xgw_Gk78GkpEANzUe-LBfgZX7Q4Nhv3409qjloivn6jQfeGAaoEz9Z7afTzaro60jHYSwI_lZTM4/s400/day2.jpg" /></a></div>But the Tour de France itself going almost past my front door (picture)? No way. <br /><br />
Indeed there won't be a way. It'll be too crowded, especially as all my friends and relatives are now angling to come and stay.<br /><br />
Now, at least, we can enjoy the 2014 Tour in the same way as the French: stood in a bar, half-watching it on telly, complaining about the crowds, and moaning that today's cyclists are not a patch on the old guys.<br clear=all><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfI8_PsUk61Et1QrJIu25-QY5lA_lz6KL5QPzueuPCLAsRzd3eJICnVrDkXiJthyphenhyphenBFPYm10xU7VSI5thGoxtkv89TolBUqIsZx3kCvZnVeAikxlhxXpICl6s80t3soW6g7cqu5GKNQEYk/s1600/grand2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="380" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfI8_PsUk61Et1QrJIu25-QY5lA_lz6KL5QPzueuPCLAsRzd3eJICnVrDkXiJthyphenhyphenBFPYm10xU7VSI5thGoxtkv89TolBUqIsZx3kCvZnVeAikxlhxXpICl6s80t3soW6g7cqu5GKNQEYk/s400/grand2.jpg" /></a></div>The launch party finished outside, in the swirling snow, with flaming-jugglers and fireworks (picture). <br /><br />
Obviously I had to Facebook my snaps, and had to find a wifi opportunity. Luckily there was a Wetherspoon round the corner.<br /><br />
<i>I've also blogged this morning about the Tour de France coming to York on the excellent <A href="http://www.yorkmix.com/sport/york-whats-on-tour-de-france-2014-previe/">York Mix</a> website.</i>Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-7605678130948314602012-12-26T13:11:00.001+00:002012-12-26T13:15:40.384+00:00One way to avoid punctures: Ski-bikes in Germany<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQv8HeDFAKTu1w5pcprsd0ogcBVFGr1ErGIXSMZ9Cef8TQvdwOzboh3IiX7FLTi12_ktLpldSetXLJHf0aPphyEgY_niav3qqd418bDu1WvgKsp8uNEZtHeWC9l4w5SuQcYeqFWsPqLio/s1600/skibike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="301" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQv8HeDFAKTu1w5pcprsd0ogcBVFGr1ErGIXSMZ9Cef8TQvdwOzboh3IiX7FLTi12_ktLpldSetXLJHf0aPphyEgY_niav3qqd418bDu1WvgKsp8uNEZtHeWC9l4w5SuQcYeqFWsPqLio/s400/skibike.jpg" /></a></div>We've just got back from southern Germany, where it was too snowy and icy to cycle. <br><br>
The Bavarians, though, see such weather as an opportunity rather than a threat. This was what we saw on the local <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayerische_Oberlandbahn">BOB</a> train out of Schliersee. Each carriage here has space for twelve bikes, and about as many snowboards or sets of skis. <br><br>
Does this count as skis or a bike (picture)? Not sure, but it certainly isn't a wheelchair.<br>
Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-2529367587367830832012-12-12T14:04:00.001+00:002012-12-12T14:25:55.570+00:00IJ spy: In Amsterdam, even the Erotic Museum involves bikes...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikyZmamRE235IetFoKb3vuI0ePrBIj4AiTmHhNIeqX-YqwGkbnTh7Atelm7OssDFLcBq1LlKBB4zYmnZuqacV44AcxH4KvZ4r3ptnukiVqpRJelTrsTJ8NbpQ1v39kQotDYIguqc-ZWr8/s1600/bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="272" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikyZmamRE235IetFoKb3vuI0ePrBIj4AiTmHhNIeqX-YqwGkbnTh7Atelm7OssDFLcBq1LlKBB4zYmnZuqacV44AcxH4KvZ4r3ptnukiVqpRJelTrsTJ8NbpQ1v39kQotDYIguqc-ZWr8/s400/bridge.jpg" /></a></div>I've just got back from a few days in <a href="http://www.amsterdamize.com/" target="new">Amsterdam</a>. Everyone cycles here of course, except stag-party Brits, so I took a bike (picture) to ensure I wasn't mistaken for one of them. It worked: the prostitutes ignored me. <br /><br />
Also, when I bumped into another cyclist, momentarily forgetting which side of the cycle path I should be on, he swore and threatened to kill me in Dutch. I was delighted, as I had been taken for a local. <br /><br />
Anyway, I took my folder, taking advantage of a five-quid <a href="http://uk.megabus.com/default.aspx" target="new">Megabus</a> each way - thus ticking two boxes much approved of by our Netherlands chums: 'bike use', and 'economy'.<br clear=all><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBtxZsKIaRg8vfBR2drzq7l5WtQgck1t3BBMtTjyT249Gkw8UA-FGNLWMtX-gAOdsRMktj0qtIEQHKHpXHr254F1GTnGkdDhCvBNwxU8MuaBci7mDRblTnk6rWrY3spQPd31W2rK4gWQ0/s1600/fallover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="287" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBtxZsKIaRg8vfBR2drzq7l5WtQgck1t3BBMtTjyT249Gkw8UA-FGNLWMtX-gAOdsRMktj0qtIEQHKHpXHr254F1GTnGkdDhCvBNwxU8MuaBci7mDRblTnk6rWrY3spQPd31W2rK4gWQ0/s400/fallover.jpg" /></a></div>It was snowy, blustery and cold, but Amsterdam's streets were still thronged with bikes. So were the pavements (picture), littered by fallen machines whose kickstands failed.
Most parking is not Sheffield stands or racks, it's just a painted square of pavement where you stand and self-lock your town clunker.<br clear=all><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDnyOMoKJVt-CaDdeDcAd0NafL7C31IBKzJevmP_2XsMMWC10sJLjcLBy_yNGKSHnKGT0gzNocNJIAhvT-d1_01N49PSIhGj5kFcswy0tQdoh1wZNOF2HW7mHMQl5TO3N_rynmpwbiTZU/s1600/basket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="307" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDnyOMoKJVt-CaDdeDcAd0NafL7C31IBKzJevmP_2XsMMWC10sJLjcLBy_yNGKSHnKGT0gzNocNJIAhvT-d1_01N49PSIhGj5kFcswy0tQdoh1wZNOF2HW7mHMQl5TO3N_rynmpwbiTZU/s400/basket.jpg" /></a></div>The preferred luggage carrying option is the black plastic crate (picture). Wicker baskets are rare. Perhaps they've smoked them all.<br clear=all><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8v1x05MJS4Vk4jYZ0-L-HRgXhYRKXj9lbKoqYY01l7LGngAiQGnnlMBY2xBdX_s4r3mc1vvmjZWxK-arofcV4LGSRySuA4nNBER5pYEChojjT-pGmXFEiowdBYDRIi_1RrNyubccMiiY/s1600/heineken.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="282" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8v1x05MJS4Vk4jYZ0-L-HRgXhYRKXj9lbKoqYY01l7LGngAiQGnnlMBY2xBdX_s4r3mc1vvmjZWxK-arofcV4LGSRySuA4nNBER5pYEChojjT-pGmXFEiowdBYDRIi_1RrNyubccMiiY/s400/heineken.jpg" /></a></div>Some baskets make a statement. My favourite was this beer crate (picture), though I'd have preferred Amstel, as that's the other river Amsterdam is on, apart from the IJ. Much English keg beer also celebrates a well-known river, the Piddle in Dorset.<br /><br />
Thanks to the amount of people on two wheels, cycling feels a normal and safe thing to do. High-visibility clothing is evidently unnecessary, and few people bother with lights. The only red lights I saw were in those prostitute booths I cycled past unacknowledged.
In fact, most riders seemed to be listening to their iPod, texting, web surfing etc, with little negative impact on safety. <br clear=all><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Byxp8Y84VWKUM058K2cCCkpt0N95Wcp39RCzxRtv5qTuP2cRhSwhjgRen0BoSoZS65SxOVxvGioLeo1b3Afmw2g9gUIoqoLbN3ZZT6uCRiutZe92Wrarmb6WIrCiTaquP8dqF13BzxU/s1600/dog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="230" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Byxp8Y84VWKUM058K2cCCkpt0N95Wcp39RCzxRtv5qTuP2cRhSwhjgRen0BoSoZS65SxOVxvGioLeo1b3Afmw2g9gUIoqoLbN3ZZT6uCRiutZe92Wrarmb6WIrCiTaquP8dqF13BzxU/s400/dog.jpg" /></a></div>Many even walk their dog (picture). Some American viewers may be surprised to see that the dog is not wearing a helmet.<br clear=all><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS4XP_SE-Lm4h9XNsEsaC0r8D7L02W7yUzVhrfjP5OMlWR7xIcRAhhTGg8EYcwtt5tYLEvR_wqj9sG_MLPlYlemGk2kkuEQemGx6WwSXhDg0OMlO3XHDtTSIWbtk5GT2zSThBJiAv5kdQ/s1600/bakfiets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="319" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS4XP_SE-Lm4h9XNsEsaC0r8D7L02W7yUzVhrfjP5OMlWR7xIcRAhhTGg8EYcwtt5tYLEvR_wqj9sG_MLPlYlemGk2kkuEQemGx6WwSXhDg0OMlO3XHDtTSIWbtk5GT2zSThBJiAv5kdQ/s400/bakfiets.jpg" /></a></div>The <i>bakfiets</i> is a common way of transporting children around, such as this group in <a href="http://www.albertcuypmarkt.nl/ac_english.html" target="new">Albert Cuyp market</a> (picture). The box is so big, it can accommodate two children, or one cheese.<br /><br />
Of course, I cycled gleefully round to some of the city's must-sees: cosy <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordaan" target="new">Jordaan</a> cafes, snowy <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vondelpark" target="new">Vondelpark</a>, quirky <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canals_of_Amsterdam" target="new">canalsides</a>, the <a href="https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/explore-the-collection/overview/rembrandt-harmensz-van-rijn" target="new">Rijksmuseum's Rembrandts</a>, the <A href="http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/vgm/index.jsp?page=252394&lang=en" target="new">Hermitage's van Goghs</a>, the newly extended <a href="http://www.stedelijk.nl/en" target="new">Stedelijk</a>. Anyone who thinks the Stedelijk's art collection is a load of old rubbish is quite wrong. It's all modern. <br clear=all><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJt3QYOffdTpFZvpE8d5GTeVPV6vc2u6iQH-nwvkMcVuY4R4mG9Adl7_gwcJCU2TOzdTL9k8yH36i06-2-IcyqFy5vlXn6pCLHTUIDiItVdtIBtJY_wtQuhDXs7nBYKQPK9lp_s90u3so/s1600/donttouchthebike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJt3QYOffdTpFZvpE8d5GTeVPV6vc2u6iQH-nwvkMcVuY4R4mG9Adl7_gwcJCU2TOzdTL9k8yH36i06-2-IcyqFy5vlXn6pCLHTUIDiItVdtIBtJY_wtQuhDXs7nBYKQPK9lp_s90u3so/s400/donttouchthebike.jpg" /></a></div>I didn't actually go into the Erotic Museum, but I was intrigued by the blowup doll riding a bike in the foyer (picture).
The sign clearly states Dutch priorities: DON'T TOUCH THE BIKE. If we want a cycling culture in the UK, this is the sort of thing we have to emulate. I can see council groups excitedly lining up factfinding trips now.<br /><br />
Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-70396632828937207462012-11-22T22:51:00.001+00:002012-11-24T08:39:52.019+00:00Trust me, I'm a cyclist: Honesty boxes on Route 65<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.naburnstation.co.uk/" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="235" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyQPdcp5KZKF7fYj6HqPUSJ8UXgo1IYMF5WL9vAuRXzEFmOQiFCnjuDFpxrmhCD4HKFPJilwbGtxx_Bq5yX237GIqrAckA6F-zO4mElfpPWrfwFnvPp90gD5xp6oRTJSg-cSfM0t1hFY8/s400/naburnst.jpg" /></a></div>Cyclists are honest people. I certainly am. Like when that Addison Lee cab cut me up in London last Saturday. I told him honestly what I thought of him. And I sincerely meant every word.<br /><br />
Further proof of cyclists' integrity came today, when I was cycling past <a href="http://www.naburnstation.co.uk/">Naburn Station</a> (picture), now a cafe/B&B sort of place on the railtrail south of York that is Route 65. (I <a href="http://realcycling.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/youre-in-york-planets-trail-dogs.html">blogged last year</a> about the entertaining sculptures on the bridge just up from here.)<br /><br clear=all>
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<a href="http://www.naburnstation.co.uk/" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="207" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheLhBKGb25G9jeUZaigYGQ3faxdjmkxvOfVC6LKIR0lK_H1oSuFIV3gu6bE1A8rxk2cS0AvYE1a-q2xp3WZOU_5e50gN7lYeOytCsB3zCPzyEjZLnawRPRdtT2SFSdu5Yg-1iPuMFrNiA/s400/trusthut.jpg" /></a></div>Because there's a 'Trust Hut' (picture), permanently open for passers-by on bikes (and walking dogs) to help themselves to coffee and tea, paying in an honesty box (actually a tube).<br /><br />
My honesty wasn't tested in the event, as Patrick and then the owner Ann came out to chat, telling me lots of interesting stuff about the place.<br /><br />
(Like the fact that, in addition to the scale model of Saturn there that's part of the <a href="http://www.bike99.com/39.html">Planets Trail</a>, there's also a one-third scale model of the <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/">Cassini Space Probe</a> that's currently investigating Saturn. I'd mistakenly thought it was a rather fussy satellite dish.)<br /><br clear=all>
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<a href="https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=blacktoft+&hl=en&ll=53.708513,-0.727683&spn=0.000006,0.002961&safe=off&hnear=Blacktoft,+East+Riding+of+Yorkshire,+United+Kingdom&t=m&z=18&layer=c&cbll=53.70796,-0.727257&panoid=5niNjskKf4l3r-BIjp1mmw&cbp=12,49.41,,0,9.3" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="172" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhCgAx77daXMOb3JbkQW9Kby9O_bNAXFSgEJF08Zkc48OIOL0RxYHBY-cjwnT1p1UWyoIkplziMDjcwpP9Qys9zPJ0FE48dlfgEykFnoZgfFxlqlv15oKcDc66zlco9w94hYzFe7L4huc/s400/blacktoft.jpg" /></a></div>It's not the only Trust Hut on Route 65. In Blacktoft, a small village on the banks of the Ouse a few miles west of Hull, there's a church hall (picture; see <a href="https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=blacktoft+&hl=en&ll=53.708513,-0.727683&spn=0.000006,0.002961&safe=off&hnear=Blacktoft,+East+Riding+of+Yorkshire,+United+Kingdom&t=m&z=18&layer=c&cbll=53.70796,-0.727257&panoid=5niNjskKf4l3r-BIjp1mmw&cbp=12,49.41,,0,9.3">Google map</a>) that's also open for help-yourself tea and coffee with an honesty box, plus a small book stall.<br /><br clear=all>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx441LASImbz6XdJthQQyc0SjhRLCtC7YVxE5TXhQCWADoCR41jjzhGGHxfL1uuXJJejeSobGXOEZeimHN6N74gmzL5mEO_7mKJoP55LHeIUEO_DRBwwAxOmtt7xZBiKCpYdPs3h20B64/s1600/rhubarb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="206" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx441LASImbz6XdJthQQyc0SjhRLCtC7YVxE5TXhQCWADoCR41jjzhGGHxfL1uuXJJejeSobGXOEZeimHN6N74gmzL5mEO_7mKJoP55LHeIUEO_DRBwwAxOmtt7xZBiKCpYdPs3h20B64/s400/rhubarb.jpg" /></a></div>Cycle rides that go through farming areas offer you plenty of produce - usually eggs, often vegetables - laid out on a table with a dish for your change. This rhubarb (picture) was just outside Ambleside. At first I thought no, but then I thought, it's rhubarb: force yourself. <br /><br clear=all>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgav8ENeJLAIekkogwd-7_FjGAT2LJqPZcwVurzGAqcfB_MfuTm-PHVDa682K6iSJYU5oakhfcSxcPOzUW-p_bmdUZiBbT84681gR3J2sQGmKaKdEaZ0ikPv143XYV2UhifCqmW1qMD5jY/s1600/brompton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="353" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgav8ENeJLAIekkogwd-7_FjGAT2LJqPZcwVurzGAqcfB_MfuTm-PHVDa682K6iSJYU5oakhfcSxcPOzUW-p_bmdUZiBbT84681gR3J2sQGmKaKdEaZ0ikPv143XYV2UhifCqmW1qMD5jY/s400/brompton.jpg" /></a></div>The most lavish honesty stall I've ever seen was on the Wainwright Coast to Coast in the village of Brompton on Swale (picture), which had a range of cold drinks and sandwiches, so maybe walkers are even more honest than cyclists. Or perhaps they just can't get away as fast.<br /><br />
Anyway, honesty boxes are a good thing, and a sign of a decent society. I bet that Addison Lee driver would like them, too. He'd take all the rhubarb, sod off without paying, and swear blind to his employers that it was the cyclist's fault.<br /><br />
Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-13446750180338088992012-11-09T13:46:00.001+00:002012-11-09T13:46:25.358+00:00Naked in Marrakech: Orange juice and wine in tandem<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQk9CYxjR34X2Q6_z4i1AD3fsJSQMRbRO-iuBhuTlatUaEUXV6gJG7oHkwlhEoBtIJcICg0o28k0U6ZUIEQEkkbTDln2TXEGPWXcRAq4jW7aUFAUE-_MaGhC2tj4-yQ4Pw7UOwaWysz4/s1600/marrakech1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="207" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQk9CYxjR34X2Q6_z4i1AD3fsJSQMRbRO-iuBhuTlatUaEUXV6gJG7oHkwlhEoBtIJcICg0o28k0U6ZUIEQEkkbTDln2TXEGPWXcRAq4jW7aUFAUE-_MaGhC2tj4-yQ4Pw7UOwaWysz4/s400/marrakech1.jpg" /></a></div>I was in Marrakech the other week. Its central square, Djemaa el Fna (picture), is a good example of a naked street, in much the same way as London's Exhibition Road isn't.<br /><br />
There are no road markings at all, just a wide expanse of pavement. Bikes, horses, mopeds, taxis, buses and cars mingle with sidestepping pedestrians. I was there a week and saw nobody coming to grief, except for some tourists being royally ripped off by the snake charmers.<br /><br clear=all>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8zQGyTRNfaQRATexTrIzS2waiNQTnGSFDKCXFwEq6vq1YOJeaxbvVesTrnmAtaXQT9A757rDSb7jAaA0RTu4sWP2FmHyrqPbkyouE8gBLA_BIQFTqtq6Ynif6fdhTgWt8W_WXIgsvOUc/s1600/marrakech2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="333" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8zQGyTRNfaQRATexTrIzS2waiNQTnGSFDKCXFwEq6vq1YOJeaxbvVesTrnmAtaXQT9A757rDSb7jAaA0RTu4sWP2FmHyrqPbkyouE8gBLA_BIQFTqtq6Ynif6fdhTgWt8W_WXIgsvOUc/s400/marrakech2.jpg" /></a></div>The narrow cobbled side-streets that curl off the square into souks (picture), so intimate they defeat Google Maps as well as most visitors, are a more linear mayhem. <br /><br />
Not too many bikes there - outnumbered nine to one by hurtling mopeds, I'd say, but matched by horses and the odd delivery-van - but there are enough to count (picture).<br /><br clear=all>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ3ykVGhUbnCxRIqEDkDjFuRpS8v_9zp_j2lQBByYCnSXiMKf7C_HzMcolJX0dcMDFG0MaT6zG_YwuOeXvsV57SWoHFts17hE6YE6jlidlaXwWjdcHyff-AGX1D69781lkCJW6o0tia7s/s1600/marrakech3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="261" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ3ykVGhUbnCxRIqEDkDjFuRpS8v_9zp_j2lQBByYCnSXiMKf7C_HzMcolJX0dcMDFG0MaT6zG_YwuOeXvsV57SWoHFts17hE6YE6jlidlaXwWjdcHyff-AGX1D69781lkCJW6o0tia7s/s400/marrakech3.jpg" /></a></div>And - while fresh orange juice, not beer, is the drink of choice for people-watching in the square, and only thirty pee per glass - you can find Moroccan wine (picture) if you look hard enough. <br /><br />
Not sure you'd get a tandem down those side-streets, though.<br /><br />
Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-83449452157320978412012-10-29T16:40:00.000+00:002012-10-31T10:19:17.085+00:00W2W: Walney to Wear to Wetherspoons - trip report<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKzbyH9ZOoeIMGUCTalXDaeBTlTn15bAoPKW8xUbBMCPu9SQaJDCaflz4KXwhYft5ue9Dh5GIGKkDkiedPGXBTSA-FLVwpQIdww9HlUxFAjG4ASFLJz5Qc9-IZZ0gUABsq07y05ksZKFI/s1600/w2w0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="164" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKzbyH9ZOoeIMGUCTalXDaeBTlTn15bAoPKW8xUbBMCPu9SQaJDCaflz4KXwhYft5ue9Dh5GIGKkDkiedPGXBTSA-FLVwpQIdww9HlUxFAjG4ASFLJz5Qc9-IZZ0gUABsq07y05ksZKFI/s400/w2w0.jpg" /></a></div>I've just come back from doing the very enjoyable <a href="http://cyclingw2w.info/">Walney to Wear coast to coast cycle route</a> (W2W) - one of the Sustrans suite of Irish-to-North-Sea cycle routes. (It was for an article for an upcoming issue of the CTC magazine, in case you're from HMRC and wondering why I'm claiming all that cake and beer against tax.)<br /><br />
The W2W goes from Barrow to either Whitby or Sunderland - splitting, much as my saddle did, just outside Barnard Castle. <br /><br />
It's a more strenuous traverse than 'the' coast to coast, the <a href="http://www.c2c-guide.co.uk/">C2C</a> (Workington/Whitehaven to Newcastle/Sunderland). The W2W involves around 150 miles, vaulting over some lofty Pennine highlands, and probably three days.<br /><br />
Day 1 was Barrow to Kendal, about 45 miles. Barrow is Britain's <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/oct/05/1">most working class place</a>. This is based on metrics such as density of betting shops, fish and chip takeaways and tattoo parlours, in which case my home street in York must give it a run for its money.<br /><br clear=all>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_rkegPxg288B1Gw3FkkTtCx8I3FYVZiDb3os_IjejF3hp4FDZEmFavhULMdezKtX4dlJBURAoujSs2X0KOr31oar1x27WgY_Ak7_mRHpVyWlNbMuiL4n0fDesQdQSUw5D9QKJRVd0fA/s1600/w2w1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="176" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_rkegPxg288B1Gw3FkkTtCx8I3FYVZiDb3os_IjejF3hp4FDZEmFavhULMdezKtX4dlJBURAoujSs2X0KOr31oar1x27WgY_Ak7_mRHpVyWlNbMuiL4n0fDesQdQSUw5D9QKJRVd0fA/s400/w2w1.jpg" /></a></div>The scenery here is rolling south-of-Lakes hills and some flatlands (picture). At friendly Ulverston you can see a <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/8006614.stm">statue of Laurel and Hardy</a> - Stan being a local boy - who weren't cyclists, but whose example of well-meaning but hilarious incompetence informs most of Britain's cycle infrastructure.<br /><br clear=all>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtQEi2tQGHkFHkefact0FFdJez_GqG3RXk8wvuGamDFq6EtQx6lYl6s5LUbfAB_VEmXM1mnVWFNqmxnpKL9gOmE5J5r8SPqxUJ3mgHHg4mbiIC74XAaBTlZjQeQqJ2_4sq4fu8jKnnZqc/s1600/w2w2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="223" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtQEi2tQGHkFHkefact0FFdJez_GqG3RXk8wvuGamDFq6EtQx6lYl6s5LUbfAB_VEmXM1mnVWFNqmxnpKL9gOmE5J5r8SPqxUJ3mgHHg4mbiIC74XAaBTlZjQeQqJ2_4sq4fu8jKnnZqc/s400/w2w2.jpg" /></a></div>Highlights include Grange-over-Sands's extraordinary promenade (picture). Rather than overlook gunmetal waters, it now fronts meadows of invasive grass munched by sheep. (I suspect there's no cycling, despite what these people thought.)<br /><br clear=all>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfSgGYi6_6IcKi8WpzB0GQiy6LoKH998VeNm1nABgkDWczSFczTQbHkYRHpa8aR5RqM4Ng2diF8dn1BUk7CapacF30CYRYrG421ePL0ySAEcEYh0tSG1TV5Ic1V3WbDwi_prbRfPGSESU/s1600/w2w3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="188" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfSgGYi6_6IcKi8WpzB0GQiy6LoKH998VeNm1nABgkDWczSFczTQbHkYRHpa8aR5RqM4Ng2diF8dn1BUk7CapacF30CYRYrG421ePL0ySAEcEYh0tSG1TV5Ic1V3WbDwi_prbRfPGSESU/s400/w2w3.jpg" /></a></div>Day 2 was Kendal to Barnard Castle, about 55 miles. This was a tough day of headwinds (unusually: the prevailing direction is westerly) and sharp climbs, but also superb autumn scenery along the Lune Valley and the Howgills (picture) in shades varying from red to golden yellow to deep green, rather like my face.<br /><br clear=all>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhefnNzavSRi4emqQ-lp-CSSqDVoMdMX7brEg69DOyPoNwZQ5ir285GQD-xJO0qRXjx1IuDORHUUbrhM-a4WID7VMSUdrlXrXeyHsybnY3_ylzrxcnMU0_ONeE31-YEMJB1gytNPhk5Gy4/s1600/w2w4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="286" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhefnNzavSRi4emqQ-lp-CSSqDVoMdMX7brEg69DOyPoNwZQ5ir285GQD-xJO0qRXjx1IuDORHUUbrhM-a4WID7VMSUdrlXrXeyHsybnY3_ylzrxcnMU0_ONeE31-YEMJB1gytNPhk5Gy4/s400/w2w4.jpg" /></a></div>The climax of the day, and the route, is at <a href="http://www.tanhillinn.co.uk/">Tan Hill Inn</a> (picture), Britain's highest at 1732 feet (or, in metres, erm, quite a lot) up on a remote Pennine hill. On a clear day you can see both Irish and North Sea coasts. On a day like the one I was there, you can't even see both sides of the car park. It was drizzly, cold and misty, with zero visibility. I could just, however, make out the sign that said 'Naked Ramblers Welcome'.<br /><br clear=all>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBaFNbvp09VgtrtLMuf8wVla6YlTNtDpKfhQY7ACINxL5JYpuFneXB2WPzHxDk4d5mZkanxF7-3Iuz_PvMk4sEymKdLHmKjQBSvxWW_sX_T0mCSwrpeHr_BuU1EV9lcJ78kv-PCGXtlC4/s1600/w2w5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="199" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBaFNbvp09VgtrtLMuf8wVla6YlTNtDpKfhQY7ACINxL5JYpuFneXB2WPzHxDk4d5mZkanxF7-3Iuz_PvMk4sEymKdLHmKjQBSvxWW_sX_T0mCSwrpeHr_BuU1EV9lcJ78kv-PCGXtlC4/s400/w2w5.jpg" /></a></div>Day 3 was Barnard Castle to Sunderland, about 60 miles. Much easier in terms of hills - and with many miles of flat but spattery railtrail (picture) - this was still a trial thanks to the headwinds.<br /><br clear=all>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6ezbGjQAgtgynLfsvZ25XBJHucwPiBMyOYJ5RbOIVHNfHSBjTGWaD5H2aCim0cTl2qWYET3xAVG3-0SvGt3S9PZxoIh6uWY8GAaHI8f-BKBa-9EhnXl4KUaYpxiC2pyaWNq-VPLvVcQ/s1600/w2w7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="121" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6ezbGjQAgtgynLfsvZ25XBJHucwPiBMyOYJ5RbOIVHNfHSBjTGWaD5H2aCim0cTl2qWYET3xAVG3-0SvGt3S9PZxoIh6uWY8GAaHI8f-BKBa-9EhnXl4KUaYpxiC2pyaWNq-VPLvVcQ/s400/w2w7.jpg" /></a></div>The worst challenge, though, was following the Sustrans signage into Durham (a convoluted route evidently modelled on the decay trail of a Higgs Boson) and out of it (I lost it completely, in every sense, especially when I realised I'd come in a circle back into the centre). So this sign was pretty appropriate (picture).<br /><br clear=all>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ_CEY8bdxmatcc8bP_Rdil1FJwR0fyFbOk66_KDmf9ZJgMRZqCMNkKW6MEaDCEm-fJ0Rxe3oWUJahW7s3S85zktU_A_yqLGf_wmnVAOIYKuHYPV-G1NU8kSKsSvMQmZ9xwQb4sNFFZro/s1600/w2w6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="188" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ_CEY8bdxmatcc8bP_Rdil1FJwR0fyFbOk66_KDmf9ZJgMRZqCMNkKW6MEaDCEm-fJ0Rxe3oWUJahW7s3S85zktU_A_yqLGf_wmnVAOIYKuHYPV-G1NU8kSKsSvMQmZ9xwQb4sNFFZro/s400/w2w6.jpg" /></a></div>The final riverside run in central Sunderland takes you past <a href="http://www.c2c-guide.co.uk/info/sunderland/">artworks representing the planets</a> (picture), similar to <a href="http://www.solar.york.ac.uk/">York's Planets Trail</a>, though obviously not as good, as this is not Yorkshire.<br /><br clear=all>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC3SXk7xilOYEFbxgcsl496MjykTx_ZOeRI2mDEjwbhBYUM9xZjlTyi1NSS74QBCisKKEmsjN2Wqd2lkAQbeiIdO-4uOXehbhQRMX6L5c5mzotwwhFKW34Eq-A56zUMzgRAYSlb9SzzaA/s1600/w2w8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="264" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC3SXk7xilOYEFbxgcsl496MjykTx_ZOeRI2mDEjwbhBYUM9xZjlTyi1NSS74QBCisKKEmsjN2Wqd2lkAQbeiIdO-4uOXehbhQRMX6L5c5mzotwwhFKW34Eq-A56zUMzgRAYSlb9SzzaA/s400/w2w8.jpg" /></a></div>The grand finale is the ride out along Roker Pier (picture), and the commemorative picture of your bike at this fine monument. Then some commemorative drinks at Wetherspoon's waiting for your train home.<br /><br />
Advice for the trip: it's rough in places, but nothing you can't enjoy; take your time; and you get best results if you drink plenty of fluids. Funnily enough, the same goes for the Wetherspoons.
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Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-65427057914649598172012-10-17T12:34:00.000+01:002012-10-17T13:41:17.261+01:00News mill: York has UK's top roundabout - official<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimuz474dqvxKUAhPtZlVckCRgUypyBsx9sgUqyoHB6_Jk2OKRUShC0ZV7vMcDUkKFLWz4b-ADTFu36BjYnpuX2VHYF8xV9YuDZ-QPI6B_apRXz-7dLvOR926VVfpJCHB1MOEMg7Ualys0/s1600/holgate0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="275" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimuz474dqvxKUAhPtZlVckCRgUypyBsx9sgUqyoHB6_Jk2OKRUShC0ZV7vMcDUkKFLWz4b-ADTFu36BjYnpuX2VHYF8xV9YuDZ-QPI6B_apRXz-7dLvOR926VVfpJCHB1MOEMg7Ualys0/s400/holgate0.jpg" /></a></div>York's Holgate Mill 'roundabout' (all pictures; <a href="https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=holgate+mill&hl=en&ll=53.956079,-1.111196&spn=0.001919,0.006695&sll=53.942136,-1.093952&sspn=0.122866,0.428467&hq=mill&hnear=Holgate,+York,+United+Kingdom&t=m&fll=53.95606,-1.112323&fspn=0.001919,0.006695&z=17" target="new">see map</a>) has been chosen as the top gyratory in the UK by the prestigious UKRAS (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout_Appreciation_Society" target="new">UK Roundabout Appreciation Society</a>). Their 2013 calendar features it on the front cover.<br /><br />
After the good news making the <a href="http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/9987465.York_roundabout_wins_national_glory/" target="new">York Press</a> yesterday, the mainstream media has picked up on it, and when I arrived this morning, there was a camera crew doing a feature for Look North tonight.<br /><br />
Well, I say 'crew'. It was one bloke doing camera, sound, interviewing and direction. In TV school they call this versatility. In TV itself they call it economy.<br /><br clear=all/>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrvQWIhefAnDsmGHfdLCkQWGF6ReE2TmutcqtX3-t9ixlbrJczx1qu8NPRofONc0A6pGGj18eWSpNctpPHosLnlUJYOPGxfCgjK-_9CGYAeNBgOzMAQMRjuqBWeczUTG3Jmf0veKQ7JD0/s1600/holgate2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="379" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrvQWIhefAnDsmGHfdLCkQWGF6ReE2TmutcqtX3-t9ixlbrJczx1qu8NPRofONc0A6pGGj18eWSpNctpPHosLnlUJYOPGxfCgjK-_9CGYAeNBgOzMAQMRjuqBWeczUTG3Jmf0veKQ7JD0/s400/holgate2.jpg" /></a></div>Anyway, after his interview with tourismo tsarina Gillian Cruddas (right), the multitasking camera guy borrowed my bike to get footage riding round the thing itself (bottom right). <br /><br />
He then videoed me doing the same, so you may briefly glimpse me in the feature tonight.<br /><br clear=all/>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKxNwKr1GwV5jvnFaJtxG_Ud4EeuvgN1hJZ8vKo8ckoq2qvVzU21ukmoembGkPhnb-UWkfpGUAcaC8rcy7SoU-oyiT7GLyPkBiOSqq5HfzEakFWbenr_XlN_LRYGAwpcqZgYKRsgE-nLE/s1600/holgate1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="285" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKxNwKr1GwV5jvnFaJtxG_Ud4EeuvgN1hJZ8vKo8ckoq2qvVzU21ukmoembGkPhnb-UWkfpGUAcaC8rcy7SoU-oyiT7GLyPkBiOSqq5HfzEakFWbenr_XlN_LRYGAwpcqZgYKRsgE-nLE/s400/holgate1.jpg" /></a></div>And I say 'roundabout'. It's not a real roundabout as it doesn't serve a junction; it's just a doughnut-shaped episode of a residential through-street - Windmill Rise, about half a mile south of the station - that happens to enclose a rather nice <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holgate_Windmill" target="new">restored mill</a>, landed Tardis-like amid a housing estate. <br /><br />
But it did look quirkily attractive (right) in today's crisp autumn sunshine. <br /><br />
Much in the same way as I didn't, following my recent grapple with a feisty Bradford curry.<br /><br />
Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-46424544231209819772012-10-06T23:09:00.000+01:002012-10-06T23:09:09.842+01:00Flood is thicker than water: Cycling York's new Everglades<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpxFyPe8soqRIhesgbyqnGNeuLGxrN9jPCpRBJUBJZaauy0MNCeQXFN7KK_BcdiABnpIRhQ4p6Es_sK1fziBlgoET3UbC07eqTfhW2E8yeKNAOM7YjwKNx1Cg2eZtGUUZ1xbPfzwHsU3k/s1600/flood1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="308" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpxFyPe8soqRIhesgbyqnGNeuLGxrN9jPCpRBJUBJZaauy0MNCeQXFN7KK_BcdiABnpIRhQ4p6Es_sK1fziBlgoET3UbC07eqTfhW2E8yeKNAOM7YjwKNx1Cg2eZtGUUZ1xbPfzwHsU3k/s400/flood1.jpg" /></a></div>York's great flood - the biggest since 2000 - topped out at 5m above normal on Wednesday last week. <br /><br />
It wasn't the best time to realise you'd left a bike locked to the riverside racks by Lendal Bridge (picture).<br clear=all><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN3WnCC5Nm3gl4ZDTGTl-1c1zFoGNhpSxWQspXCuM9unsSyNMXxd8HZEwThhrV3j2BSxzo8axDH3vkAibUTP4Z6gs55zL-qLFJ2v19KuhUVH0uiJdQoPXEMNk9YJQpDq3hxiawH4cHACA/s1600/flood2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="275" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN3WnCC5Nm3gl4ZDTGTl-1c1zFoGNhpSxWQspXCuM9unsSyNMXxd8HZEwThhrV3j2BSxzo8axDH3vkAibUTP4Z6gs55zL-qLFJ2v19KuhUVH0uiJdQoPXEMNk9YJQpDq3hxiawH4cHACA/s400/flood2.jpg" /></a></div>Or to attempt to cycle the riverside path north out of the city (picture) without a wetsuit.<br clear=all><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5aNzGRIwKXzAAYZSV6k12ta0UhoFrUT0mp20TKZCL7AeSBVcfgv3oyO0ZxFyZLDY_76gD3K-OL_WAPFyWxXnKRONRaPlxPtkafX7orFAcy7YAzKAQLGd7-9lIOBN8tlaH3u76btNvotg/s1600/flood3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="167" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5aNzGRIwKXzAAYZSV6k12ta0UhoFrUT0mp20TKZCL7AeSBVcfgv3oyO0ZxFyZLDY_76gD3K-OL_WAPFyWxXnKRONRaPlxPtkafX7orFAcy7YAzKAQLGd7-9lIOBN8tlaH3u76btNvotg/s400/flood3.jpg" /></a></div>But now, over a week on - even though the river has dropped to near normal levels - many surrounding areas are still under water. The low-lying meadows north of the city are huge water tanks, storing up potential flood water until it can be safely flushed down the Ouse. <br /><br />
Cycling is, therefore, not always straightforward (picture). <br clear=all><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnH395lJmQu9CslrEC8WiaRplMxrx5ne4z5IpW3O1ILa4NSu6E9z-kaXPAjzT9alYN_V9xrCz757pSR8_JddgB5s-bd03ibcl3qdvaXfnd-fTL6rriKSIeZDMe2J07qEPkAzojPaM4Or0/s1600/flood4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="296" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnH395lJmQu9CslrEC8WiaRplMxrx5ne4z5IpW3O1ILa4NSu6E9z-kaXPAjzT9alYN_V9xrCz757pSR8_JddgB5s-bd03ibcl3qdvaXfnd-fTL6rriKSIeZDMe2J07qEPkAzojPaM4Or0/s400/flood4.jpg" /></a></div>York's outskirts are more like the Everglades. Here's the riverside path (picture) just north of Skelton, a couple of miles from the centre, last Thursday. <br /><br/>
This particular bike ride decided not to go any further; anyway, one of the group said they were allergic to fish.<br clear=all><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1WPv-qVQZ6MEVjd-vm0pK9oZdj5-yzfRX2NIzMw9DVH7EgoRpCtyaF8xshQF-PFZKSNpYdBg7KC3yCwFNHzJlQUPiP99tt3r56_65m0jDxox12tAGip24soF73I2quCxdkyxBQsqmIP0/s1600/flood5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="188" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1WPv-qVQZ6MEVjd-vm0pK9oZdj5-yzfRX2NIzMw9DVH7EgoRpCtyaF8xshQF-PFZKSNpYdBg7KC3yCwFNHzJlQUPiP99tt3r56_65m0jDxox12tAGip24soF73I2quCxdkyxBQsqmIP0/s400/flood5.jpg" /></a></div>And this (picture) is Rowntree Park this morning, transformed into a giant lake, a little bit of Florida in East Yorkshire. <br /><br />
There's No Cycling in the park, though local custom is to ignore it. Nobody was cycling today, though.<br /><br />
So perhaps York's city centre Pavement Cycling problem will resolve itself soon, thanks to global warming: those low-lying footways will simply be too flooded too often to bother cycling on.
Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-22118831600871176062012-09-19T13:22:00.008+01:002012-09-19T13:38:50.371+01:00Rio grand: Cycling in Madrid<img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;width: 250px; height: 199px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguwlW3ho-dc-Xml5Y4ZRD-zVJvNXLHODYR7ZCowLfjdVihBtgwr2ISMrASFHOpifRXslJeX_hFXdEeq4odowIclIoDhyphenhyphens2JB0_PMsckcaalClCClOkttzs4Nnu-mFF2n-W7O4jOy4L-kI/s400/madrid1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5789863816207930594" /><br />I've just come back from Madrid. As the pleasant young man in Tourist Info confidently told me when I asked for a bike map, there isn't such a thing. Nobody cycles in Madrid.<br /><br />Last Sunday (top right and bottom right) I rode past several thousand of those nobodies, on the new 10km <a href="http://aviewofmadrid.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/madrid-new-riverside-park-madrid-rio.html">riverside cycle path</a> and in the vast parklands of Casa de Campo.<br /><br />In the centre of town, true, cyclists are as rare as a vegetarian bullfighter. There are no cycle lanes at all, and virtually no cycle parking. And I thought Manchester was bad.<br clear=all><br /><br /><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;width: 250px; height: 208px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj33EFXT8DP-iJvOpjNnw6txYQfEvpjcUmvDqqrglj4bgwqdSpCnsfBTrBkn-5_AmVxwlp35MioYNm5B-REeETd9pRE6aYi_zM12GEJGIZOWZQ83-6wX3JH0R_HXC-hWTlwdzMVa9D-teU/s400/madrid3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5789864170009105250" />This is a typical scene (right): intrepid bloke on bike wondering whether to risk riding up the main road, or weave in and out of strolling pedestrians on the footpath. Or just give up and spend all afternoon with beer and tapas.<br /><br />But a few cyclists do ride around the old centre. It's not only possible but, in the mazy backstreets, actually quite pleasant. If you've cycled in London, and certainly Manchester, central Madrid will seem no more challenging. <br clear=all><br /><br /><a href="http://www.madrid.es/UnidadesDescentralizadas/ProyectosSingularesUrbanismo/MadridRío/J_Multimedia/FolletoMadridRio.pdf"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8fxAvP1o1u0tWKtiWlH0eJFr9qAvBatZOY-DfXSS-lSp9u-Emip-0AUcx0yKKfXTp8fjnIliIZ5xU44n9YRJbJtTzbvnX3OzhCDSS5-9yXou-nze4CZ3EyvgwGgfc85q31gFcK6pi2g0/s400/madridmap.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5789864419699347698" /></a>So I hired a bike from the excellent <a href="http://www.trixi.com/madrid/en/">Trixi Bikes</a> - only 8 euros for four hours - and spent a blissful Sunday afternoon on two wheels. <br /><br />The few miles of that riverside cycle path, Madrid Rio (right, <a href="http://www.madrid.es/UnidadesDescentralizadas/ProyectosSingularesUrbanismo/MadridRío/J_Multimedia/FolletoMadridRio.pdf">see map of path</a>), and Casa de Campo, were absolutely stuffed with cyclists. Clearly a lot of people have bikes, and a lot will use them if the facilities are there. <br clear=all><br /><br /><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;width: 250px; height: 263px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVqJ1lxCagbjR0L2w5f-lo02tcstKW6DycO4VnXP8-ddA4-3u7Q27q0EsJ6uS2gsN3T-5NhK9CwrwWiW4UmNiozCXC_XtDKIQpAI1GaLPLtoj2OwcMFC22867CFXWQzSr8Qz-MafLyxNg/s400/madrid2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5789864010637541810" />Facilities such as bike-friendly bars and cafes: Casa de Campo was full of them, their bike racks full with Sunday riders enjoying a one-euro-fifty glass of beer with free tapas (right).<br /><br />As I blogged in May, <a href="http://realcycling.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/not-half-bad-green-light-for-bike.html">Barcelona</a> turned itself from a cycle desert into a cycle oasis in a few years thanks to sheer political will. <br /><br />There's nothing to stop Madrid - whose main roads are gridlocked with motor traffic despite good public transport - doing the same.<br clear=all><br /><br /><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;width: 250px; height: 188px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjjCgXPA_8ii-vVTbgUH8CcfvI-7MHb285yxPj0I2uqGdREtSPns3sCzgLJMd7w9sNcVpYg9wk-dulumur5fQ8-eQOhg36bdSNQselIRbpIPAibx2jKvBJw2R9q7p8IMl6yhggjYYNi_s/s400/madrid0.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5789863563270229730" />Despite the fact that, as the Tourist Info man said, nobody cycles. <br /><br />Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-56522233257566467832012-09-07T14:20:00.004+01:002012-09-10T07:44:49.301+01:00Sermon on the dismount: Bike-unfriendly works by the Hub<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicKoybyegQCrxwZC9Kq1e0Rbj_lqfzqyhCsAmgGLO1tWkg9mttiVLaxnja0G9rudYKdg4FB2ZmVTF5fJc-ah1b22GkngXakCXsngTaRcYCsCYLx0Xi0asCEgjE9L4DGWV9IJQwumVm4Vk/s1600/dismount1.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 217px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicKoybyegQCrxwZC9Kq1e0Rbj_lqfzqyhCsAmgGLO1tWkg9mttiVLaxnja0G9rudYKdg4FB2ZmVTF5fJc-ah1b22GkngXakCXsngTaRcYCsCYLx0Xi0asCEgjE9L4DGWV9IJQwumVm4Vk/s400/dismount1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5786429384643533586" /></a><br />What planet are the contractors on? These roadworks (right) happen to be right outside <a href="http://bikerescue.tumblr.com">the Hub</a>, York’s friendly bike-recycling place.<br /><br />The signs give priority for traffic going away from the camera up the narrow half of the street left available.<br /><br />But another sign tells cyclists to dismount – even though motorbikes and cars are evidently fine to proceed. <br /><br />Most cyclists, I’m happy to say, ignore the ‘Dismount’ instruction (which I’m assured has no legal status) and ride assertively but cautiously straight up the middle, as they have every right to do.<br clear=all> <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCpISRl2_CIC2xK3N4ESE6OkyJL3GDSwLaKTRKsUjYWDOLb1v07XmYdiRF0sFFxEiUkZgSLAVFM2yFWanlfPHcmic_Hl3MrnJgycOLx94Kigc9flicLuS3q2mjrEehSujKy9rEPNjUSPM/s1600/dismount2.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 301px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCpISRl2_CIC2xK3N4ESE6OkyJL3GDSwLaKTRKsUjYWDOLb1v07XmYdiRF0sFFxEiUkZgSLAVFM2yFWanlfPHcmic_Hl3MrnJgycOLx94Kigc9flicLuS3q2mjrEehSujKy9rEPNjUSPM/s400/dismount2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5786429218890201554" /></a><br />Some, though, get caught in two minds (top picture), not sure whether to dismount and push along the pavement (which isn’t wide enough for a pushing cyclist to pass a ped coming the other way in any case) or to sidle up the extreme left-hand side, which encourages oncoming vehicles to try and pass dangerously rather than give way as they should.<br /><br />Of course, the smart cyclist (bottom picture) rides in behind a car, using it as a force-field.<br /><br />The contractors would no doubt say they have safety in mind, but the effect – as we know from our experience here – is that it persuades some drivers that cyclists ‘shouldn’t be on the road’. <br /><br />This is an opinion they are so happy to share with us, they will even break off from their mobile phone call to do so.<br /><br />Instead of 'Cyclists Dismount', the sign <i>should</i> say 'Cyclists Proceed (but watch out for bad drivers)'. And as well as 'Give way to oncoming traffic', the sign at the other end of the roadworks <i>should</i> add 'including cyclists'. In theory. <br /><br />But then, in theory, it's possible to land a robot the size of a Mini on Mars, and we all know that could never happen. Unless that's the planet that the contractors are on.Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-60565967021792391802012-08-30T16:42:00.000+01:002012-08-30T16:42:41.957+01:00Mystery is over: Dinosaur cycle parking<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKOSP6DN51QhbDzvl2YjFiILBDxf3oBY-rl571Iut-3sBwNcPjBqnKRN55LucTBsIm9JMCC3lFdFlDX12eGItcndlVsWvSAzmVInhS1ybYBCBmOAmWu5J2HGZsR26g8Py59B5giYk_o3w/s1600/plod4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="246" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKOSP6DN51QhbDzvl2YjFiILBDxf3oBY-rl571Iut-3sBwNcPjBqnKRN55LucTBsIm9JMCC3lFdFlDX12eGItcndlVsWvSAzmVInhS1ybYBCBmOAmWu5J2HGZsR26g8Py59B5giYk_o3w/s400/plod4.jpg" /></a></div>
I installed this new bike parking in my front yard this afternoon. <br /><br />
It’s a topiary diplodocus: one of the props from the much-admired <A href="http://www.yorkmysteryplays-2012.com/">York Mystery Plays</a>, which finished last Monday. At the after-show party on Tuesday they auctioned off some of the props, which included a set of topiary animals depicting Creation: elephant, snake, shark, unicorn etc. <br /><br />
(Diplodocid sauropods are not specifically mentioned in Genesis, true, which is one of the reasons I was keen to have it.) <br /><br />
And cycling was a part of Mysteries (just as it was part of the Olympic opening ceremony, with those <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/london-2012/9434411/Opening-Ceremony-The-secrets-behind-the-dove-bikes-a-speedometer-and-a-blackout-zone-for-any-breakdowns.html">dove bikes</a>). During the Creation scene, angels on bikes whirled in and out of the hedgy megafauna, harvesting fruit in their baskets. <br /><br />
The bikes were auctioned off at the end of the party, too, perhaps offering an alternative to that taxi home for some. <br /><br />
So now, when I invite some of my fellow thesps from the show, they’ll have somewhere familiar to put their bikes when they come for dinner.
Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-16694714332325215412012-08-24T11:24:00.002+01:002012-08-24T11:24:57.121+01:00Decorated at the Olympics: Weybridge's bike sculptures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip_WjQta9iH3m8nd8qMM5izk7WFSHlci1J-RbgwSw1IgTo5U7mZU58B2q_TDPfroQNcIVZtyJ1DqcJZ8CQGlsCWss6e3w8yN5DLpBjyiSTgD5CJPFy0PScmi3SigU1vvQCeuFBSxFeuUk/s1600/weybridge2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="245" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip_WjQta9iH3m8nd8qMM5izk7WFSHlci1J-RbgwSw1IgTo5U7mZU58B2q_TDPfroQNcIVZtyJ1DqcJZ8CQGlsCWss6e3w8yN5DLpBjyiSTgD5CJPFy0PScmi3SigU1vvQCeuFBSxFeuUk/s400/weybridge2.jpg" /></a></div>Legacy was a keyword for the Olympics, and Weybridge has celebrated its inclusion in the <a href="http://www.gosurrey.info/london-2012-in-surrey/olympic-cycling-road-race/">Cycling Road Race</a> route by putting up some entertainingly decorated bikes at various points, apparently as legacy sculptures. <br /><br />
Here are some at one roundabout we passed (pictures) while I was leading a leisure ride earlier this week. <br clear=all><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo90egm5j4O-2ppu55N_VHZqBUltLYxy20gSZp4-d8Hy2OLLCz9SJIE9MHTkIDFz6dA3p90HNKxKyagC3dATakg5hZPC70Bi6aGsgaGT2eqwJInQaQHrbGyUSsPRFfl7ARJmSCwBlfjWc/s1600/weybridge3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="193" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo90egm5j4O-2ppu55N_VHZqBUltLYxy20gSZp4-d8Hy2OLLCz9SJIE9MHTkIDFz6dA3p90HNKxKyagC3dATakg5hZPC70Bi6aGsgaGT2eqwJInQaQHrbGyUSsPRFfl7ARJmSCwBlfjWc/s400/weybridge3.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br />We stopped for a group photo, pretending to ride the bikes. I nearly got flattened by a lorry mounting the roundabout as I took the snap. <br /><br />
I don’t want to address the question of my own personal legacy in detail just yet, thank you.<br /><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6JdHUUSygUru2YFKFpwLariKqwJJwVkWIsNtc6mRDuoPd2e0KM8vWnoRWvtZFU27mDq0eRkCSS1HTz8NPEQ_Db8Vs-5XGLH7ks3vTscWgQGIKRA2I8NDZansuHwjEh_qg1kqiN1HWhhQ/s1600/weybridge4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="353" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6JdHUUSygUru2YFKFpwLariKqwJJwVkWIsNtc6mRDuoPd2e0KM8vWnoRWvtZFU27mDq0eRkCSS1HTz8NPEQ_Db8Vs-5XGLH7ks3vTscWgQGIKRA2I8NDZansuHwjEh_qg1kqiN1HWhhQ/s400/weybridge4.jpg" /></a></div>Decorated bikes are even at <a href="http://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/">Brooklands</a>, the historic motor racing circuit and museum, just up the road (picture). <br /><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBez1YhFSaaSzd5RFqiELKW0UhpQKAhRjmHiZR9PQZcc7WcSlrOHL_jsyc2NMdAfsuCxef9BUUvp8cnvh0icR1NnOc37rJY-rK3DEnyQxSXcBrzrckYpQ9HeRfZ179_upXC7JDSLdq-TU/s1600/weybridge1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="340" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBez1YhFSaaSzd5RFqiELKW0UhpQKAhRjmHiZR9PQZcc7WcSlrOHL_jsyc2NMdAfsuCxef9BUUvp8cnvh0icR1NnOc37rJY-rK3DEnyQxSXcBrzrckYpQ9HeRfZ179_upXC7JDSLdq-TU/s400/weybridge1.jpg" /></a></div>And some locals have even done their own bike installations in tribute to the cycling racers (picture). <br /><br />
Or perhaps it’s the only way they can beat the bike-shed thieves.Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-61247591177436501802012-08-01T11:14:00.000+01:002012-08-01T11:17:14.246+01:00Ten Top Yorkshire cycling experiencesIt's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorkshire_Day">Yorkshire Day</a>, so here's Ten Top Cycling Experiences in Yorkshire. (That's PROPER Yorkshire, not the post-1974 boundary-meddling nonsense.)<br /><br />
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bizarrebiking/3461485983/"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 178px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9jUh8BZQoA2eye2Vt63QihedGclDvxhpFIl0fFFHprz_99jn9dMvOmYyS-7ypJCiZm8-HwMu9hp1qwq1dHM4gDTWi9uu8tn37MNTuAY4UtRNbSGLaAKYWoH9jPtuh_ZldBWTwwi-oumw/s400/spurn4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327047526811541026" /></a>1 <a href="http://realcycling.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/britains-strangest-ride-whats-point-of.html">Spurn Head</a><br />
One of Britain's strangest rides: four miles along a windswept sand spit, sometimes no wider than a York cycle lane, to a remote community of austere beauty.<br /><br clear=all/>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPvqLrDnvHA6TJVAMnmxey_cUalFBuH6n-JDgNX2PoEIIxaR6MMcq975ynRA9hvmuc3Hfqa2b1wgzeL6ip0WeZq1nguvhj-HTCNsmdkJXYLTdMFNKU1RfxPOqgLCfVZzhGw-L4p0RNJCY/s1600/buttertubs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="215" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPvqLrDnvHA6TJVAMnmxey_cUalFBuH6n-JDgNX2PoEIIxaR6MMcq975ynRA9hvmuc3Hfqa2b1wgzeL6ip0WeZq1nguvhj-HTCNsmdkJXYLTdMFNKU1RfxPOqgLCfVZzhGw-L4p0RNJCY/s400/buttertubs.jpg" /></a></div>2 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swaledale">Swaledale</a><br />
A glorious downhill that cuts through sheepy hills and delightful villages such as Keld and Muker and Reeth – the pubs aren't bad either. Entry via Buttertubs Pass (right) is not always flat<br /><br />
<br clear=all><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;width: 250px; height: 185px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSRmxNJTXiItfAyLhBTikdaRMB_hxAyAWQMbCpFdCS96e9PaumTXyS09-C1p4VGGHp2nbAI1_vsM1p2Z0TjQm8IiKRaI_4xV-joR9kbl_FtPwfdAMKua5NajMj87yN0YABi-N6qt-tllA/s400/trail6.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377182007299591730" />
3 <a href="http://realcycling.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/scarborough-whitby-britains-best.html">Scarborough-Whitby railtrail</a><br />
The views on this coastal cinder-track marvel, particularly from Ravenscar to Whitby via Robin Hood's Bay, stop you in your tracks. As does the often bad surface – you need a mountain bike<br /><br />
<br clear=all><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;width: 250px; height: 273px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYv91aUZEeOF0uGr0y8xYFxt3iD7S8oVZ6C3umspoxtEVISlj3eL-5b3rD6O1vY1luZpLysMkOpqz7k-AABeeLbHVPJLQfXxWLqA-Ohtitl1X7zSwPWOfyRNZL2Ev5yvk9bY1T1hf411g/s400/3701.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341496713854161522" /><br />4 <a href="http://realcycling.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/humber-bridge-is-herm-sweet-herm.html">Humber Bridge</a><br />
The world's longest single-span suspension bridge that you can cycle over. A thing of wonder – as in, I wonder if it'll ever be paid for<br /><br />
<br clear=all><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJYIU2nuCdII_iXEEsqpXkiLnq_SccvF0IzlT5eJcf9kXqv1Bfxtw2r6XhSrLJ25-2dmdQhHAXbRfzgl8_kBKwICbwfpgwNMLqegBwhLpxVKAwLo4-oD1D0J7XWeLk9X5rSzu1MPUEprM/s1600-h/uranus.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJYIU2nuCdII_iXEEsqpXkiLnq_SccvF0IzlT5eJcf9kXqv1Bfxtw2r6XhSrLJ25-2dmdQhHAXbRfzgl8_kBKwICbwfpgwNMLqegBwhLpxVKAwLo4-oD1D0J7XWeLk9X5rSzu1MPUEprM/s400/uranus.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294916294093649154" /></a>5 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York">York</a><br />
Probably England's cyclingest city outside Cambridge. Pedestrianised centre is a pain but lovely cycle paths by the river and sometimes <A href="http://realcycling.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/floody-hell-york-cyclists-under-water.html">under it</a>, a fabulous <a href="http://realcycling.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/xmas-every-night-on-yorks-millennium.html">Millennium Bridge</a>, city-wall gates to cycle through, and a <a href="http://realcycling.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/which-planet-am-i-on.html">scale model of the planets</a>!<br /><br />
<br clear=all><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5zihReGyMSouUll_welLw8kq4oEDp4SZ6OkdfISlIL0uCcsM6uipX8FZYIb6l9lnWZwrVx7sCs_6zI2LUeHiiW-ZEsFjhYgg1q_8Bg7wic2gWfmiHtUNJz3qMKfcaRAMAm2Xaguh8iTY/s1600/tb3.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 333px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5zihReGyMSouUll_welLw8kq4oEDp4SZ6OkdfISlIL0uCcsM6uipX8FZYIb6l9lnWZwrVx7sCs_6zI2LUeHiiW-ZEsFjhYgg1q_8Bg7wic2gWfmiHtUNJz3qMKfcaRAMAm2Xaguh8iTY/s400/tb3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5758310284322436226" /></a>6 <a href="http://realcycling.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/teesing-it-out-middlesbroughs.html">Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge</a><br />
One of a handful in the world: fly across the Tees with your bike for 70p on a cross between a ferry, bridge, tennis court and coat hanger<br /><br />
<br clear=all/><br clear=all><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;width: 250px; height: 219px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFQUkY_6pXlA1FW7HZp4x9ucFb9bstBPf2OFI5jatDResb7J1W-L-oMDjMpeDz1ltN4_jupmfWXpcqy0NYYOlCuVddD2rKaibVzwu-RG_2GW9zLYdgd1nadt2N5DOre7hW_-S0Pl7pnt4/s400/rose6.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514816421220592914" />7 <a href="http://realcycling.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/rose-to-fame-new-coast-to-coast-bike.html">Way of the Roses</a><br />
Almost all in Yorkshire, this varied and often challenging three-day coast-to-coast takes you from Morecambe, in somewhere called Lancashire, to Bridlington on the seabird coast<br /><br />
<br clear=all><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt7UbBJVVE1RuRhID1ei9E5vaApSwrIWS2_N5vDSeGxR9K27I4NDHzV5R_6wNihC889OcRgTD5q-XfFlON_0TRLaOPmtspuB9-SCt0-Z8futx8aWF7X0dg_BYuTvl_L0Q_6x7FjzysTmw/s1600/c2c2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="188" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt7UbBJVVE1RuRhID1ei9E5vaApSwrIWS2_N5vDSeGxR9K27I4NDHzV5R_6wNihC889OcRgTD5q-XfFlON_0TRLaOPmtspuB9-SCt0-Z8futx8aWF7X0dg_BYuTvl_L0Q_6x7FjzysTmw/s400/c2c2.jpg" /></a>8 <a href="http://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/cycling/">The North York Moors</a><br />
A trekker's micro-alpine gem, with flattish offroad tracks criss-crossing the moortops. Lunch at Blakey Inn and climb <a href="http://www.bike99.com/35.html">Rosedale Chimney</a>, officially England's steepest road climb<br /><br clear=all/>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8V3Py1CI3LPpHfyccGtYB98XPud5odSPgRsE_OEH_GdPS9OZduXcYeOyuClRphqJ1lUlpA9zV_SMjTHmOAIuyDrq3Rr-_Khp8fr4Zv6e88_nykemx2MWPiF-7Q25ZuDtcitxioWEHyiQ/s1600/dent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8V3Py1CI3LPpHfyccGtYB98XPud5odSPgRsE_OEH_GdPS9OZduXcYeOyuClRphqJ1lUlpA9zV_SMjTHmOAIuyDrq3Rr-_Khp8fr4Zv6e88_nykemx2MWPiF-7Q25ZuDtcitxioWEHyiQ/s400/dent.jpg" /></a></div>9 <a href="http://www.bike99.com/40.html">Dentdale</a><br />
Cycle-camp in the quintessential Dales town of Dent. Explore the Three Peaks and <a href="http://www.bike99.com/43.html">Cam High Road</a>, an astonishing Roman-road bridleway that gunbarrels its way straight over the hills<br /><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-O3OC2_TAqjV2R1Jf5a8EPqX3W8WcFV9IfVtq3P0rQAGTmmeVY3oLbzB7wuTadjBUnBu1sd6wvoATPtWs0luQgg6i4q8mXooIXoU6Vc2srVy2W8YIWAJ2_PKyCPdRMWG8NlUe9CgEYs/s1600/locks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="195" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-O3OC2_TAqjV2R1Jf5a8EPqX3W8WcFV9IfVtq3P0rQAGTmmeVY3oLbzB7wuTadjBUnBu1sd6wvoATPtWs0luQgg6i4q8mXooIXoU6Vc2srVy2W8YIWAJ2_PKyCPdRMWG8NlUe9CgEYs/s400/locks.jpg" /></a></div>10 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bingley_Five_Rise_Locks">Five Rise Locks</a><br />
The steepest hill on Britain's canal towpaths? Hurtle (carefully) down by the famous staircase-lock marvel at Bingley, and explore the post-industrial world of Saltaire and Leeds from the saddle.<br /><br />
Happy Yorkshire Day!<br /><br />Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-31193270873964438652012-07-27T12:59:00.001+01:002012-07-27T13:03:01.168+01:00E-read all about it: Bicycle Reader issue 1 – review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6dhZwVfJ9621NWdnuV9wgbi4dloM2yk9KGU4d6_sIlJXcTVXzSRzmogu_SAHDPgcbaFaBr5SJvD-dd0uvKWnDQnfFtG9t8Rrs-C_cR-HLSrZXXPHb0cjvGbhQmZclRIco4HbUAW34mwM/s1600/bicyclereader.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="331" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6dhZwVfJ9621NWdnuV9wgbi4dloM2yk9KGU4d6_sIlJXcTVXzSRzmogu_SAHDPgcbaFaBr5SJvD-dd0uvKWnDQnfFtG9t8Rrs-C_cR-HLSrZXXPHb0cjvGbhQmZclRIco4HbUAW34mwM/s400/bicyclereader.jpg" /></a></div>
E-readers are now mainstream. It’s no longer a surprise to see someone next to you whiling away an hour or two – in the queue in York post office to buy a stamp, perhaps – with a Kindle or Kobo.<br /><br />
And for the everyday cyclist, the e-reader is a pannier essential: unlimited, lightweight, space-efficient reading matter to pass the time with that riverside picnic, or waiting for the red light on Clifton Moorgate to change. <br /><br />
Addressing just this sort of situation is <A href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Bicycle-Reader-Number-ebook/dp/B008LX6SYU">Bicycle Reader</a> (picture), a periodical e-magazine curated by cycle journos Jack Thurston (of the <A href="http://thebikeshow.net/">Bike Show</a>) and Tim Dawson (a Sunday Times Cycle Guy columnist), which aims to assemble the best in new and classic thoughtful writing about bikes: essays, extracts, articles, opinions.<br /><br />
In the first issue, Summer 2012, Jack’s <i>Up</i> and Tim’s <i>Down</i> (yes, about climbs and descents, which requires a bit of imagination in the Vale of York’s ironing-board topology) frame eight diverse pieces.<br /><br />
There’s Mark Twain’s sardonic 1884 account of learning to ride a ‘penny-farthing’. It’s known chiefly for its conclusion (“Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live.") so it’s nice to discover its quotable, period-portrait entirely (“If you try to run over the dog he knows how to calculate, but if you are trying to miss him he does not know how to calculate, and is liable to jump the wrong way every time."). <br /><br />
Gentle, bygone-era travel pieces from Violet Paget (posh continental picnics) and Albert Winstanley (back-lane exploration of the Trough of Bowland) complement fresh writing about car-free living in LA and bike politics in Washington DC. A polite-but-passionate Victorian debate about wheeling issues (<i>Cyclomania</i>) contrasts with Paul Lamarra’s absorbing exploration of the unheralded Scotland just off the M74.<br /><br />
The most fascinating item is probably Martin Ryle’s <i>Vélorutionary</i>, a philosopher-cyclist’s view of the bike’s role today that was previously seen only in a niche journal, <i>Radical Philosophy</i>. Biking helps us all think - Sir Bradley himself has said how much his time in the saddle has helped him work things out in his head – but while we fete the professional cyclist who can think a bit, it’s good to celebrate the professional thinker who cycles too. Though the question I usually mull over as I cycle home from the post-Mystery-Play- Rehearsals pub session is how to best stay upright.<br /><br />
There’s no shortage of words about cycling these days, though much of it is disposable: angry blogs, fluffy travelogues, rewritten press releases posing as news. (Yes, yes, I know, I’m as guilty as anyone. But as someone says in the <A href="http://www.yorkmysteryplays-2012.com/">Mystery Plays</a>, let those among you without sin cast the f– ow! Ow! OWW!)<br /><br />
But this is a collection worth not just reading but re-reading – thinking stuff ideal for chewing over in that leisurely sandwich break or unwanted train delay. At the price of two packets of pub crisps it’s good value, and I look forward to the second edition later this year.Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-9808798052228492142012-07-24T10:55:00.000+01:002012-07-24T11:43:49.201+01:00Did it ring your bell?: ITV4 The Cycle Show Mon 23 Jul - review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7wNj9QRPeiueRRoa7Uq8CUw01Tujv5v5n6Cq5NL-aiLq86IMbdYL2p96FnQiH5kDZL9TbU-lpg3DadE45bJFFLnm7wyrIWE2ch0uv_6Fs0PfIR38b9NYaWwYw_k-IjEAev9hZ4iHlU1w/s1600/cycleshowitv4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="170" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7wNj9QRPeiueRRoa7Uq8CUw01Tujv5v5n6Cq5NL-aiLq86IMbdYL2p96FnQiH5kDZL9TbU-lpg3DadE45bJFFLnm7wyrIWE2ch0uv_6Fs0PfIR38b9NYaWwYw_k-IjEAev9hZ4iHlU1w/s400/cycleshowitv4.jpg" /></a></div>
ITV4’s new weekly series The Cycle Show (right) got pedalling last night, promising to cover all aspects of the bike world from road racing to commuting. You can <a href="http://www.itv.com/itvplayer/video/?Filter=322052">watch it for the next few days</a> on ITV’s player.<br /><br />
Top Gear for bikes it certainly isn’t. The microbudgets of fringe TV see to that. No joshing MAMILs racing each other on butcher’s bikes down the Bolivian Road of Death here. <br /><br />
Instead what we got was a slightly awkward chat, filmed in the cut-price venue of London’s cool-cycle-cafe par excellence <A href="http://www.lookmumnohands.com/">Look Mum No Hands</a>, largely between affable presenter Graham Little and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_mansell">Nigel Mansell</a>, F1-champ-turned-cyclist. <br /><br />
The world’s Second Greatest Living Manxman pronounced on the historic achievement of Sir Bradley, Team Sky, Cav (the First Greatest Living Manxman), and that wossname bloke who came second. He skipped through the gears of sofa-TV cliches - awesome, incredible, amazing... er... awesome – without ever managing to engage one of them.<br /><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graeme_Obree">Graeme Obree</a> was also on the upholstery. I have a great affection for the clock-beating Scot, whose battle with demons - entertainingly <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flying_Scotsman_(film)">portrayed on film</a> - may be familiar to many of us. <br /><br />
His double-espresso exploration of the sofa space – often leaning forward to hear what was being said over the hubbub from the cafegoers behind – provided a nice counterpoint to Mansell’s instant-coffee blandness. <br /><br />
It was good to see footage of Obree’s latest speed bike, a contraption which looks frankly frightening. Though if you’ve stared down the abyss, as Obree has, then having mere high-speed tarmac two inches from your nose may feel relatively benign.<br /><br />
The special guest on the squashy seat for the second half was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Fisher">Gary Fisher</a>, godfather of mountain biking, looking scarily like the magician-grandfather in a Disney flop. <br /><br />
He said some pleasantly positive things about not very much, and the programme ended with the bizarre sight of Obree and Fisher racing each other on sprint machines. Obree won, by a whisker, the way he glanced round near the end engagingly suggesting that he was ensuring victory over the plucky (and extremely fit) Mr F by only a small, diplomatic, margin. He’d even sported a pair of comedy Wiggo sideburns too: hats off, Graeme.<br /><br />
Their views on safety summed up the difference between Mansell and Obree. Always wear a helmet, said the now unmoustached one glumly. No: wobble a bit, suggested the animated Scot with a sly smile. Drivers will give you a much wider berth. Must say, I think that’s nearer the mark. <br /><br />
Anyway, two film reports complemented the coffee-table banter. A group of road bikers did the Box Hill circuit that’ll feature in the Olympics, half-heartedly giving us an idea of how basic racing tactics work; and a commuter gave us ‘safety tips’ for London. They were adequate as far as they went, which was just about up to the lights.<br /><br />
It’s easy to think of what they ought to be doing in the show. Where to go this weekend for a family spin; UK touring-route gems; news roundups on upcoming new routes, races, Skyrides and sportives; product reviews; a cycling YouTube top-ten each week, gathering up the best new helmetcam and other vids put up... <br /><br />
But such things need money, and the budget for producers <a href="http://www.century-tv.co.uk/">Century TV</a> must be as squeezed as a York cycle lane. Nevertheless, the first programme was like an energy bar when you need a sandwich: a well-meaning sugar rush that left an empty stomach. <br /><br />
Perhaps the biggest challenge is that cycling is an outdoor thing; the opposite of sitting on a sofa and watching a telly programme with people sitting on a sofa. We got rather a lot of that and it didn’t always make for inspiring viewing. <br /><br />
I’m happy to give it another watch next week, it might well improve, and I’d like to think a weekly programme could become a must-watch for bike fans. <br /><br />
But cycling on TV is not an easy ask. The subcultures – commuting, racing, touring, weekend leisure etc – can have little crossover, and the only ad money is in flogging high-end road kit. <a href="http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/">Chain Reaction</a> sponsor the series and good for them, but Century TV’s task in making the series is challenged by high expectations from a diverse and demanding audience, and tiny budgets. <br /><br />
But then, that didn’t stop Graeme Obree...
<br /><br />Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-54265514270308667382012-07-17T09:00:00.000+01:002012-10-17T13:50:46.890+01:00Thames Crossings 28a: Emirates Air Line<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMgjAZ7lMl8N2SHL1cA-jzhma1EFS5s3kRIVELxRS6SFn0lNCE-sZ2YxwYwjenQuSsFOVuyrxPrcYzM3BOaUbdanxoegReJCakBpbXU-17V9oO1m63Yb35VJUZj_FxPacJtzYsM8KIlm0/s1600/air0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="140" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMgjAZ7lMl8N2SHL1cA-jzhma1EFS5s3kRIVELxRS6SFn0lNCE-sZ2YxwYwjenQuSsFOVuyrxPrcYzM3BOaUbdanxoegReJCakBpbXU-17V9oO1m63Yb35VJUZj_FxPacJtzYsM8KIlm0/s400/air0.jpg" /></a></div>I was in London yesterday, investigating the new addition to my 2009 <a href="http://www.bike99.com/thamescrossings.html">Bike Crossings of the Thames</a> series.<br /><br />
Because on 28 June 2012, this new bike-capable river-hop opened between <a href="http://realcycling.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/thames-crossings-28-greenwich-foot.html">Greenwich Foot Tunnel</a> and <a href="http://realcycling.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/thames-crossings-29-woolwich-ferry.html">Woolwich Ferry</a>.<br /><br />
The new option is the oddly named <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirates_Air_Line_(cable_car)">Emirates Air Line</a> (picture). It’s a cable car service from north Greenwich (the O2, on the south bank) to Victoria Dock (near London City Airport, on the north bank). And not something to pump up your tyres with.<br clear=all><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOuQ7HmwtSooWmbLoaWJ6hJZyL8SnHvcObq7FyXFip_A_0zwXQFOBR7IlT6BfHJj5RZ9AZ5RBUgltysMbE1D10Lejm9puUkOJ7I2eQJplRd0M9UzOV0Or0L775b1f7lPHM6i8x-MkkAkg/s1600/air1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="293" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOuQ7HmwtSooWmbLoaWJ6hJZyL8SnHvcObq7FyXFip_A_0zwXQFOBR7IlT6BfHJj5RZ9AZ5RBUgltysMbE1D10Lejm9puUkOJ7I2eQJplRd0M9UzOV0Or0L775b1f7lPHM6i8x-MkkAkg/s400/air1.jpg" /></a></div>
It styles itself as a ‘flight’ in the same irritatingly gimmicky way as the London Eye, and all the (very pleasant and helpful) staff wear airline-style uniforms. <br /><br />
Which is enough to make you reach for the sick bag. Except they don’t supply any, which proves it isn’t really a flight at all. <br /><br />
At least they don’t charge you £6 booking fee or demand £8 per carry-on bag, either. <br /><br />
Now, crossings are not cheap: £4.30 single, or £3.20 if you have an Oyster card. <br /><br />
But it TAKES BIKES! FREE! (picture) Hooray!<br clear=all><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSllc02v43JRRXAorzo138Ii6oBpxVpf6vWiDsL4Eel7ug0ILLCo6QP1gaiTyz5A1Js5Wc0iLjVoOr1THa6yU_dQ2ZaM3ERrKQgnLHpxLQsX6TG_Ze9jAwnEteNgA_FPQWxuH5psQgozU/s1600/air4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="179" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSllc02v43JRRXAorzo138Ii6oBpxVpf6vWiDsL4Eel7ug0ILLCo6QP1gaiTyz5A1Js5Wc0iLjVoOr1THa6yU_dQ2ZaM3ERrKQgnLHpxLQsX6TG_Ze9jAwnEteNgA_FPQWxuH5psQgozU/s400/air4.jpg" /></a></div>Views during the five-minute crossing are stunning. Unless (picture) you go during a period of relentless drizzle and rain, or to give it its technical name, ‘2012’.<br /><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh16-m9h25-wZCKwUNWVf-Abd7wGleBXQ-kxCrykdQ8ePLpmFRnNCapwFnTDHujVQvGSwy7x6FGNHLSDc8DROxqxqzQgyy2slHreTkF1nV1qmUMeAzhqTzTbqHlemXKDon3D2aRZwQRZY/s1600/air2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="177" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh16-m9h25-wZCKwUNWVf-Abd7wGleBXQ-kxCrykdQ8ePLpmFRnNCapwFnTDHujVQvGSwy7x6FGNHLSDc8DROxqxqzQgyy2slHreTkF1nV1qmUMeAzhqTzTbqHlemXKDon3D2aRZwQRZY/s400/air2.jpg" /></a></div>
The stations – which are just like underground stations, with Oyster touch-ins, no toilets, and so on – have normal ticket gates, wide enough for bikes, and provide lifts encouragingly marked with a bike symbol to take you and machine up to or down from the boarding area (picture).<br /><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9i91LIWMFr3kEu2vMIk-6QgmMhPhyphenhyphenAeCc1s3L8wKtrGF0JbIqIrYKyw8WdBH7p8NCQppcXVw4vGPQBOVznwhr_mPxL60mClJ7hDxCo2WGs7-MYX_CSuVZj9TNkUxP9VITuv4tG4ashc/s1600/air3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="298" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9i91LIWMFr3kEu2vMIk-6QgmMhPhyphenhyphenAeCc1s3L8wKtrGF0JbIqIrYKyw8WdBH7p8NCQppcXVw4vGPQBOVznwhr_mPxL60mClJ7hDxCo2WGs7-MYX_CSuVZj9TNkUxP9VITuv4tG4ashc/s400/air3.jpg" /></a></div>
There are also several bike racks outside the southern, O2, station (picture), if you’ve come to do a return trip, or perhaps just spectate and head on along the nice traffic-free cycle path on the south side past the <a href="http://realcycling.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/bike-monopoly-28-water-works.html">Thames Barrier</a> to Woolwich.<br /><br />
So, the new Air Line is bike-friendly, and joins the canon of Thames Bike Crossings. Probably not enough room in the cars for more than one bike, or tandems or trailers or recumbents, but otherwise you should be OK.
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From here it's only a couple of miles to the <a href="http://realcycling.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/thames-crossings-29-woolwich-ferry.html">Woolwich Ferry</a>.<br /><br />
<b>UPDATE 17 October 2012</b><br /><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSqebvOjcuyLMmxNo3jguatBsPq09aOjz_A4ysFKHKu5QzGJE3rXTaQaWua7pYDg6a6mu8FEoFhofZClbgoJIMh6yNyufvwYcxYN1eBds5rj2YOkng4Scr-O4BFrIXkWYuZciuAt8B_go/s1600/airlineA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="235" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSqebvOjcuyLMmxNo3jguatBsPq09aOjz_A4ysFKHKu5QzGJE3rXTaQaWua7pYDg6a6mu8FEoFhofZClbgoJIMh6yNyufvwYcxYN1eBds5rj2YOkng4Scr-O4BFrIXkWYuZciuAt8B_go/s400/airlineA.jpg" /></a></div>More pics here, from a recent journey done with a group of cyclists. <br clear=all/>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3FsF-etL7olFARU0mp2nHd8O7R3bCc9Gr7BCnytUQwBbzEqzVrnUyJCBxUMmbA4s04AXhxhtg7-MR-2v971jOVOuGetRhHhFpZJcXQZu0M7FVirscL2nJD95Xp0PVRMyZvDv6p0ODkDg/s1600/airlineB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="241" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3FsF-etL7olFARU0mp2nHd8O7R3bCc9Gr7BCnytUQwBbzEqzVrnUyJCBxUMmbA4s04AXhxhtg7-MR-2v971jOVOuGetRhHhFpZJcXQZu0M7FVirscL2nJD95Xp0PVRMyZvDv6p0ODkDg/s400/airlineB.jpg" /></a></div>Numbers are not a problem, and staff are bike-friendly, helping you into the cabins with your bike. <br clear=all/>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-c5VbebAPtOOLPCTojB595ylVjZ91ACsxs8x2orLiYRSThggwSzSZ7QqYkN2EraGYuXxjAdHDIExx67Z76r0o07zpbXGBiffzr1t75iv4-xgduruwl8qXIEiuq4NZmzVyPWSLQs8GL-M/s1600/airlineC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="293" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-c5VbebAPtOOLPCTojB595ylVjZ91ACsxs8x2orLiYRSThggwSzSZ7QqYkN2EraGYuXxjAdHDIExx67Z76r0o07zpbXGBiffzr1t75iv4-xgduruwl8qXIEiuq4NZmzVyPWSLQs8GL-M/s400/airlineC.jpg" /></a></div>Inside the cabins, the seats tip up to make space for one or two bikes.Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-91949026951987745542012-07-16T17:36:00.000+01:002012-07-16T17:41:35.619+01:00Art problem: No bike racks at Boro's mima<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMdzRwLzCPqUNiFEJyhGV40ZDrdrCI4tE0ySiZeezbj787k7myxu2xRxWvClCNoS_bS6O-7mIeFVs81X42MfylmMeGIy5OihvExa7PADZi_mIZDhncnaqu-ijhOmG4kPoty2oi9bS1ao/s1600/midboro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="301" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMdzRwLzCPqUNiFEJyhGV40ZDrdrCI4tE0ySiZeezbj787k7myxu2xRxWvClCNoS_bS6O-7mIeFVs81X42MfylmMeGIy5OihvExa7PADZi_mIZDhncnaqu-ijhOmG4kPoty2oi9bS1ao/s400/midboro.jpg" /></a></div>We were in Middlesbrough yesterday, and I was intrigued by these unused wobbly bike racks (picture) on the ‘naked street’ that runs between the train station and the Middlesbrough College / Riverside Stadium area.<br /><br />
Whether they’ve been rearranged by careless student motorists, or exuberant Boro fans driving home after a rare home win, we don’t know. <br /><br />
But we do think they look a bit like a modern-art installation. <br /><br />
You know the sort of thing; one that needs an explanatory panel detailing the artist’s CV, and saying how the work asks fundamental questions about the nature of art and existence.<br clear=all><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4zmIli64u7flPb4s6Ou4o6y34D_vG97j9Ko5nRb9ORURuCmI7BMc7SssC162hRV-uv5jsVzrwj4r6PaU5aMnKjE2mC-Sqq3bF8Oi0B2SQ-zRxI6RHx9xPDzUev4XwqEIwP0H8wC6KGhs/s1600/mima.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="180" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4zmIli64u7flPb4s6Ou4o6y34D_vG97j9Ko5nRb9ORURuCmI7BMc7SssC162hRV-uv5jsVzrwj4r6PaU5aMnKjE2mC-Sqq3bF8Oi0B2SQ-zRxI6RHx9xPDzUev4XwqEIwP0H8wC6KGhs/s400/mima.jpg" /></a></div>
So it’s appropriate that a few hundred yards away is <a href="http://www.visitmima.com/">mima</a> (picture), Middlesbrough’s splendid modern-art museum. <br /><br />
(As ever with modern art, its contents are 90 per cent nonsense and 10 per cent genius. Trouble is, you don’t know which is the ten per cent. Even after you’ve been.)<br /><br />
Sadly, in contrast to the above street, the eminently visitable mima has precisely no bike parking at all. <br /><br />
Yet it’s directly on a National Bike Route (NCN65, the climax of the <a href="http://www.sustrans.org.uk/what-we-do/national-cycle-network/route-numbering-system/route-65">White Rose Route</a>) and in the middle of a vast and spacious square, with enough room to park every bike I've ever had stolen. That's lots. <br /><br />
Unless this total absence of places to park a bike is some sort of nihilistic modern artwork in itself? <br /><br />
One that asks fundamental questions, such as why on earth didn’t they put those unused bike racks here instead?<br /><br />Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-13841553885946377052012-07-13T07:00:00.001+01:002012-09-19T13:37:13.296+01:00Cheers and booze: Best-named pubs for cyclists<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggDxI2W0C-yc3zesDd6CLyPc_kjvcOQ-yiIwhwF34mN0O8lm-WOeaAJ38729BMGUm_iLuCa_uOa7p-tXCOVf6ws9RWCjUKnLp5fJnbvy2SlrEsBOILQ0goCrfoB6C0fe3WcQJaueq-LYQ/s1600/dc2c5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="209" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggDxI2W0C-yc3zesDd6CLyPc_kjvcOQ-yiIwhwF34mN0O8lm-WOeaAJ38729BMGUm_iLuCa_uOa7p-tXCOVf6ws9RWCjUKnLp5fJnbvy2SlrEsBOILQ0goCrfoB6C0fe3WcQJaueq-LYQ/s400/dc2c5.jpg" /></a></div>The Wetherspoons pub most aptly named for cycle tourers - <a href="http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/pubs/the-panniers">The Panniers</a> (right), which I mentioned in <a href="http://realcycling.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/cream-of-cycle-touring-devon-coast-to.html">a previous post</a> - has set me and a few fellow cyclists thinking about other boozers named for cycle parts.<br /><br />Nigel, a Cambridge Cycle Campaign stalwart, in the Comments section of that post, found a community pub <A href="http://www.therustybicycle.com/">The Rusty Bicycle</a> in Oxford, “which looks very promising, if only I ever had a reason to visit the Other Place".<br /><br />And as fellow commenter David Nottingham slyly suggested, any Wetherspoons counts, as it’s part of a chain.<br /><br />Anyway, today I nipped down to two York pubs that could be assembled as part of a bicycle. <br clear=all><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN8aPKf-flEEQnca7PNzgDyC2HpwobENLxw5leJCgLLEWPout8m54Sx1VAaU-mYkLyW7v4cOnexoPGS9j1E_-V-2ZISDB4lM-SEaOYNqcUIXmnC_cZqI9Huu7FH50o0MyMJSyv4NL9g9s/s1600/bluebell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="198" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN8aPKf-flEEQnca7PNzgDyC2HpwobENLxw5leJCgLLEWPout8m54Sx1VAaU-mYkLyW7v4cOnexoPGS9j1E_-V-2ZISDB4lM-SEaOYNqcUIXmnC_cZqI9Huu7FH50o0MyMJSyv4NL9g9s/s400/bluebell.jpg" /></a></div>The <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/pubs/3308353/Pint-to-pint-Blue-Bell.html">Blue Bell</a> (right) is one of the town centre’s top pub experiences, a cosy, woody gem down Fossgate with good real ale and an interior unchanged from Edwardian times. <br /><br />As, sadly, is the nonexistent cycle parking – in those days, no doubt, they could safely lean their unsecured bikes against the wall outside.<br /><br />(Of course, my bell isn’t blue. It’s black, like those one-quid tinkly Chinese-made bells always are. Coincidentally, there’s an Indian* restaurant called <a href="http://www.thebluebicycle.com/">The Blue Bicycle</a> a bit further down the same road.)<br clear=all><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLjnCRk-GzOt5e5J-bQW__X9Htut9-Ip-iTxF7gCK3_tf1Myk7tR_Dg_smohlBBJi07OndnUotUYH5Qxp7jxUlxncJ1qcqIRaDT-t_rz_2slVNsI4v-DPMnUbWYTWtS_yf_dnRy74x-UU/s1600/saddle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="313" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLjnCRk-GzOt5e5J-bQW__X9Htut9-Ip-iTxF7gCK3_tf1Myk7tR_Dg_smohlBBJi07OndnUotUYH5Qxp7jxUlxncJ1qcqIRaDT-t_rz_2slVNsI4v-DPMnUbWYTWtS_yf_dnRy74x-UU/s400/saddle.jpg" /></a></div>And the <a href="http://www.thesaddleinn.com/">Saddle Inn</a> (right), just south of the city limits in Fulford, is a fine main-roadside local, with beer garden and four real ales at under three quid a pint. <br /><br />A quick Google frenzy throws up a few more velopubs. <br /><br />The <a href="http://www.oldpumpbarlow.com/">Old Pump</a>, Barlow (between Sheffield and Chesterfield) reminds me that I really ought to upgrade my ancient five-quid Zéfal. <br /><br />Add <a href="http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/pubsandbars/the-frames-info-272697.html">The Frames</a>, in London W10, to <a href="http://www.thewheelnaphill.com/The_Wheel_Naphill/Home.html">The Wheel</a>, Naphill, in the Chilterns north of High Wycombe – a late 1700s real ale place – and you have the makings of a new machine. <br /><br />While there’s a natural twinning between <a href="http://www.thehub-liverpool.com/">The Hub</a>, a hip-looking bar in the centre of Liverpool, and <a href="http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/36/36254/Bearings_Pub_Estate/Newark">The Bearings</a>, in rather less-hip Newark.<br /><br />Cheers. Any more suggestions? <br /><br /><em>* Erm, it's not Indian. See Comments!</em>Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-81638668000739769002012-07-10T12:01:00.002+01:002012-07-12T23:03:31.527+01:00Cream of cycle touring: Devon Coast to Coast<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4DkZ2jVm9eLVgM2iwDXRCyWHX_XHHErBwU6zsUwFbPoztcrkAXfnrZz8zP4YRtxVplMCfycuyMdLmr8lC3HX_wgbGq-JrrGdXUQAgc8bb8pLxKVQO9tZDIjvewztxGPSFyCZnY1IiCfI/s1600/dc2c1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="208" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4DkZ2jVm9eLVgM2iwDXRCyWHX_XHHErBwU6zsUwFbPoztcrkAXfnrZz8zP4YRtxVplMCfycuyMdLmr8lC3HX_wgbGq-JrrGdXUQAgc8bb8pLxKVQO9tZDIjvewztxGPSFyCZnY1IiCfI/s400/dc2c1.jpg" /></a></div>
I did the <a href="http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/transport/cycling/leisure_cycle_routes/devon_coast_to_coast.htm">Devon Coast to Coast route</a> last week with my chum Nigel, the 100-mile traverse of Devon from Plymouth to Ilfracombe.<br /><br />
It’s 70 per cent offroad, more than half of that being well-tarmacked, flat railtrail (right). This fallen tree blocked our progress at one point - Beeching's Axe was clearly more pervasive than I thought. <br /><br />
The other 30 per cent is definitely not flat, with 1 in 4 descents down winding lanes to a hairpin bend, followed by 1 in 4 pushes up the other side. <br /><br />
Indeed, the GPS height profile resembles an ECG trace of, say, a cyclist riding the hilly sections of the Devon Coast to Coast route.<Br /><br clear=all>
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The route is well signposted (right), when you can actually see the signposts through the rain.<br clear=all>
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The railtrail sections – notably Drake’s Trail out of Plymouth, the Granite Trail into Okehampton, the stretch of the Tarka Trail from Great Torrington to Barnstaple, and the final swooping descent down to Ilfracombe – are a delight, and well-endowed with fine viaducts, bridges and tunnels (right). <br /><br />
If you’re doing it in the rain like us, don’t expect the tunnels to be a dry haven – they’re as dripping inside as outside.<br clear=all>
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The route takes you through some thrilling scenery and delightful villages, and gives you all the traditional Devon sights. Such as Polish lorries wedged tight thanks to following their satnav down a back lane (right). <br /><br />
Of course, we offered assistance – we suggested he upgrade to the 2012 data set.<br clear=all>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1uxKR9KIGbyh5e16wIDcu9L84ZyqjVssNnfYd1UoDo_XOnRpLOySIcXB4JfPqpjEcl39dF52PdEOVfzTKjZhyphenhyphenUBWo1BCwI87c2RpCZ5A8Fb4K5un0uLSDDDT2RT5DcF7budbSgMv0UyI/s1600/dc2c3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="188" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1uxKR9KIGbyh5e16wIDcu9L84ZyqjVssNnfYd1UoDo_XOnRpLOySIcXB4JfPqpjEcl39dF52PdEOVfzTKjZhyphenhyphenUBWo1BCwI87c2RpCZ5A8Fb4K5un0uLSDDDT2RT5DcF7budbSgMv0UyI/s400/dc2c3.jpg" /></a></div>
We stayed in Okehampton and Barnstaple, taking a leisurely-ish two and a half days for the route. <br /><br />
Okehampton sported some interesting bike parking (right) appropriate for a convivial trip that involved more calorie intake than expenditure. <br /><br />
Indeed, for a Devon cream tea, drop into the Green Lantern in Great Torrington – £1.90 for the best mid-course refuel we had on the trip.<br clear=all>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PZQK6MPvGCgPiT40s1e6OoQyk1F28zkVh4PO-BTDFVbwy7EnLO_OcW9IfHFZDp0BshlC2wPTYhe5Tahs0FTpAq-eLppDgphSFynJXgYelU1ua_lXniPNBL1FZJUcw9eZTyUooBgs3Vw/s1600/dc2c5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="209" width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PZQK6MPvGCgPiT40s1e6OoQyk1F28zkVh4PO-BTDFVbwy7EnLO_OcW9IfHFZDp0BshlC2wPTYhe5Tahs0FTpAq-eLppDgphSFynJXgYelU1ua_lXniPNBL1FZJUcw9eZTyUooBgs3Vw/s400/dc2c5.jpg" /></a></div>
Barnstaple gave us the most appropriately named Wetherspoons for cycle tourists I’ve ever seen (right). <br /><br />
Anyone know of any more? Is there a Saddle or Pump or Puncture? If so I can see another arbitrary cycle trip coming up...<br /><br />
Anyway, the Devon Coast to Coast is lovely, and we recommend it. Don’t underestimate those hills, though, in between those lovely flat smooth railtrails. <br /><br />
<b>GPS trails</b> (thanks Nigel):<br />
Day 1 – Plymouth to Okehampton <a href="http://goo.gl/maps/lzcx">goo.gl/maps/lzcx</a><br />
Day 2 – Okehampton to Barnstaple <a href="http://goo.gl/maps/Dia5">goo.gl/maps/Dia5</a><br />
Day 3 – Barnstraple to Ilfracombe and then Lynmouth <a href="http://goo.gl/maps/yav6">goo.gl/maps/yav6</a><br /><br />
<i>NB The above routes are not suitable for HGVs.</i><br />
<i>UWAGA Powyższe trasy nie nadają się do pojazdów ciężarowych.</i><br /><br />Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-52000372960147992532012-07-01T16:28:00.005+01:002012-07-01T16:40:01.566+01:00Currying favour: Bradford Skyride<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg148CNnMqoosAd4c18GyLV3RzBvHSaOX6kHOH8tH7Rse_ismd1XehYuolrnzGBtenfpSy89fwKfTcR3mQKa80ObavCVtS_x1pgF3IAy9Hj-QZziQC0CpZdeSK-XeygGkaoYNE2tP7e4SM/s1600/bs1.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 333px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg148CNnMqoosAd4c18GyLV3RzBvHSaOX6kHOH8tH7Rse_ismd1XehYuolrnzGBtenfpSy89fwKfTcR3mQKa80ObavCVtS_x1pgF3IAy9Hj-QZziQC0CpZdeSK-XeygGkaoYNE2tP7e4SM/s400/bs1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5760224024809960754" /></a>We were at <a href="http://www.goskyride.com/Bradford/">Bradford Skyride</a> today. So, after a fine local breakfast – liver curry and puris from Cafe Regal on White Abbey Road – we joined the bibbed masses for the start at Centenary Square (right).<br /><br />I’m not an unqualified fan of big-sponsor mass-participation events, as I’ve made unclear in <a href="http://realcycling.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/bib-bib-its-ealing-skyride.html">previous blogs</a> about local Skyrides. <br /><br />However, this was a definite success: well organised, and all rather fun. <br /><br />Indeed, the road closures made it a great way to see central Bradford, and its grand honey-coloured buildings dating from the late Victorian boom days, largely unspoilt by, er, much subsequent business having taken place.<br clear=all><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI9R1G5G0KVVMb6pxcnDkA7IDZlg3ctJu7WHlgX8Yl6zJyNQJ0FFb09kjkYvw2XoaxAmsup4Kq_oJqfOWmnXjQ9PuyrSw08E9WNbpBmvR5tz3Yda0hPO9HcbEMcLxVWANSwckGw0SNOqw/s1600/bs2.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 272px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI9R1G5G0KVVMb6pxcnDkA7IDZlg3ctJu7WHlgX8Yl6zJyNQJ0FFb09kjkYvw2XoaxAmsup4Kq_oJqfOWmnXjQ9PuyrSw08E9WNbpBmvR5tz3Yda0hPO9HcbEMcLxVWANSwckGw0SNOqw/s400/bs2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5760224025275923026" /></a>Such car-free sightseeing was especially good for those unfamiliar with Bradford, such as us, having spent most of our previous visits sheltering from heavy rain. <br /><br />Not so this time - the rain was torrential instead.<br /><br />Nevertheless, lots of local families were out in force, braving the wet weather (right). <br /><br /><em>(Actually, that’s the fountain in Centenary Square, which you were cordially invited to aquaplane across.)</em><br clear=all><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioXkoP2RdmbdLXXWPP1Ajmy3B4MF5ud_WFNI5DZTdVzkvXKT5k3vB_xnQS2BbMKosXYZ4bQs5BS1-Ri0xH3B81rF98QIY1ZjtD83JlpqDFNTejbFZ2vEhE81EksMTY3HCl4K9XAihVmSQ/s1600/bs3.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 333px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioXkoP2RdmbdLXXWPP1Ajmy3B4MF5ud_WFNI5DZTdVzkvXKT5k3vB_xnQS2BbMKosXYZ4bQs5BS1-Ri0xH3B81rF98QIY1ZjtD83JlpqDFNTejbFZ2vEhE81EksMTY3HCl4K9XAihVmSQ/s400/bs3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5760224032975981074" /></a>On the home half of the two-mile-ish circuit up to Lister Park and back, we stopped off for refuelling at Koffie and Cake, a rather splendid new Italian-run cafe (right). <br /><br />The bibs and corporate razzle I can take or leave, but cake shops like this are an unqualified plus.Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8570734860219292199.post-79751213531900604062012-06-26T12:40:00.003+01:002012-06-26T12:49:24.762+01:00Teesing it out: Middlesbrough's Transporter Bridge by bike<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFLEZeKxgzF0Z1y2YH3ViYFaAE7ZiSgIEcWdj0ZvvDbZ3W5Q41mwMXQ6bf5kFAZHQ6NY7c7cTUpk2-Cu_v8mhKys8X762eWIyhvIo2sAs7PNENcJaHyd8vt3IsG_qNu_srh9ncEvqMPWk/s1600/tb1.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 188px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFLEZeKxgzF0Z1y2YH3ViYFaAE7ZiSgIEcWdj0ZvvDbZ3W5Q41mwMXQ6bf5kFAZHQ6NY7c7cTUpk2-Cu_v8mhKys8X762eWIyhvIo2sAs7PNENcJaHyd8vt3IsG_qNu_srh9ncEvqMPWk/s400/tb1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5758310261355834642" /></a><br />I was up in Middlesbrough the other day, to do its famous <a href="http://www.blogger.com/”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middlesbrough_Transporter_Bridge”">Transporter Bridge</a> by bike.<br /><br /><br clear=all><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5zihReGyMSouUll_welLw8kq4oEDp4SZ6OkdfISlIL0uCcsM6uipX8FZYIb6l9lnWZwrVx7sCs_6zI2LUeHiiW-ZEsFjhYgg1q_8Bg7wic2gWfmiHtUNJz3qMKfcaRAMAm2Xaguh8iTY/s1600/tb3.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 333px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5zihReGyMSouUll_welLw8kq4oEDp4SZ6OkdfISlIL0uCcsM6uipX8FZYIb6l9lnWZwrVx7sCs_6zI2LUeHiiW-ZEsFjhYgg1q_8Bg7wic2gWfmiHtUNJz3qMKfcaRAMAm2Xaguh8iTY/s400/tb3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5758310284322436226" /></a>Transporter Bridges are a curious solution to the problem of providing a crossing where bridges or tunnels are impossible: part bridge, part ferry, sliding an Edwardian five-a-side football court underneath a giant coat hanger (right).<br /><br />Less then two dozen were built, all around the beginning of the 1900s, and only a handful survive today. <br /><br />(The only other working one in Britain is at Newport, and featured in my <a href="http://www.blogger.com/”http://www.bike99.com/29.html”">50QBR book</a>.)<br /><br /><br clear=all><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQqZk_H_EGZX1486x4J62p72hkZpGnlGY6mOjof-s5m93_NSYZ5BnraAjm1Z_2TGhyYSvthxRDkH3TRNVpulM_E3YOuRdKetNh6tx5zmEXOotZndz_AuveosUNOgK3HSchVCoU2270VYg/s1600/tb4.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 333px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQqZk_H_EGZX1486x4J62p72hkZpGnlGY6mOjof-s5m93_NSYZ5BnraAjm1Z_2TGhyYSvthxRDkH3TRNVpulM_E3YOuRdKetNh6tx5zmEXOotZndz_AuveosUNOgK3HSchVCoU2270VYg/s400/tb4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5758310285574915490" /></a>Bikes go in the two corridors at the side (right). <br /><br />The single for pedestrians or cyclists is 70p, which will buy you two cups of vending machine coffee in the pleasant visitor centre on the south side, or 40 per cent of a pint at Wetherspoons half a mile away in the town centre.<br /><br />Or the deposit on a terrace house.<br /><br /><br clear=all><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHWj1qPZbldhM_xyLV_3QoYegR_690ei0Ofxs7vhc-l578ezpsvyFYHIVh-yBRilzPI4vIxWZ0dNdZpFcDAy_gVyi0WSrZoZHM8LsCwPLFp8Qt7IYzmbRrO20zBJ-UN8hmYhvlYdWu9vo/s1600/tb2.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 128px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHWj1qPZbldhM_xyLV_3QoYegR_690ei0Ofxs7vhc-l578ezpsvyFYHIVh-yBRilzPI4vIxWZ0dNdZpFcDAy_gVyi0WSrZoZHM8LsCwPLFp8Qt7IYzmbRrO20zBJ-UN8hmYhvlYdWu9vo/s400/tb2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5758310272203313410" /></a>There’s not much to do on the other side except cycle away from Middlesbrough, which isn’t a bad option; or return and head for the nearby train station, which isn’t a bad option either.<br /><br />There’s a short (2 min) <a href="http://www.blogger.com/”http://www.youtube.com/embed/TkaudKX1zIk%22">video</a> of the Bridge on YouTube (embedded below).<br /><br /><iframe height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TkaudKX1zIk" frameborder="0" width="420" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>Rob Ainsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15545429147297468874noreply@blogger.com4