Rush-Hour Cycle Lane - Don't you just love school holidays

This was the main A road into Blackburn this morning during the rush-hour. Who needs a cycle lane when the road is so quiet?


Plenty of time to take some autumn shots in morning light, brighter since the hour change.

The Darkness

It approaches, creeping like a thief in the night, with gradual increasing intensity. September and October are twilight months for the commuter. The remaining light is enough to see by and the visibility is good enough for us cyclists to be seen if supplemented with high visibility clothing and lights. This coming weekend sees the end to that softly softly approach. With the change in daylight savings time by one hour, we are thrown abruptly into real darkness, when ambient light conditions offer nothing to the cyclist.

From now on we have to rely on street lights and lights from vehicles to help other road users pick us out on the road. With highly contrasting bright lights and reflections in a black road scape, especially in the wet, the difficulty of seeing cyclists is increased dramatically. To make sure you stand out get some high intensity LED lights that flash. UK law dictates you should have a steady red rear light, for which you can use a cheap LED light, but for maximum effect a quality unit with Japanese LEDs is best. High intensity LEDS at the front also help bring us to a more equal standing with motorised traffic.

Stay safe, and happy commuting.

Coniston in Drizzle

This is a picture from the ride at the weekend when we went out for a ride with the South Lakes Group of the Rough Stuff Fellowship. It's an organisation with an interesting history of getting places with a bike that you might not think possible or is the domain of hardened mountain bikers. The RSF pre-dates mountain bikes and has been getting off the beaten track since 1955.

Despite the drizzle and rain, it was a great ride with some peaceful and moody views along Coniston and up to Grizedale. Plenty of folk out too, which I suppose is the norm for Grizedale. More photos on the South Lakes Group site.

"Sorry Mate

- I didn't see you."

If you ride on the road regularly, this is something that is likely to have happened to you. It happened to Mrs P this very day when a woman turned left into the local recycling centre and nearly took out her front wheel. It happened to me a couple of weeks ago in Staveley when someone pulled out without looking.

The close-shave, near-miss or other heart stopping moment where man and machine nearly collides with another man and machine is all too common and often the excuse is they didn't see us. For the cyclist, being the more vulnerable one in the encounter, this is to be avoided as the outcome is not usually pretty should a collision occur. It's also a problem for motorcyclists.

What can you do to avoid it? There are a number of things but the Cycle Touring Club want to do more to raise awareness and support cyclists. They have created a new website where you can report your SMIDY incidents and get help and advice.

http://www.stop-smidsy.org.uk/

Other SMIDSY resources:

http://www.smidsy.co.uk/
http://www.safespeed.org.uk/smidsy.html

Something's eating my handlebars

I must admit to being somewhat bemused by this statement, utterred by Mrs P, on return from her ride. My mind pictured some terrible chemical accident that resulted in some corrosive potion getting on her bike and, more frightfully, herself. The damage, it turned out, was not done on the ride but was evident before she departed, it was just the way it was disclosed that caused my alarm.

Sure enough when I looked, the right-hand side of her butterfly bar's foam has small gouges all the way round. Our shed obviously has rodent visitors who like nibbling on rubber and plastic. The little blighters! They also destroyed some roof-bar covers. We need to nip this problem in the neck before any more expensive damage is done.

Aldi Bike Light Review

Aldi recently offerred a twin set of front and rear LED cycle lights at £3.99. A set of lights at this price is a snip but, like most things, you get what you pay for. So what are you getting for your four quid? Not a lot, it has to be said. The lights come in plastic sealed packaging is probably more durable than the lights themselves.

Fixings

Included are two mounts and batteries. The mounts are of poor quality with nuts and bolts that don't fit particularly well and require tools to fit. Basic spacers are provided for fitting to different diameter bars and stems. The rear mount is for a seat post only not frame. The lights are fixed to the bike by sliding their clips into the holders on the mounts. This clip on the rear of each light is a nice touch since it can be used to attach to a rucksack or clothing.

Construction

The lights themselves are three LED units running off two AAA batteries. Both lights are of similar design and cheap construction with a hard plastic seal, which probably doesn't so I wouldn't anticipate continued operation in wet weather. They are basically a back plate with batteries either side of a central circuit board holding the four standard low power LEDs and the switch sensing circuit. These are not high power high intensity LEDs and consequently the light output is relatively weak. The battery contacts are also flimsy. On one set they didn't make contact with the circuit board so the lights didn't work. The lens cover snaps onto the back plate to close the unit, it's clear on the front and red on the rear. The units are are small, which is a nice thing about these lights - they are easy to pop into your pocket.

Operation

The lights work by pressing a small rubber button on the back of the light. Two modes are available, flashing and steady. The front uses cheap light-green LEDs rather than the better white LEDs more commonly found in lights and torches these days. The rears use red LED's. In operation, these lights fulfil the basic legal requirement for UK Road Vehicle Regulations but are not very bright. They certainly don't emit enough light to see by and only sufficient to be visible in the right conditions. For winter use in traffic and bad weather, these lights are inadequate to be seen by. Battery life is indeterminate - I haven't used them long enough to find out.

Conclusion

These lights are cheap for the money and it shows. They are suitable only to be seen by on traffic-free routes, cheap back-ups or, at a push, getting back from the pub. As a get-me home option, probably OK for the summer, but for busy road riding on winter nights, steer clear and get something safer.

Supplier: Aldi £3.99

Quality:          2/10
Performance:      2/10
Value for money:  4/10

Three Peaks Cyclocross

A day out at the races today, in fine Yorkshire countryside, for this 38 mile epic over the three major peaks of Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-y-Ghent.

1st Nick Craig 2h 54m 13s

It was my first time watching cyclocross and it turned out quite exciting as long standing title holder Rob Jebb was beaten by Scott UK rider Nick Craig with a 15 second margin.

2nd Rob Jebb 2h 54m 28s

It looked tough going up those hills, but very exciting coming down as the riders bounced off the rocks and tried to avoid both oncoming riders climbing uphill and fell-walkers.

3rd Neal Crampton 3h 9m 47s

Congrats to all who took part. I have nothing but admiration for the fact that you do it at all, never mind doing it in 2 hours 54 minutes and 13 seconds. Even more impressive is the number of veterans including some in their 70's - there's hope for me yet. I was also cheering on TwinklyDave and ShaggyJohn, who I don't actually know, but one's local and the other I found following the Iditarod. They set PB and single speed records - well done guys.


Full report over on the British Cycling website.

Winter Drawers On

As they say...soon be Christmas. It's getting cooler and darker on the morning commute. Especially last week when it looked like my shorts were to be relegated to midday rides at the weekends, as rain, wind and cool temperatures arrived. It's difficult to get warmed up in the limited distance between home and work, so it was back to the Ron Hills until our Indian summer arrives, which, according to the BBC weather forecast, is arriving today. It won't be long before the winter cycling jacket and lights come out as well.

Cycling Kentmere

I've just returned from a few days in the Lake District National Park. It has an abundance of hiking and cycling opportunities, both off and on road, none of them particularly flat, it being in a region of mountains and lakes. A popular destination is Kentmere, known to many cyclists but perhaps not familiar to non-UK readers.


Kentmere is primarily home to a community of sheep and dairy farmers but also a site of ancient and modern industry. For most visitors to the valley, it is a huge playground for walking and cycling. It is steep sided but relatively flat for the majority of its length. The valley winds its way northwards for 4 miles along the single track road from Staveley to the church near where the road ends. The rise from the village of Staveley is a mere 200 feet although the lane's ups and downs add up to more.


This is as far as motorists go but mountain bikers and walkers can follow along the River Kent for almost the same distance again, past Kentmere reservoir, to the head of the valley at Nam Bield Pass some 1700 feet higher.


The Lake District National Park is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Kentmere sits on its easterly fringe and, like many places in the Park, in addition to the natural beauty, was and still is a place of work. Rural life may appear to be dominated by working farms but industry also plays its part even today.


The River Kent provided power and water for a variety of mills and the valley was also the site of a number of mines and quarries including a silica mine that created Kentmere Tarn that we see today. The mining has long gone and now heron and other bird life frequent the water.


For a many, a day in Kentmere begins and ends at Mill Yard in Staveley. This centre of small artisan businesses, is home to the two principle magnets for riders, the cycle store, Wheelbase, and the eatery, Wilf's, famous for outdoor catering at orienteering and fell running events. Other businesses attract visitors to the bakery, brewery or specialist craftsmen such as jewellers and woodworkers. Cyclists particularly like it because of its proximity to great mountain biking, bike wash, supplies at Wheelbase and re-fuelling at Wilf's and Hawkshead brewery.

Kentmere presents a myriad of outdoor opportunities with the many paths and bridleways that link up across the valley. What you might know as trails are what we call public footpaths in the UK. These footpaths are rights-of-way, many going back to ancient times. They criss-cross between settlements, over hills and passes across the whole of the country, not just in National Parks. They are governed by rules ensuring public access and have to be maintained with functional gates and no obstructions such as fallen trees. Whilst not unique to the UK (other European countries such as Switzerland and Austria have their wanderwegs), these paths form a major characteristic of our countryside and allow public access to lowland and highland areas irrespective of ownership.


Local government authorities are responsible for ensuring access by liaising with landowners who's land the paths cross. Public footpaths often cross farmland, which can require navigating around cows and sheep. Going for a walk might involve linking a number of these paths (as would hiking, rambling or fell walking, the difference being the distance and height gained). This availability of these rights-of-way enables people access to the countryside to appreciate the outdoors and understand the make-up of our rural areas. The importance of this was realised in the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in 2001 that decimated the rural economy and resulted in no-one being allowed to use paths and bridleways.


There are other rights-of-way, the most important of which, for the cyclist, is the bridleway. These take the form of paths and tracks. They extend access to horse riders and cyclists as well as walkers. These routes are often nothing more than an overgrown single track path but can also be double track unpaved roads. Motorised traffic is not allowed and, like footpaths, are often ancient trade routes between villages or markets.


A great asset we have for helping access paths and bridleways is the excellent mapping available from the Ordnance Survey.

View this map on Multimap.com
Get directions on Multimap.com

They provide detailed mapping at various scales for the whole country. The 1:25,000 scale is ideal for walking and off-road mountain biking as paths are shown with a green dotted line and bridleways are shown with a green dashed line. Field boundaries are thin black lines and help navigation through farmland.

Other unpaved rights-of-way exist. These include Byways Open to All Traffic (BOATs) and Roads used as a Path. As these also pass through remote areas of outstanding beauty, their use can be controversial, as they are available to motorised traffic. The presence of noisy 4x4 vehicles or trails bikes, often grates with other non-motorised users. In an attempt to harmonise the sharing of these resources, various groups such as Land Access and Recreation Association (LARA) produced a code of practice to minimise the impact of their activities. Despite this, the right to some tracks have been demoted to 'Restricted Byways' and motorised use outlawed in the Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act 2006.


Kentmere has a fair representation of all these rights-of-way. The valley floor has the metalled road and some paths and bridleways spreading out to the higher ground. The flat part of the valley is great for a blast on road, which combined with the Crook Road, near where we stay, makes for a nice round trip of about 14 miles, useful for a quick hour's exercise. For longer outings, the many paths, bridleways and byways can be linked to make testing days out for more of a challenge. These access neighbouring valleys allowing more options, west via the Garburn Pass to High Street (2500 feet), north to Haweswater or east to Gatesgarth Pass and Longsleddale.
The combinations are many and provide enough choices for many a return trip.

Bowling anyone?

Glenfield Park, a business space rental company, appears to have a lot of vacant units at the moment. A planning application has been made to convert the ground floor of its building into a bowling centre. I presume that's bowls as opposed to 10-pin bowling.