Just another WordPress weblog
Crossposted to SmarterFitter.com
I went for a bike ride this morning to the Duchy Home Farm Organic “Veg Shed” and couldn’t resist this mammoth savoy cabbage. Fairly surprised it survived the nine mile journey back home.
Next time: bring a bigger backpack.
Yesterday was a GORGEOUS day here in London - cloudless blue skies, cool autumn air, a mild breeze, PERFECT weather for a bike ride.
London may not seem like a great place for a leisurely bike ride, and for day-to-day practicalities, that’s pretty much true. London roads are riddled with traffic, pollution, potholes and a surprising lack of good views. Fortunately, there are plenty of great parks scattered about, including Hampstead Heath, London’s largest (791 acre) parkland. I decided that “the Heath” seemed like a great destination, but I wanted to to enjoy the journey, too. So I Googled for “Stoke Newington Hampstead Heath Bike Route” and that is how I discovered Bikely.com.
Bikely is basically a place for cyclists to share their bike routes. Anyone can create a route on a Google map, then tag that route with helpful terms like “hills”, “scenic”, “commute”, “offroad”, etc. You can also search for routes near a specific city.
What makes Bikely WORK is that a lot of people from all over the world actually seem to use it so there’s plenty to choose from.
The route I found was the Stoke Newington Hampstead Heath circuit, a 15mi loop tagged as “training”, “steep” and “scenic”. Steep and scenic it was. I had no idea such hills existed in London! But I’ve gotta give props to “happyhenry”, the route’s author - most of the ride was on VERY quiet streets and it took me to places in London I never new existed, such as Queen’s Wood, a 21-hectare patch of ancient oak-hornbeam woodland just a few miles from my house. How could I have missed that?
Hampstead Heath rocked my world - trees everywhere, leaves falling, ducks, ponds, woods, grassland. And glorious sunshine! As it was a Friday afternoon, it was very quiet except for a few rich people and their dogs, a small film crew, and a very happy runner taking a load off in the sun. Unfortunately, my camera ran out of juice so I couldn’t take any pictures. But by that point I was pretty pooped from the ride, and I still had to cycle back home. The whole trip took about 2.5 hours (an hour more than I estimated, no wonder I was so hungry when I got home).
I love cycling and shouldn’t let London limit my horizons. I’ll definitely be using Bikely again. There were a few longer loops from Stoke Newington that go beyond London and into the country. I can’t think of a cheaper, greener, or higher energy way to escape the big bad city!
I leave you with one of the few photos I took before the camera batteries died. This was taken atop of a hill in Crouch End. Behold the blue sky!
Crossposted to SmarterFitter.com
You see it all the time: people cycling around town with the seat to short looking like their squatted over the toilet seat. Bicycle fit is complicated enough, but it’s even harder for women. Many women end up riding men’s bikes, which are designed for men’s wider shoulders and taller statures. Furthermore, seats can be especially uncomfortable for women who have comparatively wider pelvic areas (though now that I think about it, I hear more men complaining about their bike seats than women). Anyone riding a poorly fit bike will experience pains after cycling for a couple hours. And as Merry says on Cranky Fitness, this is the time of year when you want to go out for a long cycle ride:
If I sound preachy it’s because I think it’s really, really cool to go for a long bicycle ride out in the country where there aren’t a lot of cars but there is a lot of nature. You get to see things you never when you’re driving a car, plus it’s easy on your knees and you can get a workout while sitting down!
Amen sister.
In her post, Merry covers the often ignored subject of bicycle fit, making welcome mention of some chick-specific factoids we girlies should consider when sizing up our bicycles.
It’s true there’s a vas deferens between men and women. (That joke never gets old, at least not to me.) To quote the WOMBATS website (Women’s Mountainbike And Tea Society), women often have shorter torsos and longer legs than a man of the same height. Just because you and your boyfriend are the same height doesn’t mean you’ll be comfortable riding his bicycle.
Bicycling Sizing is COMPLICATED, at least for my feeble brain which relied on the very capable folks at Austin’s University Cyclery to size my bike. But if you’re more patient than I am, or you don’t have access to a bike shop with a kick-ass mechanic, then check out these excellent resources for bike fitting:
Since we’re talking about bike fitting, I have to make special mention of my Jamis Nova, pictured above. You might notice that that front tire is smaller than the rear tire. Why? It all boils down to my being vertically challenged. The bike has a really small frame, and as a result a bigger tire would result in my toe hitting the wheel wheel whenever I made a turn (this is called “toe overlap”). I think it’s cool that Jamis makes a small bike for shorties like me who like to tour, and I’m extra happy that I was able to meet a mechanic who was able to recommend it (a fellow female shorty at the aforementioned Cyclery - it was the last bike shop I visited when bike shopping in Austin, and by far the best and most capable). Terry, the “first and last name in women’s cycling”, uses the same technique. Myra & Simon get into this in more detail on their site.
And in case you can’t tell, I’m ga-ga for my Jamis Nova, who even carry a whole line of bikes designed for women. I’ve taken my Jamis across France and Wisconsin, up and down Texas‘ Hill Country, and a countless number of times through London and Austin. I’ve never experienced achy knees or a sore bum, just miles of good times and sunshine, with the odd goat and rain storm thrown in for good measure.
Who Says Size Doesn’t Matter? [Cranky Fitness]
Crossposted to SmarterFitter.com
We want nothing short of a cycling transformation in London. We are announcing the biggest investment in cycling in London’s history, which will mean that thousands more Londoners can cycle in confidence, on routes that take them quickly and safely to where they want to go.
- Ken Livingston, Mayor of London
Ken Livingston has mapped out a plan that could transform London into a bike commuter’s paradise by 2010. The plan includes
I’ll believe this when I see it. Still, a similar scheme “successfully” executed in Aylesbury offers some hope. But I put that word in quotes because the model seems a little “hard going” according to The Guardian. Although the cycle routes themselves are great, they don’t really link up, so pedlars find themselves at the end of the route and have no idea where to go. Still, that’s what maps are for, eh?
Link to City’s two-wheel transformation in The Guardian
Link to Aylesbury’s cycleways leave room for improvement in The Guardian
Crossposted to SmarterFitter.com
“Fuck!”
This is apparently my gut reaction to falling off my bicycle.
So I was cycling home from work today, going fast ’cause the wind was at my back and there was no traffic, when a dude steps out in front of me. I don’t really remember what happened between me hitting the dude, and me hitting the ground, but I certainly remember standing up and shouting
“Fuck!”
I then sensed a slight ache in my head and started to cry.
So there I was, standing outside of an African hairdresser’s on Kingsland Road, crying to the person I just slammed into, who was probably worse off than I was.
It’s not that I was in much pain. As I said to the dude, “You really scared me!” Just the other day Tim and I were questioning the merits of the bicycle helmet. I know if I wasn’t wearing mine today, my head would be a whole lot worse. It’s a scary thought.
The guy and his friends were nice and took me into the hairdresser’s and sat me down and offered me water and an ambulance. I really just wanted to go home so I left and got back on my bike, then quickly got off to replace the chain. Home again, and all that’s sore is my ass, which took a harder thump than my head (Giro doesn’t make a butt helmet).
This appropriately-timed article in the NYTimes explains how those beer-bellies managed the 59-mile London to Southend cycling trip.
Cycling is a lot more forgiving of body type and age than running. The best cyclists going up hills are those with the best weight-to-strength ratio, which generally means being thin and strong. But heavier cyclists go faster downhill. And being light does not help much on flat roads.
James Hagberg, a kinesiology professor at the University of Maryland, explains that the difference between running on a flat road and cycling on a flat road has to do with the movement of the athlete
Tim and I cycled 59 miles yesterday as part of the British Heart Foundation’s charity ride from London to Southend. We left Victoria Park at 08:00, made it to Southend by 14:30. We were on a train back to London by 15:30pm and by 17:45, we were at the Londsborough (our local pub), celebrating with cold beer.
Here are a few things I learned along the way:
* Contrary to my prior belief, the weather does not improve when one leaves London
* A bicycle ride through the suburbs of London isn’t so bad when the route is signed and lined with an eternity of other cyclists to follow
* Anyone with legs and a bike can cycle 59 miles, even people with really heavy mountain bikes, big beer bellies, or painfully squeeky gears
* A beer belly won’t stop an Englishman from brandishing flashy, skintight cycle gear
* Tandem bicycles are absurd
* Sunscreen should be worn at all times, even in cloudy England
* A flat tire always occurs at the most inopportune time, such as after the journey, back in London, on the bike ride home from the train station
* My bicycle seat (a Selle Italia XO Genuine Gel Saddle) rocks - 59 miles and no bum-pain. This may have more to do with my rock-hard ass than my bike seat
* 1 pack of pumpernickle bread, 1 handful of walnuts, 1 handful of almonds, 1 block of cheese, 2 apples, 2 bananas, 2 slabs of leftover tofu steak, 1 tomato, and 2 Whole Earth raw food bars are almost sufficient for 2 people’s journey, but it doesn’t quite cover the insatiable craving for salt on the train ride home
* Really long bike rides make fully-leaded Coca-Cola tie with extra-cold lager for most thirst-quenching beverage EVER (lager wins, I think)
* Southend is a dive
* Leaving London is good for the soul, and I should do it more often, but not to Southend
Oddly, neither Tim nor I are muscularly sore today. I think this has something to do with my pre- and post-ride stretch, 8 solid hours of very sound sleep, ample food for the journey, proper hydration, and post-ride carbo-loading with beer, wine and a generous pile of delicious pasta. Either that, or my rock-hard ass.
One of the best things about living in London is the comparable relief of the country.
Not only is it Easter weekend, but the weather is unseasonably perfect. In the race to enjoy it, city-dwellers are cramming into planes, trains and automobiles, readying themselves for a grueling journey to something better.
Is it possible to escape from the city while still enjoying the journey? I say yes. My secret? The humble yet powerful bicycle.
I say this now having never been on a long bicycle journey in England, but tomorrow I take the first of what I hope to be many cruises in the country. Tim and I are headed 54 miles north to Cambridge, traveling along the River Lee and passing through Newton (home of Sir Isaac!). I hope we get to Cambridge in time to see a bit of the town, and perhaps enjoy a restful beverage at a “quaint” Cambridge pub.
In the meantime, here are some links I’ve found useful in my planning:
GPX file of waypoints between London and Cambridge (note: the waypoints between London and Ware along the River Lee are rough estimates at best)
Sustrans - the UK’s leading sustainable transport charity, has loads of maps of the UK National Cycle Network
Last weekend, Matt and I enjoyed a blend of extreme adventure cycling with the humble simplicity of hobo life. We started with a bike ride through the Hill Country, meandering our way through various facets of Texas geography. After the 40 mile ride, we retreated to our campsite in Wimberley, where we recovered from a day of hard work with water, wine, and food cooked over (and sometimes in) an open flame. On Sunday, after a quick splash in Jacob’s Well, we begrudgingly packed up camp and headed further west towards Blanco, where we toured the Real Ale Brewing Company. We ended our trip on a mammalian note, stopping at Pure Luck Texas goat farm for fresh goat cheese (alas, it was an anticlimactic finale – the cheese was not for sale, but there were plenty of pure goat kisses to pass around).
www.flickr.com
|
Latest Comments