Reports from our correspondent somewhere north of Hatfield

Cycling in a foreign land; Ian Prince is locked down in North Yorkshire and sent us these reports

More news from the North...

Motorway signs in Yorkshire declaring “long queues at border crossing”. Strange, hadn’t heard Yorkshire had declared UDI, even if it it should. Are they referring to Scotland or Dover? Both about 200 miles away? Maybe they mean Wales, only 100 miles distant. Pretty pointless messages nevertheless even for cars and lorries. 

Incidentally how many people know that part of Hastings in E Sussex did similar to that in the past, declaring themselves the 24th state of America. So it is possible to cycle all the way to America by land without crossing the sea! So much more eco friendly than flying. Zero emissions - David Attenborough would be pleased.😃

https://www.visit1066country.com/destinations/hastings/the-america-ground

Well no ice in the North here today apart from the one I was riding (Inspired Cycle Engineering -ICE-  in case anyone asks about the Cornish company who produce these recumbent / laid back trikes). 

Just poorly maintained roads from councils who haven't got a clue about dangerous roads for cyclists. 

Anyway, New Day, New Year. 

Traditionally up north, Audax used to run what was the first event of the year...... “Goodbye Christmas Pud” 100k ride from Yorkshire to Nottinghamshire and over into Lincolnshire on the first weekend or so of the new year. Well Audax have been more disappointing than CTC during 2020 as far as rides are concerned. At least CTC stuck with guidelines but kept going. But one of the joys of cycling is it can be both a solo as well as a group activity. So like the rest of the country, NYE was a quiet one at home, but the opportunity to go out on New Years Day whilst the roads were quiet and get a few exercise miles in for 2021 was too tempting. 

No snow, no rain, no wind, not too cold but why would any of those bother seasoned cyclists anyway, who plan ahead?

Headed out not sure how far to go today, just let the road unfurl in front and see how it felt. Not tiring, well wrapped up and just the odd cheery wave from people walking for exercise too. As usual the trike performed faultlessly. Not many cyclists out though - where are all those bikes bought in lockdown one? No Christmas presents? Probably the thought that virtual cycling on a computer is good for health and well being!

As the light started to fade with my lights blazing and 19.73 miles later,  it was a good first day. 

Who knows if I may do the Goodbye Christmas Pud route I know so well, in the next week or two......we shall see. 

More tales from the North in due course. 

Best for 2021,

Warm Regards

Ian

So we are all equally locked down together nationally and the weather has been cold and icy. Ironically work levels are good, so less time out on the bike/trike in the week than in lockdown “one” in 2020, but cant complain. 

Forced myself therefore to get out on the ICE Trike today.....well we all need the exercise and I want to build back to longer days and tours out as we go through the year. 

Blacko Hill Farm in the distance.

For those still unfamiliar with what an ICE Trike actually is (sorry if I am teaching folk to suck eggs), here is a quick capture today out in the late afternoon. (No selfies of me, though - I dont take a good picture). 

ICE Trike taking a rest. 

A very leisurely ride and it was  not until I had been out for two hours did I recognise my feet in overshoes were somewhat frozen. (The snow and icy has dissipated and apart from first thing in the morning, it is relatively pleasant but with temperatures around zero degrees C). 

So a twenty one mile round trip into parts of Yorkshire and back home. The ICE, with its four front and two rear lights, performing as any cycle should without any grief or problems. (Even installed a cheap rear facing video camera received at Christmas to see how other road users treat the trike. (Very good today)). Notched up 600 miles now on the ICE! 

No tea, cafe or pub stops today although I was tempted to investigate a ‘take away’ pizza ‘cafe’ operating from a mobile trailer near a hotel. Enterprising indeed.

Where do you meet when Covid cases are surging?

 Having lost a friend to Covid on Christmas Eve and with Covid infection rates between 1in 20 and 1in 40 in London Boroughs I wanted to choose a meeting place away from any gathering of people. Until today Ken and I had met at the cafe in Beddington Park but that is next to the children's playground,  the car park and the queue for coffee. So we chose the unlikely spot of the corner opposite the entrance to the park,  double red lines preventing any cars stopping and pedestrians hopefully moving quickly to the park.

It was a beautiful sunny day but bitterly cold. Double gloves just keeping fingers from frostbite! We didn't hang about, very brief pleasantries and we cycled through Wallington to cross Stafford Road and make our way to Farthing Down. En route we were flagged down by Ray, well wrapped up in his Christmas scarf and waving some paperwork frantically at us. A petition to remove the cycle lane on Foresters Drive had been put through his door with instructions to sign it!!!!! Well that won't be happening and more about that in another  blog.

A surprising number of cars were on the road, given they had to be on essential journeys!! 

I'd told Ken I was going to stop at the top of Farthing Down to take  photos of the city as it was such a beautiful day. But no, the city was shrouded in freezing fog and not to be seen. So we cycled on to Chaldon church and witnessed the odd phenomenon of rain apparently pouring off a yew tree. We stood in the sunshine and dry a few feet away - the snow must have been melting.

                                                     

                                                       Ken and the raining tree!

Then back  to DD's in Coulsdon for tea where we happened to meet Paul who had cycled over Netherne and was chaining his bike to the fence.  A quick hot drink in the cold  and Ken and I left Paul to his own route while we cycled back uneventfully but getting colder all the time to Wallington. 

Thanks Ken for coming out today and stopping me turning for home when I realised how cold it was!

Sue finds time to share her thoughts

 

Happy New Year everyone. Well, let’s hope this lock down works. I’m having my Covid vaccine on Sunday.

I know I’m very lucky to still have a job during these crazy times, but do feel very resentful when I hear people complaining they are bored at home. Most earn a lot more than I do, but still aren’t happy. I have to go to work every day and don’t have enough time to do everything I should be doing at home- why you ask, because I go out walking and cycling on my day’s off!

I don’t do all the interesting rides like a lot of you do; but have really enjoyed following the swan families in Bushey, Home and Richmond Parks. I certainly know more about them than I did before lock-down.

Some people have tried to say I have spent too much time out on my bike, but that still didn’t stop me. My Strava figures have come through and they say I have done a total of 4,300 miles and I think 3,785 miles was cycling the rest walking, so very pleased with that.

The photos are a mixture from the past few walks and rides.

 

     Stay safe and well.

        Sue

2020 Photo Competition - an invitation to take part

Though we have had a very strange year we know that it hasn't been at all bad for all the photographers in the club so we'd love to see your best photos.

Please submit your photos before the end of January using this method:

Visit this website: "2020 Competition Dropbox" and follow the instructions to choose and deliver your photos.

N.B. When using this website to post photos to the Dropbox it is not necessary to sign up to, or log into Dropbox even if you are invited to do so.
 
Once you have selected one or several photos fill in your name and email address then click 'Upload'.

Send an email to me, Tim, to provide this important information about each photo:

•       the photo filename (e.g. P1040276.jpg)
•       a caption which we will inscribe on your photo
•       the competition category (see below)
  

The rules and categories are simple. The full 'Competition Rules' document is available under the 'Information Hub' heading on our website.

Competition Period: Photos taken during the 2020 calendar year.

Your photos must all illustrate a connection to cycling by depicting a bicycle or cyclist for example, or some obvious cycling association.

You may submit two photos in each category:

        6.1. Male      one or more male cyclists
        6.2. Female    one or more female cyclists
        6.3. Action    cyclist(s) in action
        6.4. Scenery   scenery or landscape
        6.5. Building  buildings, architecture
        6.6. Humorous  funny or amusing
        6.7. Group     any mix of male and female cyclists

Note that the award for a winning photograph in each category will be given to the photographer who took the picture, not to the model(s).

This method for submitting photos should work with any device (PC, Apple, iPad, iPhone, Tablet or Android phone) but if it doesn't work for you, please let me know so that we can address the problem. It does depend on you being able to locate the folder where you store your photos. It does not require you to install the DropBox app.

This is the best way of sending photos. Please note that some methods of transmitting photos, such as WhatsApp, shrink the photo before sending, diminishing the quality of the original photo as it is in your camera or phone.

Now I can sit back and await the cheerful tinkling sound your photos make when they land in my DropBox.

~ Tim

 

 

How far did you ride in 2020?

Annual Mileages 2020

This is a request to submit your mileage totals for the last twelve months (1st Jan. 2020 to 31st Dec. 2020) for consideration towards the annual awards for the greatest distances cycled. Jeff Tollerman has very kindly handed over the keys to the Big Spreadsheet where for the last twenty years the precious records of your accomplishments in the club have been maturing, at approximately the same rate as ourselves.

There are two shiny trophies, one for the woman who has cycled more miles than any other woman and one for the man for the highest mileage amongst the men. At this point in our social evolution having two separate prizes for persons of each gender might be starting to sound a little quaint. But that is our tradition and while the prize money attached to these two awards remains identical for both winners nothing is likely to change.

To summarise the rules, your miles must have been clocked up whilst riding your bicycle, tricycle, tandem or eBike on or off road. Mileages achieved on turbo trainers, Watt bikes or any other static contraption don't count. We know that this is something of a blow to members who have been keeping indoors, out of harm's way during the pandemic, riding through virtual alpine landscapes with Zwift or Rouvy but for now we are only considering miles actually, rather than virtually, travelled.

For the competition, contenders for the prizes must be regular riders in the club though we are happy to collect mileage data for everyone who is a paid up member of CTC South West London. And we wish to continue recording mileages for our several members who ride eBikes.

One of the joys of club life during 2020 has been the number of new people joining our rides. If you are curious at all about how many miles you ride in the course of a year please start recording your distances for 2021 in a diary or spreadsheet.

Just one word or warning; several riders who use smartphones running apps like Strava or RideWithGPS have experienced rides when their phones stop communicating with the satellites, sometimes for quite a while, and this can lead to totally unreliable data. So please verify the accuracy of your data. The evidence of this known problem is a long straight bee-line between two points on your ride where you know the road really had many twists and turns. (In my opinion this is not a problem which is specific to Strava or other phone app but is to do with the phone and its own software, memory resources perhaps.)

Please write to me with your total mileage:

Tim Court (Apprentice bean counter)

We sincerely hope that we might be able to present these prizes in our traditional awards ceremony at our Annual Lunch which happens in early March. But it is far from clear that this will be possible. In the meantime keep clocking up the miles.

A very Happy New Year to you all

Tim

Secretary, CTC South West London

 

 

Tales of strange machines from up north

A report from Ian Prince on 19 December, riding a low level ICE tricycle in Sheffield

Having escaped London for work prior to lockdown, I thought I had still better carry on riding as I miss the Saturday rides. 

So now being up north, it is entirely appropriate that I entitle this “ICE in the North”.

The racing Brompton certainly gets the hammer whilst in London as it has done since I upgraded to it a decade ago from my more utility Brompton. However, despite it being fine for everything, I use my other bikes (rule of n+1) when elsewhere. 

Having gone ‘laid back’ this summer properly for the first time (years of envy dissipated instantly) I gently set up all the lights on the ICE trike for a short late afternoon ride into town today. Probably a similar distance to CTC SW London beginners Saturday rides. 

‘Riders eye view’

Whilst it is entirely different to riding a diamond frame bike or even a Brompton, I love the stability and when I do eventually venture out on an icy morning, I have no fear of being tipped off or slipping off on black ice. I even have in reserve for such days a studded 700c rear tyre to maintain traction. 

So....a mere 7.75 miles later in the pitch black tonight, but with four front and two rear lights, the experience was good, dare I say relaxing! Artificial daylight and the picture above was with only 50% of the lights on and at low beam too. 

Whilst my longest ride on it in the summer months was over eighty miles, I am getting into the swing of this style of cycling, even increasing speeds as it becomes the “new normal”. I have sights set on the Peak District Winnats Pass and Yorkshire Moors Sutton Bank next year, but we shall see. 

Its a long ride for it to visit Surrey although I have done that before over a number of days on the road bike in the past. Car assisted is not really feasible due to its length though so it may not be appearing on the beginners rides any time soon. (Plus getting through gates and barriers is not really practical with a tricycle 2.2m long). 

And the question everybody asks about feeling vulnerable low down....well yes it was a concern having tried out a variety of recumbents over the years, but its not until you pass 500 miles or so does it become “automatic” to ride this way. It is strange how motorists do seem to give a wider berth and be more patient than when stuck behind a bike. I think we need a psychologist to carry out a doctorial study as to why. (CTC should perhaps find some funding to pursue such matters?)

Hopefully I will get some more solo miles in over the Christmas and New Year break....more stories and pictures in the offing perhaps for the blog? 

............and a follow-up report on Christmas Eve

Cycled to work today on the ICE trike. 

Cardboard cutout of Rishi Sunak in reception suitably seasonally decorated along with Covid 19 hand sanitation point in the background, and Xmas tree sum up the year. 

Luckily here, we were announced as remaining in tier 3 today, so less onerous than London & SE but still can do daily exercise and travel to work where homeworking not possible. 

Actually no one else in the business centre today, so Covid risk less than in Morrisons or Sainsburys! 

Cant leave the ICE trike outside though, far too tempting at Christmas (or anytime) for those who know what it is! 

the Chancellor considers Road Taxing alien vehicles

All best for Christmas and New Year. Hope you can manage to get awheel “for exercise“ over the seasonal period. 

Little did we know.....Sutton pod from Beddington Park, 19 December

Meeting Dave the other week on Clapham Common showed me how reachable that common is from Sutton or Beddington for a Saturday ride.  As it has never been on the regular itinerary, I devised, and offered the Sutton Six, a ride there with which to sign off the Christmas break with something different; out along the Northern Line, back along the Thameslink Sutton Common loop.

We prefer to finish rides in the daylight, or near-daylight, so I agreed with Colin that as we already had a full group of six signed up, we would leave the Park before the traditional time.  We decided upon taking sandwiches and a midday departure.

The weatherman had lied again, and the cold rain which his computer model predicted the previous evening would be long gone to the east, was with us right until we left home; most of the ride was in changeable weather.

Ray had had difficulty keeping up before he peeled off to ride to work at the North Pole.  Still, the long ride was good for 'is elf. 

The Wandle Path and Morden Hall Park were slippery with leaves and sticky with mud and I realised that the slightly more ambitious Plan A, which would bring us home through Putney Heath and Wimbledon Common was best abandoned.  We got to Phipps Bridge tram stop before we had to stop being nonchalant about the increasing drizzle and threatening sky and don our waterproofs but in traditional style the rain stopped as soon as we did so.  At Merton Abbey Mills we left the Wandle Trail and used the Cycle Superhighway up the A24 to Clapham Common, where we bought tea and sat on a park bench pretending we were warm and eating our sandwiches.

It's a straight run from the Clapham Common bandstand via Broomwood Road to Wandsworth Common, which has an unhealthy ratio of non-cycling paths but which we crossed legitimately.  Trinity Road proved a mite more difficult to cross until a cycle friendly van driver let us in, and we used the Magdalene Road, Ravensbury Road and Revelstoke Road route to Wimbledon Park.

Home Park Road was steeper than usual but the gradients were in our favour from there to Lower Morden, where the skies began to darken and not entirely because of the impending winter evening.  The dousing began on the way up to St Helier and by the time we got past the hospital into Carshalton the roads were merely tarmac rivers and ponds but it does not matter too much if the last few miles are wet and one has a warm shower and an immediate change of clothes.

We had said our goodbyes at the top of Rose Hill, turning our attentions to our plans for families at Christmas and talking cheerily of our next ride, which would be in the New Year.  Little did we know (though there had been hints in the morning news) that within an hour our Christmases and our rides would be scuppered and that our pleasant, if wintry, Saturday afternoon might be the last time we rode in the group for a while.