Cycling tip du jour, Thursday. Surprise a pedestrian.

I tried this on my way into work this morning:

Ride towards zebra/pedestrian crossing. Spot pedestrian loitering, showing some intent to cross.

Come to gradual halt before you reach the crossing. Nod, even smile encouragingly at pedestrian to let them know you have actually stopped for them, and they can actually cross.

They get to other side of road.

This actually becomes rewarding as the pedestrian is first astonished, then normally thankful, and more often than not, you get a nice smile.

Don't go overboard though. The pedestrian does not want to be hugged or kissed.

Cycling tip du jour: using your bike as a washing line

In this kind of weather, you can get soaked pretty quickly. So what should do with wet clothes?

Easy. Hang them up all over your bike. You'd be amazed by how many hooks there are on your bike - handle bars, back rack, main frame, even pedals. By the end of the day, assuming your bike is actually in doors somewhere (e.g. at work) you should have much drier clothes.

Tip - make sure you have other clothes to change into. I'm not recommending running around naked at work. Though I must confess I haven't tried it ...

Save the Hackney rabbit!

I often cycle past this, and it invariably cheers me up. The Hackney Road is generally a horrid road to cycle along, and this kind of art helps make it feel a lot nicer. It's also by quite a well known artist, ROA. Some more examples of his excellent work can be found here. (also at the Londonist site). We now hear the council want to whitewash it. I've signed a petition via the Londonist website to spare the wabbit. You may want to too.

Cycling tip du jour - fixing a nut underneath your mudguard

The nuts and bolts holding on my mudguards seem to fall off like leaves from an autumn tree. It's got more common since I've been pumping up my tyres harder - and I rattle around like a marble in a tumble drier. I was baffled as to how on earth I could insert and tighten a missing screw right above my rear wheel - without taking off the whole wheel.

Source: the local data company

The lovely guys at Cavendish Cycles (134-136 New Cavendish Street) showed me how:

1. Place bike on bike stand, or turn upside down. 
2. Let out air from tyre. 
3. Insert screw and nut and tighten using longish allen key or equivalent as there's now room to get at it.
4. Re-inflate tyre. Ride off, feeling happy.

They also play 6Music in the shop, for which they should immediately get a gold medal for services to cyclists.

Curious fact: I can't actually find a website for Cavendish cycles. Perhaps they don't have one?

I found the end of the rainbow and it's in ... London's Hampstead Heath

Taken yesterday on the Heath:  



By the way, I'm still looking for the gold



Don't go in the bike lane. Bring the bike lane with you.

This is such an interesting idea - almost certainly completely impractical, but what do you think?

The bike lane that travels with you. Source

Thanks to @nextbikerider for pointing this one out.

Wanted to show you cute Halloween kitten too but clearly my internal editing system has decided that it's not relevant to the blog and should not be uploaded!

Does your bike feel like it's flagging? Time to give it some air.

My previous post was all about speed. I have a little update. I changed my front tyre last night as I happened to have a spare Schwalbe Marathon in my shed (long story). I finally checked what the make was of my existing tyres, and it turns out they're called Maxxis Detonators - or, as I now know them, pin cushions. They seem to absorb glass and nails as methodically and surely as a sponge soaks up water. The website does call them "training" tyres - does that mean they're not for actual racing or indeed road use of any kind? Anyway, off one of them came, and off the other one will come as soon as I can get another Schwalbe.

Pump it baby

But that's not what I want to talk about. Because at the same time I pumped up my tyres to very close to the limit recommended. I set off with a bit of trepidation this morning. It was definitely a "harder" ride and my rack and paniers were shaking and rattling like never before. But ... my whole ride was transformed! It was like moving from a scooter to a motorbike, or sludge to crisp snow. It felt like I was going about twice the speed with so much less difficulty. I realised that I'd spent the last two or three weeks with a nasty feeling of going through treacle.

Pumped up in the sun

So the moral - should you need it - is that it's worth investing in a really meaty pump and filling up those thar tyres!

With the sun shining, the canal looking lovely, and much more wind in my hair (well, helmet anyway) it was one of the most delightful rides of the year.