Cyclists: Beware open car doors - not for the reasons you'd expect

I can't restrain myself from describing this one - though I warn you, it's not a pleasant story.


Karmacycle was doing a bit of nipping and weaving through stationary traffic on the Pentonville Road, up at Islington, heading West.

A few yards ahead, I saw a van door being opened, and then left wide. My immediate thought:

"Arg, idiot for opening his door with bikes coming." Then ...

"Oh well, perhaps he's overheating as it's a hot day."

Then I was forcefully made aware of the real reason he'd opened it.

I'm sorry to have to say this, but a vast stream of vomit came issuing forth from the open door, all over the road.

By happy good fortune, there was enough room on the other side of the road for me to skirt around the action, but it was way too close for comfort.

I don't like relating such stories, delicate readers, except I suppose that it may act as a warning to be even more careful of "opening door syndrome" than you might expect.

I don't think this is common, is it? I hope not. Anything similar happened to you?

The mother of all punctures - on my London bike commute

Can you see the screw sticking right into my tyre, like someone hammered it in? Well, I got that just as I was cycling along the bike lane off Tavistock Square. Clang clang clang, thought something had got caught in my wheel. One very long screw.  Here it is again.

I wrestled with the puncture for half an hour, putting patches on the inner tube, but failed as it had been shredded. I wanted to change the inner tube but didn't have a spanner which would have loosened the wheel. So, KarmaCycle, would you believe it, admitted defeat and got in a taxi with LCM (London Commuting Machine i.e. my bike) and headed home, tail between my legs. On the plus side, I had a super-nice taxi driver and together we sorted out London's transport problems. Here's another rather blurry view after I'd pulled the screw out a bit:

Has anyone else had a punture like that, where the screw/nail just plunges straight in? Was it left in the bike lane sticking up? Did it fall at a freak angle poking upwards? Did someone come and hammer it in while I was stopped at the lights for a second? I need a forensic puncturologist.

An example of poor indicating

I feel like a bit of a grumpy old man since I've been using my helmet cam - perhaps I should stop it. Anyway - I can't help showing you this van. It wasn't really that dangerous but it shows how important it is to indicate. I had no clue what he was doing or when and he kind of drifted into the middle of the road. It's on that really fast bit of road going down Theobold's Road towards Farringdon Road in London EC1.

New canal-side cafe opens ... will it be used?

Very excited to see a new cafe on the Regent's Canal between Victoria Park and Islington. It seemed to be called "The Towpath". I'm guessing you buy a coffee or croissant and then ... cycle off? Or maybe stop for a few minutes. Perhaps not great if you're commuting, but you could see that if you're taking a leisurely stroll or cycle, it could be very nice.

Needless to say, I took some video as I went past.



Has anyone else spotted this, or indeed used it?

Never, ever take the tube ...

I made a vow to myself yesterday. "I'll never take the tube again." I needed to go by tube for complex reasons, and found myself trying to get on to the Central Line. I waited for train after train after train, all packed. I could feel the stress taking over my body. I found myself muttering out loud. I wanted to scream with frustration. Other people waiting by other doors seemed to be getting on far quicker than me. Mine was the worst place to wait on the whole platform. Is this just what everyone goes through every day? How could anyone not cyle???

Needless to say, because of odd timings and work committments, I had to take the tube again today, so I broke that vow (not good for Lent, I know).

But I'm longing to be back on the bike tomorrow.

What's the point in a Pusha ... bike?

I was intrigued to see a small group of people in Victoria Park, East London, walking along next to a shiny new looking white bike. There was a woman on the bike, kind of riding it, but making very heavy weather of it. When I looked at the bike more closely (well, it didn't need to be that close, to be honest, as it was pretty obvious) I saw that the bike had no pedals. Just a sort of running board, like a scooter, or on the side of those wonderful old cars. This particular lady was having a lot of trouble making the bike go. I think the principle is that you sort of scoot using your feet on the ground, then glide along.

The big question is ... why? I wouldn't have thought you could pick up any speed, and wouldn't it be irritating to have to keep running along the ground? I'd be interested to know if anyone's tried one, or could throw some light on what advantage they could have over a "normal" bike. The company, Pusha, do have a website though I found it slightly imprenetrable and it froze after a few clicks.

Felt a bit blocked ... now free???

I have been cycling quite a lot and had a lovely ride in this morning. Cold, fresh, very little traffic on the streets - something to do with half term. But I have been a bit reluctant to write. I've realised that it's because I've put a few people on the email distribution list for this blog - and I now see that I've been worried about clogging up people's email with my ramblings. So from now on I'm only going to email updates on this blog to people who ask - not to anyone I think may be interested.

It also allows me to bang on as usual and feel that I'm not causing inconvenience on email - and if people don't like the blog, they at least have the chance of leaving.

I've been trying out my new "helmet cam" - it takes good video. My next challenge is to take out clips rather than put 3.1 gigs on the blog (!) and bore you senseless with the whole journey. So - look out for clips.

The thingameebob has a name

My brilliant brother-in-law took a quick look at my bike last night. I showed him the thingameebob. He fiddled with it for a few seconds. He pulled a bit off and confirmed it was broken. "What's it called?" I asked. "A spring", he answered.  Ah - so there is a technical name.

The annoying thing, of course, is that it's not a simple repair job so I can see myself going to the shop. Which means at least one more day without the trusty steed. Bother. Bother. Bother.

I tried to take a picture of the offending bit but it didn't come out well. Here's one from the net which I think shows it. It's essentially the spring which keeps the pads from being forced on to your wheel all the time:

and here's the blurry broken bit from mine:

I suspect you may now have heard enough about springs to satisfy you for the day.  KC

The thingameebob got my day off to a bad start

Do you ever get this? You're cycling and it feels like you're going through treacle? So hard to peddle ... well it was like that last night. I did manage to limp home, thinking it was probably just me being a bit unfit or something. But when I wheeled it through the house to the shed, I saw and felt that it really was sticking - the front brake pad was stuck against the wheel. This morning I thought I'd twist a couple of screws to restore it - but then I realised the thingameebob seemed to be loose and the bit of wire which holds the pad away from the wheel could not be tightened.

Realising I would not be able to attempt the repair, I did a hasty change into my "work" clothes which I'd carefully folded up into the paniers and took the miserable Central Line. Somehow when you're all geared it, it's really frustrating when you can't cycle.

I'm going to ask my very kind and knowledgeable brother in law tonight what the thingameebob actually is and what it's real name is. An update later.

PS Sorry Nat - no picture of Penguin effect as I didn't get to wear my funny leg things today.

How to waterproof your feet

Has anyone noticed? It's raining quite a lot today (in London, UK, that is. And probably elsewhere too). That fine, sneaky rain designed specifically to get into your clothing and make you feel wet and clammy. There's enough of it to leave puddles. I'm now going to (imagine some kind of online roll of drums before a magic trick) going to show you a picture of my cycling shoes, taken AFTER I got into work, having braved puddles, horrid drizzle and general wet conditions:

The sharp eyed among you will have noticed:

1. 
   
   My boots are horrid and old
   
2. I have luminous laces which are, frankly, a bit grubby
   
3. 
   
   They are ... dry!
   
   
   

Until today, these boots would have been soaking and nasty. But I used my Christmas present for the first time in anger today. A pair of ... waterproof shoe covers. There's probably a more technical name. Gaitors perhaps. Or salipettes (?) - no. Anyway, needless to say they're from Mountain Equipment Co-Op and they fit nicely around your shoes. And they kept my boots and feet bone dry. Wow!

Many of you will be going "Ah come on man, we've been using these for years - get with it!" ... but I haven't seen many people using them out there on the streets, and I'm now a convert.

You do somehow look a bit of a git, almost at least half like a penguin - but they do the trick. Here's to a whole new era of dry feet.

KC

A minor landmark for Karmacycle

Just a note of thanks to users of this blog - my page impression counter tells me I've reached the giddy heights of 2000 since I put it in.  A drop in the ocean for a lot of websites, but I feel quite chuffed.

The downside is that most people who come to the site leave pretty much straight away (!) so perhaps I'm not doing everything right. Anyhow, I'll keep trying to spread good cycling karma around the streets of London (and anywhere else in the world you may be reading this) and perhaps in a few weeks I'll be celebrating ... well, 3000 ... thank you.

Is it time for a change in EU law ... in order to dry cycling clothes?

I never could have predicted that this morning, not only was I talking to a total stranger on one of London's busiest roads, but I uttered the highly unlikely phrase:  

"Of course every workplace should be required by law to have an airing cupboard"

We were discussing the rather sudden onset of rain this morning (yup, it's a popular topic here in London, for fairly obvious reasons) and my fellow cyclist stated that that was the only thing that put him off cycling sometimes - having to get back into wet clothes when he left work at 6 in the evening. After a bit of a moan, we agreed that airing cupboards were clearly the way forward. I think this would be a tricky piece of legislation to pull off (any lawyers out there specialising in EU directives and legislation?) but perhaps if there's a groundswell of opinion, starting on the KarmaCycle blog, we could change the world. Or at least change our clothes. Into something dry. Here's a picture of a nice airing cupboard which is practically saying "please put your damp stinky cycling clothes inside me". Though it could do with some hooks. 

Sadly I haven't been mentioning this blog to all the lovely cyclists I meet on the roads. I'm thinking I should get a jacket with KarmaCycle written on the back. And a nice logo.

Sorry, my fonts have gone a bit crazy this morning - big, small, big - it's making me feel like Alice in Wonderland ...

Cycling ... and the art of forgetting

Have you ever done this? You're maybe about a third of your way along your commute. You stop at a set of lights. You reach down instinctively to take a pull on your water bottle. Shock. Horror. The water bottle's not there. Then suddenly a very clear flash enters your brain - you can picture it exactly - it's on the chest of drawers just by the kitchen where you left it so you'd remember it to put onto your bike before you left this morning.

The water bottle is something of a comfort blanket and gives me something to do when I'm at a long set of lights. Oh, and you need water to survive, of course.

Then I started thinking - what else have I forgotten in the past? Well, pretty much everything. I've certainly forgotten my helmet. (And usually cycled back home to get it). I'm someone who gets changed at work - and, without going into sordid details, have, on different occasions, forgotten: a sock, socks, underpants, trousers ... and all my clothes. I've left my lunch in the fridge at home, and on the kitchen counter. I've never forgotten my bike - that would be silly. A bit Pythonesque in fact.

My suspicion is that on any given day there are hundreds of lunch boxes and sandwich packs languishing in home fridges all over London which should be at work. There are hundreds of members of our great city's workforce without underwear, or at least a sock, or tights. Have a look around. Is that person really wearing cycling shoes instead of work ones?

Give them a break. It's not easy being completely organised day in day out. I always think getting ready for a day's commuting on the bike is like packing for a weekend away.

Can a grown man suddenly sprout two inches ... or is there something wrong with my bike seat?

I've recently been having a little nag in the back of my head which has been telling me that my bike seat's too low. But this can't be as I haven't touched it for years. And as far as I know, I've passed the legal age of growing. But there it is again - a feeling of the old knees sticking up too much, of my weight being too damn ... low.

So, at a pit-stop to buy a new gear cable (mine keep snapping with monotonous regularity), I took the opportunity to raise the seat by a couple of inches and ... what an amazing difference! I felt preposterously high above the cars (purely psychological, of course) and ludicrously distant from the road. I worried about whether my feet would actually reach to the ground when I stopped, but mercifully I was still in contact. But good grief - the extra cycling power! I suddenly felt like I could go like the wind - admittedly not that sensible while negotiating the T-Junction which takes you into Marylebone High Street. It must be said though that it's not all joys - I also felt much more knackered more quickly.

But my suspicion is that by raising your seat a tiny bit, you could make a substantial impact on speed and efficiency.

Karma rating: ****

By the way - just found a good post on bike seat height at Bike Radar - and it confirms the idea that a too-low saddle can have a serious impact on energy efficiency. So there you go.

This KarmaCycle blog does have positive effects, I've found out ...

To my joy and surprise I discovered not only that the occasional person does read this blog (ooooh) but also they actually act on it. Steady now my friend. On Saturday night I bumped into a friend in what's often rather laughably known as "Victoria Park Village"* - basically it's the roundabout area just north of Victoria Park - we talked for a few seconds only, but then he said the magic words:

"I was reading your blog about the "incident" on the canal and when I biked on it this morning I was extra careful and extra polite".

Wow - a testament to the power of new media? Living proof that the brand known as KarmaCycle has finally made it mainstream? errr... more like a mate who I'd sent the link to had actually bothered to click it, but nonetheless, a first for me, and it gives me extra impetus to continue. ("For heaven's sake", I hear you cry, "don't give KarmaCycle any more impetus - he'll only go and write some more nonsense"... etc etc)

* Whoops, sorry, I've just found a link to Victoria Park Village dot com and found out that in fact the area is not only "delightful" but "a true East End London village". Actually to be fair, the first is certainly true.

Hoisted by my own Karma ... I'm now at the confessional

Pride comes before a fall, as they say. In my case, as you may be able to detect from this blog, I was just beginning to get a little bit preachy and smug about being a considerate cyclist. In my mind, I was giving myself a nice pat on the back for being better behaved on the roads than most. Then this morning, an incident which has set back my build-up of good karma several ... months perhaps.

Picture the scene: Mr KarmaCycle is cruising along the Regent's Canal going West, minding his own business. He's approaching a tunnel and spots a fellow cyclist waiting by the entrance. I slow down ready to wait too. But then I notice another cyclist nip in through the tunnel, ignoring the waiting person. The waiting person is showing no signs of moving, so my brain tells me that she must have stopped for some other reason and think she is on the phone or something. So I too nip in front of her, only to see that sure enough there are pedestrians coming through, including a child in a push-chair, and of course I stop to let them through. But quite rightly I am soundly berated by the waiting cyclist who is now behind me and the father who is pushing the push-chair - didn't I see she was waiting etc etc. I mutter my excuses, explaining that I thought she was on the phone, and of course she thinks it's the most ludicrous thing she's ever heard. I go on, feeling rotten and stupid and dwell on the incident for the rest of the journey.

Luckily I did recognise the dad concerned so will be able to offer an apology and explanation when I next see him. But if you, polite waiting female cyclist who goes West down the Regent's Canal at approx 8.45am near Victoria Park happen to read this: a big apology from me for an error of judgement.

New discoveries going East along the Regent's Canal

My last blog post turns out to be a bit erroneous - in fact yesterday (Sunday) was the nicest cycling day of the year. My eldest has suddenly become a huge cycling fan (nothing to do with me guv, honest) and we celebrated by taking the bikes East - from the easterly tip of Victoria Park, through the Hackney Marshes and beyond. We got pleasantly lost around the Lea Valley river/canal area but stopped for a picnic in Springfield Park which in itself turned out to be a bit of a revelation. With the sun shining, exploring a new part of London we fancied ourselves to be in a different country altogether - the outlandish graffitti art merely adding to the effect. This was the kind of day which cycling was invented for.

Karma rating: *****

Particularly liked this croc, just opposite the site of the main new Olympic stadium ...

Is this the nicest day for cycling so far this year? KarmaCycle says yes!

What a beautiful day in London! My journey along the Regent's Canal was lovely. I was enjoying it so much I forgot to take a picture til I'd come off the canal. It's one of those rare days which are not too hot, not too cold, almost no wind ... and somehow not too crowded.

Karma levels soared on the streets of London, and let's hope they'll stay high tonight!

Here's my picture from Wood Lane bridge taken looking East down the canal. The boat you can see in the canal is a strange tin thing - with the moniker Tin Tin - each "Tin" on one side of the bow. I guess it's a good case of something being what it says on the tin. Sorry, couldn't resist.

The perfect KarmaCyle breakfast for a London bike commuter?

I think I had it this morning. Porridge, a chopped up banana, liberal sloshings of maple syrup and a pour of double cream. It's the first time in ages I've arrived at work not longing for something big and sweet to eat!