A very strange digital and real life biking coincidence ....

There are few things more tedious than someone boring you about an amazing coincidence. Bumped into your boss in the Amazon rain forest etc etc. But I'll just test you out on this one to see what you think, then you can ignore me.

I have a friend. Let's call him Ed. Because that's his name. I haven't talked to him for about 12 years. I know he's a cyclist though as I did see him in the distance about 3 years ago, in London.  Two days ago, via another friend, I spotted his name on Linked In. I asked to be in contact and said "hope we can talk - perhaps we'll see each other on our bikes".

Well, you guessed it. This morning, in Notting Hill Gate (why does everything happen in NHG?), who should I see coming towards me, on his bike, but ... Ed. And we stopped, and we chatted, and we remarked on the coincidence.

That's one of the reasons I love biking. The people you see and meet. And I think that's a pretty decent coincidence.  You got any biking coincidences up your collective lycra sleeves?

Quietly coming back to life

I'm just really sneaking in a post to keep my blog from getting the digital equivalent of cobwebs and to let you know that karmacycle is still alive and well, cycling through London. As ever, I've been tweeting more than blogging but it is nice to come "home" to the blog every now and then.

Like thousands of Londoners at this very moment, I'm hoping my bike clothes might just dry out before tonight, after a nearly biblical soaking this morning. If you're in the mood, and know you have the means to get dry later, riding in the rain is one of life's great pleasures. You feel a bit like you're at the helm of a fast ocean-going vessel in the driving force 9 gale, sea lashing at your face.

All I need is a sou'wester to complete the picture.

A bientot, mes braves.

Cycling tip du jour, Wednesday: Never trust people to give-way

This means: give way to traffic
on major road. A full guide can be
found on the Highway Code
website

Had a nasty little scare on the journey in this morning. I was cycling along George Street just West of Marylebone High Street. Manchester Street was coming up on my left, where there's a set of give-way markings - meaning, of course, that anything coming out of Manchester Street should give way or "cede" to those on George Street. Taking the sign at its word, I cycled past it.

But to my horror, a pretty enormous truck, clearly belting down Manchester Street, appeared on my left, and seemed not to be stopping. I started shouting and waving my hand, and he did actually come to a rest, but with the cab of his truck about 2-3 feet extended beyond the give-way sign. He did nearly hit me, and I'm still not clear whether he actually intended to stop, or just habitually stops beyond the dotted line.

Whatever happens, it led me to think that a good cyclist should not go close to the curb, and indeed should be aiming wherever possible to cycle in the middle of the road so if a car or truck doesn't stop properly, you've a fighting chance of being seen.

And the other thing I learned - just because there's a give-way marking, it doesn't mean they're going to stop. Assume the worst.

Cycling tip du jour, Tuesday. How to arrive at a set of traffic lights.

This is kind of light-hearted but I suspect there's more than a grain of truth in it.

First of all, ask yourself: are you a slow, medium or fast cyclist? Are you expecting to pull away from the lights quickly or slowly?

If you are in the medium or slow category, and there's a fellow cyclist ahead of you waiting at a light - and he or she looks like they might be quick - don't edge in front of them. They were there first and will be annoyed at having to get around you.

Now of course it's not a hard and fast rule, and you can't judge a book by its cover. Someone wearing lycra head to toe might still be slow. And what if you're medium and the other person looks medium too? Or both slow?

But anyway, it is worth thinking about. And there's a serious point too - if someone is having to pull around you, they may be in the path of a car coming from behind.

I would also add:

- don't try to sneak down beside a bus or lorry, especially if you don't know how soon the lights will change
- it's generally polite not to hover right in front of a motorbike, especially if there's room elsewhere for you

Beautiful London morning in autumn; cycling through leaves in Victoria Park

Nuff said?

What makes a cyclist go faster?

I had an odd experience on the canal a couple of days ago. (I know, this sounds like the beginning of a dodgy story possibly involving unsavoury characters, a heron, and a canoe). But read on, it's cycling related, I promise.

This is not the Regent's Canal! Source

OK, so in the very quiet bit just West of London Zoo, I see a long stretch of empty towpath. It's dry and I can go as fast or slow as I want. I decide to experiment with speed. (No, this is not, I tell you, a dingy tale of class A drugs and depravity). I'm on a hybrid Giant Zero, as regular readers will know. To you and me, that means it's a "normal" looking bike with straight handlebars. I think to myself - what if I kind of pretend I'm on a road bike/racer, and kind of squat down like they do on the Tour de France or this fellow in the picture going down a mountain?

A new feeling on the bike

It's interesting doing it because as soon as I lean forwards, I realise that I have to loosen up my shoulders, which I'd been holding very tight. I lean so my head is nearly on the handlebars, and all of a sudden it's a completely new feeling with my legs pushing in a different way. I look at the speedometer thingie, and see that I've suddenly increased my speed by about 4kph, and I still feel I've got more in me.

Position or wind resistance?

Clearly my bike's not designed for me to bike like that and I'm sure that if I kept it up for a long time it would get mighty uncomfortable. But then I start doing a bit research about speed. These seem to be the key ingredients for going faster:

What are the factors that make you faster or slower?

• Fitness and practice. Clearly you need these just to get started on faster biking
• Drag or resistance from tyres. This seems to be why some people swear by thinner tyres, pumped up to astonishing levels of pressure. It reduces the resistance on the road. But there seems to be some dispute about whether the actual width of the tyre really makes that much difference. The consensus from what I can tell is that pumping up your tyres high every day will make quite a difference
• Resistance created by rider. This is where my experiment seems to come in - if you're bent down, there's less body for the wind to push against. This is apparently called a "racing tuck".

Just like me, he's got his head right down. Similarity ends there. Source

• Weight of bike/rider. Again there's disputing how much of a factor this is, but clearly you're going to have to work harder to go faster if you're carrying around half a tonne of bricks in your panniers
• Gears, pedals, "rotor rings" and suchlike. There's quite a lot of anecdotal evidence that upgrading your pedals, getting a more efficient set of gears and changing to "rotor rings" (don't worry, I'd never heard of them before either) might improve your speed
• Wind drag on the bike itself. From what I can tell, the effect of this is pretty negligable
• The type of bike you have. Mountain, Road, Hybrid, reclining, other. Some cyclists claim that there's about a 15MPH difference between when they ride their MTB and when they ride their road bike!

Take it easy though

I guess it should also be said that you're not going to be going very fast in the city if:

1) you're battling against a headwind
2) you're in a monsoon-like downpour
3) you're weaving between several bendy buses on Oxford Street

But these seem like an interesting start in terms of speed, and I'd be interested to hear whether others have views ... when you do want to go fast, how should you do it?

Further reading and links:

- Good archive thread with quite a lot detail in bikeforums
- Good review of what rotor rings look like and are on Bike Radar
- Long but reasonably interesting video about aerodynamics etc on Wonderhowto site

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.

A few cycling updates for you to have a look at

I've been spending more time on Twitter than the blog recently so have not been as "regular" as I should - for which, apologies. I also thought it might be worth me putting in a few more links to things related to cycling, rather than just banging on about my own experiences in London. As ever, feedback welcome.

But first, Me

It's always me me me isn't it. Well, I can safely say that my "everlasting cold" is now over, since you ask - and I think I'm now getting back to match fitness. Not that I play any matches. But I feel energised again by biking, and more importantly I'm not keeping my wife awake at night with my hacking cough. Seems that the doctor's surprising prescription (see earlier post ) might have done the trick

The bike

Time to get those lights on the bike again, I'm afraid. After what felt like a supreme effort, I finally managed to:

1) find front and rear light
2) find the right battery for them both
3) re-fit rear light to bike despite it not really being compatible
4) avoid leaving lights flashing overnight in the shed (so far). I find this last one an unavoidable winter activity

For your entertainment

It's great to discover a new cycling blog - and I'm annoyed I haven't found this one before as I'm finding it hilarious. The blog is called The Lo Fidelity Bicycle Club  They've recently invented a whole Highway Code with items such as this:

213 Motorcyclists and cyclists may suddenly need to avoid uneven road surfaces and obstacles such as drain covers or oily, wet or icy patches on the road which the cycle lane runs through. Give them plenty of room and pay particular attention to any sudden change of direction they may have to make by sounding your horn, winding down your window and informing them that they should NOT be on the road (also see Rule 204).

 Anyway, it made me chortle.

Upright - better for your back?

Sit upright, not forwards:

Interesting article suggesting sitting upright on your bike is much better for your back. Can be found on Bike Biz here.

Cycle escorts not used during tube strike?

And here's some news reporting union claims that bike "escorts" sat idle during the recent London tube strike. I didn't actually know there were any, so I'd be interested if anyone out there can report anything different. The article is reported on PA


Safe biking to one and all. KC

Quick - get on that bike, there's a tube strike

With the tube strike due to hit London at 5pm today, surely now's as good a moment as any to dust off that bike you've been keeping at the back of the shed, check the tyres and brakes, and get going - perhaps tomorrow morning would be best.

There's a timely link on the cycle site road.cc advising anyone who hasn't ridden in London before to check the site cyclestreets.net to see a likely route. It rather cunningly lets you plug in your start and finish locations, then gives you three options - fast, medium and most quiet.

Slightly oddly, the Transport for London journey planner site also does a cycle route option. It's a bit fiddly and you have check and uncheck various options, but you do get a decent route at the end of it.

I've been trying the Sustrans site but I can't for the life of me get it to do a route "from" and "to" somewhere.

Anyway, if you are thinking of riding tonight or tomorrow and feel a bit nervous - good luck. Most of the time it's fun. Try not to get intimidated by cars and motorbikes, use common sense don't try to to be too "nippy" and fancy ... go gently, with the flow.

Doctor's orders - a cocktail of drugs, and get back on your bike

More attentive readers may have observed me banging on in my Twitter feed about how sick I am, how I'm now in my third week of having a cold and generally whingeing about not being on my bike.

You know how men are alleged never to visit the doctor? Well, that felt like a challenge to me, so I decided that I would buck current trends and go and see one, and at the very least have a good moan about my everlasting cold.

Drugs smorgasbord

I went to see the good doctor yesterday. He did some good work with his stethascope and quickly surmised that in spite of my fears, the infection had not spread to my chest. Relief. But was it OK to have a horrible cough and a miserably runny nose for weeks on end? Oh yes, a virus can be with you for weeks - nothing abnormal about that. So what can I do about it? Well, here was the surprising bit.

He said - don't do what a doctor says, but what he does. When he has a virus like that he takes:

- two paracetamol
- two ibuprofen
- one sudafed

Remember folks - I'm a blogger not a doctor!

all at the same time, every four hours! My God, I feel vaguely guilty about taking two paracetamol when I have a headache - God knows what this cocktail of drugs will do!

Wow. What about wine. Can I drink wine?

Oh yes - no problem there.

And (of most pertinence to this blog, of course) - should I be on my bike? And here was his best answer:

"Listen to your body". If it makes you feel tired and horrid, don't. If you feel good, go for it.

Result!

I came away from the surgery reeling a bit as I'd never have expected any of those things. I stocked up on the necessary drugs, went home, took some, drank wine. Slept better than I have for weeks. Got on my bike this morning and had a lovely, leisurely ride through London on a glorious sunny day.  Amazing how some positive advice from a doctor can transform you.

I'm sure many of you have doubts about the wisdom of this advice - but it seems to be working so far.

Any thoughts out there about when not to bike - for medical reasons - or indeed, strange things doctors have told you to do?

Altercation with a van - driver suddenly goes mute

I had a bit of a tricky situation on my way home yesterday. There's a bit of road - for those of you who may know London a bit - which comes down past the Brunswick Centre in Russell Square - it's called Bernard Street. To get into Grenville Street at the bottom, you have to go right, which is normally fine. But another road filters into Grenville Street too from the opposite direction. Now in theory this is fine too because the traffic coming the other way has a give-way dotted line - so you have the priority from Bernard Street.

Van rude

Anyway, I was doing my stuff, when I saw a green van taking the other road. Somehow I could sense that the driver was not paying any attention to traffic coming from the other direction and I immediately suspected he would not give way. Sure enough, totally ignoring the give way markings and not even noticing that there was a cyclist coming into the same road with the right of way, he ploughed on.

Right to silence?

Luckily I'd slowed down enough to avoid a collision. I fear that a less savvy cyclist might have been hit. Anyway, he had his window open, so I asked him if he'd seen the give way markings. Silence, staring straight ahead. I asked again. Silence. It was almost comical, but infuriating. I suppose he was so used to "bloody cyclists" berating him or "getting in the way" that he simply didn't care. Another more sinister explanation, which I only thought of later, was that he was completely stoned and didn't really know what he was doing. He looked the type.

Anyway, I had to cycle off, muttering about how dangerous he was.

Vicious circle

Just another motorist/cyclist contretemps in London - there are probably hundreds every day. Maybe he's learnt something. Maybe not. I have. Look upon cars or vans with the utmost suspicion - it's highly likely they won't do what they're meant to do.  Sadly, as my wife pointed out last night, the same could be said of a large number of cyclists, so this vicious circle is likely to continue. What do we need everyone? Karma, that's right!

Would you stop to help someone whose bike has a puncture? A London bicycling insight ...

I'm back. Forgive the blog silence but I've spent the last few weeks looking after my lovely kids rather than scything my way through London's mean streets. And for the record, it was a superb time though I am now far more tired than I've been in years and I've got a terrible cold I can't shake off. I never normally get them. Is there a connection between cycling inactivity and sickness? Yes.

Blob of jelly

Anyway, I was determined to get back on the LCM (London Commuting Machine for those new to the blog) this morning. The three weeks of inactivity certainly took their toll. I was like a blob of jelly on a bike and found it quite difficult to steer properly. I was (yet again) wearing too many clothes and started boiling pretty quickly. I found myself not really being bothered about overtaking anyone (normally I'm tediously but secretly competitive), and this pretty much applied to pedestrians.

The puncture moment

To add to the general indignity, after only 5 minutes or so along the canal, I felt the familiar sensation of the front wheel becoming unresponsive when steering and a quick look down revealed just what I suspected - the tyre was flat.

Always carry one of these!

I parked up on the grass beside the canal and started fixing it, pleased that at least I'd got the right tools. As I worked, I realised that I was feeling pretty relaxed, not caring much about how quickly I did it. And I started wondering, casually, if any other cyclists would stop to ask if I was OK or if I needed a hand.

The kind Brompton man

I would add that I probably looked at least half confident in what I was doing, so there was probably no need. But towards the end, a lovely guy on a Brompton slowed down and asked very nicely if I had everything - I told him I was fine, but thanks - and he cycled off. It made me feel great and brought a smile to my face. Then I realised I was being eaten alive by some really horrid bugs - possibly mosquitoes - and rushed to get through the job and the hell out of there. Guess that slow moving canal water, grassy verges and a sweating cyclist mean paradise for blood-sucking creatures.

Anyway - thought du jour, as they say - is this: even if someone looks like they know what they're doing, it can make all the difference to stop and ask if someone's OK if they're by the road or river with the old bike upside down. Spread that karma now, you know it makes sense.

"Wish I'd started earlier..."

Nice comment in the showers at work (sorry for putting that image into your heads) - colleague in his 40's, after we'd had a bit of a chat about our cycle in and compared notes on bikes (God we're dull aren't we?!), he said:  "I only wish I'd started biking to work years ago". I assumed he was talking about physique. "You mean - in terms of fitness?" I asked. "No", he said, "so I wouldn't have had so many miserable years on the tube".

Sort of know what he means. Once you're out there above ground it seems inconceivable to be forced to go under there every day.

And it made me think - it's never too late to start. Then I had my shower. The shower room was so hot, by the way, that I think (again, forgive the unpleasant image) I was more sweaty after it than before.

Man gives car driver a sound ticking off. He deserves a medal.

This isn't strictly bike related, but I did see the incident while on my bike, and is also about road users, so indulge me, please.

The road I live on has a 20 MPH speed limit. It has a sign which flashes "20!" when people go over 20. But probably more often than not, it's ignored. Some motorbikes (sorry fellow 2-wheelers, I know most of you are very decent!) seem to see it as a challenge to accelerate as fast as they can when they see that sign and try to achieve 50, 60 MPH.

I was getting on to my bike just outside the door. There's normally just enough time to get on and head off at a reasonable speed before a car comes round the bend. This morning I had just got on when a very noisy car sped round the bend. I had to pull in to the side of the road again and wait til he had gone past as I hadn't picked up enough speed to feel confident. I thought nothing of it as I'm used to cars speeding.

Cut to the traffic lights at the end of my road. I'm waiting at the lights when I hear a raised voice behind me. It's a pedestrian and he's leaning over the railings telling the driver of the above-mentioned car off - pretty firmly. Not shouty, but assertively. He's saying that the driver should slow down. That there are children all over the place (true). That he'll "quite happily report you to the police, my friend".

I felt like prostrating myself on the road in admiration and respect (though of course that would be dangerous). How many of us actually dare nowadays to say something to a driver who's going well over the speed limit? The road really does have loads of schoolchildren crossing all over the place at that time of morning, and cars really do need to go carefully. But how many of us say anything?

OK, I've made my point. I'm a coward, and there's someone brave and decent out there. I salute you. Enough said.

KC

Thoughts to brother-in-law with broken finger in London bike accident

As they possibly say on the radio still - a big shout out to my famed bro-in-law who is the oracle on this blog for anything to do with bikes and biking - he had a nasty accident yesterday in Homerton, London - while cycling very gently behind a car on a quiet street, the car rather suddenly came to a halt, and he went into the back of the car. He was more concerned about the car and the driver initially - but after they'd parted ways, he realised he was bleeding quite a lot and had a crooked little finger.

8 hours later and having attended two A&E departments he was released but will have to go in for surgery today on a snapped ligament and some other pinkie-related matters. And he's being kept in overnight tonight.

Best of luck Lex - thinking of you. KC

The ultimate in bike desirability - silence

I had to make a pretty big detour on my way into work this morning. It was partly because large sections of the Regent's Canal seem to be shut down for repairs at the moment. But also because I was being driven slowly mad by the rattling of my bike rack. It was fitted to my lovely new bike when I bought my LCM (London Commuting Machine, actually a Giant Seek Zero) from Chamberlain's in Camden. But as I've been riding it pretty intensely every since, several screws worked loose -  and in fact on closer inspection, had popped out. So my bike has been rattling and it's also not great having your child on the bike seat while you worry about whether the whole rack is going to give way.

So I made a detour back to Chamberlain's. Sure enough, they're as lovely as ever and wasted no time in replacing the offending screws and bolts. They have a lovely way of selling stuff to you too where you actually feel great that you've bought something - in this case, I walked out with a bottle of chain lube. I'm impressed to say they didn't charge me for the screws or fitting them. I was sorely tempted by a fancy light you can buy with its own battery pack - but for £99 I didn't quite feel I could afford it.

Anyway, by now I was feeling rather late for work, so I got back down on the canal and sped off. I suddenly noticed something. The silence. It was fantastic. Obviously there's the slight sound of the wind in your ears and the low hum of the tyres on the towpath. But the bike itself - completely quiet.

That somehow felt better than having any number of gadgets or gear. Going at speed along a lovely stretch of canal with hardly another person in site - it's about as close to flying as you can get without actually taking off.

Consequently, when I finally did arrive at work I was in rather a good mood, rather exhilerated, and yes, a bit knackered. But nothing an enormous coffee and a muffin couldn't sort out.

So cyclists - fix that bolt, get that chain sorted, declare war on rattles. And sing along with me "Silent bike, holy bike ..." OK, perhaps forget that last bit.  KC

How to keep cool on your bike in this London heatwave

30 degrees, they say. I've just come from a meeting and had ten minutes outside. I nearly fainted with heat and I'm not doing any excercise. On your bike, you're generally a bit cooler because the wind is like a fan. But what else can the cyclist do?

1. Carry a bucket of ice around on your bike and plunge your head into it at every traffic lights:

2. The bucket might not be practical. You have to find a balance between stripping off (ooooh, sunburn horror) and wearing too many clothes (ooooh, way too hot). I find loose clothing best

3. Have a rest more often. Preferably under a tree.

4. Consider carrying an extra water bottle of some kind. I get through my normal one before I get half way home in heat like today's

5. Cool down the pace

6. It's a good opportunity, if you don't normally wear one, to put on your helmet. It protects you from the sun as well as the roads

7. Consider a hankerchief or something to put on the back of your neck - if you wet it, it will keep you nice and cool, and stop the sunburn

Has anyone else tried anything?

Banksy is not the messiah - he's a very naughty boy

I'm loving some of the graffiti along the Regent's Canal in London. This one is just West of Camden Market. I'll put up a couple of others I've spotted over the past few months. Links to sites which show more would be appreciated!

and here are the others:

Keeping your jacket smart in a backpack

I know the entire www was in a fever of anticipation after yesterday's entry about smart clothes. So, the trick with a jacket is to put it in plastic - the kind you get at dry cleaners - then fold neatly and flat much like a shirt. Try to keep it flat as it goes into the backpack. I think I looked almost smart today and not crumpled. And if you knew me you'd be surprised by that.

Smart clothes ... In your backpack?

Slightly worried - have to wear jacket and tie at lunch tomorrow - is it possible to get all your smart clothes in a backpack without looking crumpled and scruffy? Don't really want to tube it. Any tips? Otherwise will let you know what happens tomorrow. KC