Hello everyone in Cycle Seven Land! Sorry I've not visited for ages. Where have I been? What have I been doing? Cycling has been intermittent to say the least. The last long/decent/interesting ride I had was on 1st March when I took a lift to near Truro, spending the day cycling home via the south [...]
Read all of Where am I? »
The original plan was to do a long distance ride on Sunday when the forecast was for a clear, sunny day. However, the best laid plans of mice and men ... Lady CoMo was the victim of a car accident on Thursday. She came out on the losing end of the encounter. It was not [...]
Read all of An Accidental Ride »
This is not a story about bike-eating triffids.
Read all of An ordinary day on the bike »
CTC, the UK's national cyclists' organisation since 1878 and its largest cycling charity, recently appointed Gordon Seabright as its new Chief Executive (I think he started work on 1st March 2012). If I had been appointed, the first thing I would do is get an overview of what is currently going on in the organisation. [...]
Read all of CTC cycling campaigns »
Well, that was the wettest April for more than 100 years. It's official. A bit back I fitted a DIY mudguard extension as a trial for next year's bad weather. Yesterday I was supposed to lead a group to Flamborough, but it was so wet, cold and windy that nobody ventured out for the start. [...]
Read all of Rainy days and Mondays »
On what turned out to be a showery day I finally started a ride with Cottingham Road Club, established at the end of last year by three keen cyclists who saw the need for something different from existing cycling clubs in the the area. Pitched as being between CTC and the local road racing clubs, [...]
Read all of Cottingham Road Club: first ride »
At the end of February I had been under the weather since the middle of January. Planned rides had come and gone but I had stayed put. So I took my Kinesis for a very short ride. I rode fewer than ten miles (along the Transpennine Way) to refreshments at Mrs B's Cafe at the [...]
Read all of The National Byway: from the Humber Bridge to Beverley (and back along the National Cycle Network) »
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Hilary's post regarding Bespoked 2012. I too attended the show and her photos reminded me of some of the fantastic craftmanship that was on display. Melanie, my wife. took a different view, accusing me of ogling 'bike porn' again...charming! Rather than repeat much of Hilary's post (and because her photos are [...]
Read all of Bespoked 2 (the sequel) – more 'bike porn' »
I had entered The Marcher Audax in Shropshire organised by Andrew Seabourne and was looking forward to the challenge, until my health got the better of me again. I tested a 200km on the island and miserably failed it. As the Marcher Lord is a 3,000m climb Audax, I swapped it for the 100km ride [...]
Read all of ManxCat dilly-dallies in the Dales »
Part of the National Cycle Network route NCN23 runs across the Isle of Wight from Cowes to Sandown via Newport, the principal town on the island. The section from Cowes to Newport runs along the old railway line alongside the river Medina and is well used by both commuters and leisure cyclists. The Sandown to [...]
Read all of The Missing Link »
Fresh snow on the ground yesterday morning – at least two inches of the stuff. By this morning the pavement was bare; by noon the temperature was above zero. Slow and easy getting started: bike down, find the clothes that were tucked away last November, inflate tyres, wax the chain. Water, don't forget water. Take [...]
Read all of First Ride 2012 »
I've known about the phenomenon of speed wobble for well over 25 years and know that it's not the fault of the bicycle, that it is a natural phenomenon and that it can be corrected by shifting your weight on the bicycle. A similar phenomenon can be seen, apparently, when towing a trailer in a [...]
Read all of Speed Wobble from Hell »
Brown Bike nearly fell over in excitement on today's drug run. Such outward displays of emotion can be risky in traffic or even without traffic so I discourage them. As I was wheeling BB at the time, negotiating a flower bed and narrow gateway, we were reasonably safe but I had to sharply remind him [...]
Read all of Surgery stand shock »
My bike is a pampered thoroughbred. She gets the best of everything and the slightest scratch to her gleaming paintwork is a national disaster. Not all bikes are treated so. I've just spent a month in Morocco where bikes still serve their original purpose as 'the people's nag', carrying riders and their loads as they [...]
Read all of The Humble Workhorse »
Anyone who cycles purely for fitness need travel no further than one mile. But you must ride flat out and do it once a week (a mile is how far you'd go on a bike in 3 minutes at 20 mph). This is because it can "deliver many of the health and fitness benefits of [...]
Read all of Cycle for only 3 minutes a week »
Kate wandered a bit too close last Wednesday, just as I was really digging in to catch Titanium Man. All it took was one unfortunate wag of the tail – a hair got caught in the roller, and it dragged her in. I expect she will be alright. The vet says she may not need [...]
Read all of A Sad Tail »
I'd forgotten how hard it is to ride on snow. While it is still loose, it's like pedalling through sand but it rolls into snowballs under the mudguards and around the brakes. Compacted snow is worse, nearly as slippery as ice but twice as bumpy so Brown Bike and I do our famous imitation of [...]
Read all of Winter Wobblies »
Approaching Middleton on the Wolds along an unfamiliar road Ooh, dear. I see this morning's online Independent report about the Yorkshire Wolds (and David Hockney's A Bigger Picture exhibition that opens at the Royal Academy on Saturday) is in the Travel section.
Read all of The first ride of 2012 in "Hockney Country" (aka the Yorkshire Wolds) »
This is not a pretty story. I will be spare in the details.
Read all of The Sentence »
Annie Londonderry was the first woman cyclist to circle the globe. Although she was a celebrity in her day she would now be completely forgotten if it was not for the extensive research of her descendant Peter Zheutlin and his book 'Around the World on Two Wheels'. Santa kindly brought me a copy and, although [...]
Read all of A Remarkable Woman »
Totally pig sick of the gales, really really fed up to the back teeth with em... Over my Christmas time off work I fully intended to do this: The Festive 500 (km) ride to Redemption
Read all of Christmas cycle up North in hail and gales… »
Held annuallly on the 27th of December the Cyclewight Mince Pie Ride was once listed by the Daily Telegraph as one of the ten best things to do after Christmas. Unfortunately icy conditions have meant the turn out has been very low in recent years but this year's mild weather led to a record number [...]
Read all of Cyclewight Mince Pie Ride »
Read all of Wishing All Cyclists a Very Happy Christmas »
I haven't touched my bike for almost three weeks. I've not given up cycling or anything. Far from it (new wheel components on order, bike van being prepared, can't wait to get going again). I've simply been tied up with a few things: a loft conversion, lousy weather, a sore toe, very bad toothache in [...]
Read all of A short break from cycling »
AAARTY and Technology. Well, it not quite the end of the year yet for us, but for Audax UK, October the 31st was the final day of the season. I have worked hard on my rides this year; and as an avid badge collector I have amounted a good pile of them. My most coverted [...]
Read all of Technology and the Audax Altitude Award Round The Year »
My rusty mountain bike. New parts are in stock awaiting a spring clean Almost a year ago I wrote that a couple of my new year's resolutions were to watch fewer soaps and get out on my bike more. I think I managed to get out on the bike quite a bit, but I really [...]
Read all of Cycling resolutions for 2012 »
This is an old Irish saying and what it says literally, that a shoulder is bare without a brother. What it means is that it's lonely if you don't have someone with you, i.e., at your shoulder. But what interests me about it is that it expresses something that I think is very relevant to [...]
Read all of Is maol gualainn gan bráthair »
The weekend was the last ride of the season. By Saturday rain had washed away Wednesday’s snow and the pavement was dry. The ride wasn’t as long as planned. It so happened that our intended route over Bellamy Side Road is not surfaced, so we just did a short out-and-back. Nothing strenuous. On the way [...]
Read all of Season Finale »
Kuklos was the pen name of William Fitzwalter Wray who contributed a column 'Cycling Notes' to 'The Daily News' (London) from the beginning of the Twentieth Century until the paper closed in 1930. Some of these were reprinted in book form as 'The Kuklos Papers'. This piece was written, as he puts it, 'at the [...]
Read all of 'Into the Light' by Kuklos »
A number of waterways flow through Ottawa and influence its shape; just so, a number of layers of government control its environs, for better or worse. The most unusual of these is the National Capital Commission (NCC), an appointed body that controls specific areas of green space and parkland in the capital region. It is [...]
Read all of An Annual Cycle »
When the pile of cycling magazines by my chair got so big that it toppled over I thought perhaps it was time for a bit of a sort out. In these days of internet blogs and forums you could be forgiven for thinking that the humble magazine has had its day. Who submits technical queries [...]
Read all of Cycling Magazines »
CycleSeven's first Post was 1st November 2009. So we are two years old today. 434 Posts, 3,576 approved comments, and as intended, our team includes two women cyclists. Well done all!
Read all of Cycling blog birthday »
Tina had my arm behind my back….. “We MUST do the TrailQuest together’ she decided. I had done a couple of these events before and I never really enjoyed them. I am not a very good mountain bike rider, and I am not very competitive, it was easier to say no. Especially with all the [...]
Read all of Two chums do TrailQuest Isle of Man! »
The cupboards are becoming bare so I'm off to Morrisons. It's daylight but the sky is murky enough for a hi-viz jacket. I wait until the day has warmed up somewhat, but I want to be home in time for Radio 4's Sunday afternoon drama, and some of the household clocks have gone back so [...]
Read all of Musings on a day of a few overlapping halves »
Coming home at the end of the day. To East Yorkshire not to North Humberside For as long as I can remember I've hated the name 'Humberside'. I've ranted before about it (we also used to strike out the hideous coat of arms affair on our school exercise books and write 'Yorkshire' above it), but [...]
Read all of Where in the Wolds? Why, Walesby! »
A couple of days ago I put a comment on Mary's post that Apart from the odd shower it has been dry for ages here, I think I am a bit spoilt! What a foolish thing to say! Talk about asking for trouble, I don't think its stopped raining since!
Read all of Tempting Fate! »
Audax UK's calendar ends on the 31st October and as there are gales and storms forecast for half term and next weekend I am mountain biking on both days, I have just one more chance to up my AAA points. So, on Sunday, I sorted out my final AAA ride of this Audax Season. On [...]
Read all of Final Audax of 2011 »
I havent been on my mountain bike for over a year. Reason: Rather a lame one... I dont really like mud. And, I always thought I would struggle to finish the Lands End John O Groats ride if I didnt do a lot of training miles. One of my road bike loves, is that I [...]
Read all of Mountain bikes and cake… what could be better? »
We were not mafting in Ottawa this weekend – we were cold, wet and drafty. The Saturday forecast was for a period of sun in the morning so we planned to ride accordingly. Needless to say, the accuracy of the weather forecast was predictable, and it was mid-afternoon before we were on Lady CoMo for [...]
Read all of Drafty, not Mafty »
The last day of the week; the last day of September. The last chance of a crafty ride after work before the weather turns? (Note to self: if I do get another chance remember to take lights next time.) I don't know how many times I have hoped to get away after work for a [...]
Read all of Mafting in Melton »
A while ago I thought about getting back in to running. I wanted to improve my general fitness, to supplement my time on the bike. But running hurts.
Read all of Do you do duathlon? »
This post is going to seem more than a little tame after Dan and Mary's exploits but it made my day so here we go.
Read all of Brief Encounter »
The Sandown to Newport cycle track has a very pleasant picnic area at the old Merstone station. Every year members of the Wayfarer Cycle Touring Club and their families gather there for a picnic/BBQ and this year there was the added incentive of freshly cooked jacket potatoes on offer. This was the perfect opportunity to [...]
Read all of F C Parkes goes for a picnic »
Upland road I like the upland road photo. Mostly because I rode there on my bike. A couple of hundred people per day (perhaps more) travel along this road by car and I imagine none of them stops to take a photo of it. Being there on a bicycle is different; a sort of personal [...]
Read all of Cycling and photography: photos from my bike »
Today it was a beautiful day and I went on a long complicated hilly cycle on a new complicated hilly route, most of which I'd cycled before, but some of the roads not for years, and most of them as parts of other rides. It consisted of 60 miles, 3100ft of climbing and was cycled [...]
Read all of A word from the old dog! »
Our local BBC 'Look North' presenter has this routine – it seems almost like a contractual obligation – to have a bit of banter with the weatherman instead of having that bit more time to talk about the actual weather. This is how it usually goes: presenter hands over to weatherman; weatherman has go at [...]
Read all of A Bridge Too Far: the last hurrah for my Coventry Eagle Touristique? »
Lady CoMo's rear wheel cleared customs last week. The plan, which had been to get to the cottage early on Friday to meet Mary, was adjusted. I went down to Bertrand's late in the day for a fitting, put her on the new roof rack and drove off into the sunset.
Read all of Getting started on a tandem »
I think you know by now that I can't resist anything pertaining to cycling history. Books, magazines, maps are avidly collected. It could only be a matter of time until an old bike joined the collection. Well, time and getting the shed roof fixed so that I have somewhere to keep it. I'd been looking [...]
Read all of A Fifties Revival – F C Parkes Cote d'Or »
Well, who would have thought it. A few months back, my dearly beloved suggested we should have a go on a Tandem. Wow, that was a blast of air I wasn't expecting. He has always encouraged my cycling, always been on hand with oily finger nails offering advice, showing me how to remove this bit [...]
Read all of … upon the seat, of a bicycle made for two… »
From 25 June until 1st July the Isle of Wight has played host to some 4000 athletes and officials taking part in the Natwest Island Games. Since it was founded in 1985 the Island Games has been held every 2 years with 25 member islands from Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Norway, Spain, Sweden, UK [...]
Read all of Natwest Island Games 2011 »
CycleSeven 2009-2012
