Road Cycling

[Champ]

May I refer you to Rule 9

[L19red]

Where does rule 9 mention clean dry shoes?

[Champ]

Where does rule 9 mention clean dry shoes?

 

Are you telling me you dont clean your bike after a ride at this time of year?

[VladimirIlyich]

Are you telling me you dont clean your bike after a ride at this time of year?

She's old enough to wash herself! Boom,boom.

[Champ]

She's old enough to wash herself! Boom,boom.

 

I should have known better than to read your post expecting cycling comment

[VladimirIlyich]

I should have known better than to read your post expecting cycling comment

You did mention a dirty bike? This is the GF after all.

 

Just to be serious about bikes though,i had to get a new inner tube for mine recently as the original one split at the valve end. It had slime in it but had had a puncture previously. I have taken your advice Cath and got a slime coated inner tube to replace and had no idea there were two types of valve. Almost bought the wrong one.

[Champ]

You did mention a dirty bike? This is the GF after all.

 

Just to be serious about bikes though,i had to get a new inner tube for mine recently as the original one split at the valve end. It had slime in it but had had a puncture previously. I have taken your advice Cath and got a slime coated inner tube to replace and had no idea there were two types of valve. Almost bought the wrong one.

Indeed it is. And not being one to miss an opportunity, eh, Vlad?

 

And good luck with the inner tubes. I'm feeling all responsible now

[VladimirIlyich]

Indeed it is. And not being one to miss an opportunity, eh, Vlad?

 

And good luck with the inner tubes. I'm feeling all responsible now

I do need to put the inner tube on and get on my bike again but the lack of nice places to ride round here is a bit off putting.

[Champ]

I do need to put the inner tube on and get on my bike again but the lack of nice places to ride round here is a bit off putting.

You may need to cycle a few kilometres (miles) but I cant believe there arent some nice routes around you. Have you tried your local cycle shops for books/leaflets with local rides. Or google same.

[VladimirIlyich]

You may need to cycle a few kilometres (miles) but I cant believe there arent some nice routes around you. Have you tried your local cycle shops for books/leaflets with local rides. Or google same.

That's a fair point but its also pretty boring cycling on your own too as I spend enough time doing that anyway (wink,wink!)

[Champ]

That's a fair point but its also pretty boring cycling on your own too as I spend enough time doing that anyway (wink,wink!)

Really? I love it. Now dont get me wrong, I like cycling with others too, but on your own you make all the choices about where to go, how far to go, you can stop when you like, you arent holding anyone back. As the young people say, what's not to like? Alternatively, find yourself a cycling buddy(ies)

[lifetime fan]

Really? I love it. Now dont get me wrong, I like cycling with others too, but on your own you make all the choices about where to go, how far to go, you can stop when you like, you arent holding anyone back. As the young people say, what's not to like? Alternatively, find yourself a cycling buddy(ies)

Peace and solitude.

[Champ]

Peace and solitude.

 

Detoxing for the mind

[L19red]

Are you telling me you dont clean your bike after a ride at this time of year?

I didn't buy my bike because it was easy to clean. Being easy to clean is something that is of no consequence when it comes to cycling, hence my earlier derision for your comment about overshoes being easy to clean.

[Champ]

I didn't buy my bike because it was easy to clean. Being easy to clean is something that is of no consequence when it comes to cycling, hence my earlier derision for your comment about overshoes being easy to clean.

Nah, me neither but with all the salt and shit that gets onto your bike at this time of year I like to clean it, if not every ride, every other time.

 

But I confess to liking starting out clean

[Unrighteous]

Is it me, or is Oleg Tinkov absolutely bonkers (so hilarious)?

[Champ]

Neoprene overshoes. Toasty

 

In the lull before the next storm heading our way, I'm off to give my new ones a road test

[Champ]

Toasty as, L19. Definitely all the gear now

[L19red]

Contract extension came in yesterday and so tomorrow I'm going shopping for one of these. I deceided to jib off the fancy italian brands and go for one of scouse bike builder Terry Dolan's.

http://www.dolan-bikes.com/road/dolan-tuono-carbon-road-bike.html

It'll be pimped out with the Ultegra groupset and Mavic Ksyrium elite wheels. Very excited here.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

http://road.cc/content/news/111258-chris-boardman-helmets-not-even-top-10-things-keep-cycling-safe

 

British Cycling policy advisor Chris Boardman says it’s time for the cycling community to put the debate about mandatory cycle helmets to bed and get across the message that helmet use is one of the least important cycling safety measures.

Even talking about making helmets mandatory “massively puts people off” cycling, Boardman said, and likened the culture of helmet use among keen cyclists to people wearing body armour because they have got used to being shot at.

Talking to road.cc at the London Bike Show, Boardman said, “I think the helmet issue is a massive red herring. It’s not even in the top 10 of things you need to do to keep cycling safe or more widely, save the most lives.”

You’re being shot at, put on body armour

Boardman returned to an analogy he has made before, and which even he admits is a bit melodramatic, though it gets the point across

“It’s a bit like saying ‘people are sniping at you going down this street, so put some body armour on,’” he said.

Government encouragement to wear helmets was therefore “a big campaign to get people to wear body armour, by the people who should be stopping the shooting.”

Widespread use of helmets, he said, sends the wrong message.

“Once you see somebody wearing body armour, even if there’s no shooting, you think ‘Christ I’m not going down there if they’re wearing body armour to go down that street.’ It scares people off.”

There’s a better solution to the problem of cycle safety, Boardman said. In the Netherlands, just 0.8 percent of cyclists wear helmets yet the Dutch have the lowest rate of cycling head injury, thanks to segregated cycling infrastructure. Thirty percent of journeys in the Netherlands are made by bike, he said, and 50 percent of children’s journey to school.

”The best way to deal with [the head injury issue] is what the Dutch have done,” he said. “Where you have the Highest rate of helmet use, you also have the highest rate of head injury: us and the US.”

Yet there’s also an almost-fanatical, knee-jerk devotion to helmet use among enthusiast and sporting cyclists.

Boardman said: “People who are wearing body armour get used to being shot at, when it’s the getting shot at that’s the problem.”

A distraction

Talking about helmets had become a time-consuming distraction, he said. “We’ve got to tackle the helmet debate head on because it’s so annoying,” he said. “It gets a disproportionate amount of coverage. When you have three minutes and someone asks ‘Do you wear a helmet’ you know the vast majority of your time when you could be talking about stuff that will make a difference, is gone.”

He said the focus on helmets had made cycling seem more dangerous than it really is.

“We’ve gone away from the facts,” he said. “We’ve gone to anecdotes. It’s like shark attacks - more people are killed building sandcastles than are killed by sharks. It’s just ludicrous that the facts aren’t matching up with the actions because the press focus, naturally, on the news stories, and [the notion that cycling is dangerous] becomes the norm, and it isn’t the norm.

“You can ride a thousand times round the planet for each cycling death. You are safer than gardening.”

Cycling’s image

Like many cycling advocates, Boardman wants to see cycling presented as a normal, everyday activity.

“I saw two people riding down the hill to my village. One person coming down the hill to go for the train in high-viz, helmet on.

“A few moments later another guy came down, in shirt sleeves, with a leather bag on his back, just riding his bike to the station.

“Which one of those makes me want to [ride]?”

[Champ]

In the 2 significant falls I've had on my bike I've hit my head. If I hadnt been wearing a helmet I wonder whether I'd be writing this now

[cloggypop]

I am in Holland and have never worn a helmet here. When I smacked my head off a kerb I was lucky enough to be drunk enough for it not to kill me.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

I am in Holland and have never worn a helmet here. When I smacked my head off a kerb I was lucky enough to be drunk enough for it not to kill me.

So really the best advice is to make heavy drinking mandatory for all cyclists. A suggestion worthy of Edward de Bono.

[cloggypop]

You have to balance it out with the weed

[Jose Jones]

In the 2 significant falls I've had on my bike I've hit my head. If I hadnt been wearing a helmet I wonder whether I'd be writing this now

 

Aye, when I got knocked off by the taxi driver my helmet ended up in 3 bits.  

Better that than my head.