VeloBalls

Bike reviews and cycling news that BITES

commuting

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Entering smug mode

Today was a fabulous commute, I was moving faster than any car, I took a route shorter than any car could take and I had a grin as wide as the Cheshire Cat as I cycled in serious smug mode. Why? Well I need to give you a short history lesson.

In 1985 we were listening to Jennifer Rush’s ‘Power of love’ and Huey Lewis and the News’ err… Power of Love. We were watching Micheal J Fox in ‘Back to the future’ and ‘Teen Wolf’ and Burton on Trent had just one road bridge crossing the River Trent, a River that splits the town in two, it was heavily congested.
In the summer of ’85 a second ‘new bridge’ opened and soon it too was crazy busy and became clear it should have of been made four lane instead of two…..

St Peters bridge (as the ‘new bridge’ is properly called) now carries 24,000 vehicles a day… and today it shut for the next three months for essential maintenance… its thirty two years old and knackered. Strange the original bridge is nearly two centuries old and is closing next year for just two weeks again for essential maintenance… Modern bridge = 3 months, Victorian Bridge = 2 weeks. Work that out, because I can’t.

Today, the 24,000 vehicles joined the traffic that still uses the ‘Old Bridge’ or Burton Bridge…and to quote Phillips Madoc’s U-Boat Captain in Dads Army –

‘Nobody is moving….’

It was a complete shambles, Burton was gridlocked and so were the villages of Walton (five miles south of Burton) and Willington, (five miles north of Burton) both of which have river crossings. The local papers talked of four hour delays, and the schools aren’t even back yet

Me? I used a Joint Pedestrian/cycle bridge that I always use, it did seem a lot busier, it seems a lot of people who normally drive in walked and cycled,I hope they carry on when the road bridge reopens. It seemed at times though, I was on Blackpool Prom.

I cycle most days unless it’s raining and then I take our son to childminders to save him (and my wife) from getting wet. Unfortunately now I’m not even going to try and do the ten mile commute by car in the thirty minutes between the childminders opening time and my start time.

So three months of hundred mile a week commutes beckon… at least while I’m getting wet, I’ll be moving which is more than I would be in a car..

Once again ‘Entering Smug Mode’

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How you doin’?

No I’m not trying a dodgy chat up line on you, I’m just wondering what your mileage is for the year.

In the past I’ve hit 3300 for the year not bad as commute was only a 15 mile round trip but last year due to covering sites elsewhere for a few months and having to use a company vehicle to do so I only managed 1800 odd miles.

This year in a new job with a 20 mile commute I set myself a target of 3000 miles, with a few leisure rides I thought it would be a breeze.. So half way in to the year, how am I doing?

Err, not very well. It seem fate is trying to keep me off my bike.

A twisted ankle followed by a knackered knee (This has been covered in slippery when dry) an eye infection (again covered in my prescription cycling glasses review) and finally a bout of acute badbackanitus has kept my mileage to 900 so far.

So I metaphorically kicked myself up the arse and thought about school report comments of the past… ‘must do better’

So….
On Saturday we popped in to see some friends and got chatting (some of the chatting involved a possible LEJOG!!! maybe more about that in the future…) Anyway our respective Sons got talking and decided they were having an impromptu sleepover, Our friends were like ‘whatever’ as their daughter had two friends stopping over, what’s another child… So we lent our ten year old to them and drove off… quickly.

Fast forward to Sunday morning and I figured a lie in was in order, however my wife had other ideas and announced she was going to do some painting at 7.30 A.M… (that’s decorating not art) One thing my darling wife isn’t is lazy.

And I figured I stood more chance of Elon Musk calling to ask me to command the first manned mission to Mars than spending another two hours peacefully in bed. So I got up and got a cheeky 15 miler in . Not a massive mileage I’ll admit but more than I’d managed for a while.

This week (Its probably at least last week as you reading this) I’m trying to get a full five days commute and a day off ride of at least twenty five miles in.
Don’t think I’ll be able to pull my mileage back on line for the 3000 but might get to 2500… and next year well I’ll possibly be training for that LEJOG in 2019.

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FreeMaster Prescription Cycling Glasses – An unbiased review.

I’d never given prescription cycling glasses a thought before as I, until recently had worn contact lenses for nearly thirty years, I started wearing them in my early teens, honest! Okay it may have been VERY early twenties, but definitely no later than that.

Unfortunately after a painful eye infection I was advised to cut down my wear time from fourteen hours a day, seven days a week to no more than eight hours a day once or twice a week. I took the difficult decision to stop using contacts entirely; I couldn’t see the point of such short wear time.

After open wallet surgery for two pairs of vari-focals I then turned to the problem of cycling glasses. I have always ridden with cycling glasses, whether dark lenses, clear lenses or yellow night lenses. I hated dust and bugs in my eyes, especially when I used contact lenses. I tried cycling in my normal glasses and hated it, they were not suited to the purpose and the thought of an accident and my glasses flying through the air sent shivers down my spine.

With a reluctant ‘yes’ from my wife I started to look round for suitable cycling eye wear. I looked longingly at the big names, prescription insert (a small prescription frame attached behind plain interchangeable lenses) Oakleys and Rudy Projects were both pipe dreams and direct glazed (prescription lenses fitted into frame) budget tinted options seemed ugly and would be useless for winter commutes.

After trawling around the web I found the Base-Camp glasses by FreeMaster.   These FreeMaster glasses have interchangeable lens and blank prescription inserts that you get glazed at your own opticians.

I read the few short reviews under the product description and decided at £16.99 they were worth a punt, so I popped them in my virtual basket. Amazon then wanted to charge me £4 on top for delivery.  So I used the ‘add on item’ search to take the value over £20 free delivery threshold and found a Pyrex jug for £3.50… so I got the jug and the glasses for fifty pence less than just the glasses (plus postage charge), go figure! You’ve got to love Amazon.

FreeMaster Base-Camp glasses – what’s in the box?
On their arrival I checked the glasses over and I was very happy with the quality of them. The package consisted of the following:

  • Rigid zip case
  • Glasses frame
  • Six interchangeable lenses (Dark tint, Bronze tint, Yellow tint, blue tint, Mirrored tint, Polarised and clear.)
  • Two straps (one ‘normal’ string strap and a goggle type that replaces the arms)
  • Prescription insert.
  • Cloth case
  • Cleaning Cloth

All the lenses carry a U.V sticker indicating they exceeded the specification required for sale in the U.K. I assume as Amazon supply the product from their own warehouse then this information is accurate.

Getting glazed.
I took the the insert to a local optician Faye Newman at Personal-Eyez in Swadlincote.  If you’re curious you can find her on either Facebook or Instagram.

Faye offered to fit the prescription lenses into the glasses for a very reasonable £35 . The service and product I received from them was fantastic. Turn around was less than a week and Faye clipped the inserts into the glasses to make sure of the fit, even though she hadn’t supplied the frame or the empty insert herself.

FreeMaster glasses – on the road.
I have been using the glasses for a week now and I am really happy with them.  The mirrored and dark lenses come with top vents to stop fogging when you stop at lights etc. The other four lenses don’t, I can’t work out why this is the case.

The glasses sit securely on my head and comfortably around my nose. Whilst the edges of the insert can be seen out of the corner of my eye, they are in no way obtrusive. The wrap around style of the outer lens keep out bugs and dust as well as any ‘plain’ cycling glasses I’ve owned ever have.  I am currently using the mirror tint outers as they hide the insert, it can look a bit like you are wearing goggles underneath if you use the other outers, no big issue for me, but just looks better if the prescription parts are obscured.  I will still be happy with the overall look when I change to the clear or yellow lenses for winter commutes.

The case is a rigid one and can hold all the lenses and straps etc.

Conclusion.
Overall I’m amazed with the quality of the product for a total price of around £50 (including locally sourced prescription lenses) and would recommend them. If you are on the search for a similar item, you could spend a lot more money and achieve nothing more than a ‘name’ on the frame arms.

And if you are wondering if I’m happy with the jug then….. err…… it’s a jug what more can I say about it.

Click here to find out more about FreeMaster cycling glasses…

Simon Elson purchased the above item and has received no financial gains or goods from Amazon or Base Camp for the review and was not asked to write it by them.

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Use your loaf!

For this edition I thought I’d try to give some practical advice regarding breakfast and not my usual random mueslis.  Sorry I’ve still got breakfast on my mind.  I mean random musings.  So I’ve actually done some research. Honestly, I have promise.

Normal pace cycling burns around three hundred to four hundred calories per hour, so a ten to fifteen mile commute each way, will burn approximately the above amount of calories on a round trip.

Carbohydrates have had a bad press in the last decade, but we do need them as they convert to fuel.

So here’s some pointers towards your breakfast options.

  • White bread contains carbohydrates but the body converts them to energy quite quickly so whilst good for short term exercise a longer commute could leave you hungry later at work.
  • Wholemeal bread also contains fibre that slows down the conversion of the carbohydrates to energy so it takes two to three hours to take effect, so whilst not that effective to provide energy an your commute, it will help you later in the morning.
  • Porridge and muesli, these again have lots of fibre so similar effects to wholemeal bread.
  • Jams and fruit contain energy in the form of sugar so these can help with the commute.

I myself have toast usually a slice of white and two slices of wholemeal to combine the benefits of short term and long term gain of both types of bread.

You could add fruit to your muesli or jam to wholemeal bread to get a similar effect. I sometimes eat a banana when I arrive at work to give me some energy back, so I don’t get hungry mid morning.

An energy gel or bar isn’t really a good idea as a breakfast substitute as they contain a ‘hit’ of carbohydrates more suited to a sportive i.e. Over an hour of fast paced riding rather than in my case a 14 mph ambling commute.

And my breakfast option if use the car? Well a ‘Drive Thru’ is often involved but that’s another story.

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Slippery when dry

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, it would NOT be ‘wear sun screen’.

It would be ‘do not wear SPD-SL cleats on a polished floor.’

Why? Do I really need to tell you?

Okay I will, the other day I was leaving work and the front door was being locked imminently, missing the window of opportunity leaving through it, would lead to a detour through the stockroom in semi darkness to the back door. So I rushed and as I took a left turn at the bakeware and saucepan stands, I slipped and ended up on the floor with a Giant Defy on top of me. All due to to large yellow plastic things screwed to my shoes not gripping the polished laminate very well.

Now here’s the rub, I have walked on this floor in said shoes hundreds of times and know the two don’t go together very well. I also know that common senses suggests I use MTB clipless pedals with SPD metal cleats for a commute as they last a hundred times longer than the larger road SL cleats and the shoes have grippier soles.

But they didn’t look right, so I went for the bike-snob factor and went for the proper road pedals and ended up on my arse.

I am sure you are dying to know the casualty list. It was my left cheek (face not arse) my right knee, the original equipment bike seat (it broke off it’s rails) and a rather large expensive frying pan.

The knee turned blue green and yellow and kept me off the bike for a week as I could hardly bend it. The bike seat has been replaced by a rather nice titanium railed replacement at a bargain twenty quid and I offered to buy the slightly dented frying pan.

And the C.C.T.V was being viewed for a laugh before I was even half way home.

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Can I have a rant yet?

Can I?….. please… this is my fourth bi-weekly column, so I think I’m entitled to one….

I can…. Thank you…..

There’s an old joke…. No matter how pointless your job seems…. Don’t forget there is someone out there who’s job it is to fit indicators on a certain prestige manufacturers vehicles….

When I drive I use my indicators on roundabouts, at junctions and strangely enough in car parks…..

A lot of people don’t it seems, quite often at roundabouts, when I approach one I have to guess which way the car will travel…. and car parks….. don’t get me started on them!

It seems the ability to move a hand two or three inches to nudge a plastic stalk totally disappears when a driver enters a car parks they will drive round and round it not thinking that people need to know which direction they will suddenly turn…. and when I ride my bike through a car park, the glares I get could put Medusa to shame…. they seem to say… “This is a car park, what the flip are you doing in it?”

I want to reply something like…..

I’ll tell you what I’m doing…. I’m riding a bike to the cycle racks which are conveniently for me…..put by the store/shopping centre pedestrian entrance… So I have to travel the full distance of said car park to get to them….. If you did some exercise for once you could park ten feet from the door and not drive round for ten minutes or have to pay a couple of quid to leave your car there…. and would you please have the courtesy to indicate your intended direction of travel… so I can try and get out of the way before you attempt to mow me down…..

And breathe……

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I cycled to work, and in my bag I put…

My Wife shouted down from upstairs the other day….’Would you get X out of my handbag please….(No big secret what X was… I just can’t remember….)

‘No problem Darling,’ So I went in her handbag… Something I would never do without her express permission…. Among the the sweet wrappers, tissues, receipts, purse, keys and nail varnish bottles, I found whatever it was she wanted and took it up to her….

What a mess I thought I’m glad I just use a wallet…. couple of credit cards, bank card and a few receipts, no room for a mess. Obviously a bloke wouldn’t carry around a load of crap around in a bag, would he?

Here’s an inventory of the current contents of my commuter rucksack…..

  • Garmin charging lead
  • Spare gloves
  • 2 inner tubes
  • Puncture repair kit
  • Pump
  • Nail brush (nope I don’t know why either)
  • 1 trainer sock (I think this was doubling as a phone case before I got a case for my latest phone)
  • 3 tyre levers
  • 4 x AA batteries
  • 4 x AAA batteries
  • 1 pair SPD cleat covers
  • Note pad
  • Pair of night vision ‘sun’ glasses
  • 3 x wage slips
  • Lock (not required at work as bike sits inside the warehouse)
  • A broken back light
  • Charger for front ‘Cree’ light
  • Load of change loose in bottom (probably amounts to a fiver if I could be bothered to find it all and count it)
  • ‘Cycling keys’ a small bunch of keys with just a house key and lock key on it
  • Work keys
  • Small roll of sellotape
  • Back up battery pack charger wotsit for phone (which always survives a day and there is a charger available at work under counter)
  • Several pens in varying states of functionality, (working, used up and broken but with ink so could be used in a a pen related emergency.)
  • Allen key ‘pen knife’ type thingy

Added to this daily is a lunch box, rain jacket (if not worn on morning commute) varying amounts of work clothes depending on what was left at work the day before, phone and wallet.

All of the above list is obviously essential for a total daily commute mileage of fifteen miles whereas a thirty or forty mile recreational ride requires just (all in a jersey back pocket of course)

  • The inner tubes
  • 1 x Tyre lever
  • Small pump
  • Phone (complete with android pay so no bank card or wallet required)
  • The ‘cycling’ bunch of keys

As I said at the beginning a bloke wouldn’t carry around a random bag of crap around day in, day out…. Can’t think why a woman would do it…..

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F*cking London traffic lights

Whereas activists who work on the topic of urban London cycling are currently (rightly) concerned with the implementation of the Cycle Superhighways (much needed segregated lanes) and Quiet Ways, I want to think about the use of these spaces. In particular, I want to talk about traffic lights.

That the Cycle Superhighways (CS for short) are well meaning if occasionally badly constructed is no secret. We should celebrate every single one that is created, no matter how bad, as long as it does its main job: make a safe space for cyclists. Even if drainage hasn’t been thought about so they flood, and the speed bumps are a bit steep. There are no CS routes on my regular commute routes, so I rarely have to deal with these issues.

Traffic lights are in abundance on my regular routes, however. And it feels as if there has no thought to the flow of traffic. London is a horrible place to cycle for many reasons, but my frequent hate is the traffic light. Perhaps this is because (like most, but not all cyclists), I pay attention to them.

On any route in an area I know well, I try to ride it through the least number of traffic lights involved. The stop-start of London is so painfully boring. With a single speed, it’s almost akin to taking steroids – you develop got well defined thigh muscles, but your lungs remain far behind as you can’t go more than 5 meters without seeing a traffic light, or having to turn a corner to avoid one. My watch and my bike computer reveal two completely different travelling times. I frequently lose up to 5 minutes on a 20-minute ride just in stopping let alone slowing down and kicking off, again.

And the worst culprits for bad traffic light management frequently seem to be the segregated cycle lanes. For instance, in 2015, Camden introduced protected cycle lanes that go both ways along Tavistock Place and Torrington Place in Bloomsbury. This was born by replacing a two-way single cycle lane into one direction, and taking a lane away from drivers to produce another bike lane (cars can only go East these days). As someone who cycles through this part of town every day I originally thought these new lanes were a god-send.

However, it quickly dawned on me that these new lanes were full of the old inconveniences except now they were going two way. Let me explain. If you start your journey onto from Sidmouth St onto Tavistock Place, going west, the traffic light at one crossing is so out of sync with that on Tavistock Place, there is no way to create any flow. Instead, it produces the London specialty of a race to queue up in front of a red light.

This race to the lights is one of the most annoying aspects of driving or cycling in London. I’ve experienced a similar thing on the CS1, that I cycle on from Parliament Sq to Cable St. While I am joyful that the cycle lane exists (and is pretty good, when its dry), the lights sequences seem to be designed to upset flow, not encourage it.

The problem is that it is not good enough to make these cycle lanes a physical reality, they have to be ones that are enjoyable to use. If you don’t do that, you risk the chance of pushing cyclists back into traffic because there are less traffic lights on particular routes. I frequently ride through the horrendously busy Guildford St rather than Tavistock Place because I have to stop less and so the ride is less frustrating.

I marvel and am shocked by people who can be bothered to do anything more than a five-miles in London. I feel like I have to prepare myself every time I get on my bike. It is a battle. Not only against drivers, but also against other cyclists. It is exhausting. The CS’s and the Quietways are a vast improvement, but they have also been designed with an attitude that cycling is a secondary consideration for transport, not a primary one. This is evident in how cars are expected to go across cycle lanes – by drifting over them, not by actually using their steering wheel. London drivers hate to use their steering wheel. But, that’s another issue. It is also evident in how there is no evident consideration for making the bike lanes flow easily.

As London slowly improves, we cannot allow the powers that be to rest on their laurels (or us to rest on our gains), and continue to see these lanes improved, and that means flow. I want to enjoy cycling in London. I don’t want to chose between a lack of flow or a fight with a cock with a combustion engine.

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Love on the commute

During my early days of cycle commuting, I always sent a text to my darling wife to reassure her I hadn’t been squashed by a forty tonne truck… one morning I received a phone call…. The conversation went something like this

‘Oh you’re alive then’

‘Of course I am, I texted you’

‘No you didn’t’

‘Yes I did’

‘Err… No you didn’t

‘Well I texted someone….’

After I hung up the work phone I checked my mobile…. the text to my regional manager went something like…..

AT WORK, LOVE YOU.

I’d had a reply…..

LOVE YOU TOO

One of life’s D’OH moments

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Commuting and weather predictions

Do you check the weather forecast ready for the next days commute? I do and I have 3 levels of weather warning for myself….

level 3: Raining badly…. Now I don’t mind cycling home in the wet when a hot shower, dry clothes, tea and a radiator to dry my shoes on await me… but I passed my driving test for a reason and that reason is not getting pee wet through and then standing on my feet for nine hours at a time. So VERY WET = CAR

Level 2: Drizzle/Bit damp….. I normally opt for winter bike fitted with three front lights and two rear lights… this was actually my only bike (apart from my clapped out modern Viking which I converted to hybrid and hasn’t really turned a wheel since) until recently. Its had a new chain recently as the previous one was disgustingly rusty and I couldn’t get it clean… it could also do with with an inner chain ring and at least a pair of jockey wheels but possibly a new rear derailler (whether it should be the current Tiagra or new old stock 10 speed 105 is a different question… should I start a poll on that) this bike is ‘iffy’ weather transport

Level 1: Absolutely 100% guaranteed perfect weather….. This doesn’t happen very often, and then I take my shiny carbon bestie…..but the other day the weather looked good from the forecasts, all the planets were aligned and a Unicorn was seen grazing in the local park so all the omens were good, a quick check out of the window the next morning confirmed the good weather……. So……

I went for it, a set of lights were hastily fitted, a quick squidge of the tyres followed and off I went…..

The tyres weren’t quite as hard as I would of liked but were ALMOST okay…. My schoolboy error was rewarded with a pinch puncture two miles in to a eight mile commute, I think I did that much snarling a dog would of understood me.

The swearing and the serious upping of pace for the rest of the commute to get to work on time, was worth it for the admiring glances the bike got on its first outing to a new place of work…….

Oh and it was tucked up nice and warm in the warehouse… none of this outside bikeshed nonsense.