Breaking bones!

Cycling can really suck sometimes, granted as a sales rep for Trek this isn't something I normally say but since breaking my hip and wrist in a big crash last August, which put me in Hospital for a week while they pinned me back together plus the next 6 weeks stuck on the sofa watching Trisha, yep my love for the bike really took a dip.

Things have not improved to much lately either, yes i'm back riding again and can even handle a 70 mile ride on Saturday mornings with my club CC Luton (www.ccluton.com), but the thing is i'm now back to getting the kickings that I have not had on a group ride since I first took up cycling and to be frank I don't like!

Don't get me wrong I'm no Tour De France star on the bike but there is a certain pecking order amongst club riders and I like to think that could always win the sprint to the Cafe or be the first to finish during the many events we ride through the year.

Oh yes cycling is great when your feeling super fit but as soon as your not it can be all too painful. But all that said I still keep coming back for more, Friday will see me checking the weather for the weekend so I can plan what kit I'm going wear, checking the wind direction so I will know which Cafe we will be riding out to and generally getting excited about riding with my buddies.

The thing is, as the weeks go by and I slowly but surely get my self back into shape and the cold and wet days start to disapear my love for cycling will start to grow again. And like all good love affairs you need to go through some rough patches to make you realise how good it is when things are going sweet.

Yep I'm not ready to hang my wheels up just yet, I've some club mates butts to kick this summer!! 

Road Rage-The Battle For Britain's Roads

I'm certain I'm not the only cyclist/car driver/pedestrian who watched last night's TV program of the above title. But who's side did you take? And, when you stop to think about it, why did you choose a side at all? Every one of these groups has a reasonable argument to make; car drivers don't respect cyclists rights in general, but cyclists do themselves no favours either and pedestrians aren't always in the clear. In fact, the only group who appeared to be neutral in all this were the Police. You do something wrong and they'll nick you and they don't really care if you're on a bike or driving a car. Fair play.

So what's the solution? Well, unfortunately there isn't a universal panacea. It takes time and it takes an open mind, and when the clock's ticking on global warming but parents in Hampstead 'need'  a 4x4 to go the average 2 miles to take the kids to school, I feel we're at an impasse.  I'd say, cyclists let's lead the way by not running red lights and riding the wrong way up one-way streets, let's ride defensively by not riding up the side of vehicles in order to get to the lights first only to get taken around a corner by a guy who wasn't looking; there were enough tragic examples of that on the program, can we learn from that? I would hope so.

In order to get anywhere with the politics of cycles on roads, (and off), I'd recommend that every cyclist join the CTC. These guys have been fighting for cyclists rights since 1878 so probably have a better idea of how to bring about change than anyone else. For my part and on behalf of Trek UK, I will be affiliating our club to the CTC and making sure that every employee is a member.