Blue Eggs or Bicycles?

I have short hair. I like getting up in the morning knowing that my hair looks exactly the same as when I went to bed. I don't bother with hair 'products for men', I'd rather save the cash and buy another pair of classically outmoded cowboy boots, (they will return, trust me). I also recycle my newspapers, and these two facts came together on Sunday to provide me with a nugget of understanding in an otherwise bewildering world.
I cut my own hair with an electric clipper. I do this in front of a mirror and over a section of the newspapers that I then recycle. For some reason, the August 23rd edition of the Saturday Times hadn't yet gone out, or at least the Body and Soul section hadn't, and whilst buzzing my 9mm long hair back to 3mm, (there's an OCD there somewhere), I spotted an article about how our 'cramped little island is stressing us out'. It went on to discuss the emotional and mental effects of living with almost 1200 people in each square mile of the green and pleasant.

'Psychologists point out that people have two basic space requirements: personal space and territorial space. When these two are infringed, stress levels rocket.'

One can imagine then, how stressed your average London commuter should be. What I found so fluffy, yet narrow minded about the solutions the article went on to suggest, was that they generally didn't take the person out of the situation and place them in a new, improved situation. Here's one:

'I advise clients to imagine they are in, say, a blue egg on the Tube. The egg-shell is flexible and doesn't break so if they are touched or their personal space is invaded, they are still protected'. Suzy Dittmar, Hale Clinic.

WHAAAT!! Whilst I'm all for mind over matter, there is a more beneficial alternative. Get out of the Tube. There are a number of ways to do that but the one with the most benefits, obviously, is to get on a bike. London is about 25 miles across, a 12 mile commute, (the average commuting distance is 8 miles), by bike, by an average person, takes less than an hour and that hour has more health benefits, both mental and physical, than 20-25 minutes on a Tube, by any stretch of a blue egg!

So, there's your choice stressed out Londoners; pay someone probably more than the price of a lightweight commuting bike, to be told to get back into the Tube with a blue egg, or get a bike that provides freedom from all that in the first place. Go by bike!

My nugget of understanding? Perceived convenience has a very high price.  

London Life in the Saddle

Things have changed in the capital. Since 2000, cycling has increased by 91%, a pretty big figure and despite it starting from a very small base, it shouldn’t be dismissed, as some critics may, as an increase of 91% of nothing remaining, effectively, nothing.

I’ve just spent the best part of an hour London watching. While having breakfast in a small café at around 7.45am, I was disappointed by the number of cyclists. ‘Get there early,’ I was told, ‘because they all disappear come 9am.’ Well, here I am, wondering if he meant 8am, not 9. Then, at 8.04am precisely, a small train of cyclists come past; all different bikes, clothing and gender. Brill! It’s started. And so it continued until about 8.35am, with the height of activity at around 8.20am.

So I watched, in amazement really, as hundreds of cyclists made their way through the capital. I have to admit, I was a little nostalgic for a moment; I was a cycle courier here in 1992, my origins in the bike trade. Reality soon kicked in though as I began to appreciate two inalienable truths-

1. Cyclists who jump red lights are the same people who would decry such actions were they in a car.

2. Most car drivers have no idea of the impact of their driving on other road users.

To explain:

I fully expected a number of cyclists to jump the lights; to my shame, I did the same when I was a courier and that was in a time when there was a greater chance of ending up under the wheels of a car or van, when cycle awareness was non-existant. What I didn’t expect were the type of people, (and yes, this is a generalisation), that jumped lights. Courier wanabees? Check. Respectable looking businessmen in suits? Um, check. Middle aged women? Eer, check, again. So, there is no one group more guilty of this than any other. Cyclists jump red lights, but only a minority and they earn the scorn of other cyclists.

Pedestrians, however, are without doubt far more guilty of jumping lights and as it is such common practise, there is no pressure on them to change their ways. In fact, one cyclist who, on a green light, continued to cycle through a crowd of pedestrians crossing against their red light, received a torrent of abuse even though he was going slowly, was obviously a competent cyclist and was pinging his bell from a few yards out. Come on pedestrians, play fair.

Point 2, above, is a simple one. Car drivers are under the assumption it would seem, that their back wheels follow the same course as the front. Wrong! The number of cyclists that had to avoid being hit by cars, as they pulled out from Torrington Place and onto Tottenham Court Road, was astonishing. As the back end of the car drew closer to the barriers as the car turned, the cyclists were forced to slow or even stop in order to avoid being hurt. And, it must be said, not one of these cyclists hurled abuse at the car driver. Nice.
So, what do I take away from all this? That there is more work to be done in London than merely increasing cycle facilities. Transport in the Capital has to be a holistic solution, encompassing all modes, for any transport policy to work. Boris, if you’re listening, I’m here to help, as are so many other cycling bodies and user groups. It just takes a little trip around the streets to see where things could so easily improve.

The Value of History

This is kinda 'The Folding Stuff' pt. 2, but really it covers something that has a wider relevance than me poking fun at an old folding bike. As I said in the earlier post, there is a story to go with the bike which started me thinking about how these stories imbue an item with more value than the mere cost of the item itself. Intrinsic v. historical value. In the video below, you get a sense of what I mean- the shop guy is looking at what the bits that make up the bike may bring in dollars, while Chad, the bike's owner reacts in a way that shows it's true value.
It happens frequently in cycling, you've probably experienced it yourself. You have an old mountain bike or road bike that took you faithfully through some tough rides or happened to be a companion in hard times. The collection of metal tubes, bearings, tyres etc, take on more value because of what both you and the bike have experienced together. If you come to sell that bike, it comes as a surprise how little someone else is willing to pay for your memories, but that's not what they're buying- they're buying the tubes and wheels and the bike has yet to take on the stories from that rider; the slate's wiped clean, ready to start again. Enjoy the video, poke fun at the odd bike but know that we all have similar stories and that someone else will return the favour.

The Folding Stuff

It takes an open mind to work as a product manager for a bicycle company. New ideas can come from anywhere, so everywhere is a good place to look. This doesn't preclude the product managers from having a favourite piece of inspiration though, and on this trip to Madison to talk web sites with the US team, I came cheek to saddle with the Hybrid bike product manager's.

The bike has a pretty cool story to go with it as it belonged to Chad's uncle, bought for him by his wife so he could put in his Porsche to use when he got to where he was going. On one occasion, the bike took it's owner to see Mr. Gorbachev speak when he was over here. Chad inherited the bike after his uncle died, and has remained an inspiration to him since.

I was a little disappointed as Chad took first a Soho 4 then a 7.9FX out of the car for himself and Brian, (Euro Marketing guy), then the Bridgestone folder for me. But as the ride around the town of Madison unfolded (sorry, couldn't resist), I began to appreciate the 12" wheeled wonder. Sure it was heavy, had the frame stiffness of a wet noodle and comfort a long way down the list of priorities, but it was fun. It could take kerb hops, keep up with the other bikes on the downhills, (although potholes were interesting), and was obviously a talking point for almost everyone we passed. 

Quirkiness has it's moments and if all that it achieves is to raise a smile then that's enough, but when it gives inspiration too, it's gold and worth every penny.

Capital Gains

It's always a fuzzy feeling I get when I see someone receive a new bike. The look of joy, the sheer excitement of the moment; the realisation that in their hands is means of escape from whatever is weighing heavy on their shoulders, be that stress of work, relationships, puberty or indeed the immense weight of having nothing pressing left to do in the day.
Check out what the Capital Radio guys got up to when a Trek Madone turned up at their offices. Paddy Bunce, (Sports Monkey and World Record Holder from the Johnny Vaughn Breakfast Show), was due to race in the London Triathlon earlier this month and through our involvement with Tim Don, Paddy was loaned a Madone. I'm not sure I got the fuzzy feeling, but at least they enjoyed the bike.
Paddy, I'm watching.

Farewell to the Dales

In taking up the Managerial duties in Marketing here at Trek UK, I had to move, lock, shocks and bikes, 200 miles south to the sunny, but rather flat, environs of Milton Keynes. Actually, I moved to Towcester, (pronounced toaster, and yes, it's just down the road from Kettle/Sink/Hob and any other kitchen appliance you care to think of), just north of MK and home of the A5 Rangers Cycling Club, which I fully intend to join.

Saying goodbye to the Yorkshire Dales wasn't easy, it's a beautiful part of the country and Pateley Bridge itself is possibly the most desirable village. It's a personal opinion of course, but the combination of quiet roads and hills aplenty, along with a great leisure centre and swimming pool, (not to mention 2 curry houses and Fish and Chip shops, a pizza restaurant and the best damn delicatessen in the country, Elliotts), all adds up to a cool place to live, especially if you're a cyclist.

The most leisurely gradient out of the valley is 10%, the worst is 25%. My bete noir was always the climb out of Lofthouse, which, if you've ever been out that way, you'll know as the narrow, twisting, torturous route over to Masham. Your other choices are Greenhow Hill, 16% more or less for about 2 miles; Old Church Lane, 25% but only about half a mile long; Two Stoops, again about 25% but over a mile long; Silver Hill, average of only 10% but with the start being 30%.

If you ever ride that way, try out your own 3 peaks route, it makes for a short but crippling ride!