Sensational Broadcasting

So ...... last nights’  BBC programme, The War on Britain’s Roads. A riveting viewing experience, and on many levels, an unedifying one.

The Cyclists ...... enraged, downtrodden, smug, passionate, healthy, holier than thou,  compassionate and outrageous.

The Motorists ...... angry, irritated, sensible, uninformed, skilful, or completely lacking in skill and compassion, experienced, sure of their rights to own the road, bemused, frustrated and, also outrageous.

The roads ..... too crowded,  inappropriate, lacking cycling infrastructure, medieval in layout, the battleground.

The bereaved Mother and Grandfather – upstanding, compassionate, measured, moving forward and willing to see both sides. The genuine article in this programme. The answer, if only people will listen.

There were people just going about their daily lives,  and then there were thugs with an agenda.
The programme didn’t really offer answers.  It just sensationally magnified the issues.

Then, finally, there was law enforcement. Policeman on bicycles giving chase through the city streets, attempting to keep the traffic flowing and relatively sane. It seemed to me that they were almost the cause of several accidents themselves.

Not so the policewoman above, cheerfully keeping cyclist and pedestrians happy on Box Hill, Surrey, the day of the Olympic Road Race.
 

War on the roads

It's not easy being a British cyclist. First off, there's the weather. Now .... I know that we're not the only nation to suffer precipitation difficulties - but we do seem to get rather a lot of it. Witness this photograph below. Halfway across the Pennines on the Coast to Coast ride, Beautiful Wife Jo, sons Jonny and Ollie,  and multiple friends had to abandon their bicycles and make like penguins behind a drystone wall. A common occurence on that particular trip.

However, this is a mere inconvenience compared to the seemingly impossible fusion of users on our roads. Very sadly, an elderly cyclist was knocked off his bike last night in our town, circumstances as yet unknown - but another example of the constant battle between bike and car on our transport network. Such a moot point that, this evening, the BBC are airing a programme entitled 'War on Britain's Roads'.

Cyclists immediately want to blame the motorist, and it's true to say that over 75% of bicycle/car related accidents are the fault of the Britain's drivers, and in some cases the animosity shown by them towards cyclists. But I do wonder if we are truly helping the situation.

On my bike this evening in the rush hour traffic - very cool cyclist in front of me - wearing all black - I barely saw him. Students cycling home from the local college, no lights.

On the other hand, last week a motorist deliberately pulling across to the kerb at the lights to stop me making my way into the 'bike box' in front of him. At the moment it all seems to be a bit of a mess.

This evenings' programme relies heavily on footage from cyclists' head cameras. It promises to be interesting.

Turbo and tons of cash

 Well, it's been a cold weekend, the temperatures struggling to reach 3 degrees celsius. A crisp white frost covered the morning fields and my car kept telling me, "Beware, slippery roads" - it's fairly new and I didn't know it could do that!

However, that meant that after school on Saturday the turbo seemed the best bet for a ride. Here's my set up - foreign (in this case French) movie subtitled on the TV, a fan (on setting one - no need to freeze inside!), and the headphones linked up to workout tracks on my computer. A steady ten miles covered in 34 mins 38 and then carrying on to finish the hour at 17 miles. A few single leg revolutions along the way, out of the saddle for a couple of sprints and then quickly into the shower before watching England beat the All Blacks! A mighty performance (by England, not me)

 

It was dismayed earlier in the week to read that more cyclists have been killed on British roads this year than in the previous high of 2007. So it's always quality to find a front page cycling headline - and particularly one offering tons of cash to improve cycling infrastructure. We shall see, but £1bn is a sizable leap. We need some of it in the provinces!

 

I posted this picture on my twitter (also Cotswoldcyclist) to get the response "I didn't know you had a thing about Mariella!"

 

Jo and I then pored over the article to check out the new rules. I was particularly thrilled to read, 'clubbing is most definitely forbidden' and 'Dad dancing' is frowned upon also, even at weddings!

Finally, unto town, there to spot the fact that cycling is now so much in vogue, that enlightened companies are even using it as an aspirational advertising lever. Oasis, truly on the trend. No helmets on those cyclists though - or hair!

A great bicycle joke!

I have always loved this joke. I first read it in French

A man walks into a bakers shop and says, "I'd like a loaf of bread please."

And the lovely girl behind the counter replies, "Certainly Sir, would you like brown or white?

And the man says, "Oh it doesn't matter. I've got my bike outside!"

So there it is. Funny isn't it!

Memories of the Tour (1)

                                          Alberto temporarily wins the Tour de France 2010

 

Whilst the intention is for Cotswoldcyclist to be  a repository of thoughts and happening ... I also want to place cherished memories here too....
 

...... one of which is the final day of the 2010 Tour de France on the Champs Elysees. In life it is so often a case of who you know ... and I knew someone who very kindly invited me to spend the final day in Paris, courtesy of one of the Tour Procycling teams. So as close to the finish as you can get.
 

So I saw Mark Cavendish take his fifth win of the Tour....

 

 

.... Bradley Wiggins round off his disappointing first French outing with Sky.....

 

.....and Lance Armstrong wind up his Tour de France career .... before it was comprehensively wound up a few short years later .......

All this after being wined and dined in one of the finest hotels in Paris!

Earlier in the summer we'd watched the Tour pass through the Alps ... more photographic memories to follow ......

 

 

Carrot Cake again - the bad news

So, having written about my lifelong carrot cake survey, later that morning I found myself  sharing a slice in Costa Coffee with Beautiful Wife Jo.

"Look up how many calories per slice, " she suggests.
Smartphone out... a quick check ..... and there it is ..... 491calories!

Once home I look up previous rides to find out how long that would take to ride off. And the answer is roughly 52 minutes at an average speed of 15mph, equating to a ride of about 13 miles.

Fortunately, we'd shared the slice, so only 245.5 calories to take care of on the turbo - it's far too cold to ride outside right now  - just touching 2 degrees Celsius!

Great things about cycling

Carrot Cake! And the ability to eat it, guilt free, because one had been out riding. 



But not only that. Cycling burns calories, and with a heart rate monitor, you can work out exactly how many calories you've expended. Fancy that piece of cake? Eat it! Then go out and ride for half an hour. Job done, your a little fitter and no fatter. Hurrah! 

Ok ... I know it's a little more complicated than that .... but we all need the odd treat in life so ....

 

At the moment I'm conducting a lifelong survey on the best providers of carrot cake to be found across the British Isles.

Top contenders so far..

• Electric Mountain Visitors Centre Cafe in Llanberis, North Wales. Huge and moist.
• Pete's Eats, also in Llanberis (more about this place another time). Gigantic, with quality icing.
• The Jane Austen Centre, Bath. Shown above, great care taken in the presentation!