Mike

When I posted originally I did not realise this was the bit that everyone was talking about until about a week later. I do have the Shwalbe Marathon Plus tyres on my bike that are resistant but that is only because being seen fixing a puncture at the side of the road is such a sad sight I want to avoid. Thank goodness for Schwalbe tyres. One puncture in about four years I think. although lot of people hate them for whatever reasons.

The path is good now it has been skimmed but surely more punctures come from further along and by Ginge but that bit is private and permissive and using it is a privilege, so moaning is not allowed!

No one ever visits the Harbug FB page. Maybe not many people are on FB or no one bothers to visit it and the past post was in March 2014. It would be a good place to keep things up to date along with the web site.

The pressure is definitely not my imagination. Last night folk were literally inches from the bumper of my mini. It put me under a lot of stress so I just kept pulling over to let hem by. The point about keeping a moral high ground I definitely go along with. I was chased half way back to Wantage the other day when I stupidly beeped my horn at someone instead of just letting what they did go over my head. As soon as I lost my cool I lost the argument. I was looking at the fuel gauge on my dash and worrying if my petrol would run out before his. In the end he turned off but it taught me a lesson about my reactions to things. He chased after me for about four miles.

I just wonder about people cycling on the road when they do not have to. I think about if they know of the alternative routes. They are on HARBUG somewhere I think. I used to cycle the A417 every day years ago. I did not know about the Icknield way cut through back then. I do not know about cycling to Abingdon. The Steventon road is very busy with bikes when I drive to the canoe club every week. Does anyone know of alternatives to the road for cyclists along there?

I know HRBUG is here to campaign to have better facilities and thus help make cycling safer so it is worth supporting it by appreciating that there are alternatives to cycling on the road and making use of the cycle ways. When I cycle in I very much appreciate the routes. Many of the tracks around here are reasonable unless you have very skinny racing wheels, with only a few minor niggles. I remember the track from Wantage to Grove being built (I am that old). It is very bumpy now on my road bike. It is okay on the Dahon or the MTB. Tolerable on the tourer I suppose. I still prefer a few bumps though to the A338, but that is just me.

The old railway into Didcot is okay but it can be scary after dark. I had a few incidents down there with youths and threatening behaviour. Also the occasional dog. Wantage is the simplest/nicest ride and when the new road goes in over Crab Hill one could cycle from campus all the way to Ardington then down the new road cycle track into Wantage or Grove. It will be very good by the looks of things.

Didcot is mostly okay ref comments above. Abingdon is a challenge unless here are any tracks I do not know about.

Good Afternoon and thank you for putting me in my place. HarBUG is mainly here to campaign for better facilities and to help promote cycling to work, so one should be supporting that really and not talking down cycling. Cycling can be good ‘cyco’therapy.

I have been ‘experimenting’ with the bus this week. Just two days to go before I can write my paper on it. Trying to get into the bus thing. Even thought about buying the model bus Thames Travel are selling on their web site. I have to make it to Friday without giving up. One cannot have on opinion on something without trying it so I am going for it this week.

Buses have their advantages, such as less stress of not being in a car and being able to nose at things out the window; the flowers people are growing in their gardens for example. but goodness me busses are dull. I did remember to pack a good book today (about a lady called Rosie Swale Pope, an amazing woman who ran around the world). I would rather be on two wheels though. I noticed the poster on the bus stop notice board, promoting cycling to work!

Autumn will be here in the not too distant future, and being out in the fall with the autumn air and doing some early morning star gazing and Dear spotting, listening to the Owls hooting along by Ardington village. That was very pleasant last year. Autumn is a nice time to be outdoors. Is liking autumn a bit too melancholy?

It feels nicer knowing these are normal things to want to do or at least if one can be acceptably eccentric in a good old harmless English eccentric sort of way. Personally I like harmlessly eccentric people as they make the world more interesting while everyone else is too busy conforming. I appreciated the cyclist who went by my house the other day in union jack leggings. I guess that is what I mean. The guy who built a bicycle out of an old radiator or old Colonel Mustard, who used to dance outside the Westgate in Oxford. I kind of miss him, the old nut.

Good morning there.

Back on the bike, though not for work yet. Nice ride to Avebury from Grove last week though. That would be a good club ride if anyone is looking for ideas. Follow the Ridgeway along to Silbury Hill.

Anyway, by super bright lights I meant the off road variety used for trail riding. I use the Light and Motion Seca 700 one but I only have it turned on occasionally. It is a few years old and newer models are even brighter. When I rode back from Silbury Hill in the dark last weekend I rarely used the big beastie, relying pretty much solely on the Edelux, which runs from the Dynohub.

Since adjusting the Edelux to point down I have had no more complaints about that as yet. Flashing front lights can be good at junctions. Don’t know if you need them all the time. Last week while cycling back home along the A4 I took to ringing the bell and doing what I could to “big myself up” when passing cars waiting on the left T junctions. One chap waved back, as if to say, “okay, yes I saw you, thanks mate”. Then I started questioning my own behaviour. I was off road on the Ridgeway on the way out but it was too dark to cycle off road safely on the way home.

I have been knocked off my bike twice by cars pulling out from the left T junctions over the years. I was wearing Hi-Viz and had my lights on at the time. I always kind of expect cars might pull out but from the car’s point of view it is very easy to do. I nearly missed a cyclist last week. I felt quite bad about it of course. Saw him just in time. There is so much going on, too much information and rules to stick to. As for roundabouts, sometimes it is better to get off and walk for a few yards. I do. But that’s just me.

Flashing lights are great and very effective, as long as they are not too bright perhaps. Bright lights are okay, annoying if they are both super bright and flashing. Not too sure how to quantify too bright in terms of lumens as different lights have differing lens and reflector designs. I guess standing in front of your own bike to see what your lights are like is a good test actually.

I have been experimenting with various amber lights for side visibility on my bike. I must look like a UFO. I wonder if people think I am going overboard? One cyclist did shake his head at me the other day. The amber lights are an experiment. I will take them off if people react badly to them. I do agree that some car lights are getting very bright. The white HID ones are horrible. How did they ever become legal?