1 Folding Bike, 1 Cold Boxing Day, 3 Beers & 50 Miles

Not Responding

I was more excited this Christmas Eve than I have been for some years.
I'd been allowed a pre-Christmas preview of my Dahon Speed TR on the
basis that if some crucial part or tool was required, I wanted to find
out ahead of a four day retail shut down. In the end the only
requirement from messers Halfords was a pump and a puncture repair kit.

Christmas morning was spend doing serious origami and getting the fit
right. Experimental runs included quick dash to the pub for a sharpener
and a couple of times around the village showing my 6 yr old how to ride
her new bike on the roads.

The Big Ride was on Boxing Day. The cold almost put us off; everything
was frozen solid and the roads very icy. The plan was to do the
Peterborough Green Wheel; just under 50 miles of mixed roads and
landscapes. Everything from perfect tarmac, through Sustrans
abominations to undrideable construction traffic mud-ways.

On tarmac, the folding bike was superb. Agile and fast. I like the SRAM
hub/derailleur combo but, think it's all a bit low geared. Great for
climbing hills but most people will spin out quickly on the other side.
No that I got to try this as the roads were so slippery, we went down
under braking at less than 10mph.

25 miles saw us feeling fresh but cold. An open pub could not be passed
and the open fire kept us there for 2 drinks too many. We faded rapidly
after the pub. This also coincided with the start of the Sustrans style
tracks. Horrible on any bike but ghastly on a small wheeler with high
pressure tyres and no front suspension. Every rut or pebble went
straight through the bike and into my long suffering arm. Ouch.

It was soon dark and the low full moon hanging over the fens was wonderful.

Made it back in time for turkey and pickles in front of the fire at
about 1900.

Excellent.

Elisa Francesca Roselli

Thanks for the review. What do you think of the suspended seatpost? Also,
what's Sustrans?

EFR of the Dahon Impulse P21
Ile de France

JLB

Elisa Francesca Roselli wrote:
> Thanks for the review. What do you think of the suspended seatpost? Also,
> what's Sustrans?

See
http://www.sustrans.org.uk/

The name derives from "sustainable transport".

--
Joe * If I cannot be free I'll be cheap

Peter B

"Elisa Francesca Roselli" <NOSPAM@free.fr> wrote in message
news:41D2B00A.CC0A8F29@free.fr...
> Also,
> what's Sustrans?

Where I live they appear to be an organisation who put up route markers on
country lanes I've been cycling on for 40 odd years, and my father before,
then claim to have provided another x amount of cycle routes ;-)

Pete

Simon Brooke

in message <41D2B00A.CC0A8F29@free.fr>, Elisa Francesca Roselli
('NOSPAM@free.fr') wrote:

> Thanks for the review. What do you think of the suspended seatpost?
> Also, what's Sustrans?

'Sustrans' started up as the Campaign for Sustainable Transport. It's
now an organisation that puts up steel barriers across cycle paths.

--
simon@jasmine.org.uk (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

Age equals angst multiplied by the speed of fright squared.
;; the Worlock

Simon Geller

Not Responding wrote:

> 25 miles saw us feeling fresh but cold. An open pub could not be passed
> and the open fire kept us there for 2 drinks too many. We faded rapidly
> after the pub. This also coincided with the start of the Sustrans style
> tracks. Horrible on any bike but ghastly on a small wheeler with high
> pressure tyres and no front suspension. Every rut or pebble went
> straight through the bike and into my long suffering arm. Ouch.
>
When you say "Sustrans style tracks", do you actually mean sections of
the National Cycle Network? Or when you go down any unmade track do you
think "oh that's a sustrans type track"? Just wondering.

--- a few more comments:

If as Peter B. says Sustrans put cycle route signs up on routes he's
been using for years, obviously they are choosing the right routes
aren't they? Or was he just hoping to keep them to himself.

Sustrans don't put access barriers across cycle routes, as Simon B.
alleges - Local Authroties do. Sustrans policy is that these should be
removed as soon as practicable. Abuse by motorcyclists is still an issue
in some areas.

Sustrans have facilitated the provision of £8,000 miles of waymaked
cycle route in the UK, with an eventual target of 10,000. Two thirds of
the network is on road.

Simon

Not Responding

Simon Geller wrote:
> Not Responding wrote:
>
>> 25 miles saw us feeling fresh but cold. An open pub could not be
>> passed and the open fire kept us there for 2 drinks too many. We faded
>> rapidly after the pub. This also coincided with the start of the
>> Sustrans style tracks. Horrible on any bike but ghastly on a small
>> wheeler with high pressure tyres and no front suspension. Every rut or
>> pebble went straight through the bike and into my long suffering arm.
>> Ouch.
>>
> When you say "Sustrans style tracks", do you actually mean sections of
> the National Cycle Network? Or when you go down any unmade track do you
> think "oh that's a sustrans type track"? Just wondering.

OK, looking at the Sustrans map in more detail, they don't get all the
blame. The worst tracks must be down to Peterborough City Council but
some of the Sustrans bits were fairly grim.

However, I'm not knocking the enterprise; it's a good ride and if the
perceived safety of off-road tracks encourages more people to try it
then that's good. Had I wanted to stick to roads, I could have done so.

> --- a few more comments:
>
> If as Peter B. says Sustrans put cycle route signs up on routes he's
> been using for years, obviously they are choosing the right routes
> aren't they? Or was he just hoping to keep them to himself.
>
> Sustrans don't put access barriers across cycle routes, as Simon B.
> alleges - Local Authroties do. Sustrans policy is that these should be
> removed as soon as practicable. Abuse by motorcyclists is still an issue
> in some areas.

A part of sustrans route 2 runs near me. The first thing to go up before
the blue signs were barriers. Never seen a motorbike.

> Sustrans have facilitated the provision of £8,000 miles of waymaked
> cycle route in the UK, with an eventual target of 10,000. Two thirds of
> the network is on road.
>
> Simon

Simon Geller

Not Responding wrote:


> OK, looking at the Sustrans map in more detail, they don't get all the
> blame. The worst tracks must be down to Peterborough City Council but
> some of the Sustrans bits were fairly grim.

The NCN is a bit like the Road system in general - some of its great for
cycling, some of it's pretty grim. Often the grim bits are where an
existing track has been adopted because of it's logistical benefit to
the network, without much work being done to it. However, once the line
of route is established there's always potential for future improvement.

for some good bits try: Hull to Harwich; Brownhills to Derby; Derby to
Leicester; Cornish Way; Lon Las Cymru ; Celtic Trail.

> A part of sustrans route 2 runs near me. The first thing to go up before
> the blue signs were barriers. Never seen a motorbike.

Maybe that's because of the barriers, or maybe people are just a bit
more civilised down your way than they are here in Yorkshire.

Simon

Simon Brooke

in message <H1dBd.2050$Z7.1115@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk>, Simon Geller
('donteventhinkaboutit@nowhere.com') wrote:

> Not Responding wrote:
>
>> 25 miles saw us feeling fresh but cold. An open pub could not be
>> passed and the open fire kept us there for 2 drinks too many. We
>> faded rapidly after the pub. This also coincided with the start of
>> the Sustrans style tracks. Horrible on any bike but ghastly on a
>> small wheeler with high pressure tyres and no front suspension. Every
>> rut or pebble went straight through the bike and into my long
>> suffering arm. Ouch.
>>
> When you say "Sustrans style tracks", do you actually mean sections of
> the National Cycle Network? Or when you go down any unmade track do
> you think "oh that's a sustrans type track"? Just wondering.
>
> --- a few more comments:
>
> If as Peter B. says Sustrans put cycle route signs up on routes he's
> been using for years, obviously they are choosing the right routes
> aren't they? Or was he just hoping to keep them to himself.
>
> Sustrans don't put access barriers across cycle routes, as Simon B.
> alleges - Local Authroties do.

Oh yes they do, and I can photograph it for you. It's eight feet high,
steel, topped with barbed wire, and extends right across the viaduct
(which Sustrans was given FOR FREE) from one parapet to the other,
making it completely impossible for anyone to cross.

--
simon@jasmine.org.uk (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
.::;===r==\
/ /___||___\____
//==\- ||- | /__\( MS Windows IS an operating environment.
//____\__||___|_// \|: C++ IS an object oriented programming language.
\__/ ~~~~~~~~~ \__/ Citroen 2cv6 IS a four door family saloon.

Simon Geller

Simon Brooke wrote:

>>Sustrans don't put access barriers across cycle routes, as Simon B.
>>alleges - Local Authroties do.
>
>
> Oh yes they do, and I can photograph it for you. It's eight feet high,
> steel, topped with barbed wire, and extends right across the viaduct
> (which Sustrans was given FOR FREE) from one parapet to the other,
> making it completely impossible for anyone to cross.
>

Could you be a bit more precise about the location? This sounds like a
Fence to me - not an access barrier. Access barriers allow access to
certain users whilst denying it to others - they don't deny access to
everyone. If a viaduct is considered to be dangerous it would be logical
to block it off until it is possible to make it safe, presumably.
Sustrans have made it possible for many disused railway viaducts to be
opened up for cycling & walking.

Simon G.