I were right about that saddle though

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=VCUN8eJancQ&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DVCUN8eJancQ

Cycling quote No2

"As long as I breathe, I attack" 

The badger

Bernard Hinault

Nice things to lock your bike to #3 - thanks to @6ss8

Apparently there's a whole load of these in Southport.  Wonder what makes local planners favour the penny farthing as a piece of bike security street furniture?

Rather abstract and quite nice too

There must be a reason.  Are Sheffiled stands offensive in some way I wonder?

Going big to big down Stockport way

Spotted this bike in Decathlon, Stockport while picking up a couple of stocking fillers. I can't say that I'd advise that particular gear selection! New rear mech anyone?

Big to bigger

Cycling, drugs, cheese and @guardian

Really interesting interview with USADA grand fromage Travis Tygart in today's Grauniad.  As well as providing an insight into his world in the midst of the Lance Armstrong investigation, he also questions Sky's zero tolerance approach  to drug use and questions whether it's counter productive.
My initial thought was that Travis must have been at the Creme de Menthe a bit early but actually, his point is a good one.
He's not saying that team X shouldn't do all they can but, the whole of professional cycling needs picking up by its lapels and slapping in the chops with a pair of white cotton gloves. No cycling club is an island.

Le petit fromages

The reason this matters, in my view, is that it's pro cycling which really inspires people to get on a bike and ride - kids in particular. Nobody is inspired by me cursing my way up Windgather or hocking filth onto the A482 in the rain.  But they're inspired by that Brady Wiggin chap and his amusing facial furniture.  They're inspired by the Scottish chap who always wins, you know, the one with the big dad.
If cycling is to continue to prosper in Britain then we need the sport to be cleaner than the entertainment on St Francis Xavier school's summer trip to Lourdes.

New GB bike kit for 2013

Cycling Weekly has some photos of the 2013 teeem geebee cycling kit and very nice it looks too.  I don't suppose there's much else they could do other than go for the Union Jack design.
Any suggestions that they should incorporate a pathetically inadequate bike lane or a large pot hole into the design are just immature.  

White, red and blue

So, with that in mind, how about they incorporate a speeding taxi motif into the 2014 version? I can feel a twitter campaign coming on.
I'm still looking forward to what Rapha are going to do to the Sky kit.  You'd have thought they'd have it out for Christmas really wouldn't you.

Manchester City likes the cut of cycling's jib

So, despite the damage that Lance has done to the sport, the Wiggo effect coupled with the sheer volume of participants, means that cycling has finally been let into the VIP lounge after years of queueing up in the rain and claiming to know the DJ.
This was confirmed today when Man City became the latest organisation to sidle up alongside cycling in a bar, wink, ask it if it came here often and if it wanted a drink.
With its big doe eyes and down to earth demeanour, cycling had no defence against the flashy vigourous charms of Premiership football with its sharp Italian suit and its illegally parked uber car with tinted windows.
For today, well yesterday, football got its mits all over cycling's pristine chamois leather and sucked it into a whirlwind romance laced with celebrity and charity.
The near neighbours of the National Cycling Centre in East Manchester are The City (sitteh) who perform their soccers at the Eastlands Ethiad Enormodome.  It was all built in the early 90s when The Manchester hosted the Commonwealth Games.

City and one of its gerberas

For years they've ignored each other but now, finally, they've been struck by cupid's arrow. Rumour has it that Man City even popped in to The Asdors (Asda) during its dinner and left a bunch of gerberas on cycling's door mat before ringing the bell and running away.
For next March, the two lovers, still gazing wistfully into each others eyes, will entwine themselves in a selfless and very public act of love with the Velocity event. That's Velo (bike) and city (sitteh) combined into the word velocity (measurement of speed) incase you didn't get it.

Cycling was magnetically attracted to soccer

Quite what will happen at the event, I'm not sure.  Some people will definitely ride bikes - for 24 hours it seems.  And there will be some sitteh players there too - obviously they don't fancy the FA Cup anywhere near as much as they fancy the shapely form of British Cycling.
Registration costs £250 per rider and opens tomorrow - Wednesday 19th December.
I'm off to buy a hat.

Manchester's two-wheeled award winners

This is not a post about Wiggo winning the sports personality of the year.  The only thing which needs to be said about that is that, he has one, a personality.
No, much closer to the everyday, two cycling related bodies picked up gongs at the recent North West Together We Can awards.
In the Creating Learning & Enterprise category Pedal MCR won the top award for their Earn a Bike Tool Club while the Friends of the Fallowfield Loop were highly commended  for the Levenshulme Community Orchard in the Better Neighbourhoods category.  You can find out more about the awards here.
Always good to see grass-roots organisations getting recognition. Very well deserved I say.

A different Gong

Radio bike

Hardcore cycling safety enthusiasts can check out this two hour Radio 5 programme hosted by James Cracknell.
And quite how I missed this documentary on Beryl Burton hosted by the wonderful Maxine Peake, I will never know. Maxine regularly renews my belief in the human race and she's from Bolton too!

BERYL BURTON WAS AN ENGLISH RACING CYCLIST AND ONE OF BRITAIN’S GREATEST EVER ATHLETES DURING THE 50S, 60S, 70S AND 80S. SHE DOMINATED WOMEN’S CYCLE RACING IN THE UK, BEST BRITISH ALL ROUNDER FOR 25 SUCCESSIVE YEARS AND TWICE WORLD COMPETITION HOLDER AT 3000 METRES. NOW A DOCUDRAMA HAS BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT HER FOR RADIO FOUR BY THE ACTRESS MAXINE PEAKE, IT IS THE FIRST DRAMA THAT MAXINE HAS WRITTEN AND SHE ALSO PLAYS THE CHARACTER OF BERYL. IT IS CALLED “BERYL: A LOVE STORY ON TWO WHEELS” AND WILL BE ON RADIO FOUR ON TUESDAY, 27TH NOVEMBER AT 2.15PM. MAXINE IS JOINED BY CHARLIE BURTON, BERYL’S HUSBAND, AND THEY TALK ABOUT THE LIFE OF THIS GREAT CYCLIST AND THE NEW DOCUDRAMA.

~

BBC RADIO 4 - WOMAN’S HOUR, MAXINE PEAKE ON BERYL BURTON

Liverpool trousers £2.8m of cycling cash

News that Liverpool City Council has trousered £2.8m for a new city centre bike hire scheme should finally increase the level of riders in the city.
Envious glances may be cast down the east lancs from Manchester which, despite its stated desire to become the home of cycling, still has a long way to go.
Perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised that Manchester is claiming cycling as its own, after all the City claims everything from liberal democracy to the computer to be born in the city - it's never that straight forward as you know.
So, how come Manchester has missed out on this pot of cash? Manchester is usually very good at being first in the queue. Well, here's my guess. Mayors.
While Manchester's electorate voted against having a mayor last May, Liverpool just went ahead and got one. That, I reckon, has pushed Liverpool above Manchester in the Whitehall pecking order. Perhaps.

My new Manchester commuter route

Day one of my new biking commute is over. First impressions: jeez Louise, it's cold! Really though, it's loads better than I thought, traffic not too bad, road surfaces are mostly ok. Very few bike lanes though!

DM campaign targets Manchester cyclists

It does demonstrate how mainstream cycling has become when ambulance chasers start spamming you through your letterbox. This was snapped on its way to the recycling pile.

Cycling quote No1: Kraftwerk. Manchester

"Cycling is like music. It is always forward. It is free; it is outside; it is the weather; it is the planet; it is energy." Ralf Hutter, Kraftwerk

Was this really 3.5 years ago?

Normal service...

...will resume shortly.  I've been out on my bike!

@cyclingtips shows the Stelvio Pass off in all its glory

Beautiful photos of the Stelvio Pass at Cycling Tips - really, stunning stuff by Jered Gruber taken on November 23rd. Enjoy.

Very, very nice

BMX boys (and girls) have a lot to have fun on these days

Had a bit of a mooch about the 'new' Bicycle motocross (BMX) track at the National Cycling Centre yesterday.  You have to say that the whole set up there is superb.  Back in the day when the Velodrome sat there in splendid isolation, it looked, well, pretty bleak.
The Manchester Velodrome is by no means the most beautiful building in the world but the addition of the new bit really adds some critical mass to the whole area - you feel as if you are actually somewhere rather than have just stumbled upon the disused husk of a giant something or other.

Starting ramp

Anyway, the BMX centre looks like great fun. In keeping with the tradition of describing places in relation to familiar things - like football pitches, london buses and Nelson's Column - the whole area is about the same size as a football pitch and about as high as Nelson's Column.  You should now have it's dimensions indelibly fixed into your mind.

First and final turns

I never owned a BMX as a kid, I stuck with the Raleigh Grifter until I got my first road bike.  A few mates had them though with one coming a horrendous cropper in an incident with a teddy bear and a mag wheel - I can hear the cries of anguish to this day.

Nice things to lock your bike to No2

As bike racks go, this little fellah takes some beating.  It is at the National Cycling Centre (Manchester Velodrome) though so you'd expect it to be pretty good.
Although it's not exactly over-subscribed with bikes, at least the owner of the BMW 1250GS is making good use!

Busier in the summer presumably

Can't go slow in Manchester?

Beyond anything, this blog is trying uncover and champion all aspects of cycling culture principally in Manchester and the surrounding region.  From people pootling to the shops on upright town bikes in the sunshine to the grand tours which are piped into my front room by Eurosport and everything in-between.
What I find most interesting is how cycling can unify disparate groups of people.  I've banged on before about how I see the bike as a democratising vehicle and one which brings people of different genders, classes and races together.
So, it is therefore always really pleasing when you shine your torch into a hitherto dark corner and discover a fully functioning and energetic group of bikers who are doing their own thing in their own particular way.
Just such a thing happened to me the other night when I had my eyes opened to the cantgoslo cycling sub-culture.

No such word

Now, I had been sort of aware that this group existed as I'd seen their stickers around and about.  To be honest, I thought it was something to do with Norway - with the Oslo reference.
However, I was delighted to discover that it is in fact, a group of passionate fixie riders who, when you boil it down to its fundamental elements, rag around on their bikes, eyeballs out, enjoying themselves. That's what cycling is supposed to be isn't it?  Fun.
They put on events - like film screenings at Cord Bar in the Northern Quarter and regular 'races' around the city.
The accoutrements of this world take their lead from what you might call the courier look: very urban, beards, earrings, tatts, caps and other stuff.  There are few references to pro-cycling save for a commodity fetish for 'old school' hardware.  You have to say, it looks pretty good, apart from the beards perhaps!
If you want to know more then you can find them on Bacefook or check out their website.  
Enjoy and ride safe.

2013, Froome's year?

Chris Froome has been talking up Team Sky's chances for next season and he thinks it could be a magnificent year for the team.
By his reckoning, Sky could nail the Giro and Tour with Wiggins and himself respectively.
Much has been said about the Giro route being suited to Wiggo - time trials etc, but does the 100th Tour route suite Froome?

France, in yellow

Well, it's hilly and we all saw his superb form in the Tour's mountains last year.
If it pans out this way - Froome being given a shot at Le Tour - then next year's event will provide mouthwatering dual between Froome and Bertie on some memorable stages.
There are hills, hills and more hills on next year's parcours right up until the penultimate day.  The double ascent of Alpe d'Huez on the same day should be spectacular too.
I'm already looking forward to it. A bit sad? Possibly but we need something to keep us going throughout the winter!

You have nothing to lube but your chains

So, there was no other way to avoid it, today I decided to get stuck in and clean my chain.
The science and materials in cleaning the drive chain on your bike are remarkably complex and you can find much advice via your preferred search engine.
I am going to add to the rump of information out there but hopefully demistify the process somewhat by revealing my simple guide to how I clean my chain.
The wonderful Sheldon Brown reckons that chain maintenance is one of the most controversial aspects of bike mechanics owing to the various schools of thought as to how you should tackle your filthy chain.
Essentially, my approach is a quick & dirty solution: clean it.
The materials you need are:
Some hot water with detergent (washing-up liquid) in, a rag, some degreaser, a scrubbing brush, lots of elbow grease and some oil to lube up once you've finished - lube up your chain I mean obviously.
It's really not difficult to maintain a healthy chain with 'little and often' being the mantra. Once you've removed the worst of the filth with a dry rag, wet the rag and remove a bit more.  Then spray degreaser and remove lots more.
Remember to use elbow grease liberally during the process.  Repeat steps two and three until chain is clean - scrubbing brush can be used at this stage.

Shiny links

You'll know when it's clean as it'll look like metal again rather than being black and it won't mike a grinding noise in the links.
To lube up, just dot some oil on each link and let it soak through.  Remove any excess with a different dry rag.
Do the same on your cassette, chainrings and jockey wheels and your bike will love you for it.  A well maintained chain lasts approximately 4,500 years longer than one left to the elements so it's well worth doing.  It also makes your bike sound nice too.
Go forth and get scrubbing!

Maintenance lessons with @BritishCycling in Manchester

This Saturday, British Cycling is hosting an intermediate bike maintenance class at the Velodrome.  Coming in at a pretty steep £125 per person, you'd expect it to be absolutely bob on in terms of advice and guidance for how to get the very best out of your bike.
The day long event, including lunch and refreshments, covers basic stuff like changing an inner tube and some other set up stuff.
Building your knowledge of how to maintain your bike and keep it moving when events conspire against you, is a great skill to have.  There's nothing worse than puncturing on your ride home from work in the rain.  However, with a bit of knowledge you should be back on the road again in a few short minutes.

Stiff link anyone?

I hope the people who go get their money's worth and make the most of it.  At the time of writing the link above says there are eight places remaining.
It reminds me actually, I need to clean my chain.

@andycronshaw weighs in to cycle safety debate

Wiggo's and Shane Sutton's crashes continue to make headlines and generate many column inches in our newspapers investigation just what should, or could, be done to make riding safer in the UK.
The piece below appeared in the Manchester Evening News a couple of days ago as they continue to weigh in to the debate.

I agree with everything Andy Cronshaw says in the article but would add that being assertive on your bike is one of the best ways of keeping safe.
I've always taken the view that if some loon is beeping their car horn at you, then that's a good thing as it means they've seen that you're in their way.  Or to put it another way, I'd rather somebody shout some obscenity at me rather than knock me off because they 'didn't see me'.
At times it's a really fine line though and you can easily put yourself in more danger but assertiveness is generally good while recklessness is, well, reckless. 

Thanks to @cyclinstructor for the head's up.

Fallowfield Loop, Manchester bike lane par excellence

For me, The Fallowfield Loop is a bit like Halfords: you know it's there but you never use it because it's not for 'real' cyclists.  But today I decided to swallow my snobbery and take a ride along the route from Chorlton to Ashton.
I have to say, it's really good and pretty much exactly as I'd anticipated: decent surface for the most part, a fair few dogs, bridges, leaves, bit of art, and puddles.  There wasn't much litter though which is always welcome.

Anti-tank system

For the uninitiated, the Fallowfield Loop is an eight mile bridleway running from Chorlton in South Manchester to the City of Manchester Soccer Dome in East Manchester.  It includes just one detour onto the road at Levenshulme where you have to negotiate a mahoosive Sainsway supermarket.
It's a former railway route and hence, it's basically flat all the way.  It is punctuated with regular anti-tank defence systems which mean you have to either get off and lift your bike over a piece of tubular steel or slalom through the defences while making a 'woosh' noise if you want. 
The only bad section is by a new housing development next to Fairfield Station. The current path disappears around the back of the houses and degenerates into a loose pile of hardcore rather than a sealed surface.  However, it seems that the path will eventually link into the new houses when somebody moves the block & mesh fence.
Sustrans reckon it'll take you 57 minutes to ride the length of it which seems quite generous.  It's a great  thing all told and should be celebrated.

@cyclehatred. For women?

Cycling safety has been on the news and political agenda for most of the year mainly thanks to The Times' cities fit for cycling campaign.  While there is still something a little bit odd about The Times taking on this campaign with such gusto - it's like a badly fitting jumper - it is undoubtedly welcome and long may they continue with it.
I have to confess, I don't see The Times every day so I don't know if the campaign appears in print everyday or not.  Things always feel more real wen they're printed on paper don't they?
In the aftermath of Wiggo and Shane Sutton getting knocked off, the focus on cycling safety has intensified. 
The whole churn of media coverage which ensued has highlighted the intensity of feeling from all sides when it comes to cycling with the righteous two-wheelers pleading for better investment on one side and a foul group of unthinking spite-mongers vomiting their embittered rants via social media on the other.
For everybody's entertainment, the @cyclehatred twitter feed captures all this hate and redistributes it to the world.

Reading through the bile, it is clear that some are spoofs, some are from frustrated rational people who 'don't really think  that' but others, you can just tell the ones, really mean some of it.
What is really surprising about it to me, is the amount of women who tweet such horrendous stuff about other people just because of their chosen method of transport.
It's not that I don't believe women are capable of hate - they are often the worst - but it is just so much more unpleasant and unexpected to hear some lass with a cutesy twitter name demanding the death of cyclists like its the most normal thing ever.
No doubt some of these people will have 'runs on fairy dust' stickers in the back windows of their cars which, while I despise, I don't believe they should be killed for possessing.

Well observed Rapha parody

Excellent parody of Rapha over at Jahvahaah.  All in a good cause too. 

A lazy weekend post culled from The Guardian.

Nice things to lock your bike to No1

Who says that Sheffield stands have to be boring?  Betws-y-Coed, certainly don't think so.
Have a look at these beauties which are just outside the train station next to the excellent Alpine Cafe which does a superb Victoria Sponge.

Nice, if not a bit twee

Wiggo in Van Slam Sham

Having won as many Olympic medals and anybody else in your country's history, and becoming your nation's first ever Tour de France winner does not insulate you from the painful reality of cycling in the UK.

This is what Bradley Wiggins has discovered after being knocked off his bike by a van.  How pathetic that sounds: Tour de France winner knocked off bike by a van.

Dutch vans are different

It was Marx who said that 'History repeats itself first as tragedy and second as farce' and he was absolutely right.

Every day, people are knocked off bikes and nothing is done about it.  The £billions which is spent on road building and other pet projects to appease certain lobby groups is frankly disgusting for a nation such as ours in the early 21st century.

The mockery of cycling by the likes of Clarkson, his posher alter-ego but equally loathsome Quentin Wilson or the crowning turd, TV cook James Martin, has a logical conclusion and it ends with people getting knocked off - simples.

If you listen carefully, you can hear the conversations taking place in offices and over garden fences right now: 'I was going to ride my bike to work but if that Brady Wiggin fellah is getting knocked off, then what chance have I got?'

But, could there be a positive backlash?  Could Bradley's accident - which I confess, I don't know who was at fault for - actually have a galvanising effect on cycling safety?  Well, optimistic perhaps but without optimism what do we have?  Jeremy Clarkson, that's what. Eugh! 

One final thought, it should be interesting to hear Wiggo's account of what happened - he rarely pulls his punches.

The Cycle Race

Loving this cartoon of The Cycle Race by @davewalker and shown on the wonderful cadenced tumblr site.

Enjoy.

Can Parliament Get Britain Cycling?

It's a year since The Times picked up the cudgels and decided to campaign for safer cycling in the UK. Only the most mealy-mouthed observer would accuse the paper of commercial opportunism in pursuing this campaign which started after a reporter, Mary Bowers, was knocked off and almost killed while riding to work.
As you might expect, the campaigning weight of a, some say the, national newspaper has taken the debate into the the arena where change can be affected: parliament.
Earlier in the year when Times editor James Harding and Jon Snow from Channel 4 news addressed the transport select committee, they provided a very robust argument on both the why and what of future cycling in the UK.
Now, Parliament has taken things a step further with the announcement that the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group is holding an inquiry to '...examine the barriers which are preventing more people cycling in the UK.'

APPCG lead out team

This inquiry is going to be vital in shaping the future direction of cycling strategy and I'd encourage everyone with the faintest interest in cycling to respond to the Group's call for evidence.
You can do this via The Times' online survey if you like and can ignore the inherent London-centric questioning (take my bike on the Tube?).
The deadline for submissions is December 5 2012 with the final report, which will be written by Prof Phil Goodwin from Bristol Uni, published in mid-April 2013.
Get involved.

Hill climb blues

Greg LeMond once said about cycling that "It never gets easier; you just go faster." For me that quote encapsulates much of what cycling is about for everyone from Tour de France winners to the semi-serious club rider.
You do not have to be a cyclist to understand that cycling for more than say, 30-40 miles, is about endurance, effort and, occasionally, pain.
As you strain every sinew to grind your way to the top of a steep incline, you can be forgiven for thinking that you never want to see your bike again.  Wishing you could be spirited away to the top of the climb or placed in some nearby tea shop in the company of a steaming brew and a cherry scone.

Granny ring ahead

Of course, this doesn't happen as you select your lowest gear and try to maintain forward momentum.
But gradually, you get stronger and fitter.  Hills which you used to suffer on now roll beneath you and go unnoticed.  It's still hard, you still have to apply pressure to your pedals to get there, but you are going and, more importantly, going faster.
Soon you begin to understand that everyone else you are riding with is in the same boat: everyone is suffering on the climbs it's just that some suffer at a higher pace.
That everyone suffers provides excellent encouragement to the club rider: not in any schadenfreude way but knowing you are not alone can be a welcome tonic.
There's a good article on riding hills on this blog if you're interested. 

£1.2m for new bike infrastructure in Salford

It's been a few years since the famous libeiterian politician Norman Tebbit helpfully suggested that the 4 million unemployed people his government presided over should get on their bikes and find a job - just like his dad did.
Bless. This is not the place to explore the siesmic economic shifts which were applied to Britain in the early 80s and analyse whether the ownership of a bicycle would have helped a metal basher from Birmingham get a job in a call centre.

5 bees, two lions and a ship - Salford's coat of arms

But, the unusual thing is, is that this thinking has just re-emerged, in Salford.
Now, I don't suggest for a minute that Salford City Council has adopted Tebbit's view that unemployed people are all lazy scumbags and they could get a job if they pulled their collective fingers out.  Rather Salford Council's announcement this week that it is to spend £1.2m on cycling infrastructure to '...help local people access jobs...' should be seen as a progressive step in trying to get more people to cycle sensible distances to major centres of employment.
£1.2m doesn't sound like a game-changing amount of money for Salford but the more politicians recognise the value of and logical argument of the bicycle, the better for all of us.
The list of works includes:

• A 1.8km two way, off road cycle route along the A5063 Broadway, the main traffic route to the Quays, and improvements to its junction with South Langworthy Road. 
• A cycle route from the University of Salford to Salford Quays, which links in with £10m worth of traffic calming schemes on the A6, and runs along Trafford Road to link up with Broadway. 
• A shared pedestrian/cycle path along Regent Road, which is currently unpopular with cyclists due to heavy traffic, and improved cycle routes along Langworthy Road and Weaste Lane which will also link with Broadway. 
• Alongside this the Council aims to improve cycling along the River Irwell to the north of the University of Salford in a bid to take up to 1000 car journeys a day off the roads. 
• Improvements will be carried out to bridges, junctions, signs and crossings along the route as well as creating a path to be shared by cyclists and pedestrians between Woden Street and Fairbrother St, Ordsall. Irwell River Park will also become part of the National Cycle Network as route NCN 556 and will link Salford Quays to Salford Central Station, Salford University, the A6 Chapel St and new developments at Salford Central and Greengate. 

South Manchester Cycling Reporter

It's amazing how often cycling features in the South Manchester Reporter.
As highlighted in an earlier post, one of the members of Chorlton Velo - Kiwi Chris - recently had his trusty steed stolen from outside of the Tesco on Barlow Moor Road at 8am on Sunday morning.
The South Manchester Reporter has this week given Chris a quarter of a page on his quest to get his bike back.

Chris, his bike and some bananas

Yes, this is a great story for a local newspaper: expensive bike, trusting punter and an element of humour - Chris was in the shop to buy a banana for the club run.
They say that 'there's no such thing as bad publicity' so let's hope it helps Chris get his wheels back.
I have it on good authority that articles about cycling in the South Manchester Reporter and the Manchester Evening news regularly get masses of hits on the website.
Further evidence then that cycling has now moved far beyond a marginal interest activity.
Indeed, our sport is more popular than ever and it is only where it collides with the non-cycling world that it gets too painful.  Apart from riding uphill into a headwind of course.
Ride safe.

Route 62 - South Manchester

Route 62 of the Sustrans National Cycle network links Lancashire with North Yorkshire and, in the process takes in some of the more pleasant environs of Greater Manchester.
The part I'm most familiar with is the section which follows the Mersey Valley along its meandering course in-between the river's source in Stockport and the place where the same course is obliterated by the Manchester Ship Canal somewhere beyond Carrington Moss.
The route is well signposted and, in the main, is bike friendly with only a few obstacles in the way for you to negotiate.
The main issue with this section though is that it is very much a shared surface.  While it may not be a problem for many cyclists to share the path with joggers, horses, dogs and push-chairs, it's not really conducive to the continuity of riding you might be after. 
That said, it's a lovely place to visit with loads of wildlife to spot too - you can even get a pint at Jackson's Bridge if you like.
I can imagine hat riding the length of this route would be a great thing to do - maybe this is one for the spring?

Rough Ride with Paul Kimmage

Having just finished reading Paul Kimmage's 1990 book Rough Ride, I thought it was worth taking a moment to reflect on the main themes of the book.
While doping, and the breaking of cycling's code of silence toward doping feature heavily, for me, the central theme of the book is one of how professional cycling has broken the dreams and spirit of a thousand riders.
Those fortunate enough to make it, mainly face a career of obscurity and water carrying. If you're lucky, very lucky, one day they might let you win a stage or an event.  But for the majority, it's a story of toil, commercial pressures, shit hotels and racing against people who you once beat easily but now struggle to stay with on the flat.

Written 1990, read by me 2012. Slow reader

This is the context in which the doping flourished.  It should be no surprise that the doping became more sophisticated as winning became more lucrative and more telegenic.
The other maddening pressure which comes across in his book is the fear of what to do next.  What does a former professional cyclist do?  Open a bike shop? Write a book perhaps.  For the ones that remain in some way in the public eye, there are countless thousands who fade into obscurity and do what the rest of us would do: just get a job, any job.
The final chapter  'Andre' about former team-mate Andre Chappuis brings this fear into unnerving focus.
Kimmage has of course become something of a cycling cause celebre in recent months with UCI beginning legal proceedings against him.  They should put a statute up to him in my view - or, perhaps more appropriately, establish some kind of long-suffering cyclist award!  I jest of course.
In the book Kimmage hoped that the doping of his era would be tackled and ended: that the UCI would bare its teeth and intervene. We know that it didn't and the whiff of suspicion remains that that they actually became further embroiled.
It seems now that the leadership is being shown by the teams - specifically Team Sky and its 'if you doped your out' policy.
As Sky and others move to reassure sponsors, the commercial imperative remains but as a punter and a defender of cycling, I Just hope that the doping can be finally put to bed.

Manchester Bike Hub is go!

So, the hotly anticipated Bike Hub cycle parking facility has received its official launch and it has now become clear how much cycling infrastructure you can get for half a million quid.
What you get is 200, bike spaces, lockers for some users, showers and an Edinburgh Bike Co-Op outlet.
The facility which is in the basement of City Tower in Piccadilly Gardens, will be open from 6am to 8pm and will cost users £100 or £200 per year for membership.
While I think that any investment in cycling facilities is a good thing and should be applauded, you do have to ask yourself if this will really encourage new people to take to the road and commute to town on their bikes.

Presumably the on-foot exit/entrance 

After all, this is what this facility is all about: getting more people to ride bikes to work.
Consultation was undertaken last year on this infrastructure which I remember responding to.  It was a classic case of consulting on a pre-agreed plan as what we've ended up with here is pretty much what was described by the questions of the consultation.
So: card access, mechanical advice on-site, showers and undercover spaces is what it's all about.
There may be a little bit of 'build it and they will come' about the Bike Hub but at least it is there and we can see if it does have an effect.  Will more people take to the streets or does it just offer an alternative for existing cyclists?
It'll be interesting to see how well this small step works out when it opens properly on November 12th. 

South Manchester bike theft

Theft is one of the two things I would consign to room 101 if I had the chance. The other is litter by the way.
The front page of this week's South Manchester Reporter is all about theft, bike theft in particular.
Apparently a spate of bike thefts have been going on in Chorlton, Didsburyshire and Withington as the robbing unmentionables have apparently developed a taste for high-end carbon road bikes.
My first ever new bike, a Cannondale hybrid got nicked from town a few years back and I still look for it to this day.

Bike theft, stiletto attack and a cat 

It's a painful experience having your bike nicked, it really is.
Just last week one of the Chorlton Velo members had his carbon steed lifted while he was in the shop at 8am on a Sunday morning. You can read the outpouring of sympathy and disbelief in the comments section of the 'paper here. 
It's difficult not to go all 'Daily Mail' when thinking what can be about bike theft, let's just hope this publicity has some positive effect.

Autumn cycling beauty

So pleased I managed to get out yesterday rather than waiting for today's club run.
Although its not as wet as feared today, yesterday was an absolute stunner.
A relatively flat 75 miler around the Cheshire lanes including a splendid frangipane cake at Jodrell Bank.
Millions of crisp colourful leaves from a hundred thousand trees lined our route most of which will be like soggy weetabix in a week's time.
Beautiful halcyon days.

Lighting up time

One day last week on the daily commute home I cruised past this chap on a mountain bike. Wearing jeans, trainers and a sports-casual jacket (him, not me), my first thought was 'good on him, the more people on bikes we have the better.' This was immediately followed with the thought: 'do yourself a favour pal and get yourself some lights.'
I've had mine on my bike for a couple of weeks now but with the clocks going back on Sunday, there'll be a good few sets of lights dusted off this weekend.
It's a rather depressing thought that we'll have to wait until the end of February for it to be light at 6pm again.  But if you want cheering up, it's only eight weeks until the winter solstice and the days start lengthening.
I use three lights: one rear, two front. Lighting technology has come on leaps and bounds over the last decade or so with the development of LED technology.
I've always really rated Cateye lights as , apart from anything, you can but replacement brackets and the like rather than having to buy a whole new light because a plastic clip breaks.
You really do get what you pay for with lights and, with that in mind, I pepped up my front luminosity with a Moon 500.  It's a neat little unit which charges via a USB and it's bright.

The light of a silvery moon

While the high viz top may be de rigueur among certain parts of the cycling community, I think they are a option, while a decent set of lights are an absolute must.
So, if you're going out riding this weekend, go and treat yourself to some lights first.  It's nearly Christmas after all!
Ride safe

Manchester's most famous cyclist?

There are a few riders who could fit the bill of Manchester's most famous cyclist: Darryl Webster is a name which springs to my mind, there's a really interesting interview with him here - apparently he lives in Wales now.
Although Chris Boardman rode for Manchester Wheelers, he's from Wirral so doesn't count.
Neither do any of the 'Manchester based' British Cycling team which the MEN is fond of claiming as their own.
There are names of which I know very little such as: Cyril Cartwright and Reg Harris.
But, above all of these is one rider whose legendary status has led him to becoming synonymous with the two-wheeled machine we love. A man whose very identity is built around The Bike.
A man, so ingrained in the culture of the city that his photograph currently takes pride of place on the hoardings around the Central Library.

Matt The Bike: the legend

I give you Matt 'The bike'. Matt is the original cycle courier in the city centre and can often be found having a soft drink in The Britons between jobs.  A very familiar face around the city who is now welcoming thousands of visitors as they disembark the tram at St Peter's Square.
If you see him, say hello!