Recently in Cycling Category
First ride of 2012
This morning I had my first cycle ride of the new year, and I feel fantastic. I had forgotten how invigorating it is to ride to work, and how much more alert and energetic I feel afterwards.
I live so near to work now that I’ve slipped into the habit of leaving the bike at home most days. When you add in all the time it takes to walk to the bike shed and unlock, and then re-lock at the other end, a bike ride only really saves me a couple of minutes. And the bonus when I walk is that I can listen to music - which is much too dangerous a practice when cycling on the Dublin roads!
However, I really must make the effort to use the bike more. I used to ride it every day, come rain or shine, but that’s fallen to about two days a week now.
January 6, 2012
New Gloves
I’m still loving the new bike, but I’m still getting used to the new riding position - whereby I’m less upright than on the old bike. And because of it, I’m supporting more weight on my hands, which has caused a bit of pain in my palms and numbness in my fingers on longer rides.
So I read that new gloves might help relieve the pressure, and so ordered some Chiba Comfort Gel Mitts. I’ve been using them for about a week now, and the difference is huge. I haven’t done any long rides yet (about the longest so far was about 5km) this week, but I can tell that the new gloves are really helping. There’s no sign of numbness, and the pain in my palms is much reduced.
Of course I’ve also read that hand pain can also be caused by a badly adjusted bike seat, so I may have to talk to the folks in my local bike shop to get some advice on how to change it.
Rothar
If you’re in the market for a second-hand bicycle, need some bike repair training, or even just need some space and tools to do some repairs, then Rothar is for you.
Situated on the Phibsborough Road D7, they are a community project that takes donated old bikes (as well as abandoned bikes from around the city) and renovates them in their workshop; selling them on second-hand at a very reasonable price.
I really love the concept, because it promotes recycling and reuse, sustainable transport, and community-based education.
I just wish my new bike would hurry up and arrive in the shop, so that I can donate my existing ride to the project.
Dublin Cycling Websites
A collection of web sites that are useful to cyclists in Dublin and the rest of Ireland:
- Cycling in Dublin - City of Dublin cycling portal, with bike route maps and a facility to suggest and vote for new cycle parking stands.
- Dublin Bikes - the bike sharing scheme with 40 rental stations around the city centre.
- Dublin Cycling Campaign - representing the interests of everyday cyclists.
- National Bike Week - which ran from 14-21st June 2009, and organised a load of biking events,
- Smarter Travel - Department of Transport site outlining sustainable transport plans, including the National Cycle Policy Framework.
- Bike to Work - details of the government’s tax-efficient scheme allowing staff to purchase new bikes for commuting to work through their employer.
Time for a new bike?
My bicycle is broken, again.
On my ride home from work today I heard a distinctly loud clunk, and stopped to find that the rear wheel was way out of line and rubbing against the brakes and frame. And at first thought, I guessed it must be a broken spoke or two, but I checked them and they all seemed fine. So I looked a bit more, and eventually spotted the wheel axle itself was broken. A disc of metal had broken off, and all this lubricant stuff was leaking out, and you could see the ball bearings popping out.
It’s yet another repair that I have to deal with. The bike itself was pretty cheap - but with the amount of money I’ve spent on it since then, replacing and repairing various bit, I’ve probably doubled the original outlay. And there’s only so long that I’ll be prepared to throw good money after bad.
I had been pondering the idea of a new bike for a few of weeks anyway, and I guess today’s problem is helping to focus my mind. I have an idea about the kind of bike I want to get, and I’m rather hoping that my employer with embrace the Irish government’s Bike to Work tax-efficient scheme, as it would give me a significant discount.
And until I decide whether to go for a new bike, I’m rather loathed to get the old one fixed. After all, I sense this repair might cost a few quid, and if I then tried to sell the bike on second-hand, I doubt that I’d get that money back. And so, I guess I’m back to being a pedestrian again for a few days.
Wide Rider
Some more bike-related problems this week, which require a visit to my friendly local cycle shop.
Firstly, I discovered a few days ago that two of the spokes on my back wheel are broken. I noticed the wheel was buckled about 10 days ago, because the brake pads had been catching on a certain section of the wheel, and I had assumed that some moron had kicked the bike when it was parked up in the city. But the real truth is that two adjacent spokes on the same side of the wheel had snapped (I know not when), and the subsequent imbalance of tension from the spokes on the two sides had warped the wheel. So as an interim measure, I adjusted some of the spoke tensions around the break to staighten the wheel a bit, and kept riding. But I realise this is only a short term fix, and that I have to deal with it properly.
Secondly, my saddle - or rather the bracket that holds it to the seat post - is in a very poor state. The metal bracket has over time buckled quite considerably; such that the saddle now wobbles considerably front-to-back. It’s still okay to ride for short trips, but it does feel quite strange, and can sometimes press uncomfortably on the nethers.
Sadly, both of these mechanical problems almost certainly stem from the overly excessive strain placed on the bike by its heavy rider (me). I’ve had other cycle problems in the past because of my weight, such as a pinch flat and two sets of broken pedals, but generally the bike had held up remarkably well. It just gets expensive when these problems crop up, and my visits to the cycle shop have become frequent.
None of this has put me off cycling however. Ever since a friend of mine convinced me (some 9 months ago) to blow the cobwebs off my unused bike, I’ve been a convert - and have developed a passion for all things cycling. I used to walk pretty much everywhere, as I’ve avoided owning a car in Ireland, but it used to take a long time to get anywhere. Whereas on the bike, I can get to placed further afield than on foot, and much faster. And now, I hardly walk anywhere.
National Bike Week
Ireland’s National Bike Week kicked off on Sunday with a Family Fun Day in Dublin’s Phoenix Park on Sunday. The event included a non-competitive 10km ride through the park, which attracted all manner of cyclist — although sadly not enough to break the world record.
All this week the events continue, with free bike tune-ups available across the country, and various rides and cycle-to-work days. I’m hoping to take park in the Dublin City Cycle on Wednesday evening.
Broken bike
Last week it was a broken pedal, and today it was a puncture. I didn’t notice anything particularly hazardous on the road, but there seems to be loads of glass on the road generally, so it was probably that.
It’s a pain in the arse, because now I have to walk to work tomorrow, and then set aside some time for the repair. I have a patch kit somewhere, but I haven’t got any tools to get the tyre off. When I was a kid I remember that we used to use spoons out of the kitchen drawer - which probably accounted for the cutlery with kinks in the handles that my family had to endure for years.
Maybe I should just admit defeat, and get the cycle shop to do the repair.
Dublin Cycle News
A couple of interesting cycle-related news stories have been reported in the last day or so. Firstly, that Ireland is having it’s first National Bike Week from the 14th to 21st June, with lots of events encouraging people to cylce more (News Story). And secondly, that Dublin is about to launch a bicycle rental scheme in July - whereby people can borrow a bike for up to half an hour for free (News Story). Luckily, it seems, they have learnt from the failures of other rental schemes, and are asking members to pay a large deposit on the bikes they borrow - to hopefully ensure they don’t all get stolen.
Subscribe to the Atom
feed