Cycle magazine August/September 2020

cycle THE MAGAZINE OF CYCLING UK

On test

CAIRN E-ADVENTURE SHIMANO GRX TOWWHEE TOW ROPE GILETS & MORE

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2020 £3 OR FREE TO MEMBERS

BUDGET BELTERS

Sub-£300 city bike and a £550 folder

B IKE BOOM

CYCLING’S SURGE & HOW TO SUSTAIN IT Page 48

P lu s CYCLING UK PRIZE DRAW FLIGHT-FREE TOURING ALPE D’HUEZ RIDE GUIDE AND MUCH MORE

CONTENTS 34

40 Flight-free touring Can trains trump planes for cycling in Europe?

48 Bike boom Cycling’s surge and how to sustain it

52 What a performance!

A music hall tour of London’s East End

Products 20 Shop Window Previews of new products

22 Gear up Components, accessories, and books

62 Tern Link B7 A 20in-wheel folder that won’t break the bank

64 Excelsior Touring Less than £300 gets you a smart German city bike

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66 Cairn E-Adventure 1.0 An e-gravel bike with a removable motor

69 Gilets Four lightweight sleeveless jackets

Regulars 04 Freewheeling Bits and pieces from the bike world

07 This is Cycling UK

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18 You are Cycling UK One nurse’s cycling epiphany

31 Letters

On the cover Cyclists in Guildford, photographed

by Andy Gollogly

Coronavirus For updated advice regarding the Covid-19 outbreak, visit: cyclinguk.org/ coronavirus

Online events during lockdown; King Alfred’s Way update; proposed membership changes; Cycling UK’s summer raffle; and more

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Your feedback on Cycle and cycling

46 Weekender Forget Zwift: ride Alpe d’Huez for real

57 Cyclopedia Questions answered, topics explained

73 Travellers’ Tales Cycling UK members’ ride reports

CYCLING UK: Parklands, Railton Road, Guildford, GU2 9JX E: cycling@cyclinguk.org W: cyclinguk.org T: 01483 238300. Cycle promotes the work of Cycling UK. Cycle’s circulation is approx. 51,000. Cycling UK is one of the UK’s largest cycling membership organisations, with approx. 68,000 members and affiliates Patron: Her Majesty the Queen President: Jon Snow Interim Chief Executive: Pete Fitzboydon. Cyclists’ Touring Club, a Company Limited by Guarantee, registered in England No 25185, registered as a charity in England and Wales Charity No 1147607 and in Scotland No SC042541. Registered office: Parklands, Railton Road, Guildford, GU2 9JX. CYCLE MAGAZINE: Editor: Dan Joyce E: cycle@jamespembrokemedia.co.uk Head of Design: Simon Goddard Designer: Katrina Ravn Advertising: Harvey Falshaw T: 020 3198 3092 E: harvey.falshaw@jamespembrokemedia.co.uk Publisher: James Houston. Cycle is published six times per year on behalf of Cycling UK by James Pembroke Media, 90 Walcot Street, Bath, BA1 5BG. T: 01225 337777. Cycle is copyright Cycling UK, James Pembroke Media, and individual contributors. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission from Cycling UK and James Pembroke Media is forbidden. Views expressed in the magazine are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or the policies of Cycling UK. Advertising bookings are subject to availability, the terms and conditions of James Pembroke Media, and final approval

by Cycling UK. Printed by: William Gibbons & Sons Ltd, 26 Planetary Road, Willenhall, West Midlands, WV13 3XB T: 01902 730011 F: 01902 865835 Founded in 1878

Top to bottom: Marion Shoote, Alamy, Alamy, Simon Warren

With the lockdown easing, our horizons are expanding. No longer must bike rides be solo affairs: we can ride with friends for fun. Social cycling is back. Longer weekend rides are again on the agenda. And many of us will be starting to look further ahead than that – mulling over cycling holidays to come.

As I write in early July, there’s talk of ‘air bridges’ between countries in Europe. How airlines will manage social distancing in the cramped confines of a 737 remains to be seen. Also up in the air, as it were, is whether there will be changes in the public’s attitude toward flying.

For one thing, there’s the perception of risk. Who hasn’t at one time caught a mere cold on the flight home? Then there’s the question of whether we want to fly as much. The new normal has been “not jetting off anywhere”. For some, that might stick.

But if we choose not to fly with our bikes, how practical are the alternatives? Everyone knows it’s possible to get to the Mediterranean by train, ferry, and/or cycling. But is it a realistic prospect or an expensive exercise in frustration tolerance?

There’s a sense in some quarters that 2020 hit the reset button – that things might be different now. For local travel, we can all hope that cycling has a bigger role to play; see page 48. For trips further afield, perhaps we’ve passed peak plane travel? Read the article on page 40 and see what you think.

Cycle Editor

34 Babypacking Taking a toddler through the Tatra Mountains

Welcome

DAN JOYCE

Features

cycle O RLD O F CYCLIN G W L FU ER ND O W E TH D A SH O RT TO UR ARO UN

Shop Window

MORE PREVIEWS ON PAGE 20

Out there

R ER WITH MIRRO S-WORKS POWu” s thi – ne mi t – their words, no

Mike with daughter Annette, after riding the 50-mile Eroica Britannia, aged 86

tion of yo n “The perfect reflec and fixed to a carbo from liquid polymer ow, nb rai of t ou e saddle is 3D -printed ad dle “m lding out for a sad ialized.com shell. I’ll pass: I’m ho ome). £3 49 (!), spec Jer K e rom (Je ” ud stuffed with clo

You ride

New tech

Mike Hutchinson

Bibo Sophie Cycling Dress

90-year-old mile-eater

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ycling UK member ‘Mike the bike’ has been marking his birthday with a cycle ride since he turned 80 and decided to celebrate by riding 80km. He’s added a kilometre each year; this May he rode 90km for his 90th.

For the last couple of years he’s been using a Cube e-bike for his birthday rides – and many others besides; he clocked up 3,500 miles on it. Then it was stolen just before his birthday.

Fortunately he got hold of a replacement in time.

Like many cyclists, Mike’s ridden lots of bikes over the years.

He still has the tandem he rode with wife Anne on the Avenue Verte in France when both were in their seventies. And he has an exercise bike in the sitting room.

Mike used to be a keen glider pilot until an unscheduled landing on top of the Black Mountains forced him to give up his wings.

ELECTRIC DREAMS E-bikes are more popular than ever these days. If you’re considering one, read Cycling UK’s e-bike guide first: cyclinguk. org/article/guide-electric-bikes

Bike tech

Wolftooth Supple Bar Tape Double-wrapping is the traditional way to improve the cushioning of your bar tape. Or there’s this: silicone bar tape that’s 5mm thick versus the 1.6mm of other tapes. It’s meant for gravel bikes and has a tackier surface to stop your hands slipping. Not cheap: £43. wolftoothcomponents. com

Event VOLUNTEER CELEBRATION GOES ONLINE

The technical fabric of this light, stretchy, and breathable dress is 63% nylon and 37% elastane. It has an ‘internal mechanism’ so it can be clipped from the back to stop it flapping on the bike. The hem and detachable belt are reflective. Sizes 8-14. £149, bibocycle.com

The theme of Cycling UK’s Volunteer Celebration this October will be increasing diversity in cycling.

The online event will feature a series of workshops, panel discussions, training opportunities, and more – including recognition for those amazing volunteers who have been working hard during the pandemic.

To register your interest in attending the online event, go to cyclinguk.org/Volunteer-Celebration-2020 4

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On my bike

Try this

NOMINATE YOUR NO. 1 CAFÉ Coffee and cake are two ingredients to a good day in the saddle that we’ve been missing lately. As lockdown eases and cafés reopen their doors, Cycling UK is championing the best in the business with its annual Cyclist Café of the Year awards. Nominate

Picture this...

Bike hacks

CLEAN OILY HANDS Bike repairs often mean dirty hands.

Run out of workshop-grade hand cleaner? Or out and about on your bike? Try sugar and washing-up liquid; liquid soap works too. Pour a generous amount of sugar into your palm, then add the washing-up liquid or soap to make an abrasive paste. Rub it thoroughly into your hands, then rinse off.

your favourite cycle-friendly venue and tell us what makes it so special. Is it the brilliant bike bakes or the warm welcome? Maybe it’s the offer of takeaway tea during a socially-distanced trip? Cast your vote! cyclinguk.org/cyclist-cafeyear-2020

#12NightsOutIn1Year We relaxed the rules a little during the lockdown for our #12nightsoutin1year Instagram challenge: not camping out but capturing the mood was okay. Mike Johnson (@zombikombi on Instagram) was judged to be May’s winner of a Mini Trangia for this dawn shot over Fovant Down as he brewed a cuppa.

Find out what you could win at cyclinguk.org/12nights-out-in-1-year.

Rebecca Charlton

Presenter, journalist, commentator Why do you cycle? It’s always been a huge part of my life. I was introduced to racing at an early age by my parents, and I was hooked.

How far do you ride each week? During

the pandemic, I’ve been on Zwift most days. When I’m on the road, it varies so much – from busy work spells when I barely ride, to putting on my ride leader’s jersey for Blood Cancer UK and riding to Paris.

Which of your bikes is your favourite? My Hasie & the Robots custom Wyndy Milla track bike with deep-section Campag Pistas.

What do you always take with you when cycling? Two spare tubes and a minipump, plus a mobile phone and ID.

Who mends your punctures? I rarely mend tubes; I just pop a fresh one in.

It’s raining: bike, public transport, or car?

If I have to be presentable at the other end, taxi. If it doesn’t matter, bike.

Lycra or normal clothes?

Lycra every time! I love wearing something fit for purpose, especially Lycra.

If you had £100 to spend on cycling, what would you get?

A good pair of bib shorts. That or a big supply of chocolate energy bars…

What’s your favourite cycle journey? The short ride through Dulwich, south London, to get to Herne Hill velodrome.

What single thing would most improve matters for UK cyclists? More kindness, patience, education, infrastructure, and awareness. Okay, that’s five things…

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Stay in touch CYCLECLIPS: free weekly email newsletter. Sign up at cyclinguk.org/subscribe CAMPAIGN NEWS: monthly campaigns bulletin. Sign up at cyclinguk.org/subscribe-tocycle-campaign-news

Riding out the storm The pandemic has left many organisations picking up the pieces. Cycling UK came through it thanks to your support, as Interim Chief Executive Pete Fitzboydon explains

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remember exactly when normal life came to an abrupt end. It was a cool Monday evening at the end of March when the Prime Minister announced he was placing the country into lockdown. Suddenly, we couldn’t leave home unless for essential travel or exercise. Shops, pubs and restaurants were shut, social gatherings banned, and group rides had to be suspended, although thankfully we were still allowed to ride our bikes on our own if we were sensible and didn’t stray too far from home.

Overnight, it was as if the Government had pressed the pause button on normality. Life fell into a spring hibernation – but not here at Cycling UK. Yes, we had to ask staff to work from home; our normal summer of activities had to be suspended; and plans for Bike Week and the Women’s Festival of Cycling had to move online.

Working through lockdown Like most organisations, we’ve also taken a hefty financial hit – although you’ve stuck with us as members, which has really helped to soften the blow. So what did we do? We doubled down and started working harder than ever on making sure we were supporting you and your cycling. We kept you up to date with the latest Government guidance, launched a campaign for temporary cycle infrastructure, offered free membership to NHS key workers, revamped our Big Bike Revival to make it available for all key workers, and announced a new pop-up mechanic project in England and a cycle repair scheme in Scotland.

There are more exciting plans to be announced in the coming weeks when we launch ‘Pumped’ (see page 8). That’s testament to the commitment of the staff here, but you’d expect nothing less from us.

Stay connected

facebook.com/CyclingUK

Just take a look at our recently published 2018/19 Impact Report (cyclinguk. org/article/cycling-uks-yearnumbers), which highlights our achievements from last year, such as: our member groups put on almost 11,000 rides; around 13,000 new cycling trips were made thanks to the Big Bike Revival; we launched our 800-mile Great North Trail; and we lobbied hard for additional funding for cycling. In Scotland, we set up 18 new community cycle clubs. In Wales, we joined 200 people to cycle on the Senedd to campaign for more investment in cycling. The list of achievements goes on, but none of it would have been possible without your support and your membership fees.

8,723 Cycling UK

volunteers in 2018/19.

Up by 15%

Ready for the new normal But as the continued health crisis has shown us, we all need to adapt and modernise. That’s especially true for Cycling UK if we’re to survive and prosper in this new “golden age of cycling”, as the Prime Minister described it. That’s why we’re bringing you details this month of a proposal to make our membership fees fairer, so that our concessions are based on the ability to pay rather than simply age, not only for fairness’s sake but for the continued success of Cycling UK (full details are on pages 14-15).

You can also find out about: plans for a significant new off-road route; our renewed commitment to making cycling welcoming for all; and details of our Summer Raffle and our AGM, which is now in September.

Life may have changed for us all due to Covid-19 but we’re still here for you, protecting your right to cycle and inspiring more people into the saddle. So thank you for your continued support. It means everything to us.

Twitter @wearecyclinguk

www.cyclinguk.org

We need to adapt and modernise if we’re to survive and prosper in this new ‘golden age of cycling’

cycling@cyclinguk.org

01483 238301

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216 Videos on our

Equality

CYCLING UK & DIVERSITY

YouTube channel: youtube.com/c/ CyclingUK /videos

Photo: Joolze Dymond

Lots of could-be, would-be, should-be cyclists have taken the leap during lockdown

Cycling UK has restated its commitment to diversity in cycling after the death of George Floyd in America sparked international protests. People from a BAME background, women, the LGBT community, and people with disabilities are significantly less likely to cycle than white, adult men. We’re looking at what we can do to make sure the cycling population better reflects the diverse make-up of the UK.

PUMPED UPS THE VOLUME

Campaigns

POP-UP BIKE LANES

Cycling numbers have surged during the lockdown.

Adrian Wills reports on Cycling UK’s campaign to keep new and returnee cyclists riding

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behaviour to use their bikes more.

Funded partly by the Department for Transport and by pooling resources across the organisation, it’s a cost-effective campaign that we’re rolling out in stages over the summer and early autumn.

Plans include Pumped Profiles, a collection of portraits and stories of genuine cyclists who are ‘pumped’ to be on their bikes. We’ll also be recruiting you into Team Pumped: members and supporters who’ll be out on the roads and trails, giving advice and encouragement to others on bikes. You’ll be in Team Pumped colours with Team Pumped t-shirts, badges, bike pumps, and repair kits.

Plus we’ll be using Team Pumped to roll out pop-up mechanics across England as we extend our Big Bike Revival project.

There will be plenty of other ways you can get pumped for cycling too, whether it’s encouraging friends and family to ride, making a donation, buying our summer raffle tickets, or taking part in our World’s Biggest Bike Ride.

We’re pumped about cycling. Are you?

Photo: Ride Leicester

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ince we went into lockdown, the country’s gone cycling crazy. The number of people riding bikes has doubled during the week and gone up by 200% at the weekends, according to the Government. Meanwhile it was reported that 1.3 million people in the UK have bought a new bike since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, and shops and manufacturers say they’re struggling to keep up with demand.

But what happens when the lockdown is lifted and people returning to work try to avoid using public transport? There’s a danger they’ll drift back to using their cars rather than their bikes – and with more traffic, cycling is going to be far less appealing for many people who’d been enjoying the empty roads. That’s why we’re launching an energetic, fun, new campaign to encourage people to keep cycling beyond the pandemic – and we need you all to get involved.

‘Pumped’ is all about creating a big buzz around the benefits of cycling, while encouraging people to change their

With public transport’s capacity limited, cycling will be integral to an effective Covid-19 recovery.

We’ve called on local councils and national governments to provide safe space for cycling and walking. Over 11,000 of you wrote to your council to ask for pop-up bike lanes and widened pavements. All four UK governments have now announced funds for this, but more needs to be done. Visit cyclinguk.org/ space-for-distancing

More road space is needed for active travel

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Active travel

£6.1bn

BIKE BOOST FOR YOUR TOWN? To help towns in England recover economically from online and out-of-town shopping, and lately Covid-19, the Government has created a £3.6bn Towns Fund. Councils are bidding for up to £25million each, which can be spent on cycling and walking if they’re earmarked in the bid. Get your council on board: cyclinguk.org/ article/how-new-townsfund-could-improve-cycling

The regeneration funds can be spent on cycling

Governance

CYCLING UK NEEDS YOU We’re recruiting three trustees to our 12-person board for 2021-24. You could help in directing Cycling UK’s new strategy, enabling millions more people to cycle. You must be a member and be able to offer one or more of the skills the board needs.

Closing date is 9am Monday 24th August 2020.

Visit cyclinguk.org/about/ cycling-uk-board/how-tobecome-a-trustee or email recruitment@cyclinguk.org

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Jacqui Ma of The Cycling Store is a nominee for this year’s 100 Women in Cycling

Spent by the NHS every year on obesity-related ill-health

£

Online

AN EVENTFUL YEAR

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ummer is Cycling UK’s busiest time in terms of events, so you’d be forgiven for thinking that during lockdown we’d have to abandon a lot of our plans.

Yet despite being more than 140 years old, Cycling UK adapted to the times and delivered a suite of online events for both old and new supporters.

Bike Week showed that Britain was in the middle of a cycling frenzy, as tens of thousands of people embraced our call to take up #7daysofcycling. While

we’d have loved to have seen mass cycling events up and down the country, the pictures participants shared of their cycling activities during the week made up for it.

By the time you read this we’ll be coming to the end of our Women’s Festival of Cycling, which began on 11 July and continued until the end of the month. In previous years we celebrated women’s cycling with events across the country and a mass ride in Westminster. This year that couldn’t be, but

we’re still launching our 100 Women in Cycling – a list of those inspirational women who are, through their actions and examples, helping other women take up cycling.

The future is uncertain, but at least one thing is for sure: Cycling UK will keep on helping others to enjoy the great and simple gift of riding a bike.

Diversity

PRIDE RIDE For the first time Cycling UK celebrated Pride Month with a series of events focused on increasing the visibility and availability of cycling within the LGBTQ+ community. We distributed rainbow laces to over a hundred people in our volunteer network and then, on Saturday 13 June, we promoted #OurPrideRide, an event dreamed up by Emily Chappell.

Cycling UK also hosted a panel

discussion with some of the leading lights in LGBTQ+ cycling groups to showcase how they are working to improve diversity and inclusion within cycling. cyclinguk.org/news/ our-month-pride-rides

All your cycling needs covered Make sure you've got the latest kit

For thousands of dedicated road cycling products available online, visit Freewheel. Freewheel is a cycling website representing a nationwide network of independent bike shops, giving you access to all the latest kit from the biggest brands in cycling. Simply choose to reserve & collect or get it delivered straight to your door.

Either way every purchase benefits a local bike shop! It really is your local bike shop online. Freewheel.co.uk

Freewheel.co.uk YOUR

LOCAL

BIKE

SHOP ONLINE

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Facilities and support for cycling are inexpensive

Commuting

The new trail links with the Ridgeway, South Downs Way, and North Downs Way riders’ route

Off-road

KING ALFRED’S WAY Cycling UK’s plan for a network of long-distance off-road trails takes a step forward in August with the launch of a new loop in southern England. Sophie Gordon reports

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his August Cycling UK launches King Alfred’s Way, a 220-mile off-road trail around the heart of historic Wessex. The route traverses ancient landscapes and 5,000 years of history, from Neolithic monuments and Iron Age hill forts to remnants of WWII defensive structures. It passes through the quintessentially English countryside of Wiltshire and Hampshire, where thatched-cottage villages sit among rolling green hills.

Many of us have been exploring close to home during lockdown, but for some a lack of off-road routes means it’s not so easy to cycle from the door. The beauty of King Alfred’s Way is that you could set off from Winchester or Reading and, within a few miles of pedalling, be surrounded by open countryside.

Cycling UK wants to make it easier for people to find new adventures off-road. Our 2016 survey revealed a demand for more long-distance rideable trails; currently only two of the 15 National Trails in England and Wales can be cycled end-to-end (although our North Downs Way riders’ route is in the process of being adopted as an official route).

The original vision for the National Trails, set

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out in a 1947 report by Arthur Hobhouse, was “continuous routes which will enable walkers and riders to travel the length and breadth of the [National] Parks, moving as little as possible on the motor roads”. Seventy years later it’s clear there is work to be done to realise that vision.

That’s why Cycling UK is working to piece together a network of long-distance offroad routes across the length and breadth of Britain. King Alfred’s Way will be a central hub in this network, linking with the Ridgeway, South Downs Way, North Downs Way riders’ route, and the Thames Path to create miles and miles of routes to explore. cyclinguk.org/kingalfredsway

85%

Percentage of women in the UK who say they never cycle

Photo: Sophie Gordon

CYCLING UK’S NEW EMPLOYER MEMBERSHIP Cycling to work is more important than ever in the wake of the pandemic. Our new Employer Membership package provides peace of mind that your employees can ride to work protected by £10m third-party liability insurance, and with access to our legal advice line.

Also included are a range of benefits to support employers in encouraging staff to cycle. For more, email workplaces@ cyclinguk.org.uk

Touring

BADGE OF HONOUR Last year marked the 70th Anniversary of the Cape Wrath Fellowship (CWF).

To help commemorate this, Cycling UK commissioned CWF member Stefan Amato to design a new certificate and sew-on patch. It celebrates Cycling UK’s shared history with the Fellowship by combining elements of the winged wheel and the famous lighthouse. cyclinguk.org/capewrath

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Cycling UK Member Group rides in 2018-19

Calderdale CTC on a ride before lockdown. Since then, cycling levels have surged nationwide

Membership

CHANGING TIMES

We’re making changes to your membership and introducing a fairer concessionary rate to secure our future – and improve cycling provision across the UK

I Above: Joolze Dymond. Above right: Andy Catlin

f there’s one good thing to come from the coronavirus crisis, it’s the incredible increase in the number of people cycling.

Government figures show bike journeys during weekdays are up as much as 100% – and 200% at weekends.

The media has changed tack and is talking about the positives of cycling. Local authorities up and down the land are putting in infrastructure to make cycle trips in our towns and cities easier and safer.

It feels like the chance of a lifetime to consolidate the work you’ve been helping us to achieve for many years. After all, it’s your membership that gives us a voice and provides the vital funds for us to carry on.

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Your support has helped us lobby governments for more funding, overturn cycle bans, push for improvements to highway laws, work with the police on driver education, support more women to cycle, and fight injustices in the courts.

Our member groups have put on thousands of rides. We’ve produced maps and routes.

During the lockdown, we’ve been campaigning for pop-up cycle lanes, while keeping you up to date with all the latest government advice across the four nations.

You’ve supported us with Bike Week, the Big Bike Revival, and the Women’s Festival of Cycling.

Together, we’re making the roads safer, opening up new routes across the UK, and transforming

lives. None of that would have been possible without you. But we want to do more.

What’s new Dan Howard, Chair of the Board of Trustees, said: “We can only achieve our ambitions for more and better cycling with the support of our members who fund so much of our vital work.

In order to do this, we realised last year that we needed to review our membership offer.

“Therefore, after carrying out research with current members, and reviewing a number of similar organisations, we are making membership of Cycling UK simpler, fairer, and more accessible.

“We propose to introduce a new main concessionary rate based on the ability to pay, rather than age. By making the membership more affordable, more people on lower incomes will be able to join us, giving us a bigger voice to support cycling.”

It means the current senior rate for the over65s will no longer be available on renewal after 1 November 2020. Over the coming months we’ll be working closely with our valued senior members who, importantly, will be able

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Opinion

to transition to our new concessionary rate if they need to do so. The additional cost to senior members who do move to a full adult membership will be less than £1.50 a month.

Going forward, we’ll be giving you more for your membership. You’ll still benefit from thirdparty insurance, retail discounts, a dedicated incident helpline, and, of course, a free copy of the UK’s best cycling magazine, Cycle. From November, we’ll be adding:

YOU ARE CYCLING UK

30 days free bike insurance.

A wider range of retailer discounts.

A new concessionary discount based on the ability to pay.

And while we implement the changes, our adult membership fee will be frozen for a year.

Support for cycling We’ll also be offering an exciting new range of discounts at a range of cycle and outdoor retailers. All new and existing members will be offered free bike insurance for a 30-day trial period on cycles up to the value of £15,000. At the end of this trial period, members will then have the option to purchase a year’s cover for the price of nine months.

As part of our membership review, we recognise that some people want to support us even though they no longer cycle. So, for the first time, we’re offering a reduced cost supporter package in return for a donation. You’ll still receive your copy of Cycle magazine and be helping fund our work, but you won’t be covered by any of our insurance or have access to our

legal helpline or discounts.

Dan Howard said: “The more people we can inspire to cycle, the better world we’ll create for all of us, but to do so, we have to attract more people to join our cause “This is now more crucial than ever. The coronavirus crisis has led to an unprecedented boom in cycling but also impacted on several of our funding streams.

“This is a critical time to support more people to cycle and secure a sustainable future for Cycling UK. With our finances under pressure, the wonderful funding and support from our members has never been more vital.

“That’s why I’d urge you to support our changes by voting at this year’s AGM and help us make a real, lasting difference.”

For more details, visit cyclinguk.org/ membershipchanges. Everything you need for AGM voting is on the separate leaflet that was in the envelope with your copy of Cycle.

Martin Sargeant, 72, from West Sussex has been a member for 14 years. He’s supporting our membership changes as he recognises the incredible work the charity is doing in support of all cyclists.

He said: “Cycling UK is such a valuable organisation, and what it offers makes it more valuable every day. It’s a powerful organisation and a beam of light.

“We need more people to realise the fun of a bike and to get out of their cars. You see so many wonderful things and places on a bike that you don’t see if you zoom through in a car. You meet people and taste and smell the air. It’s not just about saving the planet, but about the joy of being on a bike.”

Membership rates New Cycling UK membership from 1 November 2020.

Membership type

Annual rate

Monthly rate

INDIVIDUAL

£48.00 (frozen for 2020/21)

£4.00

CONCESSION

£30.50

£2.54

JUNIOR/STUDENT

£24.00

£2.00

HOUSEHOLD

£75.00

£6.25

AFFILIATED

£28.00

£2.33

(means-tested benefits or sole income from state pension)

(no magazine or legal incident line) If you’re no longer cycling and don’t need insurance, we’re introducing a new supporter package. For a monthly donation, you’ll still receive Cycle magazine and be supporting the charity.

Martin on tour in Normandy on his 20-year-old MTB

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Photo: Joolze Dymond

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Encourage your friends and family to enter too

Raffle

NEW SUMMER RAFFLE Welcome to Cycling UK’s 2020 prize draw.

Enter now at cyclinguk.org/summer-raffle

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uy a ticket to Cycling UK’s new raffle and you could be in with the chance of winning a great prize to add a little extra sunshine to your summer. Your entries will also be helping us at a critical time. In the last issue of Cycle we explained how Covid-19 has impacted on our organisation and why we need your support more than ever.

As the UK slowly begins to recover, the good news is that cycling is high on the agenda. There are so many opportunities for Cycling UK to get more people on bikes, make our voice heard, increase our supporter base, and improve the member experience.

Just the ticket

We’ve sent out paper tickets to members who have previously entered a Cycling UK raffle by post.

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But we can’t do this without your help, so please buy some tickets today and encourage your friends and family to enter. This will be our only raffle in 2020 – it’s your only chance to win!

If you’d like to support us but don’t want to play the raffle, you can make a donation via the website: cyclinguk.org/donate.

How to play Please enter online if you can to save on our administration costs. There may be delays in processing mail sent to the office as staff are still working from home to maintain social distancing.

Online: Visit cyclinguk.org/summer-raffle to enter and pay by debit or credit card. Online entries must be made by 1am Tuesday 29 September 2020.

Post: If you have received or requested paper tickets, send back your labelled ticket stubs to: Summer Raffle, Cycling UK, Railton Road,

If all Cycle readers bought £20 worth of tickets, this would raise over

£1million!

Guildford, GU2 9JX. Full instructions are on the payment form. Paper ticket entries must be received by Friday 25 September 2020.

If you haven’t received tickets but would prefer to enter by post, you can order ticket books

by Sunday 13 September at cyclinguk.org/ summer-raffle or email summer-raffle@ cyclinguk.org. The raffle will be drawn on Thursday 1 October 2020 and the winners will be notified on the same day.

For full terms and conditions, please visit cyclinguk.org/summer-raffle/terms

And there’s more

The raffle isn’t the only way to help and support cycling.

Visit cyclinguk.org/ways-todonate to find our more.

this is

PRIZES

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Roux Foray P15 £569

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Rapha Explore shoes & club membership

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Garmin Varia RTL515 Radar Tail Light

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GoPro Hero 7 White

A flat-bar commuter that’s fast and efficient, the Roux Foray P15 has a lightweight aluminium frame and fork. It comes with 700×28C Continental Contact tyres with a puncture-resistant layer. Its mechanical disc brakes provide all-weather stopping power.

Thanks to our generous prize sponsors, here’s what you could win! Don’t forget: every entry and donation goes towards Cycling UK’s charitable work and campaigning.

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£220 & £70 Lightweight shoes made for roads and tracks less travelled. A carbon footplate transfers power efficiently but ends before toe and heel to flex while walking. You’ll also get one-year’s Rapha Cycling Club membership. rapha.cc

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Raleigh Motus Tour Low-Step £2,050

Take your ride to the next level with the new Raleigh Motus Tour electric bike. It’s ideal for city riding, surfaced roads, or cycle paths. The 400Wh battery will allow you to ride for up to 108 miles on a single charge, while the sophisticated Active Line motor is lightweight and almost completely noise free. raleigh.co.uk

£169.99 This rear light doesn’t just make you more visible – from up to a mile away in daylight – it also alerts you to vehicles approaching from behind. Just pair it with a Garmin device on your handlebar, with your smartphone running the Varia app, or both. garmin.com

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Brompton ML3 £1,240 Perfect for commuters, the Brompton can be freely taken on most forms of public and private transport. Its clever design means it folds to a portable, practical size (585mm high × 565mm long × 270mm wide) in under 20 seconds. Bromptons have been handmade in London since 1975, and have a steel frame and efficient, puncture resistant tyres. brompton.com

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£149 Giving you the ability to share experiences you can’t capture with your phone, the Hero 7 White is tough, tiny, waterproof (up to 10m), and ready for any adventure.

The camera is easy to use thanks to an intuitive touchscreen. It shoots full HD video. gopro.com

you are

MÓNICA REUS BOCCHERINI Mónica is a London-based nurse from Spain whose trip to work has been transformed by cycling – and Cycling UK. Dan Joyce spoke to her

B

efore the pandemic lockdown, Mónica Reus Boccherini’s journey to work at Chelsea & Westminster hospital was a tedious schlep through the bowels of London on the Tube. Now she commutes by bike – in less time, for less money, and with a smile on her face. Mónica is one of the 3,000 key workers who took advantage of Cycling UK’s free membership offer earlier this year.

“I already had a bike that I intended to use but never did,” she says. “I was scared of London traffic.”

The quieter streets were less intimidating but it wasn’t her own safety that prompted her switch to two wheels. “I’m constantly exposed to coronavirus because I work in A&E,” she says. “I didn’t want to expose other people outside of the

This photo: Mónica’s commute led to longer weekend rides Top right: Social distancing was her spur to start cycling

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Membership matters Mónica joined Cycling UK after seeing the offer in her hospital’s bulletin. “Having Cycling UK membership eases my mind when I’m putting myself in traffic, because I know I have someone that will back me up if anything happens,” she says. She recommends membership to other would-be cyclists, along with just getting on a bike and giving it a go.

“Then they will realise how nice it is!”

hospital to the possibility of me carrying it around. I felt the safest way to work would be by hopping on my bike.”

What began out of a sense of duty is something she now takes joy in. “First of all, I get to sleep more in the morning because I don’t need to get up so early!” she says. “It used to take me between an hour and an hour and a half. Now it takes me less than 40 minutes. Second is the rush I get out of cycling: I feel like I have much more energy when I start my shift. Also I get to see bits of London that I had never realised even existed. It’s very nice ‘me time’.”

Mónica’s commute – “a bit less than ten kilometres” – takes her through Regent’s Park and Hyde Park, as well on as busy roads through Oxford Circus and Knightsbridge. Her cycling induction has had its frustrations, primarily cars parked in cycle lanes and drivers not respecting cyclists. “I’ve been almost run over a few times,” she says, “the last time being yesterday. I’ve had a few problems as well with people on Boris bikes who don’t follow the rules of the road.”

Yet she doesn’t hesitate when I ask if she’ll continue cycling after the lockdown. “Definitely, one hundred per cent,” she says. “It’s much quicker than public transport and it’s cheaper.

Each day you save almost £4, so it ends up being really worth it. I’m thinking about quitting the gym because I feel like I’m doing quite a lot of exercise.”

As well as cycling to work, Mónica has started cycling at the weekends with her boyfriend “who cycles religiously every single day. He’s really happy because he can show me the countryside. It’s a lot of fun. We’re doing rides of 50k or 40k, which I have never done in my life before.”

She knows the distances because she’s been logging her rides on Strava. “It gives you a massive boost when you see all the kilometres that you’ve done,” she says. “And it gives you a beautiful map around where you’ve been. It’s really cool.”

P roduct News

SHOP WINDOW Inspect new products without having to break out the hand sanitiser. Dan Joyce examines what’s new

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Show’s off

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The rescheduled Bespoked bike show, due this autumn, has now been postponed until spring 2021. bespoked.cc

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Fasst Company Flexx Enduro Carbon Suspension Handlebar £449.99

Not how I’d solve hard or arm discomfort off-road but then I’m not a downhiller or enduro rider with £450 burning a hole in my pocket… fasstmtb.com

Salsa Stormchaser frameset £1,200

Islabikes RG bikes £tbc

Designed for cyclists with restricted growth (dwarfism), these prototypes have 20in or 24in wheels, short cranks, 65º seat angles, and narrow, swept-back bars. islabikes.co.uk

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VeloVixen Jersey – Splat £75

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TUBike Magic Day

Alongside their popular cycling pants, VeloVixen have long stocked women’s cycling gear. Now they have their own range, including this jersey. velovixen.com

A singlespeed gravel bike frameset for “derailleurbreaking mud” (and niche lovers!), it also takes ’guards, racks, and 1× gearing. salsacycles.com/bikes

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£129.99 It’s a normal-looking waterproof jacket that converts into a mini rain cape to keep your legs dry. A 3/4-length women’s version is also available. tucanourbano.com/uk

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Shimano Deore 12s from £203*

Deore goes 1×12 with a new M6100 groupset. Happily it’s an addition: 10- and 11-speed Deore remain. (*Shifter, mech, and cassette only.) shimano.com

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Schwalbe Air Plus innertube

€11.90 Innertubes ain’t dead. At 1.5mm thick (70% more than a standard tube), this one is tougher and less permeable.

It’s intended for cargo bikes and e-bikes. schwalbe.com/air-plus/en

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Online reviews

For more reviews of bikes, kit and components, as well as how-to guides, visit… cyclinguk.org/cycling-advice

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R e v ie w s

Gear up

( ( Put to the test

Is there a product that you think needs reviewing?

Write to: Cycle, PO Box 313, Scarborough, YO12 6WZ

COMPONENTS, KIT, AND MEDIA SELECTED AND REVIEWED BY BIKE JOURNALISTS AND CYCLING UK STAFF

cycle@jamespembroke media.co.uk

Other options

FOLLOWME TANDEM £209.95 While much heavier than the TowWhee, it’s rigid enough for off-road riding and also lets you tow downhill. It’s what we used as a family when the kids were aged 4-6.

Pros & cons + Super quick to set up + Lightweight (200g) – Not usable down hills or slopes

TowWhee

Bungee & Quick Loop A simple way to tow your tired child uphill £39.99 & £9.99 gonebikingmad.co.uk

W

hen your child gets tired cycling uphill, you either push them up with one hand while riding or dismount and walk. Alternatively, there’s the TowWhee: a stretchy and strong bungee cord inside tough, hollow webbing.

We (me, husband, son aged nine, and daughter aged seven) tested it using our mountain bikes. As well as the bungee, we had the optional ‘Quick Loop and Carabiner’. You secure the Quick Loop around the spacers

on the headset of your child’s bike (don’t attach it to the handlebar). Then you attach one end of the TowWhee around your saddle and the other end, via the carabiner, to the Quick Loop. It’s really simple to set up, and although it looks like it might slip off the saddle it didn’t do so for us.

You should only use a TowWhee going uphill; down a steep hill, your child may crash into the back of you. So if you’re towing a tired child all the way home, you’ll need to stop

followmetandem.co.uk

and remove the TowWhee for downhill sections. They should be able to tackle these with more confidence, however, as they’ll have more energy.

I was worried that when it reached the end of its stretch (4.5m), the bungee would twitch or jerk. It didn’t. It still provided a smooth ride.

We tested it on road, grass, and off-road trails. It handles well in all of these situations.

On gnarly singletrack, your child will have to steer. It also obviously helps if your child can pedal, even if it is just a little bit. It’s no harder than towing a trailer with toddlers in, and feels a bit like you are in the wrong gear and have to pedal a bit harder.

Would I like to tow my sevenyear-old for more than 15 minutes up a steep hill? Probably not, but I’m sure those who love hills more than me will.

Victoria Hazael

Cycle’s test promise At Cycle, we are proudly independent. There’s no pressure to please advertisers as we’re funded by your membership. Our product reviews aren’t press releases; they’re written by experienced cyclists after thorough testing.

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TRAIL ANGEL PLUS £89.99

Works more like a tagalong, lifting up your child’s front wheel, but there is no chance of them speeding up crashing in to you. Halfords stocks it.

trail-angel.com/eng

Verdict

While my daughter resisted using this (“It’s for babies!”), it’s a clever bit of kit that best suits mountain biking families. It helps you all cycle together without older children feeling frustrated they are waiting for the smaller one.

REVIEWS

GEAR UP

Pros & cons

+ Works with 10-speed Campag shifters – Doesn’t with older 10-speed Shimano road shifters

Other options

Shimano

SHIMANO 9-SPEED MTB ‘SHADOW’ MECH ~ £50

GRX RX400 rear mech

For example: Deore RD-M592. Works with pre-2016 10-spd road STI – even better with 10-spd pulleys.

Big 36T-sprocket capacity mech for 10-speed road bikes

bike.shimano.com

£59.99 bike.shimano.com

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’ve used a 9-speed MTB mech (XT Shadow) with 10-speed Ultegra STI to shift an 11-36 cassette on my road bike for some time. It’s always worked – even better since I fitted 10-speed XT pulleys. But Shimano now makes mountain-sized road mechs for gravel biking. According to their USA website, GRX is compatible with your existing parts, provided the speeds correspond. And in particular: “Shimano GRX 400 components work great with the 10-speed Tiagra road groupset”.

It turns out that’s not the whole story: GRX is compatible only if your existing parts didn’t exist before 2016, the year in which Shimano tweaked their one remaining 10-speed road group to shift like 11-speed. (I missed the news of that change – if there was any. There should’ve been; it was our last chance to buy compatible

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spares of good quality.)

The GRX RX400 rear mech does not work at all with 10-speed Ultegra because it needs more cable pulled per click. Not a lot more (like Sram and Shimano MTB 10-speed) but just a little – like Campag. Since I had 10-speed Ergopower on my tourer (shifting a Shimergo-modified XT Shadow mech), plus a spare 10-speed chain and 11-36 cassette, I swapped those and the GRX RX400 mech onto that bike.

And there it did “work great”!

So Shimano have accidentally made a mech with near enough the right shift-ratio to marry a Campagnolo 10-speed shifter with any 10-speed MTB cassette. Better still: it has the cable adjuster now missing from MTB mechs.

Why don’t I try the other GRX components? Money. Hydraulic levers are nice but would require

new brakes. And I don’t like the double chainset, which accepts only slightly smaller rings of 30 and 46T and has a 50mm chainline: too far out for smooth running in big-and-big – or even next-to-big! My truncated triple, on the other hand, boasts a 24T inner and aligns its 42T middle, that is outer, ring with the exact centre of the cassette.

Details: max sprocket size, 32–36; capacity, 41T; weight: 303g.

Chris Juden

Verdict

If you want lower gears on your Campag 10-speed bike, or with new Tiagra, Shimano’s RD-RX400 is a neat solution. Fit XT sealed pulleys when the originals wear out.

SUNRACE SP570 HANGER EXTENDER £10

Cheap but may shift vaguely at small end of cassette.

sunrace.com

REVIEWS

GEAR UP

Pearl Izumi

Men’s Rove Short Sleeve Shirt Casual style belies good on-the-bike performance in warm weather £59.99 freewheel.co.uk

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here’s something to be said for cycle-specific clothing that looks normal. The price tag may be higher but it tends to last longer.

Bikes (or maybe it’s just me?) are not kind to many clothes.

Usually I’m a natural fibre man – cotton or wool – but unless its merino (and who wears wool in summer?) you’re either going to have a damp, sweaty top or you’ll overheat. So I was pleasantly surprised with the Rove Short Sleeve. While the shirt feels a lot like cotton (it’s 57% cotton, 40% recycled polyester, 3% elastane), the ride into the office, which usually makes me a little sweaty, left me bone dry. Since then, on my forays up and down the Surrey Hills, I’ve been impressed by this ‘no sweat’ shirt. At the end

Pros & cons + Wicks well + Long back – Not cheap

of the ride it often looks largely pristine and fresh. Several washes later, it’s still looking good.

It’s well shaped to fit when riding, with no pinching over the shoulders, nor revealing of flesh between shirt and shorts. I’m a 38in chest and the medium fitted well. The buttons are poppers – easily fastened and undone. I found that when riding hunched over, it was more comfortable to undo the lowest. There’s a standard chest pocket on the left, and a little ‘loose change’ pocket on the inside.

It comes in either ‘Italian

football shirt’ blue (‘lapis’) or grey (‘turbulence’). The blue is a vibrant colour and has little bicycle prints all over it; the grey appears to have bike tools. These are only really noticeable close up. It also has reflective strips for low light, the largest being on the tail of the shirt. By itself it’s not enough, but coupled with lights and reflectors this is a nice little extra feature.

Sam Jones

Other options

Verdict

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MORVELO TRACT OVERLAND SS SHIRT £75 An ‘adventure sport’ shirt with two hidden pockets on the back, each of which can fit a beer bottle.

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ALPKIT ORTEGA (M) & ESTELLA (F) £49 Reported to have a cotton feel despite man-made fabrics, this is for ‘active summers’. It should wick sweat and keep you cool.

alpkit.com

A collared shirt that wicks well and is smart enough for casual offices. The longer back prevents you exposing skin when hunched over the bars.

R e v ie w s

Books

( ( Family-friendly routes online

CYCLING STIMULATION WHEN YOU’RE STUCK INSIDE

Visit the website for a list of Victoria Hazael’s 50 favourite UK family-friendly cycle routes: cyclinguk.org/ article/50-family-friendlycycle-routes-uk

Traffic-Free Cycle Trails

Emily’s bike

Where There’s a Will

Emily rides a Shand Stooshie for longdistance bikepacking: cyclinguk.org/cycle/ bike-emily-chappell

EMILY CHAPPELL SAYS she got into self-supported endurance racing almost by accident. She signed up to ride the Transcontinental in 2015 basically to see if she could. While this book documents her exploits in that race and others, it is as much about friendship, mental health, and grief as it is about racing bikes.

Chappell’s writing is engaging and moving; I read this in just two sittings.

Part of what makes it so absorbing Details is how relatable Chappell is. Even By: Emily Chappell when she’s writing about cycling, she’s Publisher: Pursuit also writing about break-ups, periods, Books snacks, and her family and friends. She Price: £14.99 frequently refers to her self-doubt and hardback, £8.99 shyness. No matter how remarkable the paperback achievements, Chappell makes them feel ISBN: 978-1788161510 like they are within anyone’s grasp.

The section in which Chappell describes her relationship with Mike Hall – two slightly awkward cycling nerds who just get each other – is poignant. And the subsequent description of her coming to terms with his loss is gut-wrenching.

This book will appeal to anyone who turns to their bike in times of trouble, and it might inspire a big ride of your own.

Emily Ryder

Digital books Local bookshop still closed? All these titles can be downloaded as e-books. You’ll need a Kindle e-reader or a suitable app for your phone or tablet.

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Details

By: Nick Cotton Publisher: Vertebrate

Publishing Price: £17.99 ISBN: 978-1912560769

THE BEST PLACE to cycle with children or friends who aren’t confident cycling is on a traffic-free trail, and this book lists 400 of the best of them throughout Great Britain. It is the fourth version of a guide first published in 2004, offering information on routes that are often old railway lines. There are also map and website recommendations, and handy tips like where to park and stop for refreshments. I particularly liked Nick’s succinct history of the trails, as I learned new things about routes that I have ridden many times.

Victoria Hazael

North to Alaska TREVOR CLEARLY KEPT detailed diaries: this is an engaging, blow-by-blow account of his 16,000-mile journey from Ushuaia, Argentina to Deadhorse, Alaska in 1999.

It’s a frank account that doesn’t paint the author in the best of lights: he abandons

Details

By: Trevor Lund Publisher:

independently published Price: £9.79 print, £3.99 Kindle ISBN: 978-1711310794

a companion; is disappointed strangers don’t recognise his “achievement”; and he just blitzes his way through the continents, with few nods to culture or custom. If you buy it from smile.amazon.co.uk you can nominate a charity (such as Cycling UK) to receive some of what you pay.

Sam Jones

The Rhine I MEANT TO read this before cycling

Details

By: Ben Coates Publisher: Nicholas

Brealey Publishing Price: £12.99 ISBN: 978-1473662179

along the Rhine last summer, but reading it afterwards added to my enjoyment; the name of each riverside town sparked memories from the trip. Along the river, Coates not only hops across borders but also back and forth in time, from Romans and Germanic tribes to 16th-century hilltop castles and onwards to the devastation of WWII. The history is fascinating but it’s the author’s anecdotes and turns of phrase that keep you entertained as he progresses by bike, boat and (briefly) on the back of a cow.

Sophie Gordon

O p inio n

Letters

Get in touch

THIS MONTH LOCKDOWN DIVERSIONS, SOLO CYCLING, DRIVETRAIN DESTRUCTION, FERRY CROSSINGS, AND MORE

LETTERS are edited for space, clarity and, if necessary, legality. The Editor reads and acknowledges all letters to Cycle but publishes only a selection and doesn’t enter into correspondence. Feedback for the next issue must arrive by 28 August.

WRITE TO: Cycle, PO Box 313, Scarborough, YO12 6WZ or email cycle@jamespembrokemedia.co.uk

‘Hercule’ Fothergill from South Devon CTC tracks down the birthplace of Agatha Christie

Great escapism

th Letter of the mon

iSpysolation

D

uring the lockdown, members of South Devon CTC kept in touch using social media and Zoom but some struggled to find motivation to ride. So to encourage them to get out on their bikes without gathering together, we devised a sort of local version of the British Cycle Quest, dubbed iSpysolation. Clues were the type that could be found at various locations.

It started as a bit of fun, with 15 clues per week, limited to a maximum of three clues per day, thus requiring five rides. Clues were suggested by members and the results were compiled by Dr Kate Hattersley (when she’s not been busy giving advice on Covid-19 and cycling). The results are done on a trust basis, but clues are often accompanied by photographs.

Initially around 20 members took part. Then it spread to the local sailing club in Topsham, then to South Wales, the Lake District, and Scotland.

New people have come along and joined in as a result of seeing what the club was doing on our Facebook group. iSpysolation has been great success. It’s helped members discover more of their local area and has shown how, in adverse times, good ideas and good things can still happen.

Graham Brodie

Stay connected

facebook.com/CyclingUK

Win a Lezyne Macro Plus GPS worth £100 The letter of the month wins a Lezyne Macro Plus GPS, courtesy of Upgrade Bikes. It pairs with your phone and offers turnby-turn navigation, Strava Live Segments, training integration, optional horizontal orientation, a best-in-class run-time of 28 hours, and more.

For details about this and other Lezyne GPS computers, or to find your local stockist, visit upgradebikes.co.uk

Twitter @wearecyclinguk

I was delighted to see Jo Burt’s article extolling the joys of solo cycling (Escapism, June/July). It perfectly sums up my experience of an aspect of bike riding that normally receives little attention.

Solo cycling within cities is my particular favourite. I have become a sort of ‘flâneur on wheels’ – a person who cycles around cities observing life. Which is why I am so passionate about improving conditions for cyclists within urban areas, with features such as protected bike lanes and secure bicycle parking. (I’m a Sustrans Volunteer Ranger.)

John Kirkwood

Ferry inaccurate

In his letter of the month Robin Bevis stated that there was only one ferry option north of Watford, the P&O service Hull to Rotterdam. This is not correct. There are two other services: Hull to Zeebrugge (P&O); and Newcastle to Amsterdam (DFDS).

I’ve used them both to get to the continent and they are excellent.

Bev Primhak

cycling@cyclinguk.org

cycle@jamespembrokemedia.co.uk C Y CL I NGUK . O RG

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LETTERS

YOUR FEEDBACK

Mech or break

Bike trek: the next generation

I’ve always loved the freedom that owning a bicycle confers.

In my youth I had many cycling adventures in the Northumberland countryside. My cycling sadly lapsed until I met my second husband. Bike ownership expanded. We even got a bike trailer as a wedding present!

Now, at 60, I have been the proud owner of an electric bike for six years, and have enjoyed many further adventures, including cycling past St Paul’s Cathedral at midnight! Owning an e-bike has been especially important during lockdown in Wales. I have discovered that there are many enjoyable circular cycle routes starting from my doorstep.

The love of cycling has now been passed on to my 16-month-old grandson, who gets very excited when my son gets the bike out!

Barbara Grantham

Guard against this

In his response to Steve Brown’s question (Cyclopedia, June/July), Richard Hallett suggests forgetting the 48 front/40 rear combination and removing the two chain links Steve added. With the links removed, unintended selection of that combination could cause serious transmission damage. Locking out either derailleur with the relevant adjuster screws should be advised unless the chain tensioner still has capacity to facilitate such a change.

Clive Parsons The simplest way to set chain length, incidentally, is to wrap the chain around the largest chainring and largest sprocket, without passing it through the rear derailleur. Ensure the ends overlap by at least one full link, then fit it in the usual way.

Knives down, bikes up

I was stunned by the tagline on your June/July edition: ‘Liverpool lads who pull wheelies, not knives.’ Liverpool, like most cities, has its share of knife crime, but it was a sensationalist headline coming from the premise that ‘Liverpool lads’ are ‘pulling’ knives as a matter of course.

This is lazy and stereotypical thinking. I live about 20 minutes on the train from Liverpool city centre and always feel safe there. Liverpool is a pro-cycling city, with very progressive plans in place to make it safer and more accessible than ever to cyclists. Give it a go, you’ll love it.

Gill Gwatkin

Please will you publicise the issue of mudguard safety? The photo shows a bike my son was riding last week after his very sudden separation from it.

He was very lucky to avoid serious injury. This link explains the issue Obituaries clearly: cyclinguk.org/ Are published article/technical-guide/ online at cyclinguk. mudguard-safety. org/obituaries.

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Apologies. The tagline was meant only to reference the group’s own slogan: knives down, bikes up.

th Photo of the mon

The String Road, Arran Here’s a lockdown cycling photo of me cresting the iconic String Road on the Isle of Arran, with Brodick Bay in the background. My husband, Murray Small, took the picture. The String is listed as one of the toughest cycling climbs in the West of Scotland. Janice Small

CYCLING UK FORUM

Get immediate feedback from other members on at forum.cyclinguk.org. Here’s an abridged extract from a popular recent thread: cyclinguk.org/carbon-frames Carbon frames for MAMILs with high handlebars?

Oceanic: I keep seeing men of a certain age riding carbon frames with 3cm of spacers under a ‘flipped’ stem.

Aside from looking awful, I can’t imagine the handling is as the designer intended.

What ‘high stack + low reach’ carbon frames should they be riding?

The Giant Defy and Dolan GXC come to mind.

Trigger: I think the Cannondale Synapse is designed for a bit more of an upright position hamish: The Kona Libre looks to have a high front end. cycle tramp: They should be riding something better… What is it with attempting to make bicycles as uncomfortable as possible? If you work at a desk or in a factory,

would you have your seat higher than your work surface because other people have told you it looks better? whoof: The Kona Libra and Dolan GXC are gravel bikes, the Giant Defy an endurance bike. Therefore it’s not surprising that they have higher front ends. As to what bikes people should be riding, it’s obviously the same as me – anyone riding something else is clearly doing it wrong!

TrevA: The Trek Domane has a high front end.

Mike Sales: Oceanic is clearly one of the Velominati: “Rule 45: Slam your stem.”

NickJP: All my bikes are set up like that.

It amuses me when I see the wannabes trundling around with their bars six or eight inches below the saddle because “that’s how the pros do it”.

Details Where: Poland and Slovakia Start/finish: Zakopane, southern Poland Distance: 240km Pictures: Ed and Marion Shoote

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B A BY PACK I N G

G R E AT R I D E S

ED & MARION SHOOTE Adventure travellers Ed and Marion have previously cycled the Pamir Highway.

Their website is welove mountains.net

Great Rides

BABYPACKING A child trailer can tackle more than the trip to the nursery. Ed and Marion Shoote used theirs for a trip through Slovakia’s Tatra Mountains

I

n a forest feathered with autumn colour, we pause to the look at the map. We’re taking a shortcut back into Poland through a rarely explored corner of these mountains. Today’s bikepacking challenge is a new one for us: we’ve run out of nappies.

We ford a trickle of a stream where, very evident in the mud, are some large bear prints so fresh they’re still filling with water. A noise crashes in the forest behind us. It seems we’re on a bear hunt and we can’t go back!

You might not expect an article about bikepacking with an 18-month-old in Europe to start with bears. Neither did we. However, Slovakia’s rugged landscape is home to wildlife of all shapes and sizes – including, apparently, the densest population of brown bears in Europe.

We’d ridden across Slovakia before but it was a few fast days with glimpses of the High Tatra as the highlight. The Tatra are the highest mountains in the Carpathian range, rising up to 2,654m to encircle a precipitous border between Poland and Slovakia. It is an enchanting land of fairytale forests and jagged ridge lines, broken up by onion-tower churches in small villages that are surrounded by meadows dotted with wooden shepherd huts.

BORDER CROSSING We fly into the well-connected Krakow airport, stopping in the city overnight to explore. Next is a direct train south to

Paw prints in the mud. A noise crashes in the forest behind us. It seems we’re on a bear hunt and we can’t go back!

Zakopane, the biggest mountain town of the Tatra.

It has a quaint old centre with traditional stalls selling smoked cheese and sheepskins, set against stunning views. It is also where Poland comes to get fresh mountain air in their diesel cars…

We leave Zakopane’s bustle behind us and are soon in our own peaceful mountain space. The Polish National Park area is quite restricted for bikes, but we still find pleasant gravel tracks to ride.

Even with detours, it only takes a morning’s ride to reach the Slovakian border. Here it feels like the road has ended, because it’s where most tourists stop to hike Morskie Oko, a classic walk in the mountains to an Instagram-friendly moraine lake.

We leave Poland behind and meander uphill with our sleeping toddler to reach the first low pass of the trip, where there’s a deserted ski resort. A fast descent, with loud whoops now coming from the trailer, takes us to the old wooden chalets of Ždiar village. We find a busy, traditional restaurant next to a local folk museum. I order a hearty stew while Marion reacquaints herself with her love of Kofola – a Czech herbal drink similar to cola which costs only pence. After lunch it is an open air nappy change and a play on some wooden swings. We start feeling like we are getting the hang of toddler bikepacking.

BEAR IN MIND From Ždiar the main road looks busy but our map shows a track running almost

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B A BY PACK I N G

Top: Crucially, the Thule CX1 trailer has suspension Below right: Refuelling

G R E AT R I D E S

Do it yourself

Travelling with a toddler

Family holidays

How to travel by train: cyclinguk.org/cycle/ aboard-familycycling-holiday -train

parallel, so we try it with little hope of it being trailer friendly. To our surprise we discover a perfect gravel cycle path all the way to the next town of Tatranská Kotlina! We didn’t expect to find a cycle path network in Slovakia, and keep thinking “Surely this must end soon!”.

As we arrive at Tatranská Kotlina, a workman in a fluorescent vest comes up to us. Impressed by the baby trailer, he explains that he maintains the region’s many miles of cycle paths. He runs to his car and grabs a dedicated cycling map, adding some pencil lines and instructions in broken English. We have a new personalised off-road route!

With the map to guide us, we cycle off along a bike path though a strangely stunted birch forest. I daydream about Peter Sagan and where in Slovakia he might have learned his trade, then am snapped back to reality to dodge a huge pile of what is unmistakably bear poo. We immediately speed up.

It’s a relief to ride into the nice little campsite that was recommended to us, and we quickly settle into our routine of unpacking, cooking, and entertaining a toddler. Marion unpacks her pannier and is surprised to find a baby adder wriggling free.

About the size of a little finger, it is harmless but still oddly disconcerting.

As an evening mist descends, it masks the eerie sound of rutting deer in the surrounding woods. It really is a mythical place.

FOREST LODGING The next day we continue alongside Slovakia’s Route 66, enjoying a combination of paths and

quiet roads. The drizzle in the air produces a dreich watercolour of the rolling foothills. Štrbské Pleso is a ski/ hiking resort with a large scenic lake framed by mountains behind.

We get only glimpses of the view between the clouds before a fast 30km descent to Pribylina, where we stop for supplies. It’s a smart town with a large Roma settlement squeezed in next to the river. On the way out we pass Liptov, a preserved traditional village museum complete with a forest steam train. Disappointingly for Orrin, it isn’t running!

After the day’s drizzle, we need to dry out and opt to stay in a lodge called Penzion Sileo in the Račková Dolina valley. It is easy to find the Račková Dolina turn-off because there’s a huge wooden sign with two giant wooden sculptures of hikers. Then outside the penzion there’s a 12ft wooden angel to greet us.

A complimentary strong local spirit on arrival ensures it is a warm if surreal welcome. The communal rooms, like the surrounding forests, are full of mushrooms, though here in various states of dehydration. The lodge has a hot tub, playground, and a good, filling breakfast. It’s a touch of luxury for us.

Although we receive a warm welcome here, in general we find the locals reserved. We are often greeted by an indifferent stare and shrug in shops and cafés, and unlike places like Italy even a baby doesn’t engage people much. When we do find a

After years of traveling fast and light by bike, we were initially daunted by bikepacking with a baby and lots of kit.

We picked a fairly short route that offered detours so we could adjust as we went along. Not having a set plan or schedule meant we could stop and relax whenever Orrin wanted to.

With two bikes and a trailer, it is stressful at the airport or train station moving and loading it all. Make sure your bike box has wheels, leaving more hands free to carry stuff without a trolley if needed.

Once on the road (or better, the path), bikepacking with a baby is amazing. You just need to factor in those play stops.

Young children open your eyes to more and make the everyday seem fantastic – which isn’t too hard in the Tatra.

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Have kids, will travel

B A BY PACK I N G

A guide to cycling with children: cyclinguk. org/article/howtransport-childrenbike

Top: Fording rivers meant disassembling the trailer Bottom: Ed and Orrin

mutual language, it nevertheless results in a warm conversation.

HIKING AND BIKING From the lodge we head west along rough forest tracks, guided by our recently acquired map. The western Tatra are less explored, and it is here we discover more of what makes the area special. We love the hidden villages and the shepherd huts clinging onto to the forest fringes, and it is easy to see why the Slovaks love the area. Today is our first big detour up into the higher Tatra, which involves a seemingly endless climb to a mountain refuge.

The baby trailer feels heavier than ever as we slowly spin upwards.

On the other hand, travelling so slowly lets us appreciate the views, sounds, and smells more. A short stop by the river becomes a playground for a toddler, with stones to throw. A pile of small logs becomes a balance beam and picnic table. Luckily the 1,200m of climbing is followed by a lovely mountain hut and a classic dinner of dumplings (pierogies). The refuge is welcoming. They find Orrin a toy pushchair, which he proceeds to trundle up and down the public bar with a frog in it – to the amusement or bemusement of other guests.

In the morning, the mountain air has refreshed us with inexplicable levels of enthusiasm. We store bikes and bags and hike up to the summit of one of the highest peaks, with Orrin in a cloth sling pointing out the birds and aeroplane trails on the way. On our way back down, we surprise a few hikers and pass a mountain biker carrying his bike

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to the top. The trail north into Poland is apparently amazing singletrack.

We reload the bikes and descend the epic climb from the day before in minutes. It develops into a very long afternoon of riding, however, and it is dark before we reach the charming town of Zuberec, its atmosphere enhanced by the lighting of the old wooden buildings.

The next day is a short one: a quick up and down to and from the hamlet of Oravice, which has hot springs. We buy locally-made mead and smoked cheese from a roadside stall, then soak in the hot spring water. As we lie in our tent at night, we hear more deer rutting in the misty, primeval forest.

Our close encounter with the bear comes near the end of the trip. We never see it but can feel that it’s watching as we escape via a knee-deep river, crossing towards a popular tourist track. The ford requires five trips to carry Orrin and his trailer, which needs unloading and dismantling.

Now back in Poland, we’re not far from Zakopane, and the traffic gradually returns. Our first stop is for more nappies, followed by a pizza to celebrate the end of a successful babypacking adventure.

More Info Read Cycling UK’s guide to child trailers: cyclinguk.org/article/cyclingguide/guide-bike-trailers

Fact file

Slovakian babypacking Distance: 240km in total, 35-55km per day.

Route: We loosely followed the shortest road loop of the Tatra Mountains massif from Zakopane via the Route 66 mountain road in Slovakia. We added cycle paths and tracks.

Getting there: We flew into Krakow airport and transferred by train into the city.

The Station Hotel stored our bike boxes for us. Then we caught a train to Zakopane.

Accommodation: Mostly in campsites; wild camping is banned in national parks. The mountain huts needed booking by phone. Penzion/ B&Bs were reasonable.

Trailer used: Thule (Chariot) CX 1 trailer (with suspension!), Maps/guides: Cykloturisticka Mapa, mountainbiking.sk I’m glad I had… A waterproof suit for Orrin so we could let him loose at campsites on the dew-laden grass and on wet days.

Shoes (SPD and flats between us) that were comfy off the bike.

Next time I would…

Explore the foothills to the south. Stay longer to maximise the time between the stressful transfers and flights.

Feature

FLIGHTFREE TOURING TRAINS AREN’T JUST GREENER THAN PLANES FOR TRAVEL INTO EUROPE – THEY CAN BE FAST AND MORE FUN, AS ANNA HUGHES FOUND OUT

ANNA HUGHES Author & transport campaigner Anna wrote ‘Eat, Sleep, Cycle’, and is the Director of Flight-Free UK, flightfree.co.uk

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Photos by Alamy and Anna Hughes

F E ATU R E

F L I G H T- F R E E TO U R I N G

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wareness of climate change and our need to reduce emissions has been growing in recent years, and the way we choose to travel can have a big impact on our carbon footprints. Trains, especially those on the Continent, can have a tenth of the emissions of a flight (seat61.com/CO2flights). But it’s not just emissions: the experience of train travel enhances the journey in a way that air travel doesn’t.

Bikes and trains are natural partners, not only because they are both low-carbon but because the combination means that, with a little imagination and time, almost nowhere is off limits. When it works well, transit is easy. And it’s flexible: a cycle tour could start and end in a far-flung location with train travel at either end, or rail could take you to your starting point or bring you home after a long cycling trip.

This is what I chose for my tour last year. Cycling to the sea has long been my favourite type of adventure – usually within the UK. For this tour I decided to swap the chilly North Sea for Mediterranean warmth and ride the length of France from Dieppe to Nice.

This page: Touring cyclists in Leipzig, Germany Right: Plenty of space for bikes – and clearly marked (Germany again)

To add to the challenge, along the way I would complete the Cinglés ascent of Mont Ventoux (three times in one day), then catch the train home.

ACROSS FRANCE AT 320KM/H There are more bike-friendly routes than this one: to get back to London from Nice I would be taking the intercity TGV followed by the Eurostar. Cycling UK worked hard to convince Eurostar to allow fully-assembled bicycles on board (cyclinguk.org/cycle/ eurostar), but the same does not apply to the TGV from Nice to Paris. I would have to dismantle my bicycle and put it in a bag.

The bag I chose was the inexpensive Tifosi Light Weight Bike Bag (bit.ly/cycletifosibikebag). It’s light but bulky, though I avoided having to add it to my panniers because my boyfriend came out by train to join me in Nice. If this hadn’t been the case, I could have posted it to the hotel.

The morning of our journey home was supposed to be a relaxed affair, after one last coffee and fresh croissant on the seafront. I had successfully cycled the length of France in 12 days, completed my triple ascent of Ventoux, survived sore knees and sunburn, swum in the glorious Mediterranean several times, enjoyed

Tweets from the tracks @DTFooty In Luxembourg bikes are allowed on all trains, at any time, free of charge (humans also free). Also here, bikes free on trams, funicular AND BUSES! There is a limit, but the odd times I’ve seen

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it reached everyone just squeezes more in and no one (including the guard) seems to worry about it. @g_m_liesch In Switzerland, even with odd bikes travel couldn’t be easier.

@sallyhinch Got on the train at Bordeaux to discover our booked bike space was full of suitcases. Got the bikes crammed on anyway and was facing the inevitable confrontation with the conductor, possibly missing

our Eurostar connection.

Conductor comes in: “These your bikes?” I brace myself for a row. “Hmm,” he says.

Good naturedly, and in three different languages, he and his colleagues firmly but calmly got all the luggage stowed elsewhere and our bikes are installed

like kings in their rightful place. @tampopo 2236 Finnish trains are a joy. As are Lithuanian, so clean, so nice, air conditioned, beautiful.

F L I G H T- F R E E TO U R I N G

F E ATU R E

Costs compared Here are some comparisons for travelling from London to Barcelona by train, plane, ferry, and coach.

TRAIN

Route: Eurostar to Paris, TGV to Barcelona Cost: variable. Anywhere between £120 and £200+ Time: 2 hrs 20 mins on Eurostar + 45 mins check-in, transfer (typically 1.5 hrs), 4.5 6.5 hrs on TGV = approx 10 hrs Emissions: 7.01kg CO2 per passenger

cocktails in the famous Hotel Negresco, and generally spent time recovering from the tour. All that remained was to board the TGV home.

I’m a terrible last-minute dasher but not that day. This was a train that could not be missed!

TGV specifies that your bagged bike must not exceed 120×90cm so I removed the rack and mudguards as well as the wheels to be sure. So, even though I thought we had arrived at Nice Ville in plenty of time, dismantling and bagging the bike took us much closer to the train’s scheduled departure. It was pulling into the platform as we struggled through the barriers with my luggage. I ran to the door and chucked the bags on, then came back to help my boyfriend with the bike. He raised his eyebrows at me as we collapsed into our seats.

EUROSTAR: THE FRENCH CONNECTION Mad dash aside, I would recommend travelling this way. Though the dismantling and manhandling was a pain, it was worth the effort: the bag sat snugly in our eye line for the entire journey, with no need to make a booking, buy an extra ticket, pay a fee, or hand it over at the airport and then worry about broken derailleurs or frame dents. Train travel is so civilised: the landscape unfolded outside the window as my two-week tour passed by in reverse over mere hours.

Given that bikes roll easily and are awkward to carry, especially heavy touring bikes, I reassembled it as soon as we’d extracted ourselves from the train at the Gare du Lyon, ready for the ride across

Paris. It’s a common transfer if you’re coming from many European destinations.

The ride is easy, thrilling, and on this occasion, quicker than the Metro.

“How much did you pay?” asked a girl waiting with her Dutch bicycle at EuroDespatch in the Gare du Nord, before boarding the Eurostar. “€55,” I replied. “It would have been cheaper but I didn’t book early enough.”

Surprised at both the cost and the need to book in advance, she was lucky – bike and rider travelled on the same train. It’s not always the case if you do it last minute.

BIKE-RAIL OPTIONS If you can handle the logistics – including the long walk and wait to reclaim your bike – using Eurostar for one leg of your journey does offer quick transit to and from a huge number of European destinations. These include Barcelona, Madrid, Milan, Frankfurt and Geneva on the TGV, and further afield using trains such as AVE (Spain), Thello (Italy), ICE (Germany) and Thalys (Belgium). Most of them require your bike to be bagged.

Some French trains do allow fullyassembled and unbagged bikes – TGV routes from Paris to Biarritz or Nantes, for example, as well as regional TER trains. In fact, I could have travelled home from Nice on a combination of regional trains, but I chose the ease and speed of the TGV. The same pattern applies in most countries: for those intercity trains that do take full-sized bicycles, you need a reservation. Local trains have bike spaces that generally don’t require a reservation, though you might need to pay a fee, e.g. in

PLANE

Route: Ryanair, London Stansted to Barcelona El Prat Cost: £25 (return) + £30 Stansted Express (return) + extras Time: 2 hr flight, 2 hours check-in, 2 hours transfers, baggage claim = 6 hours + Emissions: 181kg CO2 per passenger

FERRY

Route: South Western Railway to Portsmouth, Brittany Ferries Portsmouth-Bilbao, Alvia train Bilbao Avando to Barcelona Cost: ferry £60, train £90 incl.

UK & Spanish leg Time: 1.5 hour train UK, 24 hour ferry + 45 mins check-in, 16km cycle into Bilbao (or take metro), 6 hrs 20 mins on Alvia = 2 days Emissions: ferry 22.42kg per passenger + train 2.8kg CO2 per passenger = 25.6kg per passenger

COACH

Route: Flixbus direct London to Barcelona (NB. This route does not have bike carriage so you have to bag your bike and stow as luggage) Cost: £140 + £9 special luggage Time: 28 hours 35 mins Emissions: 42kg CO2 per passenger Emissions sources: rail and flight, raileurope.co.uk; ferry and coach, DfT emissions data.

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F L I G H T- F R E E TO U R I N G Left: Anna completes her third climb of Ventoux in a day Below: A local train in southern France. No dismantling required

Transport alternatives The train isn’t the only way to get to Europe without flying, of course. There are also ferries and coaches.

COACH

Coach travel can be an excellent budget alternative to taking the train. Flixbus (flixbus.co.uk) has a bike carrier at the rear for fullyassembled bikes on most of its coaches – charge, £7.99 – and the European Bike Express (bike-express.co.uk) tows a trailer of fully-assembled bicycles behind the coach, allowing you and your steed to travel in comfort and style to your destination.

FERRY

The Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland.

This gives many options for travel, including a hop-on, hop-off tour if you want to keep your plans loose.

If fully-assembled bicycles aren’t allowed and boxing or bagging won’t work for you, there are ways to ‘beat the system’.

Hiring a bicycle at your destination could offer all the flexibility you need. Or you could follow in the footsteps of worldtraveller Heinz Stücke who, after cycling around the world for 50 years, switched to a Brompton folding bike so he could use other modes of transit more easily. As well as folders, there are separable bikes – Cycling UK tested a Ritchey Breakaway and Surly Travellers Check a while ago (cyclinguk.org/article/bike-test-ritcheybreak-away-and-surly-travellers-check).

Or you may be able to pack your bike small

BIKES AND TRAINS ARE NATURAL PARTNERS. WITH A LITTLE IMAGINATION AND TIME, ALMOST NOWHERE IS OFF LIMITS

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enough ‘Rinko’ style; see the review above for instructions.

BEFORE YOU START Before setting off from St Pancras, most of us will first have a long journey to get to London. Intercity trains typically need bikes to be booked in advance. Some rail franchise websites allow you to do this when you book your ticket. Don’t forget that you can make bookings for trains run by one franchise through another’s website.

You can also make a reservation through Twitter, which I have found to be by far the most reliable way to book my bike on a train – just search the train provider and send them a message. I have even booked my bike on a connecting train while on the previous train this way.

Another option is in person at the booking office. The computer systems are all connected so the person behind the desk should be able to book your bike from any station, not just the one you’re at.

For further information about taking your bike on the train in Europe, the excellent Man in Seat 61 (seat61.com/ bike-by-train) offers encyclopaedic instructions. Also useful is the bicycle page on RailEurope (bit.ly/cycle-raileurope), or the hashtag #bikesontrains on Twitter.

One of the simplest ways of crossing to continental Europe with your bike. I travelled on the DFDS Newhaven to Dieppe ferry for my trans-France ride, but there are plenty of other options: Brittany ferries from Portsmouth to Le Havre, Caen, St Malo, Cherbourg, Bilbao and Santander; DFDS Newcastle-Amsterdam, Calais-Dover/Dunkirk; P&O Hull to Rotterdam (Europort)/ Zeebrugge, Liverpool-Dublin; Stenaline from Harwich-Hoek van Holland, HolyheadDublin.

Ferries are terrific, with plenty of space and numerous options for food and drink.

Longer journeys with overnight crossings mean a dawn arrival in a new country.

Make sure to pack seasickness tablets.

Cycling UK member Robin Bevis has written a guide for ferries to Europe. Visit cyclinguk.org/article/guidetaking-bike-ferry.

Coronavirus Check the latest advice from the Government and cyclinguk.org/ coronavirus before making travel plans.

Top to bottom: Simon Warren on the Alpe. While it’s long, the gradient isn’t too bad for the most part.

Tour de France crowds.

Weekender

Alpe d’Huez

Whether you’ve ridden it virtually or seen it on TV, this Tour de France climb is well worth a pilgrimage, says Simon Warren

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SIMON WARREN Cycling Author Simon is the author of many guides to the world’s famous cycling climbs across Britain, Belgium, Italy and France.

100climbs.co.uk

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lpe d’Huez isn’t the longest, steepest, or prettiest climb in the world but it’s one almost every road cyclist aspires to climb. Its 21 famous bends are now so intertwined with cycling and Tour de France history that it’s become an asphalt shrine to the epic battles that have graced its slopes.

Since its first inclusion in the Tour in 1952, riders like Coppi, Hinault, Pantani and Geraint Thomas have all triumphed after defeating its wicked slopes. Rising from the town of Le Bourg-d’Oisans, it kicks up with such ferocity through its first few kilometres that many riders never recover, but once the vicious start is over the pitch of the slope does ease.

Due to its fame it was this climb that the geniuses at Zwift chose to recreate in their virtual world of Watopia. Until travel restrictions ease, this may be as close as any of us will get to it for a while.

So how does it compare? Having ridden both many times, I’m impressed with the Zwift version. Although it runs around 10% faster than the real thing, its mimicking of the gradients both between and through the hairpins is pretty much bang on. What you don’t get, of course, is the sense of following in the wheel tracks of legends, which is what ‘The Alpe’ is really all about.

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Mt Ventoux

Tick off another Tour climb: cyclinguk.org/ cycle-magazine/ great-rides-montventoux

WEEKENDER

ALPE D’HUEZ

Weekend ride

ALPE D’ HUEZ Route name: Alpe d’Huez, up and down. Start/finish: Le Bourg-d’Oisans, Isére, France. Maps: Michelin local 333. Ride length: 32.26km (20.05 miles). Climbing: 1,178m. Bike type: Lighter the better.

Ride level: Regular or experienced. GPX: cyclinguk.org/route/weekender-alpe-dhuez

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Warm up You don’t want to head straight up the mountain after your morning pain au chocolat.

This route incorporates a 3km warm-up on the valley floor before you hit the base. (On Zwift you also get a good runup to the bottom.)

The first ramp The climb to corner 21 (21 from the top) hits like a hammer. In the excitement at the start, it’s tempting to smash it up here. Don’t! Drop down to bottom gear and ease yourself in. The first half of the climb is harder than the second. Pace yourself.

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Viele Alpe Every year there is an official time trial up the Alpe. This is where that course finishes. To ride the full Tour de France distance, you must carry on up through the tunnel and follow the signs out the other side of the town.

D UTCH CORNER Bend seven on the climb (from the top) is where the Dutch cycling fans gather to party (for days!) when the Tour arrives. It also marks a brief easing in the gradient to allow you to gather yourself before heading for the summit.

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THE DESCENT Put your jacket on and reap the rewards of your efforts with about 20 minutes of pure adrenaline as you plummet (safely) back down. Soak up the awesome views as you do so.

Photos by Simon Warren

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1 Start

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4 Tour de France 2020 Alpe d’Huez doesn’t feature in this year’s Tour de France, which has been rescheduled to run from Saturday 29th August to Sunday 20th September.

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letour.fr/en

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Map © OpenStreetMap, produced with Inkatlas.com

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Feature

B IKE BOOM

There are vital lessons from the lockdown when it comes to transport.

Rob Kingston examines cycling’s surge and how to sustain it

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he coronavirus pandemic has been catastrophic for the health and wealth of the UK, as it has for most of world. Yet for all the pain and disruption, the resulting lockdown also gave us a chance to take stock of the way we live our lives.

The enforced changes to our daily routine made us question how much of what we considered normal was truly necessary. Time spent outside, initially on our government-sanctioned daily exercise, became something to treasure. When we did venture out, we found cleaner air and less noise pollution, as traffic dropped to levels last seen in the 1950s.

It was a much nicer environment for cycling, whether by regular riders or newbies dusting off a neglected bike – or buying a new one, as bicycle shops, classed as an essential service, were permitted to stay open throughout lockdown.

The sunniest spring since UK records began also helped to tempt people onto their bikes. In early June, the Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, said that despite a fall in travel generally during the pandemic, there had been a 100% increase in cycle journeys across Britain on weekdays, and a 200% increase at weekends.

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ROB KINGSTON Rob is a communications officer for Cycling UK and a long-time cycle commuter

Chris Boardman, the Olympic gold medallist and Greater Manchester walking and cycling commissioner, saw this first hand on the Wirral Way, an off-road route near his home: “It was packed with people of all shapes, sizes and ages, out riding bikes. I confess there was a tear in my eye to see it: normal people in normal clothes discovering the bicycle.”

CUTTING CAR USE Duncan Dollimore, Cycling UK’s Head of Campaigns, says that while this surge in cycling is welcome, governments need to seize the opportunity if it is to be the start of a lasting change. “Lockdown has allowed a glimpse of a different, more active future, and it would be a travesty to let this opportunity slip through our fingers and return to business as usual,” he says.

“We know that cycling is a great way to reduce car use and ease pressure on public transport while maintaining social distancing – and, indeed, the government has asked us to walk or cycle whenever possible – and people have shown that they are prepared to rethink the way they travel. But they need infrastructure and investment to enable them to make this change, or

F E ATU R E

BIKE BOOM

Cycle-towork solutions Employers can do a lot to support cyclists too. See cyclinguk. org/cyclefriendly employer

What you can do

we risk losing the chance for what Boris Johnson called a ‘new golden age’ for cycling.”

To gauge people’s attitudes to cycling during lockdown, Cycling UK commissioned a YouGov poll (see Our Survey Said), which found that 36% of people could rethink their travel habits in the future to use motor vehicles less. But in order to do this, they would like to see changes made to our streets to make cycling safer and easier.

While statistics show that cycling is an extremely safe mode of travel, that is not the perception for many people, as Dollimore points out: “If the roads don’t look and feel safe to cycle on, only the brave will choose to do so.”

Richard Ingham, the bicycle mayor of Cumbria, agrees lockdown has shown that cars are the big problem. “Have those hills been flattened overnight or that rain tap magically turned off?” he asks. “When planners and policy makers tell me those are the reasons the UK won’t take to cycling, I’m tempted to reply: ‘It’s the traffic, stupid!’ Regular cyclists understand that, but the past months have just proved beyond all doubt what an inhibitor traffic is to cycling.”

who appear to consider roads as places only they should be. We drastically need a cultural shift away from this way of thinking. Anyone who drives, cycles, walks, or wheels needs to feel as entitled to their space and safety as other users.”

And, as Chris Boardman points out, those who previously relied on public transport face being cut off as restrictions reduce capacity. “The bicycle has not just offered a practical travel solution; at present it is a moral one too,” he says. “On average, one in three households in cities across the UK don’t have access to a car, and now most of them can’t use buses, trams and trains safely either – so if not bikes for those three- to five-mile journeys, what else are they supposed to do?”

So what needs to be done to ensure there is a lasting positive legacy of this terrible time?

Investment by UK governments in temporary infrastructure, such as “pop-up” cycle lanes, road closures and speed restrictions, has been a welcome first step. In England, the Department for

• Highlight areas where infrastructure needs improvement at widenmypath.com, then let your council know you have done so.

• Check your local council website or www.commonplace. is/places for engagement tools to highlight problem areas.

• Share these links with friends, family and on social media.

• If you know a new or returning cyclist, encourage them to take up Cycling UK’s Back on Your Bike offer: £15 for six months of benefits and advice – see cyclinguk.org/backyour-bike.

Top and right: Alamy

KEEPING BUMS ON BIKES As more people return to work, those empty roads are already filling up again. Lee Craigie, Active Nation Commissioner for Scotland, noticed this around Edinburgh: “The quieter roads have given many people the confidence to dig that old bike out of their shed,” she says.

“Lately, though, car traffic has been returning and the increased bike traffic on the roads seems to be upsetting many (though not all) car drivers,

Top: Rush hour, Parliament Square, in 2018: cycling could now grow further This photo: Lockdown in Cambridge.

Cycling promotes social distancing

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BIKE BOOM

Transport pledged £225m of emergency funding for active travel, on top of £25m to provide £50 cycle repair vouchers. The first £45m had just been allocated to local authorities at the time of writing, with councils required to bid for the remaining funds by 7 August.

Other nations within the UK were quicker off the mark. In Scotland, £10m was allocated for temporary infrastructure at the end of April, topped up to £30m the following month; at the time of writing, more than £19m of this fund, called Places for People, had been allocated to 21 local authorities. The Welsh government has distributed more than £15m in temporary infrastructure funding, and in Northern Ireland, Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon announced the rollout of pop-up cycle lanes throughout Belfast in June.

Cycling UK has been actively calling for this type of infrastructure. Our Space for Distancing campaign spurred more than 11,000 people to write to their local councils (or MLAs in Northern Ireland) about where they wanted to see better cycle facilities. More recently we have been encouraging people to use Widen My Path (see ‘What you can do’, previous page). In Wales, Cycling UK has also joined forces with Sustrans and others to create Transform Cymru (transformcymru.org), which has published a plan for sustainable transport post-lockdown.

Our survey said Some highlights from the YouGov poll of 27-28 April.

9%

of adults surveyed said they had been cycling more since lockdown started Of those cycling more, the measures most likely to make them continue to do so were:

Top: Chris Boardman, Manchester’s cycling and walking commissioner Middle: Pop-up bike lane, Leicester Bottom: Lee Craigie, walking the talk

50

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AU G U ST/SE PTEMBER 2020

63%

Traffic-free cycle lanes to town centres/high streets

53%

More cycle lanes on

roads

31%

Restrictions to through-traffic in town centres

30%

Restrictions to throughtraffic in residential streets

PUTTING ACTIVE TRAVEL FIRST While vital, government investment is only part of the solution. Dr Rachel Aldred, professor of transport at the University of Westminster and director of the Active Travel Academy, elaborates: “We need a co-ordinated effort from different levels of government, with other organisations like large employers also supporting. Central government should provide not just more money but more technical support, to help authorities which lack capacity and don’t have experience of building high-quality bike infrastructure.

“Employers should be encouraged to offer support to staff who live within a cyclable distance: for instance, access to the Cycle to Work scheme and short-term loan bikes to allow them to try out cycling before they buy.”

We also need to keep up the pressure as individuals, says Lee Craigie: “We have to be vocal about our desire for change in road allocation, so that our decision makers can stand strong in the face of the minority who insist on their right to drive and park without restriction.”

However, to achieve the much talked-about “modal shift”, the onus is ultimately on the UK’s governments to lead from the top, says Duncan Dollimore. “Westminster has pledged to ‘decarbonise’ transport and make cycling and walking the first choice for short journeys, and we’re hearing bold statements of ambition from senior ministers around prioritising active travel.

“But those ambitions won’t be realised without

left: Ride Leicester

F E ATU R E

24%

Reducing speed limit to 20mph in built-up areas

substantially increased long-term investment.

The £225m emergency fund should enable proactive councils to start reallocating road space for active travel, but it’s less than 1% of the £27bn committed to road building.

“For councils to turn individual schemes into the connected networks needed to turn rhetoric to reality, they need to know how much money they’re going to get to build cycling and walking infrastructure not just over the next few months, but the next few years.”

In the meantime we can all help to show that the demand is there, by contacting our local councils and using online tools such as Widen My Path. As Chris Boardman says: “I hope the positive travel experience almost everyone has had is something they have realised they want to keep. It could signal a step change in how we use our roads, but if we don’t act immediately and let our politicians know it’s something we want, it will undoubtedly slip away. So now is the time to get involved, and make sure the country’s leaders know which way you want them to go.”

36%

agreed they could rethink their travel habits in future to use cars/motor vehicles less

42%

of those surveyed had cycled more with their children since lockdown started

62%

said they felt safer cycling on the roads than before lockdown

79%

said outdoor exercise was important for their mental wellbeing

Details Where: East End of London Start/finish: Wanstead, London Distance: 34km (21 miles) Pictures: Harry Lyons

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APR I L/ M AY 2020

LO N D O N

G R E AT R I D E S

HARRY LYONS

Great Rides

Cycling UK member Harry does proper tours (e.g. C2C across the USA) as well as milling about London

WHAT A PERFORMANCE! Culture, cycling, and Cockney pubs: that was the programme for Harry Lyons’ tour of the old music halls of London’s East End last autumn

I

’ve got a luvverly bunch of… cyclists! On a bright autumn day we set out from the The George in Wanstead, fuelled by full English breakfasts and ready for a day in the saddle.

Perhaps not so much ‘luvverly’ as ‘loved’, a term used to describe well-worn, second-hand goods.

Between us we sported replacement hips and knees, hearing aids, and brain damage (the result of a cycling accident). One of us was recovering from labrynthitis, another from a stroke. In other words, a not untypical bunch of old geezers.

But none of us had Two Lovely Black Eyes and If It Wasn’t For The ’Ouses In Between we could’ve seen ’Ackney, where we were heading. Yes, it was a Spa & Pampering group day out to investigate the remnants of London’s East End music halls.

A PROPER CUP OF COFFEE Our first venue was Hoxton Hall. Built in 1863, it had a programme that was intended to be both entertaining and educational – not unlike our days out. It failed, was closed, and reopened in 1866 as a music hall featuring some of the major ‘artistes’ of the time. This was so popular that, in 1867, it was heightened by another floor.

John Earl, former Director of the Theatre’s Trust, says of Hoxton Hall: “The building has been continuously active, with only short breaks, in a variety of roles, but always managing to accommodate some kind of public entertainment since it was built in 1863.”

Do it yourself

Urban touring Cycling with a group in a city needs planning.

Once you have your theme and a list of destinations, ride the route to check for building works and roadworks that might affect your ride. Check out bike parking. Ensure the institutions you visit can handle the group size. Support the less confident in your group in traffic. Keep your speed down.

Groups can easily split up in busy traffic and at junctions.

It continued to accommodate “some kind of public entertainment” that morning as our cycling ukulele mavens took the opportunity to climb on stage and give us a medley of popular music hall songs including, appropriately, Bubbles (we have a few West Ham supporters) and, inappropriately, Champagne Charlie. (We hadn’t started on the pop at 10.30am; we were having coffee and cake.)

Next up: the Eagle on City Road, once a music hall of ill-repute. It was an early venue for Marie Lloyd but, in 1884 – shock, horror – the building was bought by General Booth and turned into a Salvation Army centre. After 17 temperate years, the Sally Army gave up, the building was demolished, and the present pub erected. Although the weather had turned intemperate between venues and we’d received a soaking as we cycled up and down the City Road, in the spirit of General Booth we never went in but stayed resolutely out of the Eagle.

SING AS WE GO Next on the agenda was the magnificent Hackney Empire, designed by Arthur Matcham, the preeminent theatre designer of the time, and opened in 1901. Unfortunately they wouldn’t let us in. Not because we’re such a disreputable bunch but because TV crews were filming inside that day.

So we settled down in the Cock Tavern next door with our bikes leaning against the bar.

Song sheets were distributed. Nigel rattled off Roll Out The Barrel on the old

C YCL I NGUK . O RG

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53

G R E AT R I D E S

The only way is Essex

LO N D O N

Canvey Island culturetour: cyclinguk.org/ cycle-magazine/ great-ridesadventure-essex

Top: The Half Moon pub, originally a Methodist chapel Bottom: Whitechapel Road

joanna while massed ukes (Russell and Andrew) hammered out Don’t Jump Off The Roof Dad, With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm, and other music hall favourites.

Back on the bikes we skirted London Fields, cycled carefully through the hip cafés of Broadway Market (not wanting to make waves on their flat whites), and down past Haggerston Park and Hackney City Farm on narrow, busy roads. Our destination was the junction of Vallance Road and Whitechapel Road, where the opulent Pavilion Theatre once stood.

Built in 1827, the Pavillion was rebuilt in 1858, 1871 and 1894 before closing in 1934. It was destroyed by bombs in 1940 and finally totally demolished in 1962. It’s believed that the side entrance in Vallance Road still exists behind sheeted scaffolding. Once a Jewish Theatre – like the Wonderland, the Jewish music hall a little further along Whitechapel Road – it would have contributed much to popular culture.

The Jewish East End has largely disappeared but it remains a vibrant, bustling community, and beneath the garish, modern shop fronts, the remains of a bygone era can often be spotted. We passed the site of the Wonderland, now a new-build Barclays Bank, as we pedalled along Whitechapel Road on bike path CS2.

ANOTHER LITTLE DRINK Within easy cycling distance of our home base, there are quite a few sites of music halls that no longer exist: The Paragon Theatre of Varieties on the Mile End Road; Queen’s Music Hall at Poplar;

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AU G U ST/ SE PTEMBER 2020

the Royal Albert at Canning Town; and the Eastern Empire at Bow. We could easily have incorporated them into our day, but once you’ve seen one music hall that no longer exists, you’ve seen them all. So it was off down the Mile End Road to a site that never even was a music hall, the Half Moon pub.

Built originally in 1900 as a Welsh Methodist Chapel, it was converted into a theatre to house the Half Moon Theatre Company in 1979. Despite the fact that the Half Moon has now been a pub longer than it was a theatre, we didn’t partake. We wanted to beat the rush hour traffic. Even on a cycle path, the Mile End Road is no fun.

We slipped off onto a side road as soon as we could, then headed for the Regent’s Canal, which took us north to Victoria Park and then, via the Lea Navigation Canal, into the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. We skirted the velodrome and exited onto the quiet streets north of Stratford, making our way to our final stop of the day, a ‘spa’ with a large beer garden. We parked the bikes (in yet another torrential downpour) and, with 21 miles in our legs and only minutes from home, proceeded to get immoderately pampered.

More Info Interested in music halls in your area? You can find more information at: arthurlloyd.co.uk

Fact file

East End music halls Distance: 21 miles.

Route: QE Olympic Park, Hertford Union Canal, Victoria Park, Regent’s Canal, London Fields, ’Ackney, Whitechapel/Mile End Road (bike route CS2), Regent’s Canal to Vicky Park.

Conditions: Roads were busy, weather very busy. It was the late September monsoon season.

Equipment: I rode a chunky Tern Verge Tour but for this kind of cycling, Any Old Iron will do.

Maps: Smartphone using Google Maps and a Garmin Edge 500 (yes, belt and braces).

I’m glad I had…

Membership of Cycling UK, therefore thirdparty insurance. While London roads are busy, traffic is slow.

On traffic-free routes, however, pedestrians are unpredictable and some cyclists positively dangerous.

Next time I would…

Slather on chamois cream or wear bike gear. Or both. Riding 21 miles in civvies took its toll on my nether regions.

Advice

CYCLOPEDIA Left: Peter Cornish

Questions answered, subjects explained – Cyclopedia is your bimonthly cycling reference guide

Ride leaders for Cycling UK groups and affiliates already have liability cover

Q & A

reasonably skilled instructor.

The chances of being found liable increase the more foreseeable and severe the perceived risk. There is a greater burden on the organiser to raise awareness of these risks to participants, and he or she must take steps to mitigate them.

If you are organising a ride and intend to go off-road on technically difficult trails, you can protect yourself by taking out appropriate insurance. Ride leaders for Cycling UK groups and affiliates already haver Organiser’s Liability cover. Additionally, Cycling UK offers Activity Provider Insurance for instructors.

For details, visit cyclinguk.org/insurance/cycleactivity-provider-insurance.

Richard Gaffney

Legal

Ride leader liability off-road?

Your Experts Some rim-tyre combinations are very tight. Continentals usually go on fine, however

Q

What personal liability do I face when voluntarily leading a group of mountain bikers off-road? Or advertising it on social media? Can I limit my liability?

Ben Waterfall

A

By publicly advertising a group ride on social media and offering to lead it, you are potentially opening yourself up to liability on two counts.

First, insofar as you are choosing the trail, you would need to ensure that you take suitable precautions to minimise risk to potential participants.

Second, you might be deemed to be acting in the role of an expert or instructor, which could have ramifications if a participant’s skill level is insufficient for the route taken.

The courts were presented with a similar situation in the case of Ahmed v Maclean [2016], where a mountain bike instructor was held 80% liable in a seven-figure claim after the defendant failed to properly Coronavirus appraise the claimant’s skill level For up-to-date and should have deterred him from cyclists' advice taking an advanced route. It was regarding Covid-19, accepted that the risk of serious visit: cyclinguk.org/ injury should have been apparent to a coronavirus

TechnicaL DR KATE HATTERSLEY Cycling GP {Health}

RICHARD HALLETT Cycle’s Technical Editor {Technical}

RICHARD GAFFNEY Principal Lawyer, Slater + Gordon Lawyers {Legal}

Tyre too tight

Q

I’ve just built a new front wheel with a Ryde Chrina rim. Trying to fit a Michelin Pro 4 folding bead tyre has been impossible. Can you recommend a 700×25C tyre that usually fits on the looser side so I have a chance of getting it in the wheel? csowter, via the Cycling UK Forum

A

Your problem may be a slightly oversized rim, in which case an alternative tyre choice may not help. That said, tyre manufacturer Continental takes great care to ensure that all its tyres comply with the relevant dimensions and tolerances specified by the ETRTO, the European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation, and as such they're generally straightforward to fit.

If you can’t get even one bead on the rim, it may be worth trying a thinner rim tape if available. Also, push the bead into the rim’s central trough at the point opposite the valve and ensure you finish bead fitting at the valve.

Richard Hallett

C YC L I NGUK . O RG

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57

Q&A

Technical

rivnuts comprise a female-threaded tophat-shaped sleeve. This is inserted in a prepared hole and crimped using a dedicated tool to create an internal flange that grips the tube wall, securing the nut in the hole and preventing rotation.

Over time, the grip of the crimping process can diminish due to corrosion or fretting. It can also be loosened while trying to turn a stiff bolt – as in your case, where the bolt has seized in the rivnut.

If you can get the bolt out, you may be able to crimp the nut some more by inserting a long M5 bolt and then tightening a suitable nut (with washer underneath) against the outer flange.

Otherwise, the rivnut flange should be carefully filed off and a new one fitted.

Richard Hallett

Pressure gauged

Q

I recently swapped my 28mm tyres for 32mm Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700×32C. Reducing the pressure to 60psi rear and 50 psi front, it is much more comfortable. Given I weigh 10.5 stone, can you suggest the pressures I should use – for comfort not performance?

MartinS, via the Cycling UK Forum

A

It sounds like you have alighted on suitable pressures for your new tyres. They are much as would be suggested for someone of your weight on 32mm rubber and, as you say, they provide a comfortable ride. Perhaps not as comfortable as you would like, in which case why not ‘air down’ by a few psi?

The recommendation is that you can just feel the texture of the road surface through the tyres. Much softer than this and you’ll lose out on stability and rolling resistance and, possibly, leave the tyres more susceptible to punctures.

Richard Hallett

Technical

Broken boss

Q

On my aluminium MTB, one of the bottle cage bolts is stuck in the sleeve in the frame – and the sleeve turns with the bolt. How can I fix this?

Seamus Elliott

A

The threaded sleeves used as bottle cage bosses in most aluminium frames are known as rivnuts. Usually steel but often aluminium in lightweight cycles,

CYCLO PE D IA

South Devon CTC, we had a similar incident. On that occasion, our club member fell from his bike due to a heart attack and was then knocked unconscious by the fall. Thankfully it was witnessed. Club members knew how to perform CPR and kept him perfused until the air ambulance was able to take him to hospital. After a stormy hospital stay, he came home.

Club members were shaken, so to help them we organised several training sessions teaching basic life support and first aid. The most important thing to remember in this frightening situation is that the person has already died and your efforts cannot make things worse but might possibly bring them back.

If you can only perform chest compression because you are unable or ill equipped to do rescue breathing as well, don’t be put off. The chance of survival is double or triple with chest compression alone compared to doing nothing.

I would suggest you organise some training sessions for your group as you will enjoy it and feel more confident riding out together in future.

Dr Kate Hattersley

Fitting a rivnut is easier with a proper tool but can be done with a nut, bolt and washer

Left: Alamy

It's fine to run tyres softer than their maximum pressure.

Use what works best for you

Health

Heart attack response

Q

A group of us recently came across a truck driver next to a cyclist lying on the road. The driver had found the cyclist five minutes earlier. Emergency services were on the way and had advised putting the cyclist on his side. I’m pretty sure the cyclist was dead; he wasn’t breathing and his eyes were rolled. But we all felt totally useless. None of us could do CPR, and in the current pandemic would have been wary doing it even through a cloth (as advised by emergency services). Paramedics arrived within 20 minutes and said it was probably a heart attack. No attempt to revive was made.

Graham Fletcher

A

I am sorry to hear of the traumatic experience you had. In my club,

First aid training is invaluable.

Visit: cyclinguk.org/coursesand-training/courses-available

Get in touch EMAIL your technical, health, or legal questions to cycle@jamespembrokemedia. co.uk or write to Cyclopedia, Cycle, PO Box 313, Scarborough, YO12 6WZ. We regret that Cycle magazine cannot answer unpublished queries. But don’t forget that Cycling UK operates a free-to-members advice line for personal injury claims, TEL: 0844 736 8452.

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CYCLOPEDIA

w o h w o Kn Making sense of commonly misunderstood subjects

JOHN ROWE Owner of Resurrection Bikes, resurrectionbikes. org.uk

Resurrection Bikes in Harrogate recycles and sells bikes to raise funds for charities

Bargain hunting

What to look for when buying a secondhand bike

T

here’s little legal protection when it comes to secondhand bikes so it pays to take care: buyer beware! There are different things to look out for depending on the value of the bike you’re after.

BUDGET: We sell basic-spec mountain bikes, town bikes, and hybrids from £45-£75. What you get for your money varies enormously even in that small price window. Any type of repair will be significant versus the buying price, so take the time to check things over.

Ride the bike to ensure everything works.

Are the wheels true? Do the brakes rub? Do the gears work smoothly? Does it fit you? Take a few basic tools to adjust the seat height etc.

Consider getting an older bike with thin frame tubes; fat steel tubing can add a lot of weight. A quality-brand bike that’s 20+ years old but came with what were then top-end components can be a bargain as it’s more likely to be reliable Avoid suspension as it adds a lot of weight.

At this price level, it will be non-serviceable steel springs without damping, good only for the occasional pothole.

Warning signs

cycle

£250 tend to have been owned by people who used them a lot so they often have worn out parts. Doing a lot of repairs can double the price of the bike. So it’s worth checking things thoroughly or bringing along expert help.

HIGHER END: Most of the value here is in the frame and wheels, so take particular care checking these. If the drivetrain is worn out but the essentials of the bike are good, it’s an opportunity to pick up a bargain – so long as you can do the servicing yourself.

Check if the bike has a lifetime frame warranty. If it does, get the paperwork from the seller. Top-end bikes follow fashion trends as much as cheap bikes, so they don’t hold their value well: a bike even a few years old can be terrific value for money.

Fork damage Check suspension for rust, scoring, and travel.

Rigid: bends/dents may be crash damage

AU G U ST/ SE PTEMBER 2020

Wheels Check they spin smoothly with no wobble, and that the rim is not badly worn

Where to buy The obvious place is a Cycling UK-affiliated recycling centre (cyclinguk. org/delivery-partners).

Bikes will have been properly checked and repaired, and advice will be available. Charity shops and secondhand shops may sell bikes but these won’t have been checked or serviced.

For enthusiast-owned bikes, good online sources include the Cycling UK Forum (forum.cyclinguk. org), Singletrackworld (singletrackworld.com) and Pinkbike (pinkbike.com).

Local cycling clubs are another option.

Online listing sites such as eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and Gumtree require caution. Stolen bikes can crop up here. Watch for suspicious behaviour or prices, and check frame numbers at bikeregister. com. Pay by PayPal for some buyer protection.

Some of the most common problems include:

Frame damage Steel: how deep is that rust? Aluminium: any cracking at welds?

Avoid damaged carbon

60

MID -RANGE: Secondhand bikes costing £100-

Drivetrain Take a chain checker.

If it’s too worn, you may need a new chain, cassette and chainrings!

Big Bike Revival Resurrection Bikes is one of BBR’s local partners.

See cyclinguk.org/ bigbikerevival for more.

BIKE TEST

TERN LINK B7

Dimensions in millimetres and degrees

~620 575 555

~73.5˚

40

400

624 72.5˚

37

65

275

498

170 285 1024

130 406 42

Tech Spec

TERN LINK B7

Biketest

Tern Link B7 The Brompton isn’t the only game in town for folders, especially on a budget. Dan Joyce tests a £550 Tern

S

Other options

mall-wheeled points backward. Since folders go a Tern ‘handlepost’ (the anywhere: on bit between headset and trains (for free), in offices stem) folds to the left, the (without reproach), and in handlebar of the cheaper tiny flats (without being models ends up between tripped over). The king of the wheels rather than compacts is the Brompton. resting alongside.

Above: Folding is a little Yet it’s also expensive and Folding nevertheless awkward and unintuitive since you have to drop the has an idiosyncratic ride. takes only 10-20 seconds, handlebar down first.

Enter Tern. They make and the folded package premium folders too but holds together with strong their range starts at under magnets. At 34.5×80×70cm, £500 with the Link A7. Above that are it won’t slide between train seat backs Link B, C, and D models. but will fit a luggage rack fine. Tern sell They look much the same, featuring a CarryOn Cover (£50) if you need it.

20in wheels and chunky aluminium Unfolding the B7 is slower as you frames. Folding is different, however: C need to gauge the seat height; there are and Ds ‘N-fold’, which leaves the front no guides on the seatpost. Once aboard, wheel pointing forward; A and B fold in it rides well. It’s more stable than a half conventionally so the front wheel Brompton thanks to bigger wheels, more

62

B’TWIN TILT 100

BROMPTON B75

Yes: £150! No mudguards but has battery lights. This steel singlespeed was sold out at time of writing, due to the bike boom.

The cheapest Brompton by some margin is a 3-speed that uses some older-style parts. You’ll want mudguards (£68/set).

decathlon.co.uk

brompton.com

£149.99

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AU G U ST/ SE PT EMBER 2020

£745

Price: £550 (£585 with mudguards) Sizes: one (riders 1.42-1.90m, <105kg) Folded size: 34.5×80 ×70cm (measured) Weight: 12.87kg (28.31lb) as shown Frame & fork: Aluminium frame with fittings for mudguard, rear rack, one bottle. Hiten steel fork with mudguard fittings.

Wheels: 47-406 Impac StreetPac tyres, 406×20 alu’ rims, 20/28 ×2 front/rear spoking.

Transmission: Union folding pedals, 170mm 6061 alu’ chainset

with 52t chainring, square taper BB, Shimano 7-speed 14-28 freewheel.

Shimano Revoshift twistgrip shifter, Shimano Tourney derailleur. 7 ratios, 36-73in Braking: Promax TX117 V-brakes, Tektro levers Steering & seating: BioLogic Ergo grips, 580×26mm flat bar, telescopic stem, folding ‘handlepost’ with Q-Lock hinge, threadless headset.

Velo Comfort saddle, 34×540mm alu’ seatpost. ternbicycles.com/uk

trail, and wider, stodgier tyres.

Aside from those tyres, the B7’s only obvious budget-related drawback is its mediocre drivetrain: 7-speed Shimano Tourney with a screw-on 14-28 freewheel. The range isn’t much wider than that of a 3-speed hub, without the latter’s longevity or stationary-shifting convenience. It works – enough said.

The basic V-brakes, on the other hand, are surprisingly effective.

The B7 doesn’t have Tern’s ‘Luggage Socket’ on the head tube like the more expensive Links, so you’ll need to invest in a big saddlebag or rack-plus-trunkbag to avoid a sweaty back.

Verdict

Less than half the price of a Brompton M6L and more than half as good, the Link B7 won’t inspire the same devotion but it gets the job done. It rides well, without flex or shoppingtrolley steering, and folds small enough.

BIKE TEST

E XCELS I O R TO U R I N G

Dimensions in millimetres and degrees

615 572 810

72.3˚

50

445

640 69.7˚

79

61

550

718

170

302

108 622 46

1075

Tech Spec

EXCELSIOR TOURING

Biketest

Excelsior Touring Not a tourer but a smart singlespeed city bike with all the transport trimmings for less than £300. Dan Joyce tested it

U

Other options

pright roadsters Dutch dealers for less. It are ideal bikes was also listed on amazon. for urban areas. co.uk (search for ‘Excelsior Yet they’re rare in the UK, Touring’) for £300, plus £20 especially at the prices delivery. Not bad. post-pandemic newbies Like most roadsters it’s might stretch to. Not so heavy. The well-made Germany… frame is steel of unknown Above: A coaster brake This entry-level Excelsior provenance, probably provides reliable braking that doesn’t wear rims or depend has everything you hi-ten, and most of the on grip strength. need for everyday travel bits are also steel. Yet – comfortable riding on the right terrain – flat position, mudguards, rack, roads and cycle tracks – it chainguard, kickstand, dynamo lighting cruises along easily enough. The riding – for just €289.95 (approx £263). Bargain! position provides a commanding view Assuming you can find one; it’s not of the traffic and is very comfortable for sold on British high streets. I spotted it short trips. It forces you to relax. There’s online at hollandbikeshop.com, where little I’d change, except to have a lower it cost a mere £223.52 at time of writing. bottom bracket to make it easier to get a Sadly the delivery charge was £180! You foot down at the lights. could hop on a ferry to one of Excelsior’s At 60in, the Excelsior’s single gear

64

ELEPHANT BIKE £280+

PINNACLE CALIFORNIUM 1

Bag yourself a refurbished Pashley Mailstar with drum brakes and 3-speed gearing. Your purchase donates another to Africa.

Sidepull brakes and 1×7 gearing but it does have guards, a basket, and a sensible riding position.

cycleofgood.com

evanscycles.com

cycle

AU G U ST/ SE PT EMBER 2020

£350

Price: €289.95 Sizes: 55cm diamond, 45cm or 53cm step-through Weight: 16.9kg (37.2lb) as shown Frame & fork: Hiten steel frame and fork with fittings for mudguards, rear rack, frame lock, and dynamo.

Wheels: 47-622 Mitas Flash tyres (47-559 for 45cm step-through), 662×20 aluminium rims, 36×3 zincplated spokes, 100mm solid-axle Joytech front hub, 108mm solidaxle Velosteel singlespeed coaster-brake rear.

Transmission: Plastic pedals, 170mm alu’ chainset with 38t chainring, square-taper BB, KMC Z 3/32in chain, 18t sprocket. One ratio: 60in.

Braking: Velosteel coaster brake, Promax V-brake.

Steering & seating: Herrmans grips, 640×25.4mm City Cruiser steel handlebar, 25.4mm Zoom aluminium quill stem, VP threaded headset.

Selle Royal Moody saddle, 28.6×300mm steel plain seatpost. excelsior-fahrrad. de/en/

is about right if you steer clear of hills, where it’s exhausting. The rear hub incorporates a coaster brake, which works well but complicates setting off as you can’t spin the cranks into position.

For sudden stops there’s a front V-brake.

What defines the Excelsior Touring, other than its stately ride, is its equipment. I’d probably upgrade the 7mm-rail rear rack but the shiny steel mudguards might last forever, the kickstand is strong, and the chainguard is okay. The Axa Duo sidewall dynamo is decent and powers a smart front LED lamp with a switch and a rear one with a standlight. There’s even a pump!

Verdict

A comfy urban dreadnought that’s difficult to get hold of in the UK. New cyclists need access to affordable, practical transport like this; existing ones might find it changes the way they think about cycling. Recommended.

BIKE TEST

E- G R AV EL B I KE

Dimensions in millimetres and degrees

690 558 73˚

790 38

429

611 71˚

70

50

490

700

170 280

142 622

1031

40

Tech Spec

CAIRN E-ADVENTURE 1.0

Biketest

Cairn E-Adventure 1.0 A versatile £3,000 e-gravel bike with a removable battery and motor. Richard Hallett test rode it

I

Other options

gnore that huge down plenty of usage. Those on tube and Cairn’s our well-used test mule E-Adventure 1.0 were baggy and notchy. could pass as a regular With the 3.3kg drive gravel bike. It has gravelpack removed, the bike dedicated tubelesscan be pedalled normally. compatible wheels, a There’s a replacement SRAM 1× transmission cover for the down tube Top: Superimposed onto its and hydraulic brakes, and available; without it the natural environment (eye-roll) Above: Flat battery? Feeling the stable geometry of motor coupling with the fit? You can ride without help a machine designed for bottom bracket gear box is loose surfaces. left exposed to dirt. Most But that down tube is E-Adventure owners will hard to ignore. It’s massive because surely prefer to ride with assistance all it houses the e-bike’s Fazua Evation the time, not least because it is very power pack. This comprises a 250Wh effective. Cairn quote 250W in middle battery and the drive motor, which are ‘River’ mode, with a surge of up to 400W contained in one removable cartridge. available in ‘Rocket’ setting. These The drive pack must be removed to turn and the lowest ‘Breeze’ assist level are the battery on (and off) and to recharge selected via a pad on the down tube. it, so the pack’s lock and switch get So, drive pack removed, battery

66

ORBEA GAIN M20 £3,999

BOARDMAN ADV 8.9E

Well-equipped, lightweight, roadorientated, ebikemotion X35-powered e-bike with clearance for wider tyres.

Fazua-powered allrounder with crisp styling and impressive specification for the price.

orbea.com

boardmanbikes.com

cycle

AU G U ST/ SE PT EMBER 2020

£2 ,399

Price: £2,989 Sizes: S, M (tested), L, XL Weight: 14.5kg, no pedals Frame & fork: 6061-T6 aluminium frame for Fazua drive, fittings for rear rack, mudguard, two cages (one double, one triple), and dropper post.

All-carbon fork with 12×100 thruaxle and fittings for mudguard, two cages (triple mounts), & internal dynamo wire.

Wheels: 40-622 WTB Venture tyres, Hunt 4-Season Gravel

Disc wheelset.

Transmission: Praxis Works Fazua chainset with 170mm cranks and 42t chainring, Fazua Evation bottom bracket, SRAM 11-speed chain and 10-42 cassette.

SRAM Rival Hydro dual control levers, SRAM Rival 1× long cage rear mech. 11 ratios, 28-107in.

Braking: SRAM Rival Hydro hydraulic discs, 160mm rotors.

Steering & seating: 440×31.6mm handlebar, 80mm stem, 27.2mm seatpost. cairncycles.com

turned on, pack replaced, Rocket mode selected – and away we go. Straight up a nearby 1-in-3 rocky track, which the bike handled with ease. That 400W max is entirely believable. Battery life is likely to be short at this setting and the motor was hot by the top. It whined a bit too.

The motor’s control software, which senses cadence, pedal pressure, and speed, moderates power delivery so it tails off rather than stopping abruptly.

Shifting on a steep climb thus results in a gear crunch as the motor continues to drive after pedalling ceases. There’s an app to track various parameters, and the whole thing is great fun if, perhaps, not as slick overall as the main opposition.

Verdict

Powerful and sensitive removable drive system (which needs removal prior to each time it is to be used), in a competent, wellequipped gravel bike chassis.

CYCLE

D I R EC TO RY

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0203 198 3092

harvey.falshaw@jamespembrokemedia.co.uk

Rough stuff

To advertise in the next issue of Cycle please contact: HARVEY FALSHAW 0203 198 3092 harvey.falshaw@ jamespembrokemedia .co.uk

GROUPTEST

GILETS

Details

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

1

Fabric

Breathability is good for when dry weather warms up, while water resistance can make for a useful cover in warm, wet conditions. A mesh back aids ventilation but obviously won’t keep out rain.

Grouptest

Gilets

A lightweight sleeveless jacket is a useful addition to any year-round cyclist’s wardrobe. Technical Editor Richard Hallett reviews four

2

Thinner and lighter is better if you are likely to take it off during the ride.

3

RICHARD HALLETT Technical Editor Richard often rides in changeable weather conditions – he lives in Wales

Cycle’s test promise

Collar

High on the neck helps keep out cold draughts.

T

he gilet is a windbreak intended to be worn over clothing not quite warm enough for conditions that are expected to improve, or to be carried in anticipation that they may deteriorate. They suit chilly starts, for example, or just the typically changeable British weather. Most are light and thin enough to stash in a pocket.

A waterproof gilet offers a welcome alternative to a sleeved shell in warm, rainy conditions though may be overly warm in cool, dry weather.

Conversely, many gilets have a mesh back. While this is of no use in a downpour, the gilet’s wind shielding function will help keep a wet rider warm once the rain stops.

A lightweight, breathable gilet is the versatile and adaptable choice since so much of its effectiveness depends on what’s worn underneath. It can be worn or carried as the weather and landscape demands.

Weight

4

Zip

Full-length is the norm for ventilation and ease of removal.

5

Hem

Elastic or a drawstring at the hem will keep air in and prevent draughts – or moisture-removing airflow, depending on the situation.

6

Gender

Looser-fitting gilets are more or less unisex. Tight or tailored ones need a women’s fit option too. Few have this.

3 1

4 6

2

5

At Cycle, we are proudly independent. There’s no pressure to please advertisers as we’re funded by your membership. Our product reviews aren’t press releases; they’re written by experienced cyclists after thorough testing.

C Y CL I NGUK . O RG

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GROUPTEST

GILETS

1

2

Verdict Plenty of variation here in what is essentially a simple garment: thick versus thin, stretchy versus taut, waterproof or simply breathable, pockets no pockets. Of the test samples, Lusso’s heavyduty design offers serious protection from cold wind and light rain and is, perhaps, best worn as a ride-long garment rather than one that’s taken on and off.

The others stick closer to the conventional gilet concept, which is of a lightweight cover that can be worn as required in changing conditions. They all work well.

Summer jerseys

Something to wear under your gilet: cyclinguk.org/article/ cycling-guide/reviewcycling-tops

3

More online

4

1 Altura Airstream

cyclinguk.org/cycling-advice

Lusso 2 Aqua Challenge Blue Gillet

Pearl Izumi 3 Zephrr Barrier Vest

Continental 4 Windshield Meshvest

USING A THIN, breathable and water-repellent soft-touch fabric for both front and rear panels, the Airstream is simple but effective. It’s easily folded and stashed in a jersey pocket, with the option of tucking it inside its own rear cargo pocket first to make a convenient bundle. It incorporates reflective edge bindings, and this bright yellow version (it also comes in black) is hard to miss in daylight. The otherwise generous fit of the size L test sample was slightly tight around the chest. Sizes S-XXL.

LAVISHLY-SPECIFIED AND sumptuous in feel, Lusso’s design employs substantial Italian fabrics and is a snug fit thanks to their elasticity.

Breathable and waterproof, this gilet (or ‘gillet’) has four rear pockets, one with a zip, which is perhaps just as well: it would be tight worn over items stored in a jersey’s rear pockets. The rear panel is reflective. The overall feel and impression is more of a sleeveless high-spec winter jacket than the traditional lightweight vest. Sizes: S-XXL.

MESH-BACKED WITH a waterrepellent ripstop nylon front, the Barrier has a notably high collar and a slightly superfluous drawstring on the hem. Of particular note is the impressively heavy-duty zip, which can be operated from either end but which engages to start from the opposite side to the others.

There’s a small reflective Pearl Izumi logo on the rear. This gilet is available in women’s version too – same features, different cut. Sizes: men’s S-XXL, women’s S-XXL.

BEARING THE CONTINENTAL tyre manufacturer’s logo, this is a well-constructed, lightweight, breathable gilet with non-stretch but closely-fitting polyester panels; Continental describe it as ‘slim fit’. Apart from the shoulders and upper back, the rear is mesh fabric for ventilation. The zip is hidden but full length, while the hem is elasticated. Reflective strips help it stand out in headlights. It packs down easily to fit in jersey pocket.

Sizes: S-XXL.

Lightweight, affordable, basic but effective

Stretchy, high-tech gilet for more inclement weather

Well-tailored quality. Nice to see a women’s version as well

No-frills efficiency. Conti’s gilet is lightweight and stashable

£39.99 altura.co.uk

£69.99 lusso.bike

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For more reviews of bikes, kit and components, as well as how-to guides, visit...

cycle

AU G U ST/ SE PT EMBER 2020

£89.99 madison.co.uk

£49.95 conti-tyres.co.uk

CYCLE

H O L I DAY S & D I R EC TO RY

To advertise contact Harvey Falshaw: harvey.falshaw@jamespembrokemedia.co.uk

To advertise in the next issue of Cycle please contact: HARVEY FALSHAW 0203 198 3092 harvey.falshaw@ jamespembrokemedia .co.uk

TRAVELLERS’ TALES

(

Share your story We’d love to hear your Travellers’ Tales! Email: cycle@ jamespembrokemedia.co.uk

(

Riders refuelled at Hooe, the halfway point

South East England Gartshore Bing, near Kirkintilloch

Scotland

Backyard touring Exercise rides in lockdown let Clive Parker learn more about his local area

L

ockdown, day one: for the first time, I found myself thinking that cycling on the road was safer than the cycle route. I headed west from Kirkintilloch along the Starthkelvin Cycle Path to Stathblane.

This former railway line is popular with walkers and dog-owners; social distancing was a nightmare compared with the parallel, traffic-free road.

Much safer to come back along that!

I then devised other journeys to explore the lanes that still exist in my corner of urban Scotland: the triangle between Glasgow, Cumbernauld and Airdrie. It’s amazing how many new routes I found in the first eight weeks of lockdown, during which I cycled from home almost every day and clocked up over 1,500km.

Cycling some roads frequently gave me an insight into the farming timetable. Fields began as muddy clart, then were ploughed into heavy furrows, and then flattened with rollers. Finally the green shoots of barley appeared, reminding me there would be life after the virus.

I’ve enjoyed seeing relics that

show I live on the former Lanarkshire coalfield. Gartshore Bing is a prominent landmark, and the workings are still visible round the village of Annathill. Erstwhile mining villages such as Moodiesburn, Twechar and Auchinstarry are tranquil now.

It has thrilled me to see new views – not just from the two roads over the Campsie Fells but also realising that the peaks of Arran are visible from both Cumbernauld and Airdrie.

Will the lockdown see a new dawn, with more people cycling safely on roads? My experience has been consideration from motorists. Younger people I know have bought bikes. The future looks good.

Meikle Bin in the Campsie Fells, seen from Carron Valley

Battle & Hastings Dawn Eldridge describes the tenth anniversary ride of the 1066 Cycle Club BEFORE LOCKDOWN, THE 1066 Cycle Club in East Sussex celebrated a decade on two wheels with an anniversary relay ride through the area around Hastings.

We planned five different sections, and members were invited to ride as many of them as they wished.

The ride started in Robertsbridge, with more members joining in Battle. At the halfway point in the village of Hooe, we had a celebration cake and coffee. Then we continued in wet and windy conditions to Bexhill-on-Sea and Hastings.

Club Chair Sue Burton, who led the second section, said: “The relay ride was a great way for riders of different levels to join in and celebrate our anniversary” The complete circuit of 45 miles was due to finish in the historic town of Rye. It didn’t quite go to plan. Geoff Frost, who would’ve lead the final 14-mile section from Hastings to Rye, said: “Those of us who made it to Hastings were beginning to get chilly and damp. Plus it was getting dark, so we abandoned the ride in favour of one of the best fish-and-chip shops on Hastings seafront. After that, some of us cycled home and others caught the train.”

Despite only four of the five sections being ridden, 19 members enjoyed taking part, logging 287 miles in total. We can’t wait to ride the whole route in summer!

The club’s website is 1066cycleclub. org.uk.

C YCL I NGUK . O RG

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73

TRAVELLERS’ TALES

Michael enjoying a social training session via Zoom

Indoors Dawn breaks: a mere 6,800 metres left for Laurence to climb

London

Everesting Ally Pally Laurence Kilpatrick rode up the hill at Alexandra Palace – many, many times

I

had committed to the longest ride of my life, one that included three times the amount of elevation I’d ever managed in a single day. I was about to Everest the North London lump known as Ally Pally. I ignored the naysayers. A short sample: my chosen hill wasn’t steep enough; too much flat was involved; I hadn’t trained enough (at all!); I hadn’t thought it through.

The night before the attempt I ate my body weight in curry. At 2am I was out in the chilly London night.

The streets were empty and I made excellent progress. Dawn broke at 6.30am. I had scaled over 2,000 metres – a quarter of the ascent.

Right on cue, a friend arrived to pace me up the hill for a few hours.

It’s not a big hill – unless you ride it all day…

Stay connected 74

cycle

My conversational skills were already limited. He stuffed me full of food every 30 minutes and steered my thoughts away from towel-chucking.

Celebratory landmarks brought only gloom. Little joy can be taken from passing the 4,400 metre mark when it’s 1pm and you still have ten hours of cycling uphill to contend with. My mood swung up and down.

Darkness fell on a roasting day. I was left alone with the hill. Ally Pally turned into a playground for the fast and the furious – car drivers, that is. I continued to toil: “Just one more lap, then see how you are,” I told myself.

In the last hour, with only ten loops left to do, I began to think I might fail.

I ate sugary gels. Friends pedalled alongside me. Their support was vital.

A sudden surge of energy coursed through me on my penultimate lap.

I dropped my comrades and pelted up the nauseatingly familiar hill. Out of nowhere, tears spilled, relief that I would soon be able to stop pedalling.

I fairly sprinted up the final ascent and tossed my bike down onto the grass, looking out over London and collapsing onto the floor. After 350km and 8,848m of climbing, I had just completed the hardest day of cycling in my life.

facebook.com/CyclingUK

AU G U ST/ SE PTEMBER 2020

Twitter @wearecyclinguk

Turbo charged Virtual training transformed Michael Nelson’s lockdown SINCE MARCH MOST of us have been hunkering down, not cycling far from home. I took the opportunity to try something different: Turbo Beat.

For a year, people in my cycling club had been saying I should come to the Turbo Beat sessions at Crystal Palace. But I was too tired; I was meeting friends; I was washing what’s left of my hair.

After a while, I realised the real reason I didn’t go was fear. Fear of being humiliated by fit cyclists who would show me up for the pathetic, weedy cyclist I am.

Except, as I now know, it isn’t like that.

Paul Mill, Turbo Beat head coach, took me to one side, and explained how “the wall” of performance brought everyone to the same level. Yes, you had to work hard, but it was to your own standard. He then sold me a turbo trainer so I could join his online sessions from my back room.

They are brilliant. But it is more than just getting fitter. It is, once again, a group activity. Tiny faces on Zoom stare out from my laptop perched on the mantelpiece.

The titans of my cycling club are there too, suffering as I seem to. After one session, I mused out loud: “Why am I doing this?”

Paul replied: “Because you don’t have anything better to do.” He’s right: there isn’t anything better to do than cycling.

On recent, longer ‘real life’ rides, I hear Paul’s voice: “Dig. Push. You can do this.”

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