I thought I’d quickly post some pics taken recently, while cycling on the Plym valley cycle path. When I left home on Monday morning (21 Dec 09) at 07h45, it was still darkish and freezing cold, with ice everywhere. As I cycled towards Laira bridge, I passed over a few roads that I doubt had ... Read more

With Copenhagen in full swing, and headlines all over reporting what progress (or lack thereof) is being made on reaching a global climate change deal, other things are happening. For starters, Denmark is full of German police vehicles (now THAT must trigger some unhappy memories!) as apparently they don’t have enough of their own. Whether ... Read more

OK, it just HAD to happen: sooner or later I had to aquire a road bike. This eventually took the shape of a dangerously-close-to-brand-new Raleigh Pioneer. It’s a city bike, complete with proper mudguards and a carrier and it’s in immaculate condition. This changes things for me in a number of ways. Firstly, this bike ... Read more

Went to see Plymouth Argyle play a home game against Barnsley yesterday, after having been invited by a collegue. Given that I’ve lived in Plymouth for some 10 years now, and that I’ve never actually seen Argyle play, I figured that it was probably about time I went, despite not being a football fan. Metcheck.com & ... Read more

I suppose most people wouldn’t have the foggiest who Crocodile Harris is (was?). He’s a musician and had a hit with an anti-war song called “Give me the good news“. Mind you, despite the song’s title, don’t listen to it when you’re within reach of sharp objects! But I digress. Been doing a fair old ... Read more

The post just below shows the UK way of creating and running ads to keep people safer on the road. It places all responsibility on the pedestrian and cyclist, allowing car drivers to get away without any sense of responsibility at all. The Dutch do things differently, and significantly better: this video is part of ... Read more

The Department for Transport have been running these very artistic animated ads aimed squarely at kids.There’s a few of them, and while I broadly support anything that makes kids safer, I have a problem with where the balance lies here: Have a look at the end: all three kids are wearing hi-viz something or the ... Read more

OK, I’ll hand-on-heart admit that I suffer from roadrage. To be honest, I have been making a sustained and deliberate attempt at taming this (and a few other!) unruly aspect(s) of my character and I do believe I’ve made at least some progress. Having said that, I also need to point out that I don’t ... Read more

I’ve been eyeing helmet cameras for some time now, but life being what it is I cannot at this stage justify spending money on a helmet camera.After all, while it is nice to have, and very interesting, it is a toy. However… Some time ago I made the mistake of signing a mobile contract with ... Read more

I’m a great fan of Intructables.com, a site that is absolutely dripping with information on making lots of things. Trawling through the site a while ago I stumbled across something called he Nokia BikeLight. Bike lights are a pain, at the best of times. Basically, they’re split into two categories: Lights to see by, and ... Read more

OK, I’ll admit it to the entire world (or at least the small handful of people reading this blog): I don’t like ponces. There! I said it and there’s no going back! Want to seea prime example of a ponce? Go look at James Martin, supposedly a celebrity chef and car enthusiast. In case you ... Read more

I sold my car and I’m now officially car free! OK, OK, I have to admit there’s a gotcha here: my wife still has her car, so its not as if I never have any access to a car! Still, I’m pretty chuffed that at least as an individual I am car free! Some interesting ... Read more

Finally, a real reply from the Council. I’ve highlighted certain sections with bold type, while my comments are in blue. “I was one of the main contributors to the Cycle Strategy dated 2006 and I consulted with numerous interested parties. The following list are the main contributors:- Sustrans – Lindley Owen, CTC – Colin Woodman, ... Read more

One of my favourite bike blogs is (was?) http://www.bikehacks.com. As the name suggests, it deals with all sorts of hacks and modifications to bicycles, ranging from brilliant to absolutely bizarre.Want to make your own bike repair stand? Go to Bikehacks – there are several. There’ another US bike blog that apparently has a large global ... Read more

I sent PCC a message, via their web site, on the 10th of August 09. I received a reply from somebody at PCC in which I was informed that my message has been put to the Sustainable Transport team for answering, with the answer target on or before the 24th of August.Yesterday I e-mailed that ... Read more

On Sunday I had a chance to do some riding in the Plym valley. I cycled from home out on the Embankment, then followed the Plym valley cycle path to Cann Woods, where I headed off towards the downhill offroad tracks. Cycling up the narrow and now almost overgrown footpath, I had to stop as ... Read more

An update: Having discussed this matter with a very pleasant and helpful gentleman at Plymouth City Council’s transport department, I was assured that the bike lockers at Pavilions has nothing to do with them. However, he took down my number and promised to look into it for me.This sounded very much like a “don’t call ... Read more

My kids are attending a two week event called Just for Kids, at Plymouth Pavilions. They enjoyed it so much last year we enrolled them again. Anyway, while dropping them at Pavilions, I noticed quite a few bike lockers conveniently placed right outside the main entrance. How fantastic! My kids would be able to cycle ... Read more

I went cycling with two of my three kids yesterday. My youngest is six and simply loves her bike, while my eldest at eleven is starting to be a bit of a “cool dude”.We went over the swing bridge on the Barbican (Plymouth Barbican, that is!) up past the entrance to the Royal Citadel, onto ... Read more

Even Einstein, world-renowned for being a genius, loved riding his bike! Not just that, he discovered his theory of relativity while out cycling.He also said “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”Clever man.