Newsletter - Cycling News | September
Sent: Fri, Aug 29th 2008, 10:20
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Welcome to the September edition of the electronic newsletter from Life Cycle UK, the cycle promotion charity. In this issue:
Free bike fixing!
More BMWs
Somerset - we've got it covered
Bristol streets
Knickers!
Meet the team
Join the team!
Everyclick
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Free bike fixing!
Life Cycle’s roving mechanics will be making three public appearances in Bristol during September. If your bike needs a spot of TLC bring it along to one of our Doctor Bike surgeries. We’ll check it over, offer a diagnosis and carry out minor surgery on the spot (there are no waiting lists for Doctor Bike!) It’s also a chance to chat to a bike expert and get friendly, impartial advice.
Doctor Bike will be at:
The Best of Bedminster Show (North Street, Bedminster) on September 27th (11.00 a.m. to 1.30 p.m.)
Streets Alive (Corn Street, city centre) on September 20th (10.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.)
The Lena Street Party (Easton) on 6th September (3.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m.)
Life Cycle will also be running Doctor Bike surgeries for various employers and at private events in Bristol and beyond. If you’re organising an event with a transport or cycling related theme why not book us? There’s more information on our website.
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More BMWs
Maybe a chat with Doctor Bike will inspire you to start doing your own cycle maintenance? It’s a lot easier than you might think. You'll save time and money and get a lovely glow of satisfaction! To help you learn some of the basics Life Cycle runs regular BMWs (that’s Bicycle Maintenance Workshops), special courses that, over a single day, will show you how to set a bike up for maximum comfort, how to cope with a puncture, how to keep your brakes in good condition and your gears changing properly.
The courses run at the Life Cycle Centre, our shiny new workshop and training facility in Knowle, Bristol. You’ll get to use a proper tools and a cycle workstand (it's so much easier to work on a bike when it doesn't keep toppling over!)
A place on a BMW costs £60 and includes spare parts such as inner tubes, brake pads and cables. Plus all participants get a free copy of the Haynes Bike Book – the complete guide to cycle maintenance (usual price £14.99)
We normally run one BMW each month, but due to demand we’ve scheduled some extra courses. Check out the courses and events section of our website for more information.
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Somerset - we've got it covered
Life Cycle stocks a wide range of cycle maps covering Bristol and the West Country plus many other UK towns and cities. They include leisure rides in attractive countryside and town plans that show the quiet streets and cycle tracks that are ideal for the urban cyclist.
We’ve just taken delivery of a brand new range of maps covering the lovely county of Somerset. In fact we’ll probably need a bigger office to store them all. The range comprises no fewer than 20 maps…
1. Minehead & Dunster
2. Watchet & Williton
3. Wellington
4. Taunton
5. Bridgwater
6. Burnham & Highbridge
7. Chard
8. Ilminster
9. Langport & Ham
10. Cheddar & Axbridge
11. Crewkerne
12. Martock & South Petherton
13. Somerton
14. Glastonbury & Street
15. Wells
16. Yeovil
17. Shepton Mallet
18. Castle Cary & Bruton
19. Wincanton
20. Frome
The maps, produced by Somerset County Council, show quiet roads, cycle tracks, official cycle trails such as the West Country Way and places of interest that you’ll discover en route. Order the maps online from the Resource Centre section of our website. The Somerset maps, like most of the others that we stock, are free of charge, but we do ask for a contribution towards the cost of postage and packing.
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Bristol streets website
There’s a new transport website that you might find useful. Called bristolstreets it’s a map-based site covering all of Bristol, including the bits in South Gloucestershire and North Somerset. As well as bus routes, train times, car club locations and car parks, it shows bike lanes, cycle tracks and the city’s quieter roads and back streets.
The site also allows you to post comments or to pitch ideas. For example, you can mark the map and post a request for cycle parking, or you can suggest the addition of a cycle lane, or you can flag up a hazard such as a pothole. You can point out facilities that you like and that you think work well too.
All very impressive. It could be a tremendously valuable tool, enabling Bristol’s cyclists to shape and develop the city’s infrastructure. The site’s success or failure, we reckon, will depend on how well it’s maintained (is the information always accurate and up-to-date?) and how quickly people get a response to their suggestions. Give it a try!
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Knickers!
A while ago we reported the launch of the worlds first electrically heated underwear for cyclists. Recently, another brand of cycling pants caught our attention. Distinctly low-tech in their approach, these padded cycling knickers have a removable springy gusset and are made from a mixture of sustainably-sourced bamboo (far softer than it sounds!) and organic cotton. They're printed with a bicycle wheel emblem and a cheery pro-cycling message. Something for every cyclist's bottom (drawer)!
Visit the excellent greenknickers website for more info or to find your nearest retailer.
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Meet the team
Life Cycle UK’s mission is to help more people take up cycling and we do this through a range of practical services such as cycle training, teaching bike maintenance, providing maps and information, and giving away free cycle parking. We also run various special projects such as tandem rides for blind and visually impaired people, and bike activities for disadvantaged youngsters.
Here we introduce you to one of our lovely team members…
Name: Jose Navarro
Role: Bicycle mechanic
Tell us a little about yourself and what you do: I’m a documentary photographer, digital photography tutor and travel writer and researcher, a bit of a jack of all trades. I’m also one of Life Cycle’s mechanics running Doctor Bike surgeries. I’ve been in the UK for 12 years and have no plans to go back to my native country, Spain. If you like cycling then the UK is the place to be, no question.
Best thing about working for Life Cycle: Very rarely do you find yourself in an environment where the line between work and pleasure is as thin as at Life Cycle. I simply love doing it. Helping people to take up cycling has to be one of the most ethical things you can do these days. Our dependence on oil is scary, and our congested roads need a whole new reappraisal of commuting and personal transport; cycling makes all the sense in the world. It is the answer.
Do you do much cycling? Cycling is part of my lifestyle. By that I mean that I think about cycling very much the same way I think about wearing shoes every day: I don’t, I just wear them. I cycle into town, to the shops, to see friends, to go to the cinema; I go on long cycle tours across the country and on short rides in search of the best country pubs near home.
What bike(s) do you own? A Univega all-terrain expedition bike which has gone through many reincarnations since I bought it in 1998. It feels part of me; I know I’ll have to buy another one soon, but it won’t be the same. It still has red dust from Africa and dents suffered in places I wouldn’t dare going back to if you paid me.
Your favourite cycle journey? In the UK: the Lôn Las Cymru across Wales (NCN Route 8). Wild, awesome and challenging, I rode 250 miles in four rare days of continuous sunshine in Wales. No tent, only a tarp and the sky as my roof. The most rewarding ride ever.
Abroad: Crossing the Uyuni salt flat in the Bolivian Altiplano. An unearthly blue and white world at 12,000 feet. The destination is Isla Pescado, an island in the middle of a sea of salt 50 miles from where the photo was taken. You don’t see it just yet because it’s below the horizon. You have to trust your compass and your instinct. The most exhilarating ride I’ve ever done.
José's top cycling tips.
1. Reserve some of the money you are going to spend on that new-fangled bike and get yourself an old-fashioned Brooks leather saddle, the one with springs. It will be the best £60 you will ever spend, guaranteed. They now make them with softer leather which doesn’t need breaking in.
2. Ditch those knobbly tyres and buy some 1.5” puncture-resistant touring ones – even if you don’t go touring.
3. Make sure your seat is at the right height. A mere inch can make a great difference in terms of comfort and riding efficiency.
4. Check that your tyres are inflated at the pressure recommended by the manufacturer. I bet yours are under-inflated.
5. Enrol on one of Life Cycle’s advanced cycling training courses. Riding on the road is intimidating for most people; the course will increase your confidence and make you a safer cyclist.
6. Wear a helmet and a high visibility jacket.
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Join the team!
Life Cycle needs more people like José (see above) to join our team of bike mechanics delivering cycle surgeries and running bike fixing courses. If you’ve got experience of cycle maintenance and a friendly, outgoing personality, we’d love to hear from you. There’s more information and an application form on our website.
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Donate to Life Cycle UK (and it wont cost you a penny!)
Here's an easy way to support cycling – at no cost to yourself. Simply use the Everyclick search engine. Every time you search, a tiny donation is made to Life Cycle UK. It takes a few seconds to register and then away you go! Surf the Net, check your horoscope, update your Facebook profile, do a spot of shopping… and you’ll see the donations clock up remarkably quickly.
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Fri, Aug 29th 2008, 10:20