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Bike Holiday in Cambridge and London - Conclusion, No Magic Mantras
Well, I'm back now from my bicycle-directed exploration of London and
Cambridge in the UK. My purpose on this trip was to view some bikes that are unavailable in France where I live and to try out some lessons offered by the Cambridgeshire County Council to adult beginner cyclists. I was hoping that actually taking lessons from an expert would help me unblock some of the basic problems that persist after I have been cycling for over a year. I still have trouble starting my heavy Dutch bike, still cannot turn my head to look behind me or take my hands off the bars to signal. I cannot stand on pedals and still flub many but the loosest turns. I was in search of "magic mantras", little shifts in consciousness that can suddenly make a previously inaccessible movement clear. For example, learning to balance involves looking out into the far horizon, while coasting required the magic mantra of shifting weight from the upper to the lower part of the body. Although I often lack the nerve to apply it, I know the mantra for starting is "renounce the left foot and think of yourself as standing on your right foot". I was hoping an expert could give me things to visualize, or sentences to say in my head, to achieve the remaining goals. Arriving at Cambridge Station by train was a delight when the first thing I saw, on stepping out, was a vast churning ocean of parked cycles stretching as far as the eye could see. Every kind of cycle, every color and age and condition - I have never seen so many at once. Spooky, because I have stood countless times at that taxi rank since I first went up in 1975, yet this is the first time I _saw_ them. Were they not there before or is this a case of experience changing perception? The first thing I did on settling in was to visit a shop called University Cycles, on Victoria Road. I have no relation to Colin the owner and no vested interest in his shop, but I was so kindly and generously received that I willingly sing his praises here. The shop stocked many of the models that I had been interested in during my search for a definitive bike in November, for example, it was the first time I could see a Giant Energy 7 in the flesh. There was an exceptional range of products, unlike here in Ile de France where I only ever see road and mountain bikes for males. How I wished this could be my LBS! Colin used to do rentals but had so many cycles stolen that he gave it up. Nevertheless he actually _lent_ me a cycle for my week of training. I was embarrassed because I was fully prepared to pay for it, but when I went to the place, City Cycle Hire, where I had rented a bike the previous August I found it closed. So I found myself with Storm, a 56 cm framed Dutch-style bike with a 3-speed hub. She was a much better quality vehicle than the rented one of last summer, with a handling similar to Behemoth, my home bike. But her steering was much more reliable and there was not the problem of the pedal crank being too high in relation to the seat. I had hitherto assumed that Behemoth, with her 50 cm frame, is too large for me. Storm raised the question whether Behemoth may not be too _small_, hence the problem of proportion. On the other hand, I found the very swept-back handlebars on Storm painful to use, with my hands bent way back like dolphin flippers. And the seat! I know the deeply personal mystery of bike seats is as subtle as the chemistry between lovers, and there is no way of making one seat to suit all. But a morning on Storm left me with open, running _blisters_ on the softest parts of my anatomy, and the agony just increased from there. The name Storm was not merely suggested by the Sturmey Archer hub. I was fully expecting to put up with some rain in Cambridge, but not the sweeping walls of hail and wind that greeted my first lesson. I rode down Sidgewick avenue in weather that I would not dream of cycling in at home. I must have been mad. Overall, despite the charm and patience of my instructor, I do not think the lessons were very productive. The first of the four was spent just learning to stop and start, and it took most of my first day to get up to the same level that I had with Behemoth at home. Another lesson, spent on turns, had the effect of undoing all the reflexes I had tenuously started to build up for Paris traffic, since UK traffic is all the other way. Not only this did not make me safe for British roads, but it shook all my confidence for French roads on return. For most of my Cambridge transport, Storm changed into High Spec Shopping Trolley, as her main function was to wheel around loads of groceries over transits where I was too scared to ride. We only got round to something I had specifically requested to study - the standing scooter start - on the last day, and I was so sore and tired that we had to finish early. I returned the bike and slept for the rest of that afternoon. I was not able to try any of the bikes I had come to try. Although I did find a Dahon Speed TR in Cambridge, it was raining so outrageously that I gave up on the project. In London over the Easter weekend, I walked many blocks to a shop called Bikefix to test a Giant Halfway Multispeed. Although I was impressed with its lightness and elegance, as soon as I got it out onto the sidewalk I found I was too panicky to start it, so I have no idea if it rides as well as I have been told. On Sunday I was supposed to trek out to Dulwich to test a Giant Revive semi-recumbent. But in view of my inability to start an unfamiliar bike the day before, I did not think it worth such a hoick only to find that I would not be able to start the Revive either, so this project too was given up. On returning to France, I found myself so disaccustomed to Behemoth that once again, I couldn't start her. It took me a week of courtyard practice just to recover the feeble level I had before I left, and I find myself making excuses _not_ to cycle when I get up in the morning. The lovely spring weather and flowering trees make me anguished, not rearing for the road. My conclusions from this trip: There are no magic mantras, just practice, practice, practice. Behemoth has her defects, but I do not, fundamentally, need another bike. And: there is a vitally significant difference between an interest and an obsession. I am obsessed with bicycles. They devour me, drive me to far places to look at them, touch them, price them, speculate on their qualities. I can think of nothing else. Yet at the same time they bore me ****less, and when I reach my destination I wonder what I am doing there. I so wish the OCD would leave me a breather. I used to read, cook, go to movies, exhibitions - but under this hungry plague of cycles there is only a scorched wasteland. I suspect the only way to control the OCD is with a degree of mastery - Obsession is for things that flee. During my decades of writer's block I compulsively collected pens and stationary. Before I managed a job with a decent wage I was gaga over money and clothes. If only I could actually _ride_ a futzing bike, I might even recover a social and cultural life. So my voyage was not wasted. At least now, I know these things. EFR Ile de France |
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#2
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Bike Holiday in Cambridge and London - Conclusion, No Magic Mantras
Elisa Francesca Roselli wrote:
Behemoth has her defects, but I do not, fundamentally, need another bike. Had you thought about a *trike* though? No stability or balance problems, to get going you just sit there and turn the pedals in your own time. Either upright or recumbent, if you go recumbent you even get a comfy chair! Pete. -- Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/ |
#3
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Bike Holiday in Cambridge and London - Conclusion, No Magic Mantras
Elisa Francesca Roselli wrote:
Behemoth has her defects, but I do not, fundamentally, need another bike. Had you thought about a *trike* though? No stability or balance problems, to get going you just sit there and turn the pedals in your own time. Either upright or recumbent, if you go recumbent you even get a comfy chair! Pete. -- Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/ |
#4
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Bike Holiday in Cambridge and London - Conclusion, No Magic Mantras
Elisa Francesca Roselli writes:
I was hoping that actually taking lessons from an expert would help me unblock some of the basic problems that persist after I have been cycling for over a year. I still have trouble starting my heavy Dutch bike, still cannot turn my head to look behind me or take my hands off the bars to signal. I cannot stand on pedals and still flub many but the loosest turns. This won't be as good as personal tuition but have you looked at online resources? http://www.sheldonbrown.com/beginners/index.html http://www.state.nj.us/mvc/bicycle/bic_chap6.htm http://learntorideabike.com/home.html (Can't judge how good these are, I can't even remember learning to ride a bike...) Roos |
#5
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Bike Holiday in Cambridge and London - Conclusion, No Magic Mantras
Elisa Francesca Roselli writes:
I was hoping that actually taking lessons from an expert would help me unblock some of the basic problems that persist after I have been cycling for over a year. I still have trouble starting my heavy Dutch bike, still cannot turn my head to look behind me or take my hands off the bars to signal. I cannot stand on pedals and still flub many but the loosest turns. This won't be as good as personal tuition but have you looked at online resources? http://www.sheldonbrown.com/beginners/index.html http://www.state.nj.us/mvc/bicycle/bic_chap6.htm http://learntorideabike.com/home.html (Can't judge how good these are, I can't even remember learning to ride a bike...) Roos |
#6
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Bike Holiday in Cambridge and London - Conclusion, No Magic Mantras
Had you thought about a *trike* though?
Now that may well be a very good idea. And you can get lightweight ones too. See http://www.longstaffcycles.co.uk/ The link for trikes is on the left towards the bottom. And also http://www.ddol-las.fsnet.co.uk/trikes.htm Cheers, helen s --This is an invalid email address to avoid spam-- to get correct one remove fame & fortune **$om $ --Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel is switched off-- |
#7
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Bike Holiday in Cambridge and London - Conclusion, No Magic Mantras
Had you thought about a *trike* though?
Now that may well be a very good idea. And you can get lightweight ones too. See http://www.longstaffcycles.co.uk/ The link for trikes is on the left towards the bottom. And also http://www.ddol-las.fsnet.co.uk/trikes.htm Cheers, helen s --This is an invalid email address to avoid spam-- to get correct one remove fame & fortune **$om $ --Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel is switched off-- |
#8
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Bike Holiday in Cambridge and London - Conclusion, No Magic Mantras
Peter Clinch wrote: Had you thought about a *trike* though? I have indeed looked into that possibility, but rejected it after discovering that trikes are illegal on French roads (as well as very hard to obtain). EFR Ile de France |
#9
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Bike Holiday in Cambridge and London - Conclusion, No Magic Mantras
Peter Clinch wrote: Had you thought about a *trike* though? I have indeed looked into that possibility, but rejected it after discovering that trikes are illegal on French roads (as well as very hard to obtain). EFR Ile de France |
#10
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Bike Holiday in Cambridge and London - Conclusion, No Magic Mantras
Elisa Francesca Roselli wrote:
trikes are illegal on French roads Eh? Surely that has implications for disability rights? -- Guy === May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting. http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk 88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University |
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