There was one thing that bugged me when I started cycle commuting properly - middle-aged men on hybrids!
There'd always be a few of them on each commute.. men in their 40s/50s, on ratty-looking hybrids, often with a pannier, and usually in their work clothes. Generally, they're just obstacles to get around, but every now and again there'd be one who I couldn't catch, or worse - one that overtook me!
For me, hybrids will always be a thing to be ridiculed, no matter how sensible they are. It's just something that's been programmed into me. How were these old dudes going so fast? What did I need to do to avoid the shame?
I kinda knew the answer already. My knobbly tyres weren't really designed with tarmac in mind, and I could often feel my knackered suspension bouncing against me when hitting potholes. To level the playing field, I had to either make my mountain bike more like a hybrid, or try something else.
The upgrade route meant replacing the front fork with something fixed, and getting thinner, knobble-less tyres. I wondered if there were gears more suited to road use. I'm still not sure if there are. The cost would've been just over £100. That seemed kinda pricey - you can get whole bikes for that!
And so, I visited ebay. But not looking for mountain bikes - I had one of those. And not looking for hybrids, either - I'd rather die! I was looking for racers. The last time I bought a racer was in 1995-ish, for about £20. I didn't think prices would've increased much over the years. Racers from the 70s are even older now, so they're probably even cheaper now, right?
Wrong!
'Vintage' racers can be quite pricey. Through a combination of inflation, trends, and increasing rarity, racers rarely sell for less than £50, and good examples can fetch well over £100. That wasn't as cheap as I was expecting! I didn't really want to spend more than £80 on one, as it was supposed to be a cheap experiment, so I tried bidding for one that was in that price range - a 1980 Carlton Kermesse. I looked it up.. a nice bike, apparently! Stuck on a max bid, aaaaand.. lost. It went for about £140 in the end, I think. That seemed crazy! Enough of that, I thought. I'll have to order the fork and tyres when I get to work the next day.
But something happened on the way to work. I was stopped at some traffic lights in Longsight, and a guy on a singlespeed conversion pulled up slightly ahead of me. I don't see many racers on my commute - the ones I usually see are new bikes, with ludicrous logos all over them, ridden by people clad entirely in lycra. The people who rode them often seemed to ride like the road belonged to no-one but them, like the cycling equivalent of BMW drivers. I didn't want to join that crowd.
But this was different.. it was a guy dressed in baggy shorts and a tshirt, and his bike had no logos that I could see. It was painted metallic green, and had a fair bit of chrome. It had old-style tubing and old-style wheels. No deep rims, no oval tubes.. it looked amazing! Then I looked down at my own bike. Fat silver tubes, black wheels, big old handlebar.. not very elegant. Not very elegant at all.. Then I pondered what I'd be doing to it.. it'd be a mountain bike that was trying to be a hybrid. A wannabe hybrid?
To quote Darth Vader; "Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"
So, back to the racer idea! With renewed purpose, I expanded the distance I was willing to travel, and increased the amount that I was willing to bid. And I won an auction.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Almost now (Part 2)
So, yeah.. the A34, in winter. Not fun! And then we had a child, and the sleep deprivation added to the not fun-ness of it all, so I went back to getting the train. On top of that, we moved to Stockport (Hazel Grove, to be precise), increasing the distance to work to 8.5 miles.
At the time, 8.5 miles seemed too far to commute on a daily basis. At first, I thought that I could cycle halfway to save train fares, but it didn't save much money doing that. I stuck to getting the train.
Until, one day, I changed my bank details at work, so my pay would go into our joint account. I got one of the digits wrong. My pay went AWOL! In the face of skintness, I had to cycle to work - we couldn't afford the £100 that it would've cost to get the train.
That was three months ago. My pay was rescued, but I've kept on cycling! Turns out, 8.5 miles isn't too far, and currently the commute is more fun than the old one. It's not quite winter yet, though, so there's still a chance that I'll surrender and get the train.
At the time, 8.5 miles seemed too far to commute on a daily basis. At first, I thought that I could cycle halfway to save train fares, but it didn't save much money doing that. I stuck to getting the train.
Until, one day, I changed my bank details at work, so my pay would go into our joint account. I got one of the digits wrong. My pay went AWOL! In the face of skintness, I had to cycle to work - we couldn't afford the £100 that it would've cost to get the train.
That was three months ago. My pay was rescued, but I've kept on cycling! Turns out, 8.5 miles isn't too far, and currently the commute is more fun than the old one. It's not quite winter yet, though, so there's still a chance that I'll surrender and get the train.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Almost now (part 1)
So.. how's the new era going, you might ask, if you were reading..
s'alright.
[end blog]
ah - but there's more to it than that!
I might not be cycling for fun anymore, exactly, but I'm cycling more than I ever did before, because I'm now a cycle commuter!
When I first moved to Manchester, we lived in a rented house in Levenshulme. Work was in Manchester city centre, about 3.5 miles away. Driving would've been insane, as the roads are very busy and I'd have to pay for parking, so that was out of the question. Other options were bus, train, or bike.
Buses in Manchester confuse me. A lot of things up here are cheaper than down south. Buses aren't one of those things. They're insanely expensive, very slow, usually crowded, and turn up when they feel like it. The main bus into town is the 192. They're supposed to turn up every 10 minutes, but this usually translates to 3 buses turning up at the same time, every 30 minutes.
The trains were a much better bet - they were cheap, fast, and turned up every 20 minutes or so. On top of that, the train station was less than a 5 minute walk from home - closer than the bus stop! They were sometimes cancelled, but not often enough to put me off. I took to trains without giving my bike much thought, mainly due to it having a gear changing issue.
But after a few months I realised I wasn't getting much exercise, and I'd put on a stone in weight, so I gave cycling a go. The ride into work was about 3.5 miles, and was mostly down the A34. It took exactly 25 minutes.
It was good, for a while, but the A34 is not in good nick. When the rains came in, and the darkness came earlier, the trips got more and more dangerous.
oh, nadgers - it's hometime! I'll have to continue this at a later date. Don't worry - the stories will get better! I'm just rushing through the early days.
bye!
s'alright.
[end blog]
ah - but there's more to it than that!
I might not be cycling for fun anymore, exactly, but I'm cycling more than I ever did before, because I'm now a cycle commuter!
When I first moved to Manchester, we lived in a rented house in Levenshulme. Work was in Manchester city centre, about 3.5 miles away. Driving would've been insane, as the roads are very busy and I'd have to pay for parking, so that was out of the question. Other options were bus, train, or bike.
Buses in Manchester confuse me. A lot of things up here are cheaper than down south. Buses aren't one of those things. They're insanely expensive, very slow, usually crowded, and turn up when they feel like it. The main bus into town is the 192. They're supposed to turn up every 10 minutes, but this usually translates to 3 buses turning up at the same time, every 30 minutes.
The trains were a much better bet - they were cheap, fast, and turned up every 20 minutes or so. On top of that, the train station was less than a 5 minute walk from home - closer than the bus stop! They were sometimes cancelled, but not often enough to put me off. I took to trains without giving my bike much thought, mainly due to it having a gear changing issue.
But after a few months I realised I wasn't getting much exercise, and I'd put on a stone in weight, so I gave cycling a go. The ride into work was about 3.5 miles, and was mostly down the A34. It took exactly 25 minutes.
It was good, for a while, but the A34 is not in good nick. When the rains came in, and the darkness came earlier, the trips got more and more dangerous.
oh, nadgers - it's hometime! I'll have to continue this at a later date. Don't worry - the stories will get better! I'm just rushing through the early days.
bye!
Then
Lots of things have changed in the 3 years since I lived in Southampton. I think some background is needed!
As a bachelor in Southampton, I was mainly a leisure cyclist. I dabbled in semi-commuting for a while, taking the train to Salisbury, and then cycling the remaining 3 miles to work, but getting the bike on the train was a mixed affair. If there was no space for the bike in the bike cupboard things that were on the train, I was often told to get off. When this started happening several times a week, I stopped trying.
I regularly went for rides into the New Forest, however, and I also strapped my bike to the back of my Nissan Micra so that I could drive to Dorchester and then cycle around bits of Dorset with my old friend James. Nothing competitive - just seeing the sights, and dropping into the odd pub or three. :)
I forgot to mention the bike involved in all of this - a Specialized Hardrock XC, which I bought new in 2004. I bought it from Hargoves cycles, and I remember there being two Hardrock models for the same price - a fat tubed black model, and a thinner tubed brushed silver model. I went for silver! It's served me well on singletrack and dual carriageway alike, and is somehow still going with most of the original components!
But then, one day, I met a girl I liked. Now I'm living in Stockport with her, in our own house, with a 2 year old boy and a grumpy cat. My friend James moved to New Zealand, then moved to Spain, and now I'm not sure where he is. Lima, possibly. Who knows! I don't have the time to bimble around the countryside anymore.. weekends are for the family! My son is too young to cycle, and my partner just plain hates cycling, so I don't cycle with them.
The end of an era, for sure. But it's also the start of a new one!
As a bachelor in Southampton, I was mainly a leisure cyclist. I dabbled in semi-commuting for a while, taking the train to Salisbury, and then cycling the remaining 3 miles to work, but getting the bike on the train was a mixed affair. If there was no space for the bike in the bike cupboard things that were on the train, I was often told to get off. When this started happening several times a week, I stopped trying.
I regularly went for rides into the New Forest, however, and I also strapped my bike to the back of my Nissan Micra so that I could drive to Dorchester and then cycle around bits of Dorset with my old friend James. Nothing competitive - just seeing the sights, and dropping into the odd pub or three. :)
I forgot to mention the bike involved in all of this - a Specialized Hardrock XC, which I bought new in 2004. I bought it from Hargoves cycles, and I remember there being two Hardrock models for the same price - a fat tubed black model, and a thinner tubed brushed silver model. I went for silver! It's served me well on singletrack and dual carriageway alike, and is somehow still going with most of the original components!
But then, one day, I met a girl I liked. Now I'm living in Stockport with her, in our own house, with a 2 year old boy and a grumpy cat. My friend James moved to New Zealand, then moved to Spain, and now I'm not sure where he is. Lima, possibly. Who knows! I don't have the time to bimble around the countryside anymore.. weekends are for the family! My son is too young to cycle, and my partner just plain hates cycling, so I don't cycle with them.
The end of an era, for sure. But it's also the start of a new one!
An Introduction
Right.. I guess I'd better explain myself, eh? For one thing; why am I a softy?
Well, I'm not. Not exactly. I needed a blog name, and I'm a southerner (lived in Southampton for 35 years) who's been living in Manchester for nearly 3 years. You know how northerners see southerners.. we're all soft! So here I am - a softy on a bike. :)
Why am I writing a blog? Well.. new experiences, new bikes, new routes, and probably a few scrapes!
That's the intro done. Time to write a proper blog post...
Well, I'm not. Not exactly. I needed a blog name, and I'm a southerner (lived in Southampton for 35 years) who's been living in Manchester for nearly 3 years. You know how northerners see southerners.. we're all soft! So here I am - a softy on a bike. :)
Why am I writing a blog? Well.. new experiences, new bikes, new routes, and probably a few scrapes!
That's the intro done. Time to write a proper blog post...
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