All I want to do is ride bikes with you
Apr. 20th, 2010 12:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ventaWell, I have now managed one cycling trip office-to-station, and one station-to-office. Am not dead.
I am a very wary cyclist. I always was, even as a kid zooming (slowly) around in the back lane. Accordingly, I've always had my seat-height set so I can easily reach the floor while seated. Recently, I've been using the exercise bike in the gym and have got used to the idea of having my leg straight when the pedal is at its lowest point. Hopping on my bike last night I immediately felt that I was riding a bike three sizes too small - which in a sense, I was.
It turns out there is a bewildering array of (carefully signed) cycling options from my office to the station. Last night I opted for the canal towpath, figuring that the worst that could happen was that I'd fall off into the canal - highly unlikely, and a problem which (however unpleasant) I feel I'm well equipped to deal with. Whether the company that owns the laptop I carry in my rucksack would like this assessment is a different question. I didn't fall in, but the only slightly less unpleasant problem of inhaling and swallowing midges fast became apparent. Eww.
I had assumed that at 6pm it'd be light enough to cycle - and in many ways, it is. However, I was very aware as I got to town that if I'd been a car, I'd have had my lights on. Presumably this means that I ought to have had my bike lights on.
This morning I experimented with the more road-based route, using the broad shared-use pavements. This is a bit of a faff, as there are quite a lot of side-roads to cross. In fairness, they are almost all beautifully light-controlled with little green cycles to show you across, but waiting for them is a bit of a nuisance.
It's also apparent that Reading is beset by waterways. A large roundabout which I have driven round many times has a complicated cycle crossing integrated into it. Using it, it becomes apparent that there's an odd stretch of canal right in the middle of the roundabout. I'm not entirely sure what it's doing there, or how it joins up with all the other bits. In other places, junctions of canals and rivers lead to some fairly complicated bridge arrangements.
My main dilemma is currently how to get across town. Last night I followed the bus route from Bridge St to the station, but that is heavily afflicted with traffic lights (all of which were red, many of which seem to change only when they espy a bus coming). Although the buses were terribly polite to me, I was very aware that I'm slow away from lights and was holding them up. Not to mention wasting time twiddling my thumbs at red lights.
This morning I experimented with the route I would walk to Bridge St, but that found me pedalling past a large number of 'No Cycling' signs, so I hopped off and walked.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
uitlander suggested yesterday riding along the canal to Tesco and thus to the station, but that seems like a hugely long way round (unless I'm misunderstanding it). Various colleagues have suggested different approaches which I will be investigating.
In conclusion: I'm very slow and a bit wobbly, and a bit out of practice at being on a bike. I am very bad at even gentle inclines. Hopefully these things will improve with time :) My saddle issue has not magically resolved itself; I shall experiment with hoping it'll get better, probably before giving in and buying a new saddle. Overall, I'm quite impressed with the quantity and quality of cycle routage Reading has.
I am a very wary cyclist. I always was, even as a kid zooming (slowly) around in the back lane. Accordingly, I've always had my seat-height set so I can easily reach the floor while seated. Recently, I've been using the exercise bike in the gym and have got used to the idea of having my leg straight when the pedal is at its lowest point. Hopping on my bike last night I immediately felt that I was riding a bike three sizes too small - which in a sense, I was.
It turns out there is a bewildering array of (carefully signed) cycling options from my office to the station. Last night I opted for the canal towpath, figuring that the worst that could happen was that I'd fall off into the canal - highly unlikely, and a problem which (however unpleasant) I feel I'm well equipped to deal with. Whether the company that owns the laptop I carry in my rucksack would like this assessment is a different question. I didn't fall in, but the only slightly less unpleasant problem of inhaling and swallowing midges fast became apparent. Eww.
I had assumed that at 6pm it'd be light enough to cycle - and in many ways, it is. However, I was very aware as I got to town that if I'd been a car, I'd have had my lights on. Presumably this means that I ought to have had my bike lights on.
This morning I experimented with the more road-based route, using the broad shared-use pavements. This is a bit of a faff, as there are quite a lot of side-roads to cross. In fairness, they are almost all beautifully light-controlled with little green cycles to show you across, but waiting for them is a bit of a nuisance.
It's also apparent that Reading is beset by waterways. A large roundabout which I have driven round many times has a complicated cycle crossing integrated into it. Using it, it becomes apparent that there's an odd stretch of canal right in the middle of the roundabout. I'm not entirely sure what it's doing there, or how it joins up with all the other bits. In other places, junctions of canals and rivers lead to some fairly complicated bridge arrangements.
My main dilemma is currently how to get across town. Last night I followed the bus route from Bridge St to the station, but that is heavily afflicted with traffic lights (all of which were red, many of which seem to change only when they espy a bus coming). Although the buses were terribly polite to me, I was very aware that I'm slow away from lights and was holding them up. Not to mention wasting time twiddling my thumbs at red lights.
This morning I experimented with the route I would walk to Bridge St, but that found me pedalling past a large number of 'No Cycling' signs, so I hopped off and walked.
uitlander suggested yesterday riding along the canal to Tesco and thus to the station, but that seems like a hugely long way round (unless I'm misunderstanding it). Various colleagues have suggested different approaches which I will be investigating. In conclusion: I'm very slow and a bit wobbly, and a bit out of practice at being on a bike. I am very bad at even gentle inclines. Hopefully these things will improve with time :) My saddle issue has not magically resolved itself; I shall experiment with hoping it'll get better, probably before giving in and buying a new saddle. Overall, I'm quite impressed with the quantity and quality of cycle routage Reading has.
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no subject
Date: 2010-04-20 12:05 pm (UTC)I'd suggest keeping the saddle a little low until you've got a bit less wobbly and feel more confident and then raising it a bit at a time. General advice seems to be that when the pedal is at the bottom your leg should still be very slightly bent when pedaling with the ball of your foot - this can often be achieved by setting it so that your leg is straight when your instep is on the pedal. This might leave you too high for comfortable stopping though, until you're confident enough to stop seated with one foot on tiptoe, or to get off the saddle when you stop.
Well done for walking where cycling is not permitted!
It sounds like something that will get easier with time, and hopefully enjoyable.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-20 12:15 pm (UTC)And it will be more pleasant when I'm more confident of my geography, and thus have less fear of pedalling miles in the wrong direction before I realise :)
As for walking when cycling is not permitted, I'm afraid I'm distressingly law-abiding :)
no subject
Date: 2010-04-20 01:15 pm (UTC);)
no subject
Date: 2010-04-20 01:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-20 02:20 pm (UTC)Oh my.
I am on my third saddle on the Moulton, I'll paste here something from elsewhere about this ;)
"Fizik Aliante - really tried, 500+ miles, doesn't work in 'road position'. agony after 2 hours. moved to Brompton - upright suits it/me.
Brooks Swift - > 100 miles, many adjustments, main issue is 1 part of it works, move further forward and it doesn't. agony after 3 hrs.
Specialized Toupe Ti-143 - 2 rides, 4+ hours now on it. Utter bliss in comparison to the previous 2. Only choice now is 'gel' or not. we'll see :)
I do appear to need a 'flat' saddle with a varity of positions available. Moving forward on the Toupe is great, support just in the right places."
The Toupe is as hard as nails yet the most comfortable of the 3. Vitally for me and you - it has a nice hole in the middle so 'soft bits' don't get squished - in my case I'm in road/race position so my pelvis is tilting forwards a tad - in yours you are probably more upright and the 'hole in the middle' is quite a valid thing to do.
Borrow saddles till you find one you like - btw, it does take some time to adjust to riding again from nothing - but it shouldn't be agony... I have a few floating round :)
no subject
Date: 2010-04-20 03:02 pm (UTC)Some sort of visor is really useful for keeping the midgies out as you're riding along. My crash-helmet has a visor on the front which is good for this purpose, although I suppose you could wear a cap or something if you're seriously averse to wearing a crash-helmet.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-20 05:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-20 07:18 pm (UTC)Hardly surprising when the town grew up at the junction of the Thames and Kennet, with Holy Brook and other streams joining. The area at the bottom of Southampton Street, where the Oracle is now, was known as "Seven Bridges" because of all these streams. And it made the town seriously unhealthy - there was virtually no drainage until after 1850, so the effluent was dumped into the various rivers, which also provided most of the town with its water supply.
I assume you've seen the Reading Borough Council cycle map, which would indicate Station Road - Queen Victoria Street - left into Broad Street - continue on King St - right onto Duke Street, over the bridge and then turn right into the Oracle and follow the canal path.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-20 09:21 pm (UTC)Yes, this. If you've got the saddle too high, it might also be exacerbating your other saddle issue.
Hope you're enjoying the fresh air and a general sense of well-being.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-21 08:52 am (UTC)Nope, definitely too low at present. Am thinking of working up to normal height :)
Hope you're enjoying the fresh air
I get severe hayfever - I'm absolutely loathing it!
no subject
Date: 2010-04-21 10:00 am (UTC)I tried exactly that route this morning and - beyond the fact that no one on Broad Street realises it might have cycles, and so they meander about haplessly into the path of oncoming bikes - it worked pretty well. Just need to familiarise myself with the precise contortions required to get from one chunk of cycle path to the next in town, and I'll be done :)
no subject
Date: 2010-04-21 07:27 pm (UTC)