A New Dahon Challenge

I’ve decided on my next Dahon challenge.  Not sure when I’ll start but here it is:

I am going to cycle every street in Rochester.

Okay, may not be an ‘around the world’ challenge but I’m going to try and fit this in to my life (around work, sleeping and other activities).  I don’t plan on doing it all in one day, but over the course of time I plan on cycling on every street/road in town – this means cycling the entire length of each street, not just nipping in or cycling half way.

I’m going to use my GPS receiver to track this so I won’t lose track of where I’ve been and it’ll also track the mileage.  I’ll plot progress on a map and see how things go.  If I complete the task quickly then I’ll expand the challenge to the surrounding areas.

I don’t know how many streets there are in Rochester, it’s not a huge town, but I’ll keep a count as I go.

The map below shows the area I’m going to target, bounded by the yellow line.  Rochester can be seen here on Google Maps.

Why do this?  Well I thought that there must be many streets in the area which I haven’t visited and some which I don’t even know exist.  So I decided that I’d spend some time and cycle the streets and see what’s around.

I haven’t started yet and the way things are going, I probably won’t get around to starting until October…

Dahon Bottom Bracket – Loose

I think I’ve mentioned before, either here or over on the Dahon Forum, that my D7HG makes a ‘clunking sound’ when I pedal.  This has been happening more or less since I bought the bike but I finally worked out what it was last weekend when out cycling.

I had initially thought that it was related to the internal workings of the Nexus hub and the drive mechanism ‘catching-up’ with itself as I pedalled.  I left it at that and just lived with it.  But then, as I cycled recently, I thought more about it and looked at the bike as I slowly cycled along the flat.  Then I realised that it was the bottom bracket – the piece where the pedals attach to/through the frame – it was not loose (see photo below).  Not sure if this was an original assembly issue, pre-sale check issue or it had just come loose.

Anyway, I needed to tighten it up and didn’t have the right tool for the job so I headed to my new favourite bike site Dotbike for a BB lock ring tool.  Now the lock ring and bottom bracket are correctly secured and that should stop the clunking noise as I pedal.  I now need to get out and try  it, but that won’t be today.

I also grabbed myself an Ice Tools Spoke Wrench.

(Hmm, why do my bikes always look dirtier in photos than they do in the flesh?!)

Weekend In Fishguard

I’ve just come back from a few days back in Fishguard, where I grew up.  Went home to see my family and to have a break from work and the hectic life in the south east of England.

Fishguard and the surrounding area is really laid back and the contrast between sleepy Pembrokeshire and the hustle of Kent is quite startling at times.

I went out for a walk with my sister on the Thursday night along the Marine Walk which hugs the top of the cliff between the old harbour at Lower Town (pictured) and the larger harbour at Goodwick.  It was a great evening: warm, sunny and no wind.

Pembrokeshire is a great place to cycle, although for a number of reasons I didn’t have either of my bikes with me this visit.  There’s a lot of great scenery ranging from the coastal views through to  mountains and hills.

Cycling appears to be on the rise back there with more cycle shops opening no doubt fuelled by events such as the Tour of Pembrokeshire (this weekend).  I found a brand new cycle shop in Fishguard called Pembrokeshire Bikes (www.Pembrokeshire-Bikes.com) – their website isn’t live yet but it’s coming soon.

I visited the shop with my sister and we spent quite a while in there looking around and chatting to the owner.  It’s a relatively small specialist shop but it stocks some great bikes from Trek, Cannondale and Colnago – they don’t stock the low-end bikes for kids (like Halfords), this is a true cyclist’s shop.  They also stock classic town bikes and products from Brooks.

I was really impressed with the shop.  If you’re in Fishguard in the near future then you should definately take a look.

Lycra – Hmm…

In my previous post I mentioned the transportation versus sport ‘thing’ and that got me thinking more along the lines of the ’sport’ aspects.

As I said, I consider the Trek my sport bike and it serves me well on long rides (e.g. 58 and 44 miles), however, as my sister found out, a road bike is much better… on the road.

A true road bike would enable me to cover these long distances much quicker and with greater ease.  I like that idea: gliding along the road, slicing through the air.

But there are some negatives:

1. I can’t keep buying bikes!  I already have the Trek and the Dahon and I don’t have room  for a third.
2. I haven’t got the money to buy road bike.
3. Thirdly, and probably the biggest factor against the road bike: lycra.

Getting on a slick, fast road bike in my normal clothes, or my cargo/combat trousers*  I wear on the Trek, just wouldn’t work.  There appears to be an unwritten rule these days that if your bike has thin wheels and drop-handlebars then you have to wear psychedelic body-hugging lycra – whatever your age and state of fitness.

I don’t want to go down the path towards lycra-wearing.

I don’t want to ride my bike looking like someone from the Tour de France who’s got lost.  I can’t do it.  I can’t subject myself, or the public, to the lycra-encapsulation of my body! 

Apart from the three points above, a road bike sounds like a great idea!!!

*Lots of pockets for phone/camera/keys etc

[Photo credit]

When To Dahon? When To Trek?

Somebody recently asked me how I choose which bike to ride: do I take the Dahon or the Trek?  It wasn’t really an easy question to answer but I said something along the lines that the Dahon slowed me down and made me enjoy things more, made me look around and see what the world was up to.  The Trek, on the other hand, makes me travel fast, head down, legs pumping.

This weekend I’ve been reading the latest CTC magazine, ‘Cycle‘ (June-July 2009) and one of the stories nailed it.

The Dahon, to me, represents “Travel and transport, not sport“.  On page 50, in an article on ’slow cycling’ it states the following:  “Walking is obviously transport, whereas running is a sport.“  And that’s how I see the difference between my two bikes: the Dahon is transport and the Trek is sport.  I expect to break sweat on the Trek, I expect to ache after it.  Whilst on the Dahon, my world (and my mind) slow down and I learn again to look, listen and enjoy what’s going on around me.

The article in Cycle goes on to say:

You don’t have to practice slow cycling all of the time, but every keen cyclist ought to have one bike they can jump onto and pop down the shops, wearing whatever they have on at the time…

Slow cycling is practical cycling.  Do you need a shower after walking to work?…  Slow cycling is also safer and less stressful.
[CTC magazine, Cycle, June-July 2009]

So, that’s how I see my two bikes!

Green and Healthy

I am trying to be both green and healthy.

I’ve now got two bikes and I’m using them more and more.  This will help me be green (the buzz word of the decade!) and it’ll get me out of the house and away from the car.  It’ll also save me money.

For over a month I’ve been living under my self-imposed rule that I won’t use the car at the weekend – and it’s great!  I’m enjoying it!  I use my Trek to get out and get my blood pumping to improve my health and I use the Dahon to ‘take things easy’, relax or go shopping.

And the result?  I’m feeling pretty good about things!  I’ve even started running again after a break of around six months.

My weekends now feel longer and ‘fuller’.  I’m not rushing from place to place in the car, journeys take longer on the bike and I get more time to think.  There isn’t any need for speed or traffic hassle, I just enjoy the area and get some fresh air.  Ahhhhhhh…

If you’re thinking about getting yourself a bike: just go out and buy one, you wont’ regret it!!! 

Dahon vs Trek

As I’ve mentioned, the Trek is bigger and much more difficult to manoeuvre around the house than the Dahon.  As promised, I took some photos of the two bikes this morning after a short ride on the Dahon.

Hopefully these photos will help illustrate how the Dahon is definitely a good choice of bike if you’re short on storage space or if you’re a commuter.

The images are on Flickr so you can click on the shots below or click here for the full set of comparison photos.

Cycling in Rochester AND Rochester

Browsing this morning and I came across the RocBike.com site – a site for cyclists in the Rochester, New York State (USA) area.  This is of  interest to me as a resident of the ‘original’ Rochester in North Kent, England.

Reading through the site, I began to wonder if I would ever cycle in both Rochesters – would I?  Hmm…  Interesting.  Maybe.  One day.

RocBike.com was started by Jason Crane to “…chronicle my adventures as a cyclist and bike commuter in Rochester, NY…” and from there it’s grown into what it is today with ten members of the RocBike Team

From my perspective, it’s interesting to see the differences between the two places.  Take a look at RocBike’s gallery and then a few of my ’snaps’ from around Rochester, Kent.

I’ve bookmarked RocBike.com.

Thinking The Unthinkable

Okay, so I’m thinking about… getting a non-Dahon bike. !!!

A non-folding, non-Dahon bike.

Why? I want something which will get me out there, going faster and getting fitter. A suitable Dahon would cost far too much so I’m thinking of a mountain bike.

The Dahon D7HG would remain as my town bike, my ‘utility’ bike but the mountain bike would be a fitness tool, for long rides, possibly off-road.

Hmm.

As I said, I’m thinking about it. Thinking. Nothing more than that at this time.

Advice On Cycles And Cycling

Looking for advice on bikes and cycling in general?  Take a look at the WhyCycle website for information on all aspects: from sizing and buying through to safety and transportation.

The site aims to provide impartial advice to UK cyclists but most of the information will be of interest to cyclists in other countries too.

Take a look.

I’ve also just found the CyclingInfo blog from Tejvan Pettinger which also has a wealth of information for cyclists – start off with the ‘best of 2008‘ post and 10 Reasons to Take Up Cycling.