Head scan back - good news is that I've got a brain. Better news is that there's nothing wrong with it, so should be on my way home to suck my dinner through a straw
Head scan back - good news is that I've got a brain. Better news is that there's nothing wrong with it, so should be on my way home to suck my dinner through a straw
Good news.
I always wear a helmet. It won't help if you get crushed as my brother who is a fireman always tells me. But I did some first aid on a bloke who fell off of a mountain bike from the pavement onto the road at about 2 miles an hour and started fitting and vomiting. He was probably only cycling up to get the paper up the road without a helmet.
Bloomin hell @Leroy Ambrose glad to hear you're OK....did the driver who did stop get the number of the car that caused it? There are some pillocks about... I had a close shave yesterday - coming down Ide Hill at about 60kph when a partridge shot across the road in front of me...must have missed my front wheel by about 2cms, otherwise I reckon I'd have had a similar experience of somersaulting my handlebars...
Cheers folks. Wrist is only broken on the outside, so there's a slight, slight chance I could still do the Mallorca 312 this weekend. Just went out for the first time since the crash and, with both wrists strapped up tight, I don't have any pain other than a dull ache. Climbing is OK too (was worried about that because of the extra pressure on my wrists when on the tops, but felt fine)
I had a squirrel leap out on me going up Rivington the other week, that really shit me up as well. Suppose I should have seen the crash coming after that
No, I don't think he would have got the registration number - traffic was going so fast he would probably have been about ten cars back. Need to ring him to get a statement as I'm probably going to claim against the highways agency and, if there's CCTV that shows the imbecile's reg plate, claim against him too
Which side of Ide was it - the steep one, back down towards Four Elms, or the long, sweeping one down to the Sevenoaks Bypass/Sundridge?
As a non cyclist I still don't understand why helmets aren't compulsory. A debate for you chaps another day, just seems too easy for me.
Feet up and no speedy typing for a while
Cycle helmets don't do anything for a face plant as described. I only wear one because if I'm hit I'll get more compensation. If you're in a major collision - above 12mph - they're of no help.
About 3-4 weeks ago (just after Xmas), my one of my good cycling mates was involved in his 4th serious collision in 5 years of cycling.
He was coming down the hill from the old Bexley Hospital into Bexley Village and was taken out by a B12 bus. The bus driver didnt stop. Probably best that I dont go into specific details but the Police have traced the driver now.
My mate is very lucky to be alive. Never nice to see someone strapped to a spinal board.
Sadly, it just reinforces why I havent been out on my bike since July/August last year. I had two very near misses in the space of two days and I dont feel indestructible any more. I dont get this hassle when I go out and run.
Bit of an update on this.
Despite witnesses, the Met were unable to do anything as they had insufficient evidence. However, thanks to British Cycling, the Bus Company admitted liability and my mate will receive substantial compensation.
Not the ideal outcome but at least he isnt out of pocket now. I'd be livid if I was my mate. That driver really should have had the book thrown at him.
Started commuting from Welling to Canary Wharf by bike. Can anyone recommend a decent bag to carry all my work gear in? Shirt, shoes, trousers, laptop etc.
Started commuting from Welling to Canary Wharf by bike. Can anyone recommend a decent bag to carry all my work gear in? Shirt, shoes, trousers, laptop etc.
Ortlieb pannier bags are the best. Rugged and waterproof.
@JohnBoyUK what on earth was going on if they have witnesses but can't do anything about it???? Bloody useless....least he is getting some compensation and hope that he is OK...
@JohnBoyUK what on earth was going on if they have witnesses but can't do anything about it???? Bloody useless....least he is getting some compensation and hope that he is OK...
Well exactly that. You would have thought witness statements would have been enough but there you go. Nothing surprises me any more.
I have storied about the CPS that would make your toes curl. How about this one for starters:
A few years ago, the company I work for had three servers stolen from our rackspace in a colo facility we were operating out of. The company running the colo went back through the CCTV - found the video of the bloke doing it, had records of him signing one of the servers out as 'his', and went through the racks he rented and physically located the other two still in situ. He had made attempts to scratch out our marking on the servers, but some of this was clearly legible - in addition to which, despite removing the serial numbers from the outside of the servers, he had missed one of the server serial numbers from inside the case - which we could prove was ours from purchase and warranty history with HP. We handed the servers over to the police, who then had them sent away for analysis by the police's hi-tech crime unit, and (despite the disks having been wiped) we found that information that was proprietary to our company (email addresses etc) was forensically recovered.
So - to summarise - three stolen servers, of which two were recovered in his rented space (which no-one else had access to), one he was on record as having signed out of the building as 'his' property, forensic analysis proving that the servers had been operated by us and a serial number which was registered as being owned by us by a third party company.
The CPS refused to press charges as there wasn't enough evidence...
@jamescafc first thing to decide is what type of bike you want/what are you going to use it for? If it's for commuting in to town mainly, with the occasional cycle with family/kids etc, then buy a hybrid or mountain style bike (flat handlebars), where you can sit up nice and high, have loads of gears and it's robust enough to ride comfortably on some sh!tty roads around town. If you want to get out racing/are going to start going out every sunday, and don't mind wearing lycra and you'll do a bit of commuting, then look at a 'racing' style bike (drop handlebars). If you want a general all rounder and it's really just for 'cycling', then go back to the hybrid.. Alternatively, look for a cyclo-cross bike (drop handlebars but bigger tyres, disc brakes, bit more robust)
How much do you want to spend..there are good bikes at every price point...it all comes down to how much you can borrow/how much you want to repay etc. If you're looking in Evans, then the Hoy bikes, Cannondale, Giant, Trek, Specialised etc will all do a bike across the £500 - £5000 price points... I bought a Boardman on cycle to work about 8 or 9 years ago (I was limited to Halfords only) and haven't looked back (I now own 1 x mountain bike for commuting, 1 x racing bike for training indoors, 1 x racing bike for all weather riding and 1 x racing bike for sunny days and holidays...I'm also restoring a 1984 Haro Master BMX..bloomin love bikes, even if I'm getting fatter and older by the day...). Next up I'm going to buy an entry level cyclo-cross bike...saw a good one in Evans (Cannondale) for about £900 yesterday...looked great and will use on the commute/casual riding with 10 year old son. Cheers.
First ride in Mallorca today. Not much in the grand scheme of things - 50km nice easy spin up and back down a reasonably easy cat 3 climb, but the important thing is my wrists held out. Took it easy in the descent - glad I did too as my chain came off just after the second hairpin, which could have been a bit hairy if I'd lost control and had to brake sharply.
First ride in Mallorca today. Not much in the grand scheme of things - 50km nice easy spin up and back down a reasonably easy cat 3 climb, but the important thing is my wrists held out. Took it easy in the descent - glad I did too as my chain came off just after the second hairpin, which could have been a bit hairy if I'd lost control and had to brake sharply.
Leroy, you're a mentalist. (In the nicest possible way).
Reading a story the morning abut a Mountain Biker who managed to break his spine by having an aluminium shock pump in his back pack, when he came off his bike and fell onto the back pack, the pump broke his spine
Well - I did it. Or rather, I did 224km of it. Perhaps attempting it with one working g wrist and (for the last 150km) one working leg we a a bit optimistic...
Annoyingly, I was well on pace for a decent time (around 12 hours) but my knee just wasn't up to it. A bit pissed off that I had to bail, but pleased I didn't take the easy way out and just do the half route
One week of riding now. 150km on the clock and my legs are in bits. Any tips on recovery, diet would be good.
Hoping it gets easier, averaging around 22km/h speed wise, very rewarding though.
No horror stories to report so far on the roads. Not sure if this is because I leave before rush hour.
Just keep pegging away. Have a rest day if you have to, you're only just starting and you'll benefit from that until you're able for cycling every day. But mainly well done, chapeau.
So me and @RedArmySE7 are doing Ride London 100 this August, and we're riding for the Lymphoma Association. We are looking for your support and money to help the Association keep up its great work. The link to back us is here
Not a road cyclist, but an off road mountain biker, are road bikes really that much faster on tarmac?
Just started cycling to work (only about 6 miles) but it means I can exercise without shin splint worries.
In my experience yes. I'm not a "classic" road cyclist body type, but since I have been on a road bike my commute (Sidcup to Woolwich) time has gone from 30-35 mins (depending on wind direction and traffic lights) to an average of 23 mins.
Comments
Really cant see me getting on a bike again any time soon tbh.
I always wear a helmet. It won't help if you get crushed as my brother who is a fireman always tells me. But I did some first aid on a bloke who fell off of a mountain bike from the pavement onto the road at about 2 miles an hour and started fitting and vomiting. He was probably only cycling up to get the paper up the road without a helmet.
I had a squirrel leap out on me going up Rivington the other week, that really shit me up as well. Suppose I should have seen the crash coming after that
No, I don't think he would have got the registration number - traffic was going so fast he would probably have been about ten cars back. Need to ring him to get a statement as I'm probably going to claim against the highways agency and, if there's CCTV that shows the imbecile's reg plate, claim against him too
Which side of Ide was it - the steep one, back down towards Four Elms, or the long, sweeping one down to the Sevenoaks Bypass/Sundridge?
why on earth were there ropes between cones?
Despite witnesses, the Met were unable to do anything as they had insufficient evidence.
However, thanks to British Cycling, the Bus Company admitted liability and my mate will receive substantial compensation.
Not the ideal outcome but at least he isnt out of pocket now. I'd be livid if I was my mate. That driver really should have had the book thrown at him.
A few years ago, the company I work for had three servers stolen from our rackspace in a colo facility we were operating out of. The company running the colo went back through the CCTV - found the video of the bloke doing it, had records of him signing one of the servers out as 'his', and went through the racks he rented and physically located the other two still in situ. He had made attempts to scratch out our marking on the servers, but some of this was clearly legible - in addition to which, despite removing the serial numbers from the outside of the servers, he had missed one of the server serial numbers from inside the case - which we could prove was ours from purchase and warranty history with HP. We handed the servers over to the police, who then had them sent away for analysis by the police's hi-tech crime unit, and (despite the disks having been wiped) we found that information that was proprietary to our company (email addresses etc) was forensically recovered.
So - to summarise - three stolen servers, of which two were recovered in his rented space (which no-one else had access to), one he was on record as having signed out of the building as 'his' property, forensic analysis proving that the servers had been operated by us and a serial number which was registered as being owned by us by a third party company.
The CPS refused to press charges as there wasn't enough evidence...
If he gets one on the phone who says 'no' he phones them up and gets a different one until they say 'yes'
So much choice it's hard to know what to buy.
How much do you want to spend..there are good bikes at every price point...it all comes down to how much you can borrow/how much you want to repay etc. If you're looking in Evans, then the Hoy bikes, Cannondale, Giant, Trek, Specialised etc will all do a bike across the £500 - £5000 price points... I bought a Boardman on cycle to work about 8 or 9 years ago (I was limited to Halfords only) and haven't looked back (I now own 1 x mountain bike for commuting, 1 x racing bike for training indoors, 1 x racing bike for all weather riding and 1 x racing bike for sunny days and holidays...I'm also restoring a 1984 Haro Master BMX..bloomin love bikes, even if I'm getting fatter and older by the day...). Next up I'm going to buy an entry level cyclo-cross bike...saw a good one in Evans (Cannondale) for about £900 yesterday...looked great and will use on the commute/casual riding with 10 year old son. Cheers.
Annoyingly, I was well on pace for a decent time (around 12 hours) but my knee just wasn't up to it. A bit pissed off that I had to bail, but pleased I didn't take the easy way out and just do the half route
Hoping it gets easier, averaging around 22km/h speed wise, very rewarding though.
No horror stories to report so far on the roads. Not sure if this is because I leave before rush hour.
But mainly well done, chapeau.
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/sachaandjames100
Just started cycling to work (only about 6 miles) but it means I can exercise without shin splint worries.