By the salt lake

The best idea I had for christmas was to take one of my bikes with me while visiting my parents.
My parents' best idea for christmas was to give me a GoPro with a chest harness included.

Dublin City

Cycle rides, with Monthly Cycles Dublin: from Smithfield to St Stephens Green to the quays and back to Smithfield for mulled wine, wooly jumpers, Christmas markets, Guinness and chats. New Dublin discovery: Rothar Cafe

Coffee Ride in the City

Coffee, cakes, bikes, art,friends and cider.
That sums up our city ride on 23rd July 2011.

On our bikes

A series of spontaneous rides and general hanging out:

1st June: Not much convincing was needed from my gorgeous bicycle friends, to take the day off and ride around London city; with stops determined by art, good coffee and...a break to dry their clothes off after running into the fountain at Southbank. 1st June 2011 was the best Wednesday of my life.

30th May: our ride home at 3am after a wonderful party in Pimlico. Good times.

28th May: a ride in Hackney: London Fields, South Millfields, Victoria Park; with a stop at the pop up bar for Japanese beer and お好み焼き (Okonomiyaki).

Ride to Greenwich

A little video documenting our trip to Greenwich and park football! good times! :)

Zero Longitude: 7th May 2011

7th May: Our bike gang of 7 headed to Greenwich for a chilled out ride along the river and through my favorite foot tunnel :-) to laze in the park, browse the market and play football.

Snow Rides

Today, i had one of the most wonderful cycle rides: the views were amazing, the traffic was not that bad, and the drivers were amazingly polite and careful: it seems like the snow had some good impact!

Although, slightly reluctant to ride fixed in the snow, i prepared myself this morning to ride to work as i could not bare the crowded tube or yucky buses. And, it was the perfect choice; once in gloves and waterproofs the journey was great and here are my tips for riding in the snow:

TYRES
- if you have the option choose some thicker tyres with tread (don't be a mindless hipster)! Mountain bikes come in handy in these conditions!
- Let some air out of your tyres; they'll hold better with that better grip
RIDING STYLE
- resist turning by leaning sideways! turn corners by turning the handlebars but keep away from sudden handlebar steering. Use your hips to direct the turn
- make eye contact with drivers and let them know if you need space
 - use hand signals
- ride slowly
- stop slowly and in a straight line
WHICH ROADS
- Avoid ice! Snow turning to slush is manageable - Ice is not!
- i chose main roads today as they were less icy
- don't ride on the edge of the roads as they tend to be more icy
SAFETY
- wear a helmet and hat underneath to keep you warm!
- use your lights
- check your brakes
- be aware of your mudguards as they may clog up snow! Might be better to ride with no mudguards; just use some waterproofs instead
CLOTHING
- thick gloves
- hat that covers your ears and still allows you to wear a helmet
- buff for your neck
- thin merino base layer, a hoody and a waterproof
- long socks, jeans and waterproof trousers
- warm shoes with a bit of a grip

Enjoy the ride!

 

SkyRide

This year's London Skyride consisted of a 15km car-free route from Tower of London to Buckingham Palace via the City of London and St Paul’s Cathedral; passed Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament!

I joined the ride quite late in the afternoon; i admit i was not really in the mood for it, but to keep me motivated i arranged to meet a friend at St James's Park. At 3:30pm (just an hour before its official end, the flow was good without too many stops or slowing down)

My highlights were:

- signing up to the London Cycling Campaign: the reason why i signed up, was because you get third party insurance covered with your membership. And i was also offered a choice of a freebie: a t-shirt or book. I went for the book.

- escaping the bib-wearing crowd and having coffee by the lake with my friend

- riding in empty roads at 5:37pm as the SkyRide had already finished but the roads were not open to cars yet! It took me just 20 minutes to get home and i truly enjoyed the sights!

riding at 5:37: After the SkyRide and before the cars took over: bliss!

the LCC free book with the membership

the main stage in the distance

unfortunately i did not meet Rebecca Romero