Author Topic: Utilitarian Adventures  (Read 152528 times)

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #500 on: 05 July, 2017, 01:55:04 pm »
Inspection of what? Were you inspecting or being inspected?
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #501 on: 14 July, 2017, 07:46:25 am »
Yesterday evening I found myself at a meeting - on the future of the European Emissions Trading Scheme <yawn> - near the Barbican in London, so I hired a Boris Bike (do we still call them that? Are they now Sadiq's Santander Sycles?) to get me back to St Pancras.
That was two of those London Pounds very well spent. A great blast along wide, not too busy, streets, with the occasional passing waft of music coming out of pubs, on a pleasantly warm evening.
I must say though that part of London has developed more inclines than when I last rode round there some 40+ years ago - I thing the Crossrail diggings are creating folds in the landscape.



Tapatalk puts this signature here, not me!
Too many angry people - breathe & relax.

rr

Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #502 on: 14 July, 2017, 12:55:24 pm »
Inspection of what? Were you inspecting or being inspected?
Inspecting a local construction site - my job.

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menthel

  • Jim is my real, actual name
Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #503 on: 25 July, 2017, 11:11:17 am »
I cycled to and from personal training this morning. Strangely it was easier on the way back!

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #504 on: 02 August, 2017, 12:22:49 pm »
Took two panniers full of books to the charity bookshop. Heavier than camping!
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Jacomus

  • My favourite gender neutral pronoun is comrade
Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #505 on: 20 September, 2017, 04:51:17 pm »
Had a Most Unproductive Utilitarian Adventure this morning.

I needed to go to the shop for a few groceries, just the right amount to fit into a brommie bar bag. Off I toddled to the shop, which is where I realised that having a large bar bag, that is the perfect size to fit your shop into, only really works if the bag is attached to your bike and not still sitting at home near the front door. :facepalm:

I duly rode home, and I haven't quite learned the warren of cyclepaths around here yet... riding home took a little longer than planned  :-[

No matter! It's my day off, it's sunny, and no time spent on a bicycle is wasted! Off I rode again, with barbag, to discover that sed shoppe isn't open anyway, for some reason. It's a Wednesday, equivalent to Sunday thanks to my shift pattern, so any reasoning is pretty much impenetrable at this point! So I rode home, got Mildly Lost again, then drove to the horriblemarket because by now I was sick of all this faffing and the need for loo roll was, by now, rather pressing.
"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity." Amelia Earhart

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #506 on: 20 September, 2017, 05:58:28 pm »
I stuffed a childhood's worth of mostly vaguely crappish toys into a pair of Super C panniers and took them to a charity shop.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #507 on: 20 October, 2017, 12:58:50 pm »
Felt like a bit of an adventure in the dark and rain last night. Only a couple of miles up the road but crazy traffic at 7 pm. To make it more adventurous, I was riding in long trousers for the first time since, well since spring I suppose.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #508 on: 29 October, 2017, 06:53:45 pm »
Looking at a week of bikes being my only form of non walking transport as wife's away with the car. Started with a cycle with the monkeys to mother's for dinner and a cycle back with one protesting as stuck her in the burley trailer as it was dark and she was too tired to scoot home.

Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #509 on: 05 November, 2017, 06:52:32 pm »
Little Joe's birthday party today at the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle.  The Helios in cargo mode made light work of transporting all the party food there, one of his friends turned up on the back of a tandem with his Dad which was cool.

Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #510 on: 10 November, 2017, 04:36:36 pm »
Rode a Sadiq Cycle from Waterloo to King's Cross this afternoon.  Not very economical as my rail ticket already included the tube,  much more satisfying though.

SoreTween

  • Most of me survived the Pennine Bridleway.
Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #511 on: 10 November, 2017, 08:58:35 pm »
Rode a Sadiq Cycle from Waterloo to King's Cross this afternoon.  Not very economical as my rail ticket already included the tube,  much more satisfying though.
I did the same journey on Tuesday and the reverse on Wednesday also with a perfectly good drain ticket in my pocket.  I was on a folder which is merely quite heavy and flexible rather than the depleted uranium hire option.  Enjoyed it on the way north, encountered a couple of minor league MMs on the way south but still enjoyed it. 
2023 targets: Survive. Maybe.
There is only one infinite resource in this universe; human stupidity.

Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #512 on: 15 November, 2017, 10:06:27 pm »
To the station to collect tomorrows ticket and then the Co-op to buy some coffee to start the day.

Via the dark cycle path to check the light.

telstarbox

  • Loving the lanes
Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #513 on: 15 November, 2017, 10:48:40 pm »
Collected bike from Decathlon workshop, returned unwanted leggings to the same and then home via pub quiz (we came 2nd).
2019 🏅 R1000 and B1000

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #514 on: 23 December, 2017, 04:36:11 pm »
Some recent utilitarian adventures perhaps worth mentioning include visits to hospital ( :'( but a good demonstration of the usefulness of utility cycling: about 30 minutes by bike mostly along one of Bristol's other rivers, same time by car and over an hour by bus) and to Bath along the railway path, which gives a good opportunity to observe the curious lighting habits of some other bicycle users.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #515 on: 23 December, 2017, 04:46:18 pm »
Little ride out with the eldest monkey on her old bike which she is too big for but she is a bit small for her bigger bike. and the littlest monkey in the burley to deliver presents and collect the little ones bike which is sans pedals then a ride and scoot home at a good speed. Both kids need to learn awareness of others as prone to sudden stops. They however have more awareness then the boy who didn't notice us cycling towards him despite bells and polite excuse me till I shouted at him to look out. He may have been doing it deliberately but would certainly of moved once I got in front of the little ones.

Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #516 on: 23 December, 2017, 09:17:38 pm »
Multi mode trip to Reading for Christmas shopping plus a visit to Waitrose on the way home.

I was asked to collect my sister's present from the waitrose click and collect so not knowing how big it was I hooked the trailer onto the bike and locked it up at the station whilst I went to Reading.

Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #517 on: 24 December, 2017, 04:33:45 pm »
I had a ride out to Screwfix the other day on the wife's Helios (in cargo mode) and returned home with 80kg of tile adhesive and grout.  The Helios handled it superbly.

telstarbox

  • Loving the lanes
Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #518 on: 24 December, 2017, 04:56:01 pm »
Fancied getting out of the house so managed a relaxed circuit to/from Bromley for stocking fillers. Mild enough for a T shirt and trousers :)
2019 🏅 R1000 and B1000

Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #519 on: 24 December, 2017, 08:39:04 pm »
Quick blast out to grab some yeast as breakfast rolls would have been rather flat otherwise.

Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #520 on: 03 February, 2018, 05:27:14 pm »
Myself and both monkeys rode out to join a litter pick today. Panniers loaded with wellies, snacks, wipes, drinks for girls. Littlest one has improved immensely in the few weeks since I've been out with them. Were lent litter pickers so can go when not on organised ones which took some creative attaching to top of pannier rack

Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #521 on: 04 February, 2018, 04:06:41 pm »
Took the cat to the vet for the first time in the front carrier of the Elephant Bike rather than in a trailer. He was no less unhappy than before, but it worked out easier for me.

Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #522 on: 23 February, 2018, 07:55:01 pm »




I had a hospital appointment this morning, which meant riding over to Sandwell General. [Insert small rant about state of the NHS here.]

I've been trying to keep mojo up and weight down over the winter months by extending my commutes; usually via the canals and various other cycle ways, as the constant close passes on the roads have been eroding my confidence and enthusiasm.

Thus it was that alarms went off at silly o'clock this morning and I set out on the long way around.

It was lighter than I was expecting, but quite cold. I join a river route by a ford and was thinking I'd better be on the lookout for ice in case the approach was frozefwipSLAM! ow

I didn't appear to be broken, so I picked myself off the tarmac, put the chain back where it was supposed to be, indulged in a bit of pavement cycling to get down to the river and then followed the river route at a slightly sedate pace.

The Cole Valley route goes through a number of little urban nature reserve bits, so every few minutes there are annoying barriers that are too narrow to fit handlebars through. These require a dismount and a wheelie to get passed and are a bit of a PITA.

How the heck did this get there then?!



It was just about possible to get bike and panniers past, but by this stage I'm thinking a re-route is probably in order if I'm to get to my appointment in time. I rethought my plan to go via Spaghetti Junction and Sandwell Valley Park, and instead took the slightly more direct route along the Birmingham Canal Main Line and then the tramside path to West Brom.

Success! I got to the hospital reasonably early, got changed, found a human to deal with my check-in query and then got changed back into my cycling gear. I was a month early.  :-[   ::-)   :facepalm:

Deep breath, ate second breakfast and got back on the bike. Not sure what was going on with temperatures - maybe I'd been acclimatised to Birmingham's tropical microclimate or something - but I had shivers and chattering teeth riding through Sandwell Valley Park. Still, it was nice to be able to enjoy the scenery and not have to rush it as I would have had to do if I'd gone that way for my outward journey.

Oh. Hello.




The sign gave a map with an alternative road route to circumnavigate the closures.

You just had to get to the road first...





I opted for taking bike and pannier down separately and managed to avoid any mishaps. Which was nice. Especially given the broken glass at the bottom. :-/

The diversion did afford a good view of the first instalment of the Perry Bar locks from up on the road bridge:



However things were looking a bit full by lock number 8.



I wasn't up for more re-routing, so I engaged Plucky Cyclist mode and chanced the flood not being too deep or extensive.



Bit disconcerting not quite being able to make out where the edge was. Basil, I thought of you, Sweetie  ;D

This was the next lock gate down. I don't think they're supposed to do that. Or the water spurting out of the stonework at the side of the ramp down.



Spaghetti Junction navigated without incident; the geeses were all talk but no trousers; canal infrastructure technical features all successfully cleared.







I found some off-road to do on an inappropriate bike, just to round things off!



Did the last bit of my return back along the Cole route, where the area around the ford was looking very much more defrosted than it had done four hours previously. Feeling I didn't want to push my luck, I got off and pushed my bike for the last couple of miles, so as to avoid the usual close passes on the narrow lanes of South West Birmingham.



Looking forward to seeing what bruises appear tomorrow, and I also have to repair the mount for my rear light. On the whole I think I'm glad I didn't stick with my original plan for the outward route - can you imagine how stressful that would have been against the clock. Hoping my next attempt in a month's time goes a bit more smoothly...

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #523 on: 23 February, 2018, 08:08:21 pm »
Chapeau!

Even when I could breathe, I didn't have much nerve for that sort of exploration in cold conditions, and certainly not with an appointment to keep.  Always seems to either become much more epic than anticipated (this would appear to qualify), or just take ages so you freeze.

Re: Utilitarian Adventures
« Reply #524 on: 23 February, 2018, 08:28:59 pm »
That was eventful then! I hope your bruises are minimal and heal quickly. I'm glad I'm not the only person with calendar confusion on occcasion.
Quote from: Kim
^ This woman knows what she's talking about.