CYCLE CLIPS
July 2004
Newsletter
of CTC Grampian DA
CYCLE CLIPSNewsletter
of CTC Grampian DA
Only one subject is important enough to feature in this foreword:
The Grampian Rally!
From Friday 20 to Wednesday 25 August, we will have a gala of cycling
and evening entertainment. Where? At Templars’ Park near Maryculter.
Starting on Saturday 21 August there will be three cycle runs every day:
20, 40 or 60 miles in length. All members and their families are welcome,
either to attend every day, or to pick any one or two days and/or the Ceilidh
on the last evening, Tuesday 24 August.
You don’t have to be a CTC member to join in the rides, just be at the
start in Templars well in time to register with the leader of your chosen ride.
The 20-mile rides are ideal for people who want an easy day, and for children
(accompanied by an adult). These rides are easy pace and give plenty of
opportunity for catching your breath.
All rides, whether long or short, are accompanied by at least two
experienced members, one to lead and the other to sweep up. (In our previous
Rally, our system of sweepers was appreciated by young and old, on both the
short and the long runs).
If you have never been to Templars Park, you have missed out on a
beautiful spot along the River Dee, near the Old Mill Inn.
For more details and an application form, see www.ctcgrampian.org.uk.
Whatever you feel about cars, do not slash tyres. That is the lesson we
should learn from the sentence handed out to Ashley Carpenter, 37, from
Bournemouth. He worked at 1728 car tyres over a ten-day period. That is more
than 170 tyres a day!! He must have felt quite aggrieved. He is now in the
cooler to cool down. He got 16 months for his efforts.
Mark Hagger sent me this SOS. Background is as follows: The Minister for
the Environment has refused to recognise the Italian Federation of Cyclists
(the FIAB, their CTC) as an “organisation for the defence of the environment”.
How terrible. How could they. The FIAB writes:
“Please sign and make known to all your member this link: www.fiab-onlus.it/ambie2.htm.
Click on the red notice "Firma anche tu la petizione", then on
"clicca qui per aderire" and finally write your name, your e-mail and
eventually a note for the Minister. We thanks in advance for all your support.”
I am a skeptic: It must have something to do with subsidies, which the
Minister is unwilling to grant the FIAB, not much to do with the environment at
all. Ancient Chinese proverb (or maybe Eskimo or Red Indian): many a quarrel
rooted in money.
The (“English”, not Scottish!) Parliament finally decides that new bikes
must have bicycle bells, when sold. But, would you believe it, you can take it
off when you leave the shop. What a waste of parliamentary time. What clever
civil servants we have and how astute our MP’s are to allow such nonsense on
the statute book.
I like bells on bikes. What’s a bike without a bell, I say.
The following limerick was sent in by Bill Sinclair whose pal Ken, 81,
lives in Foggie. Ken heard about our limerick competition and made one up on
the spot:
If you’re wobbling
around on two wheels
You’ll surely know
just how it feels
To jerk to a stop
Then do a great hop
And not know your
head from your heels
Thank you, Ken.
On 23 April 2004, an MP in the London Parliament called us, CTC Members,
Lycra Lunatics. At least he did not call us “Lycra Louts”. That would have been
an insult and unforgivable.
What can we do to remove him from his cushy job and get him on a bike to
do some useful work for the nation?
Damian Whitworth, a Times columnist, is against cyclists. He wrote an
article, as a punishment for which he should be forced to ride the Cairn
o’Mount. The headline was “Save us from the cycle of menace”. Reactions from
readers of his column were varied, to say the least.
Mr Whitworth’s attitude to traffic can be deduced from his use of words:
Cyclists “sail through” red lights, whilst he himself “strayed unwittingly”
into a bus lane.
In London’s congestion zone the number of cyclists increased by 20% and
cycling-related injuries decreased by 7%. There must be a lesson somewhere, but
I don’t know what it is. Maybe Aberdeen City Councillors would know what lesson
to draw.
Locke Nicholson, a revered, senior middle-age friend of mine, was a
cyclist in days gone by. In his archives he kept a cutting from a SYHA
Newsletter, date unknown, author unknown. It deserves publication in Cycle
Clips:
SKYE BIKE SONG
I
must go down to the road again, to the stony road of Skye,
And
all I ask is a 26” bike and a rut to steer it by,
And
a steep hill, and a head wind, with the old bike shaking,
And
a puncture by the roadside, with my heart near breaking
I
must go down to the road again, for the call of the rattling bike
is a
wild call, and a bad call, that startles those that hike.
And
all I ask is a down rise, with the whole frame folding,
And
a sharp bend on the gravel, with the brakes not holding.
I
must go down to the road again, to the swish of the driving rain,
And
the howl of the wind against me that makes all pedalling vain,
And
all I ask is my yellow cape, be my poor feet soaking,
And
a hot stove at the day’s end and the wet socks smoking.
I
must go down to the road again, to the carefree host’llers way:
To
bully for lunch and bully for tea, and bully every day;
And
all I ask is a greasy pan from a grinning fellow-rover,
And
quiet sleep in a top bunk when a grand day is over.
Isn’t that beautiful. Apologies to John Masefield (1878-1967). I hope he
would have accepted the apologies. The title of his poem was “Sea Fever”.
Cindy sent me a newspaper cutting with the above headline. I could not
guess what this was all about until I saw the name of Eric, who is one of our
indomitable members. He worked in Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire for 44 years.
That is so long ago, it is pre-history. The Aberdeenshire Provost Raymond
Bisset, explained that he started working for the Councils before President
Kennedy, before the Beatles and before computers. He retired as Director of
Environment and Consumer Protection, an excellent role for any cyclist.
All rides start and finish at the Corby Hall at Maryculter, beside the
Old Mill Inn. There are rides for all tastes. The rides are published in the
Grampian CTC runs list for 11 and 12 September.
What is an AUDAX I hear you asking? Well, it is:
1. a personal
challenge
2. a cycle ride
around a set course, with designated control points that you must visit to
obtain a signature, time and ink stamp on your card
3. It is NOT a race.
4. You are required
to pay a small fee to cover organisational costs, such as the hire of the hall
for the weekend, production of cards etc.
5. You are given
generous time parameters to complete the ride.
6. You may ride in a
group
7. You must arrive
in good time for the event (at least 20 minutes before the start).
8. Ample opportunity
for rest stops in control point cafes
9. Sociable good fun
If you are interested, PLEASE register with the organiser – Mark Hagger
- Brachmont@yahoo.co.uk – at least 2 weeks before the event so that he can
order sufficient quantities of the route card and route sheet.
Mark Hagger & Roger Mattingley
In April, the Wobbly Wheelers got lost between Stonehaven and Aberdeen.
This is quite understandable if you know the circumstances. It was a dark day,
foggy and there was a continuous drizzle. We were wet and cold. Because it was
so dark, we could not see the sun and it was very difficult to see which side
of the tree trunks looked green or had moss on them (an old scout’s trick), so
we did not know where North was, or South, or West. John Baghurst climbed to
the top of a hill to see if he could see anything. He discovered that the
Durris TV mast stuck out above the mist. That was very helpful. In the end, I
got out my compass, which showed us that we had gone the wrong way. So we
turned round and went home.
Gordon’s collection is still going on. I believe he must have over
thirty by now. David Williams sent in the following 3 suggestions:
1. Cut two sections
of tube, wrap and glue to correct diameter and stick round the objective lenses
for protection against rain and sun glare (even the best binoculars don’t come
with hoods).
2. Tooth protector
for saw.
3. Rifle muzzle
protector.
Dave Lindsey will keep a log of all reasonable demands for improvements
to roads and lanes. He hopes to be overwhelmed with readers’ requests on his
e-mail address d.c.lindsey@abdn.ac.uk. Unlike other cities, Aberdeen does not
have a special phone number where you can lodge your road problem. You have to
phone the general enquiries number 01224 522000. You may be in a queue with
lots of other people.
Nobby Clarke sent a question to his MP, Robert Smith, about the UK’s 10
year Transport Policy “Way to Go”. After his question had been seen by Alistair
Darling, Minister of Transport and referred to Kim Howells, Minister of State,
it became clear that the “UK” policy does not apply in Scotland. Therefore,
Robert Smith passed Nobby’s letter to Mike Rumbles, MSP, who wrote to Nobby to
say that he has written to Nicol Stephen, MSP Minister of Transport and has
asked him to address Nobby’s concern about transport policy. Mike Rumbles
promises to be back in touch soon, to let him know whether the “Way to Go”
policy applies to Scotland.
All the above was in two letters, addressed to Nobby, on headed Scottish
Parliament notepaper, and printed back to back, an environmental plus for Mike
Rumble’s office.
Drivers have been getting upset for being fined for going over the speed
limit. Poor things. From now on, every speed camera installed must be
accompanied by a warning that there is a speed camera ahead. So the speeding
driver gets time to smile for the camera as he breaks the speed limit.
STOP PRESS: On 15 June the Government published statistics which show
that the number of serious accidents decreased by 40% in those areas where
speed cameras were installed.
In reply to publicity in the Press & Journal, Mark Hagger sent the
following letter to the North East Safety Camera Partnership at Police Headquarters
in Queen Street. He also copied in the P&J.
“Dear
Sir or Madam,
We
wish to support the work of the NE Safety Camera partnership. About 200 NE
cyclists, members of the CTC, welcome the use of cameras to make our roads
safer and to encourage all road users to obey the law. Given the continuing
high level of vehicle crashes on NE roads, we are amazed that anyone could
argue to the contrary.
We
note that the local police support the use of cameras, and we are sure that the
overwhelming majority of citizens welcome their use.
We
are concerned that the P&J may encourage illegal activity on the roads with
its headline and leader endorsement (P&J 14 May 2004) of the tiny minority
who oppose safety cameras, i.e. P.Smith and his 10 supporters at a public
meeting in Inverness.
Yours
sincerely
Mark
Hagger, CTC-Right-to-Ride Aberdeenshire S”
The Sunday Times published a number of bike rides, each one 10 to 20
miles in length, ideal for a two-day weekend break, they say. They also publish
a “Good Gear Guide”, which includes a cycle phone charger at £24.95, a pocket
shaver at £9.99, shoes at £60 and to crown it all a portable printer at
£199.00.
John Baghurst once told us how, when cycling against the wind in Morocco
(or was it Tunisia?), he turned round and found that he was still cycling
against the wind. This does not only occur in Morocco but also happens in
Aberdeenshire. Irene gave me an article which states that wind will only help
you if the wind direction is less than 15 degrees behind your direction of travel.
Anything between 90 and 105 degrees behind you will hinder you. This explains
why we hear so many sob stories about the wind changing direction during the
day. If you want to know the ins and outs of this well-known phenomenon, ask
Irene because she gave me the article.
A report on 10 May 2004 proudly announces that more than 100 million
trips were made on the National Cycle Network last year. The Network, 8200
miles long, was used to make 77 million journeys by bike and 49 million on
foot. Next year the network will grow to 10,000 miles.
I don’t know whether this is good or bad because there is no comparison
with previous years in which, for all we know, 200 million trips were made on
the NCN.
They are much better
drivers than men. Men commit the vast majority of traffic offences. Men are
guilty of 97 percent of dangerous driving and 94 percent of those involving
death or serious injuries. Therefore, if we banned men from driving and put
them all on buses, trains or bicycles, the death toll on our roads would
decrease from 3500 per year to only 200 per year. The Times 11 May 2004
In the Green Diary (worth reading if you don’t have enough reading
material already), the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (Continental
Hedgehogs are excluded), advocates the fitting of a hogalarm to your car. It is
an ultrasonic whistle, which whistles as the air is pushed through the device.
It tells hedgehogs to get out of the way. Whether hedgehogs are fast enough to
get out of the way, I hae me doots.
The
Aberdeen Cycle Forum is composed of a number of organisations, amongst which
the CTC, Friends of the Earth, the Environmental Forum (my apologies if I left
out any organisation). We know that Committees are not very effective unless
they are manned by individuals who are willing to put themselves out. The
honour for getting the ACF off the ground must go to Derek Williams and Jackie
Wilkins. They even got the Leader of Aberdeen City Council, Kate Dean, and the
Chief Executive, Douglas Paterson, on their bikes on bike-to-work day (of
course it rained just that morning!).
On Friday 18 June, any cyclist could have gone to the Town House at
about 8.30 am to be served with bacon rolls and tea/coffee, all for free. I was
surprised to see only some 30 people there. Where are the real Aberdonians? On
top of that you got a free Cycle Map of Aberdeen, published by the ACF (see
above)
These maps will be made available through the Tourist Office, various
libraries and other outlets, which the Committee of the ACF (see above again!)
can think of. They are free, courtesy of the Council, two large Oil Companies,
Fisheries Research and Communities Scotland.
In the last Cycle Clips, I mentioned the Biomega bike, designed by
Philosophers, Scientists and Engineers. I wondered at the time what the Philosophers
contributed to the bike. Here is the answer:
“Your
newsletter found its way to Biomega – and to answer your question: what did the
Philosophers contribute: Well our chief designer Jens Martin Skibsted who
designed the Copenhagen and the Amsterdam, has a bachelor degree in Philosophy!
Biomega
bicycles have existed for over 5 years, and have launched a number of bikes
designed either in-house or by our own designers.
It
is true that Biomega bikes do not have any bells on them; however, some of the
bikes don’t have chains, but use shafts!
Thank
you for mentioning us in your newsletter.
Best
regards,
Neel
Mark Wraae”
This poster was spotted by Cindy...
To spare his blushes, I thought I’d drop this picture* in when the
Editor’s back was turned: it shows French troops on manoeuvres with Captain
Gerard’s patent folding bike :-)
Maureen
The next issue of Cycle Clips
will be published in October 2004. Any comments and contributions to Gerard by
10 September at 01224 734799 or to gerardvlaar@yahoo.com
Web: www.ctcgrampian.org.uk
Secretary: 01224 639012 (sheila.rusbridge@btinternet.com)
* Fitzpatrick, J. 1998. “The Bicycle in
Wartime”, Brassey’s Inc.: Canada. ISBN 1-57488-157-4