Foreword

This Newsletter does not really contain news as such, but still, you never know; you might find something useful. For example, who would have thought that you can sail in a bathtub with the aid of two old inner tubes?

Comfy Saddles

In an item from one of the Sunday papers, there was the question: “Please tell me the most comfortable saddle to buy?” The upshot of the article is, there are none.

However, before they reach that conclusion, the authors have to fill a page. They explain that the choice of a saddle is “an intensely personal affair”. Apparently, you can go to a “saddle test centre”. The saddle they use in there, takes an impression of your bum and then creates a saddle just for you. A general piece of advice is “don’t think that a softer saddle is necessarily more comfortable, it is not”.

Make it scientific

When the tubular elastic air container, on which your vehicle fights the forces of gravity, looses its circular shape, you have a puncture. (From a Belgian Calendar)

Investment pays off

Transport for London (TfL) has calculated that the millions of £’s spent on bringing the Tour de France to London, resulted in 48,000 more cycle journeys every day. There was a 10.5 per cent increase in the number of cyclists on the major roads in the six months from April to September, compared with the same period last year. If only we could get the Tour to take a detour through Aberdeen.

Another proposed investment resulting in more people on bikes is to attarct more immigrants from Holland and Denmark.

Slow down the Traffic

I had the opportunity to listen to a presentation by a Sustrans employee. She mentioned that one of the ways to slow traffic is the introduction of more central islands. This is undoubtedly true. But there are buts. She was aware of the additional dangers to cyclists and pleaded for more care in the implementation of such traffic calming plans. Just the sort of thing that the Aberdeen Cycle Forum has been saying for the past two years.

The 101 Uses (Gordon won’t give up) Is this hobbyhorse going too far?

Number 80: Having made an easel for one’s granddaughter, one’s daughter complains that there was nothing to stop the paper from flapping in the breeze when granddaughter painting outside. Solution: tie large rubber band of inner tubing round the painting side and tuck the bottom of the paper sheet under it. (Gordon Mackay, the guilty party for this one)

Number 81: Detach valve, then cut tube lengthwise to form two complete bands or loops. Use these to form a figure of eight to bind together two single self-inflating camping mattresses to form a cosy double bed.

Number 82: Green Cushion – Use woven inner tubes to make a green tyre cushion – can be stuffed with recycled filling (From House Beautiful, cost £40,again spotted by Jacqui Cameron)

Number 83: Convert a bath into a boat by tying empty plastic drums on each side of bath with the aid of two complete inner tubes (spotted at Cawdor Village Hall by Bill and Hilda Sinclair. For those wanting to sail in it, Bill mentions helpfully that it will float with two persons in it).

Petrol Bike from Australia?

Note: The owner must be very proud of his bike. Not only the D lock but also the Dutch rear wheel lock. Is there water in the tank?

The Fourth Grampian Rally

All previous Rallies have been enjoyable, but this one promises to be the best. Detailed information is available from Gordon Mackay via secretary@ctcgrampian.org.uk or from h_w_reid@tiscali.co.uk or from the website of CTC Grampian: www.ctcgrampian.org.uk

For your Diary: Friday 23 to Wednesday 28 May 2008 at Templars, Maryculter.

From Saturday 24^th, there will be four glorious days of very easy, easy and less easy cycling (20, 40 or 60 miles).

Fifty Million Pounds for Cycling!

Sustrans won the People’s £50million. It doesn’t matter that not too much of it will be spent in Scotland and even less in Grampian. Nevertheless, Sustrans is already doing great things in our area and we should not moan (too loudly).

Core Paths

In previous Clips, there has been mention of Core Paths. The Land Reform Act of 2003 demanded from every local authority that they prepare a Draft Core Path Plan “for the purpose of giving the public reasonable access throughout their area”. Some people in Aberdeen City Council, (Rachel Sharp deserves special mention here) have worked hard to get such a plan off the ground. The maps that these people have just produced can be viewed from your computer at www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/corepathsplan. This plan concerns walkers, cyclists, horse riders, canoeists and anyone else interested in access routes within and outside the City. You can of course also go to any of the libraries. Have a look at the plan in those areas which you know. There are comment sheets available for your suggestions, both on paper and on-line. From your Editor you may request a CD copy of the CPP.

Flu

You can learn a lot from listening to the radio. I thought I should share some important fact with the readers. Last week I heard there is a distinct difference between two kinds of flu: there is ordinary flu and there is man-flu. The latter is a much more serious than the former.

Gardening riskier than cycling

Who would have thought it? We all know the daily risks that face road cyclists whenever they mount their bikes – from potholes to oil slicks to erratic drivers. But, according to one recent study published in The Sydney Morning Herald, they are better off messing about on the saddle than in the soil. Around 5% of gardeners – compared to 4% of cyclists – were found to require medical care for an injury related to their respective activities.

I don’t know what to think of statistics when they are so suitable to our cause.

A bicycle built for a Coo

Bill Taylor looks as if he is enjoying the ride with the Turra Coo (Translation: The Turriff Cow).

Bicycle Efficiency (spotted by John Baghurst, from Earth Times, San Diego, Nov. 1999)

Engineers at John Hopkins University proved that chains are very efficient. The best was 98.6% and the worst, a respectable 81%.

The researchers found two things that affected the chain’s efficiency. Surprisingly lubrication was not one of them.

The first factor was sprocket size. The larger the sprocket, the higher the efficiency. On larger sprockets, the link doesn’t have to bend as far, hence less energy lost in friction.

The second factor was the tension in the chain. The higher the chain tension the higher the efficiency. The author of the article could not explain this phenomenon; can we help him?

Safer Cycling for Children

In November, The Scotsman published news about cycling lessons for all 3,600 Primary 6 children in Edinburgh. The responsibility for cycle training is transferred from the Police to the Lothian Local Authority. The training is being funded by Sportscotland until March next year. After that period, it is expected that the Council will find funding elsewhere.

A Police representative is quoted as saying: "The current set-up sees schools asking for our help and we will go in and train the trainers and oversee the tests”. I was under the impression that it was Cycling Scotland that organises cycle training for trainers. I thought the Police have many other things to worry about. Maybe they do not want to give it up.

Can Aberdeen City Council also get this funding from Sportscotland or is that reserved for Scotland’s Capital?

What I saw in Barcelona

by Peter Kershaw

This is a pic (taken by me in October 2007) of one of 100 of the Barcelona city community bike parking stations in action. Barcelona (pop. Circa 1.5 million) has over 150km of designated cycle paths within the Green City Area and 1500 bicycles of the type pictured (additional bicycles are due by 2008) . One has to sign up for a special card (presumably for identity and security reasons) before using a “bicing” bicycle. Since the bicing inauguration in March 2007, over 90,000 people have signed up for bicing cards. This really is the bicing on the cake: let me see now, that is 600 bums per bicycle; not so sweet after all! Peter Kershaw

Freewheel London

On 23 September 2007, all traffic was banned from 11 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. from many London roads. You could visit by bike all the tourist attractions and shopping areas in the capital. It was only five hours, says the moaner. It was a great step (or ride) forward, says the grateful cyclist. This was a first for London; it will now take place every year. Can we have Freewheel Aberdeen soon?

Segway spotted in Glenrothes

Joe Prosser spotted this report, having seen the Segway mentioned in the October Cycle Clips:

Police at a shopping centre in Fife have become the first officers to use a new form of self-balancing transport.

Two constables at the Kingdom Shopping Centre have begun using the Segway - a two-wheeled, battery powered scooter-type device.

Door-to-door salesmen?

“Hello, I’m your personal travel adviser. Can I persuade you to get on your bike?” (headline from The Times). In Darlington, Peterborough and Worcester this is just what you heard when you opened your front door last summer. The trials in these three towns showed that car journeys fell by 11 % and cycling increased by at least 25%. Apparently the trial was most succesful if the salespeople did not mention they came from the Council. Why?

Next year the trials will include many more towns. Any in Scotland?

Another Famous Person’s quote

"Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride" - President John F. Kennedy

When I first saw this quotation, I had my doubts about its veracity. After all, he was a member of a millionaire family and loved fast boats and cars. However, since it was printed in Cycletalk and can be found in the Spokes site, I now believe it to be a true quote.

Critical Mass (once again)

Your Editor must apologise to the Aberdeen Cycling Forum and to Dave Lindsey in particular for not treating the above subject seriously enough. In the October Clips (see Critical Mass again) there was implied criticism of the choice of the Critical Mass film at the ACF Filmfest. Many CM people do not wish to do any harm to the cause of cycling, but unwittingly (or even wittingly) they do get up car drivers’ noses (and they like doing just that!). The film shows great crowds of cyclists breaking the law. They think they are doing the right thing for cycling, but they are seriously mistaken. By annoying drivers, you lose their support. We need them, they are voters and taxpayers and there are many more of them than of us.

Local Initiatives

Hamish sent me a cutout from the local paper showing a 20-strong group of P7 children from Leuchars. They took part in the “travel action” organised by the school travel plan co-ordinator, Yvonne McKie. The Grampian Club of the CTC wishes Yvonne success in this venture. The school held a Try a Bike event in October, which was organised by the Company of Cyclists. Without us knowing about it, lots of good work is being done by lots of people and under lots of different initiatives.

On a Unicycle!!

Newspapers report that a 22-year old student, Sam Wakeling (not weakling!) cycled 282 miles in 24 hours around a track in Aberystwyth University. He is not even studying sports science, just computer science. If he cycled all those 24 hours, his average speed would be nearly 12 mph and if he took only four hours rest, his average would be over 14.3 mph. I cannot even do those miles on a normal bike! Should we believe all newspaper stories?

In Defense of the Sit-Up

From the CTC Newsletter: “With the, the bike serves your life rather than the other way round. There’s an aesthetic pleasure in the upright position of the ride. The bike seems to glide serenely. According to Andy Shrimpton, who runs Cycle Heaven in York and imports increasing numbers of Gazelle bikes, which are Dutch sit-up-and-begs, “the handlebars sweep towards you, and there are lovely, lazy angles in the frame’s construction so that the bike wants to go straight ahead rather than being all twitchy like a bike designed for speed”.

A Woman’s view of a bike

The bicycle is just as good company as most husbands and, when it gets old and shabby, a woman can dispose of it and get a new one without shocking the entire community. ~Ann Strong

(Dr Ann Strong is a coach for people who want to become counselors)

The next issue of Cycle Clips will be published in April 2008. Any comments and contributions to Gerard by 10 March at 01224 734799 or to gerardvlaar@yahoo.com

Web: www.ctcgrampian.org.uk

Secretary: 01224 639012 (secretary@ctcgrampian.org.uk)

CYCLE CLIPS

January 2008