Snow again!

It has turned colder again here in the Eastern Flatlands (of East Anglia). I had meetings in London, but my usual commuting steed - my Marin is in at Ben Haywards being restored to its pre-winter glory (and more I hope). So I had two choices, take the Brompton, take it on the train and then I would have my own transport in London or taker my Longstaff tourer but do I really want to leave my hand-built bike at the station!!

In the end it was the snow that made my mind up for me. Unlike last week, when I cycled to an evening meeting in Cambridge and got rained on, going and returning I decided to wear rainproof leggings. They would keep me dry and warm as well. Also the timing of my meetings meant I could get back home before the rush hour train and so buy a "cheap" ticket and avoid the rush. One thing that annoys me when I cycle to the station to catch a post-rush hour train is that it can be very difficult to find a place to park my bicycle. I sometimes wonder what they expect you to do - are they really surprised that bikes get locked to anything around. But the final clincher on choice of bike was I could leave it at Station cycles. That meant I could leave my stuff (leggings, hat, gloves, lights, puncture kit etc) with the bike and so travel lighter in London. The cost is £1.50 - not bad for peace of mind really.

It does annoy me though when I cycle into the station car park and find loads of car spaces available. Although I have not counted them, life is too short! it seems that every time I catch the train there are more and more empty car spaces. Two thoughts - can we use some of the space for bicycles please and perhaps it means that in the current economic climate there are more people choosing to cycle rather than drive - can't be bad.

It did snow on the way to the station, but the leggings kept me dry and the cold air temperature stopped my overheating and seating in my leggings. I did pass a car at a staggered road junction, near a shop with roadside parking parked just where there were double yellow lines to stop parked/waiting vehicles causing problems for cars negotiating the junction. Then as I moved onto the shared pavement/cycleway I came upon a van across the pavement. Perhaps there really is a group of Car (and van, especially white van) Supremacists practising what they preach. If you think it is just me who thinks this then check out this blog. It illustrates the double-think of local politics (amongst other things) - the blog title - Crap cycling & Walking in Waltham Forest.

The meetings were the pleasant bit, I managed to catch the 3.45pm train home with a minute to spare and got a bit of running exercise into the bargain. I have not had my ticket checked in ages - it happened on both legs of today's journey. There were two problems in my carriage - one where the traveller had been issued with the wrong ticket (who checks their ticket) and another person who had forgotten their student railcard. In both cases the Ticket Inspector was very polite and patient explaining to the student how send proof and so avoid any penalty. The OAP was minded that it might not be a bad thing to check her ticket.

On picking up my bike the guy at Station commented on the nice bit of kit - good that the class shines out - even though it has got around 40,000 miles (64,000 Km) on the clock and could do with a wash. It was snowing a bit on the way home and the wind had picked up. I followed a guy towing a child-trailer along a cycle path near the football ground. His bike (well trailer) only just fitted through some of the gates - he kept up a good turn of speed as well.

One other point of note - when I got on the train from Cambridge they kept passengers away from the front-most door. But as I was not travelling 1st class it did not register with me. When we arrived at Kings Cross, they briefly held us up for a VIP to drive away - very politely as well. I asked the young policeman (I am getting old - they all look young) who it was - Her Majesty the Queen. So I travelled in exalted company to London. Check out this bit from the Daily Mail - halfway down.

Taking two bikes out in one go on a Gloomy Day

Yet another gloomy day, with a damp feel to it - but not really windy and certainly not as cold as it has been. As yesterday's cycle ride with my son was cut short because one of his skinny tyres punctured after about 10miles I lent him one of my bikes - with Schwalbe Marathon Plus (I think) tyres. Actually he had a choice between my Longstaff with the afore mentioned tyres or my old MTB (Diamondback) with fat and knobbly tyres of some make. In the end he chose the Longstaff as it has a bigger frame. It was built for me and so fits me perfectly, he is a couple of inches taller than me though and found the Longstaff tolerable. We could have fiddled around and made it fit better, but it would have probably been easier fixing his punctured tyre. Mind you the Longstaff is a touring bike and so more capable of dealing with the rutted country roads and farm tracks than his Trek racing bike.

What this did mean though is that I went out with two of my bikes, the Longstaff and I used my Marin hybrid. We went out to Wicken Fen the longish way through White Fen, but no puncture this time and then along Headlake Drove. We ended up on a byway junction near the village of Wicken Fen on the Soham side. I wanted to take a picture of Ely Cathedral, but it was too gloomy and even at maximum zoom I could not see the Cathedral. Here is Ben checking his txts whilst I take pictures.

This picture is similar to others I have taken in this area before, although not identical. Even combining several exposures has not really lifted the picture - it still intrigues me that it is quite common to see bits of farming equipment, abandoned to rust in sheds in corners of fields.

It was dark on the way home, the surprising thing is that despite Cambridge being a very congested place, on a bike it is not too difficult to avoid the noisy congested areas, if you have the time to take a detour. We managed around 30miles/50Km with only one stop to clear mud out from the mudguards and this was mud picked up from the roads where farm traffic was working. I did notice that my rear light on the Longstaff was in need of a bit of cleaning - it flickered more than it was supposed to.