I’ve been riding the Copenhagen Wheel for just over a month and thought I would share with you my thoughts on e-bikes (a video about the wheel is coming soon). Until you’ve ridden one it’s really hard to appreciate them and all the possibilities they offer. If you ever get the chance to give one a try do take it and give it a go, you’ll probably be surprised and you won’t be able to help smiling, they are a lot of fun.
On this ride I take you with me as I cycle around Richmond Park and share with you my thoughts on e-bikes.
Did you know you can rent Brompton bikes all around the UK? I didn’t either until recently and I decided to make the most of it to get a chance to take a new kind of bike for a spin. My first attempt at renting a Brompton on a visit to Manchester failed but there’s a Brompton rental locker (yes they live in lockers) near where I live here in London. So on a beautiful sunny day I went and picked up the Brompton I’d reserved online and headed home with it for the weekend. It turned out to be very handy to have a spare bike in the house because Nathan had a problem with the wheel of his commuter bike. It amazes me there’s a bike out there we can both ride. Check out the video to see what riding a Brompton is all about.
I thought it would be fun to make the Ride With Me style videos a monthly occurrence, a chance to pick a cycling subject, show various cycling routes and answer any questions you may have (feel free to ask questions in the comments below or in the comments of a video I read them all).
On this ride I take you on my longer cycling commute home via Richmond Park in West London and answer the question how I went from cycle commuting to cycling as a sport.
A lot of drivers don’t understand and get annoyed when cyclists don’t use cycling lanes. However many are not fit for purpose and seem to be built by people who don’t ride bikes. There was an article posted on Road.cc about the changes being proposed to Priory Lane a road that leads to Richmond Park. Apparently it is a road with a lot of conflict between drivers and cyclists which I didn’t realise despite it being near where I live. However, I don’t use it often because I access Richmond Park via another route. So I decided to take a ride down Priory Lane to see what the problem is and this is what I found:
This week I thought I would share one of my more scenic options for commuting to work as my last commute video was a little on the hairy side. I usually take the Thames Path when I’m in the mood to doddle or don’t feel 100%. It’s not the smoothest of rides and in the afternoon there tends to be dogs everywhere so it’s not a route to take if you’re in a hurry. It’s a lovely route and a good reminder of how lucky we are as Londoners to have so much green space. I’ll also share with you my new favourite socks that I got for Christmas 🙂
I’ve spent December enjoying the food and drink and while I’ve cycled into work just about every day and got some Zwift sessions in I’m in no way in training mode, just damage control mode. I think it’s healthy to have some down time so that you can come back energized and excited when it’s time to gear up again
I’ve decided that my goals for 2018 will be the Vätternrundan, a 300km ride around a lake in Sweden (in one ride) and Everesting which is picking a hill and climbing it repeatedly until you reach the height of Everest (8848m if you are wondering). Two big goals! Both of which scare me a little which means I know I’ve picked the right challenges because if it doesn’t scare you a little it’s not really a challenge.
I’ve also decided it’s time to get a new road bike and of course there will be a bike tour and other new adventures in the year ahead. To start 2018 off right (and get Strava off of 0) we headed out New Year’s Day morning for a few laps around Richmond Park for some fresh air and to give those legs a spin, below is the video I made to share the ride with you.
Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel 2018 is going to be an interesting ride.
