I’ve been quiet this week on cycling , haven’t been out all that much. I did some minor work on the Cross Check … I installed the (wired) VDO C4 computer, we’ll see how that goes. I must admit I got lazy with measurement – I reckon my Randonneur 700x28s are close enough to 2138mm that I didn’t measure. I also covered lots of the rear-rack stays with black reflective tape and the same for the chain-stay. I also de-badged the Mavic Open-Pros and covered the ” Ultegra ” on the shifters and rear derailleur. One of the roadies in work thought I was nuts covering up all the names 🙂

I do have some drafts that I intend to post this week when I get a chance. I have a review of the Light and Motion ARC HID NiMH that I got last week – sweet light! I’ll post a review with some pictures this week. Also I downloaded gigabytes of free MTB videos legally from totalvid.com so I’ll post a review of what I thought about the service and the videos seperately too.

In the meantime, enjoy this insanely talented trials rider, Ryan Leech, as he takes on Prague. This YouTube clip (3mins 41) is an excerpt from ROAM, one of the videos I got from totalvid.com. Enjoy:

I left work late, around 7.30pm and decided that I wanted to test both my fitness (my back seems greatly improved now) and my new toy – L&M ARC NiMH HID light 🙂 Here are some observations related to my cycle trip home this evening.

• Dublin is windy. Dublin , along the coast, in late November, at night, going downhill into a headwind, is very feckin’ windy!
• My Gortex jacket and Cannondale gloves are definitely windproof, thankfully! I think I need to work on my layered system though – football jersey and jacket do not a wicking system make!
• My new Light and Motion ARC HID is so bright it’s unbelievable. I had a guy stop his car, reverse back to me and ask about it. His wife/gf was leaning across him to tell me she thought it was brilliant too. I asked if it was too bright but they said no, just perfect.
• Roadies are good. I stopped along the coast on my way back for 2 mins to take a look at my surroundings (quite often I forget to do this!). When I was stopped I saw a blinkie coming toward me on the cyclepath, so I waved to the light. Turned out to be a roadie out on a training run, in full winter skin tights. He checked if I had any mechanicals, said good luck and continued on his way.

If you’re interested, here’s my route. I turned it from a 4.4km commute to a ~25km trip (+/-5km error – no computer on yet). Red is from work to the top of Howth Head, blue is return home. Update: it’s actually 27.5km according to Gmaps Pedometer – thanks for the link Damien.

Cycle lanes are not the buggers that cause my left eye to twitch uncontrollably, my real problem is with cycle paths .

What’s the difference? Simple enough: the former are on-road lanes, the latter are off-road, shared with pedestrians and bus stops and such-like. Have a look at cyclopath2001’s definitions – fantastic site and the photos in this post are from his site. Ok, you’re still with me?

Likes: GSOH, non-smoker, on-road. Dislikes: pedestrians, off-road, bus stops. But let’s be realistic: in Ireland both the on-road and off-road variants suck.

The issue we have with cycle routes in Ireland is summarised thusly:

1. Cyclists are required by law to use the cycle lanes, where provided.

2. The incompetent moronic non-cyclists, may they forever suffer somewhere unpleasant, who “designed” these cycle lanes, well, they’re idiots. Or corrupt.

Actually, as anyone with the slightest knowledge of Irish politics will realise, those last two aren’t mutually exclusive. I have slightly more respect for the guys taking money. May they suffer for infinity-minus-one in the aforementioned unpleasant place.

Ok, so we’ve established, quite vehemently, that I am not a fan of off-road cycle paths. Why?

Because in Dublin they are badly designed, implemented and unmaintained. They are dangerous. They are uncomfortable to cycle on. They lend support to motorists who believe that cyclists should not be on the road.

There are several that are seriously dangerous – particularly the one on the North Strand going downhill into the city centre which laughably crosses a bus stop and 3 side roads before dumping the cyclist back into traffic over a kerb and into a junction with traffic lights, and traffic turning left across the arriving cyclist. Wait, wait – I’m not done! This joke of a cycle path is shared with pedestrians and is runs parallel to a busy housing estate. Was I being harsh on the incompetent morons? You decide.

Here’s what I posted on the Fingal Safe Cycling blog comments:

The compulsory use of inappropriate cycle facilities is anathema to anyone who cycles for more than family outtings. Bicycles are vehicles and are the chosen, often sole, mode of transport for many of us. If successful, your campaign may force North Dublin cycle commuters onto completely inappropriate cycle paths designed for a different purpose, and they would have every reason to oppose your campaign as they are likely to be on that route day in, day out.

I understand and support their campaign to have safer places for kids to cycle, and I hope they’re understanding of the position of daily cycling commuters and why more inappropriate cycle lanes is worse than the status quo of inadequacy.

Read part one of  Why cyclists don’t like cycle lanes.