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(un)Easy rider
(un)Easy rider
29th April 2006
I’m flying down hill, the wind is in my face, the sun is burning into my back – and I’m laughing because I’m riding ‘no hands’. Of course it’s a fantasy – this is how I imagine it will be. The reality is different in two important respects. The parts about flying down hill, the wind and the sun are all correct. But I’m not laughing and I’m not riding ‘no hands’ – I’m gritting my teeth and hanging on for grim death.
For the first time since the beginning of January I’m riding my new bike. I’ve dreamt of doing this for months, but it’s not as much fun as I thought – at least not at first. Do I have the energy to do this? Will the bag leak? I’m going to get funny looks (probably worse) if I have to empty it at the side of the road.
My neck and wrists ache. I still need to fiddle around with the position of the bars and stem to make the bike more comfortable (which is not uncommon with a new bike). Annie keeps pulling ahead, but generously waits for me. We’re riding round the Redway cycle paths in Milton Keynes. The surface is smooth which keeps the bag relatively quiet. There are over 150 miles of cycle paths in MK but we won’t see anything like that distance.
It’s warm and I feel the promise of summer in the air. This is one of the joys of riding a bike. Our route includes 4 hills – or inclines to be more accurate. I manage to ride up each one without having to get off and push (28 gears helps of course). And what goes up must come down - and eventually I do get to the part where I can ride ‘no hands’. Yes. I even manage a smile.
Riding a bike always takes me back to my youth when I belonged to a cycling club. I had three bikes then; a racing bike (I managed the odd race or two) a touring bike and a ‘going to work on’ bike. I thought nothing of riding a 30 mile training circuit with my mates after work – even in the winter – three times a week. I don’t think much of it now.
I have two bikes at present – three if I count my old mountain bike which I’ve converted to a static exercise bike. The new bike is a Specialized Crossroads Elite – it's what is called a ‘hybrid’ – it looks like a mountain bike but has thinner wheels and tyres for riding on the road (as opposed to off-road). Like most bikes these days, it has an aluminium frame and 28 gears and is just the thing for a lazy ride, taking in the sights and smells and sounds.
When I want to go fast, I have a sports bike – drop handlebars, thin wheels and no mudguards. It’s a Kaffenback – so named because the makers thought it was the ideal bike for riding to the Caff (café) and back. I’m not making this up. The steel frame is finished in a beautiful blue colour. There’s a retro ‘steel is real’ thing going on in UK bikes circles at the moment. But just to show I’m no Luddite it does have some carbon components. I bought the frame last summer and put the bike together myself as a project. It’s my equivalent of a classic sports car – I only take it out when the sun is shining and the roads are dry. There is something about riding a bike with drop handlebars that you don’t get from other bikes (apart from a sore neck that is) - the shear joy and fun of going fast. Each time I take it out I feel a connection with all my heroes of the Tour de France – the ones from the 1960s as well as the present. I’m determined to ride it this summer.
We managed 5.5 miles in 47 minutes – an average speed of 7mph. My chest and lungs hurt more than my legs. This was harder than I though. But I’m encouraged enough to have a go at a cancer charity bike ride in July. It’s a 12 mile circuit of MK and is 11 weeks away, so plenty of time to build up for it. I’ll be well into chemo by then but hope that doesn’t stop me (I wouldn’t want to disappoint all my sponsors …..).
Twelve miles is not far; there was a time when I could ride 10 times that distance in a day. At 16 I rode from Guildford to Southampton, a distance of 60 miles, in 3 hours and 10 minutes. I took me a bit longer to ride back. Crossing America is a bit far though. I’ve just been reading about a woman with advanced breast cancer who will shortly cycle across America for charity. She was given 6 months to live 6 years ago and is undergoing chemo to keep it at bay. Puts my 12 miles in the shade.
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