Cows in the road

Road congestion in Sheffield really is getting worse.

But this was a welcome 5 minute rest for me to get my breath back. Lynn had spent the summer cycling in France and was faster than me going up hills, on the flat and descending.

A lovely 40 mile ride around the (very hilly) edge of Sheffield, and a reminder that I need to improve my fitness after a lazy couple of months with the bike gathering dust in the garage.

Sherwood Forest

The GT got its first proper ride as a mountain bike today when I met up with Chris and his scout group for a ride around the red route at Sherwood Forest. I also got to try out my new Thule roofbars on my little Hyundai i10.

There were some fairly technical sections and the old GT was brilliant, with me managing to keep up with Chris on his titanium mountain bike!

Chris's son, Harry. A born risk taker like his dad!

What a pleasant way to finish a bike ride!

Manchester to Blackpool Ride

Tandem safely loaded on Mart's car for a ridiculously early start to Manchester to start our 64 mile ride to Blackpool. Sunday morning as well. Good grief. Two pork pies and a pack of sausages hidden in the pannier where Mart can't find them.

The start was at some sort of football pitch that I'd never heard of before and people were talking with strange and worrying accents.

It looked like we wouldn't be cycling alone.

On the road.

We went for an early breakaway to claim the yellow jersey!

My Astana top is the closest I'll get to Le Tour!

Finish line in sight on Blackpool sea front.

Blue sea, blue sky and a completely brilliant bike ride. 64 miles in 3 hours 45.

Beer tent, food and live music.

York Cycle Rally

A very very hot Sunday was not brilliant for an 85 mile round trip on the tandem to see the York cycle rally - it really would have been far more sensible to drive - but we've never really been sensible, so we rode there and back.

Here are some of the things we looked at:

JD cycles were there with an impressive range of tandems.

A lovely fixie.

And an equally lovely old Mercian.

A brand new Holdsworth Pro. I always loved these Holdsworths when I was a kid. Sadly production of frames in the UK stopped (like many British frame builders). Falcon Cycles have now started production of the Holdsworth Pro again. Still in the distinctive orange and blue and built from Reynolds tubing, but this time made in a state of the art factory in the far east rather than in a little workshop in England.

And something that is made in England. Feather Cycles.

A hub gear with coaster (back pedal) brake.

Another UK builder. Woodrup of Leeds with a belt drive bike.

But they don't come cheap.

A Woodrup frame made from Reynolds 953 stainless steel.

Another Feather bike.

Retro Mountain Bike

Here's the latest bike in the collection. It's a '90s rigid fork GT mountain bike that I saw on ebay just a few miles from home.

There are a few scrapes and scratches, but all the components are original and I don't think it's seen much actual use during its lifetime.

I lubed the chain, cleaned the bike, checked everything over, adjusted the brakes and replaced both gear cables.

Today I rode it to work and back (about 7 miles each way) and it's absolutely great. It feels fast, stable and everything works perfectly.

I don't currently have a mountain bike and have been looking at buying something new. I'm now thinking that this will do the job just fine for the occasional blast along the Trans Pennine Trail.

It has the distinctive "triple triangle" frame design associated with GT bikes - I really like this style of frame.

The only additions are my saddle bag and a yellow bottle cage (£1.00 from York Cycle Rally).

And my ebay bargain cost the princely sum of £45.00 - I think I've already had 45 quid's worth of fun in my first few rides!

Tattooed tandemist towing trailer todler

Coming home from work I saw this girl riding solo on her tandem, towing a trailer. This in itself is an unusual sight, but the addition of leopard skin and tattoos made this an unmissable photograph.

Lazy Bike Ride

A day off work today. I finally managed to combat my lethargy and drag myself out for a ride. I found a route close to home that I hadn't explored before. It turned out to be one of those days for stopping and looking at things. Something you don't really do in the car. Clever map. How does it know where I am??

I found some quiet roads and saw very little traffic.

Some cycle lanes really are useless. You get a few yards and that's your lot.

An old fire engine. 1966. Same year as me but in better condition.

With a Bentley next to it.