One Day One Photo - 17

Friday 26th September

I managed to get hold of the latest issue of Cycling Active magazine. Even though I have been contributing articles to this and to Cycling Weekly for a few years I still get quite excited about seeing the finished product on the shelf of WH Smith or the newsagent section in Tescos or Sainsburys. There is something very satisfying about seeing the planning, logistics and creativity of a seedling that you had in a brain come into fruition in the shape of a product that appears on the shelf of high street shops.

That is the case this month, with my article on cycle commuting which is in the current edition of Cycling Active. We looked at two options for commuting around a town on two wheels - riding your own commuter bike or hiring a bike. So we compared the riding experience and practicality of using a Raleigh Cameo versus a Boris Bike. The specifications, costs, the riding etc are examined in more detail in the article. In a nutshell, the conclusion was that the Raleigh is the more comfortable and more attractive-looking of the two bikes and is a bike that you can take wherever, and ride for as along as you like. The Boris Bike is a robust, reliable two-wheeler which does the job, but does not feel as comfortable as the Raleigh when being ridden for more than an hour. However, it is maintenance-free, hassle-free, and once you've paid your nominal membership fee (for a year or for a day) the first 30 minutes of riding it cost nothing.

I am glad that we finally got this story into a magazine as the shoot for it was tricky - mainly on account of the location. We wanted to be in a central London location, so we went to Belgrave Square. There was a bit of pressure to get the right shot, in the right light, and without any cars in the background. As this area has lots of embassies, there is a high (though discreet) armed police presence so we wanted to get everything done quickly and hopefully without any incident kicking off while we were there!

I had always considered this square to be quiet at weekends, but in fact quite a lot happens. With a private park and tennis courts in the middle of the square a lot of the well-healed Belgravia and Chelsea set go there for a quick game, or take their offspring there for lessons. It is a cut-through route for getting to Hyde Park Corner and Knightsbridge. In addition, there's a parking lot that becomes very popular thanks to Westminster Council's relaxed parking restrictions at weekends.

Sometimes doing photo shoots involve unexpected interventions from members of the public. In central London, especially in this area, there are usually a few tourists who interupt the shoot to ask for directions to Buckingham Palace or the nearest tube station. Others may ask the photographer if he could take a photo of them for their holiday snaps! While we were doing our shoot a small film crew turned up, looking for a spot. I think they had wanted to take the site where we were, but I guess it comes down to the old saying about the early bird. Also, because we were using Boris Bikes which we would leave on its stand in between shots, we had to be mindful of other people around who had also left their Boris Bikes to stand nearby. It was very easy to pick up the wrong Boris Bike and end up with someone else's bill! At least we didn't have the experience that I had a few years ago when doing a shoot in a run-down part of East London, before the Olympic stadium was built. I and the photographer were out, and a guy who looked a bit high on something took a real interest in what we were doing and wanted to be in the shoot!

I had been anxious that my 18 year-old nephew might get tired of being asked to ride up and down the same short stretch of road umpteen times while being photographed. In fact he was as good as gold and seemed happy to be involved. I was the one who started to huff and puff, wanting to finish up soon and get on with other things. (Posing for photo shoots is not my strong point!) Afterwards we moved on to the Royal Albert Hall where Higg took the rest of the bike shots, ably assisted by my nephew, and I sunbathed in the park. We then went home happy with our clutch of pictures.
The full review of the bikes is in the current issue of Cycling Active.

One day a few photos - 16



Thursday 25th September



The Cycle Show is back in England, and once again it is at the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre. I went along and checked it out for the day. As usual the larger cycle manufacturers like Trek, Colnago and Raleigh had fancy stands with their 2015 range on show. There were a lot of smaller stands with innovative items on offer. A couple that caught my eye were the new range of helmets from Brooks which have a fabric and tweed covering. It's great to have helmets to wear which match with your ordinary clothing, rather than almost exclusively helmets that better match sportswear.

There were various stands with different ways of improving cyclist's safety, notably through lighting systems. One I particularly liked was the one from Veglo which consists of commuter straps worn around your body or around your rucksack with a light and fibre optics that light up. They not only allow the cyclist to be seen by other motorists but they give a sense of depth and distance away as the motorist approaches the cyclist from behind.

Finally, a company called Tannus were displaying their puncture-free tyres in a range of bright and cheerful colours. The tyres are made from solid material so there is no inner tube and if a sharp object penetrates the tyre there is nothing to deflate, hence the tyre still keeps its shape and doesn't go flat.

These shows are always a good way to catch up with folks in cycling. Among the people I bumped into were people from other cycling magazines, Geoff Saxon who organisers the Wiggle-Kilo-to-Go cyclosportives, bike shop owners Maurice Burton and Guy Pearson. I also managed to get an interview in with 2-time Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso. He was all very amenable and spoke English pretty well - which was handy for me as my Italian was a bit rusty at times! Anyway, a good day out.

One day one photo - 15

Wednesday 24th September

Photo by John Mullineaux on London X League

The cyclo cross season has started, yay! It's one of the best ways to brighten up dull winter days and keep you fit during the off season. Actually, with hill climb competitions in full flow, a number of cyclosportives still to be done, plus various series of track cycling races is there really an off season? As dull winter days - well winter is not quite here, but this autumn has been one of the driest for decades and the cyclo cross races I've done were in warm sunshine! But who's complaining! I, and my bike, don't mind a delay to the arrival of mud!

The rankings for the London League are out and I am currently lying in 5th place (strictly speaking 4th=) in the women's competition. Great news! The thing is, that is after only 2 rounds out of 15. Given that I am not going to be in London every weekend I will not be able to contest for the top spot so I am happy to step back and give the other women a chance of claiming glory in my absence! (ha, ha - if only those words represented the reality!) It looks good to say I am in a top 5 position out of 23, but even if I were able to do the required amount of races I wouldn't be troubling any of the women in line for a podium place. The level at the London League has improved significantly since the days when I started doing cyclo cross almost 10 years ago. A number of the women from London will contest the National Trophy races. A few will even race in Europe and mix it with the heavyweights of cyclo cross in Belgium and the Netherlands. That's a good thing for women's racing. 

So, while I am unlikely to be figuring on any podium at the end of season presentations I still look forward to getting out and enjoying a good old race like I did recently at Penshurst Off Road Cycling centre. I won't necessarily be doing all the London League events but I will get out and ride in other leagues in the North-West, the East Midlands, and Yorkshire, which are all within easy reach of Macclesfield.

One day one photo - 14

Tuesday 23rd September

I managed to complete my Sportsister review of this new cycling jacket that Proviz have provided for me to test. It's an innovative type of high viz clothing that could substitute the day-glo yellows and oranges that people usually wear. I quite liked the feel of it, though I think I could have ordered a size smaller in order to get a more tailored fit like what is shown on the product website. But hey, I guess it means I don't have to worry about it being too tight if I have a few layers on underneath or if I "expand a little" over time!

This jacket, the Reflect360, is apparently the world's first jacket that uses a 100% reflective outer shell. I didn't know that, but what I do know is that the jacket certainly has a funny glow about it in the dark. When I walked into the living room with the lights out, I noticed something glowing in the corner and it almost gave me a fright! The jacket was glowing in the dark like something you see in a sci-fi show! A sliver of light had come through the gap in the curtains and this light was instantly being reflected off the jacket to make it highly visible. The thing is that all I noticed first was the chair glowing! It was only as I got closer that that I realised it was the jacket that was hanging from it. That's what must have also been happening when wearing it at night while riding in the street. I'm sure there were a few motorists who were thinking "what in the name of God is that?" at first sight! At least it caused them to stay back and give me a wider berth when approaching, which is what the intended aim is. So that can't be a bad thing, even if it gives a Dr Who or a Red Dwarf moment!

One day one photo - 13

Monday 22nd September

On our trip to Dublin we also bumped into the local who's who. The guy in the chain is Christy Burke, the current Lord Mayor of Dublin. Apparently, this guy was previously a member of the Sinn Fean party but decided to go independent in 2009 in a hope that his views could be better represented. The guy has also served a couple of years in prison for being a member of the IRA. Burke admits to having been an "active Republican" during the 1970s, but these days tends to focus on local issues like anti-drugs campaigning in his local area.

The Lord Mayor is also staunchly against the British royal family and does not see why they should be visiting Ireland. In fact he is lobbying for Queen Elizabeth to not be invited to the 1916 Easter Uprising anniversary commemorations in a couple of years' time. Having said that, for all his radicalism he still seemed a nice man, as we saw when he came over to officially open some local allotments. And like all politicians as he was walking out and saw my friend's baby he couldn't resist the opportunity to be photographed with him (whether the baby or its mother wanted it or not) showing off his "softer" side. It seems that whatever political hue or doctrines a politician holds, he always has to be photographed smiling and cooing at a little baby! Some things never change.

One day one photo - 12

Sunday 21st September

On our trip to Dublin we visited some friends of Higg's who lived in Laragh in the Wicklow mountains. It's all very pretty and quite touristic around there. The friends said that they look forward to the autumn/winter period because at least they can have their neighbourhood back to themselves after a spring and summer packed full of coachloads of people visiting nearby Glendalough, or ramblers walking the Wicklow Way. They even had Michelle Obama in the region, and on that day all the roads in the area were closed off in order to accommodate her, her two girls, her 50-strong motorcade, the Garda and the Irish Army! Traffic in County Wicklow was gridlocked!

Thankfully on this visit Higg and I were able to move freely and on our journey we drove through some spectacular scenery, notably through the Wicklow Gap. It was a shame that we didn't have bicycles with us. The last time we rode in this area was a about 4 years ago. The wind was so strong on the Sally Gap that it felt unsafe. There were even a few times when I felt more comfortable walking. On this day though, the weather was calm and everywhere was bathed in lovely sunshine. The perfect day for a bike ride. I hope to go back there again before long - and with a bicycle.

One day one photo - 11

Saturday 20th September

Whenever I am free on a Saturday morning and not taking part in another race or event I try and do the Parkrun. As they have one all over the country it is not too difficult to find one nearby. The great news is they don't just have them in the UK. They have started doing them in Ireland now - which is handy because that's where I was over the weekend! So off I popped to do the one at Marlay Park, in Dublin. As you can see, I am really working hard at my 5km run!

The great thing about these Parkruns is they have a designated venue to hold the post-race coffee for the runners. In this case it is the café and courtyard of Marlay House, where there is also a farmers' market. I must say that Marlay Parkrun is one of the prettiest Parkruns I have done. It goes around parkland and then through the woods, with the finish in front of a stately home. As well as the farmers' market there are also artisanal stalls. I was more interested in the foodstuff though and ended up spending more time at the market, due to the various cakes on offer!

As for the running, well, I was glad to finish in the top half of the field. Looking at previous results it looked like the level would be quite high with the top 10 males all doing sub-18 minutes and the top females doing sub-19 minutes.  I had thought that with the Dublin half-marathon taking place on this day the numbers would be down on their usual 400-strong field, and slower folks' results would look better than usual. No such luck! The fastest guy won in 15 and a half minutes and the field was as big as usual. I was happy to churn out my usual 24 and a bit minutes, and still have the energy to hang out around Dublin City with friends and family for the rest of the day.