The joys of cycling

I had been meaning to get a folding bike for some time in order to commute to work and get more exercise. I bought my wonderful new Dahon Speed D7 when we were on holiday in Devon and have fallen madly in love with it. It has 20" wheels, larger than the better known Brompton, and therefore is a bit more stable and, I believe, robust.

To get to work each day I am driving, as I have done for years, part of the way between home and work but now instead of getting the tube I park, fold out my new bike and in seconds am starting my ten mile trip to work.

The first half of the ride is on special cycle tracks alongside the busy A40. They are far enough away from the main road to be quite pleasant, at times sharing pavements, legally, with pedestrians through grassy, wood lined strips of land. After the first five miles I join the towpath of The Grand Union Canal for the last five miles. This makes a very pleasant route to work and I am able to complete the whole journey in only 15 minutes longer than it took by car and train.

It is also good exercise. 20 miles a day isn't trivial but I am coping pretty well and it gets easier as the days go by. I am enjoying feeling my muscles get back into shape and my heart and lungs are relishing the gulps of fresh air they are taking in.

All in all a good move and one I would heartily recommend.

Comments

[andy]

Welcome to the clan! Hope you have better luck though than I had this morning - I had a broken rear wheel spindle!! Thankfully only 200 yards from work. Other than little hiccups like that, it is as you say a great way to start the day.

[Nic Price]

Sounds like a pleasant ride.

You probably know about it already being a great outdoors person, but if not have you tried merino wool clothing?

Keeps you warm when it's not and cool when it's hot.

I'm a complete convert since it was recommended to me for the coast to coast cycle ride a couple of months back by the folks in Brixton Cycles.

And it doesn't smell!

[Euan]

Interesting - is it used as a mid layer or base layer?

[Nic Price]

Base layer for me - a t-shirt!

[Julian]

hadn't thought of mixing the A40 cycle track with the canal - where do you join/leave the canal?

[Euan]

Julian I join at Alperton behind the Vanguard repository as it is from that point that the Grand Union is metalled. You can join further out but it can be rough.

Nic - I find on mountains that a cotton base layer gets wet, cold and sticks to my skin. I am using a t-shirt on the bike but just wondered what form the merino tops took.

[Nic]

The top I use at the moment is a simple black t-shirt made by Howies. I'm planning to get a long-sleeved version as the seasons change.

My dad bought a couple of merino wool tops to wear on his trip up Kilimanjaro last week after I'd recommended it. Apparently the guys in Itchy Feet in Wardour Street central London all swear by it too.

I found the same problem with cotton getting wet cold etc., but not with this stuff.

I've even heard from someone you can get suits made from it!

On the cycling front, have you gone for pannier or rucksack?

[Euan]

Certainly the old synthetic base layers don't have pong after a bit but £50 for the Merino T-Shirt is a bit much given that I have just bought a new Paramo base layer.

I am using a rucksack on the bike as the 20" wheels wouldn't allow for much of a pannier and I am not sure I would want the Powerbook bouncing along that near the ground anyway. Trouble is it does make sweat dissipation harder.

[Julian]

Probably delving even further into the subject of sweat, but do you carry a change of clothes / leave clothes at work / cycle in your work gear?

[Euan]

On the bottom half I wear the bestest pair of trousers I have ever owned. They have zip off legs to convert them into shorts, wash and dry really quckly and an ace combination of pockets. Top half I wear a t-shirt and change when I get to work. I have got away with not bringing a complete change and showering so far but it may become necessary!

[Julian]

ah that would be the aroma in B152 then!

[Euan]

:-)