quickerbybike.com

Amazing tool for planning cycle routes.

2012-01-12T03:50:00.000-08:00

What an extraordinary application this is.

Double-click your start point on the map. Same for your finish point. Tell it how fast you are, Press 'Go'.

It knows cycle paths and parks.

Brilliant:

http://london.cyclestreets.net/

It says "London" but it's UK-wide.

A new way to communicate. Help needed!

2011-10-14T00:57:00.000-07:00

There's a big queue of traffic outside my office window as I type. I started Quickerbybike.com after riding past this queue every day. Queue is still going strong. Same drivers?

On the plus side, I see loads of cyclists these days. Way more than before.

The quickerbybike.com shorts are a way to communicate with motorists and point out the alternative and encourage them to switch.

And I hope we're reaching some. But it'd be great to reach more.

So I'm going to get a sign, like this clicky made up and I'll plonk it next to the road each morning. You might be thinking that this is hardly thinking big. True enough.

So what should the new sign look like and say? Please help me! Tweet or email your ideas to martin at quickerbybike dot com.

It mustn't be smug. It will include the quickerbybike logo, nice and big. Then perhaps the simple message: "Let me help you to cycle instead of driving.".

I'm going to leave an area white so I can write different messages each week. Suggestions for this would be great too. Perhaps we can have a weekly poll.

But please - what should the main, printed sign say?

Maybe even just the logo and a big question-mark?

Thanks in anticipation.

New kit order, summer 2011.

2011-07-08T01:00:00.000-07:00

The emails asking for kit are piling up so I'm about to place an order.

They're Endura Singletrack shorts embriodered with the quickerbybike.com logo and they're £30. Endura haven't got annoyed with me yet (they charge £42). It's a campaign, not a business, and I pay the postage on the shorts.

No lycra kit this time round, sorry.

If you'd like a pair, let me know what size you want and give me your address. Email martin at quickerbybike dot com. I need you to pay for the shorts up front (as you would if a friend were organising some team kit for you, which is basically what this is) and then there will be a two-to-three week wait for the shorts. When I've collated the order, I'll email all those who orderd with bank details so you can pay me.

There are girls' and boys' versions of the shorts. They are big-ish: I'm a 31inch waist and wear "small".

If you know anybody else who might want a pair, please put them onto me. I don't place orders very often so best to include as many people as possible.

Any questions, just ask.

Martin

Ten cycle commute lessons.

2011-04-28T08:39:00.001-07:00

A great little piece here on The London Cyclist

http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/tips/10-lessons-learnt-from-cycle-commuting-for-a-year/

Ues rechargeable batteries!

2011-04-14T05:12:00.000-07:00

My friend Phil has a very reliable moral compass. He reckons in 50 years time people will look back at the wastefull way we live now and find it just as astonishing and deplorable as we now find the idea of a slave trade.

Maybe that's going a bit far.

But having someone make you a new battery (having mined all the materials and manufactured each cel for you) every time your old one runs out isn't very cool.

Get a recharger and buy rechargeable batteries! If you want a selfish reason to do so: they're much cheaper in the long run and....you can charge them at work! Free power.

Go on, use the last of your evil throw-aways, recycle them properly and then sort yourself out with some rechargeables for next winter. You can have a hug from me if you do.

Patch your old tubes.

2011-04-14T05:08:00.000-07:00

I get punctures all the time.

If you want to avoid them, take these simple steps:

Get tyres with some protection. Here, there's even a site dedicated to them: Puncture resistant tyres
Check your tyres as often as you can be bothered for little flints or pieces of glass. Most punctures are caused by small sharp bits that have been working their way into your tyre over a few rides. Flick them out with a pin/knife/fork/whatever. How often you check will depend on how important it is to you. If someone you love commutes 13 miles across london to a stressy job, from whom a mid-commute "I've got a puncture" phonecall would cause you plenty of heart-ache, you'll check hers/his every night.
Don't ride in the gutter. Keep your eyes peeled for glass (more and more of it about. A deliberate campaign?).

Anyway, when you do get a puncture, find the nasty, remove it and change the tube. Stuff the old tube in your bag and add it to the pile at home. Don't bother arsing about at the side of the road patching the tube. It doesn't work well in the rain and once the tube of glue is open it tends to go off before you next use it.

Once every few months, sit down with a box of patches (Rema Tip Top from UK Bikestore at 30p each?), some sand paper, glue and a pump, turn on the afternoon play on Radio 4 and repair them all.

New tube = £4, patch =30p

No brainer. Can't do it? Want help? Email me!

Have your stationery delivered by bike

2011-04-11T05:03:00.000-07:00

There's a zero-emissions way to have your stationery delivered in London.

http://gnewtcargo.co.uk/

Roadhug.org

2011-03-16T02:03:00.000-07:00

Riding on my little green bike from Clapham Junction to Kensington yesterday for a meeting, I found myself staring at a poster on the back of a bus. It was a Roadhug campaign poster.

http://www.roadhug.org/index.html

If you read earlier posts in this blog, you'll remember that my friend James came up with the exact same approach for his cycle commute. See "A ride amongst friends", posted in December. He was on to something big. Kensington and Chelsea (the London Borough) have just adopted the philosophy for their road safety campaign, launched last week. Pretend all the road users around you are people you know. It works wonders.

Lycra kit will be here on Tuesday!

2011-01-07T09:47:00.000-08:00

Endura had no staff during the epic scottish weather so they're bahind with production.

However, the kit is now finished and will be dispatched on Monday. I'll get it on Tuesday and will get it out to you that day, I hope.

Thank you again for your patience. Service hasn't been great and I'm sorry.

Martin

No junk mail please! (again)

2011-01-06T00:13:00.000-08:00

I recently visited a Royal Mail depot in Surrey. It was huge. Perhaps the size of five football pitches and with five or six large industrial sheds. It was serviced by a fleet of twenty or thirty articulated lorries.

The sole purpose of this depot was to distribute junk mail.

You have to work quite hard to stop receiving junk mail. Three steps. Here they are:

"No junk mail" sticker. You can usually get these free from your council.
If you live in Richmond and Twickenham http://tinyurl.com/2uhk7g3
If you live in Wandsworth http://tinyurl.com/396q4js
Register with the Mail Preference Service. http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/
The most difficult but perhaps the most important is to opt out of Royal Mail door to door deliveries. Royal Mail deliver tonnes of unaddressed mail for their clients. To opt out you must email them at optout@royalmail.com and they will send you a form. Fill the form out and send it back. Scandalously, this will only last two years, after which the junk from Royal Mail will start reappearing, so you have to register again.

And then you're done. You no longer have to pick up piles of rain-forest from your doorstep and carry it to your recycling bin.

Doin't you think it's a bit scary that you have to take the above steps to avoid the default situation? With the default situation being that a huge industry toils away to deliver stuff nobody wants.

A ride amongst friends.

2010-12-30T10:51:00.000-08:00

Quickerbybiker Strat has hit upon a clever attitude to commute with. Ride as though you know all the other road users.

No matter how smugly self-righteous you are, it's hard to always ride absolutely without aggression, without cockiness, arrogance, impatience and intolerance.

But Strat has adopted this new approach of pretending all the other road users are people he knows. That way his behaviour has consequences in that it influences opinions of himself that he's actually bothered about. He says it works and he behaves himself better now.

The other thing Strat said and we talked rubbish was that motorists are not people. I think that's right too. I try to be srupulously not anti-motorists on this site but I still think it's fair comment to say that a motorist is not a person. They don't typically behave as people would, certainly not as friends would.

Alas, the kit has not arrived.

2010-12-24T06:07:00.000-08:00

Hey ho. It's hardly shorts weather anyway.

But I'm very sorry you lot. You've all waited very patiently having paid your money weeks and weeks ago. It's not great. Sorry. Let's hope it turns up promptly after Christmas so I can get it out to you.

In the meantime, here's the best e-card I got. I don't think Howies are saints but I think they're at least in the right direction and I know for sure I'd look a lot worse if they didn't make clothes.

Merry Christmas all.

Top tip.

2010-12-23T01:58:00.000-08:00

I've read a few of these books now and every one has been bright and engaging and funny and has taught me loads. I can't recommend them highly enough. They're only small. Very manageable.

Have a look at the list of titles. Ten-to-one you find a load of subjects you think you'd be interested in. Twenty-to-one the book turns out to be more interesting than you expected. http://www.oup.co.uk/vsi

You are not stuck in traffic, you are traffic. Break free.

2010-12-17T08:07:00.000-08:00

This should have been the quickerbybike slogan.

Kit order update

2010-12-15T08:55:00.000-08:00

Hello

All those who ordered baggy shorts have now got them (except you Will) and from what I've heard you all love them.

The lycra is the bigger order by far and I had been told to expect that on the 10th December. No sign of it yet and on chasing Endura was advised today that it will be leaving them at the end of this week.

I think I'm seeing quite a few of you next Thursday so might bring it for you all to stuff down your jerseys on the way home. Otherwise it will be variously posted or hand delivered before Christmas.

To that end, would any of you who have not done so please email me your preferred delivery address.

Thanks for waiting.

Martin

This one runs on fat.

2010-12-02T01:19:00.000-08:00

Kit update

2010-11-17T07:18:00.000-08:00

Hello patient kit people.

Here's the latest.

The baggy shorts arrived from Endura this afternoon and they are already with Bigstitch to have the logos embriodered. I'm not very good at the jumping-up-and-down "I have important customers waiting" thing, so they'll do them a.s.a.p but they won't stress. Seven to ten days. I hope that I'll be picking them up and sending them off to you on Friday next week.

If you haven't given me your address yet, please stick it in an email.

The lycra kit is in production. Due here on 10th December. I'm still hoping it will arrive sooner but with no basis in logic since I have been given a delivery date.

Endura very helpfully prepared an alternative colour sample for the shorts that was a bit darker and less shiny than the last batch. They're going ahead with this option. Looks much better.

Thanks for your patience. As soon as I've got it, I'll get it out to you all.

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

2010-11-12T09:45:00.000-08:00

The simplest possible answer to the seemingly terribly tricky question of what we ought to eat.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html

I imagined I had the perfect diet but it was way too meaty really. Much better now and I think I feel a lot better.

Thinner and faster too. That's a winner surely.

Big Society: litter collection service.

2010-10-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

In my capacity as a bloody-do-gooder I pick up other people's litter. Do you?

On a fell in the Lake District you can't help it. It's obviously too miserable, ugly and depressing to see a Coke can perched on a tuft of heather. So you stuff it in your bag. Of course you do. It drives you mental to think that anyone could be so pigging stupid as to leave it there that you take it away, trying to make it all better.

But I've got the habit and can't now walk past the same Coke can in suburbia.

I've scooped up armfulls of Happy Meal packaging from the floor of the 65 bus. I've picked up an abandoned punnet of chips from outside the kebab shop and walked it the 6 metres that was needed to get it to a bin. I've collected up TK Max bags, together with the dumped clothes hangers and packaging from the floor of a train. I've picked-up, emptied and binned / recycled dozens of Stella, Red Bull, Iron-Bru and coke cans.

Of course people do stare. So much the better.

I've even picked up the litter as soon as I've seen it dropped and offered to put it in the bin for the litterer. (how annoying am i?) Would you believe he said "No, give us it back mate, I'll do it myself".

I did a quick google search for an image to go with this post but spotted this:

http://www.litteraction.org.uk/

The campaign I was going to suggest sort of already exists.

Though I don't think it has to be organised. Anyone else up for picking up other people's litter? If everybody who thinks litter's minging simply picked it up and binned it now and then, it'd go away wouldn't it? Maybe even if litter-droppers saw normal people picking up crap from the street, they'd think it could be worth making the streets an attractive place to be.

Anyone?

Already joined the MOOvement!

2010-10-28T23:55:00.000-07:00

Well whadya know, my MP was already part of the MOOvement (see post below).

http://www.zacgoldsmith.com/article.asp?contentID=3&newsID=418

That's Richmond and Kingston sorted, what about where you live?

Join the MOOvement.

2010-10-26T05:13:00.000-07:00

Funny video. Serious point.

They've made it very easy. Twenty seconds to change thinking it's worth doing something about to doing something about it.

http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/biodiversity/press_for_change/moodunnit_25606.html

The Endura elves are busy making our new kit.

2010-10-21T00:18:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to all those who ordered kit. £1,704 worth of it is being put together at Endura as I type.

It turns out my charitable contribution will go a little further than the postage on the lycra (and the postage on Chris's shorts - he lives in New Zealand!) as I failed to anticipate the VAT on the Lycra kit.

What a plonker.

Nobody would pay £47 for a pair of bib shorts would they! They're great shorts but still...

So we're all waiting. Seven weeks is the current lead for the lycra kit. Less for the baggies.

Thanks again.

Quickerbybike

Dynamo Club Champs

2010-10-19T01:45:00.000-07:00

Quickerbybike were at the Dynamo Club Champs at the weekend, wearing a lot of clothes, drinking tea, eating cake and taking photos. Well done to Mike and Cammers for getting away from a strong bunch.

More pictures here:

http://tinyurl.com/342oayd

My weekend and the Little Green Bike

2010-10-14T05:22:00.000-07:00

Saturday:

Home-Green Bike-Kew Gardens-65 Bus - Green bike -Home - Green Bike - Train - Earlsfield - Green Bike - Tooting - Green Bike - Earlsfield - Green bike - Tooting (party!)

Sunday:

Green bike - Earlsfield - Train - Green bike - Home - Green bike - Surbiton - Train - Woldingham - Green Bike - Bec Hill Climb (see photo of face to remember above) - Green Bike - Woldingham - Train - Earlsfield - Green Bike - tea with friends - Green bike - Train - Waterloo - Green Bike - Dinner with friends - Green bike - Waterloo - Train - Green bike - home.

Without the Green bike, that's an impossible weekend. With the green bike it's a doddle.

At the Bec Hill Climb I saw a 15 year old school boy beat all the professionals. Germain Burton - remember that name.

New quickerbybike.com kit order.

2010-10-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

I'm ordering more quickerbybike.com kit.

But I'm doing it to order because otherwise it just won't happen.

So if you're keen , please email me with what you want and pay me. Stuff will follow a few weeks later.

Kit is all from Endura. Lycra is their team kit, baggies are Singletrack, embroidered with the quickerbybike.com logo.

Lycra Road Jersey (short sleeve, short zip) (xs, s, m, l) £35
Lycra bib shorts (s, m, l, xl) £40
Lycra bib shorts (girl specific) (xs, s, m, l) £40
Shorts (girls only - no bib) (xs, s, m, l) £36
Men's Singletrack short. (s, m, l, xl) £30
Women's Singletrack short. (xs, s, m, l) £30

Lycra prices above are just the Endura Team Kit prices - I'll pay the postage. Prices for baggies are: trade price + embroidery, plus postage.

Scroll down the blog for pictures of the kit. Visit http://www.endura.co.uk/ for any technical or sizing information on the kit.

So if you're after some kit, please email me and let me know what you want. I'll give you the bank details and you can pay me when you order, then you'll just have to bloody wait!

Martin

quickerbybike.com folds!

2009-11-18T02:09:00.000-08:00

Yup, there's a new, bright green folding addition to the quickerbybike stable.

It's bloody brilliant!

Seen here ridden by my rival for the the Gherkin 1-lap TT (which I won. GET IN!).

Though the bike is fast and nimble, it's hard to take yourself entirely seriously when you're riding it, so it's full of fun.

I've had children grinning and pointing at me as I fly past.

I've taken it on buses and trains. I've taken it to pubs and restaurants. I take it to meetings with work. I love it. I always arrive grinning and bright and ready to work.

The other plus is that people can't help liking it and liking you on it. How can you help being kindly inclined towards a grinning man on a little bright green bike?

I can't recommend this bike highly enough. Worth every penny.

Top tip: do not pedal through corners.

"Get off your bike before you're knocked off"?

2009-08-18T04:15:00.000-07:00

A quickerbybiker spotted this at the weekend and sent me a link to the article in the Sunday Times, written by Minette Marrin.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/minette_marrin/article6797744.ece

She says a great deal that is sensible; she sees the benefits of cycling as a fun, free and fast means of travel in London but finds these benefits obliterated by the dangers of busy roads, the aggression of other cyclists, the pollution and the prospect of spending your day at the office being smelly because there are no showers where you work.

There certainly is a problem of attitude by cyclists on the road, as Minette points out. I've always found some London cyclists to be obnoxious and irresponsible. It would be great to encourage them to be more friendly and to behave properly. For the most part though, I think the bustle of cycle commuters is a very friendly place to be.

The pollution in a car is, I understand, no better than outside the car.

I'm lucky enough to have an office with a shower, as are most of my cycle-commuting friends. Those who have no shower at work have the hassle of showering at a local gym. In any event, I think the solution is to encourage employers to install showers, rather than to wrire cycling off as inherently unhygenic.

Minette does acknowledge that many of her friends, and thousands of others in London, really enjoy their commute by bike and I think this is the key point: whilst Minette Marrin does not enjoy cycling, it does not follow that cycling is not enjoyable.

I agree with Minette's stance so far as it applies to her and to others who do not enjoy cycling. It's always wretched for people to be doing things they don't enjoy, whether it's going to a gym, reading Shakespeare, eating out or entertaining. I always want to see people cheerful in what they're doing, particularly if what they're doing is something I love.

There are a great many people for whom cycling will never be fun and I wouldn't wish cycling on them for anything.

I'm sure there are many however who, disliking cycling in the first instance, might find a type of fun in it that appeals to them if they persevere a little.

At last, decent photos of the lycra kit.

2009-08-11T05:22:00.000-07:00

Goodbye bottled water!

2009-07-09T06:10:00.000-07:00

The Ausies have started us off, let's roll it out across the world.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8141569.stm

No junk mail, please.

2009-07-09T05:22:00.000-07:00

If you want to stop annoying, wastefull junk mail being put through your door, there are three steps to take.

Firstly, stop the unaddressed leaflet stuff by getting a "no junk mail" sticker for your letterbox. Many councils will issue you with a free sticker. For Richmond and Twickenham, for example, just email your name and address to recycling@richmond.gov.uk to get your free sticker.

Next you need to stop mail that is addressed to you, sent by companies who have bought your address from a database. To do this, you simply register with the Mail Preference Service at http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/.

The last and most irritating hurdle is to write to Royal Mail (no, there's no other way!) to ask them to stop sending you the adverts that they have been paid to distribute.

The address is:

Door to Door Opt Outs
Royal Mail
Kingsmead House
Oxpens Road
OXFORD
OX1 1RX

Simply tell them: "I would like to opt out of door-to-door deliveries".

Three easy-ish steps and it all stops. REDUCE, re-use, recycle, innit.

Martin

The incredible shrinking man.

2009-06-02T01:14:00.000-07:00

My cycle commute is a quiet, flat 30 minutes against the traffic.
I tend to pass the same riders every day, all heading into town.
I pass Karl, who I waved and smiled at for years before finally bumping into in a bike shop. We chatted for ages and now, knowing more about each other, exchange the odd shout as we pass.

There's the big South-African dude who shouts "Morning" loudly every day. He's a lycra type and looks like he spends a lot of time on his bike.

There's a friendly chap with a beard who I tend to pass nearer to the start of my commute. He's casual clothes and hybrid bike.

There are two old-timers, one on a fixed gear race bike and the other on a Dawes Galaxy with panniers (he pedals the biggest gear on thr bike all the time). I've chatted once or twice to the Galaxy man. He's even tagged on the back of my club training ride one night when he was especially late coming home from work and in need of a draft.

There's the grumpy man with the yellow bike who has NEVER acknowledged me in 6 years of nodding and waving. I'm not giving up.

And now there's the incredible shrinking man. I don't think he'd be desperately offended to be told that he looked a tiny bit comical when he first passed me. He was on a racer, wearing lycra and he was a little bit chubby. Actually he was a lot chubby. But now we've been nodding and waving to each other for, I guess, six months, he's rapidly disappearing. I barely recognise him. He looks leaner and faster and more pleased with himself each week, and my nods and waves get more enthusiastic in proportion.

So those are my commute friends. I only know the name of one of them but they're my friends anyway.

2009-04-21T10:45:00.001-07:00

Quickerbybike.com were at the 5th Smartmoves conference at the business design centre today.

We heard from Mayor Boris's director of transport policy that nothing short of a revolution is going to take place in london for cyclists. He wasn't entirely convincing but the agreed targets to implement at least two radial cycle highways my may 2010 as well as the first phase of the bike hire scheme for central London, by the same date, sounded pretty bright.

There were talks by a few of London's transport leading lights, particularly Ben Plowden of Tfl's Smarter Travel Unit and John Dales, Director of Transport Movement and Streets.

I'll write more later. I've got to go and ride my bike. However, I spoke to a chap from Cambridge Council and recommended him a book. I couldn't remember the author: Gary, it's Tim Hilton. The book is "One more Kilometer and we're in the showers" and I recommend it very highly.

If anyone spoke to me or saw me at the conference and would like to get in touch, please do not hesitate to email me at martin at quickerbybike dot com.

Let me out! How to enjoy the school run.

2009-03-20T08:38:00.001-07:00

Now, more than before, with pressure on the family purse, it is the time to leave the car at home and walk or bike to school.

That is the message of this entertaining and practical handbook for parents, children and teachers based on over ten years of experience as a mother in London, one of the most congested towns in the world with particular problems with the school run.

Illustrated with cartoons and case studies and quotes from children, parents and teachers, this book aims to encourage and inspire others to get out of their cars and enjoy the school journey. It provides an entertaining mix of personal experience, policy review and practical suggestions.

Ann Kenrick, the author, has cycled in London for over 40 years as a child, student, employee, 9 month pregnant mother, and employer. She has been involved in sustainable transport issues more directly for over fifteen years as Trustee of the Environmental Transport Association and London Cycling Campaign and Founder/Chairman of the East Dulwich Safe Routes to School Group. She has been recognised for this work with a Southwark civic award.

TC reports from Lanzarote training camp

2009-02-27T01:31:00.000-08:00

The airport at Lanzarote is a funny old place. After a week at La Santa it's all too easy to turn in to a bit of a 'Body Fascist' - The Easy Jet queue brings an abrupt end to this experience and I realise how very different the lifestyles of the average British Citizen are.

My interest in Quicker By Bike has grown to the point that I now feel actively compelled to make a difference through this site. What better illustration of the importance of this movement can be found than the one I have just witnessed. The faces say it all. My companions beam with a healthy glow and as I fly back through the night I'm looking forward to jumping on the single speed and heading in to work.

Hills, headwinds and hot climbs were nothing to a set of strong commuting legs. Cycling to work is free training and healthiness is happiness. Join the revolution my friends!

We're on Facebook

2009-02-25T05:26:00.001-08:00

There's now a quickerbybike.com group on Facebook.

Join up!

quickerbybike car stickers?

2009-02-17T05:14:00.000-08:00

It might sound daft but a car sticker delivers the message to just the same place that a logo on a bum does. Stickers are a bit cheaper than shorts. So stickers mean the message gets delivered to the right place a lot more often.

Vote for your slogan of choice before we get them produced. Any feedback or abuse gratefully received.

It's worth considering that the quickerbybike.com logo already conveys a lot of the message, so we don't want to duplicate that in the sticker slogan.

Shortlist:

"Life is short. Clock is ticking." quickerbybike.com

"Traffic is more fun on a bike." quickerbybike.com

"I would be there by now if I had cycled" quickerbybike.com

"I'm not having any fun" quickerbybike.com

"Why aren't I on my bike?" quickerbybike.com

"I wish I were on my bike." quickerbybike.com

Wot they said.

2008-10-24T05:19:00.000-07:00

Is what I mean.

Here:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xrIJY-Vs1no

Jamie Cameron in action at Gorrick 12-12

2008-10-20T05:02:00.000-07:00

Jamie placed 3rd in the solo event at the Gorrick 12-12 over the first October weekend, flying the quickerbybike flag.

Next season quickerbybike.com will be a registered club, with a few riders representing us at mountain bike events, time trials and triathlons.

How long can you go without re-fuelling?

2008-10-01T05:15:00.000-07:00

I confess I have a car. However, I'm trying to abandon it. The last time I went to use it, the handbrake was rusted on so now I leave it off.

Two things are driving me to ditch my car. The first is a childish and geeky sort of competition I'm having with myself to see how long I can go without having to stand guiltily at a petrol station, pumping fuel into the thing. I filled it on Monday 29th September - anyone wanna compete with me for the longest interval before re-filling?

The second reason is a genuine reluctance to be in a car. I feel such an idiot these days when I find myself either stuck in traffic or spending £50 on fuel. In fact even a hassle-free car jouney feels wasteful to me these days. Plus I properly enjoy being on trains and busses.

I hope someone will compete with me on the fuel thing.

M

Quickerbybike kit is now cheaper!

2008-09-02T05:19:00.000-07:00

We want to get more kit out there on bums (and less in here under my desk).

Baggy shorts (Endura Singletrack) now £30.
Clickfast liners now £10.

In the mens there's lots of small, medium and large and XL but no XS.

There's XS, S and M in the ladies Singletrack shorts and liners.

There's still plenty of lycra kit in the s, m, l but no xs or xl, except for girls.

Rucksack covers now £5. They ain't waterproof but they're bright and they say quickerbybike.com on them.

Talk to red-light jumpers?

2008-08-01T03:27:00.000-07:00

My normal commute is out from town but sometimes, like yesterday, I ride towards town with all the other cycle commuters.

If you think other riders are riding badly, you should go and talk to them, I reckon.

I hollered at 6 riders yesterday who'd run red lights. I also made a point of catching up with, patting on the back and chatting to two guys.

It's always going to be difficult because nobody likes being preached to / told they're wrong but I think you have to have a go.

Be super friendly about it but say something. Shout something if you have to, even if it's only "red light!" Best to avoid "red light *!#*" as that's not very constructive.

Anyone agree? There is a dearth of comments to these threads. Leggy, any do-gooding on your commute?

Piles of new kit!

2008-07-17T05:52:00.000-07:00

It all arraived yesterday.

The new Endura Lycra kit is here. Lycra road jersesy (unisex) and lycra bib shorts with boy or girl pad.

The new kit differs from the kit in the photos in that the logo on the bum is much bigger and the logo on the back is HUGE.

Girls keep telling me they'd rather have non-bibshorts, so that's what I'll order next.

New girl-specific baggy shorts are also in and well-liked.

A few girls have mentioned they'd prefer 3/4 length. If this is a general consensus, would more people email me to say as much please?

New rucksack covers are also here. Just like the photo below but with the logo big across the back.

Photos of all the kit will be up soon.

Rucksack covers and more lycra ordered.

2008-07-01T09:40:00.001-07:00

There's a big batch of the new Endura lycra kit on it's way, due 16th July.

Shorts £41, Jerseys £35. All shorts are bib shorts but there are girl-specific pads for the girls.

I'm a bit stressed that all the kit is expensive. This is 'cos it's good cycling kit for people who expect to ride a lot.

The rucksack covers might be the answer. They're on their way and I hope they'll be under a tenner. You'll have to use your imagination, they're like this but with the quickerbybike logo across the back:

Splendid. I confess I wouldn't normally consider wearing a rucksack cover because I'm too cool. If it's gonna say quickerbybike.com on it though, I'll be wearing it all year.

2008-07-01T09:39:00.000-07:00

Website is up.

2008-06-30T01:25:00.000-07:00

The quickerbybike.com website is up. You probably came here from there.

There are a few teething problems with it and some of the content is not quite what it should be but it is up.

You can now buy kit via the website. If you know us though, just email what you want.

Best pictures yet of the kit.

2008-06-27T04:21:00.001-07:00

After this it got muddy.

Quickerbybike at Mountain Mayhem

2008-06-27T02:48:00.001-07:00

Three new pairs of shorts, fresh out of their placcy bags, head for the hellish mud of Mountain Mayhem at the weekend. The London Dynamo team placed 22nd of 650 teams (including the pros). Amazing event. I highly recommend it. Next year there'll be at least one quickerbybike.com team racing. Anyone else wanna race for us?

Is it quickerbybike?

2008-06-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

Can you be persuaded that riding is a good idea?

Is it quickerbybike? With quick meaning clever, as well as fast.

Is it fasterbybike?

Typical journey times for 4 miles in central London look like this: bike 22 minutes, tube 30 minutes, car 40 minutes, bus 62 minutes, foot 90 minutes.

If you drive to work in central London, you'll spend neary half your journey at a standstill and you'll average about 7mph. Tedious.

The average cycle commuter does 12-15mph. Pretty much anyone can cycle at 10 miles an hour without breaking sweat. Fast enough to make other transport look a bit silly.

Quickness is worth having because it makes good use of precious time. Life is short, after all.

For a cyclist in the uk, that short life will be typically two years longer than that of a non-cyclist. How else can you make that kind of time during your journey to work?

Riding uses precious time well by using it a few ways. Commute time becomes alive time, rather than the dead time that other modes tend to be. It's a bit of life in itself, rather than a waiting room between two other bits of life. Commuting by bike is exercise time; proper, regular, interesting exercise that will actually work.

Is it greenerbybike?

The bicycle is the best we've ever done, as a species, for efficient transport.

Because making a bike needs a tiny fraction of the materials and energy needed to make a car and because bikes don’t need fuel, 2kg of carbon are saved for every short journey made by bike instead of by car. Two kilograms, twice a day.

Riding a bike is quiet and cool. Picture a city artery during rush hour. Now picture the same with everybody on a bike; all you'd hear would be chatter.

I’ve never squashed a fox, badger, squirrel, rabbit, hedgehog or bird while riding my bike.

Is it betterbybike?

When I pass other cyclists, I smile and wave. I’m friends with the regulars commuting the other way. I don't talk to them but we always wave or shout or point to our new bike or gesticulate at the headwind / tailwind / sun / rain.

Cycling makes you fit (did you spot that? you don't have to start fit, cycling will do it for you). Regular cyclists tend to have a the fitness of a non-rider ten years younger.

It’s cheap as chips to cycle. I run my bike for about £100 a year. I pay no fares, no road tax, no MOT, no insurance, no breakdown recovery, and I do not buy fuel.

How many hours do you work to pay for your means of travel to and from work? Is it possible that you could cycle and simply not work those hours?

Within reason, I park my bike where I like.

Is it cool?

Clever is always cool. Quick is cool. If you're not convinced you can be cool on a bike (although you surely are, no matter what you look like) have a look at the bike chic links over on the right.

Mrs Leggy's commute questionnaire answers

2008-06-24T10:26:00.000-07:00

Mrs Leggy rides to work 10k each way every day between North West London and Central London. She’s a lycra-wearing triathlete for the journey but must be smart for her job, which is something serious, clever and important.

Here’s how she answered my questions:

Who?
Boy or girl? Girl
How old are you? 29
Where do you live? North West London
What type of bike do you ride? Monoc racing bike

How?
What type of ride is it? Park roads / central London
How far is your ride? To work 10k each way. Pretend to train
Between where & where? NW to EC
How many days a week? Every day
Winter and summer? Yep
What do you do when it rains? Get wet on the bike
Have you got a shower at work? Yes
What do you do for breakfast? Normally have it at home, sometimes at work
What do you wear to ride? Bike clothes, lycra all the way!
What do you do with your work clothes? I have a cabinet full of clothes, transport on bike, sometimes take in bulk. Take home each day to wash.
How do you travel on the days you don’t ride? Run or tube
How often do you get punctures? Hope this wont jinx it, but not that often (go through phases)
Can you fix a puncture? Yes
How long does that take? About 10 mins (pathetic I know)

Why?
Does riding make you cheerful? Oh yeah
Rank these for bright they make you feel: train/tube/car/bus/bike Bike / car / train / tube
Do you wave “hello” to other cycle commuters? I nod to others , rarely wave
Does getting rained on when you ride make you miserable? Yep , especially when washed my hair
Is cycling cheaper than driving? Yeah probably
Is riding more reliable, time wise than car/train/bus? Yes
Do you resent driving or catching the train/tube/bus when you have to? Yes
Do you daydream whilst you ride? Sometimes
Do you feel safe as you ride? Most of the time
Is riding ever a hassle? Only when I have loads to carry
Do you own a car? Yes
Is cycling the only transport you can afford? No
Do you ride to keep fit? Yes
Do you ride to train for racing? Yes
Do you ride for the environment? Not really

Baggy shorts are here!

2008-06-19T10:19:00.001-07:00

New baggies are here. Endura Singletrack baggies with quickerbybike.com logo embriodered on the bum. £40 the shorts, £20 for the click in liner. Until the website is up, if you want a pair, email me at martin at quickerbybike dot com

wear quickerbybike for your commute

2008-06-17T10:48:00.000-07:00

Baggy shorts Endura Singletrack, Lycra Shorts Endura bibs, lycra jersey Endura Road Jersey.

quickerbybike.com works like this:

Cycle commuters wear quickerbybike kit.

Other road users see the kit and visit the site.

The site encourages non cyclists to cycle and wear the kit.

The site encourages existing cyclists not to ride like wallys and to wear the kit.

would you be quickerbybike?

2008-06-17T05:35:00.000-07:00

If you commute to work or school but not by bike, would you consider switching? Just now and then perhaps.

Chances are it’s quicker, more green, more healthy, more friendly, more independent, cheaper, quieter and brighter.

If you already travel by bike but tend to ride like a bit of a wally, running red lights and annoying other road users, would you consider riding decently and promoting cycling via your shorts?