Racing again

Many many years ago I read an article written by Mike Burrows which said, to summarise, that if you'd done most things on a bike, and liked to go fast, but never tried racing, then it was worth giving it a go at least once as it's a very amusing thing to do and you'd probably meet some very decent people too. It prompted me to give it a try in 1999 and I found this to be absolutely right. I raced recumbent bikes from then until 2005 with the BHPC in the UK. I'd like to repeat Mike's advice. Try racing. It's fun.

In the UK I raced a Speed Ross bike which was nice and light, but competitive for racing only because of the existence of the "Sports Class" for bikes which were usable on roads as well as on a track.

I sold the Ross before emigrating so I only have one recumbent now, a rather well worn Pashley PDQ. It's a fine touring bike, but it isn't very fast. Mine is fitted with panniers, baskets and multiple sets of lights as I use it for touring.

A couple of weeks ago I was told of an upcoming race in Groningen organised by the NVHPV and the old interest was re-ignited so today I rode the bike the 30 km to Groningen this morning to take part. As expected, there were a bunch of very friendly people at the event and it was a whole lot of fun.

And the results ?
My average speed in the 50 minute race was just over 34 km/h, a result which actually surprised me as it is certainly quicker than I used to ride that bike and not far off the speed I used to ride the Ross. However, over here it's different.

Most of the entrants rode either velomobiles or low racers. There is no "sports class", and nor is one needed, as it's perfectly safe to ride these bikes over here on the cycle paths. They're also very practical machines and many of the owners use them for long commutes, or even for transporting their dog as on the right...

The winner of the race rode his velomobile at an average of 49.6 km/h. It wasn't a delicate machine unpacked from the back of a van, but was ridden to the event. On Monday it'll be used for his commute.

However, in the main race today I was second from last. It got worse in the results from the standing start lap nor the flying start as in both of these events I simply got slower and slower as I'd already used my energy on the first race !

As well as the superior bikes, I think it comes down to something that Eddy Merckx once said to an aspiring cycle racer: "ride your bike, ride your bike, ride your bike". The Dutch do ride their bikes. They do it an awful lot, and they're very quick on them.

Today's competitors were fast. The average speed was over 41 km/h instead of a bit over 33 km/h at the last race on a similar circuit that I took part on in the UK. In that event I finished 19th out of all 55 competitors and was first in sports class. Even at today's speed I'd only have slipped a few places. That's quite a difference. I'm seriously outclassed.

By the time I got back home I'd covered 112 km. All of it was enjoyable, including the ride home with other competitors from Assen at a speed I could keep up with on a newly constructed super smooth cycle path.

Update 30/9/2008
The winner of the race, H@rry Lieben, averaged nearly 50 km/h. He had video cameras on the front and back of his velomobile, and put these two excellent videos on youtube. I'm the guy going slowly with the baskets...




There are many parts suitable for recumbents and velomobiles in the DutchBikeBits webshop.

I raced on the same track again the next year, with a much faster bike.

London Freewheel

A couple of months ago, Fernando in London bought a basket and support from me to transport his dog, Fosse. Yesterday, Fernando kindly sent me some photos of the two of them taking part in the London Freewheel ride last week.

This was the second year of the Freewheel, and it was wildly successful: 100000 people were attracted to ride their bikes on 12 km of closed roads in the capital.

The success of the event shows just how attractive it is to be able to cycle without having to be constantly concerned about motorised vehicles. It's a good demonstration of how increasing subjective safety results in more people cycling, even if the improvement is just for one day.

Clearly the pent-up demand to cycle that is present in most places also exists in London.

Imagine the rate of cycling that London could achieve every day if the infrastructure in the city was redesigned with emphasis on increasing subjective safety for cyclists so that it was always to the level experienced on the Freewheel.

I have more posts referring to subjective safety.


Fernando's basket is the extra large size that I make for transporting dogs, and it's mounted on a sturdy front rack.

I have another photo of Fernando and Fosse together, accompanied by photos of other people with their dogs on their bikes.

We organise holidays over here in the Netherlands where we always have this degree of subjective safety. We would also be very pleased to have the transport planners from wherever you live visit to take part in a Study Tour so that they can see the result of achieving this.

4001 - a utility cycling odyssey

I noticed yesterday as I put it away that my town bike had managed to clock up exactly 4001 km on its bike computer.

The computer was given to me for Christmas by my children and fitted around the middle of January. January 15th to September 26th is 255 days, so this bike has covered an average of 15.6 km, or just less than 10 miles, each day.

So how does this break down ? First, what this doesn't include:

• I mostly work at home so don't have a commute.
• Most times I take parcels to the post office I use the Xtracyclee.
• For longer rides I use the PDQ (or, later on. Mango).

So, what does make up this distance ?

• Dog walking takes about 3 km a day.
• Shopping
• Going out for shorter rides with the family
• Two days of 90 km+ when the PDQ broke down in the middle of a tour earlier in the year and I had to swap bikes.

Is that it ? No. The PDQ also has a bike computer and has done 2500 km in the same period. It was a surprise to me that all the little daily utility rides added up to more than the "big" rides, but they do. I've no idea how far the Xtracycle has gone, but that does the post office run a couple of times a week and did a 100 km weekend due to visiting a basketmaking exhibition (only 40 km away, but I also had to get between the venue, the campsite, the barbecue etc.). The folding bikes do very little by comparison.

So, that's about 7000 km in total so far this year, and I'm in line for 10000 km by the end of the year. I'm looking forward to the next 3000 km !

And what is this bike ? It's an anonymous 1980s British made "all steel" 3 speed equipped bike with proper 26" wheels (26" x 1 3/8 or ETRTO 590 - over an inch bigger in diameter than MTB 26" wheels). It's also still got its original steel mudguards and chainguard, so it's a bike you can ride in any clothes without getting dirty. It's not light, it's not at all flashy, it wasn't expensive when new, but it's very reliable, very comfortable and definitely suitable for everyday use.

The bike actually came to me by an unusual route. It was found dumped in a lake north of Cambridge some years ago when walking the dog.

It looked a bit of a state, but the only thing that made it unrideable was the state of the tyres and needing a few more spokes in the rear wheel. It's since had a new chain (steel chainrings aren't like alloy ones and last almost forever), another set of new tyres, a proper dynamo light system (what would it have cost me in batteries by now if I used battery lights ?), new brake blocks, a new brake cable, a black hammerite paint job to replace the nasty red/white that it had from the factory, a new black saddle to match the paint (and to replace a damaged one) and a new front wheel hub when I rebuilt the wheel that last week. Apart from fixing things which had been broken by the person who'd dumped the bike, these are parts that eventually wear out on any bike.

Buy a Dutch lock online

The bike is fitted with matching front and back baskets which carry a lot of shopping between them, and it's gained a couple of small Dutch influences in the form of the very useful wheel lock and the "Blij dat ik fiets" sticker on the rear mudguard. This translates to "Happy that I cycle". And riding along comfortably on this bike, I smile as much as the figure on the sticker...

A typical use for this bike is a shopping expedition.

Britain's loss of a cycling culture

This is a 1970s anti bike-theft ad from the UK, but I think it has more to say than just a warning to lock your bike.

Look at the people in the ad. All ages, both sexes, no special cycling clothing. It is from an age when cycling was a normal activity in the UK, not something for the athletic and not something influenced by an "extreme sport". The video represents the loss of a culture of everyday bike use, which has been replaced by ever increasing car use in the UK.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Britain's cycle culture changed. The use of traditional English town bikes decreased sharply, leaving Pashley as the only manufacturer. The Dutch used to make a big deal of using English parts on their quality bicycles. Many English people now think that bikes of the traditional English style are Dutch.

During this period, the older utility cyclists nearly disappeared and were replaced in rather smaller numbers by youngsters who ignored the old and imported the mountain bike from sunny California.

I've absolutely nothing against mountain biking as a sport. It's not my sport, but I wish all luck to those who do it. However, the bikes are dreadful for utility use. It is now quite difficult to buy an inexpensive bicycle in the UK which is not styled like a mountain bike, even those sold as "hybrid" bikes tend to lack the features needed for utility cycling. Trying to use these things as utility bikes is part of what has driven the British away from cycling.

Inefficient knobbly tyres slow you down, no mudguards or chainguard mean you get dirty, especially on rainy days, no luggage rack means carrying your worldly goods uncomfortably on your back, exposed derailleur gears are unreliable, removable lights and quick release parts result in having to carry half the bike around with you when you park and a hunched over riding position does nothing good for comfort. It all adds up to making cycling rather more hard work than it ought to be. (All is not lost: You can buy parts to make an MTB more practical)

Getting back the European town bikes that the UK used to be full of is a large part of getting back the rate of cycling that other European countries have kept. Britain's cycling rate in the 1950s was higher than that of the Netherlands today. People in the main rode single speed or Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub equipped steel frame bikes fully equipped with mudguards, racks etc. They rode these in hilly areas as well as flat areas. The right tool for the job.

If you want advice on wine, you're better off asking someone who appreciates good wine than asking a teatotaller. Similarly, if you want to see what bicycle works for utility use, look to a time or place where utility cycling is common. What you see everyone using on the streets during the rush hour, on the school run, at the shops, at church and in the bike shops is the ideal machine. If you're in any doubt, see the photo on the right, which shows a typical selection of bikes parked in Assen, along with a typical cyclist, in normal clothing. Just like everyone in the video at the top.

The Netherlands was for a long time the largest market for the British manufacturers Sturmey Archer and Brooks. They were so popular that cycle paths were named after them.

Directness

Three years ago I took this photo in Bottisham near Cambridge in the UK. It shows the UK's National Cycle Network route 51 distance from Bottisham to Newmarket as being 15 miles in length (turn left here) while the road route for cars is just 6 miles (turn right).

How is anyone going to see cycling as a convenient way of getting anywhere if cycle routes are indirect ? In this case the distance is over double the distance by bike as by car.

Cycling needs to be convenient. Dutch planners know that and you tend to see the opposite on sign posts in this country: Shorter routes for cyclists than for drivers.

The second set of signs are positioned on the route between Assen and Groningen. From this point, the indicated distances on the cycle routes are shorter than those on the driving routes for three out of the four destinations on the boards, and the same for the fourth destination.

Make it safe and make it convenient. That's surely what you do if you want to attract people to cycling.

News from the green

Each week our local paper includes 4 pages or so of information from the local government about what is happening around the city. A "brink" is a green in the middle of a town, and generally where you'll find the town hall. Hence "Berichten van de brink" or "News from the green"

On the left you can see the first page of this week's communication. The main story is about a statue for the city centre. The "Old Beech".

However, there's nearly always something for cyclists too, and the item I've zoomed in on is about a cycle path to be built connecting the North of Assen with one of the outlying villages, Zeijen. There is already a very good quality cycle path connecting the city to the village (featured in a video at the end of this blog post), but the new one which opens at the start of next year will provide a different route and be intended more for recreational rides.

The path will take the route of an existing right of way called the "Schoolpad" as many years ago it was the route for taken by school children. However, it was never properly surfaced and has been out of use except for agricultural vehicles for many years. I've ridden on it, and at present it's rather bumpy. Similar to many bridleways in the UK.

The "restoration" of this path will give it a smooth concrete or tarmac surface and the result will resemble the artist's impression in the article, complete with the lining of oak trees to give a pleasant appearance and provide a habitat for bats. The path will be broad enough that agricultural vehicles can also use it for access to the fields, so it will have a proper foundation and be built to the standard of a road.

This two kilometre long high quality path will cost half a million euros to complete. It is far from the only work planned for the rest of this year and next year. Further blog posts will cover others.

This path will feature on our cycling tours next year.

When I lived in Cambridge I proposed for many years that a route be established between the North of Cambridge behind the regional college to Landbeach, following the line of the ancient Mere Way. This is similar in many ways. It would provide a direct route from a village to the city (in this case from a village which doesn't currently have a good quality cycle route, and directly to an area with education and employment) and it would follow an existing right of way. Landbeach is a bigger village with a population of 825 vs. 680 for Zeijen, so you might think it would have a higher priority. However, sadly there was no will to provide such a route for cyclists, and no funding available.

The video below shows part of the existing high quality route between Zeijen and Assen, and which was featured on this year's study tours.


See also how this cycle-path is kept clear of snow in the winter.

Dutch bicycles are the most expensive in the world. Visiting a bike shop to find out why.

Today I visited a bike shop here in Assen. Bike shops in the Netherlands are quite different from those in parts of the world where few people cycle daily.

Apart from special shops which stock special types of bikes, bike shops mostly stock practical bikes which can be used for every day journeys.

60% of bicycles sold in the Netherlands are city bikes. These are generally fitted with mudguards, chainguards, luggage racks and dynamo lights and they have a relatively comfortable upright riding position (another post describes all the features of such bikes).

There is a tendency for foreigners to view these bikes bikes as an anachronism. However, in reality they are the perfect utility machine. Reliable, long lasting and efficient for getting around on a daily basis. They are perfectly evolved for their purpose, and make a lot more sense for utility purposes than adaptions of other types of bicycles, such as MTBs or road bikes.

The Dutch pay a lot for their good quality bikes. The average sale price for a bicycle in the Netherlands is € 603 vs. an average of around $320 (today equivalent to € 220) in the USA.

The bike shop in which I took the photos is quite typical. The majority of bikes on sale fit into the practical category which makes up 60% of sales.

Children's bikes are 17% of the market. Also well worth the average bike shop stocking. Note that bicycles are definitely not toys for children in this country, and that as the children will also be using their bikes for practical purposes, children's bikes are also fully fitted with mudguards, chainguards, a luggage rack and dynamo lighting. You can see how these bikes continue to be ridden to school in the winter here.

Mountain bikes are around 3% of the market and racing bikes are a part of the "other" category which makes up 4% of the market. Most shops stock them, but unless they are specialists they will have a much smaller selection than of the practical bicycles. Because these bikes are only bought by people who wish to race them (or pretend to race them), you only rarely find cheap mountain or road bikes. Normally there are only highly specified sport bikes - with prices to match.

Electric bicycles have now grown to 6% of the market. They're generally slick looking and relatively high performance machines with batteries hidden in the main tubes and small motors. Mostly they are ridden by people who are in the later stages of their lives, but they still don't want people to know that they now ride an electric assisted bike.

One of the most popular models of electric bike is marketed as having an "onzichtbare motor", which means "invisible motor", and has a slogan "Is dit echt een elektrische fiets" ("Is this really an electric bike ?")

Note that people don't restrict themselves to one bike. There are 1.1 bikes per person in the Netherlands - the only country where bicycles outnumber people.

And of course, these bike shops sell everything you need to go along with a lifestyle where bicycles are practical machines. High capacity front and rear racks, stands, baskets, panniers, map holders, baby seats etc. etc.

Average prices paid for bicycles in the EU (source). People are prepared to pay more on average for a quality bicycle in the countries where their also likely to ride it a lot. Hence the highest average prices are paid in the Netherlands and Denmark while most people living in a low cycling country such as France or the UK are willing to pay far less on average for a bicycle.

We have our own online shop for bicycle components