Saturday, 25 January 2025

Ultimate cat toy? That will be a Brompton G-Line box!

You might know that cats are very much a feature of our household. We have several cats, all of the Maine Coon variety. They are huge, naughty at times and full of fun. An unexpected Christmas present for them is still serving them very well. 

When my G-Line arrived, it stood in our large hall, making it a great deal smaller. I took my G-Line out of the box in came in, excitedly taking it to another room to put the saddle on and have a good look at it. The box was left in the hall. Within seconds, the box was being investigated by several cats. It was pushed over on its side. One cat sat on top while another two entered the little opening. Another, also inside the box, started to try and hit those on top. The final cat (have you worked out how many Maine Coon cats we have) decided it was a brilliant toy and joined its sibling on top. 



It is a good job the G-Line box is large as normal cats toys are next to useless for them. So, since I got my G-Line, the box has remained in the hall as the ultimate cat toy!

Until next time, stay safe out there people!

Saturday, 18 January 2025

So, what is it about night rides? Here are my top 9x reasons.

If you have read any of my past ramblings, you will know that I am rather partial to the odd night ride. (If it is to the coast, even better). Though I have written about night rides several times, I thought I would try and explain further their undoubted appeal.

Night rides for me started several years ago. My partner in crime, Andrew (Bumblebee) and I decided that we would go on something called the, Velonotte CLICK HERE back in 2012. Before, during and after this ride, I think that both of us might have wondered what possessed us? However, it was not that long until I wanted go on something similar. I now cannot count how many times I have been on a night ride.

#1 Anticipation 

There is quite a lot of looking forward to a night ride coming round. Before the ride, one has to make sure that ones Brompton, cycling gear and lights are all ready. On the day of the ride, it remains in the back of your mind. Questions pop up, such as what will the weather be like? Am I crazy to do this? What do I need to take with me? Am I crazy to do this? It all adds to the anticipation. 

#2 The people

On these rides you get to ride with and chew the fat with old friends. Conversations go from humorous to everything in between. You do meet and chat to people from all walks of life, ages and cultures. All of this makes the mile fly by and even when the rain is howling down or it gets cold, you always have someone to share the journey with and have a chat to. It makes things a great deal more interesting.


#3 Solitude

The opposite to  #2 is that you can quite happily cycle along on your own. There are moments where for a few miles, one follows the tail light of someone in the distance in total solitude, escaping in your own thoughts. 

 
#4 The halfway stop

On official rides (and unofficial) the halfway stop is like claiming sanctuary. It provides warth, a proper toilet, a hot drink and often homemade cakes. The homemade variety can be viewed as near manna from heaven. Once inside I often find difficulty stringing a sentence together, trying not to nod off. If there have been hills, the rain has been pounding down, it has been windy or cold, it really is something to look forward to. 




#5 After the halfway stop

Without exception (even during the summer months) once the halfway stop is over and one heads outside ones bicycle to ride off again, I start to feel the cold. This feeling of being frozen, I liken to the shear cold experienced by Sir Ernest Shackleton on his many polar adventures. Is is perhaps also like one of those en vogue techniques to invigorate the mind body and soul such as an ice bath or wild swimming! (I'll stick to just exiting from the halfway stop)!

#6 Nature

Once you have cycled a few miles out of london, you cycle into that transition from urban to open countryside. Once you enter the latter there is an abundance of all things nature. Foxes, badgers, deer. Sheep, horses, cows. Owls and when near dawn the copious chorus of song birds. It really is quite wonderful to see, hear and experience.


#7 Bragging rights?

Once the night ride is over and I arrive back at a London railway station, I head for home. Occasionally, a passer by might ask about my Brompton and what sort of rides I go on. Many are shocked to hear about cycling through the night from London to somewhere on the coast and then getting the train back. At work the following Monday there is invariably something to say when someone asks, 'do anything over the weekend?'

#8 Sunrise

At some point on these rides, there is the chance to experience sunrise. The colours of the sky and along with #6 and the sound of the dawn chorus can all be quite magical. 

 

#9 Well-being

There are many studies out there saying that it is a good idea to get out and do something. This could be a walk, meeting a friend for a coffee, going for a run, doing some exercise, going for a cycle ride... I do think that cycling is a good thing for ones well-being and #2, #3 and #6 experienced on a night ride all help. 


Sunday, 12 January 2025

'The Cottage,' 3 Hayne Street, London as seen on a Brompton

Another Sunday blog post for you dear reader. See, I did not forget. 

Not far from Barbican tube station and Charterhouse Square, on 3 Hayne Street, stands 'The Cottage.' I mention Barbican tube station as at the end of the platform, opposite the exit, if you look up you will see the back of it, almost morphed into the buildings either side. It is definitely worth your time for a fleeting visit. 


For this particular adventure - in late August in memory serves me - I took my Brompton Electric with me. Despite my recent G-Line purchase, I really do love this bike. In my mind - for whatever reason - I have chosen not to use it in the winter months. It will almost certainly come out to play (and destroy the egos of a few roadies rasping up Swain's Lane) in mid-March. 

The rear view from Barbican platform


This 19th Century cottage had been set for demolition when Crossrail / the Elizabeth Line was being built. For the moment at least, it remains. 

The Street that is now Hayne Street came into being in the 1600s by Thomas Neale - perhaps most known for his efforts at Seven Dials in Covent Garden - incidentally, not fart from Brompton Junction London. The Metropolitan Railway bought a huge part of Charterhouse Square in 1864 and began work on their railway. Neale's street was then no more. 

In 1873-74 a new street - Hayne Street - was developed. Number 3 is now the last house standing of that time. It is a little bit like a glimpse of what was there all those years ago. 

Not sure whether anyone actually lives there or who the owner is but it would be a shame to see it go to make way for something to do with the Elizabeth Line, an office block or the usual luxury flats. 


Having a Brompton bicycle and the ability to poodle about on it in London, does mean that you stumble across things like this all the time. One of the many joys of owning one. (Other bicycles are of course available for this purpose but rarely as much fun). 

Until next time, stay safe out there people. 

Sunday, 5 January 2025

Possible plans for 2025

Welcome dear reader to my first Sunday blog post. As you might have read, the plan is to commit to more regular blog posts, with Sunday being the day set aside to press publish. 

We arrive at the start of another year and so thoughts turn to possibilities for the year ahead that one can look forward to. (With the weather outside, here in north London looking decidedly chilly, looking forward to better weather springs to mind almost instantly)!

I have a few things that I would like to pencil in and I suppose doing so provides an incentive to actually see them through. I have included a link or two to previous blog posts that are related. 


#1. Night rides to the coast. (Official)

These rides are probably only taking place a handful of times in 2025 but they are lovely. Usually, more than 40 riders starting in London, set off at the stroke of midnight, to traditionally end up at the coast several hour later. Simple idea and for some of you reading this a crazy one, but I do plan to participate in as many as I can. Click here to read my blog post about the night ride to Shoreham-by-Sea


#2.  Night rides to the coast. (Unofficial)

These rides are pretty much as above but with usually just Dr John and occasionally Geoff taking part. On several levels these unofficial rides are even more fun. I hope to do the classic London to Brighton but also end up at Whitstable, Burnham-on-Crouch, Shoreham, Bognor Regis and perhaps more. Click here to read about Dr John and I cycling to Brighton overnight


#3. The Cobble Monster

This ride is not happening in 2025, where participants cycle over lots of London's remaining cobbled streets and ascend many of south London's lung busting hills. I suspect that in early April I will use a route from previous years and cycle it myself. Click here for my 2024 post on the Cobble Monster


#4. Brompton World Championships?

Last year the event was lots of fun, after being absent for five years. Who knows whether it will return this year? If it does, I may well have to attend - being ahem...an world class international athlete! I just hope that if there is a BWC this year, participants get a medal for taking part!! Click here for my write up of the Brompton World Championships 2024


#5. London  

I make no secret of the fact that I love London, its history and architecture. I was born in London and never left. There is so much to see in terms of its history and I would imagine that many of my blog posts will feature the unusual parts London and its history as I anmb about on my Brompton. Click to read a blog post about an aspect of London history


#6. Dunwich Dynamo

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the Dynamo. If I participate in the Dynamo this year I think it will number 7. Hopefully I will be able to take part in it again and I will need to try and persuade Geoff to let me tag along! Click here for my 2024 Dunwich Dynamo blog post


Well, there you have it, my provisional list of cycling adventures that I would like to do in 2025. If you have a list too, please let me know what your plans are. 

Until next time, stay safe out there people. 

Wednesday, 1 January 2025

Blog post every Sunday!

Happy New Year! If you are reading this, you might have got bored of everything on the television, put down that book you were meaning to read and looked outside thinking, I don't really want to get my bike dirty. However you got here, welcome back, or welcome. 

This year I am going to try and stick to a weekly blog post that will go out every Sunday. I may well be able to commit to posting more, but I wanted to set myself a goal I feel I can achieve. 

So, a few days for me to think about what I will write!

Until next time (SUNDAY), stay safe out there people!!