Reach Ride 2019

So the Reach Ride 2019, woo hoo!

Again, lots of people grab hold of their bikes and ride out to Reach to see the 800 year old fair. It's around 14.5 miles in length, but that's not the thing people take away from this ride. What is the big thing is cycling with so many others enjoying the chat as we go along.

I had so many conversations with people I knew and people I'd never met before and may not meet again. Some people I'd recognise from previous years, and they'd always be new people coming with joyful ideas and positive involvement with riding.

Here's the route, with the main route in red and my short cut home in blue. Note that the shortcut home isn't possible as the busy road through Stow-cum-Quy is not passable by our larger group with a wider range of abilities.

It really is worth opening this up larger in a separate window.

Open Map Larger.

So this year's video is a combination of the view forward and the reverse "faces" view. I do like ot see where we are going and it brings people in seeing what's about to happen in the facecam, possibly making it easier to spot yourself!

Here's the video of the route. Look out, music!             (Go HD see * below)

00:11 Starting from The Guildhall
00:30 And onto Sidney Street
01:30 Explaining the TdF bunting
01:45 The first jam
02:30 A patient and happy taxi driver!
02:45 Zooming along at 8mph on Jesus Green
03:45 Camera fail!
05:00 Further jams at Cutter Ferr Bridge
07:00 Getting up to the front in a record distance
07:40 New path approach to Fen Ditton Lane
08:00 Loosing the leader's flag
08:45 Stopping in Bottisham
09:35 Final big pedal in a group to Lode
11:10 Reaching Reach!
































* How to go HD.

Easter Suffolk eBike Ride

So, eBikes, eh? It's just cheating, isn't it! You're on a bike but don't have to do anything as the battery powers everything.

Well, that's what a lot of populist opinions will say, and who's to argue? Well, these studies for starters.

Switzerland's University of Basel worked out that e-bikes get you just as fit as non-electrics. A small sample, but reasonably vigorous with it's conclusions.

Another Norwegian study confirms that electric bike riders experience physical exertion 95% of the time. The conclusion speaks volumes.

• “Cycling on the E-bike resulted in lower trip duration and exercise intensity, compared with the conventional bicycle. However, most of the time was spent in MVPA*. This suggests that changing the commuting mode from car to E-bike will significantly increase levels of physical activity while commuting.” (* Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity)
  

And a bigger study shows that there's evidence from studies that they are healthier than non-cycling alternatives.

One thing that can be said is that it's not a good for fitness as riding a normal bike. However, what happens when you don't feel capable of riding a normal bike in your local neighbourhood? This is what happened to my parents as they got toward the end of their 70s. The short hills and inclines in their area just made getting on the bike just too much. So, they would naturally go back to driving a car. And they did, and didn't as will follow.

Another study (which I've seen but have lost the link, damn it!) talks about how eBikes help soften the heartrate changes. When we go uphill, we exert more and our heartrate goes up.When we go downhill the reverse happens. With an eBike, this change in heartrate is flattened out. This is ideal for older people who need to exercise still, but the higher heartrates of going uphill put more stress on them than is healthy.

So, Ladies and Gentlemen, here's me with my mother on a 14-mile ride around their local neighbourhood. This simply wouldn't happen without the eBike. Look at the amount of pedalling happening. Without that the bike just doesn't go. This was well over an hour of moderate exercise that wouldn't happen without the eBike.

Here's the video of the route. Look out, music!             (Go HD see * below)

0:11 Starting from Wenhaston, near The Star
0:28    Ah, uphill
1:02    Flat riding
1:28    Another incline
1:45    Into Darsham
2:45    Smaller inclines towards the end
3:30    Last incline, I can't keep up!


So, lots of populist opinion can be split on he "it's cheating" meme. And lots of purists can take about how riding a "proper" bike is better. But neither of them cater for my parents, so I'm not interested.


















* How to go HD.

#CamRideHome April 2019 Great Kneighton and Trumpington Meadows Permeations

So with a lot of the development in Great Keighton and Trumpington Meadows getting closer to completion, how about a little look around to see what it's like cycling (and walking) around these places.

Here's the route, with the main route in blue and cut-throughs marked with sissors. There are a couple of exploratory routes and an idea for a fantastic linking route on the East bank of the Cam. It really is worth opening this up larger in a separate window.

Open Map Larger.

Lots of good traffic concepts with these developments.

First, all the sides roads are narrow, winding, and have only a small amount of parking spaces. This slows all vehicles down and ensures not many will be coming in anyway. An interesting caveat to this is the main junction into Kneighton, a huge multi-lane affair with traffic lights. And it's hardly used. For some reason the developers simply couldn't get their head around that lack of vehicle transport mixing here.

Also, there are a lot of cut-throughs for people walking and cycling. Specically ways that make journeys like this shorter and more convenient. There were a few niggly bits, but mostly pretty good.

We did stop to look at the new cycle racks in the Trumpington Park & Ride. This does look like a big step backwards. Poor access, fewer racks, and all to add in a few more parking spaces.

Finally finishing at The Blue Ball in Grantchester for a chat and a beer.

Just for comparison, here's a local link to the National Library of Scotland maps from the late 1940s to 60s.

Here's the video of the route. Look out, music!             (Go HD see * below)

0:11 Starting from The Mill
0:24 Lathams Lane, a nice new surface
0:57 Accessing Hobsons Conduit Path via uni road
1:09 Hobsons Conduit Path, lots of care and slow speeds
1:36 Stopping on the start of Vicars Brook
2:11 Builders access directly opposite, should have been opened up by now?
2:24 First cut into Great Kneighton, but gravel?
2:33 Narrow winding streets to slow vehicles
3:08 Dual-use "segregated" path outside (secondary) school
3:32 Onto the original public bridleway from Addenbrookes
4:27 Crossing the Guided Busway and on towards Shelford Road
5:15 Cut-trough from new to old developments
5:37 Up Bishops Road to last Great Kneighton cut-through
6:11 Poor barriers forcing active travellers into conflict without slowing vehicles
6:28 Loking at the new poor P&R bike racks
6:50 Out the back of the P&R and into Trumpington Meadows with lots of cut-throughs
7:34 Turning down onto the Meadows themselves
8:00 Heading onto The Ball Blue in Grantchester


































* How to go HD.