2 question re a book wat I am reading.

[pawl]

I was given the book a couple of years ago. It may be just a set of diary entries, but I was surprised by how interesting and enjoyable I found it.
I recommend it to all.

A lot of unmetalled roads ridden if I recal correctly, but CJP comments on more becoming surfaced.

I think it is in this book that dusting a cape with flour is mentioned, to make it less sticky. Some things have improved!

That was probably the old oil skin cape

 

[KnittyNorah]

Oh to turn the clock back.

Not entirely sure about all of that - just look at the state of the Foxton Locks - semi-derelict! Now, though ...

 

[KnittyNorah]

That was probably the old oil skin cape

I thought it was talc that was used - or powdered chalk? Not actual wheat flour - but I might be wrong.

 

[Dave7]

That was probably the old oil skin cape

60 years later I can still smell it....lovely.

 

[tyred]

I've just ordered my copy.

 

[Richard Fairhurst]

I was given the book a couple of years ago. It may be just a set of diary entries, but I was surprised by how interesting and enjoyable I found it.
I recommend it to all.

Agree, it's a fascinating book. He often based himself in Burford and (as a local) I find his accounts of cycling around the Cotswolds and western Oxfordshire particularly interesting. The inn he stayed in is no longer, sadly - I think it's become an art gallery.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

Q1. Has anyone else read this book.
View attachment 596166
Based on well kept diaries of Charles Pope and covering his epic rides 1924-33.
WoW.....can you imagine cycling uk roads with virtually no traffic.
Only just started it but it looks interesting.

Q2. It says he rode a Merlin bike. When I google Merlin the only reference is from mid 90s......a company that started in Chorley.
@PaulSB ......you may know of the modern one.

Looks good.

MrsF’s late grandparents were keen cyclists in that era, often on a tandem. She and other like minded female cyclists of the time scandalised East Lothian society by riding in knickerbockers rather than skirts. This was considered quite indecent

 

[Ian H]

To what extent were the roads metalled then? I'm guessing that a lot of the B roads we use now would still have been unsurfaced??

Nearly all roads would have been macadamized or surfaced in some way, but the tar came later for most roads. Early tarmac was not ideal, especially in hot weather, it melted. There were also bowser lorries in urban areas, spraying the roads (sometimes with a tar-water emulsion) to keep the dust down on dry days.

 

[ColinJ]

When I google Merlin the only reference is from mid 90s......a company that started in Chorley.
@PaulSB ......you may know of the modern one.

I bought my Rock Lobster mountain bike from Merlin 20 years ago - a solidly-built 953-framed machine.

 

[PaulSB]

Q1. Has anyone else read this book.
View attachment 596166
Based on well kept diaries of Charles Pope and covering his epic rides 1924-33.
WoW.....can you imagine cycling uk roads with virtually no traffic.
Only just started it but it looks interesting.

Q2. It says he rode a Merlin bike. When I google Merlin the only reference is from mid 90s......a company that started in Chorley.
@PaulSB ......you may know of the modern one.

Sorry Dave only just noticed this one. Yes, I know Merlin - the warehouse, offices etc. are about five miles from my house. The company sponsors my cycle club, one of our weekly rides meets at the premises. The owner's wife used to ride with us but she now rides for the Merlin team.

You can buy a Merlin bike today but it's unrelated to the brand you've read about.

 

[tyred]

I haven't read the book but if I can get hold of a copy I soon will do as it seems very much my type of book

Postman has just delivered my copy. Really looking forward to perusal.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

It was the 1950's not the 1850's

How was it for you in the 1850s?

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I used to ride A6 into Manchester and up to Buxton as a kid in the 1970s and early 80s. Don’t suppose many kids ride along there now.

 

[KnittyNorah]

I used to ride A6 into Manchester and up to Buxton as a kid in the 1970s and early 80s. Don’t suppose many kids ride along there now.

I used to live just a little way from that road in the 1950s. The kids in the village on the road were really lucky, they had a wide smooth tarmac surface to use an entire long skipping rope across 😊. We used to ride our bikes and our ponies along and across it without a care in the world to reach tracks and lanes on the other side. All our parents ever said was 'mind you watch out for anything coming ... it's a main road don't forget, so there might be a bus ...'
Happy days, long lost and never to return.

 

[raleighnut]

How was it for you in the 1850s?

Pretty good , I didn't see any cars at all.

























































Mainly cos I wasn't born yet though.