Charming (went to the S'ton Bike Festival)

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downfader

extimus uero philosophus
Location
'ampsheeeer
Was not a good ride there. I have a bad back and I hit something in the road and felt an almighty pop and flex of the back of the bike. I was with my brother who riding up front failed to hear me shout out. I stop, check over bike and cant find any damage. Havent a clue what it was. Brother has disappeared though.

I go around a side road and cant find him, down another and he's now riding towards me. Pull up in front and think I've let him catch up (I was going VERY slowly), look behind and he's gone again. Finally, after waiting at some lights he appears behind me and starts berating me for leaving him.

Finally we arrive at the park, riding down a cyclelane next to the river I hear another pop and something is jammed in my rear mudguard. So I have to get off and deal with that. Lots of sticks and tree rubbish about and hard to avoid, it being a park.

Catch up with him again and I take my turn at the front. I'm chatting away to him look around and see a bemused stranger riding behind me. What the..?! Wheres he gone now!? 30 seconds later he reappears. I guess the many dogs and prams in the cyclepath have slowed him down... or he went for a leak.

Right, so the Southampton Bike Festival.... there were about 20 stands there. Two of them were food ones. Southampton Cycling Campaign and Sotonia Club were there, as were Hargroves Cycles doing free bike checks.

There was another stand also doing bike checks and basic maintenance - in fact the entire line of people was parents with their kids bikes. I'm presuming, judging by what I saw today, that many of those bikes were bought a christmas or two ago and had a) never been set up right, and :wacko: were a fair bit unsafe to ride full stop. Parents should know better! They'd all forced helmets on their kids (some knee and elbow pads) so why never check the brakes?

Some plonker racing his kid (old man on an old upright, and teenlad on a chopper) was having a stupid game of push each other off, and the older git nearly rode it right into my back wheel. Lucky I saw him not watching and dragged the bike over.

I'm afraid it was the most half-arsed cycle festival I'd ever seen.

Oh and add to that some old boy tried to rear end me off the road. I'd shoulder checked, as you do, when navigating parked cars, and as I looked saw him flying up at a rate of knots. I was doing a casual 16mph uphill at the time and he must have been doing 50. I shouted out to my brother "WATCHOUT FOR THE OLD PLONKER, HE DOESNT KNOW HOW TO DRIVE!" :biggrin:

Oh and the last thing I will say about the cycling festival - SO MANY cars around the area with cycle racks on. Shame on you people!
 

summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
downfader said:
Oh and the last thing I will say about the cycling festival - SO MANY cars around the area with cycle racks on. Shame on you people!

Maybe (trying to think of an excuse for them), err maybe ... they had young kids and it was too far/busy for them to cycle there?

Or maybe they didn't realise you could cycle to the festival, on roads:biggrin:

Bristol is going to hold a series of events in September, although the Bigest Bike Ride is going to go ahead as normal in a couple of weeks time.
 

Jezston

Über Member
Location
London
Seemed to be lots of bicycle-based things around Barnet (London) this weekend as I was down visiting relatives (including a conversation with my sister where she stated she would NEVER ride a bicycle with her 2 1/2 year old daughter on a child seat as it is 'incredibly dangerous' despite the fact she's just bought one of those AWFUL Mini Clubmans with the sui-side doors). Lots of Police and ambulance on their rubbish mountain bikes.

There was a display of electric-assist bikes outside a shopping center including a mountain bike of all things. Electric Assist Mountain Bike? According to one of the guys showing them off it was good for TWENTY miles on a full charge. Wow. That's going to be a lot of use.
 
OP
OP
downfader

downfader

extimus uero philosophus
Location
'ampsheeeer
Jezston said:
Seemed to be lots of bicycle-based things around Barnet (London) this weekend as I was down visiting relatives (including a conversation with my sister where she stated she would NEVER ride a bicycle with her 2 1/2 year old daughter on a child seat as it is 'incredibly dangerous' despite the fact she's just bought one of those AWFUL Mini Clubmans with the sui-side doors). Lots of Police and ambulance on their rubbish mountain bikes.

There was a display of electric-assist bikes outside a shopping center including a mountain bike of all things. Electric Assist Mountain Bike? According to one of the guys showing them off it was good for TWENTY miles on a full charge. Wow. That's going to be a lot of use.

Workmate of mine uses an electric. I dont really have a problem with them myself - they really dont interest me personally. She rides just over a mile into work. Some very steep hills around that part of southampton so I can see why. 20 mile charge would be a lot for her imo.
 
I'm afraid it was the most half-arsed cycle festival I'd ever seen.


They should have put their hands in their pockets and gone ahead with the booking for a Cyclemagic roadshow:wacko: Or let us organise the whole thing.;)
 
OP
OP
downfader

downfader

extimus uero philosophus
Location
'ampsheeeer
Hilldodger said:
I'm afraid it was the most half-arsed cycle festival I'd ever seen.


They should have put their hands in their pockets and gone ahead with the booking for a Cyclemagic roadshow:wacko: Or let us organise the whole thing.:becool:

They should have put up stalls for more than 2 local shops and tried to entice in a few other clubs. Theres a few other local clubs even around Southampton I would have liked to have seen there. Would have been nice for shops to be able to sell stuff there too.

The LA could have put on some advice section with highway code, routes etc. Didnt see that there, though did see some instructors there for a bit.
 
Full marks to EBC for getting involved in the Sheffield one next weekend..

mind you, good advertising for a new shop this year I suppose, test is if they continue to do so
 
Sheffield_Tiger said:
Full marks to EBC for getting involved in the Sheffield one next weekend..

mind you, good advertising for a new shop this year I suppose, test is if they continue to do so

At least they've booked Cyclemagic for this one:biggrin: Shame I'm not doing it - I'm at another event in London.
 
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