28 February 2011

Independent Intavenshan

golden brown

February miles:
Total mileage = 1201km (746miles)
Bike commutes = 19 (632km - 393miles)
Car commutes = 0
Days ridden = 27 of 28

My second biggest monthly total ever and some great preparation for the trip to Poland. What puts it into context though is that I'll do 100km more than I did in February on that trip, and that is planned to take only 12 days.

GULP!

27 February 2011

Leicester Critical Mass - The MASSquerade.




Wow - what a ride! Our first Moist Mass, but still you all turned up and had a good time. Once again there were some fantastic outfits and a really positive buzz about the whole thing.



If you've missed out, Critical Mass is a celebration of cycling. It is a way for the bike riding folk of Leicester and the Shire to show that there is an alternative to the car in our city and so on the last Friday of each month we ride from Curve for 3-4 miles around town, enjoying the safety that a large group brings. We show the city that bikes are traffic too.

The level of support we have received from not only pedestrians and other cyclists, but motorists alike has been staggering. The friendly waves, the smiles and positive press have all shown that we're onto something special here. The city is ready for change.

You don't have to be a 'cyclist' to join us. If you own a bike, enjoy the freedom that giving up the car and riding instead gives you then come along.
We've themed each ride so far. October had a hallowe'en theme and was the Monster Mass. November's Mass'Tache raised awareness for the Movember prostate cancer appeal and December saw santas, angels and elves celebrate  Christ-Mass. January's ride tied in with the comedy festival for Comical Mass before Friday's MASSquerade. 

We have big plans for the rides this year and aim to make it the biggest Critical Mass in the UK and with the friendliness, good nature and positivity we enjoy on our rides, there's no reason why we shouldn't. 

Thanks to Iain at Photophinale and Miles for the stills.

For more information search for Critical Mass Leicester on Facebook

26 February 2011

answer me this handsome jack...

ladies and gentlemen of blogworld, let me introduce you to my daughters, martha rae and ella kezyah.

martha

ella

24 February 2011

The MASSquerade - A Final Rallying Call..




Well, in just 24 hours we'll be drunk/drinking/back home/lost on the ring-road and another Critical Mass will be behind us.


The response to the first 4 (and a 1/2, for those that came to the Greenlight Mass) rides has been extraordinary.
YOUR response has proved that there are a bunch of right-minded people in our city that see there is an alternative to the car and that the streets are not only about motor vehicles, they are a space that we all have a right to and should claim back as ours.


YOU have shown that a point can be made without resorting to antagonistic actions and hostility and that the world isn't for the toilet just yet because a smile, a hooter and a clown suit might just be powerful enough to win a few hearts and minds.


Click through these and see what YOU have done... http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1853489579647&set=t.100001740378816&theater


See you tomorrow.
LCM

21 February 2011

Drive ANGRY (3D)

drive angry

maybe i'm wrong, but as a cyclist who does daily battle with motorists, i expect that i'll disagree with the daily star's reviewer and generally disapprove of this film and its message...

nice work in posting this outside a school too.

Blanket Hog

yak

A bit more training for my trip to Poland in April.
Yesterday I dragged the Yak trailer 156.5km around Leicestershire on a route that was pretty much the same as the one we took on our attempt to walk the Leicestershire Round long-distance footpath in 3 days.

It was pretty tough and my decision to save the hills of Rutland until 100km into the ride was especially dumb.
The route is here if you're at all interested...

19 February 2011

The Men Who Don’t Fit In.

I don't usually rip-off other people's posts.
And I don't usually bother much with poetry.
But something about this feels familiar.

The Men Who Don't Fit In from Christopher Herwig on Vimeo.



The Men Who Don’t Fit In – Robert W. Service
There’s a race of men that don’t fit in,
A race that can’t stay still;
So they break the hearts of kith and kin,
And they roam the world at will.
They range the field and they rove the flood,
And they climb the mountain’s crest;
Theirs is the curse of the gypsy blood,
And they don’t know how to rest.
If they just went straight they might go far;
They are strong and brave and true;
But they’re always tired of the things that are,
And they want the strange and new.
They say: “Could I find my proper groove,
What a deep mark I would make!”
So they chop and change, and each fresh move
Is only a fresh mistake.
And each forgets, as he strips and runs
With a brilliant, fitful pace,
It’s the steady, quiet, plodding ones
Who win in the lifelong race.
And each forgets that his youth has fled,
Forgets that his prime is past,
Till he stands one day, with a hope that’s dead,
In the glare of the truth at last.
He has failed, he has failed; he has missed his chance;
He has just done things by half.
Life’s been a jolly good joke on him,
And now is the time to laugh.
Ha, ha! He is one of the Legion Lost;
He was never meant to win;
He’s a rolling stone, and it’s bred in the bone;
He’s a man who won’t fit in.



As seen on (and stolen from) Kevin's excellent blog: http://www.becauseitisthere.co.uk/

16 February 2011

We Are Traffic.

Critical Mass feb 25th

Whatever kind of riding you do, whether is social, transportation, for fitness or competitive.
Whatever kind of bike you ride, mountain bikes, cargo bikes, hipster-fixed, Bromptons or BSOs.
Whatever you wear to ride, lycra, baggys, chinos or a clown suit.
Whatever your agenda, activism, campaigning, or just to have a good time.
If you have the best interests of cycling and cyclists at heart, then join us next Friday for the MASSquerade.

15 February 2011

get miles

quiet on the blog just lately.
not because i'm not doing much.
if fact quite the opposite.
just too busy.
kaffenback and bob yak
i do continue to clock up the miles in preparation for my ride to poland. only 8 weeks to go. i've been getting used to dragging the trailer. i need to start increasing the weight in it...

sun up
a milestone of any year is the first bicycle commute on which i am accompanied by the sun. i'd ridden for 24km before i took this though...


slice
all in all, an exciting time of year with so many plans.

watch this space...