One Less Car..e

New blog - runningonhemptea.wordpress.com

2008-11-30T14:04:00.001Z

Another new bike!

2007-11-26T16:54:00.000Z

I'm buying another new bike, but this time it's not for me. It's a christmas present for my wife.
I've always loved the classic simplicity of the Pashley range and if there is any bike that would get my wife cycling to work this would be the one.
It's not the cheapest bike on the market at £450 but you pay for what you get.
One of the only suppliers in Northern Ireland is Quinns cycles in Kilkeel and as I was doing a juggling job there on Saturday I went in to pay a deposit. Luckily he keps them in stock so i'll be able to pick it up before Christmas.
I'm going to have to clear some space in the garage, I might even put some hooks up to cut down on scratches.

Bike Love

2007-11-16T08:27:00.000Z

Now I love bikes but I wouldn't take it this far.
Scottish man Robert Stewart (age 51) was arrested by police for having sex with his bike!

Mr Stewart was caught in the act with his bicycle by cleaners in his bedroom at the Aberley House Hostel in Ayr.

Gail Davidson, prosecuting, told Ayr Sheriff Court: "They knocked on the door several times and there was no reply.

"They used a master key to unlock the door and they then observed the accused wearing only a white t-shirt, naked from the waist down.

"The accused was holding the bike and moving his hips back and forth as if to simulate sex."

I know its a bit strange, but was it really any one elses business if he was doing it in the privacy of his own room?

Wooden Bike

2007-10-24T15:55:00.000+01:00

Been a while since I had apost with a bike on - thought this one was worth putting up though.

Outdoor Swimming

2007-08-30T14:00:00.000+01:00

After reading a supplement in the Guardian last weekend about swimming in the great outdoors, I have made full use of my time off this week and have swam twice in the sea so far this week with another swim planned for this Friday!
My first swim was in Ballycastle inbetween shows at the Lamas (spelling?) fair. It does feel a bit cold when you get in but you'd be amazed how quickly your body adjusts, and then you just have the joy of swimming in an unending stretch of water. I'd bought a snorkeling set a while back and this was my first chance to use it - it does take a bit of getting the hang of just breathing through your mouth, and there wasn't much to see besides sand but it was fun anyway.

Then yesterday we went to Newcastle, having bought a body board on the way, and I swam in the sea with the kids. It took a bit longer to get my shoulders under because I had to deal with the stoney beach aswell, but eventually I was snorkelling along pulling my son behind on the board.
After a well earned ice cream - we had a choice between the arcade and the open air pool at "Tropicana Land" (Believe me - it's not as glamarous as it sounds) and the kids opted for the slides and heated outdoor pool. The water felt too warm after swimming in the sea - but certainly more kid friendly. I think next year we may invest in wet suits - for the kids anyway.

Apparently I'm a Socialist.

2007-08-17T02:53:00.000+01:00

I took this test on line to find out my true political persuasion and guess what. I'm a socialist.

You are a
Social Liberal
(66% permissive)

and an...
Economic Liberal
(6% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Socialist (6e/66s)

Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating
Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Must See TV

2007-08-13T10:10:00.000+01:00

There is a programme on Channel 4 tonight which I would say is essential viewing for anyone with a sceptical mind.

8pm Mon 13th Aug - "The Enemies of Reason"

Basically it is Richard Dawkins's take on psuedo science and superstition. I'm sure it will show up on you tube as well some time in the next 24 hours for anyone that can't get channel 4.

Political Correctness

2007-08-09T23:08:00.000+01:00

I have recently been using you tube to catch up with certain things I had missed on Radio 4 - in particular I was glad to find Marcus Brigstock's rant about religion that I had missed from the Now Show.

So I was tempted to put up a bit of audio that I had of Stewart Lee talking about Political correctness on David Badiel's programme Heresey. I'll not add anything else as Stewart Lee says it better than I ever could.

Critical Mass - Belfast

2007-08-07T21:06:00.000+01:00

There will be a critical mass in Belfast on 31st august at 05.30pm at Custom House Square. Click here for details.
Looks like it is going to be a regular event. The owner of the My Space page seems to think it is the first one in Belfast. There have been several over the last decade but not very regular and usually as part of some wider event - like an anti war demo. So good luck to them and lets hope the numbers will grow every month. Not sure wether i'll be able to make it this month but i'm sure i'll get to one soon.

Atheism

2007-07-19T19:09:00.000+01:00

Atheism is something I’ve wanted to write about for a while but it’s difficult to know where to start.

I’ve been listening to 100’s of hours of podcasts on the subject and have read a few of the more popular books that have recently been published – “God Delusion”, “The End of Faith” etc. as well as several blogs and forums.

So I pretty much know where I stand, but articulating these thoughts is a different matter.

Some of my posts on this topic may not be particularly well structured or argued, but it’s more my intention to provide myself with a record of how I was thinking at this time in my life. Who knows, I might look back at this blog in 20 years time and cringe at my ignorance on the topic, but it is what it is – I never claimed to be a great thinker.

Dawkins has received quite a lot of criticism for being an Atheist Fundamentalist. He has also got a bit of flack from fellow atheists who question his understanding of the philosophy behind Atheism.

With regard to being a fundamentalist, I would have to disagree. He may be forthright and steadfast in his opinions, but on any occasion I have seen him involved in a debate he has been well mannered and courteous to his opponents. He considers each point carefully before answering and is more than willing to accept an alternate point of view as long as there is the evidence to back it up.

The God Delusion may not be the best introduction to atheism, but it introduced me to a lot of important ideas. Primarily the different types of theism.

"Lets's remind ourselves of the terminology. A theist believes in a supernatural intelligence who does some combination of the following: answers prayers; forgives (or punishes) sins; frets about right and wrong and knows when we do them (or even think them); and intervenes in the world by performing miracles. A deist is one who believes in a supernatural intelligence whose activities are confined to setting up the laws that govern the universe in the first place. The deist God never intervenes thereafter. Pantheists use the word God as a non supernatural synonym for Nature, for the Universe, or for the lawfulness that governs the workings of the universe.
Deists differ from theists in that their God does not answer prayers, is not interested in sins or confessions, does not read our thoughts, and above all does not intervene with capricious miracles. Deists differ from pantheists in that the deist God is some kind of cosmic intelligence who set up the laws of the universe rather than the pantheists's metaphoric or poetic synonym for the laws of the universe. Pantheism is sexed up atheism. Deism is watered down theism."

I’m sure many people would redefine their beliefs just from reading that description alone.

Personally, I think the argument that a super natural being created the universe is only of minor interest because even if you believe in a creator (I don’t) that only leads you as far as Deism, it’s the claims people make for this Deity that I have a problem with. And it’s a long way from Deism to Christianity and other faiths.

Believing in a deity is one thing, but believing that this deity can be appealed to in order to effect changes in your life is a completely different kettle of fish. The belief that god has a plan for our life is incompatible with our supposed free will, the belief in prayer, especially the belief that we can be healed through prayer has no basis in truth whatsoever. One of my favourite quotes that I have come across since taking an interest in free thought is from Carl Sagan. “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof”

In all other areas of our life we wouldn’t accept anything anyone told us on faith. If I told you elephants could fly, you’d want the proof. Why are people so willing to accept anything they are told as long as it came from the bible.

“I know it’s true because the bible tells me so”

When a document makes claims for its own validity by simply referring to itself you just end up going round in circles. I believe Sam Harris called this an “Epistemological black hole”. This makes it impossible to have a proper debate with some Christians as they are starting off from an assumption that the bible is true without seeking further evidence.

That will do for starters, I should have a bit more free time coming up - so a few more frequent posts hopefully.

Propeller driven bike

2007-07-05T20:24:00.000+01:00

Easy Ride

2007-05-31T22:01:00.000+01:00

I know it doesn't look like much but seeing this post made my day. Previously the ride along the tow path has been interrupted by three gates where you had to stop and manouveur your bike around the side.

But now you can fly straight through without any loss of speed. The council were probably concerned that kids on trials bikes would use the tow path as a race track, but they'd probably do that with the gate there anyway.

It's just made me more desperate to get the recumbent trike I've wanted for my laganside commute, maybe next year.

2007-05-09T17:05:00.000+01:00

Well, Northern Ireland finally has the assembly up and running. You could argue that the reason that it has taken so long is that neither the DUP or Sinn Fein would be happy with anything less than their own 2 parties running the show.
So with the middle ground parties playing a supporting role we are finally on the road to lasting peace and prosperity, apparently.

Despite the huge differences between the 2 parties, I think the last few weeks have shown that they can get along. However much I am opposed to Paisley’s views, I still think he comes across as a man with a sense of humour. And by surviving to see this day pass he may be judged a little more sympathetically by the history books.

It will be interesting to see what kind of marching season we have this year. Will people still burn effigies of the pope on the 11th night? Talking of the 11th night – how big must the orange orders carbon foot print be! The nearest bonfire to our house is about 200metres away and reaches 3 or 4 storeys high, I wonder has anybody calculated the carbon emissions on the average bonfire? I feel a google search coming on. (no couldn’t find anything)
Further up the road there is an even bigger bonfire made mainly out of tyres – correct me if I’m wrong but burning rubber can’t be good for the environment.
I don’t mind a bit of tradition but couldn’t they clean up their act a wee bit, the amount of litter left around Belfast on the 12th is a disgrace as well.

Here’s an idea for the first thing for the new assembly to discuss – a carbon trading scheme for orange men! Offset your emissions from the 11th night by planting trees on cave hill!

Wizzy's new bike

2007-04-28T08:03:00.000+01:00

I was round at my mate Steve's house last night and saw his new chopper - he's using it as a walkabout piece for carnivals etc. and will be dressed in full biker gear. I'll get a few more shots when he's "in character"

Stephen Hawking

2007-04-27T14:12:00.000+01:00

I’m not generally in favour of space travel. Claims are often made for the benefits of the space programme back here on earth. But besides the non-stick frying pan (which is apparently carcinogenic) I’m finding it hard to think of much else. I suppose satellites have been ok – global communication, ok, I’ll give you that.
But it’s difficult to see the justification in opening up space travel to the common man or woman. I think the west needs to justify how it spends its enormous wealth, especially with so much poverty in the world. I think we should have some obligation to our fellow human beings before we start taking day trips in to space.
Having said all that, seeing the pictures of Stephen Hawking taking his first training flights in preparation to becoming a space tourist did bring a smile to my face. And if anyone deserves a wee trip in to space – it’s the man who has increased our knowledge of the universe – probably more than any person in history.

Another rider in the family.

2007-04-02T21:07:00.000+01:00

My son finally learnt to ride his bike this week. I had started teaching him at the end of last summer but when the winter nights set in we didn't get much chance to practice, but now that spring has arrived it only took a couple of sessions and he was flying.

I think half the problems from teaching your kid to ride come from them looking behind to check if you are still holding on. As soon as they do a couple of runs on their own the confidence just builds and builds.

With Easter coming up, it'll be good to get a couple of rides down the tow path. Only one problem though - my daughter has now outgrown her bike. I don't want to buy her any cheap rubbish so it looks like i'm going to have to fork out nearly £200. I'll just have to make sure she gets her moneys worth, or should I say my moneys worth.

Cycling Guide

2007-03-07T13:58:00.000Z

The Guardian had a guide to cycling free with last Saturday's paper. If you didn't get a copy - it's available here.

Google, gardening and gearing up.

2007-03-05T07:05:00.000Z

As the long dark winter nights come to a close it's time to get the bike serviced again. I'm beginning to think a fixed speed bike would be better - maybe if my employer, in their infinite wisdom, decides to run the tax break scheme for cyclists I might treat myself.
Still haven't got round to digging a plot in the back garden or putting the green house up. If I leave it much longer it's going to be too late. A three day weekend would suit me a lot better - 1 day for tidying the house, 1 for doing the garden and 1 to do everything else.
I'm going to have to get this template thing sorted out - the blog isn't looking very flashy at the moment.
Hopefully this year I'll have a few more posts on topics that are currently of interest to me such as scepticism, atheism etc as well as the bike and environmentalism stuff. If nothing else this blog will provide me with a record of how my thinking has developed as I've got older.
I'm now using G-Mail by the way and I must say i'm very impressed and the google personalised home page is a very handy way of keeping up with all the blogs I read - definitley worth considering if you haven't done already.

Happy New Year?

2007-02-07T11:32:00.000Z

Well – I haven’t made a very good start to the year blog wise. But here are a couple of pictures of stuff I got for Christmas. I’m not really in to presents but at least there was an eco element in what people bought me this year.

Compost Bin and a Solar Powered Charger!

Having posted on a few forums recently about the impending doom that this planet faces, it is hard not to notice that quite a lot of people are still sceptical about the whole global warming issue. In particular, people would argue that there isn’t a consensus within the scientific community about the extent of global warming.
My wife would often accuse me of believing everything I read. A harsh criticism you may say, but then maybe I am just choosing reading material that fits in with my world view.
Over Christmas I read Derren Brown’s book “Tricks of the mind” which provided me with a couple of good memory techniques, but also encouraged me to look on issues with a more sceptical eye, particularly the claims of alternative therapists. From reading this book – I searched out a couple of sceptical podcasts and came across “The sceptics guide to the universe” which I would highly recommend. I’ve also started listening to Penn Gilette’s (From Penn and Teller) radio show, another great sceptical show.

I’ve been going off on a bit of a tangent there, but my point is that even from a sceptics point of view global warming really has become undeniable. Sceptics would emphasise the importance of the scientific method, so when you get 2500 scientists from 30 different countries working on a project about climate change you must attach some sort of credibility to it. And you would have to present some pretty strong evidence to argue against the findings of the IPCC.
It should come as no surprise then, that the oil industry would try to discredit the findings of the IPCC.

From the Guardian last week:

Scientists and economists have been offered $10,000 each by a lobby group funded by one of the world's largest oil companies to undermine a major climate change report due to be published today.
Letters sent by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), an ExxonMobil-funded thinktank with close links to the Bush administration, offered the payments for articles that emphasise the shortcomings of a report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
The UN report was written by international experts and is widely regarded as the most comprehensive review yet of climate change science. It will underpin international negotiations on new emissions targets to succeed the Kyoto agreement, the first phase of which expires in 2012. World governments were given a draft last year and invited to comment.
The AEI has received more than $1.6m from ExxonMobil and more than 20 of its staff have worked as consultants to the Bush administration. Lee Raymond, a former head of ExxonMobil, is the vice-chairman of AEI's board of trustees.

When your only opponents are funded by the oil industry I think we really can say

YES – THE VAST MAJORITY OF SCIENTISTS IN THE FIELD OF GLOBAL WARMING DO BELIEVE IT IS REAL
YES - WE HAVE CONSENSUS!
YES! IT IS OUR FAULT!
NOW DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

Plastic bag bag

2006-12-09T22:23:00.000Z

Cele's Plastic bag bag
Originally uploaded by Bobbins.

Thought you might like to see this bag that my talented wife made out of old Tesco bags. Some of the bags are bio-degradeable so hopefully it wont collapse.
Watch out for pictures of my hand knitted dish cloth after Christmas!

Juggling footprint

2006-12-08T14:10:00.000Z

One of the things about being a juggler is you do have to travel a fair bit to do jobs. We use my juggling partners car most of the time as it is the only option for lugging around a big unicycle and a trunk full of equipment.
So if you include the parrafin I burn on my fire torches - my carbon footprint from my juggling job is probably bigger than that for my office job which I commute to by bike.
Added on to this is the guilt of occasionally taking on corporate gigs for the likes of coca cola - they are charity events though.
At the moment we are performing in a few towns for their Christmas Lights switch on (yet more carbon wasted) and last week we were in Larne and guess what. Santa turned up in a stetch hummer!! I could barely hide my disgust and I actually said to the organizers "do you think santa should be turning up in a hummer with global warming happening?" She took it as a joke and just laughed it off, and I didnt take it any further because I still wanted to get paid.
I mean, Hummers are bad enough but a stretch hummer!!! Who came up with that idea?

One of my juggling friends Caoihme has just moved to Lisburn and she also cycles, so we both commuted in together this morning. She usually just cycles around the town so the 10 mile journey this morning was a bit more of a challenge for her - but not much considering she is the Female World Brazillian Ju Jitsu Blue Belt Champion!
Any way, it was a nice crisp morning and she enjoyed the ride. So it will be nice to have someone to cycle in with once in a while.

A stretch Hummer ! I just cant get over it!

Check this.

2006-11-30T16:48:00.000Z

For those of you who see the attraction in working less and spending less I thought I would bring you attention to this book.
Martin Lewis, for those of you who don’t know, is a “money saving expert.” He is a familiar face on British TV and his web site is dedicated to saving people money. In response to some of the more ethically aware contributors to his forum he set up a page for green / ethical money saving, as well as a saving money “Old Style” page, and as a result of this page he has now published a book - Its called "Thrifty waysfor modern days"

“It’s a compendium of hints and tips on living life thriftily, ethically, cheaply and healthily. It’s written off the huge collective wisdom of the site’s ‘Old-Style’ board, which started when some of the site’s older visitors wanted to share their accumulated knowledge; it covers cleaning (white vinegar galore), clothing, home maintenance, recipes and everything on running a home without over-consuming.”

Plus – all the money from the book go’s to charity.

Curb your emissions

2006-11-20T16:15:00.000Z

Laurie David, according to an article in this weekends Guardian, is one of America’s foremost environmental campaigners. She is also married to Larry David – writer of “Curb your enthusiasm” and “Seinfeld”
Laurie David has campaigned against SUV’s and has been a driving force behind the Al Gore movie – “an inconvenient truth”. She has even written a book “The solution is you – an activist’s guide”.
All admirable pastimes for a wealthy liberal, but here is the problem – not only does she own a second home, she also owns a private jet! So regardless of the fact that she only uses it a few times a year, her carbon footprint must be as big as a fleet of SUV’s.
I just don’t understand how an environmental campaigner expects to be taken seriously when they own a private jet – this has got to be one of the worst excesses of the wealthy “elite”.
To me it just de-values all of the other good work that she does. If you want people to change their lifestyle in order to save the planet there is only one place you can start – yourself!
I think the British and American definitions of an eco-warrior differ somewhat. When I hear (some) Americans talk about eco-warriors – they more often mean some high flying environmental lawyer, or some Hollywood celebrity, or some entrepreneurial business man who is “doing their bit”. Whereas in the UK, we are more likely to think of Swampy and other activists who bury themselves underground to prevent a runway being built or handcuff themselves to a JCB digger to prevent it cutting down some trees.
I’m sure the high earning eco-warriors are doing their bit to raise awareness of the issues, but I’m afraid you’ll have to do better than that if you are going to earn our respect.
If there is one thing that this earth can’t sustain – it’s millionaires!

Minister encourages direct action

2006-11-15T00:15:00.000Z

As global crisis looms ever closer it’s good to see a government minister encouraging a bit of direct action.
Despite an agreement with some of the countries biggest retailers to reduce their packaging it isn’t happening as fast as some of us would like. I was therefore glad to see that environment minister Ben Bradshaw has advised food shoppers to leave excessive wrapping at the tills and to report the stores to trading standards in an attempt to cut the amount of unnecessary plastic sent to landfill sites.
From being a minority interest a few years back, green politics really seems to be making an impact. Every day sees several new environmental stories in the broadsheet newspapers.
I wonder, come election time, how this will translate in to votes for the Green Party? With the main parties increasingly incorporating green policies in to their manifestos, I hope the Green Party doesn’t miss the opportunity to push for some truly green policies.
A truly green manifesto needs to be a lot more radical than what the main parties are suggesting, but at the same time the general public are less inclined to vote for policies that will impact on their lifestyle.
People before profit has never been a popular position to adopt, but as the effects of global warming become increasingly apparent the radicalisation of our political system might be an interesting by-product of this process.

Happy to be ethical

2006-11-09T16:55:00.000Z

I have just finished a book by Peter Singer called Practical Ethics. Singer was one of the key thinkers in the animal rights movement, but his work goes much further than this, and has informed much of the debate that exists around environmentalism amongst other things.
In his conclusion to the chapter on the environment he says :

“The emphasis on frugality and a simple life does not mean that an environmental ethic frowns upon pleasure, but that the pleasures it values do not come from conspicuous consumption.”

In the final chapter on why we should act ethically he argues that taking the ethical point of view offers a meaning and purpose in life. And I think that in our increasingly secular society this is certainly true. I think that there is a certain amount of fulfilment that can be gained through trying to live an ethical life, which is something that those who accuse us of being killjoys seem to miss.
One of the most enjoyable parts of my day is the simple pleasure I get from commuting by bike. Nothing I could go out and buy, at whatever price, would give me more satisfaction than the simple freedom that the bike gives me.

A return to the simple

2006-10-27T16:28:00.000+01:00

Being the only person in my office who cycles to work, and the only person who bothers to collect all the tins and bottles for recycling (even though I don’t buy tins and bottles myself). I sometimes wonder does anyone else in this place give a shit. But having read an e-mail from a colleague who is leaving his job today made me think that maybe there are more people disillusioned with modern living than you think.
I didn’t really know the bloke – he worked in I.T. but he included this poem in his farewell e-mail, which went out to several thousand people across Northern Ireland.
Now I’m intrigued to find out what he has left to do – I’ll let you know if I find out.

“Thank you for all the fond memories that I take with me and I wish you all the best wherever your lives take you. I can't think of any intelligent words of wisdom of my own to leave on, so here are someone else's...

A return to the Simple

Press the pause button.
It's time to feel the rain, the wind, the cold mountain air.
Turn the mobile phone off. It does have an off button.
Let the laptop power down.
Leave the e-mails go un-read.
Shred the to do list.
Unplug the television.
Ebay the playstation.
Don't eat anything you haven't made yourself.
Shop local.
Spend only what you can afford.
Leave the city.
Head to the hills.
Hear the quiet.
Look up at the sky.
Hear the noises of the wood.
Make a campfire.
Watch the fire flicker and the beans bubble.
Time to recharge those batteries.
Things got too complicated back there.

Cheers
Gary Mitchell “

Oliver Postgate

2006-10-24T15:36:00.000+01:00

For those of you not from the UK, I’d better explain who Oliver Postgate is. Oliver Postgate is best known in the UK as the maker of some classic kids TV programmes from the 60’s and 70’s including Bagpuss, Ivor the Engine, and The Clangers.
But more recently he has come to public attention through a couple of large advertisements he has placed in the Guardian newspaper. His first advertisement attracted a lot of comment – people asked “what right have you, an ignorant old person in a basement, to tell the government that it must do what you tell it to do, or everybody may die?”

Here is his reply :

I do apologise most sincerely for that. I have no such right. What I have is a duty. Let me tell you a story about it:

“I am walking along the path behind the cliff and I see, over the fence, that a small child, not more than two years old, is blithely toddling straight towards the brink of the cliff. Now the ground inside the fence is private property, with stern notices, so I have no right to enter on to it. But all the same, I have a duty to jump over the fence, run across, pick her up and carry her, bawling blue murder, to safety.”

Human society is that child, that happy, greedy, outraged moppet, totally self-centred and lovable, but it too has no grasp of its situation and now it is also toddling towards the brink.

Is this our fault?

Not particularly. In our civilisation, in which a nation’s economic success is measured by its “growth”, consumer-spending is a vital component. It is a competitive commercial world in which, for the economic health of our nation, we are honour-bound to over-eat, over-spend and over-waste. As units of consumption that is our function.
The side-effect of this function – global warming, was recognised long ago, and successive governments have worked hard to avoid coming to terms with the inconvenient fact that our “conspicuous consumption” has been slowly poisoning the whole climate of the world.
Now we have run out of time. Global warming is on the brink of becoming irreversible!
If the human race is to avoid having to face slow, irreversible extinction in a disaster torn world, it must, as a race, take immediate draconian action to reduce carbon emissions to a level which will not only eliminate the green house effect but also cause the planet to cool away the vast heat charge it has already received during the years of neglect.
Personal economy is necessary and can help, but the bulk of carbon emissions come from larger sources which only government legislation can deal with.
The present government has been making a show of tackling this, but the task it has given to its scientists is not simply to find a way to end global warming – they could do that at once – but to do so “without cutting either our economic growth or our living standards”.
As these are the two main causes of global warming, this task does, as they say: “present some difficulties” in that, from among the many different speculative predictions on offer, the scientists are being expected to seek and select, as definitive, the most “politically practical”.
To do that is potentially suicidal. As nobody can pretend to know for certain what is going to happen to the climate, the only safe and sensible thing to do is to deal with it now. So GLOBAL WARMING IS A GLOBAL EMERGENCY – Our duty is to see that it is fully dealt with, now.
Thankyou,
Oliver Postgate
October 2006.

Green Consumers

2006-10-11T16:39:00.000+01:00

I often cringe at the term “green consumer”. A lot of people love to shop, and I think that many of them see “green shopping” as “doing their bit” – whilst still being able to shop shop shop. Aren’t I good buying this hemp cd holder made by Guatamalan peasants!

At the end of the day it comes down to the simple fact that modern society has been built on this desire to consume, and it is a pattern of behaviour that has quickly become part of our psyche.

I certainly don’t think it helps to identify ourselves as consumers – green or any other type.

Ethical consumerism is a bit of a paradox – I don’t see how you can identify yourself as a consumer and consider yourself ethical.

The truth is we need to work less, spend less and do less.

This is a point of view that has been expressed much more clearly than I can by a comment that I have noticed posted on a few different blogs recently, and I think it is well worth repeating here as well. The piece is written by someone called sushil yadav and you can see the full piece here.
You may not agree with everything in the article but it will certainly make you think.

Here are some of the best quotes:

The Environment can be saved only if we stop production of most [more than 99% ] of the consumer goods we are making today. The Environment cannot be saved by recycling. The attempt of an industrial society to save the environment by recycling is like shooting someone 10,000 times and then trying to save him by taking out one bullet.

We can never save the environment by doing something. We can only save it by doing less of what we have been doing - much less of what we have been doing. If we want to save environment we will have to reduce human activity [overactivity] by 99%.
We can have Sustainable Lifestyle.
We cannot have Sustainable Development.
Development can never be sustainable.
Sustainability and Development cannot exist together.
Development and Sustainability are opposites.
Development and Sustainability are contradictory.
Sustainable Living is associated with consuming less – being satisfied with a simple and frugal life.
Development is associated with never ending desires – always wanting more.
Industrial Societies can never be sustainable – When you make thousands of consumer goods you kill Nature - you kill Animals, Trees, Air, Water and Land.
A Society that does mental work [city based] can never be sustainable - it will keep on making consumer goods - destroying the environment moment by moment.
Only agriculture-based societies that do physical work can be sustainable.

War on Terror

2006-10-03T17:19:00.000+01:00

After years of frustration at watching people queue up in the bike / bus lanes on my way to work, I finally saw 2 cops standing on the pavement this morning making sure that drivers stuck to their lane. Maybe seeing the cops enforcing the law might make some people think twice about using the bike lane in the future – who am I kidding? It’ll be back to normal tomorrow.
Traffic law just isn’t enforced strongly enough in my opinion, I include some fellow cyclists in this as well. I see more cyclists on the pavement than I do on the road – I even saw one cyclist tutting and shaking his head because 2 pedestrians had held him up – you shouldn’t even be on the pavement you knob!
More people died on British roads last year than were killed in the twin towers – so how about a real war on terror – war on the car!
The car kills more of our civilians than terrorism ever will; yet governments are reluctant to bring in tougher sentences for people who kill by dangerous driving.
I suppose at the end of the day the people in the twin towers died for the same reason as the people on the road – OIL!

Cycle Powered Washing Machine

2006-09-28T13:59:00.000+01:00

Great idea, we're a bit pushed for space in our kitchen though.

see cyclean.biz

Back to Clifden

2006-09-27T16:55:00.000+01:00

The weather over here is atrocious at the moment. If any one has tips for getting trainers dry (without putting them over the radiator and stinking the house out) I’d be glad to hear them.
I’m taking the bike in for a pre-winter service in a couple of weeks and whilst its in I think I’ll get them to fit mud guards and a rack. I’m fed up of water spraying up my back and lugging huge weights around my shoulders.
I was in Clifden over the weekend for their annual arts festival, I didn’t bring my bike with me this year and I forgot the camera – so here is a picture from the web.
Last year I rode round the Sky Road which has fantastic views over the Atlantic, but this year I had to console myself with a short walk to the monument that overlooks the town.
It really is my favourite festival in Ireland. Connemara is astoundingly beautiful, and the locals are all ways really welcoming.
We stay in the same B&B every year and Gerry, the fella that owns it, also works for the local fire service and has numerous other jobs connected to the festival.

We usually end up each night in the Alcock and Brown Hotel where there is music and singing in to the wee small hours. If your wondering who Alcock and Brown are – they were the first men to fly across the Atlantic and they crash landed somewhere near Clifden.
The town seems to expand every year, but hopefully they’ll not let the development go on indefinitely as this really is one of Irelands best kept secrets and it would be a shame to spoil it with too many modern apartment blocks.
We are performing at the Enchanted Evenings in Botanic Gardens in Belfast this week, so hopefully the weather will clear up for that. It was a nice wee event last year – lots of pixies and stuff. The kids loved it.

Check this.

2006-09-22T12:38:00.000+01:00

I think it’s time that I flagged up a few of the blogs/podcasts that I read/listen to on a regular basis. Just because I’ve heard of these sites, I presume that everyone else has – but I know that’s not always the case.

Monbiot.com and Turnuptheheat.org

Guardian writer George Monbiot has to be one of the most important writers on the issues of green politics and global justice. What I like most about his site monbiot.com is the way he challenges other writers to back up their claims and reveal who their paymasters are. So often we see stories in the press reported as fact, yet we rarely consider whether these stories have received the rigorous analysis that any research should receive from a peer reviewed journal.
His latest book and web site – turn up the heat (turnuptheheat.org) attempts to expose greenwashing and challenges organizations to live up to their green claims.

Here are a couple of quotes from the site, a couple of digs at the type of people that think they are “doing their bit”:

“The middle classes think they have gone green because they buy organic cotton pyjamas and handmade soaps with bits of leaf in them – though they still heat their conservatories and retain their holiday homes in Croatia”

“In promoting biodiesel – as the European Union, the British and US governments and thousands of environmental campaigners do – you might imagine that you are creating a market for old chip fat, or rapeseed oil, or oil from algae grown in desert ponds. In reality you are creating a market for the most destructive crop on earth…I thought that the biggest problem caused by biodiesel was that it set up a competition for land. Arable land that would otherwise have been used to grow food would instead be used to grow fuel. But now I find that something even worse is happening. The biodiesel industry has accidentally invented the world’s most carbon-intensive fuel.”

If you haven’t done so already, you really should check out these sites.

The pressure continues

2006-09-21T17:53:00.000+01:00

The pressure continues to build up on the motor industry.
The Guardian reports that the state of California is suing the 6 big motor companies for contributing to global warming.

I think we always look on America as the big bad polluter that couldn’t care less about the planet and wouldn’t sign up to the Kyoto protocol. But we shouldn’t forget that there are some people in America that are taking this issue seriously. California’s actions can only make more people aware of the issues, and face up to the implications of years of apathy that have allowed the big polluters to get away with murder. I wonder if California's governorator still drives a hummer?

Also, this week has seen The Royal Society writing to ExxonMobil to tell them to stop denying climate change. They want ExxonMobil to withdraw funding from groups that "misrepresented the science of climate change by outright denial of the evidence".

Finally, this week saw the release of “The Inconvenient Truth” in the UK. Al Gore may be jetting around the globe to pass on the message but at least he’s keeping the debate alive.

But despite all the information out there, people still don’t get it. The Government and Local Councils have these big pushes on to encourage us to recycle, but fail to realise that it’s the excessive consumption that causes the problem in the first place. Of course – they aren’t going to tell us to buy less – the whole system is predicated on encouraging an increasing amount of consumption and therefore waste.

I just can’t see how big business can ever be compatible with a sustainable society. Not only should we be working locally, but our food, and just as importantly our energy should be sourced locally. Better still, we should cater for all our own needs through self-sufficiency – I really need to build that green house before winter sets in.

One more thing, Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond was critically injured attempting to break a speed record for the programme. Although it’s very sad for all concerned, was it really that unexpected from a programme that glorifies speed on a weekly basis, that one of their presenters would come to some sort of harm? More people die on British Roads each year than were killed in the twin towers, yet we still allow cars on our road that are capable of more than double the speed limit. Some people say we don’t need a nanny state enforcing speed restrictions, but if people behave like kids, nanny needs to take their toys away!

Trip to Dublin

2006-09-17T18:31:00.000+01:00

Bike culture definitley seems a bit stronger in Dublin

Random musings

2006-09-13T16:36:00.000+01:00

I haven’t been keeping this blog very up to date recently. I think when it gets to the summer I just end up too busy to do anything. Maybe if I put more random musings in here rather than just focusing on bike related stuff it might get updated more regularly. I'll probably stick a few more photos on as well.
Having 2 jobs is useful and has been necessary over the last few years as my other half has been training to be a midwife. But now that she has qualified – I will hopefully be able to work less. In an ideal world I would love just to do the juggling work and grow all our own food but I doubt whether my other half would be happy with that.
I don’t mind working as a civil servant – union membership is very high and it’s pretty much a job for life. But I can’t help thinking that my time would be much better spent doing other stuff. Promotion prospects are pretty non-existent, and to be honest I couldn’t be bothered with the extra responsibility if I were promoted. Its not that I’m lazy (maybe a bit) but I just don’t feel motivated by pushing bits of paper around a desk.
I’m planning not to work next August – which will give me more time off with the kids as well as giving me more time to do my other job.
We are going away for the weekend for our anniversary, my wife doesn’t know yet and as she rarely (never) reads my blog it will hopefully stay a secret till we go away on Friday. It’ll be good to get away together and think about the next stage of our life – now that she is a qualified midwife, paying the bills isn’t going to be quite as difficult as it has been recently. We might even get a proper holiday next year for the first time ever.

Crash!!

2006-08-21T19:18:00.000+01:00

You think you live in a place where not many accidents happen with cyclists and then 2 happen in the same week. I was emptying out the circus van last week when I heard a screech followed by some shouting and another screech. I stuck my head out of the driveway and saw a car driving off at speed, so I made sure I got his reg and then noticed 2 kids up the road a bit with their bikes on the pavement. One of the kids had a bad graze on his arm. It turns out what happened was that the kids had been riding on the pavement and 1 of them collided with a car at a junction. Now you could blame the kids for riding on the pavement but the car was travelling well over the 30 mph speed limit and, even worse, he reversed back in to the kid to have another go at him!!
I brought the lads down to our house so they could use the phone.
I had to leave before the Police got to the house but I let the lads leave their bikes round the back and the next day they turned up with their dad to say thanks (with a box of roses choccies!) and said that the police were going to pursue the driver – not only for reversing in to the lad, but for leaving the scene of the accident. Hope they throw the book at him.
Later that week I met with my friend James who told me someone who was looking the other way at a junction had knocked him off his bike. Apparently the bike flew in to another car and damaged that as well so he had to hang around for an hour before the Police turned up. He said he was feeling ok on the day but has since developed a very sore back. So remember always take the lane and presume motorists at junctions can’t see you, and if you do crash remember you might have hurt yourself – even when you think you haven’t so always get the police involved.
The amount of people I see riding on the pavements depresses me – in fact I’d say I see more cyclists on the pavement than I do on the road. I always feel like shouting, “come on the road – it’s safer in numbers” but I get a feeling that transport policy over here is increasingly trying to separate bikes from other traffic. There is a stretch of road on my commute that is a bit narrow and on a bend and cars usually have to wait till I get round the bend before overtaking. This stretch of road is down hill and only takes me about 20-30 seconds to get down, but recently I have noticed that alterations are being made to the pavement which seem to suggest that bikes are going to be directed on to the pavement which will become a shared use cycle path with pedestrians. I for one wont be using it – not only do I not want to share space with pedestrians but I don’t want to stop at junctions that I wouldn’t have to stop at if I was on the main road. So I’m sure as this bike lane becomes operational you will see a few more posts from me about the abuse I will be getting from motorists for not using the cycle lane.

Tour de France

2006-06-30T12:17:00.000+01:00

Its that time of year again, and already the controversy has started. Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich have been banned from the race because of a new doping scandal. I'ts a shame because they were both worth watching.
On the plus side David Millar is back in the race - now that his 2 year drug ban has expired. It's good to have someone from a bit closer to home to support - having said that, he's lived in France for a few years now hasn't he.
Any way i'm looking forward to see who's going to take Armstrong's crown - at the minute it's looking fairly open.

Strabane Carnival

2006-06-24T19:28:00.000+01:00

Some bikes from Strabane Carnival

This one looks better when its moving

Acro Bike

2006-06-18T20:45:00.000+01:00

I was working in silent valley yesterday which is a lovely country park in the Mourne Mountains. And Simon, Anita and Kelsey revealed one of their new props for their trapeze show - A fantastic green trike that they will be using to do handstands and other athletic things on. They havent worked it in to the show yet but are using it as a walkabout piece. I've allways fancied doing up my Raleigh 20 and using it as a walkabout, or should that be rideabout piece. By threading the hub off centre you can make it bounce up and down - but i'm afraid thats beyond my capabilities at the moment - may be i'll just pay someone to do it for me. I wonder if its possible to stand on the saddle and the handle bars and go round in a circle whilst juggling. I suppose it's worth a try - then I could finally combine my 2 loves cycling and juggling.

Critical One

2006-06-13T09:30:00.000+01:00

There are a few stretches of road on my commute to work which are shared bus / bike lanes between the hours of 07.30 and 09.30. For most of the route motorists stay out of them but as you reach a set of traffic lights in Finaghy cars start to move over to the bike lane and queue up there.
This has pissed me off for a while so last week I decided to stop my bike in the bike lane with a queue of cars behind me. It didn't take long for the traffic to back up a couple of hundred meters.
I explained to the woman at the front of the queue that she was in a bike lane and she started pushing her horn and telling me to move. I thought to myself I bet I can wait this out longer than she can so I decided to stay until she moved.
A few people further back realizing what was happening pulled in to the other lane (which was now completely empty - but most of them still sat in the bike lane?)
After a couple of minutes a workman from a site came over to see what was going on and the woman said "he's blocking the lane" and to my delight the workman said "Well, you shouldn't be in that lane should you"
she stayed there for another 2 minutes and eventually decided to move, and as soon as she pulled off I moved as well to cheers from some builders on scaffolding across the road. So with a shout of "power to the people" and a punch in the air (for the benefit of the builders) I was on my way.
Sometimes it can be a bit embarrassing taking direct action on your own, and I wonder whether it does anything to change peoples ideas, but at least on this occasion I got my point across. I think my next course of action will be to write to the Police and ask them how many motorists they have fined for driving in the bike lane on that stretch of road - I have a feeling that I already know the answer.

Picture from flee.com

Riding against the wind

2006-05-24T09:17:00.000+01:00

The wind and the rain has been ridiculous this last couple of weeks, but it has led to a couple of nice cycling moments.
The wind has been behind me on the way in to work, which has led to some record times. And this morning, for the first time ever, I overtook a guy on a scooter. I’m still laughing now thinking of the double take he did when he saw me coming past! He overtook me again pretty quick but I stayed with him pretty much all the way to Belfast.
Last week, on the way home with a very strong wind against me, a couple of cyclists came past me. The one in front was all kitted out and also a ridgeback rider – his was a nice racer though. The one behind was pretty much the opposite of the one in front and had obviously been tailing the one in front all the way from Belfast – He even said to me as he went past “I’ll have to catch up with my moving wind break here”
Sensing that the guy in front would be a bit pissed off I kept up with them.
The guy in front kept slowing down and looking behind him but the second guy just didn’t get the hint. I think the second guy even had the cheek to say “speed up a bit” to the guy in front. So eventually I went ahead to give the guy in front a break and as he passed me later on, as I went a different direction to where they were going, he thanked me for taking my turn and rolled his eyes towards the other guy.
Some people just don’t seem to get cycling etiquette, you would of thought the guy in front was making it fairly obvious that he wanted a break when he slowed down and looked over his shoulder. It was nice to be riding in a group for a change though.

Super Commuter

2006-04-30T09:20:00.000+01:00

Well, I’ve had the bike for over a month now and I’m loving it. I was tempted to go more simple with a single speed or fixed wheel but I think this bike makes more sense for the length of my commute.
Throughout the winter you don’t get many other cyclists on my route but as spring arrives a few of them start to appear. Sometimes when a fully kitted out racing cyclist overtakes you its fun to try and keep up with them. And last week I had the satisfaction of catching and overtaking one as we arrived in Belfast. He’d overtaken me about 2 miles in to the commute so I thought lets see if I can keep up. I stayed about 20 ft behind him – it was hard going at first but after about a mile I got used to the pace and kept my distance for 7 miles then coming up to the last mile I made my move. He never caught me again – I’m sure its quite humiliating being overtaken by someone in their work clothes, especially when you are fully kitted out in Lycra.
Childish I know, but sometimes you need a bit of a challenge on your commute.

It was my sons 6th birthday last week and guess what he got – a new bike! His first proper one with gears. Its actually heavier than mine and he still hasn’t learnt to ride properly yet so I might teach him on his sisters old bike first – she’s going to need a new one by the summer as well! Hopefully, he will learn soon as the trailer bike we were using doesn’t fit on my new bike because of the suspension seat post, but walking to school has been fun as well.
I've also had my camera nicked this week while I was doing a show so no pictures for a while:(

New Bike !

2006-03-21T22:41:00.000Z

The un-ending repairs to my old bike finally got to me and I just went out and bought a new bike last weekend.
The final straw was when I set out to work one day last week and the rear mech just collapsed.
I was toying with the idea of getting a Ridgeback Nemesis which has hub gears and breaks, but the bloke in Bike Dock convinced me that the Ridgeback Super Nova was more suited to the type of riding that I do, which is mainly the 22 mile round trip of my daily commute. Its the first time i've bought a more expensive bike (more expensive to me anyway). It has a Shimano Deore XT group set, which I'm hoping will be more hard wearing than the budget components on my current bike - time will tell, I've decided i'm going to let the bike shop service it anyway. I'm going to get a rear rack and mud guards for it next month.
I'm paying it off over a year, and when i've paid for this one i'm already planning to get a proper road bike. There is just something really appealing about well built bikes don't you think?

Video

2006-03-16T13:31:00.000Z

I'm experimenting with putting video on the site using google video - if this works you should get to see someone doing bmx trcks in Donegal centre. If you cant see it click on this link.

R.I.P. Ivor Cutler

2006-03-09T23:35:00.000Z

I was sad to hear the news of Ivor Cutlers death this week. Ivor was one of a dying breed of British eccentrics, who will be familiar to anyone who ever listened to John Peel.
And he was an inspiration to generations of performers from the Beatles (He played Buster Bloodvessel in Magical Mystery Tour) to Franz Ferdinand.

One thing I didn’t know about him till I read the obituaries was his fondness for the bicycle.

From the Guardian:

The bicycle was his preferred mode of transport, its cow-horn handlebars in the sit-up-and-beg position in line with his Alexander technique practice.

I also heard someone say that he would often utter obscenities to complete strangers under his breath as he glided past them on his bike.

A sad loss

Why do cyclists receive so much abuse from kids?

2006-03-03T17:29:00.000Z

Why do cyclists receive so much abuse from kids?
It doesn’t happen very often, maybe once every couple of months. And it’s usually kids jeering or, on rarer occasions, kids throwing stuff at me. It’s probably wrong to call it abuse, the kids are usually having a laugh and it doesn’t bother me at all.
But it makes me think, what is it about me on a bike that provokes this reaction?
The flashing light on my helmet attracts a few comments, and I wonder is it things that they perceive to be out of the ordinary that push them to make a comment?
After dropping the kids off at school this morning I was cycling along and a young kid (about 4) said “Hey bikes aren’t allowed on the road” I know kids that age often say the first thing that comes in to their head. I remember when my youngest kid was about the same age, we were at Tescos and he shouted out “Dad I’ve just seen a wee boy with a big mans head!” It was the first time he’d seen a dwarf .Kids of that age are just reacting to things that are outside their area of experience, but it’s sad that she sees so few bikes on the road that it occurred to her to be worth commenting on.

Police Bike

2006-02-01T16:52:00.000Z

I was doing a show at a police station for their family fun day last weekend, and along with all the water canons and police land rovers they had on display they also had a pretty cool Police Bike. I have seen a few of the cops around Belfast riding these, but this was the first time I’d seen one up close. Best of all I got to ride it as well! A very comfortable well maintained bike with hub gears, disc brakes etc.
I wonder if they do their own maintenance? Wouldn’t it be great to ride a bike every day and have someone else do the maintenance!

Go Vegan

2006-01-27T16:49:00.000Z

I saw a link to this article on veganfreaks.com. Veganism is something I’ve been considering for a while. I’ve been vegetarian for the last 18 years, but I’ve gradually come to the realisation that the dairy industry and its produce can be just as bad for our health, the environment and of course the animals.

Researchers at the University of Chicago have calculated the relative carbon intensity of a standard vegan diet in comparison to a US-style carnivorous diet, all the way through from production to processing to distribution to cooking and consumption. An average burger man (that is, not the outsize variety) emits the equivalent of 1.5 tonnes more CO2 every year than the standard vegan. By comparison, were you to trade in your conventional gas-guzzler for a state of the art Prius hybrid, your CO2 savings would amount to little more than one tonne per year.
So as well as thinking about how your mode of transport affects the planet, you might want to think about how your diet affects it to.

Eat your greens - dont drive with them.

2005-12-14T13:59:00.000Z

Surprise surprise, bio-diesel isn’t the great alternative fuel it was promised to be. As reported in the Guardian by George Monbiot - The biodiesel industry has accidentally invented the world’s most carbon-intensive fuel.

The idea that we can simply replace this fossil legacy – and the extraordinary
power densities it gives us – with ambient energy is the stuff of science
fiction. There is simply no substitute for cutting back. But substitutes are
being sought everywhere. They are being promoted today at the climate talks in
Montreal, by states – such as ours – which seek to avoid the hard decisions
climate change demands. And at least one of them is worse than the fossil fuel
burning it replaces.
The last time I drew attention to the hazards of making
diesel fuel from vegetable oils, I received as much abuse as I have ever been
sent by the supporters of the Iraq war. The biodiesel missionaries, I
discovered, are as vociferous in their denial as the executives of Exxon. I am
now prepared to admit that my previous column was wrong. But they’re not going
to like it. I was wrong because I underestimated the fuel’s destructive impact.

Its definitley worth checking out the full article here.
As he says there is no substitute for cutting back, but people are determined to maintain their current lifestyles at whatever the cost. The idea that its ok to protect the environment as long as it doesn’t threaten our economic stability is very short sighted. Its our economic system that is the problem in the first place. This is where traditional politics falls down, because whether you lean to the left or the right – a society based on production and consumption can only produce more and more waste in pursuit of greater profit.

School Runs

2005-11-21T20:25:00.000Z

I've been doing quite a few school runs recently as my wife has been on late shifts. My five year old rides on the trailer bike and my 8 year old rides on her own bike, which is getting too small for her. Luckily there are cycle paths nearly the whole way to school, so getting there is no problem. But I then have to bring all the bikes back to the house before I head on to work which adds a lot of time on to my journey as i'm going back on myself. It also takes a bit of time strapping the bikes together for the return trip. Although I was impressed with myself for coming up with a way of strapping that was safe and secure the novelty of hauling the bikes back home wares off after a bit.
Luckily I've just found out that my parents in law may be buying house near the school, so i'll be able to leave the bikes with them and pick them up later. The only problem I can see now is when I get my daughter a bigger bike I wont be able to strap it to the trailer. I'm thinking of alternatives - possibly a Christiania for the school run and a Brompton for the solo part of my journey which I could carry with the kids in the Christiania.
Anybody else have any ideas?

Round The World in 4 Years

2005-11-11T12:33:00.000Z

I love reading storys about great expeditions, and this has got to be one of the greatest. Alastair Humphreys has taken 4 years to cycle 45000 miles across five continents. I am so jealous, I dont even have enough time to cycle around Ireland - maybe one day. His maintainance problems put mine in to perspective -

While his machine is nominally the one he set out on, he has cycled his way
through five new wheels, 15 sets of tyres and three new bicycle frames. His
worst record for punctures was set in Bolivia - 15 in one frustrating day;
although the final stages in Europe have not proved plain sailing. Last week in
the Dolomites, he reported "15 punctures in four days, four broken chains, two
buckled wheels, a split tyre, a fragile bottom bracket, no back brake, six
broken spokes in a cracked rim and split hub and only about 10 gears still
working out of 27". - From the Guardian
What an achievement, i'm sure its going to be difficult for him to settle down. There is something so appealing about being continually on the move, maybe its a fear of finally reaching our destination.

Lighten up

2005-10-27T16:07:00.000+01:00

Its that time of year when the hunt for the bike lights begins. I found the rear light no problem, but couldn’t find the front one anywhere. So as I knew I’d be riding home in the dark tonight I decided to go out and buy myself another one. I bought the dinky Cateye EL400 which is very bright for its size, and if my other light turns up I can attach this one to my helmet. Which will certainly get peoples attention when I look their way at junctions.
I also asked the bloke at the bike shop about replacing worn cones, and he said its not worth it because once the cones are worn the cup on the hub will also be worn so you may as well get a new wheel !!
Can this be right, I know my bike takes a lot of abuse as I ride it 22 miles a day in all weather conditions. But I only got new wheels last year. He also said that it doesn’t matter how much the wheels cost because he’s seen the same thing happen to a set of £300 wheels. Anyway, they are running a maintenance course after Christmas so hopefully next year I’ll be a more competent mechanic.

Clifden Trip

2005-09-30T01:21:00.000+01:00

Had a great time in Clifden, Clifden is about 5 hours from Belfast on the West coast of Ireland and has some of the most beautiful coastline in the country. We travelled down on the Friday night and spent the evening outside the pub in the town centre watching the acrobats rehearse on a crane for the parade on the Saturday night. Clifden is famous for a couple of reasons.
Firstly its where Alcock and Brown landed after being the first people to make a non stop crossing of the Atlantic, its also where the film the quiet man was filmed. With these two facts running round my head I headed out of the town up Sky road. With a tail wind behind me the climbing was easy and the views were spectacular. The weather wasn’t great, but it didn’t matter at all. I was just enjoying being somewhere besides Belfast on my bike. I made a steep descent towards the end of the peninsula and then headed back towards the town with the hills offering me some protection from the wind that had aided my journey earlier on.
I didn’t have long to ride so this 14 mile circular route was ideal and I got back to the bed and breakfast in time to see my juggling partner Chris getting up (He’s not a morning person). The weather got worse as the day went on – probably the after effects of the hurricanes in America. So we had to do the shows in a big school hall, but the crowds are always great fun whenever we do a show down here, its definitely one of my favourite festivals in Ireland.
We finished the day off in the Alcock and Brown Hotel drinking Guiness, listening to a folk band and watching a hen party get more rowdy. A great weekend all round then, plus I got my picture in the Guardian!

Hedge cuttings

2005-09-25T15:49:00.000+01:00

Hedge cuttings
Originally uploaded by Bobbins.

I sent this picture to the Guardian last week. They phoned me on Monday to tell me I'd been short listed for going in this weekends magazine. So I was thrilled on Saturday morning to find that it was in!
I've just had a great weekend in Clifden, I'll post some pictures later.

Trike

2005-09-22T23:04:00.000+01:00

Yet another great bike spotted this morning. I was walking the kids to school and we saw this trike just sitting on a patch of grass near the school. It wasnt locked up and every kid that came past had a sit on it. I dont know who owned it - maybe it belonged the lollypop man across the road.
I'm working at Clifden arts festival this weekend, and i'm bringing the bike, so hopefully i'll get a couple of rides along the west coast.

Get the message

2005-09-15T19:49:00.000+01:00

Another interesting bike spotted on my commute in this morning.
The rain was lashing down but seeing this recumbent outside the city hall advertising the garden gourmet event this weekend cheered me up.

Gridlock

2005-09-13T10:40:00.000+01:00

With Trouble flaring up in Belfast again last night, and roads closed all over the place it was one of those days that you were glad you were on a bike.
As soon as I left work it was gridlock. Most employers told their staff to go home early so by 4 o’clock the streets were full of stationary traffic. I just sailed through it all, making a point of whistling a merry tune and swerving from side to side as I went. A couple of people said “you’ve got the right idea mate.” Apparently some people were stuck in Belfast for 2 ½ hours! I wonder how many of them came by bike today?
Looks like we might be in for more fun on Wednesday as fuel protests are due to start again.
Panic buying and hour-long queues at the pump always bring a smile to my face.

Ditch Monkey

2005-09-09T16:26:00.000+01:00

I came across this blog the other day. Its about a bloke who is spending a year living in a ditch! He still go's to work each day in a suit and tie but each night go's and sleeps in a wood.
The idea was to raise sponsorship for the Woodland Trust. But he is also making a point about how little we actually need to live on, and how we can all try and reduce the amount of waste we leave behind. I seem to spend half my time telling shop workers not to give me plastic bags. Surely, it wouldnt be that difficult to charge for plastic bags - Lidls already do. And you'd think the government would give businesses some sort of tax incentive for not using non-recyclable packaging. But anything the government does always seems like token gestures to pacify the greens. My local council have recently introduced a re-cycling scheme but its only so they can avoid the financial penalties that they'll face if they keep sending as much stuff to land fill.
I think a lot of people think they are doing their bit by recycling some of their rubbish, but I think that the key issue that is often overlooked is that we shouldn't be creating as much rubbish in the first place.

Ditch Monkey

Back to the routine

2005-09-02T17:57:00.000+01:00

Well its back to the daily routine after my short holiday. Its good to be back on the bike though - especially when I'm armed with my new camera! I saw this bloke struggling up the road as I waited at a set of lights so I went after him and asked if I could take his photo, he didn't seem to mind. He was carrying an old sink and a few other bits of scrap metal all in a homemade cart. It looked like hard work in this mini heat wave we've been having.
Just a few more thoughts on the Greenbelt festival: As usual it's more often the smaller things you see at a festival that stick with you. My favourite stall on the site was the bubble stall, who'd of thought you could have an entire stall just dedicated to making bubbles! I hope they made some money because they kept kids entertained for hours trying out all the stuff. Next door to the bubble stall was the fairy stall - basically all they sold was fairy wings and tutu's but they seemed to be doing good business. The juggling stall always had a big crowd outside trying all the stuff. I treated my self to a set of Poi, I think it's the only juggling art that I haven't tried. When you see someone who's really good at it, it always looks really relaxing - a bit like tai chi.
Besides The Proclaimers and Emiliana Torrini, who I knew would be good anyway, Juliet Turner and Duke Special were both worth seeing. And funnily enough they're both from Northern Ireland so getting to see them again shouldn't't be a problem.
I managed to hear 2 talks in full - Leo Hickman drew a big crowd for his question and answer session on his book "A Life Stripped Bare". I was about to ask him a question when someone else asked exactly the same thing - how do you deal with the ethical dilemma of choosing between fair trade and locally sourced products. His preference was for local but he said it was down to personal choice. I reckon if you cant buy it locally then you should go fair trade - but we should be helping these countrys to live sustainably aswell, and not necessarily see global trade as the best solution. When we got back there was a leaflet for a green living fair through our door and he's speaking there aswell, so I'll have to think of a better question - something along the lines of " with the current political structure of most of the modern world being predicated on the desire to consume, do you not think our attempts at recycling and saving energy are always just going to be a drop in the ocean in terms of the damage we are doing to the planet?"
I also contributed a few comments to a discussion on blogging but I''l have to listen to the download to remember what I said. Greenbelt is a christian festival, and not being a christian myself I did have some reservations about going. But I found it a very friendly and relaxing place, and the people were very motivated in terms of pushing the ethical living thing. One of the themes of this years festival besides making poverty history was living generously. This was something I could realy identify with, and since getting back I've already decided to give blood, change my bank account to the co-op and ask people if they are buying me to presents to consider "good gifts" . There were also a few nice folding bikes at the festival, and my wife started to get a bit fed up of me taking pictures of them all but i've posted a picture of one of them - it is a bike blog after all.

greenbelt2005

Greenbelt Folk Club

2005-08-27T22:15:00.000+01:00

Well I finally got on to the net here at the festival. Two days in and I've just about seen round the whole site. I havent seen half the things I intended to, but thats always the way at festivals. I did manage to see Emilliana Torrini last night who was brilliant and we went along to the folk club this afternoon and I plucked up the courage to play a tune on the tin whistle. My daughter and I have been having lessons together since January, and every time I hear proper folk musicians it inspires me to learn more. I dont know why I left it till I was approaching middle age till I learnt an instrument but I reckon your never too old to do these things. The learning process seems to be quite similar to when I learnt to juggle and unicycle - you struggle along for months not getting very far, then suddenly something clicks and your brain understands what you are trying to do. Learning new skills is a real buzz, especially when it involves a bit of interaction with fellow human beings rather than machines ( he says typing in to a computer )i'm doing a bit of fire juggling tommorow morning, then in the afternoon going to listen to Leo Hickmans talk - all the talks from the festival are going to be available as downloads, i'll put a link when I get back.

greenbelt2005

Getting ready for Greenbelt

2005-08-25T21:30:00.000+01:00

Just spent the last couple of days here in Pontypridd and we are now getting ready for the trip to Greenbelt tommorow. I've finally bought a new digital camera . Its a Sony DSC S80 for those of you interested in these sought of things. Its only 4.1 megapixels but I reckon thats more than enough for what I want it for, so hopefully they'll be a few more of my own pictures on the blog from now on. Anyone interested in getting a new camera should check out www.cameras.co.uk. I found it really usefull and they give you good comparisons between the different brands, show you sample shots and let you know the cheapest place where you can buy it.
I had planned to build my brother a pair of stilts while I was here but we couldnt find the right type of wood - We usually use ash at the community circus. The festival were looking for jugglers for one of the events so i've offered my services - its always good to meet up with other jugglers, even if they just want to show off a new trick. Q. How many jugglers does it take to change a light bulb? A. 10, 1 to change the bulb and the other 9 to say I could do that!
Anyway, got to finish the packing. Next time I post will be from the festival site - hopefully with pictures taken on my new camera!

greenbelt2005

Leash the Celtic Tiger

2005-08-21T08:28:00.000+01:00

Irelands econonmic growth over the last decade has been well reported. But is it time to put a leash on the celtic tiger?
The Irish government is pushing ahead with ill advised projects at the expense of the countrys heritage and health. But a growing resistance movement is making its presence felt.

The proposals to extend the M3 motorway through Tara hill / Skryne valley have brought wide spread criticism from both academics and the general public. The save Tara campaign is getting support from all over the world from people outraged at the potential destruction of this historically significant site. Road building seems to go ahead based on projections of future car use which arent taking account of peak oil. As this article in indymedia points out the road could become a white elephant within 10 years and all the destruction would of been for nothing.

Another campaign gaining support at the moment is the Shell to sea campaign which is seeking the release of 5 men: Micheál Ó Seighin, Willie Corduff, Brendan Philbin, Vincent McGrath and Philip McGrath who are in Cloverhill Prison, Dublin for not allowing Shell to build a pipeline through their land.

"We are currently in prison for refusing to allow Shell and their Irish
Government partners build a pipeline close to our family homes.
Our crime was to refuse access to our lands. We have refused access because of the certainty that if this pipeline as currently proposed ruptures we, our families and neighbours, will die."

Its frightening to see the Irish government taking so little concern for the rights of their own people, but its good to know that the Irish people arent going to take it sitting down.

So boycott Shell - as if I needed to tell you that anyway.

The Bicycling Comedian

2005-08-19T09:36:00.000+01:00

Listening to Mark Radcliffe on Radio 2 last night from the Edinburgh festival, I heard him talking to the bicycling comedian Tom synders. This guy has travelled to all his comedy gigs over the last 18 years by bike, and his visited every state in America as well as touring quite a bit in Europe. Tom started touring by bike when he didn’t have enough money to get to a gig, so he bought a bike and cycled 1400 miles in 14 days from Las Vegas to Des Moines in Iowa only to find the club had burnt down!I must admit this is a very attractive idea – I’ve always fancied doing my juggling show by bike but carrying the 8ft unicycle could be a bit tricky. But for some of the local kids shows I do around Christmas I might give it a go.

Greenbelt

2005-08-17T22:54:00.000+01:00

This time next week we will be on our holiday. We are staying with my brothers family in Pontypridd for a couple of days before going to the Greenbelt festival. This will be my first Greenbelt. It's been ages since I went to a music festival. I went to Glastonbury a couple of times in my early twentys, but havent had much time for festivals since the family came along. So i'm looking forward to getting in to the festival mood, chilling out and seeing a few good bands. Its a very family based festival, so hopefully the kids will get as much out of it as we do.
I'm particularly looking forward to hearing Leo Hickman speak. He has written a book about trying to live ethically - "A Life Stripped Bare (Tiptoeing through the ethical minefield)" where he asks Is it possible to live a life that is western but also aware, or is the ‘Good Life’ the preserve of the eco-warriors, new-age spiritualists and the organic-product endorsing Hollywood set? Apparently some of the advice he received included: ‘The most sustainable food source is skips!’ and ‘Having children is the most unethical thing you can do, so try ceasing that for starters.’
I often think that people get the impression that those of us who try to live ethically are self righteous do gooders. But with all the evidence stacking up about the damage that our lifestyles are doing to the planet I cant understand people who do nothing about it. Thats part of what attracts me to cycling - it makes you feel good and you feel that you are doing something.
Musically - I'm looking forward to The Proclaimers, Karine Polwart and Emiliana Torrini and I'm sure there will be a few circus heads there for me to juggle with aswell.
They are also trying to do a virtual collage of the festival, so i'm going to try and post a few times while i'm there.

greenbelt2005

Piano Bike

2005-08-08T20:34:00.000+01:00

Back to a bicycling theme ( just about) .

Found this on a google search. How does he cycle and use the pedals on the piano?

I'd like to see him try Alp D'Huez

Betsy

2005-08-03T19:55:00.000+01:00

Betsy
Originally uploaded by gentlytiptoe.

Hannahs latest creation

whoops - I meant to post this to my Family Blog but it ended up here by misstake. Oh well this is my sister in laws latest creation, lovely isnt it - very long arms and legs.

A sign of things to come?

2005-07-29T09:44:00.000+01:00

The Guardian reported on Saturday how 36 people had died in riots due to fuel price hikes in Yemen.

"Looting broke out in the Yemeni city of Aden last night after two days of rioting over fuel price rises that left 36 people dead....Several police officers were among the dead. Locals are angry at a decision to remove subsidies on fuel, a move that has roughly doubled the price of diesel, petrol and kerosene and caused knock-on rises in fares for public transport."
Picture from Newswire

Are SUVs a crime against civilisation

2005-07-26T15:03:00.000+01:00

I know we've all heard the arguments before, but there is no harm in hearing them again.
From the ecologist

What does ‘choice’ actually mean? Could I nip down the shops in a tank?
What if I drove a Harley without a silencer up and down your road all night?
Or do you actually believe, as most of us do, that sensible limits should be placed on the freedom of drivers? If so, then it comes down to where we draw the line:
and I draw it at SUVs.

Useless with tools

2005-07-22T09:00:00.000+01:00

I'm nearly at the end of my week off looking after the kids, and as usual didnt do half the things i'd intended. I've nearly finished stripping the bannisters - on and off its taken me nearly 2 years, but it should look nice when they are waxed.
I bought a tool kit for the bike aswell, hoping to finally able to service the bearings in my rear wheel myself, but when it arrived it didnt have the right lock ring tool so I had to go out and buy one. With much enthsiasm about my new tools I had a go but just couldnt shift the lock ring, maybe i'd left it too long. So I ended up getting the bike shop to do it again, I asked them if they thought it had been stiff and they said not particularly but you really need to have it in a vice. So it looks like thats another thing i'll have to buy. I dont want to be crap at servicing the bike but for some reason I just am. I'm good at keeping the tyres pumped up and clean the chain regularly, but I just dont seem to have a good eye for the intricate tweeks a bike needs.
My mum and dad went home last weekend after looking after the kids for a week. We had great fun with the Geocaching while they were here. We found a good one on the sustrans cycle route between Lisburn and Belfast which contained a travel bug - which is a small tag or token which you move from site to site, the goal for this bug was to visit as many sites in Ireland as possible so we helped it on its way. The bug was called my dads ankh, it was a cross symbol that used to be worn by this blokes dad who died before he ever got to see Ireland, so he's doing it posthumously.
I like the cycle route between Lisburn and Belfast but its not ideal for road bikes. I'd love to get one of these for the route though, it would be a real buzz arriving at work on one of these every day. I wouldnt feel particularly safe using it on the main road but I can get virtually all the way to work by the sustrans route. But I cant decide whether I should get one of these for £600 or save up and buy a good road bike. Anyway, these are just pipe dreams at the minute because i'm skint. Oh well, maybe next year. Check them out at KMX karts.

Treasure Hunt

2005-07-11T13:27:00.000+01:00

While I’m stuck in the office on one of the hottest days so far this year my mum and dad have taken the kids to Hillsborough Park to do a GPS treasure hunt. They told me about this the last time I saw them. Basically you register on this web-site which allows you to get details of treasure hunts that people have set up all over the world and then you follow the route with your GPS and find the hidden treasure at the end of the route (usually a rubber or something small for the kids). You then leave something in its place for the next person to find. I’m not sure whether they do one for cyclists – but it would be pretty cool to do some longer routes, you could have a puncture repair kit as the prize (always comes in handy – especially with the amount of punctures I’ve been getting)
It was lovely cycling in this morning, I came in about 7.00 so the temperature wasn’t too hot and there were hardly any cars on the road. It’s the 12th July fortnight here at the moment (when a large section of the community either parades around in orange sashes and bowler hats, or watches people parading around in orange sashes and bowler hats) Its also a time when most people go on holiday so the roads are fairly quiet. I might do a detour on the way home and see a couple of friends who have just bought a big top style tent and are experimenting putting it up in a field for the first time, sounds like hard work on a day like today.

Larne

2005-07-02T00:13:00.000+01:00

I had a juggling job in Larne last Saturday . I always make a habit of asking any photographers taking pictures to send us a copy, they never did until today. Its not a particularly good shot (I think you need to be a juggler as well as a photographer to get good juggling shots) but it was nice to receive it anyway.
Larne is a funny place for a festival. For those of you not familiar with Northern Ireland, Larne is where most of the boats from Scotland sail to. But Larne doesn’t feel like a coastal town. The port is a big ugly blot on the landscape that just spews out all the freight traffic on to the dual carriage way to Belfast about 20 miles down the road. So you can’t blame them for trying to breathe a bit of life in to the town with a festival, but for some reason it just doesn’t feel right. The people just don’t seem to get it. The parade went well enough but the street we’d been given for our show was so depressing, it was at the back of the town and was populated by 2 charity shops, a butchers and a shoe shop.
The shoe shop was a story in itself; we didn’t pay much attention to it at first but then noticed an old man coming out of it. He tottered about like he was drunk, but I think it was more the effects of age than drink.
His shop had closing down notices in the front window, which, like the deck shoes and espadrilles, were bleached by the sun. A local told us that the notices had been in the window for about 20 years, and that the owner was 95. Later he came out with an old shoebox full of sweets for us and started telling us about his shop – how he was retiring soon and how some bloke had said he would buy his old stock. Its enough to bring a tear to your eye isn’t it .

Yet another victim of car culture - with the pile em high sell em cheap superstores offering free parking, and everything under one roof he could never compete. What was once probably a thriving street was now full of boarded up shops with just a couple left fighting to survive.
So as Larne strives for an identity by throwing a carnival once a year, they destroy any sense of community by allowing the big boys to move in and put the small shop owners out of business. A story being repeated all over the country, if not the world.

Bike To Work Day

2005-06-16T10:36:00.000+01:00

Well, its bike to work day and surprise surprise the rain is lashing down outside. Civil servants from other departments had an organized ride this morning but I have to drop the kids off at school so I missed it.
There was one extra bike in the bike shed at the beginning of the week - I still dont know whose it was, but at least somebody rode one day of bike week. In fact you could say the number of people cycling to my office doubled!
Oh well, theres always next year.

A Clean Set of Wheels?

2005-06-13T11:19:00.000+01:00

A green SUV, yeah right.

From the Guardian

If you read the motoring press then you might believe that the RX400h, with
its part electric/part petrol "hybrid" engine, has been sent from above to
single-handedly slay climate change. According to much of the coverage, there is
no need to feel guilty - if you ever did, that is - about driving an SUV, given
that the RX400h achieves up to three times the fuel efficiency of its market
rivals and an equally impressive reduction of polluting exhaust fumes. The
message is clear: relax everyone, the panic's over. A breathless review in
Automobile magazine talks of a car that "accelerates with V-8 gusto and cradles
its occupants in leather-lined luxury". The hyperbolic review ends: "The Lexus
RX400h provides the well-to-do with a sacrifice-free ride to social
responsibility."

So is this car the saviour many are claiming it to be? Could the hybrid
engine be the "bridging technology" that will enable us to reach the
oft-heralded, post-carbon age? Or is it just an eco-veneer being applied to what
is still a very dirty way of getting from A to B?

Rant

2005-06-08T10:45:00.000+01:00

After a couple of weeks cycling the trailer bike and my daughters bike back home every day I decided that I would leave the bikes locked to the fence outside the school and pick them up on my way home from work. On the second day of doing this I got back to the school to discover 3 flat tyres.
I pumped up the tyres on my daughter’s bike but the scum had pulled out the valve on the trailer bike tyre.
Of course all I got from my wife was I told you so, but it really annoys me that with all the cars near by that they never mess with them. Maybe its because they haven’t seen a trailer bike before so it got their attention. I just wish I’d caught them in the act.

Also, yesterday morning I got another puncture despite having 2 new tyres !
So I decided to e-mail the council and give them a piece of my mind. I told them that if they really wanted to encourage people to cycle in the city they should ensure that the cycle paths are well maintained and free from glass.
There has been the same patch of glass on the path now for over 2 months. With Bike to Work Week starting here next week I told them that this would be the ideal opportunity to ensure the paths are in order. There would be nothing more discouraging to a new cyclist than getting a puncture on their first day out.
I also highlighted the fact that to really encourage cycling they would need to have a cycle network that is integrated in to the main road system and actually went as far as the city centre. So far they only seem to have put cycle paths where it is convenient for them, not for us.
Lisburn is a very small city and the distance from one side of the city to the other is less than 5 miles which makes it an ideal place to get about by bike. Its just a pity that sustrans only seems to build cycle paths that attract tourists and Sunday cyclists rather than provide a real transport alternative. If I followed the sustrans route to work in the morning it would take me an extra 30 minutes.
Anyway on the plus side I saw a 4 wheeled recumbent carrying an advertisement hoarding yesterday – the only bummer was that it was on a trailer being towed by a 4x4.
Oh well every silver lining has a cloud.

Apeakolypse Now!

2005-06-04T00:34:00.000+01:00

You can rely on Schnews to tell it like it is.

Apeakolypse Now!

Petroleum geologists reckon that the world oil peak will be sometime
between 2005 -2010. The majority of non-OPEC producers such as the United
States, Britain, Norway, and Mexico, who satisfy 60 percent of world oil demand, are already in a production plateau or decline. A leading guru, Colin Campbell (ex of Shell and Total Fina Elf) reckons 2007. Are we preparing for it? Are we readying ourselves to radically change our lifestyles and energy consumption? Of course not.

New Tyres and Old Wrecks

2005-06-01T17:06:00.000+01:00

After fixing three punctures in the space of a week, I decided it was probably time to get a new front tyre. I usually buy any spares and stuff for the bike when I’m in Belfast but as I was off work I decided to use a local shop - cycle zone in Lisburn.
The guy in the shop was friendly (always a reason to go back in my opinion) and had the "2" new tyres (I decided to splash out) on in no time. I was amazed when I checked their web site to see that there has been a cycling shop on that site for over 100 years! Its hard to imagine them working on penny farthings out the back – I’d love to see some old photos of the place.
I asked him about the Raleigh 20 I have rusting away in my garage. I wanted to find out if there was anywhere in Ireland that did re-sprays, but as I suspected there isn’t. If I can get the seat post out I think I’ll take it in to him and see if he thinks it’s worth spending the money on. I’ll probably have to send it to England for a re-spray.
I suppose it’s a matter of taste with the Raleigh 20, I love them. I used to ride mine all the time when I first came over to Ireland but it got a bit neglected when I got my current bike about 7 years ago. The poor thing even rusted away outside the circus office for about a year. I’d love to fully restore it and make it in to a fixed wheel, its just having the time to do it.
Check out Sheldon Browns Raleigh 20 page to see the type of thing I’m talking about. Anyway I’m sure I’ll have more to say about 20’s in future posts.

G8 CycleCaravan

2005-05-28T08:11:00.000+01:00

There were about 25 of us at the ride last night, which is enough to make an impact. Especially when one of the bikes is a tandem with recumbent front and mountain bike rear. And another has 2 dogs (real ones) wearing fighter pilot style hats in a front carrier ( I really am going to have to get a new camera).
We'd been out for about 15 minutes when the police finally caught up with us. A cop came up to me and said "you must be the ring leader because you've got the whistle" which I thought was funny, the only reason I have a whistle is because i'm in a stilt samba band. He tried to tell me about the highway code but couldnt quote any sections, luckily I knew section 139 says that cars should give bikes as much room as they would another car when overtaking.
He then decided to go and harass one of the others for handing out leaflets. Eventually we agreed to leave one lane clear, and as some of the cars passed it was good to see some of them smiling and waving - perhaps we arent hated as much as we think we are.
Some of the group are going on the G8 bike ride, I'd love to go to but I'll be working - anyway its good to know that some people will be there representing Belfast.
Looks like i'm getting to go on a ride today. My wife is taking the kids to her aunties for a bbq, but I have a show this morning which means i'll have to ride down later - about 7 miles each way. Her village is having a country sports fair this weekend (fox hunting, shooting etc) so you never know, there might be another chance for a bit of direct action.

Critical Mass

2005-05-27T13:16:00.000+01:00

I got a puncture this morning, the tyre has needed replacing for a while now, but I’ve been to lazy to replace it. I’d used my spare tube last week and didn’t have a puncture repair kit, but luckily I was near a shop that sold them so I was back on the road quickly enough. I always leave bike maintenance too late, I really should make more time for it.
I saw a poster this week for critical mass tonight. There hasn’t been one for ages in Belfast. They used to have them more regularly, but Belfast is quite a small place and the numbers attending were always quite small. So now they seem to be incorporating them in to other protests – last year they had one about the war in Iraq and this one is about the G8 summit. I once did critical mass on my unicycle, which was fun, but I’ll be on 2 wheels tonight.

Cycling in Fishnets

2005-05-23T11:15:00.000+01:00

It was great to see an article on cycling in the Guardian weekend magazine. Bikes rarely get good coverage in the press, and it’s usually in the news section. To get people on their bikes we do need to portray cycling as something to aspire to, and I can’t think of many better places to do this than in a lifestyle magazine. Plus you’ve got to have something to counter balance all the adverts for SUVs. Reading about Zoe Williams cycling in her fishnets (she reckons if more people are looking at her legs – they are less likely to crash in to her) brought a smile to my face. And if I weren’t a cyclist already the thought of seeing a woman cycling in fishnets would certainly get me on a bike.

Blog Route

2005-05-18T12:16:00.000+01:00

You may have noticed the blog route logo down the right hand side. Its still quite new, but a great place to check out other cycling blogs. Well done to Kent Hall (velodiablo) for coming up with the idea.

Happy Cycling

2005-05-15T20:10:00.000+01:00

The bike seat / trailer bike combination is no more. My 7 yr old now rides her own bike to school and my 5 yr old goes on the trailer bike, which make the whole journey a bit easier.
On the first day I wondered how I was going to get my daughters bike back home. But with a bit of experimentation I can now safely secure her bike to the trailerbike with bungee cords and ride the whole lot home again. Don't know what I'm going to do when she gets a bigger bike though.
The weather has been brilliant this last week, and the kids love being out on the bikes. We even went to Wallace park at the other side of Lisburn which is much nicer than our local park which is usually full of broken glass and grafitti. I can see some bigger expeditions coming on this summer!

2005-05-10T22:44:00.000+01:00

my profile and links seem to have dissapeared down to the bottom of the page, dont know why. I've fiddled about with it and seem to have made it worse, So you might see things looking a bit different till i sort it out.

2005-05-08T09:48:00.000+01:00

some great ideas here for making a living on your bike.
Posted by Dave

And theres more!

2005-04-26T10:57:00.000+01:00

The end of oil is closer than you think

2005-04-21T13:33:00.000+01:00

More oil Depletion news in the Guardian
Is it me or do you think there has been an increase in this type of article in the press over the last year. Me thinks they've realised we have a problem.

2005-04-14T22:24:00.000+01:00

The Long Emergency
Posted by Dave

The Long Emergency

2005-04-14T21:54:00.000+01:00

I found a link to this article The Long Emergency on another web site (sorry cant remember where now). I've read a few articles on the depletion of oil reserves, most of them fairly long winded, but I liked this one - it was short and to the point i.e. Oil is running out and there isnt really an alternative.
I did the juggling show at a vintage car rally at the folk and transport museum last weekend. Since when is a Ford Escort Mark 3 a vintage car? And why do the enthusiasts spend so much time polishing their engines - sounds like a double entendre.
They take it all so seriously aswell, you can imagine todays boy racers (if they survive long enough) looking at their Corsas with a nostalgic glint in their eye in 20 years time - only then it will be more poignant for them as there wont be any cars on the roads (with a bit of luck) they'll all be in museums or being melted down for bike parts:)

Ouch!

2005-04-07T17:15:00.000+01:00

I fell off my bike yesterday. The wheel rim split, jammed in to the break and threw me over the handlebars. Luckily all I suffered was a couple of scrapes but I’m going to have to wait till the weekend to sort the bike out.
I’m not the best at cycle maintenance, but I can’t see how I could of prevented this from happening? You can feel when your breaks are wareing down, you can see when your tyres are going bald, but I wouldn’t know where to start checking my rims. The back wheel was replaced last year but the front one was as old as the bike – about 7 years. Maybe you should get new wheels every five years or something.
Anyway, I think I need a spare bike for times like this. I’m tempted by the Edinburgh Bicycle coop’s Revolution Courier ( http://www.edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk/catalogue/detail.cfm?ID=20817) – widely regarded to be the best value for the mid £200-£300 area. Then I could do up the racer and use it more for fun and less for commuting. Lidl’s have got cheap cycling gear in at the moment so I got some mits, shorts, jersey and jacket – not the height of fashion, but on my budget at the moment beggars cant be choosers so it’ll do nicely.

2005-04-05T13:21:00.000+01:00

Check out some nice bike movies at http://WWW.zed.cbc.ca/go?CONTENT_ID=228341&c=contentPage
Posted by Dave

2005-04-03T21:12:00.000+01:00

Chavs, dont you love em
Posted by Dave

Boy Racers

2005-04-03T20:07:00.000+01:00

I don't know what they call them where you live, it's boy racers over here. Now I consider myself to be quite a calm, laid back, don't want any trouble, anything for an easy life type of person but boy racers really piss me off.
Halfords were opening a new store in Lisburn today, and my friend Mr Wizzy was stilt walking for the opening so I popped over with the kids to have a word. Halfords have their own brand of Chav car accessories called ripspeed and the ripspeed girls were there for the assembled boy racers to oggle at.
I don't know what it is that annoys me the most about boy racers - the speeding, the loud exhausts, the parking in the disabled spot at the local vivo, or the dropping of McDonalds wrappers out of the window.
To be honest I think its just the act of "cruisin" that annoys me the most. While I'm taking care to reduce my family's car use to a minimum, they're driving around just for the hell of it. I'd hardly call 20 nightly trips around the town centre an essential journey.
Then everyone acts all surprised when one of them wraps a car round a tree. Three lads from the local college were killed last year when they took their corsa out for a spin at lunchtime. Our local councilor (who's a bit of a car lover himself) said we shouldn't jump to conclusions about the accident, but I'm sorry if you managed to kill all of your passengers on a straight country road with no other cars involved, It doesn't take a genius to work out that you were probably speeding.
I went in to Halfords anyway to look at the bikes, but didn't buy anything because I didn't want to indirectly support the "cruisin" scene, plus their bikes are crap. I think its better to support your local bike shop anyway. I use LifeCycles in Belfast http://www.lifecycles.co.uk/

Guilt Free Travel

2005-03-28T18:47:00.000+01:00

Nice to see a couple of comments on the blog. I'm going to stick a picture of me and the kids on the bike - unfortunately my camera broke last summer and I've had to rely on my mate Chris's camera phone so it'll probably be a bit blurry.
I've just got back from a family wedding in Hartford. The only way we could afford to get over was by flying. It's nice to see my relatives but I sometimes think is all the good I do by cycling every day wiped out by flying over to London? I know that you can offset the carbon emissions by paying to have trees planted or something, but to be honest we couldn't even afford the flights - even though they were on Easyjet.
So with a family like ours, with my parents and two brothers all living at opposite ends of the country what options do I have? If we go by car, we'd probably be driving for over 400 miles and using a ferry aswell. We could use train and ferry I suppose, but its difficult with 2 kids and a lot of luggage. And we couldn't do the whole trip in one weekend.
It would have been easier if we'd all stayed where we grew up but life's never that simple.
But then I see Moby (supposedly an environmentalist) giving an interview for EasyJets inflight magazine, and Sting (supposedly an environmentalist) swanning about on the last Concorde flight swigging champagne, and I think maybe I'm not that bad after all.

Bicycle made for three

2005-03-03T20:42:00.000Z

I finally tried bike + child seat + trailer bike combination this week and it worked! The only problem is a bolt that hangs down from the child seat and scrapes the trailer bike, but there is a plastic sleeve protecting the frame and i'm going to file the offending bolt down this weekend.
The one thing about having 2 kids behind you is that cars do seem to give you a lot more room, but I only have to use the road for a tiny stretch as there is a cycle path for most of the way to the school, although it is covered in glass in parts. I've been tempted to bring a dustpan and brush with me.
You get quite a lot of people smiling at you and kids saying cool, but I dont see many of them getting out of their cars and doing the same. Who knows - one day it might be their only option.

Tales from the river bank

2005-02-11T11:18:00.000Z

Seeing as I didn’t have to bring the kids to school this morning I decided to take the scenic route.
I used to use the Lagan towpath more regularly, mainly on the way home during the summer, but I got fed up with the dogs, glass and kids. And I usually only went half way by towpath. So today I decided to go all the way, it adds another 3 or 4 miles on to my 11 mile commute but its nice for a change. I’m lucky that I can get to the river about half a mile from my house and make it virtually all the way to work without using any roads. Its good not having to fight with motorists for space and on the towpath other cyclists are more likely to say hello as they overtake me (its rarely me overtaking them). It only added about 10 minutes on to my journey, so I think as the evenings get brighter I’ll do it more often.
Last week I was coming home late after doing a juggling gig at the waterfront hall (not as grand as it sounds – I was fire juggling outside as the guests were coming in) and in my first weak attempt at “subvertising” I decided I’d stick a “BAN THE 4x4” poster on a Jeep bill board in Dunmurry. I pulled over, waited for a couple of cars to pass and got the pritt stick out. No sooner had I stuck it up that a bloke on a cheap mountain bike rolled up, he hadn’t noticed the poster, it was only on a crappy sheet of A4 and fell off the next day. He was concerned that I might have a puncture, which I thought was very nice of him. But I couldn’t help wondering what he was doing out at 11.00 at night in the middle of winter with his pot belly, bottle end glasses, £60 mountain bike and crap pound shop l.e.d. lights.
Anyway, he starts talking about cycling – how convenient it is not having to wait for buses etc. Fair point, but then he veers off in to some rehearsed piece about the queen and some MP talking to her about god. Here we go I thought. Then he starts singing this hymn – how are you meant to react in a situation like that? Laughing in his face might be considered rude. I don’t mind Christians – my twin brother is one. But I always cringe at their attempts to witness to people, it was a cold winters night in Dunmurry of all places!
I started putting my things back on the bike, hopeful that this would drop him a massive hint that I was leaving but he asked me where I was cycling too and if I wouldn’t mind him coming along for the ride. That’s all I need – a cycling Christian stalker following me home on a Wednesday night – “look dear, I’ve brought a weirdo home”. Now I’m not the fastest cyclist by any stretch of the imagination, but I thought I’d take it easy to give him a chance to pull along side. I looked behind after about 30 seconds to see where he was and guess what, he’d completely vanished! Only joking, he was about 50ft behind me so I stuck the foot down and lost him.

What a Corker

2005-01-12T14:52:00.000Z

I got the chance to ride my bike further a field last weekend.
I was working in Cork for the opening celebrations of their year as City of Culture. We did a couple of shows in the newly refurbished city centre which were going great till a 20ft TV screen started belting out music in the build up to a big firework display. The festival was organised by Spraoi – Waterfords festival organisation, which begs the question – why Cork City of Culture and not Waterford?
But I have to say the city centre did look good – a lovely backdrop to our show, and I’m sure people visiting the city this year wont be disappointed.
I went out on the bike on the Saturday morning, with a vague notion of heading towards the coast – but when you forget to bring a map this isn’t such an easy proposition. I set off in the direction I thought the sea should be, but after about 5 miles realised I was probably travelling further inland. So I decided to just head up a steep hill to see what I could see from the top. It was a lovely crisp, clear day – a nice change after the storms of the day before. It felt good to give the bike a good ride after the excesses of the Christmas period and the hills really got my blood pumping. Getting to the top of the hill confirmed that I was nowhere near the sea, but the view of Cork was nice and I did see a house with its own conservatory – a big white sphere stuck in the garden – made me wish I hadn’t dropped the digital camera last summer. The ride back down the hill was fast and exhilarating, but cold, as I had forgotten my hat and gloves. I got back in plenty of time to prepare for the show, then later finished the day with a swim, sauna and a game of cards in the hotel bar – lovely.

Think Bike

2005-01-05T20:39:00.000Z

Those of us who cycle are aware of the thinking time that riding your bike gives you. Thats one of the main attractions for me, along with combining exercise and travel in one therefore freeing up more of your day - why doesnt everyone do it?
Anyway, apparently Einstein came up with his theory of relativity whilst riding his bike and to celebrate Einstein Year (Whats wrong with Einstein Day?) some Boffins have come up with a new BMX trick called the Einstein Flip
From the Guardian - "The stunt was created by Cambridge physicist Helen Czerski in collaboration with professional BMX rider Ben Wallace. Ms Czerski claims the stunt is "pushing the boundaries of what it is humanly possible to do on a bike". "( post title links to article)
I've always loved seeing what people can do with a bike, I'm not bad with the unicycle and ride an 8ft one but I think thats easier then pulling a wheelie.
I'm travelling down to Cork this weekend to do a show and i'm planning to bring the bike aswell so I can see all those things that you miss when your in a car.

2005-01-05T08:47:00.000Z

Happy New Year.
It was my first time on the bike for a week and a half yesterday and I had a tail wind easing my journey on the way in which had died down by the time I was going home making the return journey quite pleasant as well.
I also had that rare occasion of another cyclist riding alongside me for a chat. I think it was the same bloke I chatted to a couple of years ago – we talked about the nice wind that morning and the various alternative routes of getting from Belfast to Lisburn. He uses the tow path quite often, which is a nice route but one I don’t use too often because of the glass, uneven ground, and too many dogs. He wasn’t going the whole way to Lisburn last night but I was glad of the short chat – I think I’d be too shy to start one myself, but it does make you feel part of a wider community.

Trailer Bike

2004-12-09T21:29:00.000Z

I got my trailer bike this week and just finished putting it together last night. It was fairly straight forward till I read the last bit about removing the seat post! Having not removed the seat post since I bought the bike I thought I was going to be in for a hard time. But after a bit of welly with a hammer and a few twists for a good half hour it came out so i could fit the bracket. But it meant I had to take the mud guard off so i'm going to have to look for a mud guard that will fit on somewhere else.
Anyway I havent taken the kids out on it yet so i'm looking forward to the weekend so we can have a good go on it.
I got a bottle of lemonade chucked at me last night on the way home, they just missed with the liquid so threw the bottle aswell which hit the back wheel so I went after them - didnt catch them though - probably good job that I didnt, its difficult not to react to these things though.

2004-12-01T23:49:00.000Z

This has got to be the coolest bike i've seen in ages. I saw the kids version in a bike shop in Kilkeel on Saturday and when I checked the website www.kmxkarts.co.uk it turns out they have an adult version aswell for about £600, cheap enough for a recumbent but a bit difficult to justify when I wouldnt be using it on the road - but then again I can get virtually the whole way to work by tow path so maybe in a couple of years time. I'm busy looking for a solution to getting the 2 kids to school by bike without 1 of them having to walk. I'd love to get a Bike Friday tandem (pictured on a previous post) but in the mean time I think I'll go for a trailer bike.
Posted by Dave

Dublin

2004-11-15T22:10:00.000Z

Went for a day trip to Dublin yesterday and noticed a big increase in cycle lanes since the last time I was there, didnt stop people riding on the pavement though or riding through red lights with their child sitting on the crossbar. Not surprisingly there were plenty of wrecked bikes attached to lamp posts and cycle stands.
When you ride in a city I think its important to dominate the traffic and stake your claim on the stretch of road you are using, but for me this doesnt include taking stupid risks - especially going through red lights.
Back to the commute this morning and someone pulled right in front of me without indicating, so I hammered on the window. Even when its blatantly their fault why do some motorists always assume its the cyclists fault. Maybe hammering on the window isnt the best option but what else can you do to make someone understand how dangerous a 2 tonne piece of metal can be. I think i'll hammer on the roof next time this happens - I think it'll make a more satisfying bang.