Bike Buddy

Today I are been mainly being a Bike Buddy. Dan at work decided to
try cycling home form the office, on a borrowed 18-speed el-cheapo
mountain bike (think steel wheels). I did some basic adjustments (and
wished I had an oil can), put some wind in the tyres and off we set.

Despite being offered the excellent services of Messrs. First Great
Western at every station, he persisted and rode the whole distance,
just short of 25 miles, wich I think is a fantastic achievement for
someone who hasn't even ridden a bike for 15 years. To be honest, if
I'd been him I'd have got on the train at Goring and Streatley;
tackling that last section to Reading shows serious commitment. Time
door to door was about two hours, and it normally takes me 1:20, so
that's pretty respectable in my book.

He resorted to the 24" gear only once, for a couple of hundred yards
on the steepest bit of the hill out of Goring, which is no disgrace
and definitely smarter than trying to pedal up when you've run out of
gears.

No bike shorts, though, so I bet his arse will be sore tomorrow...

At least I was able to save him a ride to Homebase by fishing some
olives out of my plumbing box (and of course put some oil on his poor
protesting chain at the same time).

So, Kudos to Dan, and may it not put him off having another go. I've
suggested mixed-mode, bike to Reading Station (he lives in Wokingham).
If anyone knows a low-traffic route I'd appreciate it.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

"Just zis Guy, you know?" wrote:

Today I are been mainly being a Bike Buddy. Dan at work decided to
try cycling home form the office, on a borrowed 18-speed el-cheapo
mountain bike (think steel wheels). I did some basic adjustments (and
wished I had an oil can), put some wind in the tyres and off we set.

Despite being offered the excellent services of Messrs. First Great
Western at every station, he persisted and rode the whole distance,
just short of 25 miles, wich I think is a fantastic achievement for
someone who hasn't even ridden a bike for 15 years.

Maybe a coincidence, but I was doing the same today.

It is extremely satisfying to see someone achieve a goal in cycling
first hand, and hats off to Dan for having a go and to Guy for
encouraging him.

Today I 'bike-buddied' a chap from a care home to his work place 5 miles
away. What is remarkable is that when I first met him three weeks ago he
couldn't ride a bike and lacked any confidence to ride in traffic. He
was shaking at the prospect.
The challenge was to train a complete non-rider to cycle to work.

After an hour of basic skills on a community centre car-park, followed
by some quiet residential roads, he was introduced to roundabouts and
HGVs just a week ago.
Today I led him a route into the centre of Southampton which included
some typical busy multi-laned junctions, and I let him lead the return.
The smile on his face when he told his friends what he had done was tremendous.

He is to do the ride himself later this week - I believe he will.

Acting as a bike buddy (although I hate the term) is one of the best
ways to get people out on two wheels.

if you read this Richard - you were brilliant. Well done.

John

On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 20:51:27 +0100, JohnB wrote in
message :

After an hour of basic skills on a community centre car-park, followed
by some quiet residential roads, he was introduced to roundabouts and
HGVs just a week ago.
Today I led him a route into the centre of Southampton which included
some typical busy multi-laned junctions, and I let him lead the return.
The smile on his face when he told his friends what he had done was tremendous.

Superb!

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:

On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 20:51:27 +0100, JohnB wrote in
message :


After an hour of basic skills on a community centre car-park, followed
by some quiet residential roads, he was introduced to roundabouts and
HGVs just a week ago.
Today I led him a route into the centre of Southampton which included
some typical busy multi-laned junctions, and I let him lead the return.
The smile on his face when he told his friends what he had done was tremendous.


Superb!

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University


I managed to get my flatmate who has not ridden a bike for 10 years and
whose previous longest distance was about 8 miles to Whalley Bridge and
back from Manchester city centre. This included two or three *******
size hills so the guy done good. He was on my mtb with slicks which
climbs like a beast which helped somewhat, and he often resorted to
using the easiest gear and just spinning up at about 2mph. At the end of
the day he managed around 35miles which is a pretty good effort. He
didnt stop complaining about his saddle sores though!

"David Waters" wrote in message
...
I managed to get my flatmate who has not ridden a bike for 10 years and
whose previous longest distance was about 8 miles to Whalley Bridge and
back from Manchester city centre. This included two or three *******
size hills so the guy done good. He was on my mtb with slicks which
climbs like a beast which helped somewhat, and he often resorted to
using the easiest gear and just spinning up at about 2mph. At the end of
the day he managed around 35miles which is a pretty good effort. He
didnt stop complaining about his saddle sores though!

Next step, take him on a track taster session!

cheers,
clive