cycle « Pete Hindle

December 10, 2008

A New Helmet

I had to buy a new helmet, because my old one broke when I was going round the corner near Heaton Park Road (actually, the junction at Heaton Hall Road and Wandsworth Road) and did a huge swerve to avoid some numpty riding a downhill bike. I mounted the pavement and ended up gently crashing to the floor in a tangle of skinned elbows and bouncing craniums.

Whilst I was fine physically, it would have been nice if the idling taxi driver parked nearby could have checked on me, as I lay on the pavement looking dazed. It would have been even nicer if my fellow cyclist, who I swerved to avoid, had done a little more than turn his head to check on me. But I don’t expect any signs of intelligence from taxi drivers or people who ride downhill bikes in city areas.

My new helmet is manly, huge enough to fit my bonce, and comes in lovely 1980′s colours. It’s difficult to not buy a new helmet when you prang yourself and find a bad-ass crack down the back of your old helmet, and I’d like to thank the manager of my local Edinburgh cycles for taking the time out to help me find a helmet accomadating enough for my cranium. Because, in all modesty, my head is fecking massive.

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May 12, 2008

FastSlowReverse

EDIT Seems to be some sort of clash between vimeo.com and the rest of the universe in regards to video hosting. Anyway, go here to see the video in a player (which should be easy to embed but it’s not) and read about why I’ve only made one arts-related video in the past year.

November 23, 2007

Ride: Gateshead, Pedestrian Tunnel, and Back.

View Map of Ride

So, yesterday I made it out on a “proper” bike ride, for the first time in ages. I was a bit worried, as what with my erratic sleep pattern and some general faffing about, I only left the house just after 1pm – about two hours before sundown.

The map above shows my route – although you’ll have to zoom in a lot! It might have been a mistake for me to go along the Gateshead side, as I’m not very familar with the route on that bank of the river. Plus, it seems that the Gateshead side of the river (the Keelmans way?) is not as well cared for as the Newcastle side, with some sections out-of-bounds owing to industrial pollution. Eek. There is, however, an amazing section of park opposite Wallsend which you can just whizz through, provided you avoid the dog-walkers.

Seeing as I didn’t know the route so well, I came back through the pedestrian tunnel.

This tunnel’s pretty scary in some ways – for instance, do they really need to have a permanent sign to warn them when there is a fire in the tunnel? Surely that should be a rare, dangerous event? But the style of the tunnel is quite interesting, and reminds me of that 1950′s style architecture you see used for municipal buildings.

Yesterday was really a test for my new tires, but it also showed me how slack I’ve been in not riding recently. I’ve had a calf injury, that kept me off my bike just as the weather turned from okay to rubbish, and the forecast for this weekend is awful. Whilst I found the tires to be quite good, if a little slower than my slicks, I could really tell that I’d not been exercising enough recently.

Despite my lack of fitness, and the freezing cold, and getting back late, riding always has the effect of letting you see something you wouldn’t normally see. With the damp conditions, I was lucky that I didn’t get soaked, but some of the views across the Tyne where quite breathtaking.

This post was delayed by 24 hours, as I sorted out the pictures – apologies! No riding this weekend, as my girlfriend has passed her PGCE so we’ll be doing some celebrating.

Pete Hindle