Eats plants
First there was the condom poncho. Now I bring you the Haemorrhoid bike seat. I just got this new seat for my bike. The fantastic bike shop let me try three different seats for comfort. This one was the best. I haven't ridden any great distance on it yet so I can't give a full review but… Continue reading The Haemorrhoid bike seat
Wearing a bicycle helmet is not compulsory in the UK or anywhere else in Europe and I don't wear one when I go cycling. I am also vehemently opposed to compulsory helmet legislation. Why? Because it reduces cycling rates which in turn makes cycling more dangerous for those left. It also affects the health of the population… Continue reading Bicycle helmet legislation and Hövding
I'm Busby the Bakfiets, Rachel's bicycle. It was very cold last night and everything froze, including me: My mistress tried to ride me this morning but couldn't. First she tried to open the cover to let the two wriggly creatures inside but the cover was frozen shut. Eventually she got it open but the lock was… Continue reading A guest post from Busby the bike
My family was pleased to see me when I arrived back home from Barcelona, but they weren't ecstatic or anything and they seemed to have managed just fine without me. In fact, I was disappointed to see that Ben wasn't looking more dishevelled and stressed out after almost a week as a single parent. And… Continue reading “Daddy can’t do anything”
It's getting close to the shortest day of the year now and according to BBC weather, sunrise is at 8:36am and sunset at 3:26pm in Aberdeen. However it's light at both of these times, I guess because we get the sunlight before the sun appears on the horizon and also after it disappears. The temperature range… Continue reading Enchantment on a bicycle
There aren't very many off-road cycle paths in Aberdeen but there is one very good one: Deeside Way. It runs along an old train line from Duthie Park all the way out to Ballater, a total distance of 41 miles. Unfortunately the line is no longer used by trains; it was closed in 1966. But once… Continue reading Newton Dee
Now here's a really cool bicycle. It's got three wheels, solar panels and shelter from the elements. It's fairly pricey at $5,495 but you don't have to pay for insurance, petrol or rego so overall it's pretty cheap. The only thing missing, in my view, is space for two children. More about this on Grist.
I have injured my heel while running and so have had to abandon this activity for the past few days while I hobble around and hope it gets better soon. This has been disappointing because I was starting to semi-enjoy running. Not wanting to become slothful, I decided to head out on my creaky old… Continue reading Running vs cycling
My last precious days in York are flying by. We have a crazy couple of weeks in store as we must now pack up six months of our lives and condense them into three suitcases. This is not going to be easy. On top of that, we have to empty our rental property. We could… Continue reading Falling in love with inanimate objects
What kind of crazy person goes swimming in the North Sea in winter? My sister-in-law, that's who. Yesterday, we went to Scarborough on the North Yorkshire coast, to join the New Year's Day Lions Club fundraising dip. Ben's sister swims every weekend in Lake Geneva so she is well-trained in icy dips. I thought about… Continue reading Scarborough New Year’s Day Dip
I've just come back from picking Elizabeth up from nursery on my bicycle and now I want to have a whinge about the rain and wind. So here goes: I'm wet, exhausted (anyone who has cycled in the wind will understand why but add a factor of ten to this given that I'm cycling a… Continue reading A whinge
He's known in the school playground as the Terminator and here he is in my bakfiets. Be afraid, be very afraid.
Another day, another city, another sister. This time we're in Geneva visiting Ben's sister. I have never been all that fond of Geneva because it has somewhat of an exclusive feeling to it. It also seems to be full of banks and shops selling expensive watches. Something that they do very well here though is… Continue reading Geneva
Last week the river Ouse looked very full. Yesterday I thought, wow, it's even fuller. This morning it is double WOW! Here's a photo of the river, taken from the bike path, yesterday afternoon. Here's a photo taken from the same spot this morning. And here in portrait mode so you can see… Continue reading River Ouse
We finally got around to venturing inside York Minster today with two small children in tow. Yes, it is beautiful and magnificent, but unlike other cathedrals we've been in, York Minster has hands-on activities for adults and children. There was this thing inside (called an orb apparently) that looks a bit like a cancerous growth,… Continue reading York Minster with kids
I thought I'd conduct a poll (see below) to see what readers of my blog think about legislation to make helmets compulsory. One of the things I like about living in York is that I don't *have* to wear my helmet when I go cycling. I can just jump on my bike and dash out… Continue reading Should helmets be compulsory?
A friend of mine shared this video with me which I found really interesting. It discusses the reasons why the Dutch have such brilliant cycling infrastructure today and you get to see some of it in action. I wish more countries would follow suit.
Could this bike be the future of cycling? The levitating bike is an entry into the 2013 Hi-MACS annual design contest. It captures the energy from pedalling, stores it in a battery and then allows you to subsequently plug this energy back into the grid. It can also charge small devices via USB, like… Continue reading The future of cycling?
I want to ride my bike with my two-year-old sitting in her seat on the back. She loves it. I love it. I want to ride my bike to save money on petrol. I want to ride my bike to reduce my greenhouse gas emissions. I want to ride my bike to help prevent depression… Continue reading I want to ride my bike…..
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