Fat Bloke on a Bike: An Unlikely Adventure

Product Information

Normally, the cable is protected by the mudguard, so once this has been removed, you need to find some other way of protecting the cable. Well, firstly, unless the seat is already at the correct height, adjust it to more or less the height you think it should be using rack-of-eye, and check it by maybe pedalling round for a bit, then re-adjusting as necessary until it’s right.

Removing them is quite fiddly as, firstly, you need to get your fingers between the wheel and rear frame to secure the locking nuts while you attempt to unscrew the screw, which holds the stays, in bunches of threes, onto the frame. When I asked Team Turnip, who also walk when not cycling, about joining them sometime I got a response along the lines of ‘Oh, we’re not in your league’.Beyond the narrow streets, the city is well endowed with dedicated, generally well-maintained and clearly signposted cycleways.

I’m afraid it’s Shanks’s Pony for me for the time being at least, although because of my penchant for the walking and hiking I’ve done in the past I seem to have acquired a reputation (entirely undeserved) as something of a ‘Hard Man of the Hills’.

Those who are interested in taking on the Tri challenge should get in touch with Steve Raby, who’ll be organising some Triathlon specific training, bike rides, ‘bricks’, maybe open water swims etc. I had always assumed that cycling across London would be an interesting, liberating and somewhat exhilarating experience, but that it was also likely to be hectic and at times, downright frightening. Obviously, as I’ve discussed in an earlier post, the ‘whether to lock or carry’ debate is not a clear cut one, despite what some Brompton owners may think or say. With a Brompton (or similar folding bike), the easiest of these to deal with is seat height adjustment – something you do every time you unfold it.

The situation in question was an ecological assessment of a relatively large piece of farmland in a rural part of lowland Lancashire (in northwest England). Had to then bike a mile up the hill to get the train home as I was very tired, that was much slower in granny gears. In the past I’ve tried wearing normal clothes (they get all sweaty and smelly); rolling up my suit into my C-Bag (difficult not to crumple it and the bag soon gets filled if you put your shiny dancing shoes in there too); or simply wearing cycling gear (not especially professional, unless you work in a cycling or sports-related industry).Finally, as my Brompton has a Brooks saddle, it is not so easy to carry as it is with the standard seat, so I tend to hold it by the frame. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and knowing the author simply made his achievement (in writing a book and, indeed, in getting on a bike) that much more impressive. The thing is, the gearing itself is fine (if you want a lower gear ratio, which I did), but it’s much more of a faff changing gear during a normal bike ride since you have to constantly flip both the derailleur and sturmey-archer levers on a BWR6 just to stay in the middle gears. which I can use when the one I’m riding fails and can be gaily thrown into a ditch, is enormously appealing but unrealistic.