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CONTENTS 40

Features 34 Lôn Las Cymru Coast-to-coast across Wales at Easter

Welcome

40 Better together The joy of group riding

There’s an elephant in the room this issue: the Coronavirus. We’ve hardly mentioned it. Our lead feature is about something that is likely to be proscribed by the time you read this.

The reason for the lack of coverage is mostly logistical. Viruses move fast – much faster than a magazine that’s put together over two months.

In January I was at a cycle industry trade show. Back then, the Coronavirus was something happening in China. One or two attendees weren’t shaking hands but the alarm bells hadn’t begun to ring.

I was at another couple of events in February. It still felt like a remote threat. Even at the start of March, society seemed to be waiting for something the scale of swine ’flu to hit. I wrote an upbeat editorial for this slot about group riding.

Then suddenly we were told to avoid workplaces, pubs, clubs, and non-essential travel. Sport was cancelled. Countries across Europe went into lockdown. In Spain, you could be arrested for riding your bike.

That hasn’t happened here (as of mid March). The official line is that you can still go outside by yourself for exercise, which includes riding your bike. So I’m hopeful that, as cyclists, we may be able to ride this out. (Just don’t take risks and fall off; the NHS is under enough pressure.)

If you are stuck at home, on the other hand, I hope that this issue provides some reprieve from a pummelling news cycle.

49 On the case for cyclists The Cyclists’ Defence Fund explained

52 Space for cycling York’s Solar System cycle route by disability tandem

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20 Gear up Components, accessories, petfriendly products, and books

60 High-end all-rounders Expensive gravel bikes from Isen and Vielo

66 Whyte Glencoe An all-roads 650B bike for £1,299

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Cycle Editor

68 Bar bags Keep your valuables close at hand

Regulars 04 Freewheeling A short tour around the wonderful world of cycling

07 This is Cycling UK Paul Tuohy bids farewell; what the spring Budget means for cycling; Cycling UK’s progress report; and more

31 Letters Your feedback on Cycle and cycling

On the cover

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Calderdale CTC on a cold February day in the Yorkshire Dales. By Joolze Dymond

46 Weekender Off-road on the Imber Perimeter Path

56 Cyclopedia Questions answered, topics explained

73 Travellers’ Tales Cycling UK members’ ride reports

CYCLING UK: Parklands, Railton Road, Guildford, GU2 9JX E: cycling@cyclinguk.org W: cyclinguk.org T: 01483 238300. Cycle promotes the work of Cycling UK. Cycle’s circulation is approx. 51,000. Cycling UK is one of the UK’s largest cycling membership organisations, with approx. 68,000 members and affiliates Patron: Her Majesty the Queen President: Jon Snow Chief Executive: Paul Tuohy. Cyclists’ Touring Club, a Company Limited by Guarantee, registered in England No 25185, registered as a charity in England and Wales Charity No 1147607 and in Scotland No SC042541. Registered office: Parklands, Railton Road, Guildford, GU2 9JX. CYCLE MAGAZINE: Editor: Dan Joyce E: cycle@jamespembrokemedia.co.uk Head of Design: Simon Goddard Designer: Katrina Ravn Advertising: Harvey Falshaw T: 020 3198 3092 E: harvey.falshaw@jamespembrokemedia.co.uk Publisher: James Houston. Cycle is published six times per year on behalf of Cycling UK by James Pembroke Media, 90 Walcot Street, Bath, BA1 5BG. T: 01225 337777. Cycle is copyright Cycling UK, James Pembroke Media, and individual contributors. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission from Cycling UK and James Pembroke Media is forbidden. Views expressed in the magazine are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or the policies of Cycling UK. Advertising bookings are subject to availability, the terms and conditions of James Pembroke Media, and final approval

by Cycling UK. Printed by: William Gibbons & Sons Ltd, 26 Planetary Road, Willenhall, West Midlands, WV13 3XB T: 01902 730011 F: 01902 865835 Founded in 1878

Top to bottom: Joolze Dymond; Kat Young; Jeremy Chandler; Dan Joyce

DAN JOYCE

18 Shop Window Previews of new products

Coronavirus For updated advice regarding the Covid-19 outbreak, visit: cyclinguk.org/ coronavirus-advice

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The last word

When the national Budget has nothing for cycling, membership of Cycling UK is more important than ever, says Paul Tuohy

T

As a result of Coronavirus, we are looking at moving the AGM planned for June to a date to be confirmed in September

Left: Alamy

he recent Budget Dan Howard, announcement showed Chair of the Board that there has never been a of Trustees, said: moment like now to support cycling.

“I’d like to thank Paul Whilst I am proud of the changes I for his leadership over the have presided over since my arrival last five years. During that time, in 2014, I cannot stress enough that Paul has worked to support the Cycling UK is needed now more modernisation of the organisation, than ever to hold Government to fostered new relationships with account for its continued lack of government, and helped more Chancellor Rishi Sunak had action on active travel. people discover the joy of cycling nothing for cycling in March It’s beyond belief that the through programmes such as the Chancellor has just announced, in Big Bike Revival. The Board will the recent Budget, that £1bn will be spent on ‘green transport start their search for the next CEO shortly.” solutions’ without a single penny committed to cycling or Stop press: Coronavirus walking. It leaves English councils outside London with no As Cycle magazine went to press, the Government announced earmarked money whatsoever to spend on their local cycling unprecedented measures to prevent the spread of Covidand walking network plans from April.

19 Coronavirus, including asking people to avoid social Instead, he has announced a staggering £27bn road situations. As a result, we took the decision to ask our groups building programme, which will only serve to increase the to cancel group rides and activities to minimise the risk. climate, air pollution, congestion, and inactivity related public By the time you read this, things may have already moved health crises threatening this country. More on page 12. on, but it’s important we play our part keeping our staff, A fond farewell members, volunteers, and the general public safe. That’s why Over the past six years, Cycling UK has built upon its roots as we’ll be continuing to monitor the situation and taking advice a brilliant club organisation into a truly national campaigning from the Government, the NHS, and other partners. and advocacy organisation. We’ve worked with governments It’s an unsettling and worrying time for everyone, with and independently to deliver programmes supporting those the country experiencing containment measures the likes new to cycling. Cycling UK punches well above its weight, of which haven’t been seen since the Second World War. and its influence is growing every year that passes.

Hopefully things will improve soon, especially if we all do I feel my role in the transformation is now done. I’ll be our bit. At time of writing, the advice remains that you should stepping down as Chief Executive in the spring, so this will be take regular exercise – and what better way to do that than my last piece for Cycle magazine. It’s been an amazing ride on your bike? It’s a great way to keep fit and healthy, and but it’s time for me climb off for the next chapter to begin. I physical activity boosts your immunity. will begin by renewing my membership!

Unfortunately, we’re all going to have to forgo the club run Thank you, and see you out on the bike. and the social side of cycling for a little while longer. But it Paul Tuohy won’t be forever.

Stay connected

facebook.com/CyclingUK

Twitter @wearecyclinguk

www.cyclinguk.org

We’re all going to have to forgo the club run and the social side of cycling for a little while longer

cycling@cyclinguk.org

01483 238301

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you are

Top: Roy (fourth from left) in Prestatyn with Merseyside CTC Left: On the Lôn Las Menai cycleway, near Caernarfon

ROY SPILSBURY Cycling UK’s volunteer of the year for 2006 is still campaigning aged 85. He spoke to Dan Joyce about making waves and embracing change

W

hen you’ve got about three days to spare, Dan, I’ll tell you the rest,” Roy signs off cheerfully at the end of our telephone interview. He’s a torrent of information, rattling off arguments and anecdotes in the conversational equivalent of copper plate handwriting. His diction is polite and precise, belying, I suspect, a terrierlike disposition; his long history of cycle campaigning has chalked up some notable successes.

“The one that attracts most attention is the seven-year battle to get cycling onto Llandudno promenade as part of National Cycle Route 5,” he says. “I kept pecking away at that. Every time the council mentioned the promenade, up I would pop with a letter.”

Other campaigns he fought and won include the establishment of a nature reserve in Prestatyn, and the opening up of an old railway line between Prestatyn and Dyserth. (Roy lives in North Wales and rides with Chester & North Wales CTC.) But he’s keen to stress that cycle campaigning “isn’t just about pedalling on designated off-road paths. It’s also making inroads into the culture of the roads. An initiative within my local cluster here in North Wales, where I think we’re a market leader, is Operation SNAP, which involves the use of head cameras for pursuing prosecutions.”

Roy does a lot of letter writing to win support for his arguments. “I’ve always believed in getting into the media,”

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Paris disagreement “It was me that triggered off, through the CTC Forum in 2007, the complaint against Matthew Paris. The year before, four of my chums in Rhyll Cycling Club were killed by a motorist. And a year later, Matthew Paris is writing in The Times about decapitating cyclists. It became the biggest ever complaint to the Press Complaints Council.”

he says, “getting into the newspapers, making points.” The ‘local rag’, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. He has his own website, Cycling in North Wales, which has racked up around four million hits.

“I use social media as well, and I do YouTubes – although I’m still a student in that area.

Whenever cycling comes up in the media, I respond on social media, sending a hyperlink to the YouTube video I’ve done. I put the words ‘Cycling UK’ on the video.”

Roy has embraced the change from CTC to Cycling UK. “I have little patience with those who bemoan the fact that CTC is not a club,” he says. “I’m delighted by the change of its name to Cycling UK. Nobody’s got more fondness for the old CTC and the Winged Wheel than me; I’ve written articles on it. But the switch to the new title and logo has given me much greater impact in contacts with the media and the local community. Moving to a charity, I have no problem with. There’s an awful lot of work going into campaigning and so on which is charitable delivery.

So I’m fully supportive.

“Cycling UK is an institution. It’s responded to the times as times have changed. It’s hit its lows but it’s never been confronted with the challenges that we have now, because the world has changed. Our physical playground has changed. It has never been more important to have Cycling UK than now.

I’ve been a rights rep for years and I’ve always been conscious of the fact that I’m not primarily working for Cycling UK, I’m working for society. Cycling UK is my tool.”

Unusually, perhaps, for someone who is 85, Roy’s eye seems firmly fixed on the future. “Like many organisations – and I think this is a problem that Cycling UK is trying to confront at the moment – there’s the issue of the ageing population of the membership. What I would like to see is an associate membership or something of that ilk, where people could perhaps receive the magazine or some form of regular update but not the third-party insurance. A phrase went through my head this morning, a sort of sales pitch for a potential associate membership: “What price your grandchild’s future?”

More info Cycling in North Wales, Roy’s website, is: cyclingnorthwales.uk

More about operation SNAP: https://gosafesnap.wales

Details Where: Wales, south to north Start/finish: Cardiff to Holyhead Distance: 380km Pictures: Kat Young and Jo Lankester

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LÔ N L A S C Y M RU

G R E AT R I D E S

KAT YOUNG & JO LANKESTER Cycle tourers

Great Rides

Kat is a cyclist, walker, and blogger. Her website is attitude-overability.com. Jo is her friend

LÔN LAS CYMRU Last Easter, laden with chocolate eggs and hot cross buns, Kat Young and friend Jo Lankester rode coast to coast across Wales

H

ey, Jo… You know that big climb we were worried about yesterday?” I called out behind me as I slowly pedalled up another steep hill.

“Yeah?”

“I think we were worried about the wrong hill.” Breathing raggedly, I came to a stop at the roadside, contemplating the rising tarmac ahead.

Time for another mini-egg break!

CARDIFF TO GLASBURY Jo and I were cycling the Lôn Las Cymru over the long Easter weekend, across Wales from Cardiff to Holyhead. We had been expecting a lot of rain as it was April, and Wales, so were staying in B&Bs rather than camping. Theoretically this meant we were lighter up the Welsh hills, but my bike still felt pretty sluggish. That may or may not have had something to do with the quantity of mini-eggs and hot cross buns that I had stashed in various bags.

From Cardiff seafront, the start of the route followed the Taff Trail, a mixed cycling and walking path along the Taff river valley. It was a beautiful morning and the trail was busy with dog walkers and runners. It was lovely to be away from vehicles but there were a lot of barriers that we had to stop for.

We continued to climb up the valley and into the Brecon Beacons, grinning in anticipation. The switchbacks near Pontsticill were our first proper taster of how steep the

We had been expecting a lot of rain as it was April, and Wales, so we were staying in B&Bs rather than camping

roads can be in Wales. I secretly wondered if my legs would be up to the challenge, before stopping halfway up the pass at a car park area.

“Just taking in the view!” I called to Jo as she came past. The second half wasn’t so bad, and the views from the shoulder of Craig y Fan Ddu were glorious in the sun.

Having caught our breath, we almost missed the turn for our descent – a balcony gravel track above Talybont reservoir. I’m a nervous descender at the best of times, but our bikes (coincidentally matching Genesis Croix de Fers) were really stable on the mixed terrain we encountered.

Halfway down the gravel, Jo got a puncture so we pulled over. I helped out by taking photos of the pretty view whilst Jo got to work fixing the flat. The disadvantage of bikepacking bags, in vogue though they may be, is that whatever item you want will invariably be buried at the bottom and so you have to unpack nearly all of the bag’s contents to find it.

Guess where the innertubes and tyre boot were?

We nearly rode straight past Talybont on Usk but circled back and found the café, along with my dad who had ridden out to meet us. The café was attached to a bike shop, which provided a new tyre and spare tube for Jo. The last 25km was lumpier than we had thought but gave beautiful views back to Pen y Fan and across to the Black Mountains.

We were on narrow lanes until Talgarth, and pulled into Glasbury B&B at about 6pm.

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Main: The route is nontechnical but tiring in winter Below: It’s rare to be able to ride like this on Salisbury Plain; much of it is off-limits

Weekender

Imber Perimeter Path Thanks in part to Cycling UK, there’s a new 30-mile off-road circular route on Salisbury Plain. Sophie Gordon rode it with colleagues

B SOPHIE GORDON Campaigns Officer Sophie has just got a new mountain bike and is enjoying riding one that doesn’t gradually fall apart.

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lustery wind blew hard over the wide open landscape of Salisbury Plain. Fortunately we were riding a circular route. After a while it was at our backs as we breezed along rutted gravel tracks, skirting (mostly!) around the deep puddles.

We were testing a new 30-mile loop around the perimeter of the Ministry of Defence’s Imber Off-road Range. Until now, this was only for walkers. updates Over several years, Cycling UK and the British Sign up for our quarterly newsletter: Horse Society have worked with the MoD to cyclinguk.org/ develop a rideable route. The Imber Perimeter offroadupdate Path allows uninterrupted access around this beautiful landscape, while keeping users safe from military training – including live firing and tactical movement by large vehicles. As the MoD’s James Nevitt told us: “Keep to the path for your safety”.

Surfaces vary from tarmac and gravel tracks to grassy (muddy!) byways. It’s hard work in winter, but in summer it’ll be a great gravel bike route full of fascinating archaeological landmarks, with views stretching for miles.

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Left: Press Association

Feature

ON THE CASE FOR CYCLISTS

The Cyclists’ Defence Fund stands up for cycling and cyclists in precedentsetting legal cases. Sam Jones looks at how it operates

W

ith ailing high streets and rural businesses struggling, you’d expect councils to be falling over themselves to keep small enterprises going. Yet in the Berkshire village of Warren Row last year, a storm was brewing as cycling café Velolife faced closure if cyclists continued to gather there for cake and coffee.

Following combined action by Cycling UK, British Cycling, and solicitors Leigh Day, the council realised the error of its ways and abandoned its ban. If it had persisted, however, the Cyclists’ Defence Fund (CDF) would have stepped in – just as it has been doing on behalf of the cycling community for the past 19 years.

The CDF was set up in 2001 in response to the case of Darren Coombes, a nine-year-old cyclist who suffered brain damage from a collision with a motorist. The driver’s insurers claimed that Darren was partly to blame for his injuries because he wasn’t wearing a helmet at the time of the collision, and that compensation should be reduced because of his contributory negligence.

SAM JONES Communications Manager

CTC (as Cycling UK was then known) rose to the challenge, thanks to donations from members.

We hired a team of legal experts and defeated the contributory negligence counter-claim. To help other cyclists in precedent-setting cases like this, we subsequently set up the Cyclists’ Defence Fund. In the two decades since, CDF has stood up for individuals and the wider cycling community, making a difference in ways that might not always be apparent.

STANDING UP FOR CYCLING In 2007, Cycling UK member Daniel Cadden was stopped and charged by the police for inconsiderate cycling. His offence? Choosing to ride on the road rather than the inconvenient cycle track alongside. CDF took up the case and managed to get the charge overturned.

It was an important victory. In 2007 the Highway Code was undergoing a review consultation that threatened to place a legal obligation on cyclists to use all available cycle facilities, no matter how bad, inconvenient, or even dangerous they were.

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F E ATU R E

ON THE CASE

CDF IS A CHAMPION NOT JUST FOR THE INDIVIDUAL BUT FOR THE CYCLING COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE

The cyclists’ champion

Above: Justice for cyclists has to be fought for – which is why CDF exists Right: Mick Mason died after being hit by a driver on a clear, straight road

Top left: Alamy

In helping Daniel, CDF set a precedent which was reflected in the subsequent revision to the Highway Code. The advice now reads: “Use of these facilities is not compulsory.” So we can all continue to enjoy our right to cycle on the road.

The role of CDF as a champion not just for the individual but the cycling community as a whole is one also held by Martin Porter QC, Head of Chambers at 2TG. “In many cases of profound importance to cyclists, it is quite impossible for an individual cyclist to take a stand,” he said. “The Cyclists’ Defence Fund is the only organisation willing to support and take on the fight for such individuals. Its contribution to securing widespread and safe cycling in the UK is vital.”

More than 2,000 people contributed to a fighting fund of £80,000 to take the case to court. In April 2017 the CDF launched the UK’s first private prosecution for causing death by careless driving.

His Honour Judge Gordon accepted that it was right for a jury to consider the evidence, thanks to the work done by the CDF to find eye-witness accounts. This was something the Met had failed to do at the time.

At the trial, the driver was unable to offer any evidence for why she failed to see Mick as he cycled illuminated by his bicycle lights and the surrounding street lights. Despite this, the jury acquitted her.

FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE While this trial was lost, it revealed just how One case that made headlines, and which Martin the justice system fails victims of road collisions assisted with, was when the CDF brought the UK’s and their families. It also begged the question of first crowd-funded private prosecution for causing whether the current standards to decide what is death by careless driving. Any fatality on our considered careless or dangerous driving are fit roads is tragic. In the case of teacher Mick Mason, for purpose. who died 19 days after being hit from behind It’s not just about fighting legal battles, but also while cycling on a clear, straight road in London supporting the victims. Anna Tatton-Brown, Mick’s on 25 February 2014, the treatment of the family by daughter, said: “When my dad died after his the Metropolitan Police only added to the tragedy. collision, we were totally at sea, not just from the They refused to refer the case to the Crown natural grief, but also at the injustice of it all. The Prosecution Service (CPS) for advice on whether CDF, with the overwhelming support of the public, to charge the driver with any offence. This goes held our hands through every step of the way, and against CPS guidance in fatal collision cases. allowed us to challenge the injustice of his death.

The CDF got involved and the Met revisited their I can’t thank them enough, no matter what the decision: they agreed to refer their investigation verdict was.” to the CPS. Six days later they changed As the CDF goes through some changes to their mind again. The first Mick’s family improve its visibility and governance, it heard of this was via the media. will continue to do what it has always How CDF is Cyclists, including many Cycling done: fight for the cause of cycling changing UK members and clubs, were and be the defence that cyclists Visit the website for incensed by the Met’s volte-face. hope they’ll never need. more information:

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cyclinguk.org/ cyclists-defencefund-update

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To make the best use of CDF, its activities and administration have been moved in house, with CDF’s future work being led by Cycling UK’s campaign’s team, fully supported by our communications, fundraising and other teams. The intention is to raise CDF’s profile, continue its charitable work, and help it to grow.

“This crucial voice for cyclists’ rights can and will only be louder and clearer now it has the resources of Cycling UK fully behind it,” said Cycling UK Policy Director Roger Geffen MBE, CDF’s longest serving trustee.

The spirit of CDF will live on, which is why we’re keeping the CDF name. Existing funds will be utilised in accordance with CDF’s charitable objectives, so that we have a fighting fund to investigate, threaten, and pursue legal cases when needed.

Biketest

High-end all-rounders When one bike can fill several roles, it’s a little easier to justify the expense. Dan Joyce tests premium-priced gravel bikes from Isen and Vielo

T DAN JOYCE Cycle Editor Dan's multipurpose bike is a Genesis Vagabond.

He does like lightweight bikes as well, however

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he ultimate do-everything bike is a chimera because we’ve all got our own definitions of ‘everything’, but if your budget stretches beyond the breathtaking figure of £5k you should, at least, be able to acquire an all-rounder that’s very nice indeed.

Isen Workshop produces handbuilt steel bikes in three off-the-peg models (All Season, Mountain GOAT, and Race Ready Road), all with numerous à la carte options. The All Season is “a bicycle for adventure and adrenaline that goes beyond the road”. I tested a prototype with some upgrades.

Vielo was founded in 2017 by Ian Hughes and son Trevor, who previously worked with Scott and Storck. Their bikes, the V+1 gravel and R+1 road, are lightweight carbon fibre builds based around 1× drivetrains and wider-than-usual tyres. The V+1 is “engineered for riding on rough British roads plus off-road gravel tracks”.

Frame & fork: Isen Underneath its eye-catching paintwork, the Isen All Season is a neatly assembled collection of quality steel tubing. The test bike also has an ENVE carbon seat tube bonded into steel lugs, a framebuilder’s flourish that costs an extra £449 over a steel tube. While there will be a small weight saving, compliance differences are less than pea-sized – and I’m no princess.

To accommodate the fork’s tapered steerer, there’s a 44mm head tube with an external lower bearing. The test bike’s bottom bracket shell is chunkier too because (brace yourself) it’s a new standard: T47. Designed by Chris King and Argonaut Cycles, T47 is a PressFit 30-sized shell with threads for screw-in cups. So it’s like a bigger version of a Hollowtech bottom bracket.

Production All Season bikes have 135mm QR or 142mm thru-axle rear dropouts. The test bike’s were 132.5mm, which gives the option of running either 130mm or 135mm hubs.

This frame size of All Season is meant to accommodate 700×35C or 640×42B wheels/tyres. It doesn’t – or not with sufficient clearance. There’s scarcely more than millimetre between the seatstays and the tyre. This bike goes

H I G H - E N D A L L- R O U N D E R S

BIKE TEST

First look

The All Season is a good looking bike with a great wheelset, but it feels more road bike than gravel bike

The test bike has an ENVE carbon seat tube bonded into steel lugs, a framebuilder’s flourish that's £449 extra

Tech Spec

ISEN ALL SEASON off-road! Isen did say that different seatstays and chainstays are now being used “for added clearance”.

The all-carbon fork is roomier. You could fit a mudguard – there are mounts – over the 35mm tyre. However, a mudguard would exacerbate what is already a serious issue on the All Season: toe overlap.

The front centres distance (bottom bracket to front hub) is way too short.

pedal-stompers much stronger or heavier than me. The down tube is 74mm across at its widest.

The bottom bracket itself is a BB86/PF86 PressFit. While the V+1’s frame tolerances are surely better than those of cheaper carbon bikes, I would nevertheless install a screw-together bottom bracket such as Hope’s Press-Fit PF41 here.

Tyre clearances Top: Toe overlap with a size 42 are good in both frame shoe. This is awkward when steering around stuff off-road Frame & fork: Vielo and fork. You really can at slower speeds This is the more expensive run 700×42C or 650×50B Bottom: Cigarette-paper clearances. Note that the ‘UD’ version of the V+1, tyres. Vielo sent me some 35mm tyre plumps up to signifying that the mudguards, which sat about 38mm on the wide rim frameset’s carbon lay-up is too close to the 42mm UniDirectional. The frame tyres supplied. I’d want weighs a mere 880g (claimed), with the smoother 38mm tyres with mudguards. fork around 400g. That’s high-end racer Gear cable and brake hose routing light! Lose the dropper seatpost and you is internal. This makes the V+1 easy to could easily assemble a sub-8kg V+1. clean but complicates maintenance. I Like all Vielo’s bikes, the V+1 UD is 1× had intended to swap the gorilla-sized only; you can’t fit a front derailleur. Lack 46cm handlebar for a narrower one but of an inner chainring gives room for discovered that the cables and hoses the frame around the bottom bracket to ran through the bar too. Swapping the be enormous. It’s a huge fist of carbon levers over was suddenly not trivial; I fibre, stiff enough, I imagine, to satisfy put up with the wider bar.

Price: £6,499 as tested (framsets from £1,999) Sizes: 47, 49, 51, 53, 55, 57, 59, 61cm Weight: 8.75kg/19.25lb (53cm, no pedals) Frame & fork: Steel and carbon frame (Dedacciai Zero Uno down tube and chainstays, Columbus Max top tube, Columbus Spirit seatstays, ENVE Carbon seat tube) with fittings for 2 bottles, rear rack, and mudguard.

Columbus Futura carbon fork with mudguard mounts.

Wheels: 35-622 Schwalbe G-One Speed TLE tyres, Hunt 30 Carbon Gravel Disc wheels with 28×2 bladed Dimensions in millimetres and degrees

645 528 780

700 48

73.6˚

39 effective

500 420

572 72.5˚

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spokes, 100x12mm thru-axle front hub, 135mm QR rear.

Transmission: 170mm 50-34t Rotor Flow chainset, T47 bottom bracket, KMC X11 EL chain, 11-32 11-speed Ultegra cassette.

Ultegra-equivalent (non-series) levers, Dura-Ace derailleurs.

22 ratios, 28-125in.

Braking: Shimano Ultegra-equivalent hydraulic levers, 160/140mm discs.

Steering & seating: 400×31.8mm Bontrager Race bar, 100mm×6º Zipp alloy stem, Chris King headset. Specialized Toupé saddle, 27.2mm Fizik Cyrano R1 carbon layback post, Thomson clamp. isenworkshop.com

170 285 975

132.5 622 38

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Advice

CYCLOPEDIA Left: Rob Spanring

Questions answered, subjects explained – Cyclopedia is your bimonthly cycling reference guide

This cycle track in Birmingham is decent but it isn’t obligatory for cyclists to use any facilities

Q & A

Cycling infrastructure

Get off my road!

Your Experts

Q

I am motorist as well as a cyclist, and get annoyed at being held up behind a cyclist when I’m driving and there is a designated cycle path beside the road.

Should the law oblige cyclists to use such paths when available? Until then, I tend to use my horn as a gentle reminder of my presence. If a cyclist and driver collided on a road with an adjacent cycle path, is the cyclist’s legal position diminished?

Bob Tydeman

Technical DR KATE HATTERSLEY Cycling GP {Health}

A

Rule 61 of the Highway Code, referring to cycle routes and other facilities, notes that “use of these facilities is not compulsory”.

It goes on (Rule 63) to advise that cyclists use on-road cycle lanes “when practicable”. Usage will be dependent on the cyclist’s experience and discretion.

One of the most common reasons why cyclists choose not to use a cycle lane is out of concern for their safety. Drivers may fail to check for cyclists before turning, which can have catastrophic consequences.

Cyclists are recognised as vulnerable Coronavirus road users – meaning that they are For cyclists' advice awarded all the same rights and regarding the privileges as car drivers, plus some Covid-19 outbreak, additional protections from the visit: cyclinguk.org/ Highway Code to encourage the safety coronavirus-advice

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of cyclists, motorcyclists, and pedestrians. It would be highly unusual for a court to increase a cyclist’s liability in a claim for personal injury purely because the cyclist was not in the cycle lane. So long as the cyclist is utilising the road properly and demonstrates reasonable skill and competence, liability on that front should remain unaffected.

When the court is determining liability in personal injury claims, it will look at the actions of both parties. An example of where a cyclist would be culpable for an accident in a cycle lane would be the case of Clenshaw v Tanner [2002], where a cyclist in a cycle lane was hit by a breakdown truck turning left.

Liability in this case was awarded on a 50/50 basis because the truck driver, despite not looking for cyclists before turning, had been moving slowly and had indicated his turn with ample warning. The court found that the claimant ought to have noticed the truck’s indicators in time to stop or slow down.

Richard Gaffney

RICHARD HALLETT Cycle’s Technical Editor {Technical}

RICHARD GAFFNEY Principal Lawyer, Slater + Gordon Lawyers {Legal}

Creak-free BB

Q

I have a BB30 bottom bracket with an FSA crankset. I’ve been told that I can change to a threaded bottom bracket such as GXP. Apart from the adaptor and a new crankset, is there anything else I need? What about a new front derailleur?

Mattievrs, via the forum

A

Adapters are now available from Praxis Design, Token, Rotor, Wheels MFG, and others, allowing the use of a 24mm or similar axle crankset with BB30 and similar bottom brackets. The new crankset’s chainline should be much the same as its replacement, so you should be able to adjust the existing front mech to work well.

Richard Hallett

TRAVELLERS’ TALES

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Share your story We’d love to hear your Travellers’ Tales! Email: cycle@ jamespembrokemedia.co.uk

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Ibrahim made the trip with a full camping load

Europe & Middle East You can join the club at centcols.org/en

London GP Ibrahim Hassan rode to his birthplace in Iraqi Kurdistan

France

Corsican cols Jeremy Chandler spent a week with the Club des Cent Cols on the mountainous Isle of Beauty

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s its name suggests, the Club des Cent Cols is a French cycling club for those who love the romance of the high peaks.

To join as a full member, you must have climbed at least 100 mountain passes (‘cent cols’). I signed up a for a week’s holiday with the club with some trepidation. Would I be able to keep up with those wiry Frenchmen and women on Corsica’s 10% slopes?

And would I be able to understand a word that was going on?

I needn’t have worried. There were wonderful days of riding, for the most part in perfect cycling weather.

Most days we cycled in small groups, through groves of olives, vines and orange trees. On the climbs, there was a constant fragrance from the Corsican maquis: lavender; sweetsmelling cistus; and the slightly currylike perfume of immortelle flowers.

Of course, there were some bad moments too. On the second day I had a silly fall on the flat: a moment’s inattention, one hand off the bars, some gravel under the front wheel, and down I went. I received lots of

Riding to Iraq

tender attention from the other club members.

Two days later, we had a monster of a day crossing the Col de Bavella, which is one of the most celebrated in Corsica. On the descent we were buffeted by icy winds, which sent the bike ricocheting across the road. I have rarely, if ever, felt so cold.

For the most part, however, it was blissful. There were amazing landscapes with villages perched impossibly over the valleys, some spectacular descents from the high hills down to the sea, and convivial company from the other CCC members, both on the rides and in the evenings.

Bonifacio, on Corsica’s southern tip, overhangs the sea

IT WAS MY dream to cycle from London, where I live, to Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, where I was born. I left our house on 13 July and arrived in Erbil, the capital city of Kurdistan, on 19 September.

My route took me via Harwich, the Hook of Holland, and then along the River Rhine through Holland and Germany.

I followed the Danube to Serbia, then diverted into Bulgaria and through Turkey until I reached the Iraqi border. Initially, I rode on cycle tracks and country lanes.

Later I had to use main roads; in Turkey I used the hard shoulder of A-roads.

I enjoyed every minute of the 5,500km journey and never got bored. I met people from all over the world. The most fascinating couple, whom I met twice in Turkey, were from France. They were walking from Paris to Esfahan in Iran, a distance of 7,000km.

For every seven days of cycling, I rested a day or two. I was lucky in that I had friends and family in most of the cities where I had my rest days. Navigation was straightforward. I never needed my paper maps, just my Garmin Edge 800 and Google Maps.

In Erbil, I saw the prime minister of Kurdistan and his deputy, plus a few political figures. I suggested they create a national cycling day in Kurdistan. My message throughout was to promote cycling culture worldwide – and specifically in Iraq. My bike is now housed in a museum in Erbil to inspire my people.

C YCL I NGUK . O RG

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