rain miles count double

A piece of primary legislation has been put before the Northern Ireland Assembly that, if enacted into law, would require cyclists of all ages to wear a cycle helmet when cycling on a road or other public place. Those caught riding without a helmet would face a fixed penalty charge of £50.

A few weeks ago I had a steroid injection in my right hip to deal with some tendon pain I’d been experiencing. At the time it hurt like a hurty thing and I was told to rest for a few days. I did that, but it kept on with the hurty, so I haven’t been near a bike in three weeks. It’s still sore to walk very far, but last night I decided to give the turbo trainer a go and see how my old man’s hip held up.

Today I went for a steroid injection in my right leg.

I’ve been having some niggling pain down that leg for some time, but, being a male, waited for the pain to get quite bad before I did anything about it. “Sure it’ll probably clear up”, I thought, but no.

For a month now, more or less, I’ve been shuttling back and forward to work on the my new winter bike, a Carrera Virtuoso from Halfords.

Belfast Cycle City, who I’ve written about before, held a protest in Belfast today at news of a 98% cut in the spending allocation for cycling in the city. The event was well attended, with around 120 cyclists of all shapes and sizes taking part (including one brave soul on a Penny Farthing), cycling once around the city hall area with police escorts.

10/10/10. It’s a Binary Day, or 42 Day if you’re a geek like me, and if you’re a geek like me you’ll also know that 42 is the true answer to ultimate question of life, the universe and everything. Kinda like getting out on your bike, no? That’s what I did anyway, on this day of days, taking myself off for a wee spin down the Sustrans M5 cycle path into Belfast and back again.

Much like last year, in 2010 I used my efforts in dragging myself (and a bike) around Lough Neagh in Lap The Lough to pester people into sponsoring me to raise much needed funds for the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) in Northern Ireland.

The pledges have now all been collected, cross referenced, tallied, summed and all the other things you do with promises of money, and the grand total for 2010 came to an impressive £575!

News comes to me, via Phill and MBUK Magazine, of an ambitious plan to build a world class mountain biking centre on a derelict quarry site near Larne, here in Northern Ireland.

I think I have a new signifier for the end of summer. I was all set for a long-way commute this morning until I looked out the window. It was too dark to hit the country roads without lights!

Sunday, 6am, cold, wet and windy. After the week I’d had it was not a likely time to be awake, but today I was getting up, getting fed, getting dressed and heading for Craigavon regardless. It’s Lap The Lough 2010, after all.