How to cycle uphill.

Let's deal with a hill we know, being as we're talking about cycling to work. There are three such beasts on my commute, in quick succession. Two of them I can delay or avoid by switching routes (and adding some miles to my journey) but the first one has to be done, the alternatives are just too long to be worth it.

My hill, from Carew to Whitehill is about 5 miles into my commute. The trunk road rolls over fairly easy terrain, and provides a good warmup, but the hill is still very daunting, and there is no easy way to start it, as it rises steeply straight after a long narrow bridge over a tidal millpond, on a righthand bend.

With no real runup, I select my second lowest gear just before the first incline. Low enough to keep me moving but with one still in reserve.

We won't concern ourselves with how big, or how long or steep it is. All hills are the same, and we're at the bottom. 

• RULE 1: Do NOT, under any circumstances, look up. As soon as you see the enormity of the task ahead of you, you've defeated yourself. This principle applies to any hill, whether you know it or not. Get your mind set on a mantra or prayer or a song lyric (see previous post). Fix your gaze on the road just ahead of your front wheel, and keep it there. 
• RULE 2: Ration your energy. We do not have an infinite supply of energy. It runs out. Do not start your hill like a greyhound from a trap. Use the minimum amount of effort to turn your pedals (this may still be quite a lot!). Keep your gears low, and try to stay in the saddle as long as you can. Don't worry about how slowly you seem to be travelling, as long as you're moving upwards, it's progress.
• RULE 3: Keep going, no matter what. Do not stop! Your lungs may feel as though they're about to burst. The chances are, they won't. Your thighs will burn with lactic acid. Pain will sear along your sciatic nerve. Ride through it. Do not stop. The pain in your thighs and chest is nothing compared to the pain in your soul at having been defeated by mere gravity.

 

Have a treat ready for when you get to the top. Chocolate is great for this, and will make you feel instantly euphoric, as will the feeling of conquering that hill. Have a drink. Replace some of the sweat you've lost. Look back. See how far you've come, it's a truly great feeling. Once you've conquered your hill, it gets less intimidating each time. Just grit your teeth and enjoy it!

How to cycle to work 2 getting out there.

My average commute to work is 12+ miles, quite hilly, and takes around an hour, sometimes more depending on the route and just how well my legs are turning. I don't own a car, so I don't have the option of saying "I'll drive to work today", my only option is cycling. I could get a train, which would take me to a station about 5 miles from my workplace, and when I started work, I considered this as an option for particularly wet mornings, though it hasn't yet occurred to me to do it. I'd have to set off around the same time anyway, and would probably get there later, so is it really worth the extra expense? I could walk, of course, but that would take around 3 hours, and as I start work at 8am, it would mean leaving the house at 5. Not practicable, really.

My wife usually wakes me up with a cup of tea around 5.30am, and has my cycling gear ready for me, so it's just a question of getting some breakfast, usually just a bowl of cereal and a second cup of tea, checking and packing my pannoier with tools, lunch, uniform etc and getting out there.

It's a little easier now it's light at 6.30am. It was quite an effort when it was still dark, but to watch the sunrise as I cycle along is a joy which makes it all worthwhile.

I take my ipod with me. I do not consider this dangerous, as I don't have it loud enough to cancel out any traffic noise. On the main road I usually pop out the right earpiece so I just have background music or spoken word in my left ear and traffic noise (if there is any) in my right. I don't always have it on, sometimes the silence and the birdsong is enough.

Attitude is a major factor first thing in the morning. I don't allow myself a single moment of negativity. I concentrate completely on the positive aspects of cycling to work, the fact that my body will be getting a good workout, the fact that I will be filling my lungs with fresh air, the fact that I will in all likelihood see a spectacular sunrise, the fact that I have a whole hour of complete and utter solitude - a rare and luxurious thing for the father of 4 young children!

Even though I know my journey time is about an hour, I try and set out as near to 6.30am as possible, 6.45 at the very latest, so I don't have to rush. If I'm half an hour earlier into work, that's 30 minutes of lovely peace and quiet with a cup of tea before the others arrive and it all kicks off.

I start slow. I have arthritis in my hips and knees, and they're a bit stiff and creaky first thing. Any attempts to get them to move faster than they want to results in quite serious pain, so I let them find their own comfort level.

I pray as I cycle. Cycling is a rhythmic exercise, and repetitive prayer mantras are ideally suited to the rhythm of cycling or walking.

I'm a Christian, and I use Christian prayers and chants, but we can all pray however we want. I start with The Lord's Prayer, simply because I know it so well, and repeat that a few times. Then the Jesus Prayer, which is another one ideally suited to repeating over and over:

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

The Christian mantra "Maranatha", which is Aramaic for "Come, Lord", and is just 4 syllabes of equal length. After that I let the prayer go where it will.

As a follower of 24/7 prayer, I find filling up an hour with prayer quite easy, and it is easy when you do it regularly - like everything, it gets easier with practice.

For me the importance of the prayer aspect cannot be overstated. I need that time of prayer to start my day - were I working at home, I would still pray, though probably not for an hour - it's much more difficult at home to sit quietly for that amount of time. You may not need this to start your day, but what you do need is something to take your mind off those hills! Maybe a song to sing (either aloud or in your head) or a tune to whistle, anything to distract you from dreading that hard climb ahead!

I'll deal with tackling those hills in a separate post.

How to cycle to work: 1. clothing.

my friend posted this on facebook following my previous posts here:
"that blog about your cycle route on a daily basis.........how do you do such a distance?"
and it prompted me to think in detail about how I approach my commute to work.
The right clothing is essential.

• Footwear: I wear "proper" cycling shoes; SPD shoes which clip to my pedals and have a much stiffer sole than walking shoes. In cold weather these are coupled with sealskinz waterproof socks, though this has not prevented my toes from numbing up. I have found cycling shoes problematic in many ways - I think the problem lies in the fact that cycling shoes are made by cycling companies such as Shimano, Bontrager, Specialized etc and not by shoe manufacturers. Now, if Clarks made cycling shoes... I am seriously considering buying shoes with a Goretex lining next. Despite the prohibitive £130 price tag I suspect they will be a worthwhile investment.
• Trousers: I wear padded shorts, whatever the weather. I possess a pair of waterproof, breathable trousers, but have hardly ever worn them. My legs overheat. I have a pair of lycra bib tights which I wear for longer journeys, but I like my "baggy" shorts with detachable padded insert for my work trips. I work on the principle that if my legs get wet they will dry, and if they're cold at the start they'll soon warm up, whereas cooling down hot legs is a much trickier feat to accomplish.
• Shirt: I wear a cycling shirt for a number of reasons - the pockets at the back are good for carrying stuff (you don't want your trouser pockets cluttered with stuff, it soon becomes an uncomfortable burden when you're on the move). The high-cut collar is good for keeping the wind off the chest and neck, and the lightness of the fabric is good for "wicking" sweat away from the body and for drying quickly when wet.
• Jacket: I have a Paramo windproof cagoule - this is not cycle-specific, but does its job brilliantly. It's not waterproof, but is slightly water-resistant, and a wash in nikwax every few weeks keeps it that way.
• Gloves/Mitts: I always wear padded gloves or mitts. My wrists still hurt sometimes, my fingers still go numb, but it is minimised by good padding. I favour a thin glove so I can still feel what I'm doing with my fingers.
• Helmet: I wear one for added visibility, rather than protection. I favour the "skate" type helmet rather than the tradiotional road cycle helmet as I attach a couple of lights front and rear. I have never found a cycle helmet which is comfortable, but what I have now is the best of a bad job. The sponge padding doesn't dry out very quickly, so it's best to leave the helmet on rather than taking it off, letting the sweat cool down and putting your head back into a cold wet helmet. I wear a microfleece cap inside it in the winter.

Wear what works for you. Don't overdress, because you'll end up all hot and sweaty. Do wear cycle-specific clothing, it's designed to be comfortable on the bike and comfort is of far more importance than appearance. Be prepared to spend money - good cycling clobber doesn't come cheap!
My work clothes I leave at work, only taking them home when they need washing, and carry them to and fro in my panniers. I don't wear a rucksac on a journey of any length, they give me backache.
If you're a person who runs for the nearest doorway when the first spots of rain appear on the pavement, forget it. Get used to getting wet. It's going to happen a lot. Take a towel. Some enlightened workplaces now have showers for cyclists (mine doesn't).
Sort out your clothing the night before. There's nothing worse than being able to find only one mitt as you're heading out the door, and set off in plenty of time, there's nothing more likely to put you off commuting to work by bike than having to race against the clock every day. Some days, when you're in the mood for it, it's fun to try and set a new record, but if you're constantly having to push yourself to the max every morning, you'll soon give up. Ride your route to work when there's no pressure, and take your time. Allow for the odd catastrophe such as a puncture - carry a spare inner tube, a puncture repair kit and a pump, along with a good multitool which can cope with most minor eventualities. I find carrying a spare inner tube is the best way to prevent punctures - the day you don't have one with you is the day you'll get a puncture!

Commuting part 2

I've written about my commute to work in the previous post, and as I've said, it's all good whatever the weather and it sets me up for the day.

The ride home is a different beast.

I work hard. I find it the best way to get through the day.

We have a fleet of around 200 bikes which had never seen a service till I started work. There's a lot to do.

Now the weather is good, I drag a workstand outside and fix bikes in the fresh air all day. As I've said, the bikes were in a sorry state when I got there, most of them needing new chains, new brakeblocks and new cables. As soon as one bike's done, there's another to take its place.

When I commute to work, I travel to a different world. I'm surrounded by beautiful countryside - I have one of the best views of the Preseli hills anywhere. Apart from my work colleagues, I'm surrounded by people on holiday. It's a nice atmosphere to be in, and I don't have to think about anything. I can fix bikes in my sleep, I don't need to think about what I'm doing, in fact the less thought, the better.

I'm on my feet all day and the work can be strenuous.

When 4.00pm comes around, I've usually tired myself out.

But then I have to cycle at least 12 miles home.

Grim determination is the only way.

I start off slow. I try and take the path of least resisitance, but there aren't any, really. The hill on the north side of Creselly has to be avoided at all costs. It's a killer, with a nasty bend in the middle. Even though I'm dropping over 200 feet in altitude, it's all so up and down, you don't really notice. I try and maintain a steady pace, but really I just want the journey over. Invariably I start to push the pace. The A470 trunk road between Carew and the dock is very busy at that time of day, and traffic seems determined to run me off the road. It is no fun.

commuting

I started work as a cycle mechanic at Bluestone about three months ago, at the beginning of February 2011. I work on Mondays and Fridays, although it seems to make more sense to say Fridays and Mondays, though it's hard to tell which is which sometimes. I have been known to greet my colleagues on a Friday with "had a good weekend?".

I cycle to work (and of course back again). When I started my hours were 9.00am to 5.00pm, but this meant getting home after 6pm, so I requested to change my hours to 8am - 4pm. This means leaving the house at 6.30am to arrive before 8am.

My commute to work is just over 12 miles via the shortest route (two "busy" main roads), though there are numerous alternative routes, all of which add length to the journey, but add interest, or are less hilly.

According to my GPS, my workplace is 262 feet higher than where I live, so there are some serious climbs involved in my commute to work.

The first section, 5 miles east along the A470 trunk road from Pembroke Dock to Carew is fairly level with a few gentle inclines, and is a good, if boring, warmup. 

The second part heads north from Carew towards Canaston Bridge along the A4075 for about 7 miles. This road contains three serious climbs in quick succession, which is what prompted me to look for alternatives.

The first hill, from Carew to Whitehill, cannot be avoided without adding around 3 miles to the journey, and the alternative is almost as hilly, so is not worth the extra time and mileage. At Whitehill, I can turn west and drop down to Creswell Quay, a more picturesque route which replaces the second and third climb with one large one. This is a couple of miles longer, but much quieter and prettier. If I turn right (east) at Whitehill (a recent discovery) there is a fairly level route to Jeffreyston followed by quite a drag of a climb through Loveston.

Creselly, that's the place to avoid, sitting atop its own hill, smack in the middle of the journey.

Even with that extra hump in the journey though, that's the quickest route, and I don't always manage to set off in time to allow for diversions!

The journey takes around an hour, rarely less, often longer, so i try to allow 90 minutes travelling time. The hardest part is getting out of the house, particularly on a rainy morning, though I haven't had too many of those. A couple of months ago it was pitch black and freezing when I set out from home, now it's light and warm(ish).

It's a lovely hour, a prayerful hour. I take an ipod with me, but only iff I need to be jollied along. The birdsong at that hour is quite something, and I have regularly heard woodpeckers along the way (though never seen them). I have seen an owl returning home through the morning mist. The ride sets me up for the day. Whatever mood I leave home in, I'm usually in a better one by the time I get to work. I'm the first one there, in the Bike Hire shop, so I can mooch around getting changed and lingering over a cup of tea before the day gets started.

Blog reposted

I’ve rearranged things so I can post to “cycling back to happiness” from posterous.com.

Bonzo Dog band Hunting Tigers with Lyrics

SANTA FOR A DAY

A couple of weeks ago I agreed to be Santa for a couple of hours during the afternoon at a Christmas fayre at the local school. I was paid for it.
The event was shambolic. I was told to walk around with a sack of sweets, handing them out to children who were seen to be participating in events. As expected, a gaggle of ill-mannered oafs followed me, surrounded me, and generally demanded sweets, why wouldn't they?
After an hour I was frought and exhausted, so I gave the last of my sweets away and went home, vowing never to repeat the exercise.
Today I was Santa again.
Same school, different setup.
I had a grotto.
Children from Early Years up to Year 4 were brought along to be given a small present. I sat in a rather cramped "sleigh" in an even more cramped tent in a very hot santa suit, from 10am to 3pm. (I did get a lunch break, but most of this was spent hastily wrapping colouring books as we'd run out!)
Some early years children were scared by this strange bloke in a false beard, why wouldn't they?
I asked them all their names, every single one. (There were over 200 of them).
Most of them went away feeling they'd met the "real" Santa. I felt like I'd done a "real" job.
I didn't get paid, it was a school fundraising exercise, but I did get a box of maltesers and three miniature malt whiskies! Cheers!

THE END OF A YEAR

It is hard to believe my last post was back in July.
So much has happened since.
My daughter did indeed take her bike when we went camping - we were there for almost three weeks, and we cycled out to Stack Rocks and back (around 9 miles), as well as shorter rides around the campsite.
Over the past few months things have changed dramatically. Due to a sudden increase in our horrible neighbour's bass playing, we were prompted into looking for a mutual exchange, and found one almost instantly! We have only moved to the next street! All quite incredible, all God driven, of that I am absolutely certain.
Our new house is a semi-detached house with two brick-built sheds in the back garden, which will be great for cycle storage when they're clear of the rubbish which currently occupies them. Both front and back gardens are flat and much more user friendly than the old garden/yard we had. Rooms inside are bigger, with the notable exception of the kitchen, which is tiny in comparison, though still serviceable.
We have been resident here a couple of weeks and things are still chaotic, but we have settled in quickly. The plan is to get fairly straight then have a house-blessing party with a few Christian friends, and pray blessings on the rooms, the walls, the gardens, everything, and "set things straight".
Then we "open" as a "HOUSE OF PRAYER".
Much else has happened too, far too much to recall just now.
I'm VERY tired. There is much to do in the new house and at the end of each day I am exhausted. I will endeavour to look back over the past six months and give regular updates where possible.

10

My daughter Jasmine is 10.

She has always enjoyed cycling, ever since her first bike, when she was 4.

She's not one to exert herself, though. I suspect what she likes most about cycling is that she can keep moving without pedalling when the gradient takes her.

Today, I needed to cycle to Tenby. My wife has been called up for a spot of urgent facepainting this afternoon, and was needing to replenish her stocks from Griggles.

I gave Jasmine the option of coming with me or not, and despite the threat of rain, she chose to come along.

There are some punishing hills along the route, the longest being the hill from Lamphey up to the Ridgeway. She took this one in her stride. We stopped halfway to catch our breath, but she soldiered on and completed it, much to my amazement. Along the top of the Ridgeway we had wind and drizzle, though not wet enough to warrant the wearing of waterproofs. Down into St Florence was a wild descent, and she managed to draw safely to a stop in front of an approaching car - hopefully the shock will teach him to curb his speed somewhat and be a bit less impatient. Other motorists were very kind and courteous to us.

Beyond St Florence, a few more shorter but steeper hills had her walking-and-pushing for short stretches, but it was a last resort. Going into Tenby is the shortest steepest nastiest hill of the lot. I turned round to find her cycling up it with ease!

We had comfortable time in which to do our shopping and get to the railway station in time for a train back to Pembroke Dock.

I gave her the option of getting the train all the way back, or getting off, either at Lamphey or Pembroke, and cycling the remaining distance. She elected to get off at Lamphey.

Bush Hill, between Pembroke and Pembroke Dock, is a killer. Even her mother cannot do the whole of Bush Hill. Jasmine did it! Now we're home again, she has wibbly legs, especially when coming down stairs. Now she wants to take her bike when we go camping!

One Proud Parent!

FURTHER DELAYS

My new spokes are still not here. Mark at the shop says they're on order. He also says they didn't have plain gauge spokes in stock, so he's ordered me "competition" spokes. Just wish they'd get here in competitive time!

SPOKECALC

(click the title to find yourself a cool spoke-calculating online app)

One has to take various critical measurements - rim diameter, hub flange diameter, distance from each hub flange to the centre (the rear flanges are offset by the cassette or freewheel). These measurements are then fed into the calculator along with the number of spokes, and the length of spoke is calculated according to which lace pattern is to be used.

A vernier caliper is all that's needed for hub measuring, but rim diameter is trickier, and is best effected by cutting 2 spokes 200mm from the threaded ends. A nipple is then threaded onto the spokes, and the spokes inserted into opposing eyelets. The distance between the spoke ends is measured, and 400mm added to the figure. As a rim may not be exactly round, an average is taken from a number of measurements. It's all quite critical, with small tolerances. The spokes I have been given are only 2mm longer than the suggested length, but I would run out of thread before they were tight enough, and the couple of extra millimetres would protrude beyond the end of the nipple. This, in itself is not critical on the rims I am using, as the nipples are set deep in the rim, but a professional would never do this, whatever the circumstances.

As learning curves go, it's been a good one. The groundwork I covered by reading both wheelbuilding books has been solid and useful. Dismantling and relacing the wheel on which I am working has also been a very useful if time consuming exercise.

WHEELBUILDING - AN ART

My front wheel, sadly not yet built. Laced in a 3x pattern, complete with brass spoke washers (which are worth the extra effort!) only to find the spokes supplied are a few millimetres too long. I have spoken to the bike shop, and they will need to order new spokes at the correct length...

Bugger.

I had hoped to spend some time this weekend building and truing both wheels, but it is not to be. I have tried a 3x lace pattern and a 4x lace pattern, but the supplied spokes are too short for 4x, which I would actually prefer. I may try the 290mm spokes I took from the old rims, just for exercise. I have tried 2 different methods of lacing - Gerd Schraner's and Roger Musson's, and prefer the latter for ease of application, though it only applies to a 3x lace.

Gerd's method can easily be adapted to 2x, 3x and 4x.

Reading wheelbuilding discussion groups is an enlightenment! The word "anal" comes to mind frequently. Each and every theory has an equal and opposite counterpart, and there are certainly no "definitive" answers. No shortage of people demanding them though!

Now, I need to measure my rims and hubs and do a wheel spoke calculation. I may be gone some time!

WHEEL ISSUE RESOLVED

Today I took delivery of my new rims.

I also have 72 stainless steel spokes and nipples. I am delighted with the rims, described as they are on the Mavic website as "bombproof"; exactly what I wanted. I have lost my new freehub body which disappeared with the old wheel, but I'm happy to put that one down to experience. I'm annoyed at the length of time taken to sort this out, but happy that, once I have built the wheels up, I will have a far superior set of handbuilt wheels, built by my own fair hands. I have placed spoke washers on all the new spokes! Spoke washers!

BACK IN THE WARMTH

I noticed today that my blog "Coming in from the Cold" was left unfinished. This was the blog I created to document my move to Cardiff. I finished it today. Click on the title to go to the blog.

WORLD CUP OVER!

Today I have spent most of the day involved in churchy things:

• 9.30am - 10.30am Holy Eucharist (Anglican, fairly boring).
• 10.30am - 11.30am PtL*
• 4.00pm - 5.00pm Sea Sunday**

Between times I have been cooking dinner, printing service sheets and having a bath - quite a busy day all in all, especially for a Sabbath!

I was unable to watch any of the live TdF broadcast during the afternoon, so we watched the highlights between 7 and 8pm. Interestingly, my daughter Jasmine (10) commented;

"It's not fair" as yet another closeup of an unplaced and struggling Lance Armstrong filled our screen.

"What's not?" I asked.

"At school they talked about Wimbledon and they talked about The World Cup, but they haven't talked about the Tour de France!" Good point well made, No. 1 Daughter!

I will supply her with some merchandise so that she can bring up this iniquity herself.

Afterwards, we watched Top Gear, where the running joke was;

"We can say what we like, no-one's watching. The World Cup is live on BBC1 and ITV, who is going to be watching us?" Well, 4 of us were.

After Top Gear, children and wife headed off to feather and flop, and I watched the remaining minutes of the World Cup, just so I'd know what noises to make tomorrow. Just my luck that it should go into extra time. So this is it - the pinnacle of footballing excellence. Players being shown a yellow card for kicking the ball away. Is it the same yellow card every time? Someone got to see it twice, which earned him a red card, and he got to go off early. Ah well, it's all over. It is, now.

*PtL - Praise the Lord, a new initiative led by Phill Needs, a theatrical type with a guitar, held in the Lady chapel after the main Eucharist. Supposed to be a fun learning experience, turned into a battle of wills to keep up with him as he raced through his repertoire. Things will improve, this was the first one.

**Sea Sunday - nationwide (worldwide?) church inititaive. We gathered at the docks with the town silver band and sang rousing hymns, said prayers etc. Well attended, good fun.

TdF 1ST MOUNTAIN STAGE

Chavanel takes the Yellow Jersey back from Cancellara.

Andy Schleck takes the White Jersey from Geraint Thomas, which is a shame, though he's done it without the usual support of brother Frank Schleck, who is out with a broken collarbone.

Roll on the big mountains! Finish on Morzine!

TEXT COLOUR

I'm enjoying having a transparent blog with a photograph of a bicycle behind it. I think it looks "right". It has its problems though, the main one being text colour. My Facebook friend Dominique made a comment tonight that the red text was difficult to read, and while it's great that the blog looks good, first and foremost it must be easy to read.

After a little experimentation, I've switched from red to white. What do you think?

FFALD-Y-BRENIN

The vicar and I are going to a meeting at Ffald-y-Brenin Christian retreat centre today. The meeting is from 3pm to around 8pm. The vicar can't pick me up till 3, as his wife uses the family car, and it won't be back till then.

We were discussing this yesterday, outside the church, in the steadily pouring rain. I was leaning on my bike, ready to come home for lunch. He couldn't wait to get out of the rain and back into the Rectory.

I was going to suggest we cycle.

Ffald-y-Brenin is in the lovely Gwaun Valley, on the edge of the Preseli Hills in North Pembrokeshire, around 25 miles from here - a very pleasant 2 hour ride for me, nearer 3 hours with the Rev in tow on his mountain bike, but he'd never even attempt it. He'd happily go for a 15 mile walk, but getting him on the bike is another matter.

Consequently, we miss an hour of what promises to be a very interesting meeting indeed.

SOME THOUGHTS ON TdF AND LONG DISTANCE CYCLING

Watching the Tour de France, I become lost in my own thoughts.

I realised a couple of nights ago while watching the Holland v Uruguay World Cup semi-final with a visiting friend that I (and the rest of my family) struggle to watch 22 men kick an air-filled leather bag around a rectangular field for 90ish minutes; we find the concept of cricket, where a single game can last a week, incomprehensible, yet we will happily engross ourselves in the spectacle and politics of a couple of hundred men talking a leisurely three-week cycle tour around foreign countryside.

Speaking personally, I love it because I understand it.

I don't mean I understand all the rules.

I don't mean I understand the crazy goings-on behind the scenes.

I mean I understand "it".

I love cycling long distances, especially over a few consecutive days, where you can really "get into the groove" of cycling. My family don't understand this as yet, though they're perfectly happy to allow me to go off and indulge myself. My two older children will happily cycle 10 miles or so, which is pretty good for a 10 and a 7 year old. They'd probably go further if I took them. The oldest likes to get out in front and just travel along "in her own little world", just like me. I'm looking forward to the time when we can go off together for whole weekends!

People (non-cyclists) look horrified when I tell them how far I like to cycle. Even the average "person-with-a-bike" (as opposed to Cyclists) does. Personally, I don't understand how one can own a bike and still be limited to your home town. Doesn't the desire to travel That Bit Further grab you by the neck and drag you along the nearest exit from town? One of the advantages cycling has over walking is that you can go that much faster, that much further. It's the whole point.

When you know you're going to be in the saddle all day long, you take a very different approach to nipping to the shops:

• You check your bike assiduously (if you have any sense).
• You dress appropriately. Comfort is everything.
• You start off slowly. Energy conservation is paramount.
• You make sure you have good stocks of food and drink.

You'll kick off at a nice leisurely pace and allow your muscles to ease into a rhythm, to warm up and speed up naturally, and it's often surprising how quickly you find your pace increasing. Pedalling as lightly as you can, realising how energy-efficient you can be, is a great way to travel.

As you develop your own pace (this is why I prefer solitary cycling - going at my pace rather than that dictated by others) you fall into a rhythm which is dictated by the state of your musculature and you start to maintain that rhythm, regardless of terrain. Shallow inclines start to disappear, as you just increase the power of your pedalling to keep your cadence. You soon get to know which gear you need to be in as a hill approaches, rather than have to suddenly crunch down them halfway up.

Even riding with others, when you're covering a long distance, there is little time for conversation. You are very much "on your own" and it's this I find attractive. I can travel with or without an ipod, though I do prefer to travel with one so I have the choice of silence or a backing track.

A 3-day cycle ride is a guarantee of 3 days of solitude!

If you stop anywhere, say at a roadside burger van for a cup of tea, if you're a trucker or a car driver, the griddle-monkey will have set conversational pieces ready for you "A30 chokker"; "David Cameron? Wankah!" etc, but not for cyclists. They know you want good strong tea. They know the chances are you'll be tempted by the smell of bacon, but beyond fulfilling your needs and taking your money there's no more common ground than between a fish and an ant. They'll usually leave you well alone.

If they do feel the need to make conversation, having stood alone by the roadside all morning, you can always whip out the trusty multitool and start fiddling with something on your bike. If they persist, ask them to hold the chain. This is a last resort, and rarely needs to be deployed. If you're dampened with sweat, they'll usually stay far enough away to render polite conversation impractical.

Obviously, while you're on your bike, the nearest you'll get to meaningful discourse is a motorist shouting at you for taking up too much road at a roundabout and causing them to have to slow down. Hand gestures are perfectly adequate and eloquent by way of reply, and you don't need to shout.