Cycling in the UK

[Scooterza]

I know many in SA are considering emigrating. I used to live in Randburg, but have now emigrated to West Yorkshire, UK. 

My experience of cycling here is as follows:

• Cycling is a BIG sport here in the UK. Everywhere you go, you see cyclists. 
• Whereas in SA, I used to ride 90% MTB, here I do 99% road. That is because where I am based, the road cycling is simply amazing, and MTB riding is not quite as accessible funnily enough. There are MANY walking trails everywhere, but many of them specifically say "No cycling" for some reason.  I've also joined up with a bunch of guys who mostly road ride here so that's what I tend to do. 
• I find cycling gear here is cheaper than SA. There are lots of great online stores and especially if you are prepared to buy on sales etc, you can get great stuff for big discounts.  Obviously with the pandemic, certain items are hard to get and hence not cheap. Cool thing is that when you buy something online, it typically arrives within about 48 hours or less. 
• The drivers here are largely WAY better than SA in terms of giving you a few inches of space! I am NOT saying it's perfect and I believe much of Europe is much better in terms of respect for cyclists, but I have found the UK to be mostly good. However, there IS a anti-cyclist brigade and a few a-holes that rev their cars as they go by or hoot if you so much as dare to be on the road! 

I am riding here a lot more than SA. It's so easy to pop out, particularly on a summer evening and do a ride from 8 to 9.30pm! Obviously we are now heading into winter so that's changing but I still love that. In winter, it can of course be $£$& cold but you buy the gear and get on with it. 

Anyway, here are a few recent photos of my cycling trips. That 2nd photo below is a hill called "Park Rash" with a gradient that reaches 25% at places! Lots of steep hills around here. Had to put on an 11-34 to cope! 

 

Edited August 27, 2021 by Scooterza

[TNT1]

14 minutes ago, Scooterza said:

 

 

 

 

 

Ah, two riders taking up an entire lane. Just like tonsils in SA. Good to see some things never change. Bloody Muppets.

[Scooterza]

1 minute ago, TNT1 said:

Ah, two riders taking up an entire lane. Just like tonsils in SA. Good to see some things never change. Bloody Muppets.

Wow, ain't you a bundle of joy and laughter! ????

[TNT1]

4 minutes ago, Scooterza said:

Wow, ain't you a bundle of joy and laughter! ????

Whilst we're at it, change your username. What's this ...za piffle?????

[RobbyB]

Great photos and nice to see someone loving their cycling.

New places to ride and a new group of cycling buddies to ride with can be hugely refreshing...

Road cycling is great if you can leave from your front door...and meet the buds around the corner.

Please excuse the tosser above...his glass is always half EMPTY and snide comments are his forte'.

Edited August 27, 2021 by RobbyB

[dave303e]

do yourself a favor, before winter hits. Head North and ride Bealach na Ba. Cycle over to Applecross and back over the pass...

[Jewbacca]

Scooter...... Do you go faster, harder in the UK or did you go Faster, Harder in SA?

[dave303e]

given that the highest point on the mud island is a few hundred meters lower than the Randburg average- must be going faster there...

[Scooterza]

13 minutes ago, dave303e said:

do yourself a favor, before winter hits. Head North and ride Bealach na Ba. Cycle over to Applecross and back over the pass...

Looks awesome! Will put that on my bucket list of rides to do. 

[Scooterza]

2 minutes ago, dave303e said:

given that the highest point on the mud island is a few hundred meters lower than the Randburg average- must be going faster there...

Haha, yeah, not so sure about that. Eg my last ride 34km with 600m climbing. One hill was 1.8km with avg gradient of 9.2%. That's a tough climb. 

It may not ever get very high here but there are lots of bumps! 

[Jewbacca]

 

[Andreas_187]

Summer cycling is great but that British weather is a killer

[Scooterza]

1 hour ago, Andreas_187 said:

Summer cycling is great but that British weather is a killer

I won't say it's great, especially compared to Johannesburg which does have incredible weather. But I enjoy "interesting" weather and we get that here. Rain, sleet, snow, hail, sun, wind, heat (okay warmish!). But what we don't get is SUPER hot and actually, in Yorkshire temps never get SUPER cold either. A really cold day here is -5. You adapt and because homes are heated, a day of 0 degrees doesn't FEEL that bad. Your core is warm when you step outside. I was expecting days of grey too which I haven't experienced. The short days do suck in Jan & Feb. 

Edited August 27, 2021 by Scooterza
Adding extra

[DonatelloOnPinarello]

I would take on the inclement weather far more happily than taking on the drivers/traffic back in SA. 

You can dress appropriately for the weather, but all the lumo colors in the world won't help you with our drivers.

 

I miss euro/UK road riding. 

[IceCreamMan]

On 8/27/2021 at 11:56 AM, TNT1 said:

Ah, two riders taking up an entire lane. Just like tonsils in SA. Good to see some things never change. Bloody Muppets.

Legal here. My cycling club encourage it when we out to prevent drivers taking chances. 
 

scooter. I find I am safer here even on A roads than in the cradle. Drivers are for the most part considerate. And one can cycle from your doorstep. I used to drive to the cradle cos malibongwe was so dangerous to cycle on. 
 

winter, get appropriate kit an lights and off you go. I live in Surrey. MTB is huge here. Lots of trails. 

[Andreas_187]

On 8/28/2021 at 3:38 PM, DonatelloOnPinarello said:

I would take on the inclement weather far more happily than taking on the drivers/traffic back in SA. 

You can dress appropriately for the weather, but all the lumo colors in the world won't help you with our drivers.

 

I miss euro/UK road riding. 

I wouldn't call minus 2 'inclement'. It's not just the cold weather, it's the long stretch of winter you have to endure before 'summer' appears for a brief moment