The bicycle must surely be one of the greatest inventions of modern times: it is incredibly efficient and cheap to run, and it is often remarkably beautiful and varied in appearance. As an application of materials and mechanical design, it is hard to beat – and modern materials and design development have increased its efficiency and its safety, too.
I have cycled since about the age of 9, when I was given a small second-hand bicycle; I remember the colour of it as being medium red and off-white, and it had been given to us by my father's friend Bill Ruscoe (whose younger son Jonathan is exactly a year older than me)[*]. There are several entries "rode bicycle" in a short diary that I wrote in the Easter holidays 1956 and my father's desk diary for 27/28 March says "Peter can ride his bicycle alone, well". By the age of 12 or so I'd grown big enough to ride my father's old Triumph (1947) with 3-speed Sturmey-Archer hub gear and dynamo lighting, and I cycled the hilly three miles to school from autumn 1960 (when I was 13) until I left in summer 1964.
My first new bicycle (Sun with 5-speed derailleur) was bought in 1970 after I came to St Andrews: I remember buying it in Edinburgh at Halford's shop (now demolished) near the top of Leith Street at number 111/115 (I had made a list of about 17 Edinburgh cycle shops, to see which were easily accessible from the Princes Street area). My diary says on 10 October 1970: "£38-15-5 incl some accessories & insurance". Taking a bicycle back home on the train in those days required buying a half fare ticket for it – and I then had the interesting experience of cycling all the way from Leuchars to St Andrews (over 5 miles) in top gear because I wasn't confident enough to change down the derailleur (I'd only ever used hub gears before). On 25 October, my father wished me "pleasant journeys on the wheels"; and on 15 November that year, there must have been snow about, for my father wrote: "Have you got chains on your tyres for the winter yet?"
The Sun was eventually taken down with me on the train to Exeter (21 December 1995) to end its days – it did get some use while there, with a new softer saddle and compact clip-on lights. I did over 12,000 miles on that bicycle over the years, although I now realise that the frame was rather too small for me.
The first picture is of the Sun in June 1971 (on the Strathkinness High Road from St Andrews), a photo taken with my new Practika SLR camera, and the second shows my brother riding it on a visit to St Andrews in March 1972:
After a couple of intermediate second-hand machines with larger frames, I ended up with a literally collapsing back fork (rust...) and was forced to buy my second new bicycle in January 1998 – this time it was (is!) a Cannondale hybrid model (H300) with incredibly rigid (aluminium) frame in 'rain forest' green, again from Edinburgh (Bicycle Co-operative). The aluminium frame is no lighter than a steel one, but the rigidity makes a lot of difference to pedalling power efficiency – with no frame flexure, any force applied to the pedals appears immediately at the wheels.
I use the Cannondale every day in St Andrews, doing at least 10 miles per day in the lighter months (unless the weather is foul) – June 2010 = 28,000 miles 'on the clock'.
For travelling further afield – by train to the south of England, to Edinburgh by bus or train for shopping expeditions – I have a Brompton L5, which I bought in 2000. It is a quite incredible folding model, with 16-inch wheels, that will stow away between back-to-back seats on a train (actually an increasingly rare facility nowadays). Yet it has a 5-speed hub gear by Sturmey-Archer (of happy memory) and, using the large front clip-on bag and sturdy rear frame, will take a load of at least 40 pounds (plus me). When I visit Exeter I regularly cycle across London between Waterloo or Paddington and King's Cross – and enjoy it, I may say.
I replaced the saddle with a narrow harder one with a slight 'grip' to it, which I would recommend in order to counteract the slight give in the handle-bars and give a more stable riding posture. Current mileage on the Brompton (in June 2010) is about 3400 – it all mounts up over the years!
To come: pictures/details of particular features of Cannondale and Brompton.
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