e-bikes, health and wine

Giant Pro-1 e-bike

(This article was first posted on les 5 du Vin on Tuesday 31st July 2018. I am posting it on Jim's Loire as I have just ridden 2000K since I got back on the bike after my accident on 8th May 2018.)

With the 2018 edition of Le Tour finishing in Paris last Sunday this seems a very appropriate moment to praise cycling and, in particular, e-bikes. I will make no mention of the outcome of this year's Tour as I have no wish to propel one of this blog's supporters to apoplexy. Nor is there any suggestions that those who rode Le Tour had any electrical assistance.

You might reasonably wonder what e-bikes have to do with wine or, indeed, other alcoholic drinks apart from both drinking wine and riding a bike generally being pleasurable activities.

The link is I contend health. Regular cycling, whether purely for pleasure, exercise or commuting, brings many health benefits including reducing weight, reduces the risk of diabetes type 2, strengthening your heart, increased cardiovascular fitness, increased muscle strength and flexibility, and there is some evidence that it can reduce certain cancers such as bowel and possibly breast.

This web page from the Government of Victoria (Australia) gives a good summary of cycling's health benefits. It is true that other forms of exercise, in particular walking.

Here are some of the conclusions from a recent UK study into commuting by bike in comparison to walking or taking the bus:

Cycling to work: major new study suggests health benefits are staggering:

'We found that cycling to work was associated with a 41% lower risk of dying overall compared to commuting by car or public transport. Cycle commuters had a 52% lower risk of dying from heart disease and a 40% lower risk of dying from cancer. They also had 46% lower risk of developing heart disease and a 45% lower risk of developing cancer at all.

Walking to work was not associated with a lower risk of dying from all causes. Walkers did, however, have a 27% lower risk of heart disease and a 36% lower risk of dying from it.

The mixed-mode cyclists enjoyed a 24% lower risk of death from all causes, a 32% lower risk of developing cancer and a 36% lower risk of dying from cancer. They did not have a significantly lower risk of heart disease, however, while mixed-mode walkers did not have a significantly lower risk of any of the health outcomes we analysed.

For both cyclists and walkers, there was a trend for a greater lowering of risk in those who commuted longer distances. In addition, those who cycled part of the way to work still saw benefits – this is important as many people live too far from work to cycle the entire distance.

As for walkers, the fact that their health benefits were more modest may be related to distance, since they commute fewer miles on average in the UK – six per week compared to 30 for cyclists. They may therefore need to walk longer distances to elicit meaningful benefits. Equally, however, it may be that the lower benefits from walking are related to the fact that it’s a less intense activity.'

The full study was published in the British Medical Journal. of course The Netherlands, Denmark and other countries are far in advance of the UK in facilitating and encouraging cycling.

The longer we can remain fit and healthy the longer we can enjoy wine, en modération naturellement, and if we can extend our life span we have the chance of trying and enjoying more bottles of wine. Furthermore I think it is highly likely that someone who is feels good will get more enjoyment from a glass of wine than someone who is unwell.

So e-bikes....?

When I was in my 30s I spent many hours on a bike not only commuting but also training for time trials. I used to seek out steep hills as well as some of the classic mountain climbs used by Le Tour including Le Tourmalet, L'Alpe d'Huez and Le Ventoux. Although I was never particularly quick along the flat I was able to climb with some facility and fluidity.

Unfortunately when I started to write about wine in late 1988 I ceased to ride the bike regularly and before long stopped entirely as I spent more hours sitting in front the computer. The bikes I had ridden in the 1980s gathered dust – neglected

Gradually my waist expanded – 32" trousers ceased to fit, then 34" suffered to same fate and I moved onto 36". I still did a certain amount of walking and we cooked fresh food eating reasonably healthy avoiding processed food. Happily this meant that my gradual weight gain wasn't catastrophic but it was enough for my partner to observe that I was becoming 'portly'.

I was shocked in September 2012 to be diagnosed as borderline Diabetic Type 2. I resolved I had to do something – enough was enough! I started going to our local gym every day and a few months later bought a mountain bike – great fun! Then later a couple of road bikes – one for the winter and an all carbon one for the summer days.

My sessions in the gym allied with taking as little sugar as possible helped me to lose up to 10 kilos. Subsequently this loss has varied between 7 and 8 kilos but my sugar levels at my annual check up are below the trigger point for a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes.

     

Into the ambulance 2nd January 2018

As I have already posted on Les 5 I slipped on black ice on 2nd January 2018 and separated my quads from my left knee, so my major upper muscles were no longer connected to my knee.

Fortunately I had brilliant care from NHS Scotland and a very talented surgeon who reattached my quads to my left knee. However, I also played my part as had spent hours lying down during my recovery period (three and a half months) I would have lost muscle power. Instead I walked and walked initially with two crutches, then one until I was able to dispense with these supports.

I was discharged as an outpatient at Inverness Hospital on 11th April and very soon placed an order for an e-road bike through Cadence Performance at Crystal Palace in South London taking possession in early May. Since then I have ridden over 1750 kilometres on it.

Some might claim that using an e-bike is cheating. Given a combination of my age and the injury I would reject that entirely. I wanted a way of continuing to ride while not putting strain on my knee. My road bike has been brilliant I now have the freedom to tackle any slope, however steep – 20%+ is now entirely possible. These were hills that I could no longer contemplate with any sense of comfort. You still have to pedal but there is aid available.

As you can see from the photo of the e-Pro Road Bike at the beginning of this post there is is no attempt to hide the battery pack. It's an e-bike and proud of it!

e-bikes enable people of a certain age to either continue cycling in comfort as well as encouraging other to start or return to their bikes. In all probability help riders to enjoy their wine to the full – which can't be bad!

June 2020: an update from OutWitTrade
The Benefits Of Cycling: 27 Cyclists Comment
"This article is intended to be a definitive resource in why cycling is a wonderful activity that you should consider getting into. Recently I put out this question:

For people who cycle regularly, what’s great about cycling and why do you do it? Why do you choose cycling over many other forms of exercise that you could be doing instead? All comments welcome.

There were dozens of great responses to that, many of which were from personal trainers, health experts, and people who run cycling-related websites. Many are also just from regular people who cycle to work and have found immense benefits from doing so. I’ve published all the best ones below. I really enjoyed reading through these, and recommend having a read through them. I’d be surprised if you don’t get motivated to get on your bike afterward." 

Read the rest of the article here:

I continue to ride my ebike that I bought in May 2018. To date I have ridden just over 10,400 kms on it – around 2,500 to date this year despite being restricted to an hour's daily exercise within one kilometre during France's strictest lock down from March 24th to May 11th. 

 

Where's the outrage – three motorists in a week jailed for killing pedestrians and cyclists?

 Charlie Aliston jailed for for 18 months 

Back in September the jailing of Charlie Alliston for killing a pedestrian through cycling dangerously provoked huge media coverage. Not for one moment defending Alliston but the number of pedestrians killed by cyclists in 2016 was very few compared to the number of pedestrians and cyclists killed due to collisions with motors vehicles of all types.  
  

 Hit and run: Jonathan Kane sentenced for two years for killing 

dog walker while checking his phone  

(3rd November 2017)

 Hit and run driver Ajay Singh who killed cyclist 

while driving at up to '70mph to 80mph jailed for 8 years

(3rd November 2017)

 

 Road rage: Clifford Harper jailed for 27 months 

for deliberately running into a cyclist  

Sentenced 31st October 2017 fracturing the cyclist's spine 

before threatening to it again and driving off

Here are three motorists jailed for dangerous driving just this last week – one pedestrian killed, one cyclist killed and one cyclist left with a broken spine. You have to search through the news to find them. There is no media storm over these three examples of dangerous and in two cases of lethal driving. 

Commented on in this opinion piece:The light sentencing of a 'road rage' driver is sadly all too familiar to cyclists Laura Laker.

We now have the technology to make our roads safer for all users – enforcing rules on speeding, stopping at traffic lights, not driving thoughtlessly and recklessly etc. Sadly the political will is not there as this story on speed cameras in the Guardian today illustrates:   

Three motorists jailed for dangerous driving this week but only half of Britain's speed cameras are active!

Cycling: reducing the hostility (part 2)

75,000 rode around closed roads in the centre 

of London on 29th July 2017

On Friday I posted Part 1 of Cycling: 'reducing the hostility'looking at what pisses motorists about cyclists' behaviour. Now it is the turn to look at what pisses off cyclists about motorists.  Much of this post is based on the behaviour of some drivers in London.

Overall it is a lack of consideration that cyclists are far more vulnerable than people safely ensconced in their cars a lorries. 

Close pass

It is good to see that the police starting with the West Midland's Police's initiative are targeting and seeking to educate motorists to give cyclists space when passing them. This is a minimum of 1.5 metres. 

In London as a cyclist cars, lorries and buses pass far too close. It is noticeable in the Scottish Highlands cyclists are usually given much more space. They do, however, tend to try and pass where it is not safe to do so on the brow of a hill or a corner when they just can't see. 

In London the stress of driving in a crowded city makes drivers stupidly impatient. Not only not appreciating the need to give cyclists proper space but trying to pass when there isn't space.

SpeedingIt is good to see 20 mph speed limits being introduced across of much of London driving at this speed greatly reducing the likelihood of being killed if you are hit or in a collision with a car. Despite this unfortunately too many motorists drive at well over 30 mph in 20 mph zone. I would like to see many more remote speed cameras to enforce this ban.  

Impatient and reckless driving

Although there are considerate drivers there are too many boy racers who have no consideration for other drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. Driving far too fast, shooting red lights, driving through bollards and road furniture on the wrong side of the road. Again it would be good to see many more speed and traffic cameras to both discourage reckless driving through fines and driving bans. We have the technology to do this, we don't need to waste scarce police resources on checking idiotic driving.

Abuse

It is commonplace for cyclists to be verbally abused by drivers complaining that they are being held up when a cyclist rides in the middle of the road or not right in the gutter. 

There is nothing in the Highway Code that requires cyclists to ride in the gutter. There are clearly times when cyclists need to ride well out in the road to be safe, for instance when passing a row of parked car to avoid someone suddenly opening a car door or when passing through road furniture. 

Given the slow average speed of journeys through London impatient drivers often do not benefit from speeding ahead or from the stupid risks that they take. Time to take a more relaxed approach to driving in urban areas.

Can they be persuaded to be more considerate of other road users?  

  

     

Cycling brings huge benefits but can we reduce the hostility?

 Clouds over the Cairngorms @Kincraig 

The A9 in the foreground –
a great backdrop for a ride!

After riding around London and the South East it is a pleasure to be cycling up here on the roads around Newtonmore, Kingussie and Aviemore. With rare exceptions drivers give you plenty of room when overtaking, although I'm not always sure that they can see sufficiently far ahead especially when overtaking. 

When riding in London you are always aware these days that you could be killed or seriously injured through dangerous, impatient driving. You can never relax. Clearly one of the differences up here in the Highlands of Scotland is there is much less traffic, especially if you avoid venturing onto the busy A9. 

This means that both motorists and cyclists are less stressed and more relaxed, which is doubtless the problem in London where there are high levels of stress and impatience. Sadly there are often high levels of hostility between motorists and cyclists partly from a level a mutual incomprehension, which is odd as many motorists either cycle now or have done in the past – even if this was when they were kids. Equally many cyclists also drive. 

it is very important that we try to resolve and break down this hostility and look to towards what Holland has achieved where cycling is the norm and there is a proper and accepted cycling infrastructure. 

Why is it important? 

Because encouraging more cycling can help to reduce pollution in large cities like London and equally important can dramatically improve the people's health both improving their quality of life and substantially reducing demand on the National Health Service as shown by this report published in April 2017:  

'Research has consistently shown that people who are less physically active are both more likely to develop health problems like heart disease and type 2 diabetes, and to die younger. Yet there is increasing evidence that physical activity levels are on the decline.

The problem is that when there are many demands on our time, many people find prioritising exercise difficult. One answer is to multi-task by cycling or walking to work. We’ve just completed the largest ever study into how this affects your health. 

Published in the British Medical Journal today, the results for cycling in particular have important implications. They suggest that councils and governments need to make it a top priority to encourage as many commuters to get on their bikes as possible.'

Staggering results from the study:
'We found that cycling to work was associated with a 41% lower risk of dying overall compared to commuting by car or public transport. Cycle commuters had a 52% lower risk of dying from heart disease and a 40% lower risk of dying from cancer. They also had 46% lower risk of developing heart disease and a 45% lower risk of developing cancer at all. 

Walking to work was not associated with a lower risk of dying from all causes. Walkers did, however, have a 27% lower risk of heart disease and a 36% lower risk of dying from it.'

   

Clearly not everyone can commute to work by bike but we can put encourage many more to do so by taking out the fear factor as they have done so in Holland. If we can persuade people to be more active we can reduce obesity before it becomes a big problem. Once you are very over-weight it must be very hard to reduce your weight significantly to do so requires incredible and laudable dedication. 

Walking to work has some of the benefits of cycling but they are less marked. This may be that for most people cycling is more strenuous exercise than walking. Also people may well consider longer distances and for longer than they would walk. 

More recently Christian Wolmar posted this plea for Labour to promote cycling:

'One of areas where the Labour manifesto needs improvement is transport. It is rarely a frontline area at election time, and although the nationalisation of the railways proved a popular pledge, there was little on how Labour could make a decisive shift towards a more environmentally friendly policy that would also improve people’s journey experience.

Cycling received barely a mention, and among Labour activists it is often thought that cycling is a minority concern, and a policy encouraging its use would not attract any new voters, and, furthermore, would alienate some existing supporters. That is a mistaken view.'

Ideally the desire to promote the substantial benefits of cycling should have all party support and not be contentious. Being more active would bring such advantages:

One in four British adults is obese, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, prompting fears that the UK has become the "fat man of Europe".
 
The UK has the highest level of obesity in Western Europe, ahead of countries such as France, Germany, Spain and Sweden, the 2013 report says.

Obesity levels in the UK have more than trebled in the last 30 years and, on current estimates, more than half the population could be obese by 2050.

Europe's obesity league:

• UK: 24.9%
• Ireland: 24.5%
• Spain: 24.1%
• Portugal: 21.6%
• Germany: 21.3%
• Belgium: 19.1%
• Austria: 18.3%
• Italy: 17.2%
• Sweden: 16.6%
• France: 15.6%

A return to cycling in the London area

Giant Contend SL Disc

Scott 720 Hard Tail

I recently bought a new road bike as a further part of my return to reasonably regular cycling that started with a long over due purchase of a mountain bike in January 2013. Most of my riding on the mountain bike has been in the Loire or in Scotland. Apart from a few sorties round the South Circular to Wandsworth, I have limited my Scott 720 riding to circuits round the nearby Crystal Palace Park, which only involves a brief ride on London roads – along Sydenham Hill.  

I am very pleased with my Giant Contend SL with disc brakes bought and fitted by Cadence Performance at Crystal Palace. Made from aluminium it is light, although not quite as light as a carbon frame, response and very enjoyable to ride. Obviously a road bike isn't suited to riding round the perimeter of the Crystal Palace Park, so time to venture out again on London roads after an absence of nearly 30 years.

There are obvious changes – much more traffic, larger cars and lorries, many more cycle lanes – I haven't yet been on any of the new bike superhighways in the centre of London as I prefer to head out of London rather than into it. Some of the cycle lanes are wafter-thin – probably less than a metre wide – more a sop than a realistic lane.  Little wonder that some drivers pass far too close to cyclists. Dedicated space for cyclists by traffic lights is a welcome innovation.

There is far more traffic furniture than there was 30 years ago. Traffic islands are obviously good news for pedestrians wanting to cross a busy road but often they are pinch points for cyclists. I always try to ride out in the middle going through a traffic island unless it is very wide. Otherwise it is always possible that a car or van will try to squeeze pass you, whether there is space or not.

As I a cyclist I think it is very important that I am seen to obey the Highway Code – in particular respect pedestrian crossings and traffic lights. I have always worn bright cycle clothing despite jokes about middle aged (or elderly) men wearing lycra – both to try to make sure that I am seen and that cycle clothing is much more comfortable and practical to wear if you cycle any distance. Also the seat of ordinary trousers soon wear out with frequent riding. 

Even wearing bright clothing there are occasions when a driver clearly hasn't seen me – may be because these drivers look for other vehicles and don't notice bikes. Given the huge increase in cycling in London they really should train themselves to look out for bikes.  

I also wear a helmet, which I never did 30 years ago even when doing a late afternoon 25-mile time trial on the busy A2 (London-Dover road) in torrential rain! Now I shudder to think how dangerous this was!   

Many car drivers are considerate giving cyclists plenty space when passing and only when it is safe to do so. Unfortunately there are a minority, who obviously lack patience and drive recklessly and dangerously. This includes some London buses, who certainly speed in 20 mph limits eg some 363s along Sydenham Hill. Also includes a double-decker bus who cut right across me in Croydon at the Fairfield Hall roundabout.

The worst piece of driving I have seen while out riding was when I was coming back down the Chipstead Valley road towards Coulsdon. A small builder's truck speed past me despite me riding at around 20 mph – the road was slightly downhill – and with a line of cars coming in the other direction. The lunatic driver narrowly missed crashing into the first on-car. 

This lunatic ought to read the Highway Code on overtaking cyclists and other vulnerable traffic but unfortunately it is very unlikely that he will. It would be good to think that the Government's consideration of increasing the penalties for dangerous driving might persuade some people to drive more sensibly with consideration for other road users. 

It is obvious that some car drivers feel considerable animosity towards cyclists, which is doubtless returned by some cyclists. I am always surprised that there are cyclists who ride at night wearing dark clothing and with no lights or just a faint rear light. If cyclists jump red lights or ignore pedestrians on a crossing it is not surprising that some car drivers complain about us! 

Another difference from 30 or more years ago – I used to seek out hills and mountains to climb now it is more a question of looking for ways to avoid very steep climbs!                     

Canadian bike tour operator looking for local Loire rep

Message from Susan Walter of Days on the Claise

Bonjour

I've had an email from a Canadian bike tour operator (Randonnée Tours) who is seeking a local rep. They want someone who speaks French and English and can meet clients (usually in Tours) for an hour to get them going on a self-guided bike tour. The pay is €70 per client, usually in groups of 2-4 and they expect to have 20-100 clients in 2017. They also want someone who knows about bike maintenance or can take bikes to the repair shop and has storage for about a dozen bikes. There are extra payments for this. They are looking for people around Tours, Chinon, Azay le Rideau or Amboise.

  
Anyone interested should contact Randonnée Tours. Their contact info is info@randonneetours.com

tel:Toll Free: 800.242.1825, local: 604.730.1247

Regards

Susan

http://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/  – updated daily, so check out what's new today!

http://loirenature.blogspot.com/ –  updated regularly with new species accounts and photos. If you are interested in the wildlife and nature of the Loire Valley, take a look.http://loirevalleytours.blogspot.com/ – explore the Loire Valley in style in a classic French car.
  

@The Source of the Loire: September 2014