Author: Andy Ferguson

The way I cycle has changed. I used to cycle to work each day, doing 17 miles a day and so being able to easily reach 100 miles a week just by adding a short recreational ride to my commute. I also cycled mainly on canal towpaths, because the canals are actually my quickest route to work as they allow me to avoid the very congested route through Birmingham city centre.

I remember my last commute; my bike loaded up with as much as I could carry, but still only containing about half of the personal possessions in my office (plus my work laptop which had to travel everywhere with me at that point in time). The weather was quite pleasant for March, and although my bike was slightly unbalanced due to only having one pannier with me it was an enjoyable, albeit unremarkable, journey.

That was mid-March, and I’ve not cycled that route since.

I started off mainly using my bike for trips to the supermarket and the pharmacy. I was adhering strictly to the “exercise no more than once a day” and because I had taken the dog out in the morning I thought I couldn’t cycle. After a couple of weeks I realised that no-one else was interpreting the rules that way, checked I wouldn’t be breaking the law, and then decided that for the sake of my mental and physical health I needed to cycle again.

The towpaths were packed with people the first time I went down there, and most of them were breaking the social distancing rules. My favourite places to cycle are the places where people don’t go; where you can forget for a couple of hours that the city is all around, and these were exactly the places people were going for their clandestine gatherings (and the occasional drug deal). So I stated cycling on the roads. This isn’t a totally new thing, but I hate cycling in heavy traffic, so I had tended to avoid them. But it was ok because the traffic was largely gone, and as the roads emptied I found my confidence growing. I found roads I had never cycled on before, and also tried a few routes I had previously dismissed because of the traffic.

The traffic is a bit heavier now, but I’m also more confident. I am seeing lots more people on bikes, and I hope that when we return to whatever the new normal looks like these people might want to stay off the trains and carry on cycling (if they can, I know not everyone can).

I’m not cycling 100 miles a week now, but I do try and get out a few times a week for 30-60 minutes. I find it very valuable to get my exercise just as the working day finishes, and it draws a firm line between work and home in the same way that my commute did in the world before coronavirus. I may never go back to being in the office 5 days a week, but when I do end up going back then I have no real interest in getting there any other way. And some of it might even involve cycling on the roads.

Over the last couple of days I’ve been exploring London on a small bike. I’ve done London on my full sized bike before, but was a little concerned about some of the places I was going to have to leave it on this trip, and so I elected to hire a Brompton. My first thoughts are as follows:

• It’s fast. Probably at least as fast as my other bike, and I managed to set a couple of personal records on stretches of road I’ve cycled before.
• It’s light. When the bike is unfolded it feels very light.
• But it’s also heavy. When the bike is folded it is straightforward to carry, but you definitely notice you are carrying a steel frame.
• It’s responsive. London is a full of traffic lights and other hazards, and the Brompton was great for the sort of start/stop cycling that I always seem to need to do in London.
• It handles canal towpaths fairly well. I cycled a stretch of the Regent’s Canal yesterday and it handled well enough, although on the bumpier areas it was definitely more noticeable than it would be on my other bike (which I bought specifically to cycle on towpaths, so this is not really a surprise).
• It can easily be stored in a hotel room, and no-one gives it a second glance.
• The folding/unfolding of the bike seems fascinating to people, and it’s definitely a conversation starter.
• I can use a couple of my smaller bike packing bags with it, and between those and a rucksack I can easily carry everything I need for a few days away.
• If I had to use this bike for my commute, and for shopping and generally getting around then I think it would be fine.
• For longer trips (especially with a significant off road aspect) I would probably still want something with more gears, larger wheels, and the ability to use more of my usual bike packing bags.

The weather has been great over Christmas. I was ill for the first few days of the holidays (I always am), but have managed 3 rides over the last few days.

1. A few laps of the local park and a bit of road cycling (nothing special, just a chance to blow away a few cobwebs).
2. Sutton Park on the Sunday after Christmas (not recommended unless you want to dodge dogs and children – I ended up finding out how well my new tyres coped with off-road).
3. Tame Valley and Rushall Canals (with a bit more off-road exploring).

I have plans for 2020 that may require a few more training rides, but they are all very much in the planning stages right now (and will likely happen in the Spring or Summer anyway).

In September I cycled the Shimanami Kaido in Japan. It’s the cycle route that connects a number of Japanese islands, and was very much the highlight of the holiday.

I’ve just cycled 500 miles to raise money for Good Hope hospital in Birmingham. I did it over a few weeks, interspersed with all the other things I usually do, which made it a lot more feasible than trying to do it over a weekend (which I also think would have killed me). 500 miles might not seem like a lot, but I had only been cycling for just over a month when I started (after 10+ years without a bike), and I knew that I would likely have to do most of that distance as part of commutes, hospital visits, shopping trips, and other scenarios that would require me to carry a lot of luggage.

The first few days were very hard. I did a lot of road cycling and quickly remembered why I had stopped cycling in the first place. I then talked to other people who cycled in Birmingham and found a couple of canal routes I wasn’t aware of. I also explored the bit of north Birmingham between Good Hope hospital and my house and found a few miles of parks that meant I could avoid the nightmare that is Sutton town centre during rush hour. This made things easier, and I did the first bit of my challenge in and around Sutton and other parts of north Birmingham, with the occasional canal adventure in the south.

I also started cycling home from work some days. It’s a 9 mile ride (8 miles of which is canal towpaths), and I initially thought it might be too far to do every day. Towards the end I did do it every day, and also cycled to work the same way a couple of days a week. Most of my last 200 miles was done this way, and I’ve found it a much more pleasant experience than cycling on the roads.

I did manage a few trips where I got to cycle for pleasure, rather than to move between two places I had to be. I’ve been to Sandwell Valley Country Park, done some of the Rea Valley route, and done a 25 mile exploration of the Grand Union Canal in blistering sunshine. I certainly plan on doing more of that sort of cycling in the near future.

When I started cycling I was carrying everything in a rucksack (largely because the first bike I used didn’t have any other storage). I’ve since switched to panniers for most trips, which reduces the strain on my back significantly, although does add width that can be a problem in some tunnels. It means I can carry a lot now though, and a weekly shop is now very much a possibility (including wine, jars of curry sauce, and other heavy/bulky things). I’m also still refining what I carry with me on a daily basis, although I have found a use for most of the tools in my bag (especially puncture repair tools), and there is probably not much I would want to discard at this point.

I’ve completed 500 miles, but I’m not stopping there. The challenge continues until September, so I’m going to keep on cycling and see how far I get (I’m hoping for at least 700 miles). I’ll be tracking my progress on the website, and am still very much interested in further sponsorship.

The NHS have helped us a lot over the last few weeks. Without the NHS we would probably have remortgaged our house by now (or tried to), and we have met lots of skilled, dedicated, and above all nice people.

They are struggling though. From old computers, to inefficient processes, to an IT system that doesn’t seem to be fully joined up, there is so much that is crying out for more funding, more fixing, and a little love.

That’s why I’m cycling 500 miles and asking for £500 in sponsorship I generally hate asking for things, but it turns out when it’s not for me then I don’t mind. I in no way believe that doing this will change lives (apart from perhaps mine), but it’s one of those small things that might at least contribute to something bigger, and should at least give something back.