saoirse

Most recent activity

• Touring Scotland

  in Cycle Touring and Bikepacking • 1 year, 5 months

  

  Have ridden from Vatersay up to Lewis several times. Wild camped and also used the Gatliff Trust hostels https://gatliff.org.uk/ which are amazing. It’s worth the detour to Rhenigidale if you’ve the time. Best wild camp spot I had was on Luskentyre beach, again worth detouring up the road along it to find a good spot. My first trip there was maybe forty years ago. No other tourists really then. My last trip was maybe five years back and a very different story! But still beautiful, even if the wind can be wild. If you do hit a very windy patch of time, probably best to avoid riding over the causeways till the wind drops. If you fancy reading about one tiny bit of one trip done with my daughter quite some years back now, it’s here https://saoirsedavis.com/2021/01/14/ride-to-rhenigidale/

• Brockley Drinks

  in Social • 7 years, 1 month

  

  Hey! Will pop in soon to say hello! I often lead family rides for LC there and quite enjoy mashing about in the woods for a quick bit of off road on my way home.

• Non-cycling crashes that deserve attention

  in Rider Down • 7 years, 6 months

  

  Really awful. http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/deptford-bridge-crash-woman-dies-after-being-hit-by-cement-truck-in-south-east-london-a3565366.html This looks like it has happened right on the crossing. It's a really badly designed one. Two stage, toucan, narrow central island for the volume of cyclists and pedestrians that need to use it (bus stops with lots of buses on both sides, college building, where the Waterlink Way crosses the A2. Long, long waits at each crossing point. Poor woman. Feeling deeply sorry for her loved ones.

• 2017-06-07 - Rider Down, Lewisham High Street

  in Rider Down • 7 years, 6 months

  

  Reports we had (Lewisham Cyclists) was that this was not a cyclist, but a pedestrian hit by a bus. Still horrid news and all the issues that make this area an unpleasant place to ride in also affect pedestrians.

• 2017-06-12 - Rider Down, Evelyn Street

  in Rider Down • 7 years, 6 months

  

  Locals saying it's outside McDonalds. Road closed and back of vehicle screened off. Hoping for the best possible outcome for the rider. Route of proposed CS4, but not time or place to discuss here.
  Not been good on the streets of Deptford over the last 48hours. A woman killed on Deptford Bridge junction yesterday. Not a cyclist, but those big junctions are difficult for all of us out there on the roads who don't have a ton of steel armour to protect us. Feeling sad for her loved ones.

• Bikepacking - a viable alternative to racks & panniers

  in Cycle Touring and Bikepacking • 7 years, 7 months

  

  I used to take a pair of plimsolls, tackies or whatever people call them. Or a pair of light Keen sandals. Although, I have been known not to take any other shoes apart from my Shimano MT91's. Ever since I did my Dungeness to Durness trip when, as I dozed outside my tent in the evening sunshine in a field near Spalding (exotic, I know) a fox ran off with one of my nice little sandals. Managed the rest of the 1800 miles (I rarely take a direct route, in case you're wondering) with just the boots. Even if they were a bit ripe by the time I got home.

• Cycle trainers, what's made your day?

  in National Standard Cycle Training • 8 years, 7 months

  

  I work with WfW too...once a week at HHV...love it! Lots of adult 1 to 1 training this week which I find interesting and very different after a whole career of teaching children in a classroom. As I have been doing a fair bit of teaching adults who can ride how to plan and ride a commute, I have been learning a few new skills myself. As in, how to deal with a massively crowded cycle route (Elephant to Blackfriars and beyond) where the main hazard is other cyclists!

• Cycle trainers, what's made your day?

  in National Standard Cycle Training • 8 years, 7 months

  

  Definitely a bit of that going on!

• Women specific cycle clothing

  in LFGSS Ladies • 8 years, 8 months

  

  If tights are too big, can I have next call on them? Oops just seen someone else already called. No worries!

• Cycle trainers, what's made your day?

  in National Standard Cycle Training • 8 years, 8 months

  

  Level 1 course. Big skill mix of children, including larger number of non riders than usual (course not really meant for them). Two bikes with stabilisers. However, we split the group and I took all the non riders. Took stabilisers off. Got the whole lot riding by the end of the session. Did not think that would happen with such a big group, so really chuffed. Not as chuffed as the kids. The look on their faces as they finally sailed off round the playground, completely independently, pure magic. Even managing little slaloms and figures of eight and a final game of follow my leader. The hardest kids to teach were the ones who had had the stabilisers. I guess not surprising as they had to unlearn stuff they'd already internalised.