THE ADVENTURES OF BIG PHIL & ERNIE THE BROMPTON

More people would cycle if there were better facilities say survey respondents (via Fitzrovia News)

bigphil89 — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 21:01:49 +0000

At the moment I haven’t a lot of time to write my thoughts on this but this article has got me intereted, so I thought I’d share it.

Blog posts coming soon I promise!

Phil

By Linus Rees More people would cycle in and around Fitzrovia if there were more segregated cycle paths and better cycle parking facilities, according to a questionnaire currently running. The survey asked people to answer nine questions about cycling and walking in Fitzrovia. The same survey found that many people enjoy walking but tha … Read More

via Fitzrovia News

Sorry Guys!

bigphil89 — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 11:51:04 +0000

My apologies for not blogging recently! I have an excuse- a history degree! I am currently writing my dissertation but I feel that as soon as that comes to an end and the summer rolls in I will once again resume my blogging and tell you of all my adventures around Winchester on Ernie.

For the moment, here is a video that me and my friend created to demonstrate the joys of riding a Brompton! It’s short and sweet and… “Lovely Day!”

NYCe Wheels Reveal Addiction to Folding Bikes

bigphil89 — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 01:49:41 +0000

The website NYCe Wheels has revealed that owners of folding bikes are compulsive about riding everywhere… I’m screwed

http://www.nycewheels.com/folding-bike-addict.html

I know it’s not original and it’s not done by me but enjoy it anyway.
I will be posting soon about my adventures in Wales but for now here’s some photo’s of Ernie and me.

Ernie at Vrynwy

Quotes about bicycles

bigphil89 — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 01:01:22 +0000

“It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.”

Ernest Hemingway

SCORE!!! I have both!

“Bicycles are almost as good as guitars for meeting girls.”

Bob Weir, Grateful Dead

The adventures with Ernie continue… in Calne

bigphil89 — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:52:48 +0000

My Dad tinkering with Ernie

It’s been a while since I last posted something original on my blog and it’s been a while since I’ve been cycling around Winchester on Ernie. The riding hasn’t stopped however and I continue to cycle on Ernie all over the place. This post is about the adventure’s we’ve had thus far.

The first few weeks I rode Ernie from Chippenham to Calne to try and maintain my fitness levels and I even commuted with him to Swindon. However, I somehow injured my knee and this stopped me from riding for at least a week- from that point onwards I had to take it easy. Once my knee got better I began riding again from Chippenham to Calne on my last few days of placement. On the last day I raced a couple of students on mountain bikes and was winning until I reached a cattle grid… Ernie doesn’t cope well on such big ruts. I also did some tune-ups (well my dad did most of the crucial stuff); Ernie’s chain was cleaned thoroughly and re-oiled, the gearing mechanism was tweaked as it had been playing up, the brakes were made to be more responsive and the handlebar/fork stem was tightened. Since these tweaks the performance of Ernie has greatly improved.

Riding around Calne has been pretty easy as it’s completely flat… compared to Winchester. I feel a bit more noticed with such a bike especially when folding it up outside of shops. In Winchester people were getting pretty used to seeing folding bikes but the locals around here find it bewildering. Taking Ernie to work at a holiday club has been funny as the staff have all been having rides. The cover has been necessary when Ernie has been stored because of the dangers of paint and glue being dripped on him.

I do need to do more riding as my fitness and my weightloss may be coming to an end at the rate I’m going. There are three routes I can cycle that I like. One is to go to Chippenham and back, another is to go around the Calne bypass and the third takes me around country lanes to Quemerford end. Here’s a map of Calne to demonstrate:

View Larger Map

I am looking forward to returning to Winchester though… and so is Ernie :-S

What not to do with a Brompton…

bigphil89 — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:47:49 +0000

While I prepare myself for my next main blog post (and it won’t be a declaration of love to someone just to win a game) I thought I’d post a video of my antics in a skatepark which I’ve been meaning to do this for quite a while. In the terms of computer experts I am a complete n00b at this style of riding. Anyway enjoy!

I won!

bigphil89 — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 21:35:17 +0000

I won!

Lego or K’nex… Poll Time!

bigphil89 — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 19:06:15 +0000

As the world falls apart all around you, which would you prefer to play with?

K'nex!

Lego!

Vote away!

View This Poll

Austerity to Affluence Revision

bigphil89 — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:20:09 +0000

For those of you being redirected to my site for Austerity to Affluence revision I have a couple of posts that could help. Click on the links below.

http://bigphil89.wordpress.com/2010/02/17/from-austerity-to-affluence-impact-of-the-second-world-war-on-britain/

Hope that can help!

MPs Given Bromptons!

bigphil89 — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 18:36:00 +0000

So here we have it- government official folding bikes! It kinda makes up for the cuts in Public Transport, although maybe not, because I still lose out and they have equal the amount of fun that I do. Thanks goes to @nellyagain on twitter for highlighting this in the first place.

Do you think they’ll adapt that red treasury briefcase to fit on the front Luggage clip. There is definitely a benefit to having a Brompton in government if you get too tired you can fold the Brompton up and place it in the back of the Jaguar.

I wonder how successful this will be?