Bicycles are great. I ride mine almost every day. To the office, around town, in the countryside, to the allotment, with friends or on my own. The sad truth however, is that an awful lot of people who could ride bikes, don’t. In the UK only 2% of journeys are made by bicycle, compared with 9% in Sweden, Finland and Germany and 25% in the Netherlands (Bassett et al. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 2008). Along with our lacklustre use of renewable energy, our cycling rates are also languishing at the bottom of the European table. I’d like, and expect, to see more people riding as energy prices rise, the economy continues to struggle and environmental pressures (both local and global) increase. A five-fold increase sounds incredible, but would only equal what many other European countries are already doing, and still represent only half the amount of cycling the best countries manage. It is achievable.

In April last year I spent two weeks in Lincolnshire with Alf and Teresa Webb at The Bike Inn completing my City & Guild’s qualifications in Cycle Mechanics.

Since completing the training I’ve been working with Ross Taylor of Taylored Cycles offering the award winning Bristol University Cycle Surgery to staff and students and volunteering with The Bristol Bike Project.

The Bristol Bike Project also won an award. We won the Grassroots category of the 2011 Observer Ethical Awards and here’s the video:

Tools are important and I now have a fairly comprehensive toolbox. I’ve also recently built a bicycle wheel truing stand, more details here: bicycle wheel truing stand for building and repairing wheels. The only tools I’m still lacking are for the headset (press, remover, star nut fitter…), frame preparing tools (bottom bracket taps, crown race cutter) and the all important workstand!

This year I’m venturing into the world of frame building, with a one week course, again in Lincolnshire with Dave Yates and another with the soon to be opened Bicycle Academy. I say soon to be opened as they are currently setting up their workshop following a fantastically successfully crowd funding. They succeeded in raising over £40,000 in under a week though the new peoplefund.it project.

Watch this space for my adventures in frame building!