Just finished the grunt-work for my summer research-project! Preliminary results:

There are varying amounts of salt to be taken with the above:

1. I’m waiting for 22 (out of 32) Local Authorities to confirm numbers of CCs in their schemes and the numbers of these that really are active.
2. I’ve not searched for Facebook and Twitter accounts, just noted data that came up in googling for CCs or appeared on CC websites.

Now to try to find out

• why those active CCs that ‘do’ online do it in the ways they’ve chosen
• why those CCs that don’t ‘do’ online don’t!

Why over a quarter of CCs may not exist in the first place is someone else’s problem. I am surprised that so few CCs mention planning – their sole statutory ‘duty’. I hope this isn’t a reflection of what they actually do!

So here’s what poor tarmac, rain, nasty diversions, steep-ish hills and an hour of spinning will do to my speed.

We returned to SQ about 9pm, after a weekend of almost zero physical activity for me. (I accompanied Elly as she ran on Saturday morning but I do not run except in emergencies, so I was on a borrowed, somewhat knackered bike that was also a bit too small for me.

So I thought it was time to reunite myself with Lev, and enjoy the relatively empty tarmac of evening before closing time. I had thought it was 10 miles from SQ to Edinburgh airport. (It’s not: it’s 6·8 miles. It’s 7·7 to the next convenient turning-point, namely Gogar roundabout.

While, I’ll never be anything like Bradley Wiggins (I don’t suit sideburns, for a start!), I’m very pleased that the lights, weather and traffic were mostly in my favour, so I was able to cycle to Gogar roundabout and back in just under an hour. At one point, I was doing over 20mph on what felt like level road and I wasn’t trying to sprint, just to be comfortably fast.

I returned to SQ elated by the speed and freedom I’d just experienced. It’s a drug – I want more!

• As of last night, have researched 1351 (84%) of CCs’ online presences. Intending to get to 100% by tools-down on Monday. Task speeded by 25% of CCs not having online presences!
• Gave talk on background and results so far. Thanks goodness only 6 attendees: professor, supervisor, lecturer, three postgrads (Ella, Maja and Jan). Thanks also to supervisor for slug of rocket-fuel coffee, although this may have been responsible for me describing one aspect of CCs’ online presences as ‘stunningly crap’.
• Back to the grind for 2 hours, then going to visit parents. Things to do there:
  • cook
  • sister’s filing
  • arrange holiday in Vienna for/with parents
  • have some time with Elly!

   

• Re-discovering The Final Cut

I’m rather sad for two reasons:

• thanks to Edinburgh’s ongoing roadworks, my average speed for cycling to spinning – almost all downhill – was under 9mph
• I had to stop early because my right shoulder became unbearably painful. My back still feels very tense between my shoulder-blades

This is probably still my favourite Sex Pistols song. (Lyrics here, carton and snippets from The great rock’n’roll swindle here.)

Bah! Chickpeas are less ‘windy’ than normal peas!

Oh well, this explains why my cycling’s not been, ahem, assisted recently.

You might recall that Elly and I cycled to Stirling in April. Well today, our friends there returned the complement. Here’s their route, as far as I can recall and persuade Google Maps to display. It was basically along the NCN route 76 (with the usual missing or vandalised signs) to the Forth road bridge, then crossing the FRB, then along NCN route 1 to central Edinburgh.

I left Servants’ Quarters at 13:30, hoping to meet them north of the FRB. I wasn’t quite as fast enough – we met south of the bridge’s centre. (Here’s my travels.) So I’ve now practiced some of the route I’ll do in August. (In case you’re interested, the detailed route is:

• part 1
• part 2.)

There then followed a very pleasant afternoon involving lots of photos, caffeine, cake and sprout curry. Yeehah!

One of the benefits of researching community council online presences is learning that there’s annual World Porridge Championships.

In my ongoing efforts to get the most out of my legs and Lev Davidovitch, yesterday I fitted him with SPD pedals and my cycling shoes with SPD cleats. (The cleats and pedals come as a set.) I opted for a set of pedals that have SPD bindings on one side and are flat on the other, in the belief that I needed to retain the option of having one foot not ‘trapped’.

It’s recommended UK cycling practice, when stopped, to have the left leg on the ground so that you’re normally leaning away from traffic. I believe this also facilitates seeing a bit further behind you when looking over your right shoulder – again recommended practice for the UK. So I assumed I’d keep my right foot attached to Lev and use the flat side of Lev’s new left pedal.

Here’s some observations:

• • During a quick trip where I didn’t clip in at all, I missed the positioning and power that Lev’s ‘cages’ (pedals with toe-clips and straps) provided.

• • Today, on a ride to Little France and back, I think the SPDs – when both were in use – added a couple of mph. I know that I took 35 minutes to get there and 30 minutes to get back (cyclemeter map), when I’d normally allow 40 to 45 minutes. However, the weather – absence of wind for most of these journeys – may well have been a bigger factor than the different pedals.

• • Stopping involves remembering to drop a couple of gears and twisting my left foot to detach. This action is still cerebral rather than cerebellar but should become ‘unthought’ with practice.

• • Keeping my right foot trapped was easy. However, it took up to 60 seconds of checking Lev’s left pedal was the right way up and then fumbling my left foot into position to become fully attached to Lev. So in stretches where there are frequent traffic lights (e.g. Cameron Toll roundabout, Lothian Road, West End), attaching may not be worthwhile.

• • ‘Hang-time’ (where I’ve pulled up behind a queue of vehicles behind a traffic-light which has just turned green, and am trying not  to put my foot down and hence lose all momentum) can feel hairy as I mentally juggle whether to detach from the left pedal (and thus lose more while fumbling to re-attach) or not (and thus risk falling over).

• I need to carry alternative footwear. While it is possible to walk with the SPD cleats attached to my shoes, they do hit the ground and could damage sensive surfaces. Also, they make me walk even further back on my heels, and I’ve already worn away a lot of the sole on the heels of these shoes.

So while the SPDs don’t feel natural yet, I think they will be beneficial.