A Bit About the Project
Wherein the Author gets on his bike…and stops. Often. And takes notes. And the occasional photo and the like.
Run 05/05/26
I’m not a very good cyclist. I can’t go terribly fast. I don’t really care about shaving seconds off my personal best. Or shaving my legs either for that matter. I don’t really like lycra though I do like those woollen 1960s/1970s/ team jerseys. Classic and stylish. These days the replicas cost a fortune. I have a few Visma Tour De France jerseys. Their kit is normally yellow but you can’t wear that in Le Tour has the leader’s jersey is that colour so they bring a new alternative one out every year. My favourite so far is the year they had a mash up of Dutch classic artists. Who’d have thought you’d have a bit of a Vermeer and a Rembrandt on a cycling shirt? Another had a personalised star chart on it, so mine had the position of the constellations over Derry on the night (around 11 o’clock!) I was born in the late 1960s. This year’s is inspired by the architecture in Barcelona apparently. They have some great cyclists do Visma, such as Wout Van Aert and Marianne Vos but to be honest I like them probably because of the kits. If they’re reading this, can I have a free shirt?!
Below. Derry Looking Pretty. View from Strathfoyle Greenway.
Anyways…this is an art project and a cycling project. Imagine Richard Long, if he had a bike and was not in the greatest physical condition. Did he ever do anything with a bike? He really should have. The plan is to do a number of journeys around Derry and its locale and share my thoughts and photos in a kind of Tour De Derry diary. There will be plenty of tangents (see above) both on and off the bike. My bike is a 4 or 5 year old Vado SL. It’s an electric bike, but one you can switch off and use as an ordinary bike. I can’t drive so I don’t own a house or a car, so it’s the most expensive thing I ever bought. I needed six months to recover and my savings never did recover sadly. If it breaks down completely the chances of getting another are pretty slim. Still, I’ve done around 5000 miles, which for dedicated types is nothing, but for an out of shape editor who has COPD isn’t too bad at all, even if I do say so myself.
I don’t know if any of my ramblings will be of interest to anyone. I guess the closest things I’ve done to this are the year Art Arcadia online residencies that Abridged does. Though I’m hoping this one will be a bit less apocalyptic than those. I’ll also try not to complain about potholes, dogs not being on leashes and people on e-scooters and scramblers.
Below. Alas poor rat. or possibly rabbit. Late of Gransha.
I’m remarkably ignorant of local history. I know the big events of course but those little micro (or subaltern as they used to call them) tales I never paid too much attention to. Same with local geography. I know vaguely where places are, but really, I can get lost in the place where I was born these days. There’s more streets than there used to be. And they all look the same. Derry likes its red brick.
Below. Little Something Or Other. Gransha.
Today I did 13 or so miles, from Clooney to Strathfoyle, around Gransha whilst taking in our 4 bridges. Well, 3 and a half really. The latest bridge is so small it really can only count as an abridged bridge. Sorry, I couldn’t help that. The route is mostly flat though the bit to Strathfoyle is hillier than you’d imagine. Gransha was as usual full of people looking very unhappy whilst trying to stay fit, continually looking at the band on their arm. Personal bests and all that. There was a few patients and nurses wandering around also. This is one of my regular routes.
More soon. This project is very kindly supported by Derry City and Strabane District Council.
Run 10/05/26
“But I can put a tennis racket up against my face and pretend that I am Kendo Nagasaki” *
I bought one of those watches, the ones that tell you that you’re not sleeping properly, your heart-rate is sky high and your soul is withered and dark. It’s an old model, bought on Ebay for £20. God knows what the new version tells you. It has an app (everything has an accompanying app these days – even my fridge, in case you want to ‘change cabin temperature on the go’ – what kind of person wants to change their freezer temperature at the supermarket or in the pub? The type that knows where the bodies are, that’s who!) that talks to you on the ride, though I can’t hear what it actually says as the phone stays in my pocket. I like to think it’s telling me: ‘keep going, you’re the new Kelly!’ (or Pogacar for the current generation) but more likely it’s asking why I go so slow and sniggering continuously.
Below: Art, St. Columns Park. Artist Unknown.
I’ve just put my bike for its 1500 mile MOT. Apparently it need a new cassette, new chain and new break-pads. I figured as much. Fortunately this little project is paying for it. I do put it through the mill a bit. We used to have a few really good bike shops in Derry city centre (or thereabouts) but now there’s just Halfords. Would you believe we used to have a bicycle factory in Derry? The very famous Viking, probably most famous as being situated in Wolverhampton, was during the 1970s, based in Derry. And you could buy a lilac Harry Quinn! ( If God had meant us to work, I’m sure he would’ve given us jobs! **) Harry Quinn before he was a Half Man Half Biscuit title, was a legendary bicycle frame maker. Viking cycles were very good. Also they gave us kids stickers from their float in the yearly May Day Parade.
Below. The Famous Viking Livery.
Todays ride was a circuit of Derry’s four(!) bridges – The Craigavon Bridge, The Foyle Bridge (also know as the ‘New Bridge’) the Peace Bridge (not known as the ‘Newer Bridge’ even though it’s newer than the ‘New Bridge’. Confused yet?) and, ahem, I’ve no idea what the newest bridge is called. Probably not the ‘Newest Bridge.’ I seem to be obsessed with bridges. Explains a lot!
*Half Man Half Biscuit
**Also Half Man Half Biscuit
Run 21/05/26
A Bit of a Quickie
Just a short spin today, but full of nostalgia. Took the bike for it’s 1500 mile service. It needed new brake pads, chain, cartridge etc, so a test run somewhere with lots of hills and rough (i.e. potholes) road was required. The bike stood up well, though the seat was at the wrong height so it wasn’t the most comfortable spin (woe is me!) and can you get your hands on the 4mm allen key you absolutely know you have but somehow can never find (woe is me again!)?
Eventually said allen key was found. The Ardlough Road has special memories for me (said no one ever) but I look back on the spins along it fondly. It wasn’t quite as run down (if that isn’t a too unfortunate description of a road) as it is now and there used to be conkers trees dotted along it. I had a German racer that me ma bought me. I’m not sure it even had a name but the best (and I mean best!) thing about it, was it had brakes further up on the handlebars as well as where they usually are on racing bikes. I never liked, even when I was young, being hunched over, on a bike. It was a really good bike though. It has reached mythic status in my memory. Me ma didn’t have the money for a great bike obviously, but in my eyes it was up their with Bianchi and the like. Funny, a few years later, I used to cycle to F6 (an ominously named Civil Service building situated beside an abattoir (in summer the stench was sickening)) where I worked. Other than it being a cheap and functional blue mountain bike, I don’t remember a thing about it. I did thousands of miles on it, but like cycling in my twenties it seems to have faded into nothing.
Below: A View from the Ardlough Road Derry.
There used to be a house near Ballyowen cemetery and the Ardlough Road that had peacocks in it and had peacock shaped hedges. This was very exotic for a kid who’s only glimpse of the natural exotic was the odd rat scurrying out in front of him. I’m still a housing estate person and I struggle where there isn’t concrete and pebbledash. I distrust the uncertainty that is the natural world, and am very suspicious of its inhabitants generally. It was only this year I saw a fox. I’m sure my soul is covered in tarmac.
More soon. This project is very kindly supported by Derry City and Strabane District Council.
Run 09/06/26
It’s A Mad World. I Blame Tears For Fears.
Sigh. You try to start a page that’s for once in your life not Apocalyptic nor reflects anything other than a middle aged guy going very slowly on a bicycle. But I guess running away isn’t an option, so I’m going to say this before I start: DON’T LET THE RASCISTS WIN! THEY’RE NOT CITIZENS WITH ‘LEGITIMATE’ CONCERNS. THEY’RE RACISTS.
Below. A Swan on the Foyle!
It’s been a while since I’ve been on the bike. The weather in Derry has been it’s usual summer self. Raining. Today was a mix of October with outbreaks of June. When you haven’t been on the bike for a while, the first mile or two, you feel great, then reality starts to break in. I do enjoy it though. Today was my usual journey doing the four (three and a half bridges). I’m going to have to vary it soon, but I only had an hour or so to spare and it’s a handy ten odd miles.
Below. Lunchtime.
I have COPD (it was Asthma when I was young but it seems to have mutated – I really wish I had smoked more ciggies if I was going to have COPD anyway) so I haven’t the lungs or the legs to go very quickly. It doesn’t affect my cycling other than other, which is weird because I can’t run at all. Literally. If I run for a bus I’m out of breath. Which is such a pity! I actually reckon I would enjoy running. I like the aesthetics of the long-distance runner (not the film) in that I reckon I would like running country roads on my own in the rain. The thought of belonging to a running club (or a cycling club) horrifies me. Runners seem to look unhappy most of the time also. Maybe the collective noun for a bunch of runners (other than a race!) is an unhappiness ? Which is also an alternative name for a murder of crows, (who never look that down in the gub to me) strangely enough. And I really don’t like lyrca. Anyway, my breathing is too rubbish to run and I know I’d trip up every two minutes also. But, people who are reading this with COPD or Asthma, you can ride a bicycle my children! So go for it!
Rupert Lowe is a ********!
More soon. This project is very kindly supported by Derry City and Strabane District Council.
Run 17/o6/26
You Can’t Get A Pill for Cross Wind. At Least Not Legally.
Pollen is a pain. Tree pollen, grass pollen, flower pollen, the whole lot is designed to torture the innocent. How you become allergic to nature is still beyond me. They were cutting the hedges and grass on the Greenways today so my breathing was a bit rubbish. You kind of want them to do it in a subtle bonsai style clipped with tiny clippers instead of the chain saws and tractors they use. I also thought that the Council were a bit early with the cutting. Isn’t it supposed to be left to the end of August or so to protect nesting birds and the like?
Below: Gransha.
Anyways it wasn’t just the pollen it was the infamous crosswinds. Crosswinds are more of an annoyance and more dangerous than headwinds. And you can’t create an Echelon on your own. Headwinds are just soul and leg destroying. Ultimately very boring. Tailwinds are a joy and don’t happen very often at all for some reason. Crosswinds (which always sounds like something you’d need a tablet for – and it’s never a good idea to take drugs in cycling ;-)) hit you, as the title suggests, from the side and if you’re on your own, there’s really nowhere to hide. You drift, even when you’re going down hill. I had to actually pedal down the Foyle Bridge today. Not in a, I want to go really fast, type of way, but just to keep moving.
Below: Gransha.
But still, cycling is fun, and I’m not really a ride in a group person, so I much prefer cycling on my own than join a club for instance. For the first very practical reason being that I’m really slow. I cannot cycle very fast at all and so would get left far behind. Secondly I have no interest in beating my own personal best or increasing my wattage. Thirdly, I don’t take cycling that seriously. And lastly, I’m not really a people person. But I am friendly and will say hallo to anyone I see on a bike. Sometimes they even reply!
More soon. This project is very kindly supported by Derry City and Strabane District Council.
