September 2007 Archives

Alan Greenspan's comments about the state of the British economy don't wash well with me. His warnings about impending high interest and inflation rates and the demise of the current housing price bubble strike me as poorly judged, especially when I consider that America has contributed greatly to the financial 'crisis' currently gripping our markets and banks.

This reminds me very much of the Lloyds 'Names' crisis in the last century. Overexposure to dodgy American insurance underwriters and thence to large insurance claims nearly broke a large number of investors who had previously thought that their money was safe.

"Where America goes Britain will follow" we are told. Why should this be? I suspect greed myself. As I understand it the current 'crisis' is brought about due to the American sub-prime lending problem. Potential bad debt has been wrapped up and sold to our banks, and hence we are suffering as a result. Mortgage rates are increasing despite the lack of change in the Bank of England base rate.

To America debt has always been a fact of life, Alistaire Cook mentioned it in his brilliant television documentary series all those years ago. America has used a mechanism called "deficit funding" (I believe) to spend now and pay later on a countrywide scale. Gordon Brown's economic miracle in Britain has used a similar trick to allow borrowing over a cycle - the so called Golden Rule - relying on the fact that the economy should grow over time.

It's sad to think that all this growth has been at a cost to people who live in this country. We now pay much more for our housing, transport, and living expenses, and taxes. I especially accuse the exorbitant council tax for which we get very little back. Gordon has pulled of an amazing trick. He has sneakily mortgaged the country, and hence its population, to the hilt, and has sneaked into Number 10 in enough time to push the blame onto other people. All we are promised now is tough talk from Mr Darling about our responsibilities as consumers to not get into debt. Coupled with the promise of future, so-called, Green Taxes is just another smack in the face of the British public.

So the sustained growth from the last decade is soon to be shown to be the sham it is. It is a great shame that the American sub-prime debt is involved as it is going to compound an effect that was overdue anyway.

NB Green Taxes are currently just another device to extract money without actually making a difference to the climate.

So, time for more feedback on this since we’ve had some questions about the bike lets start with those:

1. What gearing are you running? I’m running 46 on the front and 14 on the back, for me this is actually okay I’ve cycled up moderate inclines on this and haven’t found it terrible. Madingley hill, near Cambridge, is a slog (for around here) and I’ve done this a couple of times but never considered getting off. As for top speed, it’s good too, I’ve managed 26 mph on the flat - I’m not in top shape and didn’t take it any faster than I thought was safe given the fact that I’m still testing the bike.

2. How is the braking. Fine. There is a front brake. For the first couple of weeks I was trying to ride without using it. Then I saw Sheldon Brown’s web site and the suggestion that using the pedals for braking could weaken leg muscles, so now I use the brake for heavier deceleration.

3. Have you thought about hub braking to assist the rear ot even front wheel braking? No I haven’t. I could just fit the normal rear brake again, and some may suggest that it would be safest to have both fitted but I’m not riding for sport, just for fun! (Although I admit that a cable snap could be a bit troublesome in an emergency situation!)

So I’ve used this bike for several rides now, nothing major, just a few 14 mile jaunts and a run from Cambridge to Ely which I will detail here. Having fitted bar tape, a slightly less worn saddle, some clipless/normal pedals, and a computer I headed off one evening in glorious sunshine towards the Fens. I had to stop at Newmarket road as the combination of home wound bar-tape and cycle computer mounting wasn’t working. Fortunately I “Heath Robinson-ed” something together next to the cemetery. I took it easy and had a couple of stops for water, and a snack, despite the ride length being a derisory 22 miles or so.

Some self discipline was required having been out of the saddle for a while I tried to maintain a cruising speed of 18 mph, although I noticed that this would creep up to and above 20 along some of the straight Fen roads!

I stopped prior to Ely at a spot known as “Robert’s Bench” on the National Cycle Network path next to the river. This route is currently open despite the work to replace a bridge that has been trashed by a derailed train!

Apparently Robert Gray was a very active member of Sustrans and worked on many of their cycle paths. It was interesting to see this relatively discrete memorial bench dedicated to him:

You can see how low the sun was at this point. The colour of the gold bike looks quite nice in the evening glow I think! After a brief, misty-eyed pause to drink more water and eat a banana it was off on the bike for the last mile to Ely station to catch (just!) a train back to Cambridge again.

I’ve included a Google Earth KML file of my journey as recorded by GPS! You can download and view it here.