{"id":1804,"date":"2017-02-28T20:26:23","date_gmt":"2017-02-28T20:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/?p=1804"},"modified":"2017-03-01T05:01:56","modified_gmt":"2017-03-01T05:01:56","slug":"getting-around-in-the-west-midlands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/getting-around-in-the-west-midlands\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting around in the West Midlands"},"content":{"rendered":"

Because\u00a0the name of my book and documentary is to be Cycling the Canals of Britain<\/em>, a bike will be my primary means of transportation. There will be a train ride from the airport to Moor Street\u00a0Station, and\u00a0from there I will have to\u00a0walk with my fanny pack (bum bag), carry on bag and duffel bag to On Your Bike<\/a>,\u00a0where I can hire a bike for the trip. It\u2019s less than half a mile from the station to the bike store, but because\u00a0I won\u2019t have any wheeled luggage, it might be a challenge.\u00a0The staff\u00a0at On Your Bike (stores in Birmingham and London), have been very accommodating with me,\u00a0and I\u2019m picking up the bike the day of my arrival, May 4th.<\/p>\n

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Trek Bikes, which seem to be popular with UK hire companies, is a Wisconsin company.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Insanely impressive German engineering. I like how pulling up the handle releases the clamps that engage the bike rack.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
I know little about this brand and just hope the bag will endure long enough for this one trip. I chose it over a camera bag because it has one large open compartment, but unfortunately no padding.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
I will maintain the stereotype of Americans and their fanny packs, but really there is no better bag for a tourist. The waist belt tucks away and there\u2019s a generous shoulder strap included. I will buy the strapettes an the rain cover.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

I\u2019m told I will be renting a 2013 Trek 7.1 FX, hopefully something like the picture to the left. It will come with fenders and a bike rack and it looks like the sort of bike I ride at home, a hybrid bike without shocks. I hope it will be up to the muddy towpaths I\u2019m likely to expect.<\/p>\n

Panniers<\/h5>\n

I will be attaching panniers (which Emma says<\/a> should be pronounced PAN-neers or PAN-yurs) to the rear bike rack and I\u2019ve chosen the Ortlieb Back Roller Classic<\/a>.\u00a0I have panniers for my bike at home for grocery shopping, but the Ortlieb panniers are quite a step up. They\u00a0are essentially\u00a0dry bags and supposedly can be completely submerged, but as I don\u2019t plan to fall into any of the canals, I hope that will remain untested. A pair holds 1.4 cu ft or 40L, a little less than\u00a0an international flight\u00a0carry on bag. I haven\u2019t ordered them yet (they\u2019re $180 at REI<\/a>), but when I do, I\u2019ll post a video.<\/p>\n

The panniers have a shoulder strap but as I will already be wearing a carry on backpack and a fanny bag, I\u2019ve decided to put the two panniers in a duffel bag and schlep all this to the bike hire. Almost all my camera gear will be in the fanny pack and carry on backpack and I hope most of my clothing will fit in a single pannier, leaving the other one free. I plan to\u00a0transfer camera equipment\u00a0from the carry on backpack to the empty pannier, leaving only the tripods in the carry on.<\/p>\n

Carry on<\/h5>\n

My main tripod\u00a0won\u2019t fit in the panniers and so it will either remain in the backpack, which will be\u00a0lashed to the bike rack. The backpack I have my eye on, the CabinMax Metz Cabin Backpack<\/a>, isn\u2019t waterproof, although I intend to buy a waterproof cover for it. I\u2019ve chosen it\u00a0to hold my camera equipment because unlike most camera backpacks, it\u2019s exactly the same size as the Icelandair carry on dimensions and should be long enough to hold the tripod.<\/p>\n

Fanny pack<\/h5>\n

The fanny pack I have is the Mountainsmith Lumbar Day Pack<\/a>. I have a slightly older pack than the picture and link, but it\u2019s essentially the same pack.\u00a0It holds .46 cu ft or 13L and easily fits under a plane seat. I only wish the padded\u00a0tablet sleeve were\u00a0a little deeper to accommodate my iPad Air 2, but that is no fault of the bag. I have a number of Mountainsmith bags and they\u2019re a Colorado company.<\/p>\n

Brompton Bike<\/h5>\n

Unfortunately On Your Bike is closed Sunday and Monday and so I must return my rental on Saturday May 13th, leaving me two days in Birmingham without a rental bike. Fortunately I can use the Brompton Bike Hire<\/a> scheme to rent a bike for the day. If you\u2019ve never seen one of these origami wonders, I include a clip from the BBC comedy series W1A at the bottom of this article.<\/p>\n

The hire scheme in Birmingham is similar to the Boris bikes in London (more officially known previously as Barclays Cycle Hire\u00a0or now as Santander Cycles) or Denver\u2019s own BCycle. You pick up a bike at a dock station<\/a> and pay for the day. You can\u00a0return the bike to any bike dock. You have to transfer \u00a310 to your Brompton account upon registering, which should be more than I\u2019ll need for the two days I use it.\u00a0Unlock and return codes to open the lockers are sent as text messages.<\/p>\n

The challenge for me, however, is that Brompton Bikes (a London company) have very small wheels and fold into a\u00a0small package. The bikes are stored in lockers, so I\u2019ll have to unfold one when picking it up and fold it when returning. Thankfully there are videos explaining the process<\/a>, but I expect to look Hugh Bonneville silly my first time. The other difficulty is if the nearest dock has no bikes, requiring me to find another dock.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll probably use a Brompton bike when I visit the Soho House Museum.<\/p>\n

NOTE: I thought I should mention I am not being compensated for using any products or services. I\u2019m writing these articles to let you know what equipment I\u2019m using and also to satisfy my friend Lee, who I think takes a vicarious pleasure in my planning. My god that woman likes to plan.<\/p>\n