Make way for cyclists

The bike has come back into its own! Increasing awareness of the need to keep fit coupled with petrol shortages has won the good old steel horse a new army of faithful fans. Cheap to run and good for you—cycling is the ideal means of transport in town and country.

Every year, more people take up cycling. Some are attracted to it for practical reasons such as petrol shortages and the rising costs of other means of transport, others enjoy it as a hobby, still more people turn to the bike as an enjoyable means of keeping fit.

Most adults take too little regular exercise. Our days are spent sitting in an office or working in the home. In the evenings, we often relax in front of the television. And when we go anywhere, it is generally by car or public transport. Therefore, our muscles get slack and we put on more weight than is good for our bodies.

Cycling tones up muscles and is an excellent means of shedding surplus fat. But — like every other sport — it is not wise to do too much too soon.

Your first day out on your bike, you shouldn't do more than half an hour. This will loosen up your muscles and get you in the swing of cycling without making you too tired. The next day, provided you are not too stiff, you should be able to manage an hour's ride. Thereafter, tack an extra ten minutes a day on to your previous time. But never do more than 100km (62 miles) in one day; if you do you will be too tired to concentrate and will be a danger to yourself and other road users.

Little and often is the best measure for anyone cycling to keep fit. Can you incorporate cycling in your journey to work? Provided you have an adequate system for locking your bike against casual thieves, you can leave it at the railway station. Or, if you have one of the special light-weight folding bikes, you can take it with you.

If you can't cycle every day, go out at least twice a week for a short ride. You'll find that this regular exercise helps your posture, circulation and digestion.

Children seldom need much encouragement to ride their bikes — in fact, it's often the other way round with mum having a job to get them to come home on time for meals. Provided they are carefully versed in road safety, cycling is an excellent hobby. It is also a hobby that all the family can enjoy together at week-ends, or on holiday. You can invent any number of games of chase on bicycles — the one we give instructions for here is great fun.

Fox hunt on wheels
This is a "sport" that family and friends can join in — the more people the merrier!

The principle is the same as a fox hunt on horseback across open country, but in our game the fox is a person and our horses are bicycles.

First, choose the fox. He (or she) will need to be a good strong cyclist with a cunning brain to outwit the pack of pursuers, and a trusty metal steed to carry him as fast as his legs can pedal.

The fox's bike must be identified by some kind of a trophy that the hunters will aim to capture. An old tie or a brightly colored rag tied firmly to the luggage rack where it won't interfere with wheels or pedals will do.

Just as a real fox leaves a trail for the hounds to follow, so your fox must leave some kind of a trail for his pursuers to follow.

There are all sorts of ways of leaving this trail. For instance, you could use bits of paper. But there are two things against this — first it might scatter in the wind. Second, unless you took great care to collect up every scrap you would be leaving unsightly (and illegal) litter around the countryside.

A good alternative to paper is for the fox to draw arrows with colored chalk on trees, rocks or the ground to indicate the direction he has taken. Since you may hunt more than one fox in a day, make sure you have a selection of different colored chalks to hand.

Another possibility is for the fox to leave small piles of sticks or stones to point the way. But unless the piles are very obvious they are harder to spot than chalk arrows. And it will take the fox more time to assemble these than to draw chalk arrows.

The rules of the game should be worked out between all the players before the game begins. It's too late once the "Tally-ho" has been sounded! Generally, it is up to the fox to decide how frequently he will leave clues on his trail to help his pursuers. But to make the game feasible, it's as well to get the fox to agree to leave a clear marker every time he changes direction.

The saying "as cunning as a fox" came from the animal's ingenuity in throwing his pursuers off the scent. It is up to your fox to exercise as much cunning as he can to shake off his pursuers. For example, he can double back on his tracks and set off at a tangent. Or, he can lead his pursuers round in a wide circle and hide for a while to enjoy a well-earned rest while they are chasing their tails instead of his.

Before the fox makes his dash, it's as well to agree upon boundaries for the hunt, and to set a time limit on catching him. Synchronize watches in advance, and once the time appointed is up, everyone gathers at an agreed meeting place. In this case, the fox is the clear winner!

The game begins with the fox setting off on his lone trail while the rest of you discuss and agree your hunting tactics. If there are a lot of pursuers, it's fun to split into several small packs. If there are only a few of you, you can make it every man for himself with the winner being the first one to get the trophy untied from the fox's bike. The fox must be allowed at least 10 minutes start over his pursuers before the "Tally-ho" is sounded…