Don’t let it out of your sight

(Read time: one pint of Cornish Stout)

Let’s talk about insurance!!! (urghhhh)

Perhaps that’s not the punchy return to the Gabble that I (or you) hoped I would be making after over one year away from the site, but it is a return nevertheless. This return has been prompted by literally being inundated by a single plea for me to start writing again, and also noting from my bank statement that the platform provider has taken the fee for my site, and my awesome web address/site name for the next year. And so, it seems fitting to get the pen (laptop) out again and get back into the swing of things – though I am not promising weekly blogs… but perhaps more than one per year.

A lot has happened in the last 12 months.

For those who’ve read my previous mutterings, you’ll know that I have historically travelled quite a lot with work, and you’d be forgiven for thinking that I’ve been busy with travel and not had time to get stuck into the gabble. However, you’d be wrong, as I’ve done the least professional travel that I have done since I was 22. And I’ve loved it! I don’t miss the pressurised germ incubation tubes, hotels, alien offices, or jet lag one bit, though if I’m honest I have missed the professional interaction. Equally, no, I am not unemployed… it’s just circumstance that has led to my CO2 footprint improving, cost reducing, work arrangements.

You might also be forgiven for thinking that I’ve been too busy riding my bicycle to have time to share my thoughts, learnings and musings with you. This would also be incorrect, as I can declare that I am no longer a semi-professional cyclist (by cumulative distance only) and am very much a recreational cyclist again, rather than an obsessive, skinny, lycra bound, super fit lunatic (if I do say-so myself, though I do miss some aspects of that – my jeans that have been ‘retired’ to the top of the wardrobe, certainly do!).

No, I’ve just been busy living and enjoying the latest evolution of my life. With new people in my life, new circumstances bring new priorities and behaviours. And so… the dabble in the gabble took very much a back seat in the folds of the available time. Consider yourself up to speed!

I’ve just completed my first ‘hosepipe ride’ of the autumn. You know those rides… when you need a hosepipe to make the beauty of your bicycle become visible again rather than it looking like a bizarre farming contraption. This small taste of winter riding, also reminded me of two critical lessons I learned last winter, on some of the few rides I actually did.

First – when you set off for a ride in the winter, wearing your new super warm jacket (that arguably was a waste of money as you’ve barely worn it despite owning it for 2 years), don’t forget that you need more than your baselayer underneath for when you get to your cafe stop. This is the right occasion to bring out your Joey McLoughlin Z-Peugeot replica jersey, that has the thermal properties of teabag. You can wear this with pride at the coffee stop when you have removed your jacket, rather than exposing your baselayer (and everything beneath it) to all of the well attired walkers and families that also dropped in for a coffee like you did… who you’re also sharing the space with. The alternative is to wear your jacket, and become a ‘boil in a bag’ cyclist while you’re drinking a nuclear Americano, before freezing your bits off when you leave the cafe heading for home, and the accumulated sweat becomes a more powerful refrigerant than CFC’s in a 1980’s fridge freezer. Clearly it doesn’t have to be a 1992 Joey replica – but I am sure you catch my drift – any replica or original jersey will do… or even your partners decorating t-shirt would be better. Note that: waltzing around a cafe in your summer kit is one thing… but stripping down to the minimum of your winter kit in front of all and sundry is, simply NOT cool. Your partner doesn’t want / need to see that, and nor do the Taylor family who popped out for a walk and fancied a coffee on the way home.

Second (and perhaps more obvious to most) when you get home…. and you’ve duly sprayed down your trusty steed with glorious, though slightly plastic’y fresh hosepipe water, and maybe even some luxurious soap suds, followed by some GT85 on all of the moving parts… and wiped the frame so hard that you can see the carbon fibre through the thin layer of paint that remains, and the bike is safely locked away… don’t sit down on your sofa for a lovely warming cuppa without either changing your shorts, or sitting on a towel. Who would actually do that??? Yes, I know now!

But all of that said, as I’ve affirmed before, Winter Miles make Summer Smiles! It really does make a difference when you can keep ‘bike-fit’ through the winter – spring is less of a surprise and you get to maximise your enjoyment of those glorious mornings, days and evenings as soon as there’s an ounce of warmth in the sun again. Paying the price of a soggy bum, frequent bike washes and getting undressed just inside the front door rather than dripping dirty wet kit throughout the house, is really worth it.

Speaking of things ‘being worth it’… one thing that’s clearly on everyone’s mind at the moment, is the cost of living. And cycling is certainly not immune to this. The recent deterioration of the cycling market is well documented and potentially bringing with it high visibility casualties… I’m sure that somewhere there is an accountant currently adding up the cost of all of those bags of Haribo sent out by Wiggle, who were already selling at a class leading discount. And as we head into winter we need new / better kit, we need to perform more maintenance, and undoubtedly expect more repairs as the road debris washed around by the rain, and the mulch and grime from fallen leaves and farm vehicles make punctures an increasingly likely event. So I am sure that you, as I, are looking at how to save some pennies within cycling as we are in other areas of our lives.

And this brought me to my bicycle insurance. I was a very quick adopter of bike insurance, though not immediately for my bike. The insurance was initially for me, as when I started riding I had an awful paranoia that I was going to squeeze through a gap in a queue, and remove a Mercedes-Benz S-Class wing mirror and as a result of the impact, lose control and take out a pedestrian, and thus immediately be bankrupted due to the cost of the repairs, legal fees and undoubted compensation I’d be paying to everyone, including the highways agency who’d be clearing up the glass and blood. So I’ve had insurance since 2012. And like everything when you look at what you’re spending today, it’s now astronomic! Yes, I am insuring things that are worth slightly (a lot) more than my original steeds, but all things considered, I feel that I have been totally ripped off.

I have multiple bikes, that require insurance but to my knowledge, I can only ride one at a time. They live inside my house, not in a garage or a shed. I also live in the countryside, where a) cycling accidents are fewer and b) CRUCIALLY, crime and in particular bicycle theft is a significantly lower than in urban / metropolitan areas. And so why am I paying a fortune? Unfortunately, this is because I am stupid! And it’s taken me 4 years to realise that Laka, while cool in it’s marketing and intent, because ‘we are a collective’ is, unless you live in an urban area – a waste of money.

The idea of the collective is, something along the lines that (and I apologise to you and Laka if the equation is wrong, but the intent seems close); the monthly fee is variable dependent on the claims made through the month by the rest of the collective, which are then added up and spread across the rest of the collective, based on the value of the equipment that you have insured (subject to a cap that is in my case, eye-watering). Therefore, if you have one or two very nice bicycles and live in a rural area, you are paying a disproportionate fee relative to the actual risk you and your equipment present to the collective. And therefore, I put it to you, as I did to Laka, that those who live in rural areas who insure their bicycles with Laka, are actually funding the claims of those who are insured with Laka and live in urban areas. Laka have admitted that this is the case and that they are looking into this and should resolve it in the coming months. Interesting and disappointing.

I will confess that this revelation made me somewhat smug, though not in a good way. Good indeed that I’d worked this out, but also furious that I’ve been stupid enough to not realise earlier that the amount I’ve been paying is nothing to do with the risk that I present, i.e. where I live or where my personal equipment is kept, or the risk that it might be used or stolen – but actually only the value of my equipment. That’s clearly not good value, and I am leaving Laka. However, as I am fan of being insured, and insuring my bicycles I need to go somewhere else.

Given the research I have done, I am moving to Pedal Cover.

Pedal Cover have proved that not only am I paying far too much for my bike insurance, but the same goes for my house insurance too! Your house is pretty important and the most expensive thing you’ll ever buy (for most of us at least). While they rarely fall apart, and their contents don’t get stolen or damaged every 30 seconds, you’d have to be overtly comfortable with risk and have bigger pockets that the majority (me for certain) to not have it and its contents insured. Pedal Cover’s policy structure brings your bikes and house under the one policy… and I can also say that I am saving 64% by having the one policy for both, versus two separate house and bike policies! This is impressive on the face of it. I’ve checked the small print and can’t see any disclaimer that says ‘Gabbling Mamils’ aren’t insured… so I am going for it.

My learning here isn’t really about insurance and it’s certainly not about cycling. It’s about looking beyond the fluff, and understanding what you’re paying for and why. The fact that Laka was endorsed by cycling celebs with discount codes offered in their podcasts, and they had funky adverts on Eurosport utterly sucked me in, and I didn’t ask enough about what I was doing or why… it must be brilliant! And sure it’s brilliant… if you’re insuring a Colnago C64, live and ride somewhere in London and keep it in a garden shed. In that case, I am sure you are undoubtedly winning.

However, if that is the case… and you’re lucky enough to own a C64 it should absolutely be on your living room wall, or even in your bed with you at the expense of your partner!

As a thing of utter beauty, it doesn’t need insuring… it needs to never be let out of your sight!!!