Pino Positivity!

I thought I would jot down some of the positives of the 2021 Pino Steps, from our perspective. This list is not exhaustive and will vary from person to person but this is how we see it!

1. Sociable way to travel, easy to communicate.
2. Riding the Pino is fun for riders and observers.
3. Excellent visibility for both riders when used as a tandem.
4. Excellent and fun family transport option.
5. Good way to develop and maintain fitness.
6. Environmentally friendly way to travel.
7. Very enjoyable way to travel - especially downhill and on the flat!
8. Accessible cycling for many people who might otherwise excluded.
9. Allows a possibly nervous or inexperienced cyclist to make journeys that might not otherwise be possible.
10. Many options to allow disabled riders to participate.
11. Allows riders of different levels of fitness to ride and stay together.
12. Electrical assistance options with the Shimano E6100 or EP8 mid-motor Pino Steps.
13. Different battery options available to extend range. 504Wh and 630Wh options are available.
14. Excellent load carrying ability with many luggage options.
15. Telescopic frame elements make the Pino much more readily transportable. Length can be reduced right down to 184cm.
16. Can be carried on a standard car rack or in a motorhome garage.
17. Telescopic frame elements make the Pino much easier to store at home.
18. Very versatile mode of transport.
19. Excellent manoeuvrability due to short wheel base.
20. Option to ride the Pino as a solo bike.
21. Comfortable, particularly for the tandem stoker, who sits above the suspension forks.
22. Stoker can freewheel at will, legs are not forced around.
23. Excellent machine build quality and engineering.

My Marmotte

Well, it’s done—what an epic ride! The biggest challenge was the heat, which hit 40°C coming off the Col du Galibier. It felt like an oven. The climbs were immense, the descents thrilling. I expected heat, but not that hot!

I won’t go into all the route details, but as usual, I witnessed a few incidents. One rider nearly took me out on the Col du Glandon when his rear tyre blew at high speed—somehow, he stayed upright. Further down, another rider overcooked a corner but seemed OK despite being badly cut up. The worst was near the end, where someone lost concentration, went straight off a bend, and crashed hard into a rocky bank. He got up, but he was in a real mess.

I stuck to my plan, climbing conservatively to preserve energy, even as many riders passed me early on. This paid off later, allowing me to finish strong. The final climb up Alpe d’Huez was brutal—baking hot after 100 miles of riding. I just kept counting the bends, and eventually, I made it!

I was thrilled with my time—just under 8:51. At nearly 51 years old, I finished with a gold standard time, beating the threshold by 45 minutes. Even in the younger age group, I hit gold by 24 minutes and only missed the next category by 2 minutes.

Could I have done better? Maybe, if I’d ridden less conservatively or been a few kilos lighter. Would I do it again? Probably not. I achieved my goal safely and in good conditions, so chasing a few extra minutes feels pointless. Perhaps one day, I’d ride it again as a relaxed tour, stopping at cafés and taking photos—but not to race the clock.

Greedy Banks - Savings Scandal

The so-called savings account that paid just 15p interest on £1,000.

Savers earned as little as 15p interest for every £1,000 in their nest egg last year as banks took advantage of loyal customers, a Money Mail investigation reveals.

High street banks slashed payouts on some of their most popular accounts to as low as 0.01 per cent despite the Bank of England base rate rising from 0.25 to 0.5 per cent for the first time in a decade.

Among those hit hardest will be pensioners who rely on their savings in retirement, and first-time buyers.

Savers with money in HSBC’s popular Flexible Saver account earned just 15p on £1,000 or a measly £3.84 on a £25,000 balance over the entire year.

Santander and NatWest also paid less than 20p on a £1,000 balance. Even those who trawled the high street for the best deal were paid just 63p for every £1,000 in an easy-access savings account, Money Mail’s research found.

The figures emerged after Isa savers endured their worst year since the tax-free accounts were launched 18 years ago. In a study of more than 125 variable-rate Isa accounts, six paid less than 7Op on every £1,000.

The low rates have coincided with the savings ratio - which measures how much of households’ income is saved - plunging to a record low of 1.7 per cent, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Last night experts accused the banks of squeezing savers to boost profits. Justin Modray, of Candid Financial Advice, said: ’There has never been a worse time for savers. Interest rates are still low but the banks are paying next to nothing - and it’s usually loyal customers who pay the biggest price.

‘It is a total rip-off because banks know most people don’t switch savings accounts very often so they think they can get away with paying terrible interest…banks should be passing the recent interest rate increase to savers in full.’ Savers have seen incomes hit since the financial crisis, when the Bank of England base rate was cut to 0.5 per cent and then 0.25 per cent.

The Bank’s money printing programme, quantitative easing, made the situation worse as it handed billions of pounds of cheap money to the banks.

It meant they no longer needed savers’ cash to fund loans, and so slashed rates to boost their profits. When the Bank raised rates in November, banks were slow to hike their savings deals, despite raising the cost of mortgages almost immediately.

Some banks increased rates by just 0.04 percentage points. Lloyds and Santander managed to bump up the profit they make from savers and borrowers.

Money Mail’s investigation probed the actual interest paid on the biggest accounts in 2017, taking in to account all rate cuts and rises. But even now, major banks are offering dismal rates. Santander and NatWest pay as little as 0.1 per cent and Lloyds and Halifax pay 0.2 per cent on their main easy-access deals.

Ben Yearsley, of Shore Financial Planning, said: ‘The way banks treat customers is disgraceful. They don’t think twice about hiking rates for borrowers but are happy to leave savers languishing on terrible rates.’ Experts say many older savers are resorting to taking bigger risks and investing more of their savings in the stock exchange.

Savers have also seen family finances hit by higher inflation and lacklustre wage growth.

Laith Khalaf, of financial adviser Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘The banks know most people don’t [shop around] so they can make a tidy profit by keeping most deposit rates low, while at the same time hiking the cost of mortgages.’

A spokesman for UK Finance, banks’ trade body, said: ‘We would always encourage customers to check they are getting competitive interest rates… and, if not, to shop around.’

Daily Mail - Saturday January 6th 2018.