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James May builds a bike (YouTube)James May claims he is now 'well buff' after cycling throughout lockdown
TV presenter James May claims he is now 'well buff' after swapping his car for a bicycle during the pandemic.
The former Top Gear host said he has only driven 'a dozen times' in the past year and was 'slimmer and stronger' since he started riding up to 10 miles a day.
The 58 -year-old said he was 'still falling apart' but was 'definitely healthier' since he began cycling more regularly.
May has a long-standing love of cycling, and previously urged motorists not to subscribe to what he termed 'road sectarianism' which seeks to view drivers and cyclists as polar opposites.
> James May urges Prime Minister Boris Johnson to “bomb us with bicycles” with £80bn HS2 cash
He said: "I'm well buff now but probably can't drive my car anymore.
“I’m definitely healthier, no doubt about that. I’m slightly slimmer, I’m stronger. I’m still falling to bits but I’m falling to bits in a slightly trimmer way.
"I’ve done a lot of cycling because I’m allowed to. I’ve tried to stick to the rules, but I’m allowed to ride my bike once a day for exercise so pretty much every day of lockdown I did between five and 10 miles.”
Despite making his name hosting one of the most famous motoring shows in the world before moving onto Amazon's 'The Grand Tour' with his co-stars, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond, May claimed he only just got into double figures for trips in the car this year, the List reports.
He said: "During the bit where the lockdown stopped I drove down to the countryside to my pub a few times but, honestly, I reckon in the past year I’ve driven probably a dozen times."
Writing in the Times last year, May said: “The lockdown came with a qualifier: you could go out walking, running or cycling, once a day. So I immediately bought a new bike, which was a bit self-indulgent, as I already had one.”
The new bike was a Giant TCR Advanced 2, and May said that a month after buying it he 'experienced the greatest bike ride of his life' when he had to go to a recording studio in Soho for voiceover work.
He added: “I made the six-mile journey on my bike, and that was an even odder experience; the capital at the quietest I’ve known it, and by a long, long way.
"By the time I left, the sun hung in view, and I decided on a wantonly circuitous route home, taking in much of the West End, Park Lane, various monuments, the park, Buckingham Palace and a couple of famous bridges.
“It was utterly idyllic, the whole fabulous cityscape sluiced in sunlight, uncorrupted air and almost complete silence, seemingly there for the pleasure of the hundreds of cyclists exploiting an unprecedented and unrepeatable opportunity.”
Latest Comments
- anke2 3 sec ago
I thought the X was for the Elon - which doesn't make things any better...
- thax1 2 hours 43 min ago
Double points for that photo backdrop Mark1a, and for anyone that has a shelf bracket for their air duster canister.
- mattw 2 hours 47 min ago
This risks turning me into a hanger and flogger....
- wtjs 6 hours 47 min ago
In SE London, psychopath riders are the majority of people on bicycles Oh dear! another festive stealth anti-cyclist ☃️
- wtjs 6 hours 53 min ago
Well, you know the BMW drivers' saying: knock that house (hospital, social housing, care home, hospital...) down, could save 30 seconds on the trip!
- Spangly Shiny 8 hours 28 min ago
I had the pleasure of owning two of the featured builders here, in my history. When I joined the Army in 1971, I took with me my curly Hetchins:...
- Username 9 hours 33 min ago
Could Siobhán paint it red and noone would notice it?
- Spangly Shiny 1 day 22 min ago
To paraphrase Field of Dreams, "Build it right and they will come: and use it!"
- Rendel Harris 1 day 2 hours ago
And a Happy Christmas to you, road.cc staff!
- Rendel Harris 1 day 3 hours ago
The odds of not being able to find a single pedestrian - just one, note, "any pedestrian" - in an area containing more than about ten of them who...
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24 comments
Guy who predominantly showcases cars, starts to also share his positive experience with bikes.
Why are people so upset? I am impressed that people can comment on articles, (social blogging/media), yet not understand British parlance which has been in cirulation for decades. Amazing!
He's also the nicest of the three former Top Gear presenters.
BUFF -Big Ugly Fat F*****
Nothing to say, say nothing.
Let's see a picture of you, then. I'm not expecting much from someone called Mungecrundle.
It was what the American airmen called the B52 Stratofortress. I've always been mildly amused when someone refers to being BUFF as a compliment.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-52_Stratofortress
But then we do now live in a world where "wicked" and "bad" mean either "fantastic" or "terrible" depending on context.
'Now' meaning for about the last 30 years.
I am getting old ... time has no meaning any more.
:o)
Interesting then to consider "terrific", whose meaning must have followed a similar trajectory. It's not just "les Anglo-Saxons" at it either, consider what the Frogs mean if they tell you you're "pas terrible".
While I'm quite impressed that anyone with anything to do with Top Gear actually rides a bike, I've no idea what "well buff" means. Is it some kind of middle class argot?
Didn't the little one ride his bicycle in one of their challenges, across London and beat everyone else?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL_POxZSkaU
Not sure he's keen keeping his mileage up though...
I think you have to be 'down wiv the kids' to understand it.
I have no idea what it means. I assume it is nothing to do with waxing your car.
Doesn't it mean he's amassed a nice collection of items to keep his neck warm?
I presume it means he's got a nice tan out on his bicycle and is now a beige colour.
Maybe he was talking about his sidewalls.
Best explanation so far!
Although he is also stating that the government should give learners who have passed the cutoff for validity of the Theory Test to be given a bye and allowed to continue without resitting due to the Covid lockdowns etc. Whilst I might have some sympathy, they last for 2 years. If the person has had theirs expire when taken in 2019, I would want them to retest as it is probably a guarantee they haven't reviewed an HC since passing. We are also talking £23 not £123 for a re-sit.
Still he always comes across as the most sensible of the three if that is saying much.
I always liked him in The Reassembler.
If nothing else it introduced me to the JIS screwdriver. No more ruined Shimano adjustment bolt heads for me...
DLVA's view (and they are the ones who would give the nod to a minister to make the decision) is that young/new drivers are most at risk of collisions, and that the theory test reduces that risk. I don't know what assessments have been done, but I'm prepared to let them have that - they should know.
However, those who have paid for and taken their theory test have not had the chance to apply it either in practice or through qualifying. Re-test them, but allow them a free option to do so: it's not their fault, it's been denied to them.
Meanwhile, there is a gaping hole in the logic. If the theory test is so vital to instil knowledge, and it only lasts for 2 years, then where is the consideration of those who have been driving for up to 53 years with no intervention?
Pass your test at 17 and, if you don't pop up on the radar (literally), the next time anybody might question you about anything to do with your driving is when, at the age of 70, you have to self-certify your health to continue driving.
A lack of tickets or summonses is not evidence of good driving, or of your knowledge of driving theory; it's just evidence that you have not been caught for anything.
There's no requirement to read the Highway Code, or to demonstrate your awareness of changes to it or the law behind it. There's not even a review of the number of collisions you've had, or why.
If it's so important that young drivers prove that they haven't forgotten what they learned 30 months ago (with young brains and fresh minds geared for learning the latest rules), why is the 50-year-old, entrenched in the way he thinks he was taught to drive 33 years earlier (with quieter roads, no gatsos, no 20mph limits, no mobiles, no ASLs, etc), left alone to mull his unvalidated "experience"?
It's time we had regulated CPC for all drivers, to include theory about different aspects of driving and ongoing practical driving training.
As a teacher, I have to undergo DBS checks every 3 years, as one of the checks that I am still safe to work with children. It would strike me as entirely sensible to have some sort of driver safety check every few years, as you literally take your own life, and that of other people, in your hands everytime you get behind the wheel.
My sons have never been anywhere near the HC. They 'learnt' to pass their test by use of an app that just takes you through example questions until you learn them by rote. In fact I remember having an argument with one of them about a question that actually came up in the test. Obviously, even though he thought the correct answer was stupid, he got it right.
Also, when the HC is updated/revised why don't the DVLA write to drivers with the changes and then insist you do a quick on line test to ensure you understand what the changes mean. Is there a better method of ensuring that drivers know about the changes?
Sounds like the kind of app that James May actively promotes with his name brand on it. I hope he has decided to issue it for free now due to Covid.