"So where does that bit go? Oh. Erm. How did he do that on the video? Maybe turned the bars this way? And that clamp, hmmm, it's a bit stuck, but... mmmf, there we go. And then this bit, and, there! Unfolded! How long? 3 minutes? Best yet!"

* * *

I probably should have tried this out a bit earlier than the morning of the night on which I was going to be doing this in the midst of a race. Two days earlier, having seen on the Nocturne Series website that there were still spaces in the folding bike race at the Edinburgh event, an email to a couple of friends had garnered a borrowed Birdy and a whole heap of confusion.

The Birdy came from Chris Hill, local cycling advocate extraordinaire, who was certain a Birdy would win the race, even if it was initally left behind by the Bromptons.

No pressure then...

The Nocturne criterium series for 2009 was to visit its traditional home of Smithfield, London, and Blackpool later in the year. But the first of the series was in Edinburgh. A chance for cycling observers to see some cracking racing action over a 1.2km circuit, spread across four main races ranging from youth to elite, and a couple of support races. One of these, the team relay, followed the format of the usual race, with the addition of a cycling bottle baton relay between riders.

The folding bike race, however, brings a certain amount of comedic element to the evening. Riders are to compete in 'business attire' on folding bikes, which in itself is a funny sight. Add in the start procedure, however, and you can see why people love watching this.

All of the bikes are arranged, folded, at the start line, with the riders around 30 yards back. All then sprint, Le Mans style, to their folded steeds, unfold them as quickly as possible, before haring off on three laps (which in Edinburgh includes a cobbled climb with an average gradient of 1 in 5 and a swooping left bend to test the tallest of gears).