Wednesday, 17 December 2008
Leslie Phillips on cycling
BBC NEWS | Programmes | Daily Politics | Leslie Phillips on cycling: Hel-lo! here's a rant about cyclists full of generalisations...
Tuesday, 11 November 2008
Five road signs that don't exist - but should
Five road signs that don't exist - but should: just found this page!
Monday, 13 October 2008
BBC NEWS | Magazine | When is a demo not a demo?
BBC NEWS | Magazine | When is a demo not a demo?; what exactly is Critical Mass and can it be illegal to cycle on the roads?
Thursday, 9 October 2008
Brighton bridge cycle lane 'causes havoc' (From The Argus)
Brighton bridge cycle lane 'causes havoc' (From The Argus): one of Brighton's steepest cycle lanes lures lorries and coaches to their doom!
Tuesday, 30 September 2008
Footage shows boy hit by bus
BBC NEWS | Scotland | Footage shows boy hit by bus
Stuart Field sent me this link. He wrote to the police thus:
Sent: 29 September 2008 22:04
To: FCC Duty Officer
Subject: Video on BBC of bus hitting boy
Hello,
I've just watched your video on the BBC of a bus hitting a boy who vaulted over a barrier.
Obviously the boy was wrong to do this, but there was no comment about the bus encroaching on the cycle lane.
Is this allowed in Scotland? If so, I'll take extra care next time I visit your country!
Regards,
Stuart Field
The reply was:
Dear Mr. Field,
Unfortunately at this location the lanes are narrow and as such larger vehicles have no option but to encroach into the cycle lane or they would have to wait until both lanes were clear before they could proceed. The congestion this would cause in the town centre would not be acceptable and the alternative would be to remove the cycle lane completely.
As road safety officer I accept that the above is not ideal but I believe affording cyclists some protection is better than none at all. When there is a cyclist in the cycle lane we find that large vehicles and car driver have to follow the cyclist in any case as there is insufficient room for them to pass when there is traffic in the right turn lane.
Yours sincerely
Scott McLachlan
Sgt 34
Operational Support Services
Police HQ
Cornwall Mount
Dumfries DG1 1PZ
Stuart Field sent me this link. He wrote to the police thus:
Sent: 29 September 2008 22:04
To: FCC Duty Officer
Subject: Video on BBC of bus hitting boy
Hello,
I've just watched your video on the BBC of a bus hitting a boy who vaulted over a barrier.
Obviously the boy was wrong to do this, but there was no comment about the bus encroaching on the cycle lane.
Is this allowed in Scotland? If so, I'll take extra care next time I visit your country!
Regards,
Stuart Field
The reply was:
Dear Mr. Field,
Unfortunately at this location the lanes are narrow and as such larger vehicles have no option but to encroach into the cycle lane or they would have to wait until both lanes were clear before they could proceed. The congestion this would cause in the town centre would not be acceptable and the alternative would be to remove the cycle lane completely.
As road safety officer I accept that the above is not ideal but I believe affording cyclists some protection is better than none at all. When there is a cyclist in the cycle lane we find that large vehicles and car driver have to follow the cyclist in any case as there is insufficient room for them to pass when there is traffic in the right turn lane.
Yours sincerely
Scott McLachlan
Sgt 34
Operational Support Services
Police HQ
Cornwall Mount
Dumfries DG1 1PZ
Monday, 22 September 2008
Friday, 27 June 2008
Rumble Strip
Rumble Strip is a chilling tale about one of the major causes of preventable death - the motor car. Written and illustrated by Woodrow Phoenix, and published by Brighton-based Myriad Editions, it tells you how to kill someone without necessarily going to prison (you run them over!), why drivers get so angry and competitive behind the wheel, and why when it comes to choosing a car, fastest and biggest is best. It is not anti-car per se (Woodrow drives a red Audi A3) but should be compulsory reading for those idiot Argus correspondents (and people who write into newspapers all over the world, I shouldn't wonder) who carp on about rising fuel prices, lack of parking and how cyclists are the scum of the earth.
For a graphic novel about cars (Spam in a can) and pedestrians (just Spam), it shows no people - or cars. We are in a stark world of empty infrastructure: black roads busy with white arrows telling us where to go, vast creepy carless car parks that look like war cemeteries, but with the briefest tantalising glimpses of landscape now and again. The text is full in your face, not tucked away in a corner of the frame, often irritatingly obscuring a detail, like the vanishing point of a road, or the intricacies of an electricity pylon (of which Woodrow is now a fan). It's a take on car ads that are always located on those mythical open roads.
The look and feel builds on his previous work for Myriad, a contribution to The Brighton Book (2005), which made the reader experience the narrative first hand, Peep Show style.
A rumble strip by the way is that corrugated bit on motorways that jolt you awake should you nod off and venture too near the edges of the road.
For a graphic novel about cars (Spam in a can) and pedestrians (just Spam), it shows no people - or cars. We are in a stark world of empty infrastructure: black roads busy with white arrows telling us where to go, vast creepy carless car parks that look like war cemeteries, but with the briefest tantalising glimpses of landscape now and again. The text is full in your face, not tucked away in a corner of the frame, often irritatingly obscuring a detail, like the vanishing point of a road, or the intricacies of an electricity pylon (of which Woodrow is now a fan). It's a take on car ads that are always located on those mythical open roads.
The look and feel builds on his previous work for Myriad, a contribution to The Brighton Book (2005), which made the reader experience the narrative first hand, Peep Show style.
A rumble strip by the way is that corrugated bit on motorways that jolt you awake should you nod off and venture too near the edges of the road.
The Copenhagen Bike Culture Blog
Copenhagenize.com - The Copenhagen Bike Culture Blog: somewhere's got it sorted! Take a look Brighton!
Two wheels
Two wheels | Health and wellbeing | Life and Health: do you shower after ever cycle journey? I don't!
Sunday, 22 June 2008
Cyclists Demand Action
Cyclists Demand Action To Tackle Dodgy Drivers (from The Argus); what a week in the Argus!!
Popular Ex-councillor Drowned Himself (from The Argus)
Popular Ex-councillor Drowned Himself (from The Argus): Ed Furey, Clarion chair and social secretary, RIP.
Cyclists V Motorists Its War
Cyclists V Motorists Its War (from The Argus); is this the promised article on parking on cycle lanes?
Cyclists Fined
Cyclists Fined For Riding On The Promenade (from The Argus); lots of debate going on here!
Thursday, 12 June 2008
Saddled With Strange Cycle Paths
Saddled With Strange Cycle Paths (from The Argus): a spread about my website - I was under the impression the feature was going to be about the problem of parking on cycle lanes!
Monday, 9 June 2008
Saturday, 7 June 2008
Friday, 6 June 2008
Thursday, 5 June 2008
Cycle lanes - a set on Flickr
Cycle lanes - a set on Flickr: recent photos revisiting some of Brighton's weird cycle lanes
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
Monday, 28 April 2008
YouTube - tokyo bicycle parking tower
YouTube - tokyo bicycle parking tower: wonder how much it costs?
Thursday, 3 April 2008
Wooden bike?
Lee Valley Tools - Woodworking Newsletter Vol. 2, Issue 2: how to build a bike out of wood!
Wednesday, 2 April 2008
"CYN O NGCLI"
20080329-183015 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!: rearrange these letters to form a well known phrase or saying - photo by Nick Sayers
Tuesday, 1 April 2008
Treecycling
Treecycling: Making Bikes from Locally Grown Timber - East Hampshire Cycling for All; Hmm, what's the date on this? Good idea though!
Tuesday, 25 March 2008
Sunday, 23 March 2008
shopping bike-catbasket
shopping bike-catbasket.
Aquachimp writes: Given all the media interest in banishing plastic carrier bags and generally encouraging us to go green, i thought I'd share a little tip i constructed a few years ago and has worked out very, very well.
I got a cat basket and mounted the base on to the back of the bike. To do so, I used 4 biggish round-headed bolts (& matching nuts), 4 wide washers, 4 off-cuts from a roll of perforated metal and several spring washers. And to maintain structural integrity, I also used a drill to make the holes in the plastic catbasket base, rather than trying to punch through.
We got one of those very large semi-ridged woven baskets. It, or one of the samller ones simply needs to be placed on the mounted catbasket and never falls off, no matter the wind, speed humps or cobbled roads. On arrival at the shop, just grab the bag, shop, fill bag and on return to bike, replace on catbasket base and leave.
I've uploaded some pics if anyone want to see. Note, a small hole is visible at the end of the basket. This was because I originally thought the catbasket's metal grid would be needed to stop things falling out through that lower section. It proofed unneccessary.
Also, the sprig washers are placed, jam packed between the metal stripes
The only point of difficulty turned out to be a recent new rear light.
Aquachimp writes: Given all the media interest in banishing plastic carrier bags and generally encouraging us to go green, i thought I'd share a little tip i constructed a few years ago and has worked out very, very well.
I got a cat basket and mounted the base on to the back of the bike. To do so, I used 4 biggish round-headed bolts (& matching nuts), 4 wide washers, 4 off-cuts from a roll of perforated metal and several spring washers. And to maintain structural integrity, I also used a drill to make the holes in the plastic catbasket base, rather than trying to punch through.
We got one of those very large semi-ridged woven baskets. It, or one of the samller ones simply needs to be placed on the mounted catbasket and never falls off, no matter the wind, speed humps or cobbled roads. On arrival at the shop, just grab the bag, shop, fill bag and on return to bike, replace on catbasket base and leave.
I've uploaded some pics if anyone want to see. Note, a small hole is visible at the end of the basket. This was because I originally thought the catbasket's metal grid would be needed to stop things falling out through that lower section. It proofed unneccessary.
Also, the sprig washers are placed, jam packed between the metal stripes
The only point of difficulty turned out to be a recent new rear light.
Tuesday, 18 March 2008
London Freewheel
London Freewheel: be part of an extraordinary day: the 2008 London Freewheel is on 21 September - register now!
Saturday, 15 March 2008
Cyclist stabbed to death
BBC NEWS | England | Merseyside | Cyclist stabbed to death in row: "A female cyclist has been stabbed to death in the Anfield area of Liverpool in a 'vicious and brutal' attack."
Thursday, 13 March 2008
The Sport Relief Super Cycle
The Sport Relief Super Cycle; The One Show presenter Adrian Chiles and Alan Shearer are cycling from Newcastle to London - via West Brom! - over two days.
Monday, 10 March 2008
Friday, 22 February 2008
Blast Theory | Rider Spoke
Blast Theory | Rider Spoke: there's an event in the Brighton Festival called Rider Spoke, where you are fitted out in a helmet, handlebar mounted video and headset and have to do things! Thurs 8 - Sunday 11 May, free, but you have to book in advance (doesn't say where!)
Another pointless cycle lane
Another pointless cycle lane on Flickr - Photo Sharing!: a bit like the jug handle on the Level - I suppose it's to help you cross the road - presumably there's another bit of cycle lane over there?
Saturday, 9 February 2008
Melita's Flickr photo
I have deep admiration for whoever did this: Melita's photo on Flickr has become a phenomenon with thousands of hits.
Friday, 4 January 2008
Cycling fury at beheading 'joke'
BBC NEWS | Wales | North East Wales | Cycling fury at beheading joke:
In his column on 27 December, Matthew Parris wrote: "A festive custom we could do worse than foster would be stringing piano wire across country lanes to decapitate cyclists".
Under the headline "What's smug and deserves to be decapitated?" he wrote of cyclists' "brutish disregard for all other road users".
He also said that "the lynching of a cyclist by a mob of mothers with pushchairs would be a joy to witness".
In his column on 27 December, Matthew Parris wrote: "A festive custom we could do worse than foster would be stringing piano wire across country lanes to decapitate cyclists".
Under the headline "What's smug and deserves to be decapitated?" he wrote of cyclists' "brutish disregard for all other road users".
He also said that "the lynching of a cyclist by a mob of mothers with pushchairs would be a joy to witness".
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