Jim Manson Blog: Brighton: city of bicycles and
of bicycle haters?
Sunday, 30 August 2009
Monday, 10 August 2009
Can Brighton's cyclists and motorists get along?
Can Brighton's cyclists and motorists get along? (From The Argus): Inspector Bill Whitehead says:
"What the cyclists often don’t think about is the devastating effect it has on motorists.
“If they knock someone off their bike and kill them, when it’s not their fault, they are left emotionally scarred for life."
How inconsiderate of those dead cyclists!
"What the cyclists often don’t think about is the devastating effect it has on motorists.
“If they knock someone off their bike and kill them, when it’s not their fault, they are left emotionally scarred for life."
How inconsiderate of those dead cyclists!
Sunday, 9 August 2009
Sunday, 2 August 2009
Human Powered Monorail Racetrack
Human Powered Monorail Racetrack | Toxel.com; looks a little hot in there!
Friday, 31 July 2009
BBC - Mark Beaumont Cycling the Americas Blog
BBC - Mark Beaumont Cycling the Americas Blog: he was on BBC Breakfast this morning, about to enter the USA
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Sunday, 21 June 2009
London-to Brighton - Southern railway cycle policy
News - Southern railway: because of the London-to-Brighton bike ride, bicycles will only be permitted on trains North of Three Bridges, East of Eastbourne and West of Chichester. So if you want to go from Bognor to Littlehampton, or Lewes to Seaford, tough.
Friday, 19 June 2009
Tuesday, 9 June 2009
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Friday, 27 March 2009
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
Brighton Naked Bike Riders Brave the Chill
Brighton Naked Bike Riders Brave the Chill: last Saturday Nick Sayers organised a press call for the WNBR in June - Leon was there representing the Clarion Club.
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
The weird cycle lanes of Brighton
Updated The weird cycle lanes of Brighton with photos to show that at long last the hazardous Providence Place cobbles have been removed.
Monday, 23 February 2009
Thursday, 5 February 2009
Ghost bike memorials that haunt Britain | The Sun |Features
Ghost bike memorials that haunt Britain | The Sun |Features: ironically the ghost bike memorial to James Danson Hatcher, on the verge of Devils Dyke Road near Brighton, has mysteriously vanished. Was it a thief or the council, tidying up?
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Freewheeling around Liverpool
Transport Merseyside Cycling | Freewheeling around Liverpool; free bikes for Scousers living in certain postcodes!
Friday, 2 January 2009
On yer bike
On yer bike: Why there's never been a better time to saddle up: "Simon Usborne explains why now is the time to get cycling"
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".
Wednesday, 21 November 2007
Sunday, 18 November 2007
Film Of British Cycling Club Outing (1955) (Resonance)
Film Of British Cycling Club Outing (1955) (Resonance): great 1955 film of a cyclists' excusion to Rugby. How things have changed!
Thursday, 15 November 2007
Crap Cycle Lanes
Amazingly, there are no Brighton cycle lanes included in the book by WarringtonCycleCampaign.co.uk!
Wednesday, 14 November 2007
Bike sex man placed on probation
BBC NEWS | Scotland | Glasgow, Lanarkshire and West | Bike sex man placed on probation: how on earth can this be true!
Tuesday, 13 November 2007
Crap Cycle Lanes
Looks like Eye Books have brought out a book called 'Crap Cycle Lanes' - wonder if I get a mention?
Sunday, 11 November 2007
Vote for moi!
You have until Wednesday 14 November to vote for my Clarion website in the SCIP Brighton Web Awards. If you're stuck for who else to vote for, Myf Nixon's Draw Anyway website (which deserves Best in show, in my opinion) and David O'Connor's Cavalaire Hotel website are both worthy contenders, done by friends of mine. It was way back in 2002 that I won a T-shirt in the same awards for my Weird Cycle Lanes website!!
Monday, 5 November 2007
Friday, 5 October 2007
Bridge Restoration To Start
Bridge Restoration To Start (from The Argus): the Shoreham Tollbridge has been saved!
Friday, 20 July 2007
Tuesday, 17 July 2007
A saint in the saddle?
BBC NEWS | Magazine | A saint in the saddle?: "Some of them think they own the roads - roads that we motorists pay for through our road tax." That old chestnut!
Thursday, 28 June 2007
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
Thursday, 21 June 2007
Brussels - World Naked Bike
Brussels - World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR) - Wiki information site: some great posters here.
Adam Trimingham on the London to Brighton bike ride
Adam Trimingham on the London to Brighton bike ride.
Monday, 18 June 2007
Rail Firms Bike Ban Causes Traffic Chaos (from The Argus): predictable story, tho a slightly different spin this year! Instead of the bikes causing the chaos, it's the train companies... Horrah!
Saturday, 16 June 2007
Free wheeling | Travel and transport | Guardian Unlimited Environment
Free wheeling: Emily Thornberry, MP for Islington South and Finsbury, busts 10 persistent myths about this easy, green and healthy way to get on the move.
Friday, 15 June 2007
The Argus Brighton Hove & Sussex news sport jobs and local information
Cyclists demand action over rail firm's bike ban: Argus article on the cycling ban on the day of the London to Brighton ride.
Thursday, 14 June 2007
Worldometers - real time world statistics
Worldometers - real time world statistics: find out how many bicycles were produced this year!
Tuesday, 12 June 2007
Monday, 11 June 2007
Brave Cyclists Get Naked To Promote Greener Transport (from The Argus)
Brave Cyclists Get Naked To Promote Greener Transport (from The Argus): coverage of the World Naked Bike Ride which took place in Brighton last Saturday
Saturday, 26 May 2007
Now Naked Cyclists Can Protest In City Without Fear Of Arrest (from The Argus)
Now Naked Cyclists Can Protest In City Without Fear Of Arrest (from The Argus); photo of Nick Sayers and Tamsin in the buff!
Thursday, 5 April 2007
Crap Cycle Lanes of Croydon
Crap Cycle Lanes of Croydon: an excellent blog-style website on 'the 45 miles of substandard cycle facilities in Croydon.'
Wednesday, 4 April 2007
Transport Project Will Cut Journey Times (from The Argus)
Transport Project Will Cut Journey Times (from The Argus): new bus service (sorry, rapid transit system) will include cycle racks.
Tuesday, 27 March 2007
What is this? on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
What on earth is this? on Flickr: Clive Andrews' snap of an Advanced Stop Line on West Street. Priceless!
Wednesday, 7 March 2007
Cycling: We take a spin round Brighton, Cardiff and Leeds: my website gets a mention in this Grauniad article!
Sunday, 4 March 2007
stickered
Last Friday I went for lunch at Wagamama and locked my bike against a lamp post on a corner opposite. When I came out, I found my saddle had been stickered with a colour-coordinated message that read: 'Pavements are for pedestrians'. I'm aware that parked bikes can be a hazard to blind people, but have never come across pedestrian vigilantes before -- do they also sticker cars parked on pavements? It finally washed off in today's rain!
Wednesday, 24 January 2007
LiveLeak.com - Bicycle lift in Norway
Bicycle lift in Norway: wow! Imagine one of these up Southover Street or Albion Hill!
Friday, 19 January 2007
Brighton Journey Planner
Journey On is Brighton's new Journey Planner: looks good but some of its suggested routes are a little eccentric, involving steep hills! Obviously designed to get you fit and lose weight!
Thursday, 21 December 2006
Wednesday, 20 December 2006
Jewson unloads
The new [New England Quarter] station site's system of roadways is fully cycle-laned, and they do make excellent loading bays!
Tuesday, 12 December 2006
North Street Quadrant
This is the North Street Quadrant, bone of contention with Bricycles and the council. It was once a road and nifty short cut for cyclists to Queens Road, now blocked off by 'the developers' (not the council!).
Monday, 11 December 2006
3 Million Cycling Fund Wasted On Goody Bags (from The Argus): my letter to the Argus.
When Brighton and Hove City Council was given £3 million to spend on developing a cycling demonstration town, I prayed it wouldn't all be frittered away on audits, consultants, feasibility studies and fact-finding missions.
However, it has found new and ingenious ways of spending money in the name of improving and encouraging urban cycling in west Brighton and Hove.
Instead of handing out goody bags to the people of Portslade (Council wasting £3m cycle fund', The Argus, December 7), it could have made a start on joining up the existing fragmented cycle routes.
Advertisement continued...
In contrast, the council has been busy making it even more difficult to get from A to B by bicycle in Brighton, not only closing off the North Street Quadrant to cyclists, a safe and convenient short cut by the Clock Tower, but also installing "tank traps" made from rows of granite cobbles to knobble the unwary cyclist along what is designated a blue "official cycle route" according to the Council's latest cycle map.
Elder Place and Providence Place, parallel to London Road, once a quiet route from Preston Circus to North Laine, has become an obstacle course more suited to mountain bikes.
The council seems more intent on scoring brownie points and winning spurious awards over other demonstration towns than giving ordinary citizens practical help to abandon their gas guzzlers and get on their bikes.
Alan (Fred) Pipes, Gerard Street, Brighton
12:32pm today
When Brighton and Hove City Council was given £3 million to spend on developing a cycling demonstration town, I prayed it wouldn't all be frittered away on audits, consultants, feasibility studies and fact-finding missions.
However, it has found new and ingenious ways of spending money in the name of improving and encouraging urban cycling in west Brighton and Hove.
Instead of handing out goody bags to the people of Portslade (Council wasting £3m cycle fund', The Argus, December 7), it could have made a start on joining up the existing fragmented cycle routes.
Advertisement continued...
In contrast, the council has been busy making it even more difficult to get from A to B by bicycle in Brighton, not only closing off the North Street Quadrant to cyclists, a safe and convenient short cut by the Clock Tower, but also installing "tank traps" made from rows of granite cobbles to knobble the unwary cyclist along what is designated a blue "official cycle route" according to the Council's latest cycle map.
Elder Place and Providence Place, parallel to London Road, once a quiet route from Preston Circus to North Laine, has become an obstacle course more suited to mountain bikes.
The council seems more intent on scoring brownie points and winning spurious awards over other demonstration towns than giving ordinary citizens practical help to abandon their gas guzzlers and get on their bikes.
Alan (Fred) Pipes, Gerard Street, Brighton
12:32pm today
Thursday, 7 December 2006
Wednesday, 29 November 2006
Cycle lane parking
The contra-flow cycle lane on York Hill makes an ideal place to park! On my way back I spotted a van and 2 cars on there but couldn't be bothered photographing them! Parking on contra-flows is particularly dangerous because the cyclist has to pull out to face oncoming traffic.
New Road
New Road is Brighton's Euro-style experiment of getting cars, taxis, cycles and pedestrians sharing the same space, with no road markings or signs. I hope they don't leave that fearsome step up onto the new blocks!
Tuesday, 28 November 2006
Cobblers
Rows of cobbles designed to knobble the unwary cyclist seem to be springing up all over the place. On Providence Place, just by St Barts church, our council has laid these cobbles. What are they for? They clearly don't calm cars, but are a hazard to cyclists using this as a quiet route from Preston Circus to the North Laine. Ironically, because of the road camber, the middle section where the cars go is relatively lower! They are also to be found on Ann Street.
Tuesday, 21 November 2006
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