Are these the ones who abandon their cars on every roadside up there, so they can enjoy the peace and solitude?
Cycling campaigners welcome 'close pass' ruling
- Thread starter empip
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Are these the ones who abandon their cars on every roadside up there, so they can enjoy the peace and solitude?
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I put it that way because more than a few have a rather simplistic view that goes everybody can commute on a push bike when in practice many travel too far and on unsuitable roads. The car can also be part of some one's work. A lot of daytime motorway traffic is down to that. Many will end up in cities and town when they get where ever they are going. Years ago people tended to work close to there work. They very often don't now. In fact some commute crazy distances just to get a job.
Council etc knee jerks to encourage people to cycle / try and make it safer. That in many cases will increase pollution from cars. Depends if the roads are suitable. One round here has a cycle track along the central reservation. A rather old unique length of A road into B'ham city centre. Others are not so suitable really. My son uses canal tow paths. They would need widening to take lots of bikes. That would make way more sense than what is actually being done but cost so stick to cheap options. People walk on them as well. My son is doing this largely down to covid to avoid using a train. Electric too but can make it go faster with the pedals.
City centres. Many are designed for cars. Some visitors to B'ham find it tricky in cars when the traffic is flowing. Locals are used to merging at speed. Locals generally are used to the areas they commute in and many cities are similar. Finishes up with cities that have feeder roads that aren't suitable for push bikes and what's at the end of them isn't either.
What's going on in B'ham. Latest is blocking side roads off in a way that allows push bikes to get through. Accidents in them were very rare. It forces people onto certain roads some of which are still side roads. The most usual accident around here is kids coming out of school - always due to one walking out without looking. Boys school worse than girls. None get killed or seriously injured but stick 20 limits in anyway. The girls school gets flooded with cars when it opens and closes. That does cause minor bumps.
It's possible to drive under B'ham city centre. There is talk of closing it in the near future. One path above has been blocked apart from buses and taxi's for no obvious reason but forcing more elsewhere. Lots of fixed penalty tickets too as no really early warnings and a U turn can be tricky.
Then comes get fit. There are limitations on how far that can go that decline with age however fit some one was. Reminds me of a get fit campaign in the 60's in the USA. Comment from the medics, people died due to thrombosis and if they hadn't been playing tennis etc they would have lived for a lot longer. Bloke on the news recently. Wore out his knee joints in early 40's. So called jogger but all are actually running.
Council etc knee jerks to encourage people to cycle / try and make it safer. That in many cases will increase pollution from cars. Depends if the roads are suitable. One round here has a cycle track along the central reservation. A rather old unique length of A road into B'ham city centre. Others are not so suitable really. My son uses canal tow paths. They would need widening to take lots of bikes. That would make way more sense than what is actually being done but cost so stick to cheap options. People walk on them as well. My son is doing this largely down to covid to avoid using a train. Electric too but can make it go faster with the pedals.
City centres. Many are designed for cars. Some visitors to B'ham find it tricky in cars when the traffic is flowing. Locals are used to merging at speed. Locals generally are used to the areas they commute in and many cities are similar. Finishes up with cities that have feeder roads that aren't suitable for push bikes and what's at the end of them isn't either.
What's going on in B'ham. Latest is blocking side roads off in a way that allows push bikes to get through. Accidents in them were very rare. It forces people onto certain roads some of which are still side roads. The most usual accident around here is kids coming out of school - always due to one walking out without looking. Boys school worse than girls. None get killed or seriously injured but stick 20 limits in anyway. The girls school gets flooded with cars when it opens and closes. That does cause minor bumps.
It's possible to drive under B'ham city centre. There is talk of closing it in the near future. One path above has been blocked apart from buses and taxi's for no obvious reason but forcing more elsewhere. Lots of fixed penalty tickets too as no really early warnings and a U turn can be tricky.
Then comes get fit. There are limitations on how far that can go that decline with age however fit some one was. Reminds me of a get fit campaign in the 60's in the USA. Comment from the medics, people died due to thrombosis and if they hadn't been playing tennis etc they would have lived for a lot longer. Bloke on the news recently. Wore out his knee joints in early 40's. So called jogger but all are actually running.
I put it that way because more than a few have a rather simplistic view that goes everybody can commute on a push bike when in practice many travel too far and on unsuitable roads. The car can also be part of some one's work. A lot of daytime motorway traffic is down to that. Many will end up in cities and town when they get where ever they are going. Years ago people tended to work close to there work. They very often don't now. In fact some commute crazy distances just to get a job.
Council etc knee jerks to encourage people to cycle / try and make it safer. That in many cases will increase pollution from cars. Depends if the roads are suitable. One round here has a cycle track along the central reservation. A rather old unique length of A road into B'ham city centre. Others are not so suitable really. My son uses canal tow paths. They would need widening to take lots of bikes. That would make way more sense than what is actually being done but cost so stick to cheap options. People walk on them as well. My son is doing this largely down to covid to avoid using a train. Electric too but can make it go faster with the pedals.
City centres. Many are designed for cars. Some visitors to B'ham find it tricky in cars when the traffic is flowing. Locals are used to merging at speed. Locals generally are used to the areas they commute in and many cities are similar. Finishes up with cities that have feeder roads that aren't suitable for push bikes and what's at the end of them isn't either.
What's going on in B'ham. Latest is blocking side roads off in a way that allows push bikes to get through. Accidents in them were very rare. It forces people onto certain roads some of which are still side roads. The most usual accident around here is kids coming out of school - always due to one walking out without looking. Boys school worse than girls. None get killed or seriously injured but stick 20 limits in anyway. The girls school gets flooded with cars when it opens and closes. That does cause minor bumps.
It's possible to drive under B'ham city centre. There is talk of closing it in the near future. One path above has been blocked apart from buses and taxi's for no obvious reason but forcing more elsewhere. Lots of fixed penalty tickets too as no really early warnings and a U turn can be tricky.
Then comes get fit. There are limitations on how far that can go that decline with age however fit some one was. Reminds me of a get fit campaign in the 60's in the USA. Comment from the medics, people died due to thrombosis and if they hadn't been playing tennis etc they would have lived for a lot longer. Bloke on the news recently. Wore out his knee joints in early 40's. So called jogger but all are actually running.
Council etc knee jerks to encourage people to cycle / try and make it safer. That in many cases will increase pollution from cars. Depends if the roads are suitable. One round here has a cycle track along the central reservation. A rather old unique length of A road into B'ham city centre. Others are not so suitable really. My son uses canal tow paths. They would need widening to take lots of bikes. That would make way more sense than what is actually being done but cost so stick to cheap options. People walk on them as well. My son is doing this largely down to covid to avoid using a train. Electric too but can make it go faster with the pedals.
City centres. Many are designed for cars. Some visitors to B'ham find it tricky in cars when the traffic is flowing. Locals are used to merging at speed. Locals generally are used to the areas they commute in and many cities are similar. Finishes up with cities that have feeder roads that aren't suitable for push bikes and what's at the end of them isn't either.
What's going on in B'ham. Latest is blocking side roads off in a way that allows push bikes to get through. Accidents in them were very rare. It forces people onto certain roads some of which are still side roads. The most usual accident around here is kids coming out of school - always due to one walking out without looking. Boys school worse than girls. None get killed or seriously injured but stick 20 limits in anyway. The girls school gets flooded with cars when it opens and closes. That does cause minor bumps.
It's possible to drive under B'ham city centre. There is talk of closing it in the near future. One path above has been blocked apart from buses and taxi's for no obvious reason but forcing more elsewhere. Lots of fixed penalty tickets too as no really early warnings and a U turn can be tricky.
Then comes get fit. There are limitations on how far that can go that decline with age however fit some one was. Reminds me of a get fit campaign in the 60's in the USA. Comment from the medics, people died due to thrombosis and if they hadn't been playing tennis etc they would have lived for a lot longer. Bloke on the news recently. Wore out his knee joints in early 40's. So called jogger but all are actually running.
If you look at the gold standard for urban cycling: The Netherlands, you have Amsterdam and other old cities, with narrow streets etc. What they have done is gradually build more cycle lanes, have routes that are car free (or nearly car free), upgrade the traffic lights, so they sense when a cyclist is approaching the lights, and more importantly, look at human behaviour. They look at accidents, and see how they can make it safer. Something alien to the UK road designers.
I have some youtube vids about this, and are really interesting (to me at least). I'll put them up when I have time.
True, but it doesn't have to be that way. The Netherlands wasn't always bike friendly. In fact it was over run with cars in the 60/70s. Today people use bikes, but most do not consider themselves cyclists.
True.
As someone who usually bikes to do school drop off and go to work (today I'm in the car as the kids refuse to scoot in the rain), I don't really consider myself a cyclist, as I own no lycra, I don't go out to do miles just for fun. I use it for shopping and commuting. I recently got larger panniers so I can get extra groceries on each trip.
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Correct.Are these the ones who abandon their cars on every roadside up there, so they can enjoy the peace and solitude?
Are these the ones who abandon their cars on every roadside up there, so they can enjoy the peace and solitude?
Around the Marquis Drive visitor centre, the roadsides and verges are rammed with these berks.
Some, walkers; some, bikers.
On Sunday, almost all of them are "parked" on the right-hand side of the road (facing north), facing the oncoming direction of traffic.
I almost got hit by a berk in a Beemer who, because he was parked in such a manner and was behind a parked white van, couldn't see me approaching, so swung out into my path.
Poor planning on his part; why park in a position that you cannot see to safely extricate oneself from later?
The youtube channel NotJustBikes which goes into why the Netherlands are great, and its not just about bikes:
Its a great series of videos, as the guy is from Canada (London, Onterio), so he often compares the two systems.
Its a great series of videos, as the guy is from Canada (London, Onterio), so he often compares the two systems.
It doesn't matter what way you slice this, for a high % of the population, the work commute on a bike just isn't practical for a whole lot of reasons. That's not coming from a 'I don't want to do it' perspective, it's simply a practicality fact. There's still a LONG way to go e.g. public transport infrastructure etc before the masses will leave their cars and jump on a bike.
Digressing slightly, if I drive to work it takes me around 15 mins tops and I have the flexibility to drive anywhere after work should the need arise whether 5 miles or 50 miles away. If I elect to leave the car and take the bus, I've got a change to make and the end to end journey is around 50 mins. Even if I wanted to cycle, see my earlier posts re 7 mile stretch of busy A road. On a bike? No thanks.
Digressing slightly, if I drive to work it takes me around 15 mins tops and I have the flexibility to drive anywhere after work should the need arise whether 5 miles or 50 miles away. If I elect to leave the car and take the bus, I've got a change to make and the end to end journey is around 50 mins. Even if I wanted to cycle, see my earlier posts re 7 mile stretch of busy A road. On a bike? No thanks.
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I do some work for a firm in the sticks, the boss rides to work on a bike 15 miles on a very busy A road, I think he is crackers, one mistake by a driver or him will result in a fatherless family and a business with no leader
According to Peter Crouch 's book, Stoke defender Robert Huth didn't think training was enough of a workout , so decided to cycle the 40 miles each way from home, rather than drive.....
I expect the management shoite a brick when their multimillion squid asset rocked up on his racing bike
D
durhamplumber
First.people always quote exceptions to prove their point.Secondly.Of course it is not good to be inactive all of ones life then suddenly go mad exercising.It needs to be a lifelong plan.The body is a fantastic machine and copes with somuch but our skeleton is not designed to carry excess weight,our structure does not cope well with a sedintary life and eventually fails..People can have until about 50 usually before obesity,crap diet and lack of exercise really buggers your system.
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