Merry Christmas!

Letter to BBC South East News Desk

It is not just potholes you know, excavations more like. And, it is not just cars that are affected, cycles too.

Much of our country lane network (rural roads) are in an appalling state; they make it very difficult to cycle, and often downright dangerous.

 If another car is passing they don't have that much room.

One third of the road is covered with debris.

Edges broken away, debris in the centre, there is enough space for a car, but very limited space (with a cliff edge) for a cyclists.  In practice this is a nightmare scenario. 

This is due to years of neglect.

Looking up a fairly steep hill, near Westwell; very dangerous for cyclists especially those descending.

And there is plenty more. It is going to take years to clear this up, and cost many millions. We shouldn't consider any new road building if we can't maintain the ones that we already have.

Copy of email sent to the BBC which was reporting on potholes:-

There is much more to it than just pure potholes.

3 cartoons

Things have improved a little since 1996

Grossmutter

Through a forest along the cycle friendly Baltic coast.   Rostock to Swinemünde/Swinoujscie (in Poland) then down south to Stettin/Szczecin.

And it was 'Grossvater' who took this picture.

Letter to Ashford Herald

Ashford Herald Nov 27^th. 2014. page 3.

Report entitled: “Residents worried as cars drive on footpath (and cycleways).”

KCC were reported to have stated that they ‘had to improve safety only where there had been recorded incidents’. So does this mean that where residents are concerned about road safety, KCC will not take any action to reduce the danger until someone is killed or seriously injured? This is what Roadpeace refer to as a ‘body-count philosophy’, and it is not acceptable. The aim should be to prevent incidents before they happen, and not to wait until they do, to make a sacrifice just to prove a point.

In this same article the police were quoted as saying that vehicles parked on a cycleway (and footway) are not a matter for the police to enforce. If the police wont, then who should?

A cycleway is a public highway, and it is an offence to obstruct it. It is also an offence to drive onto a pavement, and to obstruct that.

Pedestrians and cyclists are treated as third rate-citizens. Good footways, and quality cycleways are in short enough supply, without those we do have being obstructed by motor vehicles.

Ted Prangnell CTC, member of Roadpeace, and Living Streets.

On road - on cycleway obstruction

On road - on cycleway obstruction

The Renaut was parked on this cycleway for at least 4 days.  On a very busy road, it causes cyclist to pull out into the stream of very busy traffic, which is wrong.   

The Police said that it should be reported to the council for them to remove it, but this is the case of the plain obstruction of a highway (a cycleway is a highway), and that should be a matter for the police to deal with.  My argument was that if a bike was stood in the middle of a road, then they would soon get it moved.   Well after my argument it was moved, but I don't know if it was as the result of my lobbyling.
          

Stop me and Buy one

Stop me and Buy one

Actor Nick Wilton,cum ice cream vendor, sits proudly astride his Pashley outfit waiting for customers on the front in Whitstable, under the brand name "Lyckett and Smile".

Delicious Dairy Ice-cream for all occasions.

Why not check out the web-site:-  www.fone-a-cone.moonfruit.com

Picture dated the 31.10.14.    

THe front caliper break unit is mounted to the main frame, and there is a rear hub-brake, operating handle lever is mounted  under the saddle. 

Illegal parking = Illegal cycling?

Illegal parking, could lead to illegal cycling (on the footway)

This picture illustrates the problem with on-road cycleways.  The prevent legal parking of vehicles.  This is a common problem on this road (Shorncliffe Road,  Folkestone).

Decorative bikes

Part of the Folkestone Triennial arts festival where bicycles decorated by knitting and crocheting were displayed.

Similar bikes have already been recorded form Whitstable.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                          

What they are trying to achieve is a mystery to me.  

I am not sure that their work would promote cycling, or art.

Perhaps the next project might be knitted cycling trousers, that would make a change fro Lycra. .

Off Road cycling

Folkestone outer Harbour, with the tide out

What these two cyclists were up to, what they were trying to achieve, is anybodies guess.  I don't recommend it.

I suppose they liked riding 'Off-Road'.

It is actually a rather dangerous, and foolish thing to do, that mud might be soft, and it is easy to get sucked under.

Don't try this at home.

Where have all the cyclists gone?

"Fifty years and no change" said the headlines of the Kentish Express, but oh how it has. Over the last 50 years the population of Ashford has almost doubled. The amount of motor-vehicles on poor Ashford's roads has almost tripled, (and it will get much worse), and to add to all that lorries have got much bigger.

Raising the bridge a mere 12" was a very costly exercise with not much being achieved.

However there is one aspect which has indeed changed markedly; and that is the number of everyday cyclists. There are none to be seen in the 2014 picture, whilst there are at least seven bicycles in the 1964 photo, and what is more there were pedestrians, but none in 2014.

     My mother would have been able to sum up this scenario quite accurately, by observing that: "It is not that the bridge is too low, it is that the lorries are too high". She is right you know.

Cycle ramp

Provision for cyclists in a large factory.

No cycling beyond this point, wisely I think, but they have provided a ramp so bikes can be wheeled up the steps.  Whilst common enough elsewhere, this is the first such ramp provision I have seen in this country.
     I am not terribly keen on the type of cycle rack, nor that they have no cover.

Cycling through the shopping centre

Cycling on the pavement or not?

I followed these young cyclists for some distance, nobody seemed to mind, in fact quite the contrary.  But, there would become a time, or an age, when cycling through a shopping centre would be frowned upon. 

I don't think it will be acceptable to cycle through a shopping centre for long.

Fund Raising tool

Charity Rides

The bicycle is utilised in many guises as a tool to raise money for charity.  This gentleman was endeavouring to ride non-stop for 8 hours in aid of Our Ladies Hospital for sick children, in Crumlin, Ireland..

He was equipped with a music player and a power generator which was driven by the bicycle.

Why must bikes give way to cars?

Give way, but only cyclists.

These days, on new housing estates cycleways are often provided.   The following are two pictures of the entrance to cul-de-sacs.  Now Cul-de-sacs are dead-ends, with a limited number of houses, or a Close.   So the traffic in and out is somewhat limited, and the road is not a through road.  

  The trough 'Spine-Road' is on the right of this picture, to which runs this cycleway runs parallel.  If motor vehicles are not required to give way in this scenario, then the same rule should apply to cycles. The road going to the left is the access road to a small close.

The same spine road, the same scenario, and there are several more such examples on this estate. 

The priority should be reversed.

Rambling on our pathway

Picture taken on the move and as a result not very sharp.

Most frequent cyclists will have come across not just pedestrians on the cycleway, but they are often accompanied by dogs; which are only sometimes on a lead, and more often than not, aren't; AND rather disobedient.

 As we approach three pedestrians, they have two dogs on leads, plus two running free.  Even the ones on leads can get in the way of a cyclist, but those running free 's movements are very unpredictable.

This is an all too common experience for us cyclists.

A bell is essential, most pedestrians seem to appreciate cyclists who use a bell.

By the way, someone said that lamp-posts should be located next to the pedestrian pathway, so that dogs (male ones) don't have to cross the cycleway to be able to cock their legs.   

Also, pedestrians prefer to walk adjacent to the river, and from that point of view the cycleway is on the wrong side.

There are cyclists and there are cyclists.

It is surprising how many bikes one sees out and about that are not road-worthy, owned(in the possession of)  by people who just don't care.

No brakes, no bell, and it wouldn't surprise me if it didn't have any lights at night.  One thing follows another.
      And how was it parked?

Not parked, Just dumped almost in front of the door.

There are cyclists, and there are cyclists. 

New Cycleway on A2070?

New Cycleway

A2070 Badmünstereifel Road, Ashford.  "END OF CYCLE-ROUTE"

It is appreciated that work here may not be completed, but:-

This development will be watched with interest. This is a busy dual-carriageway, with a normal maximum speed (for a dual carriageway) that would be restricted to 70 mph.   In its present state (03.09.14) it does not satisfy the standards for it to be suitable for: commuters, children, families, shoppers, or leisure cyclists; nor wheelchairs, and mobility shoppers.

Perhaps it will eventually morph into a Toucan-Crossing, but if it does, the acute angle of approach is somewhat unusual, and I would consider to be unsuitable.

The above listed people can not be 'cast' out into the paths of fast moving and busy traffic.

Bike dumped.

Occasionally when one is out and about cycling one comes across a dumped bike.   I hate to see a bike just being dumped.  A bike that was once someone's pride and joy. 

What is strange about this one is that it is padlocked to a lamppost.   You feel sorry for it.

Perhaps someone will come and get it.   

There question is 

A promising effort?

A promising effort

     This example was created some years ago.  These pictures were taken in Hythe on the 9th.August 2014. Usually I hate Pinch-Points, but they have devised this arrangement with Cyclists in mind, which is good, but my criticism is that cyclists having negotiated the platform/Pinch-point the cyclist has to proceed down a lane edged by parked cars.

     I would like to see further calming in the straight road either side of this Pinch-Point. A 20 mph restriction would not guarantee anything.

A shared- space cycleway approaches a through road, and a slight off set takes one across, and up onto the promenade (and NCN Route 2).

    Why should cyclists dismount? Do drivers of M/Vs have to get out of their vehicles?  No!

Once on the road, motorists (funneled in by parked cars) must not try to squeeze past cyclists, but they do (well some do).

The road is straight like this either side of the Pinch-Point, and vehicles park on both sides of the road.

All in all, I think that it is a promising effort.

Bikes used in advertising and decorated.

Earlier in this blog we illustrated some statues related to bicycles, and decorated bikes.  When toring ones sees lots of bicycles used to advertise B & B, cycle shops etc.  The following were all recorded in July 2014.

Start with powered statue at Sommern in Holland (what a neat and tidy place that is, and very cycle friendly).

This one announces Ferien Wohnung (Holiday Appartment) just off the Weser Radweg.

Another apartment close to the Weser cycleway.

Bicycles, such as this one in Cuxhaven, are not just used to advertise accommodation!

Bikes in Holland and Germany are often decorated with flowers.

and so on.  These are just a selection.

And a cycle shop in Holland.

Travelling on German trains

Travelling on German trains

There are at least three categories of trains in Germany, most carry bicycles (for a small fee).  Th intercity we used to get from Minden to Rostock had two bicycle carrying carriages, each had numbered spaces for 16 bikes.  Plenty of room, but not easy to get in out of with s bike, and one is never always quite sure at.where bike carriages are going to be relative to the platform.
   Each of the Regional trains we used this year to get to Bremerhaven had two bike carriages.  Some were easy to get in and of, one was fairly difficult.  

 This train Regional Train was fairly empty on a Monday, but we have known there to be 40 or more waiting for a train at 9am on a Saturday.   Somehow with help from the guard, and other cyclists, they usually manage to get them all in.  

On this particular day we had to change in Wunstorf, there are seven platforms each connected by a subway.  Our bikes would not quite fit into the lifts, so we were obliged to use the stairs, with laden bikes, that is not easy.   Our train had been 40 minutes late, so we had missed our connection.       Facing a longish wait we discovered that there was no toilet on the station.

This lift was not at Wunstorf, and it was big enough (usually to take two bikes), but there may be several others waiting, not just with bikes but luggage too.   It is advisable to allow plenty of time.

Coping with the unexpected.

(Germany is not always perfect.)

We had been cycling along the excellent Weser Radweg cycleway's extension to Cuxhaven when we came upon a shut gate.  It was not locked and it was easy enough to open and carry on on our way.  However after about 2½ km we came to a herd of cows, which barred our way to another gate.  We were obliged to ease our way carefully through the closely packed animals to get to this gate, only to find that it was padlocked!   The side gate was padlocked too.

Having plugged away against a strong headwind all morning, we were not inclined to cycle all the way back, so we had to unpack our bags, hump them over the gate, and then lift the bikes over too, watched very closely all the time, by rather curious cows.  

and on our way (having shut the gate properly first).

Note this is the first time we have come across any obstacle on thousands of km of cycling on the Continent.

Have you been framed?

Have you been framed?

Now there was this bike (in Ashford), securely padlocked, but only the frame, was locked to the stand, and so they nicked everything that was nickable.

The thing about this particular case is that the bike was located in the Lower High-street, where,   if anybody cared, the bicycle was in clear view of everyone.  A case of a case of bare-faced thievery.

It would have taken a minute or two to remove all the missing items, and then the parts would (most likely) have to be whisked  away to a vehicle; probably waiting in a fairly nearby car-park.

If one looks carefully, one can see two padlocks, and the thief has also taken the brake mechanism (front and rear ~ the front wheel being of a disc type).

What a shame.

The Bottom Line.

The Bottom Line.

The weakest point of the human body when cycling must be the Posterior;  It pays to get some practice in before you set off, especially to harden up the ‘Bum’.  This becomes more important the older one gets.  In my younger days I had a bike with a Brooks all leather saddle, and I found that very comfortable.  On this last (July 2014) trip, in Germany I saw several saddles which, were padded out cushioned with portions of sheep fleeces; but I didn’t manage to get a picture.

However I did picture a few choice luxury saddles.

This one was on display in a shop window.

One wonders just haw comfortable that one is.   The inclination looks a bit steep.

A masterpiece of suspension technology, or perhaps:- “Vorsprung-durch-Technik”.

What price comfort?  I have come across similar ones before particularly in Holland.

It is not just Spring that has sprung.