Cycling on country lanes.

Becomes ever more difficult.

This picture is not untypical of the state of our country lanes, and they are getting steadily worse.  It is not just the holes, the nasty edge, but the excessive amount of debris covering the surface.

Who was to blame?

An aid to establishing who was at fault in a crash

There has been more than one occasion when a driver cut up a cyclists whilst making a left turn.
As the cyclists received head injuries, and was unconscious for 2½  hours it was important to make a statement to the police.
The victims were surprised to realise that the police were blaming the cyclist(s).

Fortunately independent witnesses came forward.

At a second meeting with the police, I knocked up an improvised quick physical representation using toys.

Initially the police didn't want to know, but when pressed they said that clearly the cyclists were in the wrong place.

So I asked, the cyclists were moving fairly slowly so  where should they have been?

They couldn't really ride on the outside of the traffic flow, especially if most cars were likely to overtake them.

At this point the police got quite angry, one saying:  "We are not going to be cross-examined by you!.

However, with the aid of evidence from two witnesses, our statement, and the CTC Legal Department,  we were able to counter the claim from the driver's insurance company for damage to his car, and we successfully claimed injury damages to ourselves.

The base for the model was a length of plain wall paper, the car from the 90p shop, and the two cyclists: Playmobile which we already had.

We also knew that the left turn was being used as a rat-run to try and avoid road-works further down the main road, and we think that the driver was in a bit of a hurry.

This dates back a number of years, but even today, not every cyclist carries a helmet-camera.

Nasty cycle lane

Yes,  that is right, the cycle-lane is under the nearside front wheel.

The cycle-lane is too narrow.

There is insufficient space to accommodate a bus and a bicycle.

I am trying to get the council to swop over the footway on the left of the picture, with the cycleway.   The profiled tiles mark the route from the road to a bus shelter.

Bikes on buses.

Bikes on buses.

Regular bus services that carry bicycles in a trailer operate in the summer months in Ribnitz,  north Germany, near the baltic coast.

Some buses in Switzerland and Germany carry bikes by hanging them on the back of the bus. A few will accommodate a couple of bikes inside the bus.  

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