The government needs to make cycling safer, and so do we all » Spectator Blogs

The government needs to make cycling safer, and so do we all » Spectator Blogs

LCC Images Thump the message home!

Some brilliant photoshop images of how our roads would appear if they were treated with the same lack of respect that the powers that be treat our cycle paths.
London Cycling Campaign

A Monster is Created

Through a series of happy accidents, we've created Monster Bike Events with Cycle Circle. 
It all started when we discovered that Oxford Cycling Co-operative were selling their seven seater "conference bike" through Going Going Bike back in March.
Once we'd bought that, we needed something to transport it in. At 6 feet 6 inches wide, there was nothing standard available to fit the bike. We eventually found on eBay an old Decontamination Unit (back in Oxford!), minus showers, that was 7 feet wide.  We then realised that this rather large box trailer would make a perfect mobile workshop. 
In the meantime, the test run of the seven seater bike went well except the pupils at the Abbey School Autism Unit in Faversham felt the name was a bit boring, so they renamed it The Monster Bike. We liked it so it's stuck! 
Consequently, over the last few weeks the Decontamination Unit has been transformed into Monster Bike transportation and the Bike Lab. 

A sneak preview of the Monster Bike Events branding

Adding to these the Cycle Circus, a collection of  weird and wonderful machines that include Clown bikes, Gliders (sort of unicycles with trainer wheels) Cyco Cycles (words fail me... its a sort of fixed wheel trike you steer with your body...) and our famous rollers and obstacle courses. As well as our fleet of test ride bikes. 
You've got the ingredients for Monster Bike Events. 
Monster Bike Events will have it's inaugural outing next Wednesday, 13 June 2012, at The Gulbenkian on the University of Kent Canterbury Campus.

Ian Wilson, cycling Sapper

Sad news over the weekend, Ian Wilson a local cyclist and keen fund raiser for Help for Heroes collapsed on his way back from his latest fund raising ride and died a few days later.
Ian started his charity rides four years ago, not long after Help for Heroes was founded. He was hooked and trained regularly and kept riding for Help for Heroes. Even through a couple of hip replacements! He found a great training route between his and Jenny's two "Barley Mow" shops in Hythe and Faversham.
This year Ian teamed up with some "maturer" colleagues to form Team Sapper.



They rode the The Big Battlefield Bike Ride with a rickshaw. Sadly, on their return, whilst cycling with the rickshaw from Dover, Ian had a heart attack. The best efforts of Team members and the medical services got him to hospital but, sadly, in the early hours of Thursday morning Ian passed away.
We've lost a good man.

Please help Team Sapper reach their Big Battlefield Bike Ride fund raising goal:
http://www.bmycharity.com/teamsapper



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Get Those A2 Cycling Signs Down!

Yesterday afternoon KOS Media announced that the Highways Agency were to replace 121 signs on the A2 from Brenley Corner (Junction 7 of the M2) to Dover, next week.
This was quite a surprise.
It's not been flagged up anywhere before and there's nothing on the agency's website.
Why is this important?
When the A2 was modernised, I think some 30 years ago, some bright spark thought it would be a good idea to direct cyclists on to it.
This is a primary dual carriageway.
Effectively a motorway without the advantage of a hard shoulder.
The last place any cyclist should be riding is a quasi motorway.
But the signs are there and many unwary cyclists are led into danger.
There have been deaths.
There have been serious injuries.
But the signs are still there.
The thing is, that since those signs were installed on the modernised A2, a comprehensive network of good alternative cycle routes has been developed with the help of Spokes East Kent Cycle Campaign and Sustrans.
In fact, one of the catalysts for the creation of Spokes was the death of a young cyclist on the A2 back in the early 90s. This led to the surveying and eventual development of Regional Route 16, which runs parallel to the modern A2.
Consequently, cycling on the A2 is completely unnecessary.

So, Highways Agency, lets get those cycling signs down next week.

Oh, and Highways Agency, it would be nice if you could at least acknowledge our emails...
You do work for us you know!

How bikes can save us

Created by: HealthcareManagementDegree.com


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An Earlier Broadsheet Ode to the Joy of Cycling

We have The Times' marvellous campaign at the moment - Cities Fit For Cycling. Sadly the campaign is built on tragedy, but this single trigger event is blooming positive change.

Going through my files I re-discovered this joie de vivre piece of prose to cycling written by Tarquin Cooper (a serious adventurer currently relocated to the Austrian mountains - http://tarquincooper.wordpress.com ) that appeared in The Daily Telegraph almost two years ago.

I hope neither will object to me sharing this joyous piece with you.

It is the prescription for happiness, the panacea for illness, the solution to global warming and the greatest invention of all time. Listen to any cycling buff and you can be forgiven for thinking you have stumbled upon the secret elixir of life, like a character from The Da Vinci Code.

Of course you would be right, for the humble bicycle is not only the finest and most enjoyable means of transport on the planet, it has the power, literally, to revolutionise your life. Forget the financial and health benefits, it has the ability to liberate the soul.

 "When the spirits are low," wrote Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "just mount a bicycle and take a spin without thought on anything but the ride you are taking."

Its devotees range from Zen Buddhists to George W Bush. Iris Murdoch called it the most "civilised conveyance known to man" while celebrities from Brad Pitt to Boris Johnson attest to its enduring appeal.

Learning to ride is also a cherished landmark in childhood. Pushing my son down a hill recently, I witnessed that life-changing transition from ungainly wobble to freewheeling flight and recalled my own father's hand on my back some 25 years earlier doing exactly the same. I don't know who was more proud when the cry came back, "I did it, dad!"

Forget football. Cycling should be our national sport. It brought us success in the Beijing Olympics and gave us sporting heroes we can look up to. As the credit crunch bites, more and more of us are rediscovering the simple joys of cycling, whether to burn off the calories or to provide an excuse to consume them.

With National Bike Week under way and the National Cycle Network now clocking more than a million journeys a day, there really is no better time to join the cycling revolution. Remember, it was while cycling that Albert Einstein came up with the theory of relativity.

What will it do for you?

There are many reasons to explain cycling’s new-found popularity; fitness, fashion, affordability and our increasing eco awareness all play their part. But riding a bike is just one of those fundamentally enjoyable life experiences and one that can be shared by everyone from the smallest toddler to the most bandy-legged veteran.

So why not get on your bike and discover the buzz of the chain gang?

And here is joy:

Bad Blogger Back!

Just noticed how little I Blog. Sorry.

It's been a busy old time. Most importantly of all, CyclingAge has grown and now become a Community Interest Company with half a dozen cycling instructors.

Despite it being deepest Winter, we are already out in schools working with students and we have a full diary all the way through to Easter.

The value of getting rid of 15,000 cars

Dartford Tunnel Cycle Service bus

Dartford Tunnel Cycle Service bus
Originally uploaded by Tom Burnham

Found this image completely by accident! "How cool is this bus!?" Is not a phrase I'd ever expected to say!

Night ride

Had a good night ride in Kings Wood, a large Forestry Commission woodland on the North Downs.
It was mild and muddy.
We tested some new lights. Easy and stable fixing to the bikes, bright White LED - a claimed 1200 Lumins - three settings (although the flashing mode is likely to induce fits!) and good battery life. They were a bit of a gamble being cheap eBay imports... But they were excellent.
It wasn't a huge ride but a great way to spend a Friday evening and an added bonus were the deer running across our tracks.
Washed the bike off today.
Before...


After


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New bridge work

Work has begun in ernest on the new cycling and walking bridge over the M20 at Ashford.


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Wye Resolution Ride

Everyone gathering at the Julie Rose Stadium.


Nice turn out for our Resolution Ride today from Ashford to Wye. Weather was bright and clear, if a bit chilly.
We followed Route 18. It's a shame about the Willesborough Road. It seems to act not just as a physical barrier but a mental one too. So this route to Wye is cut off from the main population of cyclists in Ashford. People are worried about the section along the road as it is a fast, narrow and twisty road. The cycle paths are pretty poor too although that's mainly due to the objections of the land owners. If the Conningbrook Watersports Park gets going, there could be a nice route through there avoiding the Willesborough Road section completely. It would be great to connect it up with the rest of the cycle network in Ashford too.
Anyway, today's ride was very nice.


Coffee break in Wye.

New Year's Resolution - Learn to ride

It’s like riding a bike!

That’s what we say about something we’ll never forget. And it’s quite true. Once we have learnt to ride a bike our brains will remember. It’s down to our molecular layer interneurons…apparently!

It is great when you get an opportunity to re-introduce someone to cycling. Even after a break of more than fifty years, it only takes a few minutes to get riding again.

But some people never learn to ride a bike. As a cycling instructor, one of the greatest joys is to help people to learn to ride a bicycle for the very first time.

As we get older we build up fear barriers, so the challenge is to persuade new cyclists to break down those barriers. Consequently teaching someone to ride a bike later in life is a gentle, careful activity where we progress in baby steps. It’s about boosting confidence – also known as “Gok Wan-ing” – and convincing the brain, those molecular layer interneurons, that it is perfectly safe to balance on two wheels.

So if someone you know is planning to make a New Year’s resolution to learn to ride a bike, then encourage them. Support them. Help them. It’s never too late and it just might be life changing. And you only have to learn once, because you never forget how to ride a bike!

First Frost

First frost of the winter. Just zero at 8am this morning. Car impressively iced up. Beautiful bright and sunny day. Great day to be out cycling.


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Just What the Doctor ordered

The days are shorter and the temperature cooler and may be there’s a bit more rain about than there was in August (just). But don’t be tempted to moth ball your bike until Spring as it could be the one thing that keeps you well this Winter.

Scientists at Appalachian State University have discovered that regular exercise, such as cycling, can help prevent you from catching a cold. And if you do catch one, if you regularly exercise then the symptoms are unlikely to be so severe.

Therefore, Dr Bike’s prescription this winter is:

• Look after your bike and your bike will look after you, wash it regularly, ensure the tyres are nice and hard, brakes are nice and sharp and there’s a little lubrication on your chain and gears
• Wrap up warm in cold weather with a cap under your helmet and a good winter collar around your neck
• Wear waterproof jackets and trousers
• Pull on a good pair of waterproof gloves and shoes

And get out there and ride! It will not only be fun but healthy too!

Dr bike at the library

Had a good afternoon running a roll-in surgery at this fab 60s library. Not lots of bikes but lots of issues and some good questions.

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A week in Aldington

We've spent the week in Aldington, a strip of a village about 5 miles south of Ashford. Very friendly, great views and always windy!
As well as the school, it's got a butcher, baker, post office store and a pub.
It's also got a rich history. Erasmus was the rector for a year, there was a busy smuggling gang, the village is about a mile from the church so I suspect the village moved away from the church during the plague and it's been home to Noel Coward, Ford Maddox Ford, Joseph Conrad and now Julian Clary and Paul O'Grady (not together!).
The grasshopper in the picture below was on the bike in the school bike shed. It rode on the bike until we stopped by some grass when it hopped off.






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Obsession

Is my obsession out of control!?



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