Britain is built for cars

[Johnno260]

I think a lot of the issue with cycling is it’s perception, people think it’s odd.

In my office when I commute or partially commute I’m ridiculed, they honestly can’t grasp the advantage as I pass them all when they’re stuck in traffic.

I think it’s also seen as a poor mans mode of transportation.

When the talk of holiday came up and I said where we planned to go all I got was puzzled looks, as it was booked with cycling in mind as well as being family friendly, mountains and lakes perfection to me.

They honestly couldn’t grasp why I wasn’t in a resort, and why I wanted that location.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

They also won't grasp why they are decrepid as they enter their 60's and blame it on ageing...

 

[Smokin Joe]

Am I the only one to see the elephant in the room?


A 30 mile impractical commute. Either you bought a house too far from work, or accepted a job with an unreasonable commute, and now you are whining about how driving 60 miles a day is screwing up the planet but is you only option?
The solution seems obvious to me, but may mean making some sacrifices for your cause. Or you could carry on as you are just paying lip service to the issue and continue putting the blame on anyone else but yourself.....

For many people it is just not possible to work close to where they live.

Look at any old film from as recently as the 70s and you'll hardly see a fat person. Even Police officers look quite fit.

Diet.

It is 99% what and how much people eat that determines how much they weigh. I am constantly astonished at the number of overweight cyclists I see.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I think a lot of the issue with cycling is it’s perception, people think it’s odd.

In my office when I commute or partially commute I’m ridiculed, they honestly can’t grasp the advantage as I pass them all when they’re stuck in traffic.

I think it’s also seen as a poor mans mode of transportation.

When the talk of holiday came up and I said where we planned to go all I got was puzzled looks, as it was booked with cycling in mind as well as being family friendly, mountains and lakes perfection to me.

They honestly couldn’t grasp why I wasn’t in a resort, and why I wanted that location.

I was a cycle commuter for over thirty years, and the fact that I had a driving license but didn't have a car confused some people, I did two jobs in that time where I drove company vehicle's, small lorries and vans. Three years before I retired I brought my first car and a lot of people I worked with were totally confused about why I continued to commute by bike and only used the car when it was wet.

 

[400bhp]

For many people it is just not possible to work close to where they live.

You’ve pretty much made an assumption that materialism trumps quality of life by putting work as the determining factor.

 

[classic33]

You’ve pretty much made an assumption that materialism trumps quality of life by putting work as the determining factor.

A similar length commute was considered impossible by those in the office. So I went out and did it, to see if it wasn't.

Once I'm away from home, headed East, it flattens out.

 

[Johnno260]

Many years ago mum would walk the four or five miles to the nearest big town to do the shopping, and get the bus back. It was a very pleasant walk along a canal, and she'd regularly turn down offers of a lift from well meaning neighbours. The neighbours thought she was decidedly odd. (Actually, they weren't wrong but that's another story).

It’s the same with the school run, I can remember walking to the other side of town to get to school, when I was old enough I rode.

I would maybe get a bus if the weather was utterly horrific but that was a rare occasion.

I have seen a school run where the person has pulled out their drive, traveled three houses turned into a side road where the entrance is and dropped the kids off, I know the person so it isn’t a mobility issue.

Also if my wife’s grandma can do it anyone can, she has just handed her bike in, she just turned 95, and would cycle to the local store for her daily bits and pieces, it was maybe a 3-4 mile round trip.

 

[hoppym27]

It's all about public opinion and attitude, I get ridiculed and even abused sometimes as a cyclist. If I was given the same treatment for my race, sexuality or my gender it would be a hate crime. However the media and people like that idiot Clarkson make it acceptable....opinions will change over time though I hope....I still remember when Bernard manning was acceptable once upon a time and now quite rightly he is considered appalling

 

[kingrollo]

On the content title I would disagree this country is built for cars. Sure its the default mode of transport for most folk. But almost everywhere you go, football match, theatre, restaurant, parking is a nightmare, - probably around every 10 miles you will be held up in roadworks, and in general rush hour traffic makes travelling above 11mph a novelty.
When my son passed his driving test - I brought him a car - he sold it six months later - said it was totally pointless - the time in traffic and the hassle parking it made his journey slower - The Uni he went to give him a free bus pass - he's not a cyclist or an eco warrior - he just couldn't see it worth the money/hassle.

 

[mudsticks]

I used to commute to work by bike when possible, but now I live at work, so it's harder to fit in daily rides, Im thinking maybe i should do a loop at the beginning and end to bookend the working day

 

[mudsticks]

On the content title I would disagree this country is built for cars. Sure its the default mode of transport for most folk. But almost everywhere you go, football match, theatre, restaurant, parking is a nightmare, - probably around every 10 miles you will be held up in roadworks, and in general rush hour traffic makes travelling above 11mph a novelty.
When my son passed his driving test - I brought him a car - he sold it six months later - said it was totally pointless - the time in traffic and the hassle parking it made his journey slower - The Uni he went to give him a free bus pass - he's not a cyclist or an eco warrior - he just couldn't see it worth the money/hassle.

Certainly old town centres weren't built for cars - they were built mainly for pedestrians, and horse and carts.
Hence the endless snarl ups

Sort your son out mate... Why him not an eco warrior? He doesnt want a livable planet for his future??

 

[confusedcyclist]

I have great hope the next round of oil crises will bring about an end to the motor dominance of the roads. We missed the opportunity following the 70s OPEC oil embargos. Whilst the Dutch realised that energy intensive transport dependent on foreign imports was never going to be sustainable, we had the north sea to tide us over... for a few decades. Not much left there these days. Change might be closer than many suspect.

 

[snorri]

I brought my first car and a lot of people I worked with were totally confused about why I continued to commute by bike and only used the car when it was wet.

An ex colleague of mine who cycled to work every day bought a brand new car which he kept in a garage beside his house. He immediately used the car for daily travel to work, unless it was raining, when he reverted to the bicycle.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

The roads were certainly not built for these lorries that cannot turn right from the correct lane. Sounds like lorries are being sent onto roads they should never be on, creating danger for those using transport modes more suited to those roads.

 

[mjr]

This isn’t Holland, never will be.

Yes it is! Well, part of Britain is Holland. It says it on the O on the top of the road signs, "Holland County Council".

There's another reason why we prefer to sit in traffic jams, which is antisocial behaviour. Everybody has had the experience of being stuck in a bus or a train with a bunch of rowdy hooligans and said to themselves "Never again... next time I'll take the car!"

I haven't. Why doesn't everybody have my experience of having some fascinating conversations with strangers on buses and trains and platforms? On the way back from the Cyclenation/CyclingUK conference on Saturday, I had a somewhat confused chat on the platform at noisy New Street and a better one on the train home. Probably the main reason there wasn't much chat on the way in was that the train was very quiet until Leicester and anyway I was failing to fix a puncture (burst tube). And that sort of stuff happens most journeys on my own, unlike motoring where I'm all alone with only the radio for company - that sort of isolation happening too frequently can't be good for people, can it?

I think it’s also seen as a poor mans mode of transportation.

Except when discussing transport policy, when cycling is seen as for "the privileged bourgeoisie"

Many years ago mum would walk the four or five miles to the nearest big town to do the shopping, and get the bus back. It was a very pleasant walk along a canal, and she'd regularly turn down offers of a lift from well meaning neighbours. The neighbours thought she was decidedly odd. (Actually, they weren't wrong but that's another story).

We used to have the same, living in Kewstoke and going into Weston-super-Mare. More often I rode the 3 miles around the hill, but it's only 1⅓ miles from the edge of Kewstoke to the High Street in Weston and a lovely walk up the 20' carriageway (actually a bridleway!) through the woods, down some posh hillside streets and through Grove Park (which contains the Jill Dando memorial garden). Yet it was very rare we saw any other villagers walking it and not unusual to be offered a lift during our short walk from our house to the edge of the village.

Britain is not built for cars. As others have said, most settlements were built for people, horses and carts and are ill-suited to cars. Much better for cycles, but we need our dear leaders to realise that before they butcher all our historic places and rebuild them for cars - probably just as their unsustainability is driven home hard!