Is the pandemic cycling craze here to stay?

[Fab Foodie]

If it's your thing.

...might be....

 

[Drago]

To amswer the title question - no. A bit of sheet weather and numbers are back down to the minimum or hardy or dedicated souls. It seems the reasons for cycling to avoid public transport etc are only valid in nice weather.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I was out for about two hours yesterday on foot and on bike and I saw one carbon roadie, one hybrid rider, and one youth standing astride a cheap Challenge MTB outside the kebab shop. That was it, so four riders including me on a top of the range Apollo! .

 

[mjr]

The photo you posted , years ago all the trikies I knew had very full beards.

Does the beard assist with air-braking while leaning right out to balance the unstable thing?

 

[mjr]

I posted a graph of the figures since November in
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/lockdown-what-lockdown.270469/post-6271865

The purple line spiking to 180% in the November lockdown is cycling. The December tiers saw it fall back but that may be as much the Christmas run-up (more shopping to do, some gifts to deliver, and so on) disrupting all travel patterns as anything else. We may get some idea on Wednesday how the January lockdown is shaping up.

 

[matticus]

A bit of sheet weather and numbers are back down to the minimum or hardy or dedicated souls

There will always be seasonal variation, always has been.

Your post is like declaring "Climate change is in reverse!" on the first icy day in January; I'd rather wait to see the figures.

 

[Rusty Nails]

To amswer the title question - no. A bit of sheet weather and numbers are back down to the minimum or hardy or dedicated souls. It seems the reasons for cycling to avoid public transport etc are only valid in nice weather.

A bit like pre-pandemic then.

It is obvious that the "craze" for cycling matches the introduction of lockdown. When lockdowns finish and worries about the pandemic reduce the "craze" will finish. Doesn't need a genius to work that one out.

However many new cyclists will continue, some for commuting or leisure, some might even go on to join cycling clubs. Probably the percentage of fair weather cyclists will match that before the pandemic, but as long as that means more people cycling it's all good.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

How credible are the figures though? Nobody has ever surveyed me to ask how many journeys I've been making by what means. I can only go on what I see around me. Cars are a bit down on normal, commercial traffic much like normal, buses are pretty empty and hardly worth the cost of running more than a Sunday service, not many punters coming out of train & tube stations either. Not that many cyclists around. Pedestrians roughly normal. The groups of coronacyclists that were out during the summer have all but disappeared completely. It's just down to the hardened commuters, a handful of all-year roadies doing their winter training, and the casual/utility riders like me who were already around before the virus kicked off just carrying on as normal.

 

[FishFright]

You miserable guys would make any new cyclist pack up, ask yourself what have you done to encourage somebody to take up and keep up cycling.

I work in a bike recycling shop / workshop where we sell and service loads of cheap bikes to people who just need transport , some nice older road and MTB for the enthuiast , plus the occasional Hetchins .... ok one Hetchins but it was a full restoration .

On topic , there was a huge boom there through spring thru autumn where we sold bikes faster than we could replace them , it's back to near the winter normal but with a few new faces.

 

[mjr]

How credible are the figures though?

I've written before about the different ways the different figures are flawed. For example, the DfT count points and county council census cordons tend to be on major roads and miss cyclists commuting along greenways, back streets and park routes.

However, the all-day % change estimates will be comparing like with like and so seem like a fair indication of changes.

Nobody has ever surveyed me to ask how many journeys I've been making by what means.

Well, that's the nature of surveys! You may still have appeared on automatic counters or manual counts, of course.

 

[Milkfloat]

I would have expected the majority of new cyclists to be staying off the major roads, so may maybe the figures are a little pessimistic for cycling. It is funny that cars are only up to about 58% of their pre-lockdown numbers, it seems a lot worse.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

You miserable guys would make any new cyclist pack up, ask yourself what have you done to encourage somebody to take up and keep up cycling.

If you want to be a missionary and preach, join the church. It's not my job to tell people they should ride rather than getting around by other means. To ride or not to ride is a personal choice and not one I attempt to influence. There is such a thing as too many cyclists. Jn some places during the summer there were so many of them around it was a pain in the arse, TBH, and it's much more peaceful going out for a ride now when the places you want to ride aren't congested with too many other riders.

 

[BoldonLad]

True but the call can be answered with a push of a button on the steering wheel, and tbh I find a handsfree call less distracting then a person in the car, I had called as I thought she would be leaving her shift and walking to the car, but she had been allowed home early.

Fact is, the jogger should still of looked before crossing the road.

Edit: the call had started before the incident.

I thought I did acknowledge that? But, as we all know, when driving, we have to expect the unexpected.

 

[mjr]

I would have expected the majority of new cyclists to be staying off the major roads, so may maybe the figures are a little pessimistic for cycling. It is funny that cars are only up to about 58% of their pre-lockdown numbers, it seems a lot worse.

I've not checked the methodology but I hope that they are using automatic cycle counter data too, which are more likely to be located on cycleways, so likely to capture some of that change.

I agree about the car level being surprisingly low, but I suspect that daffodil drivers are more likely to be driving around during lockdown than careful drivers.

Edit: I checked the methodology. Automatic counters are included. The cycling level data is derived from:
· telecommunications data – anonymised and aggregated data from O2, as a measure of total trip numbers
· National Travel Survey (NTS) results, as a pre-COVID-19 baseline modal split
· DfT Roads automatic traffic count (ATC) index data, as an indication of changes to road users
· LENNON rail data, as an indication of changes to rail users
· sources of cycling use data including automatic cycling counters and camera-based estimates

 

[Rusty Nails]

If you want to be a missionary and preach, join the church. It's not my job to tell people they should ride rather than getting around by other means. To ride or not to ride is a personal choice and not one I attempt to influence. There is such a thing as too many cyclists. Jn some places during the summer there were so many of them around it was a pain in the arse, TBH, and it's much more peaceful going out for a ride now when the places you want to ride aren't congested with too many other riders.

Is there? What is the measure, other than that at which you personally find it a pita?

If we had more cyclists perhaps more councils might consider making their roads and streets more cycle friendly.