Jealous Pants

[SteCenturion]

Don't know the 'Venus in Flares' thing Mr Croc - enlighten me please.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

Shame really as I could use Cycle Hubs & lockers all over Greater Manchester (they have one of the biggest % of the government cycling fund announced last year too.

shame they don't seem to want to spend the money on segregation and infrastructure to make riding on the roads a more pleasant experience & its a shame 'all over Greater Manchester' doesn't extend to the long ignored north eastern quadrant.

 

[SteCenturion]

shame they don't seem to want to spend the money on segregation and infrastructure to make riding on the roads a more pleasant experience & its a shame 'all over Greater Manchester' doesn't extend to the long ignored north eastern quadrant.

In some areas of Manchester large sums are being spent on Metrolink & cycling - while in others (maybe like yours & far west it would seem only on half baked ideas that local people don't want or need.

Not very helpful I know but I am a minnow in a sea of sharks so can do very little to change the outlook.

We are regularly asked for 'feedback' 'ideas' because the 'vision' & 'partnership working' has to be seen to be working - reality is very different with 'feedback' being scorned upon (unless you are patting their backs & saying "what a great idea" - "you're fantastic").

Status Quo remains.

 

[Scoosh]

I often need to be at bus depots or metrolink stations at silly times of the day e.g 04.30 of the a.m variety or finish at silly times - e.g 02.00 & this might be up to 35 miles away from home (I also cover cross boundary journeys) so I could be in Manchester one day then Oldham or Warrington or Halifax or Huddersfield etc etc.

To get there/back from some places I would have to set out at 1.30 - 2.00 a.m by public transport (which doesn't exist where I live at these times) or earlier by bike.

I could have a 3 hour cycle in each direction *if I were allowed to*.

To top all this off - if there were an unforseen issue regarding a service or route - my management would re-issue me an alternative duty & I would then have to re-locate using my car.

Cycling for three hours in a shirt trousers & tie uniform not my idea of fun either (I could do this on shorter commutes in guaranteed dry weather).
My rucksack for work weighs approx 20k too - so the public might not appreciate a sweaty guy on their journey (no shower facilities either except for those top nobs at HQ).

It is by no means a 'standard' or desirable job with very unsociable hours/facilities etc but it pays o.k for the area I live in so I just crack on.

It does however significantly impact on family & social life & leaves a lot less time for cycling.

You have a very positive attitude to it all -

There may should will be other days to ride too ...

 

[SteCenturion]

You have a very positive attitude to it all -

There may should will be other days to ride too ...

Why thank you Mr Scoosh but ...

'Positive' - I am not so sure.

You do what you do to feed the family & keep yourself in shiny new bikes.

 

[Saluki]

You gotta go to Church

I go quite voluntarily and cycle there in the nice weather. Ours is a cool church with excellent coffee and wonderful cake.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

In some areas of Manchester large sums are being spent on Metrolink & cycling - while in others (maybe like yours & far west it would seem only on half baked ideas that local people don't want or need.

Not very helpful I know but I am a minnow in a sea of sharks so can do very little to change the outlook.

We are regularly asked for 'feedback' 'ideas' because the 'vision' & 'partnership working' has to be seen to be working - reality is very different with 'feedback' being scorned upon (unless you are patting their backs & saying "what a great idea" - "you're fantastic").

Status Quo remains.

I know what you mean, on the campaign side, the odd little northern voice gets drowned out by the southern side/Oxford road massive. TBH the hubs and end point builds are going to be used more by existing riders than masses of newbies suddenly attracted to mixing it with the busiest rush hour outside of London on roads many of which farmers would complain are rutted crap by the chance of paying a couple of quid for a locker near the Arndale centre. The absolute opposition of Metrolink to bikes jars too when they've totally replaced the heavy rail option that did mean you could wear yourself out in the lakes or Pennines and not have a 10 mile ride home from Central Manchester stations to look forward to. I'm all for getting the money and spending it & for TFGM's support for cycling but an awful lot of it from where I'm sat is misguided or lip service that doesn't address longstanding failures, car centric planning or the needs of multi modal travel users. I guess we both share many of the same frustrations and accept that the money is going to be disproportionately spent (e.g. Servicing media city) and not always on what is needed but what looks like a good PR opportunity.

I'd far rather use and see official support for the likes of Popup Bikes (no affiliation or stake in them) addressing bike storage and ancillary services enabling the spread and success of such businesses out of the city centre and more of the government money being used to do infrastructure things that private individuals/businesses can't, as it is every hub user is money out of Popup's till and money not spent filling in holes or making cycle lanes more fit for purpose for all of us & don't get me going on the utter pointlessness of the subscription lockers on Metrolink platforms being perma locked and pretty well perma empty. *rant over*

 

[Cuchilo]

I go quite voluntarily and cycle there in the nice weather. Ours is a cool church with excellent coffee and wonderful cake.

I don't have a problem with anyone going to church , I find it quite a respectful thing to do . I don't go myself and find it funny when grown men are made to go when they would rather not . This also works for weddings and birthday parties of people they don't really like . It's just my pathetic immature nature

 

[mickle]

Envy pants shurely.