Time to give us cyclists a bit more respect

[Riding in Circles]

As opposed to your Fiat which lost 90% or £18k of its value as soon as it left the forecourt

Didn't Clarkson destroy one on TG a few weeks ago

Along with three sump bolts and the catalytic converter.

 

[Origamist]

Debate Fiat Coupe depreciation here:

http://www.fccuk.org/forum/

 

[spindrift]

All this is spoiling a troll-free part of this forum.

Please. Don't reply. Don't privately address linford. Don't acknowledge his comments. Don't even make a passing reference in another post. Just pretend linford doesn't exist. This gets rid of 90% of the trolls out there instantly.

 

[LLB]

Is this the X5 you were talking about earlier?

One of those for the usage you've described here seems a bit on the wasteful side to me (fair enough, it's their choice etc, but I'm finding it hard to sympathise with their "plight").

So do I, I don't see the point in an X5 myself unless you bought one to tow a caravan with. I dare say he is in the same boat as someone who bought a 7 series BMW or an S class merc as well given the used car markets state.

 

[LLB]

All this is spoiling a troll-free part of this forum.

Please. Don't reply. Don't privately address linford. Don't acknowledge his comments. Don't even make a passing reference in another post. Just pretend linford doesn't exist. This gets rid of 90% of the trolls out there instantly.

A bit rich coming from the biggest ranter on here

 

[spindrift]

Charlotte Ross on The Olympics and what it means for cyclists:

It is an encouraging start.

The revolution in attitudes toward cyclists will surely come with better cycle lanes, stiffer penalties for bad drivers and more bike stands. huge efforts are finally being made to improve swimming in London but at the moment only one 50m olympic-length pool is open, and competitive swimmers must make do with shorter-length pools or freezing lidos.

of course, there's a world of difference between the lifetime of training it takes to create a worldclass athlete and a saturday swim or a daily commute. But enthusiasm for any sport is born at street level, and that's where our new role models come in.


Last year Bradley Wiggins whizzed past me in a Languedoc hamlet on the Tour de France.

The whole village, from toddlers to great grandmothers, cheered him on.


The galvanising power of sport is that it reaches out to people on every level.

2012 will do that for Londoners, if we harness their olympic spirit now. Memories of Beijing will keep me on my bike and at the pool for the next four years, and I'm sure I won't be alone. Roll on 2012.


http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/stand...ling+as+fast+as+I+can+towards+2012/article.do


I've seen similar comments lately, I honestly don't think this is a flash in the pan, interest is surging, interviews with cyclists show that they are normal, reasonable and balanced people. It all humanises us I reckon.

 

[John the Monkey]

The revolution in attitudes toward cyclists will surely come with better cycle lanes, stiffer penalties for bad drivers and more bike stands. huge efforts are finally being made to improve swimming in London but at the moment only one 50m olympic-length pool is open, and competitive swimmers must make do with shorter-length pools or freezing lidos.

Interesting article. One of the things the Commonwealth games left for Manchester was a superb facility in the shape of the Aquatics Centre (I'm not a swimmer myself, but friends who are love it).

I'd disagree that cycle lanes would lead to a change in attitude - as said in posts passim, they just reinforce the idea that we shouldn't be in the drivers' way, rather than the idea that we have a right to be there, and are only stopping them from reaching the next red light 2 seconds or so quicker. I'm not sure what is needed to change the attitudes of British drivers (better enforcement of road law for all would be a start), but it's a lot more than green paint and sporting success (imo).

 

[spindrift]

I'd disagree that cycle lanes would lead to a change in attitude

No, quite right, we still haven't seen the "Cycling Superhighways" plans yet, and many cycle lanes in London are daft- Bloomsbury for instance, or the ones on my commute that put me slap bang in the doorzone.


A change in sentiment is what I think Charlotte's alluding to.

 

[LLB]

Debate Fiat Coupe depreciation here:

http://www.fccuk.org/forum/

If the Mods want to strip away car reference from this thread then that is fine with me (apology for my part in the hijack Origamist)

For the other protagonists, feel free to start another thread if you want, but this wasn't the thread to do the anti 4x4 rant COG.

 

[spindrift]

people are making the choice for purely financial reasons, it seems:

Bicycle commuting on Google

It seems that more and more people are searching the term 'bicycle commuting' on Google.
The blog EcoVelo has pointed out that this peaked at around the same time as petrol prices hit a new high in the US:
It's kind of sick, (especially since I own a car and occasionally drive it - if only to pick up my lazy girlfriend and her bike from work), but is anyone else seeing a benefit to higher fuel prices?
Fewer non-essential car journeys and more people cycling to work just sounds like good news to me...









http://www.tredzblog.co.uk/

 

[LLB]

Charlotte Ross on The Olympics and what it means for cyclists:

It is an encouraging start.

The revolution in attitudes toward cyclists will surely come with better cycle lanes, stiffer penalties for bad drivers and more bike stands. huge efforts are finally being made to improve swimming in London but at the moment only one 50m olympic-length pool is open, and competitive swimmers must make do with shorter-length pools or freezing lidos.

of course, there's a world of difference between the lifetime of training it takes to create a worldclass athlete and a saturday swim or a daily commute. But enthusiasm for any sport is born at street level, and that's where our new role models come in.


Last year Bradley Wiggins whizzed past me in a Languedoc hamlet on the Tour de France.

The whole village, from toddlers to great grandmothers, cheered him on.


The galvanising power of sport is that it reaches out to people on every level.

2012 will do that for Londoners, if we harness their olympic spirit now. Memories of Beijing will keep me on my bike and at the pool for the next four years, and I'm sure I won't be alone. Roll on 2012.


http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/stand...ling+as+fast+as+I+can+towards+2012/article.do


I've seen similar comments lately, I honestly don't think this is a flash in the pan, interest is surging, interviews with cyclists show that they are normal, reasonable and balanced people. It all humanises us I reckon.

The first I feel is counter productive, but the second, I think is very productive.I feel one of the biggest obstacles for cycle commuting is cycle security at the destination. The risk of coming back to a pringled wheel, or no bike at all is very real

 

[CotterPin]

The first I feel is counter productive, but the second, I think is very productive.I feel one of the biggest obstacles for cycle commuting is cycle security at the destination. The risk of coming back to a pringled wheel, or no bike at all is very real

Sorry, Linford. Could you clarify? There were three points in the sentence you highlighted:

The revolution in attitudes toward cyclists will surely come with better cycle lanes, stiffer penalties for bad drivers and more bike stands.

Was it just the bike lanes you think would be counter productive? In which case I would agree with you. Or do you also think the stiffer penalties would be counter productive as well. In which case I would have to disagree.

Having had two bikes stolen and being involved in campaigns to install new cycle parking in my part of London, I have to agree with you that cycle security is important.

 

[Riding in Circles]

I think one of the major issues is cycle security at destinations, I am surprised that the major car parks are not tapping into this problem.

 

[LLB]

Sorry, Linford. Could you clarify? There were three points in the sentence you highlighted:

The revolution in attitudes toward cyclists will surely come with better cycle lanes, stiffer penalties for bad drivers and more bike stands.

Was it just the bike lanes you think would be counter productive? In which case I would agree with you. Or do you also think the stiffer penalties would be counter productive as well. In which case I would have to disagree.

Having had two bikes stolen and being involved in campaigns to install new cycle parking in my part of London, I have to agree with you that cycle security is important.

My 2ps worth - Stiffer penalties for offences against cyclists on the roads I am 100% in favour of.
Cycle lanes on the roads are counter productive and only serve to segregate the vehicles.
Shared Cycle paths alongside roads confuse drivers and cyclists further and reinforce the fallacy that cyclists are wheeled pedestrians.
Cycle security should be made a top priority if encouragement of cycling as mass transport is to advance forward. Cycle lanes are not the answer.

 

[srw]

Phew. Just when I thought I was in danger of agreeing with something the Lunchbox had written.

I disagree that cycle lanes and shared cycle paths are necessarily counterproductive. They signal "here be cyclists", and given the number of cyclists who don't use them can reinforce the cyclists' right to be on the road. Anecdotal observation through the centre of London and introspection would suggest that they can also encourage less confident cyclists to take to the roads and thus increase the number of cyclists.