Cycling UK Forum

I reckon that commuting each way by bike every day might be stopping you getting decent recovery. It is only through recovery that you get fitter. You could leave your bike at work one day, use the bus for two journeys, and then cycle again. Or have one day off cycling.

Thanks for all the replies. I have asked for an explanation from the Council as to why these signs have been put up. I have now seen them on four cattle grids, and it is starting to look like they are on a mission to put them on all cattle grids in the area. I now have some good information to help with my reply when I get a response from the Council.

I have noticed four cattle grids around Allenheads have "Cyclists Dismount" signs (three of them on the C2C route). Am I correct in thinking it is now generally agreed these signs should not be used?

Hi

I ran to school from the age of five, and competitively until I was thirty when my legs started complaining too much. I then joined a triathlon club and swam freestyle and cycled and competed in a few triathlons. Swimming front crawl and cycling both have a nice rhythm, which is different to running but can serve as a decent replacement. I then raced bikes for a few years, all disciplines, but most enjoyed road racing. Late thirties until 53 I had no desire to compete, and just cycled for pleasure and commuting, with occasional swimming. I watched an aquathlon last year and realised that running around a grass field is something I miss, and have now been trying to get back into running. Just going for a run and slowly building up I kept having setbacks. I decided to go back to basics and rebuild strength and mobility in my muscles and joints. Now I have a programme where I will do between 20 and 40 minutes cardio on my water rower or my bike on a turbo trainer, and then do a series of exercises. These including sitting on a table with my legs dangling and lifting leg up straight with a 2 kg ankle weight, 3kg hand weights and lifting arms up at side and out in front, 3kg hand weights and calf raises, 3kg hand weights and squats, 3kg hand weights and reverse lunges, planks, situps, old inner tube between legs and pulling leg sideways to strengthen hips. Then hamstring, calf and quad stretches. Then back mobility exercises.

This has got me to the point where I ran for 45 minutes on Christmas day. I am not suggesting it would get you running again, but by your early fifties you will have lost a lot of strength, mobility and core strength. Getting this back would greatly help your cycling and swimming, overall fitness, and most important enjoyment. For swimming I would also suggest joining a triathlon club where there should be some good coaching - this is particularly important as good swimming technique is not as intuitive as running or cycling.

For many years I convinced myself that cycling was better than running, particularly because it involved less day to day muscular pain and a lot of endorphin related highs. However, running is a more beautiful activity when it goes right, and I have finally realised how much I miss it.

Regards, Geoff.

Nicole Cooke has been World and Olympic champion in recent years, and I have greatly admired her achievements and attitude. Has her success led to lots more women riding bicycles, and does CTC have evidence of this? Or are there more pressing issues preventing women from cycling? I know that CTC will say they are working in many different ways to encourage cycling. However, as a member of CTC, I think I deserve an explanation from CTC as to how sponsoring a women's race team will significantly increase cycling levels for women. And in particular is that to be mainly competitive cyclists, or other types?

I have commuted by bicycle in Gateshead for 20 years now. The Council have progressively made the experience slightly more alarming by installing pedestrian islands, particularly on uphill sections. They have recently installed one by the Thornley Woodlands Centre on the outskirts of Rowlands Gill. This is on a busy and fast road, just as a hill starts to level out. I am shocked at how dangerous it is for cyclists and have asked the Council for their safety audits. They have told me that Level 1 and Level 2 safety audits have been carried out and no problems identified for cyclists. They are shortly to do a Level 3 safety audit.
Also, they told me that the scheme was agreed by consultees, including CTC and Sustrans. I would be interested to learn how CTC were consulted, and what the response was. The scheme is shown below (for clarity, the light grey line at bottom left is the Kerb):



I understand that guidance from the DfT highlights the limitation of Pedestrian islands:

"Central reserves, refuges, traffic islands, and buildouts can create pinch points for cyclists which can bring them into conflict with motor vehicles. For example, drivers may attempt to overtake cyclists ahead of the narrowing to avoid being delayed (speed reducing features on the approach can help here). Drivers may also attempt to overtake a cyclist within the narrowed section… refuges and islands in particular can create hazardous pinch points for cyclists. If they are introduced and it is not possible to provide a cycle bypass, the width available should either be sufficient to allow vehicles to overtake cyclists safely, or narrow enough to discourage overtaking altogether.”

I wonder which width the Council has selected here - sufficient to allow overtakes, or narrow enough to discourage? From the picture you can also see a junction on the left immediately after the island. This gives access to the Woodlands Centre and is fairly popular, therefore a cyclist would need to keep away from the nearside to avoid vehicles edging out of the junction.

I would welcome comments to assist with further complaints to the Council and my MP. Particularly on how the CTC have been reported by the Council as agreeing to this scheme.

Thank You

These are excellent:

http://www.bykebitz.co.uk/acatalog/Halv ... Glove.html