Cycling UK Forum

CJ wrote:Sounds like the A23 is in the last stages of evolution from a general-purpose road into a proper motorway.

You are not far wrong there! The A23 has not a single roundabout on it north of the big A27 interchange at Patcham (on the Brighton boundary), until you reach Crawley (or if you continue on the 'real' motorway the M23 at Crawley, not until you come off that south of Croydon). It is uninterrupted dual carriageway, 2-lane or 3-lane, with motorway-style junctions all along. None of the other big trunk roads crossing Sussex (e.g. A22, A24, A27, A29 etc.) is anything near like that. Indeed it would take very little to upgrade the entire A23 road to motorway, probably no more than re-painting a few signs from green to blue...

There are a few bends, at Handcross, which are sharper than normally allowed on a motorway (and liberally signed with somewhat over-emphatic chevrons) but there are plans to widen and straighten out there, too...

The roads are melting in places down our way. Hasn't happened for a few years.

Not yet bad enough to stop one cycling though one has to be careful in places. I remember one day back in '76, when I was on a tour around Britain. Some roads were so reduced to sticky liquid swamp, that I half expected to see the bones of sabre-tooth tigers protruding from the black goo...

Just totted up some mileage records, reckon I got about 7500 miles out of the old rim (and hub: front wheel, on road bike). Is this bad? But I was using poor quality cheap-O brake blocks, have now changed to, hopefully, better brand (Koolstop).

Pete Owens wrote:It is also the main driving force behind the introduction of farcilities. Some of them actually believe that they are helping cyclists and can't understand our ingratitude. They start from a position that riding on a busy road is intrinsically dangerous, thus anything that separates you from the traffic of whatever quality must therefore be better than nothing. They poorer the quality, the cheaper the farcility and the less space needed - so cyclists can gain the "benefits" over greater lengths of road. This is why the likes of Sustrans push for lower standards.

What I have found is that where there is a 'facility' alongside a dual carriageway it is quite often fairly good and useable. Sometimes all it needs is a better surface: the layout is OK. As it happens there are several stretches along the rural A23 : partly segregated cycle path and partly use of the old S/C A23 which was downgraded to a 'B' road when the new D/C was built. And at slip roads the segregated path is often taken right away from the junction, or a little way along it then cyclists are directed to cross at right angles. This may be tedious but better than being in a collision.

One problem is that this 'facility' is, in some stretches, only on one side of the road, and cyclists going the other way may be unable to get on it (there are ways but you need to know the topography, signage can be poor).

Nevertheless I use these tracks, out of town. It's years since I cycled on the A23 D/C itself.

Once you get inside Brighton urban area, the extreme southern end of the A23, it's a totally different story. The cycle 'farcilities' are, frankly, awful, the worst I've seen anywhere. Constantly having to jerk up onto the pavement then back down onto the carriageway again, doing chicanes around trees and lamp-posts, running out of path within sight of your intended destination, skimming along the left-hand side of parked cars' 'door zone'; pedestrians at every corner... To be avoided.

Alternatively, you don't have to set any targets, you don't have to maintain any particular speed. Don't feel bound by all the suggestions on this forum! If 14mph feels a tough call, go at 12mph. If 12mph is too much an effort, make it 10mph. If 10mph is too strenuous.... Get it? Cycling at any speed is still cycling and still commendable!

Moreover you don't need any special kit! Obviously shorts (especially in this heatwave) and other light clothing are a Good Thing, but honestly any clothes you feel comfy in (perhaps draw the line at Evening Dress...) will do. There's been a long thread on this forum about Slow Cycling, spurred by an article in the CTC magazine. If you're not CTC members, maybe the article is online somewhere?

As for getting on board the wretched thing, well believe it or not I - age 59 with 50 years almost unbroken as a cyclist, well sometimes I feel a bit creaky down there, and a reluctance to lift a leg over the saddle (the fact that I'm not very tall but set a fairly high saddle, makes it more troublesome for me)... I wonder whether there's anything to be said for the 'cowboy mount' which I was taught to do when I first learnt to ride as a kid? Not advisable according to many authorities; I certainly haven't done it for years...

I wonder how many people have cut up the new credit card instead of the old one?
I haven't - yet - but I always check, and double-check, and then triple-check some more, before I wield the scissors. I don't trust myself.

(*bump*)
Can it really be over 2 months since I posted that query? Anyway, I was waiting for the 'fairies' to give me a reason, but they didn't oblige (oops! shouldn't have said that), but since the hub is beginning to fail too I decided it's about time so I had the tyre off anyway. Made a tool almost exactly like CJ's (thanks Chris) and got measurements of between 0.7 and 1.0mm round the rim, roughly the same both sides (a new rim of same make is 1.7mm). So it's close: marginal but not worth the risk. New wheel on now!

I was just about to post the same story, but you beat me to it.

She looks fine, but how did the bike take it?

At least if she fell off she wouldn't hit the ground hard!

I remember once, helping the local Wildlife Trust to clean out a pond, dredged a complete bike out. Not exactly ride-worthy!

cjchambers wrote:I recall from a visit to France that some of the older traffic lights in the town we were staying had a cute little replica of the main cluster at cyclist level. I was very impressed! I'm sure such things could easily be integrated into pelican crossing boxes at difficult junctions . . . . although clearly I'd rather they just designed the junctions so that everyone can see all the lights!

Yes, they're standard in France, but they're actually for the benefit of motorists not cyclists! The full-size light clusters are often mounted quite high up and difficult to see from a car if you're close up.

A common feature in France is an arrow-shaped right 'filter' lamp (corresponds to our left filter of course) but it's yellow and flashes. Furthermore the road leading up to it is often only a single lane, not restricted to right-turners, so if someone wanting to go straight on reaches there first, tough! This has happened to me often enough in the car but there's usually no hassle.

Richard Fairhurst wrote:There are so many places in the countryside, virtually unused by walkers, where just a tiny little bit of attention and a reclassification from bridleway to footpath would open up a superb cycling route.

I presume you mean the other way round: "from footpath to bridleway".

One problem I find (on my road bike at least) is that most bridleways are impassable to me - especially those used by horses which is what they are primarily for! There are a couple of bridleway stretches that I regularly use, but they are tarmac'd over so surface quality is not an issue. However they are extremely narrow so passing of pedestrians must be done with great care if possible at all. Maximum speed of 8mph I would suggest. For many cyclists, confining their ride entirely to bridleways would mean a different sort of cycling to them, perhaps less enjoyable.

Much the same goes for shared pavement/cyclepaths alongside roads. But I do not like those. The fact that there is perceived to be a route dedicated to cyclists and cyclists only, may entice some cyclists into going at speed along such paths. This is unwise: pedestrians, especially children, the elderly, or those with dogs, may stray into the 'cyclists' half without warning.

john_roberts wrote:

Alan D wrote:...they have commented on the fact that they are 'out of fashion' and sorely missed.

I have to add though that I use the bell as a 'please be aware there is something behind you' signal and not a 'get out of the way!' warning! I always wait until the person infront has moved to one side to let me pass, if they indeed choose to do so

Bells may have 'gone out of fashion' and are of limited use in road cycling (I do not carry one, myself), but the fact remains that they are mandatory on a new bike when sold! (there is nothing to stop the owner from removing it though).

I am old enough to remember when bells were the standard device for issuing a warning (e.g. fire alarms, intruder alarms). And I can even remember when Police cars, ambulances etc. had bells instead of klaxons or sirens. I know this is a very different sound from that made by a bicycle bell. Yet perhaps, for those of my generation, this is the reason why we see over-use of the bell as a sign of aggression.

Nevertheless courtesy from a MTBer such as you is always welcome!

Another thing to remember is that MTBing is a relatively new activity - well, new compared to road cycling. It only really took off in the 1980s and 90s (yep I'm showing my age again!). Before that there were cyclocross and 'rough stuff' but these were really minority interests. Perhaps, for all the goodwill that exists between most cyclists and most walkers, the 'rules of engagement' have not yet been fully worked out...

If, as you say, the problem is

near misses that I had with drivers who pulled out of side roads without looking

then I fail to see how using the cycle path would help with that. Indeed that is one of the problems with such provisions, they come to a sudden stop when intersected by a side road. I know of one in my area where even private side roads interrupt the cycle path which is peppered with GIVE WAY markings - hence impeding a cyclist's progress even further.

If a cyclist on this path thinks he is still on the 'major road' and has right-of-way over traffic on the side road, think again - or die!

That is a point well worth putting to this correspondent.

Splendid! Let's hope the authorities responsible at Three Bridges station have taken note of this piece of news!

Postscript: it appears that Southern Trains have backed down on that particular piece of lunacy. But who can say it won't happen again somewhere? And then there is the small matter of not providing for the big L2B ride...

It would be interesting to hear what they'd say about cars bullying bikes...

...do-as-thou-would-be-done-by...

Probably this did happen out of the house. Got involved in a fight - other cats perhaps? Or a big rat (hopefully not in the house) sunk its teeth into her? Or perhaps just escaped being run over by a car?

Anyway you do well to get it to the vet's pronto. Needs to be properly disinfected and treated. Hope no gangrene sets in. Best wishes to moggy!