Search found 102 matches

by ed_o_brain
9 Jun 2008, 3:44pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Saving Cyclists Lives
Replies: 14
Views: 2138

I won't be signing either. Sorry.

Filtering u the left hand side of vehicles is dangerous and really, IMHO, it's only for experienced cyclists anyway.

I always filter through on the right and only when I think there will be some benefit to doing so. There's no point doing it when there's a short queue of traffic at a set of lights.

Vehicles are already laden with too much safety technology. I wouldn't want HGV drivers to risk compensate and stop checking their new blind spot mirrors for the sake of some new fangled indicators that may or may not be working.
by ed_o_brain
9 Jun 2008, 3:38pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: twenty's plenty --> facebook group
Replies: 0
Views: 488

twenty's plenty --> facebook group

click

I though it about time someone started one. I'll be sprucing it up later in the week.

If in the mean time you want to help get the ball rolling, feel free to join!
by ed_o_brain
8 Jun 2008, 9:33pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Pictures of your bike(s)
Replies: 1924
Views: 583826

lauriematt wrote:
<snip>

just wondering...why the black tape all over the frame??

is it to keep muck off?!?!

i saw it on another bike the other day...but couldnt figure out why??

<snip>


It's an attempt to make the bike a bit less attractive to the local yoof as they took the first edition of the bike I had.
by ed_o_brain
5 Jun 2008, 10:28am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Pictures of your bike(s)
Replies: 1924
Views: 583826

ed_o_brain wrote:The commuter - although it now sports race bades, more lights and a few other tweaks.

Image


The Sunday Morning bike - but I'm alway busy on a Sunday Morning!

Image



The fleet has changed a bit since that last post.

All made in Taiwan:

The filthy Trek Soho S fixie, also known as Black Beauty
Image

The serene Airborne Valkyrie Ax road bike, also known as Champagne Supernova
Image

theMTB, simply known as theMTB.
Image
by ed_o_brain
24 Feb 2008, 11:45pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Cross Country trains and bikes
Replies: 9
Views: 2250

IMHO the system of having to obtain a reservation is not well enough supported.

And my experiences have varied wildly from at one extreme:
- obtuse unhelpful staff
- standing waiting for over ten minutes at a kiosk wilst a clerk works out how to process a cycle reservation whilst people queue up behind me growing impatient
- waiting an age to be let off a train (Pendalino) even tho I did have a reservation (having to carry my bike through the carriage after nearly ten minutes sat at Euston station)
- not being able to obtain reservations without going to the station I'm travelling from
- turning up and finding no room for my bicycle on the train - even though I do have a reservation

to at the other extreme:
- real smooth service, staff ready and waiting at platforms
- staff that have helped me put my bike on the train even tho I've been travelling without a reservation when I should really have one.
- help putting my bicycle on a coach, again even though I didn't have a reservation
- GNER calling me back when I requested a journey through there online planner to include a cycle reservation


It's just bonkers. I need to get my act together and do my bit to get something done about it.
by ed_o_brain
19 Feb 2008, 8:38pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Reasonable?
Replies: 22
Views: 2681

Before I say this, I wasn't there. But this is what I can relate from my own experience.

Batting along at 20-25 mph, cars and trucks passing. Fine so long as they are doing it safely.

But when the drivers don't anticipate slowing or stationary traffic up ahead, and then I end up stuck behind them because they have overtaken me on approach to it, I do sometimes get a bit frustrated.

When I'm in the car I try and anticipate the conditions well ahead, and to be honest I don't overtake cyclists on approach to the junctions. Instead I try and 'shield' them from vehicles behind until it is safe to pass after the junction.
by ed_o_brain
24 Oct 2007, 1:47pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: London cycling
Replies: 20
Views: 6019

Jeremy Parker wrote:
glueman wrote:I've yet to see any argument that disuades me the best way to get real numbers using bikes as an everyday tool is a comprehensive system of well maintained bike paths. And I say that, as ever, as a road cyclist of middle years. I'll wager a house that if that 2-lane, swept twice daily, joined up, well lit bike path that went places people wanted to go was an option, existing cyclists wouldn't want it, to the detriment of the rest.


Perhaps you would tell us what lessons we can learn form the half dozen or so "new towns" that have systems. Are the systems good enough to meet your criteria, and if so do they attract the traffic that you expect?

If one or two of the towns fail to produce the traffic that you think they could, what needs to be fixed?

And which is Britains's best urban bike path network? And what specific bike facilities help to produce the usage in Britain's highest bike usage towns?

Jeremy Parker



I believe John Franklin produced a paper on the 'redways' for Milton Keynes.

The infamous Telford was one such new town were less than 2% of journeys were undertaken by bicycle.
by ed_o_brain
18 Oct 2007, 2:09pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Unbelievable "blog" in the Times
Replies: 4
Views: 1521

I chipped in but I really oughta learn to proof read!
by ed_o_brain
25 Sep 2007, 11:50am
Forum: On the road
Topic: Punched by irate driver
Replies: 156
Views: 25775

Good news. Lets hope this one reaches a satisfactory conclusion. (Can't be any more than satisfactory, given that it should never have happened in the first place).



On the cyclecraft debate, Franklin goes to great length to explain the intention behind the positioning and emphasises that the rationale is safety, never obstructing traffic.

TBH I don't know what the problem is. I regard cyclecraft very highly. A lot of it just seems like common sense and it's difficult to disagree with. I can't see how it turns cyclists into militant road hogs. Franklin himself has a very gentle nature and the book reflects that.

When he observed my cycle commute home, he commented on my positioning at just one point. On a short (600 metre?) 30 mph two lane stretch of road on a key bus route in the centre of Telford, I took the right lane at 20 something miles an hour and held primary position.. Franklin took secondary position in the left lane and moved over to the right lane near the end of the stretch (we were going right). Both lanes are quite narrow and at the end there is a give way followed, if your going right, by a tight turn.

I usually took the right hand lane because, if I cycled along in the left hand lane, I often experienced difficulty negotiating with bus drivers in order to get over to the right hand lane before the end of the road. When Franklin observed my cycling, it was off-peak and I was admittedly more accustomed to using that road during peak times with higher traffic density and slower traffic speeds. I accepted his comments and conceeded I should probably ride in secondary position in the left hand lane during off-peak times. He was happy (given my pace) with my rationale for my positioning. (And I was trying to cycle home they way I would normally - so to all intents and purposes I positioned myself to deal with the traffic volumes I normally had to contend with)

I know I'm probably inviting criticism, but I used that road for a long period of time without causing any frustration to motorists. I just wanted to illustrate something of Franklin's view on positioning from my brief personal experience with him.
by ed_o_brain
24 Sep 2007, 3:28pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Police Cyclists
Replies: 25
Views: 5717

I have seen plenty of Police Offices and CSOs on bikes here in Manchester.

I saw a woman CSO nearly bring down another cyclist on CM when she untertook the other cyclist and caught the other cyclists front wheel with her back wheel.

I think the police cyclists need to get out for regular rides with more experienced cyclists!
by ed_o_brain
24 Sep 2007, 3:16pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Punched by irate driver
Replies: 156
Views: 25775

How true. If he really says a cyclists' natural default position is in the middle of a lane I'd ban it*. There's a lot of good sense in there but it's always seemed a guide completely devoid of context, like the widespread abandonment of lawful driving and the proliferation of might is right in normal road use.

*there appears to be mixed messages on this.


If memory serves me correctly the books teaches that the secondary position is a normal riding position and describes specific circumstances in which the primary position should be used.

I would check your facts before pre-supposing that anything should be banned.

Most drivers don't seem to be aware of what is in the highway code let alone Cyclecraft.


edited to correct spelling
by ed_o_brain
13 Sep 2007, 11:03am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Internet Access - family filter advice required
Replies: 3
Views: 1381

what might be better still (and quicker) is openDNS.

I've not tried it myself, but it's worth a look.

(You could use it in addition to any other measures)

http://opendns.com
by ed_o_brain
12 Sep 2007, 2:09pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: The CTC is for cycling - not politics
Replies: 88
Views: 16937

One observation:

I think the higher probability of motorcyclists been involved in collisions with cyclists and pedestrians could be attributed in part to the fact they take up less roadspace and are therefore less visible to other road users.

It's a bit like SafeSpeed making out cyclists were more of a danger to pedestrians than white man van - the statistics don't account for the number of times pedestrians step out in front of cyclists because they haven't seen them.

I would imagine motorbikes carry this risk too.



One opinion:

I think the motorcycle fraternity suffers from the same afflictions as the cycling fraternity. Silly cyclists spoil it for the rest of us, red light jumping, riding on pavements etc. whilst silly motorcyclists ride powerful machines to quickly on the queens highway with tiny/obscured number plates also pulling stoppies and wheelies and peforming daft overtaking manouvres.

I don't disagree with what is written in the letter on the most part. (I can't see the assertion that anything over 125 cc should have it's power restricted and I don't agree with that).

And I do wonder if manufacturers should be made to take the lead. I was reading recently about Suzuki's latest GSX-R1000 having a switch to reduce power - 180 bhp on such a machine for road use is just a bit silly but having the switchable power means that motorcyclists can enjoy a sensible number of horses on the road and still get full enjoyment out of their machines on the track.
by ed_o_brain
12 Aug 2007, 1:22pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Does congestion charging work
Replies: 27
Views: 4707

I think it is worth making the point that the very presence of a congestion charge (no matter how it works) to some degree forces the question of transport into peoples heads.

The fact there is a congestion charge makes people start thinking about there journey a little bit more, instead of just hopping in the car, turning the key and driving to work without thinking about it.

They will in the least consider how to avoid the /reduce the charge, and if they can't, the they may even start to consider altarnatives.

At the end of the day I believe cycling has enough benefits to sell itself, and once the tide starts to turn it will get far easier to get people onto bikes. It's just the inertia is MASSIVE.
by ed_o_brain
27 Jul 2007, 11:00am
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Does congestion charging work
Replies: 27
Views: 4707

Seemed apt to post these pictures to this thread of Greater Manchester Cycling Campaign supporting the C-Charge with their critical commute this morning

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Congestion%20Charge&w=7516948%40N06