Cycling UK Forum

byegad is quite right IMO. It's my understanding that the CTC has been a campaigning organisation for decades and thereby done cycling far more good than harm. I also agree with Chris that if anything the CTC has recently got better in this respect.

WRT m/cycles, whilst it is debateable whether they should call for such vehicles to be restricted, there is absolutely no doubt that the way the powerful machines are ridden is sometimes a problem FOR ALL ROAD USERS. It is also true that motorcyclists are not treated with due care by other road users, just as cyclists are not; so we have a common cause as well as differences.

if the original poster wants to stand for election to the CTC Council he should give it a go - but the durability of these MCN-inspired interventions isn't great. They're generally looking for a quote for next week's issue, and, happily, the measured tone of those responding hasn't given much that's capable of being misconstrued. Once again Howard has excelled himself.

If anyone needs an example of why CTC should campaign, see the thread on the Timesonline article.

well, quite. And the irony is that it is MCN readers that are most at risk from Parris' chosen method of assasination.

In response to the OP, the CTC is not just about rides - it's about representing its members and this means being involved in politics.

Just because you don't agree with a stance that is taken by the CTC doesn't mean that it is wrong. This is a democratic organisation and if you don't like then you are always free to leave.

As I said earlier, if the CTC didn't get involved in politics they wouldn't get my subs. I expect them to defend cyclist rights by political means.

I disagree about the action you should take if you don't agree with the position the CTC might stand, if you don't like it, let 'em know, if enough agree they will change to represent the majority position.

Gazza

Regulator wrote:In response to the OP, the CTC is not just about rides - it's about representing its members and this means being involved in politics.

Just because you don't agree with a stance that is taken by the CTC doesn't mean that it is wrong. This is a democratic organisation and if you don't like then you are always free to leave.

Riding your bike is a political act whether you want it to be or not. Other people make it political e.g. the Driving Standards Agency will tell you in the Highway Code how you may or may not do it.

MartinC wrote:Riding your bike is a political act whether you want it to be or not. Other people make it political e.g. the Driving Standards Agency will tell you in the Highway Code how you may or may not do it.

For many years the CTC was political with a very small p, more concerned with how many cakes were consumed at the Singing Kettle and who fell into the ford on the way home than lobbying. Different people have joined in recent years with more political nous, whether as a reaction to road conditions or because erstwhile drivers are now cycling with more expectation of their rights.
The club is at a crossroads. It seems unable to push through the big issues like driver responsibility but is losing the confidence of old school cycletourists (IMO). Long term, cycling will grow more as a practical response to transport needs than a counter-cultural gesture but I hope it will see recreational cycle touring as its mainstay.

three points i would like to make.
a) like the originator of this thread i too have complained to CTC about them making representations on behalf of "40000" members" when it has never asked me if i agreed. My renewal is due now i may not renew.
It is not difficult if CTC managers want to to conduct a membr poll e.g cycling weekly does it every week on its web site.
b)The goverment is using smoke and mirrors of attacking motorists of all kinds and winding up other user groups to take the heat of its own failings and as an excuse to raise more taxes....Prudence Brown i.e. GB Ltd is skint!!
I say this as a think tank has just said today 17000 deaths a year are avoidable in the NHS. (3000 a year die on the roads).where do you think the govermant should focus???
c)on the goverment rely on M.C.'s it says only 4% of accidents were due to speed...yet in other communications it blames speed for all accidents...hence SCAMRA's, road humps etc. Lies damed lies and this goverment.

navigator wrote:three points i would like to make.

a) if the CTC ballotted its members on every issue then there'd be no time left to carry out action, and the membership would soon be complaining about how the committee can't do anything by itself and how much of the membership's time is wasted by these continual voteds that HO asks it to participate in. This is how modern demorcacy works - you vote in people to represent you: every CTC member has a vote and every CTC member can stand for office and every member can put forward a proposal for the AGM. By joining the CTC you are giving your backing to the committee - if you feel so strongly that they do not represent you then you are free to leave or to attempt to change the course of action that they follow in the ways that I've already outlined, or by going via your councillor.

b) as the CTC doesn't control the NHS I don't see how the question of whether it is political or not is applicable?

c) it seems that this point and the one above are more concerned with criticising the govt than anything to do with whther the CTC should be political or not, somewhat wondering off the thread..

re navigator and Si's point(s) a) If CTC were to ballot all members it would have to be paper based as some members do not have access to the internet. The cost of these ballots. Which have to be counted by someone, at a cost, would drive up fees.

glueman wrote:For many years the CTC was political with a very small p, more concerned with how many cakes were consumed at the Singing Kettle and who fell into the ford on the way home than lobbying.

There may have been less lobbying for period in the low point of the club's history in the 1970's but the political lobbying which the CTC does today is no more than it did from it's inception and right through until WW2. I used to have a collection of bound CTC Gazettes from the 1890's right though to the 1970's and it was clear from these that the CTC was traditionally very 'politically' minded. For an idea of what the CTC got up to in the 1930's, for example, see:

http://www.thebikezone.org.uk/thebikezo ... /1935.html

Well said Howard.

Almost everything has been said, but my two pence would be:

The CTC is the single most powerful cycling lobby group in Britain and if you take the politics out of it, it would be like taking the guns away from our soldiers - yeah, sure, nobody likes how they shoot people, but they (and possibly we) would be dead without them.