Great Article

Stuww
Stuww Posts: 203
edited October 2007 in Commuting chat
I stumbled upon a great site called City Cycling and found a really interesting article.

http://www.citycycling.co.uk/issue28/issue28page2.html

Thought some of you might like a read!

Cheers

Stu
Regards

Stu W
www.midlifecyclist.me.uk

Comments

  • h i r 0
    h i r 0 Posts: 76
    Loved that. Thanks for sharing. It made me look forward to a time when I can include my daughter in my cycling activities, but also sad that by the time she's old enough it may be so impractical and dangerous to do so that I simply won't dare.
  • Totalnewbie
    Totalnewbie Posts: 932
    For half my journey today I ended up cycling along with a bloke with his little girl on his bike...she was a little cutie, we exchanged a smile at the lights. I noticed he got quite good treatment from the traffic, rightly so.

    I was always sooo jealous of the kids whose parents took them to school by bike, but my mum is a bit scared of bikes so I could never persuade her.
    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/ ... 400572.jpg
  • Mog Uk
    Mog Uk Posts: 964
    Great article...

    Laughed at the closing line....

    Sms is an illustrator. His wife is a teacher and his son is a Cutasaurus from the planet Venus
    Manchester Wheelers' Club
  • dirk_van_gently
    dirk_van_gently Posts: 826
    Bloody Brilliant ! loved it.
    If you see the candle as flame, the meal is already cooked.
    Photography, Google Earth, Route 30
  • el_presidente
    el_presidente Posts: 1,963
    The kid sounds a bit wishy washy

    "hello trees! hello sky" etc etc chiz chiz
    <a>road</a>
  • mrchrispy
    mrchrispy Posts: 310
    i was getting worried reading it, i was sure he was going to say his kid was killed by a 4x4 or something. :oops:
  • mailmannz
    mailmannz Posts: 173
    and a bit of sterotyping going on about the 4x4's too.

    Mailman
  • mrchrispy
    mrchrispy Posts: 310
    not really, if you dont need one for work then you are a cock.
  • whome
    whome Posts: 167
    Excellent, excellent - funny and well written, though not great that this pushes the "cycling is dangerous" viewpoint.-



    I wish cictycyling had an RSS feed :(
    Training, highway design and increasing cycle numbers are important to safety. Helmets are just a red herring.
  • blackpuddinonnabike
    blackpuddinonnabike Posts: 16
    whome wrote:
    Excellent, excellent - funny and well written, though not great that this pushes the "cycling is dangerous" viewpoint.-



    I wish cictycyling had an RSS feed :(

    Ask and ye shall receive....

    Well. Sort of. A new citycycling blog (god I hate that word), which has the option at the bottom of signing up to a regular feed.

    Also more than happy to receive comments on any of the contents (like it not being good to promote the 'cycling is dangerous' slant; or that it's a stereotypical view) - just drop a line to comments@citycycling.co.uk

    Ta

    Anth (editor)
  • whome
    whome Posts: 167
    Yey - great. I live from my news reader, so websites without RSS feeds are difficult to remember.

    There are always different viewpoints in cycling, and cycling is not even a single area (sports, utility, commuting, etc), so it's never going to be perfect. We want to complain at the same time as not putting people off. Cars do cut you up or get too close, you want to moan about it, and it seems right to mention the safety issue of these inconsiderate actions. But also figures show cycling is as safe as walking, shared use paths and cycle lanes can be less safe than roads, etc. We want to encourage people to hop on a bike just as easily as strolling down the road, and in preference to jumping in the car, without worrying about special equipment or that every journey they survive is a miracle. A conundrum. Is it the internal message vs the external message? Or just the nature of people wanting to show how much we overcome, how hard done by we are, etc etc. (e.g. Monty Python Yorkshiremen sketch).


    One other comment - the navigation is pretty good, but it could be better if there was a way to skip to the next article for multipage articles as well as next page. e.g. I don't really enjoy the strange fiction thing (Dr Brompton etc), so I just click next page until I find it has finished, a way to shortcut that would be great.
    Training, highway design and increasing cycle numbers are important to safety. Helmets are just a red herring.
  • blackpuddinonnabike
    blackpuddinonnabike Posts: 16
    I can only really agree with all of that - it's a difficult balancing act, and I was conscious to tone down the 'damned drivers!' rhetoric when trying to convince my other half to cycle to work. She's now discovered for herself that while it's not perfect on the roads it's better (and quicker) by bike...

    Good idea with the jumping between articles. I'll have to have a think as to how this can best be done (aesthetically as well as practically).

    Prof Dawes and the Bromptonaut is definitely a love it or hate it piece of work. :D The guy who does it has an over-active imagination which I'm happy to let flow. The Dutch absolutely love it! As long as there's enough in the mag to keep everyone entertained to a degree then we're doing alright.

    Next stop world domination....
  • BentMikey
    BentMikey Posts: 4,895
    Yeah, have to agree on the Prof Dawes, I just skip it. And I am Dutch.
  • blackpuddinonnabike
    blackpuddinonnabike Posts: 16
    BentMikey wrote:
    Yeah, have to agree on the Prof Dawes, I just skip it. And I am Dutch.

    Erm... :?

    Maybe it's the Dutch what still live in Dutchland? Each issue tends to get a mention on ligfiets.net (none yet this month, they're clearly slipping...) and Dawes is one of the first things linked to.

    And you actually know the author of Prof Dawes BM... :wink: Ah, the intrigue....
  • mailmannz
    mailmannz Posts: 173
    mrchrispy wrote:
    not really, if you dont need one for work then you are a fool.

    And now a bit of generalisation going on.

    Whether I need one for work or not really isnt the issue. I thought the issue here was people looking at these big vehicles as being the ultimate polluters...YET...strangely enough many of the new 4x4's are more fuel efficient than "normal" family cars and also take up no more space than a standard car to boot.

    Your generalisation sounds more like a but of snobbery mingled in with elitism with a hint of ignorance.

    Mailman

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