Lets violate the Olympic lanes

Monkeypump

el_presidente wrote:

Applespider wrote:

Yes - I saw my first Games lane today in a road that I didn't think had any according to the map I'd seen. Still, it's a nearside Games + buses lane so I will be staying in it!

I'm volunteering at the Games so was pretty gung-ho for it all until today when they changed a rehearsal time for Saturday night. Which is fine except now I can't go to Hard Rock Calling at Hyde Park and see Bruce Springsteen. Grrrr! And not great notice for trying to sell the darned tickets either now!

Nice of you to volunteer for Coca Cola and McDonalds, shame they can't afford to pay people but there you go. I would tell them to stick their rehearsal and go to Springsteen if I were you.

Er, this obviously! Seems a no-brainer to me!

Monkeypump

rjsterry wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

Dear oh dear. This thread is pulling out the Jeremiahs by the bucketload.

I was at the Olympics two years ago, and spoke beforehand to a number of Vancouverites who were similarly resentful, dismissive and generally a bit whiney. The city did not implode; nor did it grind to a halt, and all those who had not been looking forward to it thoroughly enjoyed it.

Perhaps a dose of "wait and see" is in order.

Quite. Some seem to want it to be a disaster, just so that they can wallow in "I told you so'. As to the use of the lanes, given that we as a group get pretty uppity with non-cyclists abusing cycle lanes and ASLs, is it not a tad hypocritical to thumb our noses at the ORN regulations?

And some of us really want it all to be a success, but have a nagging feeling in the pit of our stomachs that the infrastructure will fail and it will all go belly-up. As a doubter, I'd happily be proved wrong!

Paul E

Monkeypump wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

Dear oh dear. This thread is pulling out the Jeremiahs by the bucketload.

I was at the Olympics two years ago, and spoke beforehand to a number of Vancouverites who were similarly resentful, dismissive and generally a bit whiney. The city did not implode; nor did it grind to a halt, and all those who had not been looking forward to it thoroughly enjoyed it.

Perhaps a dose of "wait and see" is in order.

Quite. Some seem to want it to be a disaster, just so that they can wallow in "I told you so'. As to the use of the lanes, given that we as a group get pretty uppity with non-cyclists abusing cycle lanes and ASLs, is it not a tad hypocritical to thumb our noses at the ORN regulations?

And some of us really want it all to be a success, but have a nagging feeling in the pit of our stomachs that the infrastructure will fail and it will all go belly-up. As a doubter, I'd happily be proved wrong!

+1

richVSrich

so will people be avoiding embankment and taking other routes to work through london?

notsoblue

As a cyclist, I'm not used to be restricted like this. Part of what makes cycling a fun and worthwhile form of transport in London is the freedom it gives you. We'll cope though. Its only two weeks.

jds_1981

rjsterry wrote:

Quite. Some seem to want it to be a disaster, just so that they can wallow in "I told you so'. As to the use of the lanes, given that we as a group get pretty uppity with non-cyclists abusing cycle lanes and ASLs, is it not a tad hypocritical to thumb our noses at the ORN regulations?

Not at all, I for one view it in the same light as no-one other than MCDs being allowed to serve chips in the olympic village, or only visa cards being allowed.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Paul E wrote:

Vancouver is not London, not by a long shot, they have tried to shoe horn in all the infrastructure into a city that had very little capacity left.

Are you sure about that? Really sure? I was certain they were the same city.

I shall have to consult a map.

How much spare capacity do you think downtown Vancouver, or the Lions Gate Bridge had? Or the one road up to Cypress Mountain? Or the one road between Vancouver and Whistler?

rjsterry

jds_1981 wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Quite. Some seem to want it to be a disaster, just so that they can wallow in "I told you so'. As to the use of the lanes, given that we as a group get pretty uppity with non-cyclists abusing cycle lanes and ASLs, is it not a tad hypocritical to thumb our noses at the ORN regulations?

Not at all, I for one view it in the same light as no-one other than MCDs being allowed to serve chips in the olympic village, or only visa cards being allowed.

MCD chuck in a big wad towards the game - guess what, they want something for that: exclusive vending rights. If LOCOG said no to MCD, then they'd not get as much money, and tax payers would have to stump up the difference. While maybe not quite what de Coubertin had in mind, the Olympics is now a commercial event, and to pretend otherwise is wishful thinking.

jds_1981

rjsterry wrote:

MCD chuck in a big wad towards the game - guess what, they want something for that: exclusive vending rights. If LOCOG said no to MCD, then they'd not get as much money, and tax payers would have to stump up the difference. While maybe not quite what de Coubertin had in mind, the Olympics is now a commercial event, and to pretend otherwise is wishful thinking.

But that is what I & many others wish.

rjsterry

jds_1981 wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

MCD chuck in a big wad towards the game - guess what, they want something for that: exclusive vending rights. If LOCOG said no to MCD, then they'd not get as much money, and tax payers would have to stump up the difference. While maybe not quite what de Coubertin had in mind, the Olympics is now a commercial event, and to pretend otherwise is wishful thinking.

But that is what I & many others wish.

Then it's back to London 1948, with competitors staying in local B&Bs, providing their own kit and equipment, and catching PT to their events.

meanredspider

I thought everyone was going to be shirking from home during the Olympics?

Whilst I know this might not be an entirely popular view (I've obviously lived in the Highlands far too long), the areas that will be benefitting most from the benefits of the Olympics (investment, income, infrastructure, access to events) are the areas that will suffer the most. Seems kinda fair to me. I'm little impacted by the Games (except if I want to travel via a London airport) but then the nearest event is probably several hundred miles away. I'm still paying my (fair?) share towards the cost.

jds_1981

meanredspider wrote:

Seems kinda fair to me. I'm little impacted by the Games (except if I want to travel via a London airport) but then the nearest event is probably several hundred miles away. I'm still paying my (fair?) share towards the cost.

I think the funding actually comes from the private sector, London council tax and the national lottery fund.

edit: and ticket sales

DonDaddyD

Greg66 wrote:

Dear oh dear. This thread is pulling out the Jeremiahs by the bucketload.

I was at the Olympics two years ago, and spoke beforehand to a number of Vancouverites who were similarly resentful, dismissive and generally a bit whiney. The city did not implode; nor did it grind to a halt, and all those who had not been looking forward to it thoroughly enjoyed it.

Perhaps a dose of "wait and see" is in order.

Greg you are wrong. London is going to STOP working when the Olympics are on. The trains will fail, the buses will stop and there will be endless traffic jams! What is more, the sky will fall on our heads!

You will only have to look at a fellow London and say the words 'Olympics' and they will combust, there and then!

Me? I haven't even looked at these cycle lanes. Do they go through Putney, Hammersmith, Fulham, Chiswick, Kew or Eailng?

meanredspider

jds_1981 wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

Seems kinda fair to me. I'm little impacted by the Games (except if I want to travel via a London airport) but then the nearest event is probably several hundred miles away. I'm still paying my (fair?) share towards the cost.

I think the funding actually comes from the private sector, London council tax and the national lottery fund.

edit: and ticket sales

Olympic Website wrote:

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government Olympic Executive in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) leads for Government on delivery of the London 2012 Games. It reports to Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

The DCMS is responsible for managing central Government funding for the Games and wider regeneration costs. It is also responsible for bringing together the legacy benefits brought by the UK-wide sporting, cultural, environmental, educational and business initiatives that will take place as a result of the Games.

You are broadly correct though DCMS also pays though it's not clear how much. The National Lotery money is also obviously money that would also have gone to causes across the country (and, apparently will, though with a big delay, once assets are sold off). I'm guessing the extra troops etc aren't paid for by McDonalds either....

Paul E

Greg66 wrote:

Paul E wrote:

Vancouver is not London, not by a long shot, they have tried to shoe horn in all the infrastructure into a city that had very little capacity left.

Are you sure about that? Really sure? I was certain they were the same city.

I shall have to consult a map.

How much spare capacity do you think downtown Vancouver, or the Lions Gate Bridge had? Or the one road up to Cypress Mountain? Or the one road between Vancouver and Whistler?

No need to be obtuse.

TheStone

I'm still not at all convinced it's going to be anywhere near as busy as they're suggesting. We'll find out soon.
I think they're overplaying it so they can tell us what a great job they've done when it's over.

Are the hotel, shows and tourist bookings still way down on last year?

Sharkyssurfers

I think I have found a solution if we all wear complete team gb kit, we can say we are on a training run!

EKE_38BPM

TheStone wrote:

I'm still not at all convinced it's going to be anywhere near as busy as they're suggesting. We'll find out soon.
I think they're overplaying it so they can tell us what a great job they've done when it's over.

Are the hotel, shows and tourist bookings still way down on last year?

Some PT using friends have commented on the increase in congestion and delays since the athletes have started arriving and I've noticed more lost looking foreigners than I usually see. Also, some drivers are already staying out of the Games Lanes, so that has given me an idea of how bad traffic will be when usable roadspace is reduced by 33-50% along the roads with Games Lanes.
Purely anecdotal but I'm pretty certain London will Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo Echo Delta!

Kieran_Burns

Well- the only way that the Olympics would POSSIBLY affect me is that Team GB is staying 6 miles down the road from me and I guess I might see some of them out training somewhere.

Mind you - that would be seriously cool... commuting in and having the Team GB cycling team belting past.

walkingbootweather

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Mind you - that would be seriously cool... commuting in and having the Team GB cycling team belting past.

It would be a damn sight cooler if you belted past them

roger_merriman

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Well- the only way that the Olympics would POSSIBLY affect me is that Team GB is staying 6 miles down the road from me and I guess I might see some of them out training somewhere.

Mind you - that would be seriously cool... commuting in and having the Team GB cycling team belting past.

mid week get some suspisously fast riders with team car behind them on boxhill. and yes they fly up.

straas

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Well- the only way that the Olympics would POSSIBLY affect me is that Team GB is staying 6 miles down the road from me and I guess I might see some of them out training somewhere.

Mind you - that would be seriously cool... commuting in and having the Team GB cycling team belting past.

That's not too uncommon around Manchester - a lot of them cycle back from the velodrome. I'm assuming we'll lose this to london because of the olympic velodrome? Pah

snooks

Cycled in for the first time in ages yesterday (back trouble, pants weather, work etc) and noticed the games lanes on Lower Thames Street going east have come at the expense of the cycle lane on the left.

I wondered what the big black raised patches were, I thought they were some sort of sicky covering for manhole covers, cool idea I thought, until there was a bit of a white bike sticking out from under one

Here's a Twenty Twelve idea:
Encourage everyone to cycle then remove the cycle lane and tell everyone they can't use the big empty lane on the right...WTF

Why didn't they make the left lane an Olympic lane and keep the cycle lane :evil:

keyser__soze

snooks wrote:

Cycled in for the first time in ages yesterday (back trouble, pants weather, work etc) and noticed the games lanes on Lower Thames Street going east have come at the expense of the cycle lane on the left.

Plenty of room for two lanes plus cycle lane beforehand, why the heck does the Olympic lane need to be so damned wide and the non-Oly lane so much narrower? :evil: People are going to get squeezed/sideswiped there, especially given the extra frustration drivers will be feeling they'll have even less regard for cyclists.

walkingbootweather

snooks wrote:

....pants weather.....

I've never managed to work out if this means bad weather, or so hot all you want to wear is your pants.

More to the point is it better or worse than walking boot weather?

snooks

walkingbootweather wrote:

snooks wrote:

....pants weather.....

I've never managed to work out if this means bad weather, or so hot all you want to wear is your pants.

More to the point is it better or worse than walking boot weather?

The weather has been pants A big pile of sweaty, smelly, baggy, horrible pants

snooks

Keyser__Soze wrote:

snooks wrote:

Cycled in for the first time in ages yesterday (back trouble, pants weather, work etc) and noticed the games lanes on Lower Thames Street going east have come at the expense of the cycle lane on the left.

Plenty of room for two lanes plus cycle lane beforehand, why the heck does the Olympic lane need to be so damned wide and the non-Oly lane so much narrower? :evil: People are going to get squeezed/sideswiped there, especially given the extra frustration drivers will be feeling they'll have even less regard for cyclists.

Indeed

Maybe the "Olympic family" drive wide cars to appease their egos? The Olympic Family...The only family you can buy your way into :roll:

unclejimbo1983

snooks wrote:

Here's a Twenty Twelve idea:
Encourage everyone to cycle then remove the cycle lane and tell everyone they can't use the big empty lane on the right...WTF

Why didn't they make the left lane an Olympic lane and keep the cycle lane :evil:

I have to admit, I was buying the party line of "you can cycle in the left-hand Olympic lanes, but not the ones in the centre, as that would be unsafe". I had naively assumed that the bus lanes would become Olympic lanes and my route down Battersea Park Road would be largely unaffected. What they've actually done is made the single car lane an olympic lane and diverted all the traffic into the bus lane.

If I was a cynic (which I am) I'd say the whole thing was designed to keep pesky slow-moving bicycle traffic out of the Olympic lanes.

According to TFL journey planner, the buses will still be running down Battersea Park Road, so I guess the entire lane of traffic will be stopping when they do!

thelawnet

It looks like Critical Mass next Friday will be a mass Zil-ride-in. Just in time for the Opening Ceremony.

Sharkyssurfers

Keyser__Soze wrote:

snooks wrote:

Cycled in for the first time in ages yesterday (back trouble, pants weather, work etc) and noticed the games lanes on Lower Thames Street going east have come at the expense of the cycle lane on the left.

Plenty of room for two lanes plus cycle lane beforehand, why the heck does the Olympic lane need to be so damned wide and the non-Oly lane so much narrower? :evil: People are going to get squeezed/sideswiped there, especially given the extra frustration drivers will be feeling they'll have even less regard for cyclists.

I also like the fact that they have put black and white bollards in the centre of the roads now, so that will help emergency vehicles get through the clogged up traffic then wont it, the reason for the wide oly lane was for the inept games lane bus drivers that cant turn corners easily as seen last night on that spot.