the transport of the future is walking

[Ludwig]

At a ward meeting recently they invited along a speaker from the Polis. He started going on about pavement cyclists. At "questions" at the end I put up my hand and said, I don't mind pavement cyclists at all. I don't regard them as a problem, let alone a crime. I suggested they instead target the anti-social bit: I mean, you can walk in an antisocial manner, just as you can pavement-cycle in a considerate manner, just like they do all over the Continent. Then some old b***er put his hand up and said they scared him. I wanted to ask what this abject chicken was doing with himself during WWII but I came over all Diplomatic. It happens sometimes.

[/rant]

Cycling on pavements is against the law. If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.

In Cambridge there is no shortage of aggressive and inconsiderate cyclists and I have no time for those who cycle on pavements. Since the council reneged on its ban on cycling in the pedestrianised areas (for purely pragmatic reasons: they claimed they didn't have the resources to enforce it), you have to watch your back wherever you go. Cyclists are supposed to be considerate to pedestrians but you can guess how much notice they take of that regulation.

[PS_RalphW]

In Cambridge there are a lot of very badly designed cycle facilities. A lot of pavements are duel use cycle lanes, and it is not always clear where they start or stop.

No attempt is made to give these lanes a clear run around street furniture, or to clearly separate cyclist from pedestrian space. Very often shared use pavements run side by side with on road cycle lanes, and in other places 'optional' cycle lanes are permanently full of parked cars, or the red marked cycle lane runs directly beside parking bays, inviting cyclists to get a car door in their face.

Cycling provision in Cambridge is dreadful, but still better than most of the rest of the UK.

There are plenty of aggressive and impatient cyclists in Cambridge. There are plenty of aggressive and impatient vehicle drivers and pedestrians in Cambridge. Aggression is more correlated with age and gender than mode of transport.

I have a pet peeve at the moment - the fashion among the young and fit for fixed wheel bicycles. These are a form of mating display along the lines of the Peacock - look I am so fit I ride a machine that is hideously inefficient and dangerous in a busy city centre!

I watched one go through a red light , and shortly after nearly collide with a car turning left because he could not stop at the bottom of Castle Hill this morning.

[PS_RalphW]

I will say that the worst cycling I see is by the most inexperienced, and least fit. These people plod along at 8mph regardless of road conditions, through red lights, to the left or right of vehicles in queues, through narrow and disappearing gaps as vehicles move off, the wrong way down one way streets, on the wrong side of the road, without lights at night, talking on mobiles, oblivious to the delays, chaos and panic attacks they cause other road users.

Their numbers peak in October as at the start of the university year. By spring they are learning the basics of survival.

Also at this time, school kids on mopeds appear, and drive down the cycle lanes at 30mph as if they are on cycles, which can be intimidating.

[RenewableCandy]

At a ward meeting recently they invited along a speaker from the Polis. He started going on about pavement cyclists. At "questions" at the end I put up my hand and said, I don't mind pavement cyclists at all. I don't regard them as a problem, let alone a crime. I suggested they instead target the anti-social bit: I mean, you can walk in an antisocial manner, just as you can pavement-cycle in a considerate manner, just like they do all over the Continent. Then some old b***er put his hand up and said they scared him. I wanted to ask what this abject chicken was doing with himself during WWII but I came over all Diplomatic. It happens sometimes.

[/rant]

Cycling on pavements is against the law.

Yes it is, in this country, at the moment. To draw an apt but rather silly comparison, marrying a different-race person has been against the law in some English-speaking places within living memory: "against the law" doesn't necessarily mean "wrong".

I don't cycle on pavements but our children, when they were small, used to do this alongside us (we'd be level with them but in the road). Polis here have a discretion for people under 10: the rationale being that being knocked into by a ten-year-old doesn't generally result in injury.

Interestigly, I've seen other cyclists tear (adult) people off a strip for cycling on the pavement. But if I see people doing it I just smile at them: I appreciate that they just want to live.

[MrG]

I was very nearly run over by a mounted maniacal horde in cambridge.

I was asleep in the big park until I heard the sounds of their approach.. drunken laughter and much bell ringing

I was actually quite scared as I sleepily raised my head to see a vanguard of lights approaching fast through the darkness.

They didn't see my little bundle of blankets and the two sleeping forms within. They very nearly carved us into the grass.

That were a close one.

[RenewableCandy]

That's scary but were I to fall asleep in a park at night, bikes would be the least of my worries

[PS_RalphW]

My kids cycle through the village to school, but since the road is a major commuter route into Cambridge they (and most other kids under 10) cycle on the pavement. As I or my wife accompany them, we are on the pavement too. Both kids are under 7 and I have trained them to be patient and careful when passing pedestrians (as best I can). Average speed is about 5mph, with bursts up to 10 mph. On the return journey I cycle on the road.

Both kids have learned to wait at side roads and not cross without an explicit OK from a parent.

This is not ideal, but the prospect of 6 year olds mixing with rush hour traffic is mind-numbing.

[nnnnnn]

I did not mean to make out that I am super man (I am not, unfortunately). But only to suggest that the general population is really unfit these days.

RalphW, fixed gear bikes are neither dangerous or inefficient (I have two of them). In fact they are more efficient than a gear bicycle and probably take slightly less energy to manufacture, certainly they save a lot of maintenance. Fixed is lighter and faster, unless you're going into the peaks. You should try it sometime, I'll lend you one of mine Then I'll take gears People should not ride on the pavements though

The future of transport is cycling

[clv101]

But only to suggest that the general population is really unfit these days.

For sure, but only because they don't do any exercise. Ask anyone to bike 10 miles after they haven't sat on a bike for 10 years and it'll be a horribly exhausting, sweaty experience. However, after a couple of months it'll be easy.

5 years ago I couldn't run much more than a mile at any kind of speed, I now race half ironman triathlon events. A good fried of mine just 18 months ago couldn't run for more than 2 minutes without collapsing in complete exhaustion, last month she ran the Bristol half marathon.

I have a firm belief that except for a minority of people with significant medical issues or significantly advanced in years, anyone can after a few months comfortably run 10 miles and bike 30. I think it's really sad that the vast majority of people don't do the little bit of exercise it would take to release that potential.

It is only a little bit of exercise, 5 hours a week over 3-5 sessions for six months is enough. No one is two busy for that, and if you claim to be then you need to re-prioritise your life.

[emordnilap]

The separation of living and working/educational place on such a massive scale is a fairly recent phenomenon, though of course there have always been exceptions.

With so many people losing their jobs, it's something that's happening a lot more - people travel further and further to work simply to have a job. So long as transport fuel can be bought for such a tiny fraction of wages, that is.

Having said that, a number of major employers in this county are located around 30 miles from the county town; there used to be full double-decker buses plying the route. Horror!

I cycle 5 miles each way to and from work every day. It really is no big deal, honest, babies. I'm not a fitness cyclist. I'm saying it's actually not that much effort. Walking the five miles is much more tiring.

[2 As and a B]

Someone very dear to me used to walk 4 miles to work and 4 miles home. I know it was true because I've measured it in the car. It is on a major commuter route and some of it is without a pavement or footpath. She was very slim as a consequence of a lot of walking.

But there are two things here aren't there? Weight/muscles and heart/lung/circulation. Unless one walks very briskly, one doesn't burn enough energy quickly enough to get 'fit' (as opposed to looking fit). Cycling will tackle both - but makes one sweaty. Sweatiness and smelly clothes or having to wash and change clothes are the price to pay for getting/staying fit whilst going places. But, having said that, maybe if one reaches a peak of fitness then there is very little sweating.

Post PO, goods transport will probably be like it is now in the undeveloped world - on water and/or pulled by draught animals.

[Ludwig]

Having said that, a number of major employers in this county are located around 30 miles from the county town; there used to be full double-decker buses plying the route. Horror!

Recently I've got the bus into Cambridge several times, and I actually quite like it. You have time to think, and the road rage is somebody else's problem.

Only problem is school closing time, when the teenagers make it a less than relaxing experience.

I cycle 5 miles each way to and from work every day. It really is no big deal, honest, babies. I'm not a fitness cyclist. I'm saying it's actually not that much effort. Walking the five miles is much more tiring.

Well obviously - that's why cycles were invented. I read that cycling is up to 6 times more efficient than walking, though I'm not sure if I believe that.

But as I said, the more I cycle, the more knackered I seem to get. It's not being out of breath that's the problem, but the strain on my joints. I have shallow joints so I think there's not a lot I can do about that. Also I sweat very easily, despite being pretty fit (I swim every day). Again, not a lot I can do about that.