And To think, Some People DRIVE This!
As I said before, today was a trip up to Ashington to visit a prospective new client. I rode Siegfried, and it took about 65 minutes each way - that’s about 30 minutes more than the driving time.
But if I’d driven, I would have followed some dull-as-dishwater route along boring motorway-grade roads, and arrived at my destination with the sense of 35 minutes wasted. As it was, I got to explore new routes, ride along quiet country roads, enjoy the early spring sunshine, and have the time to take a few photos:
- Wansbeck. When you get down near a river like this, it’s bad news - you have to go up again!
- Seaton Sluice - and I thought that our house was in an exposed location.
- Bell Mug-Shot. That’s me doing my impression of The Edge.
- Don’t Look Down! Shoes on a bike don’t come any more sensible than these.
- Saddle Springs & Seaton Sluice
St Mary's Lighthouse, Whitley Bay
- Impossible bike. People complain about the standards of bike drawings on the road, but I like their Impressionistic leanings.
- Bicycle Infrastructure through Seaton Sluice: Pass!
- Bicycle Infrastructure through Seaton Sluice: Fail!
That last photo is one of the features of bicycle infrastructure in the UK that really winds me up. If you were on the road, four feet to the right of the bike lane, you’d have right of way over cars on the minor road and the major road. If you were a pedestrian, and stepped out onto the road at the junction, you’d have right of way. If you’re on a bike though . . . get to the back of the queue.
When these start getting re-designed as straight through routes for bikes, then I’ll know that there’s been a real change in the UK.
Definitely a lovely route.
The “pass” bit is quite sensible. They even have the parked cars on the correct side of the cycle path. However, there are several reasons why it is a “fail”. The radius of the corners is also huge. This means that motor vehicles can enter or leave the road at a high speed and that there is further to cross on a bike or by foot. There also could usefully be a level change for drivers (i.e. no change for cyclists) so that it forms a speed bump for cars, and the junction ideally would be set back one car length so that cars pulling out don’t obstruct the crossing. In fact, take a look here or for examples with these features (all quite near my home).
When these start getting redesigned….
Only in Britain, eh!
Our politicians and road engineers must be fully aware of what goes on in terms of cycling facilities in neighbouring countries, so why, oh why, do they persist in such design practices at road junctions?
Are they really so spineless to be in awe of the motoring lobby?
Are they really so cynical and make this simply an unthinking box-ticking exercise?
Are they really so stupid?
Here’s another really stupid waste of space in Portsmouth.
Sometimes I think that my old Granny’s maxim runs close to the truth:
“Those that can, do. Those that can’t, teach. Those that can’t teach become politicians. The rest work for the council”.
It was part of her “career advice” to me when I was about to leave school. Even as a 16 year old I thought it a tad cynical. Now I’m not so sure.
What? Admittedly this isn’t perfect, but I look at that last picture and think “Wow - a proper segregated bike lane, not shared with pedestrians and wide enough to get two bikes down! Awesome!”
Perhaps things here in Swindon aren’t as good as I thought they were?
Magicroundabout: to make that junction safe you need to continue the bike lane priority across it, otherwise it’s safer to ride along the main road.
Look at David Hembrow’s for illustrations of this.
It’s that Mr. Hembrow, he keeps raising the bar for cycle paths.