Cycling Paramedics in Sheffield

There is a brand new city centre service provided by the Ambulance
Service. There are two fully kitted out bicycles with paramedics able to
get to people in medical trouble within the inner relief road far more
quickly than an ambulance. Because of this it has improved the chance of
saving lives (eg. cardiac arrests).

The new city centre bicycle ambulances service joins cycle mounted
police and fire prevention teams. It is a fantastic achievement for
Sheffield.

However there are several teething problems that need addressing urgently.

1. The need for the two of them to have a base in the city centre where
they can rest/have a drink etc out of the elements with a secure place
where their bikes can be parked. At present they are having to cycle in
from Middlewood.....beyond Hillsborough.

They have spoken with the services at Yorkshire House, which would be
ideal. However the people who own/manage the building say they cannot
have bikes within the premises. The police leave their bikes secured to
the safety railings in front of Yorkshire House (not ideal). With all
the paramedic equipment on the panniers of the ambulance cycles this is
not possible.

2. This newly launched service needs some high visibility publicity. I
am sure it would be good to have the City Council playing a part in
helping get media coverage.

Obstruction on Upper Hanover Way.

This isn't on the cycleway yet, although it leaves very little room for pedestrians, but once
the re-design of the cyclepath takes place it will have to be moved (at the taxpayers expense ofg course) A little forward thinking would have helped here.

Obstruction on Eyre st.

Sheffield council's latest attempt to kill cyclists.

The Beeching of model railways.

The Carfield Ave branch is now closed.

Cycle routes – the Wakefield recipe:

(Based on our experiences on the TPT link that follows the A655 in from Castleford)
1. Take one sub-standard footpath
2. Paint some cycle route markings on it
3. Allow to stand while shrubbery grows over it.
4. Sprinkle liberally with broken glass.
5. Finish with stepped kerb onto fast dual carriageway
6. Serve cold!
On the other hand the Rhubarb Route towards Horbury is quite good.

Castleford

Sunny day, river in flood.

Derry

Sunny!

Stall on the tram.

Taxis on Castle St

Since a taxi stand was installed on Waingate additional taxis
have taken to waiting for a place, firstly on the pavement
outside the taxi stand area, and then in the contra-flow cycle lane.

This area has a high volume of buses passing and this is putting cyclists
at risk - it's an accident waiting to happen. As you can see this cyclist has taken
to the pavement to avoid the problem.

Could something be done about this please?

More Pictures:-


This one is from Prof. Peter Marsh who says:-

Here is a taxi moving from blocking the contraflow, because I was photographing it! We really need to do something about this, it is disgraceful that they can flout the law in such an important area with such dangerous consequences.

It's Driving Me Crazeee!

Traffic chaos in Sheffield - no wonder the drivers are up in arms about it...

(Sheffield City Council webcam still)

Helmet crash shock horror

My helmet has already been in a crash and I should have
replaced it then, On Tuesday my bike fell over outside the Grouse (fear not, dear reader, I was safely ensconced inside)
- the helmet was hanging off the handlebars and broke in two. Good job I wasn't wearing it at the time!

A sign of the Times

Hoarding at Longnor...

Cycle routes, double standards

Some people have commented that I seem to contradict myself on the issue of what is necessary to encourage cycling. On the one hand I say that slower speeds and less traffic is what is required - on the other hand I am enthusiastic about cycle routes, on and off-road.

The answer is that I think you have to do what is appropriate in a particular location. Take the example of London. When I lived there and commuted from Camberwell to the City in the 80's,
the main problem was that you couldn't actually get along the streets becvause they were so jammed up with traffic. Then cycle and bus lanes started appearing, but the cycle lanes were frequently parked on and London buses are less than accommodating to cyclists. The problem was too big to be dealt with by enforcement so off-road cycle routes, as advocated by Camden Cycle Campaign, started to be built. These aren't ideal - often too narrow - but they do at least allow you to get around. That's an appropriate solution for that particular problem, given that congestion isn't going to disappear overnight, even with the congestion charge. Now that Boris is in charge congestion is going to get worse again.

I would still say that building a cycling culture is more important than infrastructure, but both are needed.

Boris reveals route for Freewheel cyclists

I would urge all cyclists to boycott this event. Boris is turning back the tide of sustainable transport in London. He is looking at removing the congestion charge from West London, to suit his Sloanie friends; he's cancelled the pedestrianisation of Parliament Square; he wants to break the unions and introduce low-wage, low-quality public transport.

Cycle campaigners know that you don't increase cycling, or walking and public transport use, through tokenistic one-off events, or even through introducing more cycle lanes, but by slowing down and reducing the amount of motor traffic on the streets. Boris doesn't get it. Let him and David "Wrong way" Cameron freewheel all by themselves.

Daily Mile

Some of us are using this to record our rides - seems quite good although a bit sport-oriented (when not commuting I ride for leisure personally) There are a South Yorkshire and Commuting groups to join.

It's still in beta at the moment so you need an invite to join. Leave a note in "comments" and I'll send you one.

Saxon Rd

Saxon Rd has been re-surfaced to Clyde Rd. Hooray! Couldn't decide whether to email blog or twitter this - isn't technology wonderful?

Supertram

Tandem plus trailer.

Putting bikes together

Gare du Nord

PM's Forum

Project handover

What's cool about Bike Week

What's cool about bike week isn't the events, the ride that half-a-dozen people go on, the breakfasts of instant coffee and bacon sandwiches that ordinarily you wouldn't go near in a million years. What's cool about about it is the 7 O'clock start, hauling a stall down to the Town Hall, or printing 250 leaflets on the sly while no-one's looking at work. It's the late night return after a brilliant night out with a waxing gibbous moon and a beautiful dark blue sky, close to midsummer.
It's the feeling after you've made the effort that it was worthwhile, that you showed someone how they could cycle that journey. that there was an alternative to life in a cage.

That's what cool about Bike Week, and that's why, even after all the effort and the pain I want to say, let's do it again next year!

Long Causeway

Not before time!

Green Roof

The Cube, Shoreham St.

Sculpture park

Sunday.

Journey's end

The Wetherspoons in Leicester-full of people who talk like Ian.Cambridge to Leicester in 9 excellent hours of cycling!

Oundle

Gateway to the Midlands I reckon. 5 hours from Cambridge-1 land ranger map from Leicester.

Tilney Fen End

Here's where I leave NCN1-so long old pal. Got two hours to get to Ely.

Making good time

Out in the fens past fossdyke bridge.

Camping up

Just south of boston-not as far as I would have liked to have got but should still be OK to meet Andy in Ely at 3:30 tomorrow. It's a shit tent by the way-don't get one.

Greenway into Boston

Longest flattest straightest road

Outside the american midwest it must be! This pic taken on the 1st bend for about 10 miles. Nr Boston.

Tattershall Castle

NCN1 Found at Bardney

Tandem'eers-Bardney

Branston...

...but no pickle. No sign of NCN so far.

Cycle parking at the station.

This bike parked on the rail near the booking office had a don't park here note on it . This rail was specifically put there so you could leave your bike while buying tickets. I had a word with station staff about it & ran into Andy Wild - how we laughed. I have the note :-)

Another Busy Week

First off, the Green Drinks visit to the Ecclesall Woods sawmill on tuesday. Sheffield Cycle Campaign has linked up with Green Drinks to provide sustainable transport for their series of visits to green initiatives around the city - followed by a social in a nearby pub of course...
























This house, made from local materials as far as possible, will be used as a showroom for products made of wood from Ecclesall.
















A useful piece of equipment parked outside Cole Bros Sheffield, last Tuesday.

Went to the YHTAR AGM on Saturday - http://www.yhtar.org.uk

Used the 09:29 Northern service to York via Pontefract. This used to be a regular service linking
South, North and West Yorkshire communities together (at one time the lunchtime train extended to Chesterfield, giving the opportunity for a quick lunchtime trip to Dronfield - handy for visiting GB cycles, now sadly closed) but is now pretty much much a rump service, with only two trains a day in each direction. However, if you want to get to York with your bike, it's a good service to choose, with no reservations required and generally light loadings. More on Pontefract later.















Cycle Rescue stall in York - more sustainable than Northern Rock?

We continue to plug away for better public transport, walking and cycling across Yorkshire (with some success). Our co-chairs, Anthony Rae and John Hoare go to YH Assembly meetings and try to bang some sense into them. The latest round of approved schemes aren't too bad - here's a quick list:-

• Yorcard, £28m
• Leeds Station Southern Access, £10.798m
• White Rose Way, Doncaster, £15m
• A61 Penistone Road Quality Bus Corridor, Sheffield, £9.959m
• East Leeds Parkway, Micklefield, Leeds, £19.4m
• York Park and Ride - Askham Bar, £5.241m
• York Park and Ride - A59, £10.401m
• York Park and Ride - Clifton Moor, £5.212m
• Rotherham to Sheffield Bus Rapid Transit Northern Route, £36.059m
• A684 Bedale, Aiskew, Leeming Bar Bypass, North Yorkshire £ 31.388m

As you can see only two of the ten schemes are new roads. However, there is concern that the Assembly is not fully taking into account Climate Change in its approval process, and we are going to press for this to be fully integrated in future.















Ray Wilkes holds forth at the YHTAR meeting


Last time I went to meeting in York, I took the train to Garforth, and cycled down the greenway to Castleford, which made me realise that the West Yorkshire rustbelt was really not that far from the capital of Elmet. This time, I started off thinking I'd try to follow the Pedal Pushers Recommended Route from Sheffield to York in reverse, then I just decided to throw away the guide book and make up my own route. Things started well as I powered away out of York through Copmanthorpe, then as I threaded the lanes I realised that there were really not that many crossings of the Ouse and the Aire, and if I was going to make progress I was going to have to either go to Tadcaster or head back to the York to Selby cycle route. This is an area with many railway lines (but not many stations) and I followed some yellow jackets in front of me
along a bridleway that cut many miles of the detour. I had the advantage of a North-Easterly wind that was certainly pushing me along.

Tadcaster offered water in the form of a bottle of Vittel and a bridge over the Wharfe, not far from Wharfe's mouth where this river that has taken its course from the high areas of the Dales, through Kettlewell where my family have had many enjoyable times, to Bolton Abbey where the tourist likes to wade in the brown waters, avoiding Leeds to retain the water's purity until it can be delivered to the Ouse and subsequently the Humber.

From here the logical thing was to take the A162 straight down to Castleford and Pontefract. This being around 5, I wanted to be back in Sheffield for 8 so my only hope was the 18:09 from Pontefract (told you I'd get back to that place) The signs said Pf was 15 miles so I figured I'd have to make an average of 15pmh (duh) . This being a pretty flat part of the world that seemed feasible. Things went well with a good stretch of A road with not too much traffic.

At Sherburn-in Elmet the A621 takes a bypass so the obvious thing was to go through the village. Elmet is a concept that interests me, the ancient Celtic kingdom of Yorkshire. Previously I was aware of Ted Hughes 'Remains of Elmet' photo-poem - researching for the blog leads me to some interesting web sites which I will have to explore. Certainly the idea of Yorkshire as a Celtic kingdom is intriguing.

The road I was following was clearly part of the old A1, or Ermine St; something that fascinated my father, and he passed on his enthusiasm for the old roads of England, although I prefer to cycle them whilst he was enamoured by the newly ubiquitous internal combustion engine, in the days when it was still a means of freedom rather than an entrapment.

At South Milford there were vestiges of a cycle route, although as is so often the case it was on the wrong side of the road, so any safety advantages it many have given me were negated by the potential hazards of crossing a major road twice. After rejoining the A621 another off-road route was available to me, but with the same problem. this one had clearly been constructed to enable cycles to access some local lanes -all well and good, but longer-distance cyclists then had to rejoin the main road for another mile, where there was a roundabout for the A1 - could the off-road cycle route not have been extended for that paltry distance?

After that obstacle had been negotiated, one got the ominous feeling that something nasty was approaching - this would be Ferrybridge, where an enormous power station once fed with British coal, but now I suspect from Eastern Europe, just to add to the carbon footprint, lurks by the river. The A-road turned into a dual carriageway with nowhere for cyclists to go other than a stone-covered hard shoulder - the potential for punctures was high. I took the first available exit which took me through Ferrybridge village - not someone you would want to linger despite the riverside vista - and the road took me under where the A1 meets the M62, a modern river of steel and plastic quite different from Wharfe's Mouth.

Here I was was struck between the difference between this country and our European partners - a civilised country would ensure that our vulnerable road users were protected as they passed beneath busy motorway intersections, but somehow the Brits can't quite bring themselves to do that. Somehow I survived that experience, and soon found a road that would take me to Pontefract Monkhill with every chance that I would catch that vital 18:09 train. Sure enough I made it to that station, waiting in company with the original Fat Slags who were off for an evening of debauchery in Wakefield. I was able to drown out their raucous howling by turning up my ipod touch to the max, At Kirkgate things looked up as the Leeds-Sheffield 'Fast' Service turned up and got me back to Sheffield an hour earlier than expected. That's how public transport is supposed to work!

So was in good time for 'Happy-go-lucky', the new Mike Leigh film at the Showroom which I really enjoyed.

Gwyneth Dunwoody

Sad to hear of the death of Gwyneth Dunwoody. She was the scourge of New
Labour's transport policy when it was really at its nadir - thankfully
things seems to have improved, and I am sure that is at least in part
due to the work she did as chair of the transport select committee.
People like her are hard to find, but I hope there will be more in the pipeline
that are prepared to tell it like it is and not just stick to the 'party line'.

New Concept in Zebra Crossing

From Namibia where the term "Zebra crossing" has a slightly different meaning.
Note: pic taken from 4wd with bull bars (those zebras are mean) Me? With my reputation?

Only fools & cyclists

Where Del Boy ended up.

Cycle parking installed at Dore

Not! If this is your bike please let us know what you think about the cycle parking and access at Dore. Incidentally the timetables are from Deutsche Bahn - someone showing a lot of confidence in National Rail!

Separated at birth?

Cycle-squashing traffic island on Leopold St





















The remote control for my telly. Spooks anyone?
(That's my CAMRA membership card on the right)

Just picking up some DIY...

Bad morning

Yesterday, had a meet with asst. director at 10 so made sure I set off in good time to prepare myself. Pumped up tyres before leaving -big mistake. Got to Chesterfield and the rear tyre was flat. Strong winds, raining. Decided to replace inner tube -first one failed, fortunately I had two. Set off again only to have gear cable break whilst trying to maneouvre round motorists who was trying to cut me up so he could get to the bus lane. Limped on on first gear, covered with dirt, not too late for meeting but not in good shape for it either. Quick wash and brush up, just about presentable by 10. Phew.

Comfort testing the bike lane

Aarhus...