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!