Is it Wilful Ignorance or Do They Just Not Get It?

The continuing one man barrage of muddled rants against the proposed extension of the Greenway through Midsomer Norton and Radstock gets increasingly irrational. In this week's freebie (and www-shy) "Midsomer Norton and Radstock Journal" a certain Mr. Coward asserts that the new cycle route is a waste of space because:

1. the school where the path will terminate only has 1.5% of its pupils arriving by bike
2. the path passes through housing developments
3. 75% of the users of the existing section of Greenway arrive by car
4. the last three generations of people have had access to motor vehicles and will continue to use them.
5. The proposed path ends at a very busy main road
   

To me the above points are POSITIVE reasons for the path even though all his alleged figures are unsubstantiated:

1. Building a path to the school might just have a positive effect on cycle use?
2. Passing through housing developments? Mmm. Going where people need to go then?
3. A sound reason for expanding the network, then, making travel by bike and on foot that much easier?
4. So what? They'll still have access to motor vehicle after the path is built. The opportunity to use the things a bit less might be greater, and the need to drive to get to the path reduced?
5. Cobblers. There's a busy main road at both ends. As has the existing Greenway. Anyway, he's ignoring to proposed highway changes at each end of the new route.
   

A classic piece of British Bike-Phobia.

Hopefully the NRgy Group will see this gentleman's outpourings of anti-bike angst for what it is.

And treat it with the contempt it deserves.

Ignore it.

Cor! What a Turnout!

Forgive the tabloid style headline, but the Somer Valley Wheels team were well pleased with the turnout for the "Turkey Burn-Off" ride this morning. (Eugene originally wanted to call it the "Turkey Trot" but I said that that comes after the turkey curry on January 5th).

Typical turnout on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday rides tends to be around the half dozen mark. Today, in sub-zero temperatures, they had 21. Add on the leaders and helpers made a total of 26! (Bike-Phobic Britain? Who said that? - says I, looking innocent and whistling tunelessly...).

What impressed further is that nearly all the participants are "of a certain age" and are as far removed from your typical lycra-clad British club cyclist as you can imagine. And all the better for it, too. What's more, a year ago, most of these folk were fearful of riding on the road and were generally not up to cycling more than a mile or so. Many of them are now confident and seasoned road cyclists with day rides of up to 20 miles behind them.

Fortunately today, many of them have since acquired their own bikes. Which was handy, because there are only have about a dozen machines to hire.

For the record, today's ride was a 13 miles circuit using the Colliers Way and local lanes, with a picnic break by the pond in the village of Mells. Picnic? It was -2 degrees. Hardy types these bicycling people, don't you know.

Some pictures of the event will come later. The duty photographer was using film today.

Really Useful Bikes

I've just discovered a company, near where I work, who delight in the name of Really Useful Bikes.

A gentle stirring of the forthcoming Copenhagenization of Britain.

A visit to their premises on the way home from work is in order.

Because.

I feel a new bike coming on...

Now, which one shall I get?

I think that it'll be the upgrading of my old Dawes Hybrid with a Xtracycle Free Radical kit to begin with.

Radstock Unicycle Chic

On our Xmas morning amble along the Norton-Radstock Greenway we met Aid and Bonnie.

Aid's doing pretty well with his Unicycle training.

Ideal way to work up that Xmas lunch appetite.

All's Well in Radstock

Sustrans' Xmas Present to the Colliers Way

And, here is the result of the nice new tarmac on the Colliers' Way (see previous post). Snapped today on our pre-Xmas Lunch Amble.

It's been four bumpy years in the making, but, thanks Sustrans.

Later addition: Even the BBC has picked up on this.

A Welcome Christmas Present for Colliers Way

This press release from Sustrans announcing the tarmacing of a section of the Colliers Way cycle route from Radstock, Somerset is welcome news: No more bone-shaking for Colliers Way riders

As one of the ride leaders for the Somer Valley Wheels scheme, this is particularly welcome to me. As the press release states, many of the SVW clients are people of past retirement age and before joining the scheme hadn't sat on a bike since they were teenagers. The section of path in question - basically compacted railway ballast and mud - was particularly hazardous and somewhat off-putting to them. It wasn't unknown for us to push the bikes for the first quarter mile before the 5 miles of tarmac starts - not easy and not very encouraging for an unfit 70 year old.

I look forward to my post-Xmas run on Saturday 27th, followed by our "Turkey Burnoff" ride on Tuesday 30th. My local blog-reader(s) (if you exist at all) most welcome to join in!

I'd like to see the narrow 1.8 metre wide sections of this route doubled in width, nearer to mainland European standards, for safer 2-way traffic and to make life easier for sharing with walkers. But this welcome upgrade will do for a start.

Seasonal Greetings

Well, I was going to post another couple of rants about life in Bike-Phobic Britain - about the pair of lunatics on mountain bikes who tried to run my Somer Valley Wheels group off the Collier's Way cycle route yesterday; or about the local Fundamentalist Bunny Huggers' continued offensive against the proposed Norton-Radstock Greenway extension but, no, sod the lot of them.

It is, allegedly, the Season of Goodwill to All Men, Women, Children, Yobbos on Bicycles Who Give the Rest of Us a BAD NAME, Blinkered Bunny Huggers Who Have Lost a Sense of Proportion and Bicycle Phobes Everywhere, so I'm sayin' nuffin.

So, to all in the Great Blogoverse who I've never met and maybe never will, but still see as friends, especially Mikael, Marc, David, Nick, "Velochick", the lady author in Scotland, various Bristol bloggers and all the others:

Have a Great Christmas... a Cool Yule (if you prefer).
Or even: "Zalig Kerstfeast" or "Glædelig Jul".

Here's looking forward to Great Things Happening on Bikes in 2009.