Wiggo in Van Slam Sham

Having won as many Olympic medals and anybody else in your country's history, and becoming your nation's first ever Tour de France winner does not insulate you from the painful reality of cycling in the UK.

This is what Bradley Wiggins has discovered after being knocked off his bike by a van.  How pathetic that sounds: Tour de France winner knocked off bike by a van.

Dutch vans are different

It was Marx who said that 'History repeats itself first as tragedy and second as farce' and he was absolutely right.

Every day, people are knocked off bikes and nothing is done about it.  The £billions which is spent on road building and other pet projects to appease certain lobby groups is frankly disgusting for a nation such as ours in the early 21st century.

The mockery of cycling by the likes of Clarkson, his posher alter-ego but equally loathsome Quentin Wilson or the crowning turd, TV cook James Martin, has a logical conclusion and it ends with people getting knocked off - simples.

If you listen carefully, you can hear the conversations taking place in offices and over garden fences right now: 'I was going to ride my bike to work but if that Brady Wiggin fellah is getting knocked off, then what chance have I got?'

But, could there be a positive backlash?  Could Bradley's accident - which I confess, I don't know who was at fault for - actually have a galvanising effect on cycling safety?  Well, optimistic perhaps but without optimism what do we have?  Jeremy Clarkson, that's what. Eugh! 

One final thought, it should be interesting to hear Wiggo's account of what happened - he rarely pulls his punches.

The Cycle Race

Loving this cartoon of The Cycle Race by @davewalker and shown on the wonderful cadenced tumblr site.

Enjoy.

Can Parliament Get Britain Cycling?

It's a year since The Times picked up the cudgels and decided to campaign for safer cycling in the UK. Only the most mealy-mouthed observer would accuse the paper of commercial opportunism in pursuing this campaign which started after a reporter, Mary Bowers, was knocked off and almost killed while riding to work.
As you might expect, the campaigning weight of a, some say the, national newspaper has taken the debate into the the arena where change can be affected: parliament.
Earlier in the year when Times editor James Harding and Jon Snow from Channel 4 news addressed the transport select committee, they provided a very robust argument on both the why and what of future cycling in the UK.
Now, Parliament has taken things a step further with the announcement that the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group is holding an inquiry to '...examine the barriers which are preventing more people cycling in the UK.'

APPCG lead out team

This inquiry is going to be vital in shaping the future direction of cycling strategy and I'd encourage everyone with the faintest interest in cycling to respond to the Group's call for evidence.
You can do this via The Times' online survey if you like and can ignore the inherent London-centric questioning (take my bike on the Tube?).
The deadline for submissions is December 5 2012 with the final report, which will be written by Prof Phil Goodwin from Bristol Uni, published in mid-April 2013.
Get involved.

Hill climb blues

Greg LeMond once said about cycling that "It never gets easier; you just go faster." For me that quote encapsulates much of what cycling is about for everyone from Tour de France winners to the semi-serious club rider.
You do not have to be a cyclist to understand that cycling for more than say, 30-40 miles, is about endurance, effort and, occasionally, pain.
As you strain every sinew to grind your way to the top of a steep incline, you can be forgiven for thinking that you never want to see your bike again.  Wishing you could be spirited away to the top of the climb or placed in some nearby tea shop in the company of a steaming brew and a cherry scone.

Granny ring ahead

Of course, this doesn't happen as you select your lowest gear and try to maintain forward momentum.
But gradually, you get stronger and fitter.  Hills which you used to suffer on now roll beneath you and go unnoticed.  It's still hard, you still have to apply pressure to your pedals to get there, but you are going and, more importantly, going faster.
Soon you begin to understand that everyone else you are riding with is in the same boat: everyone is suffering on the climbs it's just that some suffer at a higher pace.
That everyone suffers provides excellent encouragement to the club rider: not in any schadenfreude way but knowing you are not alone can be a welcome tonic.
There's a good article on riding hills on this blog if you're interested. 

£1.2m for new bike infrastructure in Salford

It's been a few years since the famous libeiterian politician Norman Tebbit helpfully suggested that the 4 million unemployed people his government presided over should get on their bikes and find a job - just like his dad did.
Bless. This is not the place to explore the siesmic economic shifts which were applied to Britain in the early 80s and analyse whether the ownership of a bicycle would have helped a metal basher from Birmingham get a job in a call centre.

5 bees, two lions and a ship - Salford's coat of arms

But, the unusual thing is, is that this thinking has just re-emerged, in Salford.
Now, I don't suggest for a minute that Salford City Council has adopted Tebbit's view that unemployed people are all lazy scumbags and they could get a job if they pulled their collective fingers out.  Rather Salford Council's announcement this week that it is to spend £1.2m on cycling infrastructure to '...help local people access jobs...' should be seen as a progressive step in trying to get more people to cycle sensible distances to major centres of employment.
£1.2m doesn't sound like a game-changing amount of money for Salford but the more politicians recognise the value of and logical argument of the bicycle, the better for all of us.
The list of works includes:

• A 1.8km two way, off road cycle route along the A5063 Broadway, the main traffic route to the Quays, and improvements to its junction with South Langworthy Road. 
• A cycle route from the University of Salford to Salford Quays, which links in with £10m worth of traffic calming schemes on the A6, and runs along Trafford Road to link up with Broadway. 
• A shared pedestrian/cycle path along Regent Road, which is currently unpopular with cyclists due to heavy traffic, and improved cycle routes along Langworthy Road and Weaste Lane which will also link with Broadway. 
• Alongside this the Council aims to improve cycling along the River Irwell to the north of the University of Salford in a bid to take up to 1000 car journeys a day off the roads. 
• Improvements will be carried out to bridges, junctions, signs and crossings along the route as well as creating a path to be shared by cyclists and pedestrians between Woden Street and Fairbrother St, Ordsall. Irwell River Park will also become part of the National Cycle Network as route NCN 556 and will link Salford Quays to Salford Central Station, Salford University, the A6 Chapel St and new developments at Salford Central and Greengate. 

South Manchester Cycling Reporter

It's amazing how often cycling features in the South Manchester Reporter.
As highlighted in an earlier post, one of the members of Chorlton Velo - Kiwi Chris - recently had his trusty steed stolen from outside of the Tesco on Barlow Moor Road at 8am on Sunday morning.
The South Manchester Reporter has this week given Chris a quarter of a page on his quest to get his bike back.

Chris, his bike and some bananas

Yes, this is a great story for a local newspaper: expensive bike, trusting punter and an element of humour - Chris was in the shop to buy a banana for the club run.
They say that 'there's no such thing as bad publicity' so let's hope it helps Chris get his wheels back.
I have it on good authority that articles about cycling in the South Manchester Reporter and the Manchester Evening news regularly get masses of hits on the website.
Further evidence then that cycling has now moved far beyond a marginal interest activity.
Indeed, our sport is more popular than ever and it is only where it collides with the non-cycling world that it gets too painful.  Apart from riding uphill into a headwind of course.
Ride safe.

Route 62 - South Manchester

Route 62 of the Sustrans National Cycle network links Lancashire with North Yorkshire and, in the process takes in some of the more pleasant environs of Greater Manchester.
The part I'm most familiar with is the section which follows the Mersey Valley along its meandering course in-between the river's source in Stockport and the place where the same course is obliterated by the Manchester Ship Canal somewhere beyond Carrington Moss.
The route is well signposted and, in the main, is bike friendly with only a few obstacles in the way for you to negotiate.
The main issue with this section though is that it is very much a shared surface.  While it may not be a problem for many cyclists to share the path with joggers, horses, dogs and push-chairs, it's not really conducive to the continuity of riding you might be after. 
That said, it's a lovely place to visit with loads of wildlife to spot too - you can even get a pint at Jackson's Bridge if you like.
I can imagine hat riding the length of this route would be a great thing to do - maybe this is one for the spring?