13 June 2011

One good thing to say about cycling in Britain...

... is that, by and large, nobody here would bother you to stick slavishly to cycle lanes, as happened to this chap in New York.  But before we uncork the Buck's Fizz, let me say that in fact that maybe just reflects how little people care about provision for cycling on the roads - cycle lanes get invaded and obstructed all the time, but even when they are not they can be so poorly designed as to make them useless.

This morning for instance I cycled from Whitefield to Bury town centre.  Along a section of the A56 there is a cycle lane approaching a traffic light.  It is so narrow that, although it was clear of cars as the light changed to red, I still could not get through to the front, so had to wait in line with other cars and lorries.  This is actually worse than useless - when traffic there is moving, cars can sometimes assume I will fit in the cycle lane, and in effect push me into the kerb.  Bonkers!



View Larger Map

2 comments:

MiddleAgeCyclist said...

You are obviously not breathing in enough Coco. I can squeeze down this lane at 20mph carrying two full rear panniers and haven't knocked a wing mirror off yet. You just have to line it up, close your eyes and trust The Force!!

cocosolis said...

MiddleAgeCyclist aka DW: I guess I've expanded sideways faster than you have... but it wasn't just my midrift, but the handlebars I had trouble clearing. I could have done it if in a hurry.. but cycle lanes should be better than that! Best wishes - I can see you've been busy (http://middleagecyclist.blogspot.com/).