Family bike ride in Tatton Park

When I arrived to the UK to settle down, back in 1998, Tatton Park is one of the first places of interest around Manchester to which we became sort-of-regular visitors. Then we had only one daughter, aged 2 at the time, and I had’t ridden a bike for many years. The possibility of renting bikes and a child trailer and going round the estate was considered several times - but it was always too late, too expensive, or we were with friends, relatives etc who weren’t up for it. Eventually the family grew and the idea of a bike ride around Tatton Park ceased to be practical altogether.

That is, until now. We have been gearing ourselves this year to hit the paths of the famous Cheshire estately home. Because our bike carrier can only hold 3 bikes – there’s 5 of us – we bought a cheap fold-up bike. We have also acquired, from friends and at a nominal price, a trailer bike for my littlest one, whose tiny bike with little wheels would be no good for this. These two things we planned to carry in the back of our Focus estate.

Back from our summer travels, a couple of weeks ago I prepared the bikes for the projected ride. Nothing much – a bit of cleaning, pumping some tyres out, replacing an inner tube in the brand new fold up bike, and of course installing and testing the trailer bike with attachements etc.

Alas, while the Saturday of these preparations was gloriously sunny, the Sunday when we planned to go we got terrible weather – rain, wind, dark clouds, the lot. The following Sunday was not much better, so again we cancelled. The following day, however, was decent enough, and I was to be in charge of the kids (as you do when summer holidays strke). So, my wife went to work, I loaded bikes and kids into the car, and off we went.

So, how did it go? On the plus side, we all enjoyed it, traffic didn’t seem a problem and I could sort of relax about children, road safety, etc. On the minus side, the trailer bike’s attachment doesn’t quite fit my bike and I’m going to have some more work to somehow adapt it – it works fine on a straight line, but a sharp bend will make the arm pivot around my seat post in a way it is not meant to, which results in the trailer bike tilting dangerously. As for Tatton Park, I wish there was more clarity as to where you can or can’t ride your bike. At the moment, it seems as if in theory the whole of the grounds is fair game for bikers – but so it is for horse riders, and I don’t think cycling down a narrow, quiet path in the woods and suddenly running into a group of riders would be that great, for either party. Some kissing gates are clearly pedestrian-only, which leaves you no option but to ride over the cattle grid on the bike – possible, but a little bit unnerving if you have do it with a trailer bike on tow, and then ask your children (esp. the one aged 6) to do it in their small bikes.

One way systems in their collective wisdom

O One Way Systems, in your collective wisdom

You have forgotten the demands of cycling

while catering mostly for pedestrians ambling

and trying to keep motorcars off their kingdom

After two weeks away

I took to my bike today after two weeks away. Changes along the route? Only a few. The saddest is the disappearance of the Church Inn, a 19th century pub that stood opposite Whitefield tram station. True, the pub had been boarded up for months, since it was sold off as part of Morrison's purchase of the old Brand Centre and surrounding land. But at least the building with its red brick and victorian lines stood in place when I left fifteen days ago. Now it is no more - a white building-site barrier stands in its place (Roma's current building will, I assume, be next).

Apart from that, not much. A railings fence has been crashed into in Lower Broughton. A new ostentatious Bentley (WA SIM) is being driven around, circunspectly enough not to provoke my anger or dislike. There were very few cyclists today, despite the good weather (c'mon, people!).

Stockholm cycles

I've just spent the last two weeks in Sweden - mostly in a small town in the North called Kramfors, where my sister lives. And the last couple of days in Stockholm. The fact is, they seem to cycle a lot, at least in this mild summer weather. Much more than in the UK, and in a more relaxed way. Fewer people wearing helmets. Less pannier bags and more open baskets. Less lycra and more everyday clothes, less toe-clips with fancy magnetic shoes, and more sandals, flipflops and that latest fashion, 'crocs'.

And few, very few bikes are locked - I'm very impressed. For some reason it seems to be the older bikes get locked up - for their sentimental value? - while perfectly decent hybrids or town bikes just get left on a kick-stand. I saw this in Kramfors and thought 'it figures'. Kramfors is after all a very small, somewhat sleepy town in an area which is, one could say, under-populated. But Stockholm is, by any measure, a thriving European city. And yet, and yet, one sees many bikes are not locked.

Cycle paths are, by and large, trully 'segregated' and not like our British ones, where green paint is expected to do the job. But they are no panacea and here too I have seen many that defy common sense, eg that are right in the way of car doors opening, or could too easily attract absent-minded pedestrians (or children) as they are segregated from car traffic, yes, but they are almost indistinguishable from the pavement. The extreme example of this is those cycle paths on the very many bridges that criss-cross the old town and sorrounding islands: their pavements overwhelmed by tourists who spill over quite naturally onto the cycle paths, utterly defeating the object of having them in the first place, and forcing cyclists onto the road to mingle with motor traffic.

But who cares: cycling clearly is thriving here.

Shopping in a hurry...

So, school is out. And we are going on holiday. And we are having a big family reunion - my parents from Peru, my sister from Spain, all of us converging on my sister who lives in deepest and darkest Sweden. And who turned 40 recently. And I have to buy her a present. Things busy at work, time is short, all that.

So, reluctantly, I decide to use the bike, in full civvy clothes, for a lunchtime dash to the Arts n' Crafts place - sorry, the Craft and Design Centre, I'll have you know!. This is the ideal place if you want to tell someone, with a pressie, just how much you care (ie more than the usual £10) but don't want to get something big or heavy because it's going in the suitcase (so, no set of crockery from Ikea then).

I then discover how soiled one's clothes can get when one doesn't keep the bike spotless - and when said bike isn't designed to protect one's clothes. I mean, how is a chap to keep his trousers clean in the sodding rain anyway?

Anyway, getting there was easy - just followed Whitworth St, then towards Picc. Gardens, then Northen Quarter and presto!. But getting back - and I should know better, but getting back just showed me why some cyclists in the city centre just give up on the rules. It's not just that the one-way system is messy, but it makes no provision for cyclists at all. It's the same reason why once I cycle past the Cathedral into Deansgate my average speeds drops to that of a snail on medication. Too many traffic lights but no alternate route for the bikes.

It's just wrong. There are enough back streets that are no good to cars but could support bicycle traffic.

What would you do?

Yesterday (Fri 6 Jul 07) I was riding past the good old Robin Hood Hotel when I saw this woman, perhaps in her 50s, crawiling out of a kebab shop, face covered in blood and babbling incoherently. A group of Asian men looked on from inside the shop.

Was she beaten up and thrown out of the shop? Did she fall and hit herself? Was she drunk and pestering or stealing? Did she attack someone, who retaliated?

Should I have stopped? I rode on. I'll never know what happened.

Rainfall and fall

I fell off the bike yesterday. It must have been hilarious to watch. It's to do with being new to toe-clips. Yes, you can see it coming: stop at the traffic lights - put left foot down first. Then sway to the right... right foot should come down but gets stuck in the strap of the toe-clip... by then your sway has reached the point of no return and know the fall is inevitable.

I landed on my knee and elbow, both of which I grazed. It was tipping down. I got up, slowly. Two motorists took an interest - the one in front of me opened his door and shouted 'yawright mate?'. The one behind actually got off the car and came to help - I assured him I was OK, and with wounded pride feigned indifference to my bleeding knee and bruised elbow, and continued my journey ... for half a mile or so, then stopped to lick my wounds and check I hadn't broken anything.

I should have been more grateful to my would-be benefactors. You see, not all motorists are evil cyclist-killers.

Highway code changes, part II

Unprompted (never did follow up initial rejection with him) my MP (D Chaytor, Bury North) has recently written with this:

"
Dear Mr Solis,

I am writing with reference to our previous correspondence regarding your concerns over changes to the Highway Code with regard to cycle lanes.

I have received a letter from Stephen Ladyman MP, Minister of State in the Department for Transport regarding this matter, a copy of which is attached for your information. I hope this information will help to relieve your concerns on the issue.

Thank you for contacting me on this matter. If you would like to discuss the matter in more detail I would be happy to meet you at one of my regular advice surgeries in either Bury or Ramsbottom. If you would find this helpful please contact my assistant in Bury on 0161 764 2023 to arrange an appointment.

Yours sincerely,

David Chaytor MP"

The files Mr Chaytor attached show that someone, somewhere, has seen sense - perhaps the online petition and other types of soft pressure have had an effect:


Department for
Transport
Andrew Colski
Vulnerable Road Users Branch
Road User Safety Division
Department for Transport
Zone 2/13
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SWIP 4DR

Tel: 020 7944 2057
Fax: 020 7944 9618
E-Mail: andrew.colski@dft.gsi.gov.uk

Web site: www.dft.gov.uk

Our Ref: RSS26/1/2

31 MAY2007







FURTHER CHANGES TO DRAFT RULES 61 AND 63 OF THE PROPOSED REVISED HIGHWAY CODE

Background

In February 2006 we issued a draft of proposed revisions to the Highway Code for public consultation, which closed on 15 May 2006. Over 4,000 people offered a total of almost 27,000 comments.

Taking account of these comments, a new draft version of the Highway Code was laid before Parliament on 28 March 2007. A large number of responses to the consultation concerned the rules on cycling and more than 40 amendments were made to these and other rules to take account of comments from cyclists. However, since the Code was laid before Parliament, further representations have been made by cyclists who remain concerned that the revised text of rules 61 and 63 on cycle facilities and cycle lanes is insufficiently clear.

Proposed change

Having considered these further representations carefully, we believe that there is merit in amending and expanding rules 61 and 63, so as to remove any possible doubt about their meaning. We are therefore now proposing to include revised versions of rules 61 and 63. We have discussed these changes informally with CTC, the cyclists’ organisation. The proposed revised versions are as follows:­
61 Cycle Facilities. Use cycle routes, advanced stop lines, cycle boxes and toucan crossings unless at the time it is unsafe to do so. Use of these facilities is not compulsory and will depend on your experience and skills, but they can make your journey safer.

63 Cycle Lanes. These are marked by a white line (which may be broken) along the carriageway (see Rule 140). When using a cycle lane, keep within the lane when practicable. When leaving a cycle lane check before pulling out that it is safe to do so and signal your intention clearly to other road users. Use of these facilities is not compulsory and will depend on your experience and skills, but they can make your journey safer.

These changes make clearer the position regarding the advice in the Code on the use of cycle facilities and cycle lanes. The purpose of the Code is to help cyclists and all other road users to use the roads as safely as possible. It does so in two ways. It explains the law and it provides advice and guidance on safe behaviour in areas not covered by legislation.

Rules 61 and 63 are part of the advice and guidance and do not set out legal requirements, which, as explained in the Introduction to the Code, are indicated by the words MUST or MUST NOT. The revised wording for rules 61 and 63 makes it clearer that use of cycle facilities and cycle lanes is not compulsory and that these rules do not introduce any legal requirements.

Cycle facilities and cycle lanes are provided to help cyclists. Cyclists are entitled to use their experience and judgment in deciding when to use cycle facilities and cycle lanes. The proposed changes also make this clearer.

No tolls...

Everybody loves a nutter. Here's a lovable example of a whole bunch of them. Or perhaps we should be scared at their rough-pub-type extremism dressed as common sense:


http://www.notolls.org.uk/index.htm

Of course they have got some points right... but I just can't stomach their blanket opposition to anything that involves motorists sharing the road on an equal footing with anybody else (pedestrians and cyclists, for instance).

"Paths, pavements, bridleways and cycle lanes are provided free. Trains, trams and some buses are heavily subsidised by the taxpayer" - so, they conclude, why should motorists pay taxes to drive?. Why indeed - and let's remember, I am a motorist, a pedestrian and a cyclist, all in one.

Reflexes, reactions

I was coming up Cheetham Hill from Manchester, on Bury Old Rd, the long stretch after The Fort and before Broughton. The road there seems to plateau after going up hill for a mile or so, and one gathers speed quickly before coming to the next slope. Right in the middle there's a pedestrian crossing at the traffic light. I won't mention the number of times that light has gone red when the pedestrians in question had already crossed. We've all done it, it's life, etc.

But this time, there were pedestrians who seemed to be waiting for the light to change. Motor traffic had come to a standstill... but I was doing fine, had my eye on the traffic light (my motorist bad habits linger on) and did not slow down. Then, all of a sudden, the woman who had been waiting for the lights to change, decided that if cars weren't moving she could just jump on to the road.

Then I made my near-fatal mistake: I yelled. No swearwords or angry words, just an instinctive cry of anger and panic. The woman's reaction was to turn her face towards me, open her eyes in frightened disbelief... and then she takes a step back. Which put her right on my path. Now I really had to slam on the breaks - front first, as my spiritual guru Sheldon Brown suggests.



To my credit - having through lack of foresight contributed to this incident - I managed to stop without either hitting the pedestrian or going over the handlebars. The woman was very apologetic. I wish I had had enough breath left to be polite and tell her not to worry. The irony is that, if I'd not yelled, she would have walked on, like ships in the night oblivious to me - and I probably wouldn't have had to stop in such a hurry. So there's a learning point then...

David Chaytor's response...

Below is a response from my MP about changes to the Highway code. It appears to me to be equating lines on green paint on busy roads to 'segregated bicycle lanes' of the kind one sees in Belgium or the Netherlands?

=====================

Dear Mr Solis,

Thank you for your email about the current consultation on the Highway Code. I agree with you completely with regard to the importance of promoting cycling for many reasons, including public health and the environment.

The present government has done more to encourage an increase in cycling, through a wide range of policies, than any British Government in living memory. A key part of this policy has been to build a large number of cycle lanes in most towns and cities as part of the process of building a national network of safe cycling routes. The purpose of this network, which has been constructed following pressure over many years from cyclists' organisations, is to segregate wherever possible cyclists from vehicles for the benefit of cyclists and in the interests of road safety.

It would be quite illogical now to reverse this policy. This does not mean, however, that cyclists are to be prevented from riding on the main highway. It simply means that fifty years' experience of traffic management in Britain , and elsewhere in Europe , has proved conclusively that one of the most effective ways of increasing the number of cyclists on the road is to build separate cycle lanes linked together in cycle routes.

Consequently, I am afraid that I do not feel it appropriate to make any representations opposing the presumption that cyclists should use the designated cycle lanes wherever possible. However, you may wish to respond directly to the current consultation if you still feel that you wish to make the case against the proposed text of the new Highway Code.

Thank you for writing to me on this matter. Please let me know if you would like to discuss this, or any other aspect of cycling policy, in more detail and I would be very happy to meet you at one of my regular advice surgeries in Bury or Ramsbottom.

Yours sincerely

David Chaytor

The new highway code

Letter to my MP:

Dear Mr Chaytor,

I understand that a new Highway Code is about to be approved, containing changes that undermine the standing of cyclists on the road and therefore compromise our safety. I am refering particularly to Rule 63 (http://www.dsa.gov.uk/Documents/consult/Responses/Highway_Code_Draft.pdf) which states that cyclists should use cycle lanes 'wherever possible'. Many such facilities are of poor standard, badly designed or just plain dangerous. Cyclists should not be forced to use such facilities against their better judgment. In short, cyclists should be allowed to use the road. A similar situation applies to the use of roundabouts.
This was debated a year ago (Handsard: 9 May 2006 : Column 24WH), when your colleague Mark Lazarowicz said that "It is important not effectively to encourage the idea that cyclists should be corralled into a small, often badly-maintained section at the edge of the road, and that they should not be entitled to use the rest of the road, like other road users, if they consider it appropriate to do so".

Surely there are many reasons - public health, the environment - why cycling should be promoted, rather than undermined?

Yours sincerely, etc

Red, amber, green: how difficult can it be?

Motorists, pedestrians and cyclists alike, a culture seems to be developing in the city centre, one that places disproportionate value in the pitiful gains that come from going through a traffic light that has 'just' changed to red. A sort of collective reasoning along the lines of 'red is the new amber' seems to have taken hold.

The various junctions along Princess St are examples of this.

Perhaps part of the problem is 'structural' - in other countries, turning times at junctions are regulated explicitly by the traffic lights - with filters for all directions. Here the position is 'it is OK if the road is clear', which is great until people begin to make 'selfish' choices, ie abusing the system.

The day before yesterday I got confrontational. I saw the light change and quick off the mark I advanced. A car coming from Portland St on my right, having seen the light change (green for me, red for him) but wanting to turn into Princess St., decided to carry on regardless - as if I didn't exist. I gesticulated wildly to signal that I wasn't stopping... eventually he gave up and stopped awkardly, past the line, at half-turn (phew!). I felt slightly foolish afterwards - my self-preservation instinct re-asserting itself, belatedly - but also somewhat satisfied to have achieved such a petty victory.

Each day, its battle...

Repair or replace?

For the second time this year, last night I went to the bike rack, ready to go home in a hurry, only to discover my bike had a puncture. Inspection of the tyre quickly revealed a tiny and sharp piece of glass.

I always carry a spare tube with me. Trouble is, I never repair them afterwards. I have tried, but without success - so I take the easy and safe route of just slapping on a new tube every time.

Shameful...

Apology

I was being given a lift today, to Whitefield tram station (long story: bike at the workshop, three spokes needed fixing overnight, etc). In my hurry to get out of the car while the traffic lights were at red, I swang the door open without looking... and heard the distinctive sound of knobbly mountain bike tyres with disc brakes on wet tarmac. In what seemed an eternity the chap managed to stop, just.

To the unkown cyclist: I apologise for this. I commend your relative politeness given the circumstances - no expletives were used, no shouting. I fully understand how you must have felt. I'm glad you had quick reflexes and stopped in time. I hope I am that lucky when my turn comes.

I hope to do better next time.

Nuts and bolts

When I retire, I plan to spend a day picking up all the bits of scrap metal that, ignored by motorists but very visible to the cyclist, litter the kerbs of the streets and roads of Manchester - especially the main ones.

Motorway roundabouts (like J17 of the M60 in Prestwich) and busy intersections like New Bridge St and Cheetham Hill Rd, near Manchester Victoria Station, are full of the stuff. Nails, bolts, nuts, hooks, pins, the odd bit of someone's old car. Once I even spotted a carefully rolled length of rope, complete with hook at the end. I wish I'd stopped to collect it as it looked pristine that morning. The following morning it had been thoroughly trampled on by passing traffic, and even now - months later - you can spot the odd bit of rope lying around that junction.

Someone else's bikes...

My neighbour's uncle, a single man in his late 50s or early 60s, passed away after a short illness. He was a keen cyclist, and left his bikes and gear to my neighbour - who has no immediate use for them. He asked me if I wanted them, but sadly I do not have the space to keep them, and I'd hate to see them rot in the back garden. I kept a bag of tools for myself, but as for the bikes, all I could do was find a home for them among work colleagues.

It always takes longer than expected. Finally, after a month, today I drove into work with the two bikes in my boot, the front quick-release wheels removed. One is a classic racer with fancy pedals. The other one is a Harry Hall touring bike with a funny, very short and straight handlebar. Both are in pretty good nick, save for the tyres which have suffered and will need replacing. They must be 20 to 25 years old, with gear levers down on the frame rather than on the ends of the handlebars. Leather seats. Beauties.

Family ride

Slowly but surely we are getting into family cycling. We took advantage of a visit to my wife's Dad in Rugby to complete our set of bikes with my late Mother-in-law's one, a beautiful white lady's Raleigh, a real classic. We borrowed it and hit the disused rail track, or used a very good, segregated cycle path to Dunchurch - both reasonably easy rides so we could all keep together, including Luke (aged six) in his little bmx. We even did a bit of a country ride, with my father-in-law rather than my wife, though we had to split so my brother-in-law and his son could do a longer version. In glorious weather, it was all good fun. The only problem, for an overprotective parent like myself, was that in these supposedly quiet country lanes one realises how affluent little Rugby and its environs is - plenty of people driving sports cars around, some in a rather reckless way.

Personalised number plates...

A large, black, brand new Mercedes Benz with tinted windows and windscreens, reg. "I CEO" forced me to stop today - he (or she!) wanted to turn into a hand-car wash place in Cheetham Hill, and rather than wait, overtook me and cut me off.

Annoyed? A little bit. Contempt for personalised number plates? Only when coupled with arrogance and lack of consideration. Another number for my collection: WWII - was it a Bentley or a Rolls? Can't remember. An old man at the wheel, looking smug.

Cycling with my daughter

My daughter, who has been bike-shy for most of her 10 years of age, is finally showing signs of being interested. To be fair, I'm partly to blame - too overprotective and risk-averse when it comes to my children. Last September she had asked to be taken riding, we went to Dunham Massey - she is weary of the road, and I have done little to build her confidence.

Today we went to nearby playing fields where there is a cycle path of about 1/2 mile that meanders past Bury cemetery (next to Gigg Lane, the home of the mighty Shakers!) and the river. We spent an hour and both enjoyed it. The catalyst has been a school 'cycling profficiency' test coming up - now she is talking about going to school on her bike every day! We'll see.