The sun came out

Daniel said to me yesterday as we were cycling home, “Why is it sunny? It’s not usually like this”. I laughed so much I nearly crashed into a parked car. It has been a particularly dark winter this year with lots and lots of rain and even flooding. However I don’t mind the dark at all. In fact, I prefer this to bright and sunny. My favourite type of day is overcast but not raining. I have fair skin and my eyes are sensitive to bright lighting. It must be my vampire ancestry 🙂

I recently watched this Pedal on Parliament video called Katie Cycles to School. It’s a cartoon to promote safe cycle paths in Scottish cities. As I watched it I couldn’t help thinking they were pitching it at a very low level. But maybe that’s what we have to do to get politicians to build cycling infrastructure. The benefits are so obvious to me and so far-reaching, stretching into health care benefits, improvements in air quality, reduced congestion, reduced carbon emissions, improved well-being. Why aren’t we jumping at the opportunity to have all of these things? If we need to spell it out simply in a children’s cartoon to get the message through, then so be it. Don’t get me wrong, I still think the video is good and I totally support Pedal on Parliament.

Posted

February 10, 2016

Journal

Rachel M

Tags:

climate, cycling, Katie Cycles to School, Pedal on Parliament, sun, sunny

Comments

12 responses to “The sun came out”

PedalWORKS

February 10, 2016

Love the video. Infrastructure is the key and we all need to do whatever we can to lobby our local governments to build and improve bike paths, dedicated cycling lanes, and traffic calmed streets. 🚴🏼

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1. Rachel M
  
  February 11, 2016
  
  I’ve been writing to the local council but maybe I need to write to someone in Westminster instead? The council keep replying to say they agree with everything I say but then nothing happens and there are no plans for separate bicycle paths.
  
  Reply
  1. PedalWORKS
    
    February 11, 2016
    
    We have a local advocacy group called HUB (https://bikehub.ca) promoting cycling in the city. They teach cycling courses at the local schools, promote Bike To Work weeks, and lobby the local council for more, safer, and better cycling routes. Their heir membership and effectiveness continues to grow. Have a look at their website. You may get a few ideas. 🚴🏼
Eli Rabett

February 10, 2016

One of the major differences btw Scotland and the US is how low the sky is there.

Reply
1. Rachel M
  
  February 11, 2016
  
  Ah, well that explains it 🙂
  
  Reply
Chaitanya

February 11, 2016

Overcast is fine but overcast + windy sucks. I wonder how the summer is in Scotland but I will wait for your photos 🙂

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1. Rachel M
  
  February 11, 2016
  
  oh yeah, I’m not a fan of windy at all especially on a bike!
  
  Reply
anniegoldfisher

February 11, 2016

I think pollies are more likely to listen to appeals about children’s safety than that of adults. Also, I noticed the video conveys there are benefits for small business if people can cycle around the place safely. This is apart from the other benefits mentioned.

Not being used to Scottish accents, I thought the name of the girl was ‘Kitty’ at first.

Do you think you’ll make it to Edinburgh for the P on P?

Reply
1. Rachel M
  
  February 11, 2016
  
  I think there’s going to be a similar cycle ride here at the same time as the one in Edinburgh so I’ll join that one instead. And good point about kids and cycling. They say they’re encouraging kids to cycle to school but I’m yet to see it. Do they think parents will let their kids cycle in traffic? Certainly not.
  
  Reply
disgruntled

February 12, 2016

Hi Rachel – Thanks for posting about the Pedal on Parliament video – I’m one of the organisers who made the video and I totally agree it should be completely obvious to our politicians that they need to build this stuff, but apparently we have to keep telling them! I hope you can make it to either the next Pedal on Parliament or the Aberdeen one, but even if not, please keep spreading the word!

You may also want to look at We Walk, We Cycle, We Vote which is campaigning to keep active travel on the agenda for the Scottish elections in May – http://walkcyclevote.scot

Reply
1. Rachel M
  
  February 12, 2016
  
  Thanks for stopping by! I’m planning to join the Aberdeen Pedal on Parliament. I’m sure it’ll be more effective than banging my head against a stone wall which is what I feel like doing something 🙂
  
  The WalkCycleVote sites looks great. I’ll definitely sign up as an individual once you’re ready for individual supporters.
  
  Reply
fossilcyclist

February 12, 2016

I’m a member of the local cycle forum, run by our council. It’s interesting to see things from the inside, especially how slow all of it is, despite the best of intentions and how much funding dependant it is, from various sources with match funding etc.
May be worth seeing if your cooncil has a forum, well worth joining, a wee bit more pressure doesn’t go amiss. I’m also a Sustrans volunteer (though not a very good one!) this is also good for meeting like minded folk and having some practical input.
Things change slowly, but they do.

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