Eats plants
Jon and I both made the press today following our deputations on Wednesday to Aberdeen City Council. Jon is from Grampian Cycle Partnership and I was speaking on behalf of Aberdeen Cycle Forum. The Evening Express ran it as the main story on their front page. It's terrific! Here's a photo: The Terminator 2 reference… Continue reading Fleeing the Terminator
I gave my deputation at the Aberdeen council committee meeting today. I have spoken in council chambers before, several years ago when I presented my petition for a segregated cycle track on Union Street. It's an interesting experience. You're not allowed to take photos so I'll describe the room. It's huge with mezzanine viewing galleries… Continue reading One last plea for cycling infrastructure
The first snow of the winter fell last week and there was quite a lot of it. I've been keeping the bird feeders topped up as the birds are very hungry right now. All the snow has melted now as it rained this weekend but there's more forecast for next week and not far inland… Continue reading Snow and council deputation
At the beginning of this year I thought my days of cycle campaigning were coming to an end. Not because I didn't still fully support the need for cycling infrastructure but because the designs the council were showing us were all good and aside from minor details I felt confident and positive about the future… Continue reading I am intimidated by buses on Union Street
Last night I participated in Aberdeen's second ever critical mass bike ride. Technically I believe it's not quite accurate to say it was the second as I've heard from members of the cycling community that it was previously done in the late 1990s. This was therefore the second in a recent resurrection after more than… Continue reading Aberdeen’s critical mass
The Aberdeen City Council has a consultation open until the 19th January 2021 on proposed changes to South College Street. This work is part of a bigger project known as the Berryden Corridor which will see a dual carriageway built from north to south through the central city. I spent much of last weekend writing… Continue reading South College Street Consultation
I've had less time to write lately. I've been trying to do four jobs - my paid full-time job as a product manager for Creative Force, my role as campaigns secretary for the Aberdeen Cycle Forum, my work for Aberdeen Climate Action on their websites, and a new project I've taken on to help address… Continue reading What’s Rachel been up to lately?
A friend of mine started cycling around Aberdeen with her young children during lockdown when the roads were quiet and they've continued even now the roads are busy again. She inspired me to try the same with Daniel and Elizabeth because although I have cycled with them many times around Aberdeen, they always sit in… Continue reading Cycling to Aberdeen beach … with children
Victoria sleeps in our bed most nights now and I mean literally in our bed. She buries herself under the covers head and all. I don't know how she can stand it. It must get terribly hot. I think she probably alternates and spends some of the time on the bed and some of the… Continue reading Not a kitten any more, cycling lessons, and in the paper
Last month for the first time ever I was impressed with the Aberdeen city council for installing European-style bike lanes at the beach. This was a first for Aberdeen which is an oil city with a transport strategy straight out of the 1970s. The bike lanes were built with funding from the Sustrans Spaces for… Continue reading I can’t even begin to desribe my frustration and disappointment with Aberdeen city council … again
David Hembrow is an Englishman who lives in the Netherlands and writes a blog called A view from the cyclepath. He also has a You Tube channel about cycling infrastructure. He's very good at making observations about people, transport, and infrastructure and drawing conclusions from what he sees. This video is a very good one… Continue reading Pavement cycling
The Aberdeen City Council has really been getting a hammering from residents in Aberdeen about the installation of a segregated bike path at the beach. I can see what an uphill battle it is for cycling here. Some of the comments I've seen are extraordinary. One woman wrote: okay well I’ll carry on as normal… Continue reading Cycling infrastructure benefits everyone
About a month ago the Aberdeen city council announced plans for a bike path at the beach. This is being developed from part of their spaces for people funding which is money they received to help pedestrians navigate in a world with a novel virus flying around. I was interviewed for the story when it… Continue reading Aberdeen beach cycle path
This past week I have felt very frustrated with the Aberdeen City Council after I read about their plans to spend £5.5 million adding another lane for private motor vehicles to a road in central Aberdeen. A bike path has not been included in these plans and the road in question is uninviting for pedestrians… Continue reading An open letter to the Aberdeen City Council about South College Street
I'm pleased to see this fellow's GoFundMe page doing so well. It's nearly up to £40,000 after just a couple of days. For those who don't know the story, Robert Hazeldean was cycling in London when a pedestrian stepped out in front of him and the two collided. The pedestrian was looking at her phone… Continue reading Cyclist has to pay pedestrian who walked out in front while looking at phone
Last week the West London Borough of Chelsea and Kensington, one of the wealthiest in the country, voted against a Transport for London proposal for segregated cycling infrastructure. Although I don't live there and it doesn't affect me directly, I felt despair when I saw the applause after the council announced the decision. https://twitter.com/HillgateRes/status/1139267359817031682 These… Continue reading I despair when I see these people cheer
High streets in Britain are in decline. People say this is due to online shopping and this is undoubtedly part of the cause. It's so easy to buy goods on the internet and have them delivered to your home that there's no need to go out to the shops. You can even get your groceries… Continue reading Can bike paths save the high street?
Earlier this year I applied for and received funding for the Aberdeen Cycle Forum to commission two visualisations of streets in Aberdeen with a bike path. One of them has just been released. It's for King Street and extends the King Street Design Competition we held by taking the winning designs and turning them into… Continue reading A vision for King Street, Aberdeen
I've had the very great pleasure of testing a Tern GSD - an electric cargo bike - for a couple of days. I picked it up from Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative on Thursday evening and then flew home like I've never done before. Indeed on the way home I cycled up to some traffic lights where… Continue reading Tern GSD – electric cargo bike review
Tomorrow Aberdeen will be having a mass bike ride in protest of the lack of cycling infrastructure in the city. This is part of a nation-wide group of protests under the umbrella of Pedal on Parliament 2019. Several weeks ago I notified the police of the event, out of courtesy. In the past they've usually… Continue reading Police Scotland say roads unsuitable for slow-moving individuals
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