Category: Cycling
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Sustrans Cymru criticised for active travel scheme
This appeared in my Twitter feed yesterday: Great to see new @WG_Economy funded #activetravel schemes in #aberystwyth @CeredigionCC pic.twitter.com/faLRnRIcbW — Walk Wheel Cycle Trust Cymru (@WWCTrustCymru) June 20, 2018 It generated a lot of discussion on Twitter. Can you see what’s wrong with the photo and the accompanying text? Sustrans is a national sustainable transport…
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Pedal on Parliament 2018, Aberdeen
It was the Aberdeen Pedal on Parliament today. The Pedal on Parliament is a demonstration for safe cycling infrastructure throughout Scotland. The main event was in Edinburgh on Saturday but there were two smaller events, one in Aberdeen and the other in Inverness. It’s the fourth year running for Aberdeen and we had 80-100 people…
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Pedal on Parliament Aberdeen 2018
When: Sunday 29th April at 11am Where: Starting at Rubislaw Terrace Gardens and cycling along Albyn Street, then Union Street and finishing up at The Town House on Broad Street. Pedal on Parliament is an annual event to promote bike-friendly cities in Scotland. The Scottish government wants to increase rates of cycling but money has…
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Shared spaces
I want to write about shared spaces. These are road spaces that everyone shares – pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, buses, and taxis. Rather than segregating users into their own space, all signalling and road markings are removed and everyone is thrown in together. The theory is that if you remove all the road markings, traffic lights,…
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My 10 minutes of radio fame and Ballater
Yesterday I had the very great pleasure of being on BBC Radio Scotland’s Out For The Weekend programme, which is on Friday afternoons. They called me earlier in the week to see whether I’d be interested to come in and talk about my petition and I said unequivocally, yes! It was just a short 10-minute segment…
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Bike path for Union Street
Which of the following two photos do you think looks better? Union Street without a bike path: Union Street with a bike path: The second photo is an artist’s impression produced by Cycling UK. It was a year ago last month that I discovered the city council had no plans for a bike path through…
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Is this our “Stop the Child Murder” campaign?
I organised my first ever protest yesterday and it went really well. The protest was to call on the Aberdeen City Council for a protected, segregated bike path on Union St. I don’t want to say it was a success just yet because there is still no commitment from the City Council for a protected bike…
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Make Union Street Great Again!
I made a few signs about the event coming up in Aberdeen on Saturday, 3rd February, asking for a bike path for Union St. I put one of the signs in Foodstory on the weekend and they took a photo of it and posted it to Facebook! Foodstory are the best. Please go there! I’m…
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Calling all Aberdonians!
Where: At the King Edward statue, corner of Union Street and Union Terrace. When: Saturday 3rd February from 11:30am – 12:30pm. Aberdeen City Council wants to pedestrianise the city centre but there are no plans for a protected bike path on Union Street. The best way to get more people on bikes is to give…
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Part-pedestrianisation of Broad St
To say I was disappointed when the Aberdeen City Council announced in June 2016 they were to go ahead with a part-pedestrianisation of Broad St is to say I’m unmoved by a bit of snow. Perhaps I get too emotional about these things but just as I’m overjoyed to see snow, I was deeply saddened…
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Cargo bike options for older kids and adults
We’ve had Busby our bakfiets for almost 5 years now. He has been a fantastic investment and I’ve got so much use out of him. However for the past couple of years I’ve struggled as the kids are bigger and heavier than they once were. The hills are much harder than they used to be…
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I am not a cyclist
This is a cyclist: This is me: A cyclist has special clothing for cycling, a helmet, an expensive bike, clip-on shoes, and they travel fast. I, on the other hand, cycle slowly, I don’t wear any special clothing, and I’m terrified of those clip-on shoes cyclists wear. I ride my bike in regular clothes. I…
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My kids addressed the city council petitions committee
It has been an eventful day. Sometimes I wish my life was dull and uneventful because right now I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed. Today, Daniel, Elizabeth, and I presented a petition to the petitions committee at the city council. The petition is asking for cycle paths that children can use to cycle to and from…
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How can I be an effective activist?
I’m so frustrated with the city council and their lack of action in building cycling infrastructure. We know that cycling infrastructure encourages people to ride their bikes and we know that when people ride their bikes there’s less pollution, less traffic congestion, and less of a strain on the NHS because those people are engaging in physical…
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The helmet brigade
Once when I was cycling home from school an overweight woman yelled out to me, “Where’s your helmet, Mum?”. I might have been wearing the Hövding at the time, I can’t remember, but that’s beside the point. I could have replied with, “Why aren’t you exercising, fatty?”, but I didn’t because that would have been rude…
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Bicycle rush hour in Copenhagen
I saw this great YouTube footage of bicycle rush hour in Copenhagen on the Copenhagenize site. As you watch it, imagine how different it would look if each of those cyclists or even the majority of them, were in private motor vehicles instead. Also notice how hardly any of the cyclists are wearing helmets or hi-viz clothing…
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“You can’t carry big loads on a bicycle”, Really?
Originally posted on Edinburgh Cycle Chic: “You can’t carry big loads on a bicycle”, Really? This box wouldn’t easily if in back of a medium sized car, you certainly could get it on a bus, yet here it is on the back of a bicycle. The humble bicycle has all the advantages of car as…
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Evil cyclists
An article appeared in the Guardian on boxing day which I somehow missed and just read this morning. The author recounts a recent event where she was crossing the road on foot when a cyclist mowed her down, knocking her to the ground. The cyclist didn’t stop while motorists in cars who were stopped got out…
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More cycling in the rain
More rain today and so more cycling in the rain. This time to the beach. I was tempted to go in for a dip but I didn’t have my bathers with me. Ben’s thinking, “What on earth are those giant cotton reels behind me?” I have a new rain coat which got drenched. I saw this…
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How to make roundabouts safe for cyclists
The bridge crossing where I have to dash out in front of four lanes of traffic just to cross the road joins a roundabout which is partly why it’s so unsafe. Cars come racing around the roundabout and onto the bridge. By the time they join the bridge they’ve left the roundabout and are usually…
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