Eats plants
Last weekend when I took Elizabeth to highland dance I decided to cycle her in Hoss, our cargo bike, because the bike path was looking icy and I thought it would be safer. Big mistake. The bike path near our house wasn't too bad but the further we got from the city centre the icier… Continue reading The icy Deeside Way and an ant drowns in honey
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
Yesterday my Hövding helmet deployed the airbag and I wasn't even on my bike at the time. The Hövding is an airbag helmet. You wear it around your neck and in the event of an accident while cycling, it deploys an airbag around your head. It's got much higher shock-absorbing ability than a plastic helmet… Continue reading Hövding deployed, a birthday and a BBQ
Yesterday we were invited to Duthie Park for a COP26 photoshoot. My contact with Aberdeen Climate Action invited me along as a representative of Aberdeen Cycle Forum so I took my cargo bike because it always looks good in photos. When we got there the photographer took exception to the fact that I wasn't wearing… Continue reading Banned from the photo for my views on helmets
It has been 6.5 years since we moved to Aberdeen and in all that time I've only visited Hazlehead Park once. This is because it's very difficult to get to by bicycle. The single time I visited it was when a friend took me in her car some years ago. Today we had no choice… Continue reading This is why we don’t go to Hazlehead Park
Last weekend I cycled to Nature's Larder to get some supplies. It's a wonderful whole foods shop on Holburn Street. What I love about cycling is I can park right outside just a couple of metres from the door. You can't do this with a car as there's no on-street parking in this part of… Continue reading Shopping by bike and cat photos
I took the opportunity to visit the Aberdeen Art Gallery today. I still haven't been since it reopened to the public late last year after 4 years of redevelopment and £34.6 million. It will shut tomorrow afternoon for Christmas and then remain closed for as long as we remain in Tier 4, so I thought… Continue reading Aberdeen Art Gallery and the BP Portrait Award
The best thing about these dark days is how awesome my bike looks. https://videopress.com/v/d5vI6fFI?preloadContent=metadata If you're looking for a good Christmas present for someone who likes to eat a lot of plants then I recommend The Veggie Chinese Takeaway Cookbook. Who doesn't like Chinese takeaway? I made the hoisin sauce today then used it in… Continue reading My awesome bike and veggie Chinese takeaway
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?
During the lockdown early this year, Ben did a lot of walking around Aberdeen. On one of his walks he discovered a woodland just south of the city in Torry. We decided to check it out yesterday. We cycled there from Duthie Park. The first part of the ride was all on shared-use paths so… Continue reading The farting woods (Tullos Wood)
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
I'm in The Scottish Daily Record today in an article about the state of cycling in Scotland. This is in response to the tragic death of a young woman in Edinburgh this week. It's a good article that got a full double page spread and my photo spans from top to bottom of the paper!… Continue reading In the paper, cat news, a kilt in a cargo bike, Foodstory, and zombies
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
As regular readers of my blog will know, one of my pet peeves is when people sit in their cars with the engine running. This happens a lot outside primary school gates where children gather and inhale the fumes. Pollution from motor vehicles is especially harmful to children because they are smaller and absorb more… Continue reading Engine idling and nobody in London needs an SUV
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