So, I'mn just back from a long weekend in Dublin, and got some surprising insights into the cycling revolution that has taken place there, and seen it listed (I think?) in the Copenhagenize top-cities-in-the-world-for-cycling thing. I should note that I didn't manage to get on a bike myself - my mate I was visiting is not a cyclist, and the city is actually compact enough to walk around really (and it was beautifully sunny, so half an hour stroll from his flat to town was no hardship).
So, why surprising? Well I'm frankly just not 100% sure how they've done it (and, if it wasn't for some small indications, wasn't entirely sure they had).
I was expecting hordes of cyclists on the roads, but they just weren't there in the numbers anticipated. In fact, on a sunny day in Edinburgh I reckon you see as many people on bikes. It's certainly true that there were a lot less people in helmets and hi-viz (which, as I've mentioned before, I think is certainly an indication that somewhere has a big cycling culture, if not a cause of it). They have their hire bikes of course, so there were a lot of people (and a lot in suits) using those. And while I know such a statement may annoy some, Dublin is virtually pan flat - no matter what we think about 'you soon get to cope with hills', a new, potentially unfit, cyclist will be put off by Edinburgh's hills.
But the infrastructure? Well... It's just not there. What lanes there are on the road aren't even a different colour, just (usually) a dotted white line. There's a nice two-way segregated lane following the south canal, and I saw one contraflow lane on a one-way bridge over the Liffey. O'Connell Street is probably roughly equivalent in width to Leith Walk, and it was interesting. Two lanes of car traffic each way, with a cycle lane by the kerb, the centre bit paved for pedestrians was wider than a car lane, and no parking on the sides of the street.
I did see a few examples of truly daft infrastructure - one section by the Liffey (near a tall ship along from Customs House) was the typical 'pop cyclists off the road onto a lovely segregated two-way lane' thing that last all of 100 yards before the pavement narrowing ahead meant cyclists were popped back onto the road. The fact it was two-way, meaning they expected riders coming the other way to cross two lanes of traffic to use the 100 yards before crossing back over, was particularly fun.
And I was told (by my mate living there, and had also read here) that the rules of the road are merely a guideline, rather than something to slavishly follow. Strangely this doesn't lead to chaos, but rather organised anarchy. Cyclists run reds and ride on pavements, but never heard any horns at riders, or raised voices. Not even a couple of times when cyclists wandered out right in front of cars travelling down the street - they just braked, undertook, and were off. It's perhaps because everyone expects everyone else to be totally random that it doesn't annoy them?
Even at bus stops there was a sign warning those getting on the bus to watch out for cyclists coming up the inside of the bus before they got on. And not in an' aren't cyclists evil' sort of way, but rather just 'make sure you don't walk out in front of one' fashion.
Main streets around the Ballbridge area, and into town, were massively wide, with nary a bike lane upon them.
All very odd. But did make me want to go back and ride it and see if I felt compelled to join them in the flexible rules (it all kind of felt like London, but without the aggressive nature to it all).
Oh, one thing worth noting, you can and do wait aaaaaaages for pedestrian crossing lights - you're definitely bottom of the pecking order there.
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