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Cyclenation conference
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Posted 13 years ago #
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Posted 13 years ago # -
Posted 13 years ago #
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Do you remember the bit in the Life of Brian when Brian is selling Larks Tongues and Ocelot Livers to a rather thin crowd watching the gladiators? Are you the Judean Popular Front? He asks and is told feck off we are The Popular Front of Judea - goes on in this vein a while then he asks well where is the Judean Popular Front? - That's him over there - comes the answer.
I thought this was a satire on splinter groups on the left of British politics but now I am not so sure.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Are any of the slides/presentations going to be made available online?
Posted 13 years ago # -
"Are any of the slides/presentations going to be made available online?"
I believe Spokes intends to, but don't know when.
Posted 13 years ago # -
That's the same photo that's in the Story of the National Cycle Network book I picked up and flicked through in the Miner's Arms at Nenthead after my gammon and mash on Friday night en tour. That book was published in 2003 and judging by the current state of the cycle lane at that position on the mound, it's not been resurfaced since then... It amused me that at the time Edinburgh was being hailed as the model cycling city for others to emulate. What went wrong? (edit - rhetorical question!)
Posted 13 years ago # -
"judging by the current state of the cycle lane at that position on the mound, it's not been resurfaced since then"
I suspect you are right...
Posted 13 years ago # -
Oh cynik! (ref Kaputnik). It may be that the lane has not been resurfaced for donkey's years, I'm not sure about that - but there has been at least one change which I would argue is even more beneficial - it should be obvious from the picture and accompanying text. [NB the photo in the NCN book was obtained from Spokes].
Re. Edinburgh not being a model city, that is very true in European terms; but rising from the swamp of cynicism how about a comparison with anywhere else in Scotland, as in this other photo from the conference [compare the red line and the blue diamonds]...
Posted 13 years ago # -
"Re. Edinburgh not being a model city, that is very true in European terms; but rising from the swamp of cynicism how about a comparison with anywhere else in Scotland"
Mmm
Not wishing to be unduly cynical - not sure that you (DdF) should compare Edinburgh with the rest of Scotland.
Edinburgh being better than the rest of Scotland is hardly reason for celebration.
The red line is most encouraging BUT I suggest this is in spite of the actions of the Council (except, perhaps, in the negative sense of the tram related shambles and its effect on the city centre).
I don't think that the line will reach the 'magic' 15% by 2010. At least not unless the Council is willing to massively change its attitudes (and, just maybe, spend some more money).
I hope this is the most important photo from Saturday.
The person on the left watching the impressive TfL presentation (PDF 3.2m) with rapt attention is Cllr. Mackenzie whose presentation (PDF 1.6m) wasn't much different from the one he delivered in March.
Perhaps he got the message about ambition and leadership(?)
Posted 13 years ago # -
Some of the slides were different -
Posted 13 years ago # -
@DdF my point about the Mound was that the picture demonstrated what happens when the surface is not maintained - it's been beautifully resurfaced lower down on the Mound but is now all but invisible at the position in the picture and perpetually has the offside wheels of cars and taxis in it. There's a slight irony that it's probably motor vehicles driving across the red surface that causes it to wear out. I can't imagine bikes could do that in a few short years.
I make great use of what great bits of infrastructure that Edinburgh does have - the North paths network, the Innocent, the Canal, to name a few. My point was not to take away from how good all that is it is compared to other cities, it was more about that nearly all this stuff was already there back in 2003 when that book was published. The book was full of real optimism for the future and I was genuinely surprised at the huge amount of national effort and coordination that had gone into the NCN. It made me feel a bit like that promise was unfulfilled in Edinburgh and if we wrote the book today we might compare okay in Scotland (I've never cycled in any of our other "major" cities, apart from to escape Dundee for Fife or to get across Aberdeen in a hurry so I can't compare) but in the UK we're lagging behind where we should / could be. We should rank favourably because we really are, not because the competition is rubbish. "Progress" in Edinburgh can often seem illogical, piecemeal, un-coordinated, pointless or downright silly and dangerous. Not to mention the attacks on infrastructure by t****s.
At the end of the day it was a thought/opinion stimulated by looking at a picture in a book in a pub and not much else.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Of course London is starting from a lower modal share base, so has to try harder...
Edinburgh seems to expect a bigger increase in a shorter time, with less money and political/officer commitment. (Manifesto pledges are not enough.)
Posted 13 years ago # -
In mph terms the old rail paths across Edinburgh outperform many other locations.
The North South corridor though is one which is always an issue. I can't say we can ever be 100% successful but I do actually see people using the 'unsatisfactory' lane beside Hotel Missoni.
These are casual slow cyclists who would never venture to middle of road although for experienced faster cyclists it can be (is?) safer. I recently saw a line of tourers there the other day who were able to get past (using that lane) traffic backing over the junction and down the Mound.
Continentals cyclists rarely go more than three foot from pavement. So to be 'tourist (and non hard-core) friendly' we probably need more painted wider lanes.Posted 13 years ago # -
Posted 13 years ago #
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"Are any of the slides/presentations going to be made available online?"I believe Spokes intends to, but don't know when.
"Most presentations here -
http://www.spokes.org.uk/wordpress/downloads/odds-and-ends-may-be-exciting/cyclenation-nov-2011
Not sure how long up, only just noticed.
Posted 13 years ago #
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