CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 14years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
"
“Don’t be such a puritan. Not all of us can pedal up and down in rubber knickers you know; we need to find balance. Of course, let’s encourage cycling and walking, and we need to make cycling safer, but let us not treat people in cars like the enemy!”
"
http://ibikelondon.blogspot.com/2011/01/boris-pickles-gehl-3-men-3-different.html
I laugh at this idiocy the same as any person - but this simply distracts us all from the fact that this odious mobile food mountain and the policies he espouses will make the last 10 years of cycling policy and funding (in England at least) look like a veritable utopia. Think English cities can't get more car clogged, polluted, supermarket dominated and nimby driven - think again. Don't believe me - then have a look at the policies in the UK "Localism Bill".
Dear Mr Pickles,
I realise that you probably some sort of an expert in knickers, because you have to go to such lengths to order special ones that fit you. I presume you used the word "rubber" to describe the "knickers" (we prefer the term "shorts") worn by some cyclists to try and conjure up some sort of a link between cyclists and the fetish community, however I would like to take this opportunity to point out that Lycra (or Spandex) to which I presume you were reffering is in fact a synthetic polyurethane-derived fabric.
Regards,
Andy
Ah, yes, the man who thinks that helicopters are the solution to traffic congestion, well they work for him...
This is a great speech (& credit to @Harts for bringing it to my attention).
Can you guess when it was spoken?
"It is in no spirit of levity that I call attention to the plight of cycling in the United Kingdom. It is not a light matter that a famous British industry should find itself in dire straits.
"I do not question, of course, that some fiscal assistance might not be helpful. On the other hand, I doubt whether the total abolition of Purchase Tax would prove a radical remedy for the industry's difficulty. Surely, the basic trouble is the declining number of people who regularly cycle. Let me start, therefore, by saying a word about the extent of this decline.
"Unfortunately, there are no accurate figures, but it is estimated by the trade that there are about 9 million cycles in use today, and it is known that rather over 3 million of these are used by children under 15. It is further estimated that these figures represent a decline of about three million in the number of adult cyclists compared with 20 years ago.
I wish to advocate the far more extensive construction of cycle tracks. Segregation of different types of road user is, surely, the means to both safety and comfort.
"Most, although by no means all, of this decline has been brought about by fewer people cycling to and from their work.
"I must admit that the pleasure of cycling, at any rate on the main roads and in towns, grows less with every year that passes.
"Constant vigilance and sustained concentration are now necessary. One is continually near-missed by a veritable whirlwind of desperately driven cars – or, at least, that is the way it seems to the cyclist. Indeed, some drivers openly resent the presence of cyclists on the main roads and expect them to get out of their way. If the worst happens and they do not get out of their way, motorists rely very often on the fact that there will probably be a majority of fellow-motorists on the jury.
"To my mind, the most serious consequence of the decline in cycling is that it was once the principal means whereby the population kept fit. With the ever-rising proportion of the population who are employed on sedentary or static work, this ability to keep fit and take healthy exercise will depend more and more upon sport. Potentially, cycling can be the cheapest sport for the greatest number, and that is why I view its decline with so much concern.
"At the risk of making myself unpopular, I wish to advocate the far more extensive construction of cycle tracks. Segregation of different types of road user is, surely, the means to both safety and comfort.
“A revival of cycling in this country is in the national interest, and I appeal to [the Ministry of Transport] to make a conscious effort to foster it.”
"To my mind" is an expression used by my Father-in-Law who left the UK around 50 years ago, so I'm going to say that it was at least 50 years ago...
Purchase tax was in effect between 1940 and 1973. I would guess around 1965.
Good guesses:
November 1958, Vice-Admiral John Hughes Hallett, the Tory MP for Croydon East on Parliament.
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