CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 16years 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.
I pointed at her and shouted 'You should be on the road!'
This is pleasingly ironic, because we established at the last coffee morning from a genuine policeman that there is a traffic regulation order banning cyclists from doing what you were doing ;-)
But my kettle is white.....!!!!
Also Quentin said no Police officer would book you for riding along there so long as you were riding at a sensible pace, and any one who did would have to be VERY bored.
I stopped in at commuter lights giveaway thing on my way home (number 1) from work. I declined the vest and lights and armbands but took a couple of snap-around reflectors.
Had a chat with the girl who said they'd been pretty busy and managed to give away things to a few hundred people each week.
What I did overhear though was the other volunteer next to me mention that some of the funding for this venture came from a benefactor who had been in some sort of bar crash and had got lots of compensation and had made a big donation to bikestation or something. It's a nice thought if it's true.
Big queue when I went by. I was trying to get to tbw to get puncture fixed so I could get home, so didn't stop. (tbw came through again - patched puncture at very reasonable price since they were out of tubes).
I would take the free lights then hand them out to people I passed with no lights.
They were sending people without bikes away to go and get their bikes (or bring them next week). Makes sense I suppose to at least "prove" you're a cyclist before they give you free stuff. I was offered lights and vest but declined as I have such things already.
On the way there I passed lots of people wheeling bikes on the pedestrian portions of the path but with lights blinking away as if they'd just fitted one and were trying it out. I was only offered a (seemingly completely windproof) tabard, a pair of snap-bands and pair of ankle-bands, presumably being sufficiently well-lit already. I assumed the gruff gentleman in the middle (between Dr Bike and the people with the boxes of freebies) was a police as he barked "where's your lights?" at the student ninja in front of me.
"people wheeling bikes on the pedestrian portions of the path"
that was me with puncture!
Yes there was a burly Police there with a lid on, but it wasn't the friendly Sgt. Quentin so I didn't strike up a conversation.
met an otherwise sensibly attired cyclist coming the other way on the pavement on the road above the innocent, First I shouted 'whats wrong? you scared?' and then realized they had no lights, so they probibly were a bit nervous on that stretch...
The wee bottle dynamo lights set arrived today. Has the look and feel of a very basic, old style Dutch setup. AXA still make similar sets.. Filament bulbs, single wires, mudguard mount rear light, seat stay clamp, etc.
Will set it up on the folder this weekend hopefully.
I was amazed at the number of people riding the wrong way around Arthur's seat on Tuesday. I mean, why?
I know I'm preaching to the converted here but if you have any friends who cycle and don't think lights are needed or are too expensive please point them in this direction for axample : http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_13&products_id=112870
riding the wrong way around Arthur's seat
There were three people who appeared to be doing "laps" of the flat bit up the top. I mean maybe they just wanted somewhere car-free to cycle, but hardly seemed worth the effort!
I assume some people don't like the bit on the road in the dark, so they just go back and forth along the car-free bit.
And before I forget, true to my word, issued my first seasonal reprimand to an unlit cyclist coming down Valleyfield Street the wrong way (one way street) and on the wrong side of the road and blocking me from turning left into it from Leven Street.
Last week was the first time that I have been on the Holyrood Park road going north east from the RC pool. There was some pretty awful driving going on and it isn't lit so I found it one of the scariest roads in the area.
"and it isn't lit"
Which is presumably one reason why motorists seem to assume there is no speed limit.
It really should be permanently shut to through (motor) traffic.
Everything about that short downhill stretch is worrying. We can easily go 30mph and more, but the corve is ever so slightly off-camber and then there are the rumble strips (at least one set is on the curve proper), unlit, with drivers treating the park like a race track. What should be a fab downhill breeze turns into somethnig that I only indulge in once in a blue moon.
errr... isn't there a cycle lane on the pavement at that stretch? (narrow and annoyingly close to invisible photon swallowing peds in the dark? yeah I think I'd stick to the road too)
There were three people who appeared to be doing "laps" of the flat bit up the top. I mean maybe they just wanted somewhere car-free to cycle, but hardly seemed worth the effort!
I think maybe they thought that this was the only flat car-free bit of Edinburgh. I mean, what's wrong with Princes Street?
Further up this thread, or possibly on another thread (I'm too lazy to look back), somebody, can't remember who, mentioned that they'd seen a drop bar bike with lights stuck into the ends of the bars. Then the bike chain linked to these on their facebook page yesterday. I thought they looked pretty nifty, so went in on my way home last night and purchased a pair. From the front they look like this:
and from the back they look like this:
They also have a flashing orange indicator light built in - don't think I'll use that, cos I'm a bike not a car, but you never know.
Oh, the other thing was that they are the only lights ever which have made me chuckle the minute I took them out of the packaging.
Not bad for 16 quid. I'll be modelling them at Arthur's Seat on tuesday night.
Pedestrians are difficult to spot crossing the road as well around there (should they have to wear lights, reflectives and helmets? [DUCKS]).
Visibility was better on the closed road - fewer sources of light to spoil night vision.
"errr... isn't there a cycle lane on the pavement at that stretch? (narrow and annoyingly close to invisible photon swallowing peds in the dark? yeah I think I'd stick to the road too)"
Downhill, certainly, the road is better (especially in the dark). Going uphill I can see the benefit of the lane, although then rejoining the road at the roundabout at the top, depending on the time of day and busy-ness, can be difficult.
Peds should definately wear something reflective if they are walking on an unlit cyclepath in the dark. Spitters is not exaggerating that they absorb all photons of light - even with my super bright light I still can't see them until I am almost on top of them.
Uphill round the untercrag path gives three (official non-grass-crossing) options for rejoining the road: where the path has a spur across to the kerb before the roundabout, on the middle of the roundabout itself when the road tangentially abuts the edge of the path and by continuing up to the end of the path (past the racks) then turning round and approaching as if having just descended the high road. It might not save any time to go up to option 3 if there's too much approaching traffic to do option 1 but at least one keeps moving.
The last time I descended on the path (when not carrying a sleeping child and thus going at walking-speed) was last winter when I was testing it for slippiness after the first snowfall. Peds are too inclined to have their heads down and to drift towards the inside on the section past the trees where the path steepens a bit.
@Jackson Priest - those look cool and yes I did lol at the last image. Do they do a version for straight bars (or do the lights rotate?) as I don't have drop handles
They're cool but I want front and back with the same device now ;)
Thanks JP for the lights tip. I have ordered some of these. It's harder to find places to fix lights on race bikes so these seem great.
Popped down to the shop and got a set myself.
My oxygen starved brain (asthma polaying up) can't comprehend the instructions. Can't wait to get them on though.
Think I've got it. Was just faired to twist hard enough.
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