not resolvedAs you may know I do the weekly blog round up for the GB Cycling Embassy so I'm always on the look out for good blogs preferably writing about our core concerns, like good/bad infrastructure, cycling policy, what will or won't get people cycling, etc, rather than the sports side or just fluffy stuff about nice things people have done on bikes (not that there's anything wrong with either of those subjects). I've noticed that while London and the south east have plenty of these sorts of blogs (cyclists in the City, ibikelondon, Londonneur, war on the motorist, vole o'speed, pedestrianise London, as easy as riding a bike, the lo fidelity cycling club ...) - and that there are pockets elsewhere (Bristol, Manchester, Newcastle), Scotland is pretty poorly represented. Apart from Kim's blog, Magnatom, and the Spokes Bulletin (and recently CycleFife) I've not found anyone who regularly blogs about infrastructure or policy or any of the topics that people get fired up about here, and which helped drive POP. In order to try and get good coverage north of the border, I tend to have to use the mainstream media as much as blogs - and have even resorted to linking to threads on here which seems to me to be where the really intelligent writing and debate about cycling and policy is mostly taking place.
So my question is twofold - one, am I missing some great angry articulate blogs & if so which ones - and two, if not, is there a gap in the market for such a thing? Cyclists in the City, particularly, seems to me to have had a hugely disproportionate impact in moving cycling campaigning up a gear. Events like the Blackfriars bridge ride and the tour du danger, both started from suggestion on blogs to a large extent triggered the Big Ride, the Love London Go Dutch campaign and even the Times campaign, by acting as a lightning rod for all the anger about what was happening in London, cycling mayor or no cycling mayor.
It could be argued that Scotland doesn't need such blogs, partly because of CCE. After all, we've had POP, which was helped hugely by the members here, and the issues and analysis done by Spokes over the budget earlier this year. But both CCE and Spokes are understandably Edinburgh focused, not national. We found when running POP that there's a dearth of active local cycling campaigns (outside of Glasgow) that could send feeder rides and groups down to Edinburgh, or even help spread the word. It would be great to have more voices raising local and national issues, right across Scotland and hopefully embarrassing politicians, local and national, into acting.
Not everyone has the time to write a blog (or another blog all you blippers), especially a well-researched, well-written, frequently updated one, but it has been suggested that a group blog might be the way to go. Half a dozen people across Scotland all contributing their own stories as and when they can or when things arise. That way the discussion on things like the QBC, or the tramlines on Princes street will get a wider airing than just on here (though I see Andy has got his tramline pics into the Edinburgh Reporter). And all the other things that are going on elsewhere (Dunfermline cycle routes, for example - but also I'm sure tons of other things we don't even hear about) would get more attention and hopefully get our politicians sitting up and realising that POP wasn't just a flash in the pan but the start of something much wider
Anyway, it's a thought & I wondered if anyone would be up for something like this?
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