10 commandments to Get Britain Cycling

The Government is tipped to make an announcement soon about cycling in the UK in the wake of the Cyclesafe campaign by The Times, and the Get Britain Cycling parliamentary debate.

The enquiry report proposed that the government should set national targets to increase cycle use from less than 2% of journeys in 2011, to 10% of all journeys in 2025, and 25% by 2050, and proposed a number of recommendations to make it happen.

The CTC have also issued a set of 10 top priorities, which to me seem to be a bit wishy washy and halfhearted, which is especially disappointing from one of the UK's leading cycling advocacy bodies.

I have distilled, and tweaked some of the enquiries recommendations into my 10 commandments which I think the Government should implement to encourage and facilitate more people riding bikes. Number 6 is pretty much as GetBritaincycling proposed (which is why it's different colour)

1. Review and adopt international best practice for cycling & walking provision and infrastructure and make mandatory for all new developments and schemes.
2. Make all public places such as shops, workplaces, leisure facilities and schools provide 10% of car parking with cycle parking & separated direct walking/cycling routes across car parks. Impose time limit for implementation.
3. Parallel & protected safe routes for walking & cycling alongside trunk roads, motorways & across junctions must be provided ASAP to best practice prioritised by demand.
4.  Local authorities to deliver cycle-friendly improvements across their existing networks, including small improvements, segregated routes, and road reallocation. All LAs to adopt a "suggestion box" scheme for local cycling improvements & investigate & act appropriately. 
5.  Make 20mph default speed limit for residential & any other roads with significant proportion of non vehicular traffic such as shopping areas
6.  Improve large vehicle safety by vehicle design, driver training, and mutual awareness with cyclists; promote rail freight and limit use of HGVs on the busiest urban streets at the busiest times, and use public sector projects to drive fleet improvements.
7.  Stronger enforcement of road traffic laws with stronger penalties to aim for making bad or dangerous driving as antisocial as drunk driving is now.
8. Provide cycle training at all primary and secondary schools & offer widespread subsided cycle training etc to encourage everyone to cycle, especially as exercise based health strategies for prevention & treatment of diseases such as T2 diabetes & obesity.
9.  Cycling needs to be promoted as a safe and normal activity & mode of transport for people of all ages and backgrounds.
10. The Government should produce a Govt wide plan for cycling, with annual progress audits & an independent expert as a national Cycling Champion. Each local authority to   have a local cycling champion or independent panel of cycling experts ao monitor & audit progress

I am not a horse, but an individual!

Well the nice way code finally launched with two of its videos today.

The first asks drivers to see people who ride bikes as if the are horses and give them the same consideration.

Some may find  the 40 or so seconds quite humorous, with most of the time spent with a person on a bike in stables being fed and shoed like a horse. Only in the last few seconds does the actual message get put across, which for drivers to give people riding bikes the same consideration as animals.

That's right, animals! in the minds of the geniuses behind the nice way code, the road hierarchy appears to be drivers, then animals, then people on bikes. Absolutely beggars belief.

But it gets even bloody worse

The second ad, starts with a person on a bicycle going though a red light, and then jumps to an old fashioned school master taking the piss out of a child for his name, and concludes with the message cyclists should not give all cyclists a bad name by jumping the red.

All that does is reinforces the view that every individual is collectively responsible for the actions of every other person riding a bike. 

They haven't tarred all drivers with the "one does wrong, everyone does wrong" brush, just cyclists and pedestrians.

Pedestrians are targeted with with texting and not looking. Driving whilst using a phone or texting gets barely a footnote. For frigs sake, out of walking or driving, which is the most dangerous activity?

It is a disgrace that this campaign is funded from sustainable transport funds, especially cycling, and yet targets the most vulnerable who are the very people it should be protecting. It's like running a campaign to get people to wear stab vests in day to day use. It just wouldn't happen, there would be a crackdown on knife crime and a public backlash.

All that has happened to date with the Niceway code is that drivers age old prejudices have been given official sanction.

It's not just a waste of scarce money, it is verging on reckless negligence. Some of the campaign team have come out as active cyclists. 

I would be ashamed if I was associated professionally with something which was this bad and misguided.

Review: Bikemate maintenance stand from Aldi/Lidl

Gonna start doing some basic review of some of the stuff I buy for cycling.

I'm starting off with the Bikemate bicycle maintenance stand which is periodically available from Aldi or Lidl for the princely sum of £29.99.

There is a very small amount of assembly out of the box which is basically pushing the bike clamp arm into the mount on the stand itself. When folded up for storage the whole thing is quite compact, and will easily fit into a car boot.

It is also reassuringly heavy. All the clamps for tightening the stand up have very large grabbable orange wheels for turning. There is a small tray attached to the stand for holding tools and parts. It handily has a magnet fitted to the underside to keep things secure.

 When you push the legs down like an inverted umbrella action, you end up with 5 very well spaced legs, with flip down plastic feet. Even on the rough piece of grass I call a lawn it was very stable.

The bike clamp arm can rotate though 360 degrees, and extends quite a way and should grab the widest of frames. The clamp has some anti scratch soft plastic, however if you are paranoid about scratches, then a yellow duster between the clamp and the bike frame would be useful.

Here you can see my Moulton clamped by the seat post. This is setup for touring/trails and is about 14kgs in weight. Not a problem for the stand at all.

The single criticism I would have about the Bikemate stand is that the bike clamp is a screw up action. Some kind of quick release to quickly take the slack would be great, as it can be a struggle holding a heavy bike with one hand whilst tightening the clamp. Of course if you have a conventional frame with a top tube, then this would be much less of an issue.

Here you can see a close up of the  bicycle clamp itself. It's all very sturdy and once clamped in the bike doesn't move

The Bikemate stand comes with a adjustable tube with rubber straps at each end for attaching to the bars and stand to prevent the bars and front wheel from swinging around.

The bikemate stand is the equal of many more expensive stands I have used in the past from brands such as Park Tools and Minoura.

The compactness, 5 widely spaced feet and the magnetic tool tray all stand out as excellent features as does the overall quality feel. The fact that when they come on sale they are only £30 is outstanding.

The only real negative comment is that they are only available 2 or 3 times a year.

The nice way or the highway...

This week Scotland "pre-launched" a major new road safety campaign costing almost £500K which aims to boost mutual respect amongst all road users by asking them to be nice to each other.

the strapline on the blog is


Let’s face it we all have to share the roads. Until the world is a perfect place there are some simple rules we can all follow to make it safer for everyone out there. 


But don't those rules already exist in the Highway code? Why do we need an expensive new campaign and slogan? Just bloody enforce the existing rules and laws?

The campaign blog also states:

The campaign is designed to make the roads a more tolerant and harmonious place. We’re not under the impression the Nice Way Code is going to make the roads a wonderful place free of accidents or road rage overnight of course. It’s intended as the start of a conversation about how we treat our fellow roads users. It is there to support infrastructure and enforcement measures.

but seems to consign the whole campaign to a dismal failure in the second sentence.

The blog then waffles on about research with focus groups showing that all misdemeanors should be treated equally. All that seems to have happened is that they have clung onto existing prejudices without any real thought. I did post a comment asking if they would post the research, but although they replied, Nicewaycode completely ignored that point

Are that many cyclists really genuinely aggrieved about the odd person on a bike jumping a red light or occasionally riding on a pavement? I have done both, I suspect like most people riding bikes, because infrastructure has not been designed with any thought for cyclists. I don't get upset when I see a person riding a bike along a pavement. When I do ride along a path shared with pedestrians I slow, they usually give way and we pass the time of day & thank each other. A few idiots ignore me, but they are just as likely to ignore TV ads also.

Coincidentally, cyclists RLJing is one of the largest moans from drivers who of course never ever jump lights, and pavement cycling is a gripe from pedestrian groups.

The problem I have is that these appear to have been accepted at face value, and placed alongside drivers passing people on bikes with only a couple of inches to spare at high speed and not even mentioning all the other things drivers do like squeeze past at pinch points, pull out without looking, overtake and then turn left immediately. Which cyclists did the campaign designers speak to? A good proportion of drivers treat cyclists like something they trod in. At least the ones that hurl abuse have seen you! Other drivers are either texting or talking on the phone, fiddling with the sat nav, can't see cos of the sun but plough on regardless.

Mutual respect is rubbish. People riding bikes generally instinctively respect cars and HGVs etc cos if they don't they get hit and at best it hurts. At worst they are dead. All the driver will suffer is a bit of scratched paintwork. Dented if really unlucky.

Neil Grieg from the IAM is quoted as saying “If everyone on the roads can work together to reduce stress, give each other more room and stick to the rules"
So how exactly am I supposed to destress a driver, give them more room (sounds like ride closer to the gutter) & stick to the rules. Sounds like some subtle victim blaming to me.

I am not one-sided. I walk, cycle and drive like most people who cycle. Most drivers though do not cycle as well and a good proportion don't seem to walk very far anymore.

The real problem is the personality transplant that seems to affect a lot of people when they get behind a wheel. The Chief Constable of Cleveland police made the following quote here about drivers causing obstructions for disabled people.

“Some drivers have a completely different mindset when behind the wheel of a car. They would be considerate enough to hold a door open for a vulnerable or disabled person but think nothing of parking across a pavement and forcing them to walk on a busy road.”

 This is what needs to be broken, not some naive half arsed flowery campaign asking people to be nice to each other

If you can't cycle it, then it ain't a cycling route

I've been reading the local council's published proposal and funding bid for a local "pinch point" along the A194  which is a busy 70 MPH dual carriageway which also happens to one of the main routes into the town.

There is bugger all about improvements for cycling, apart from a mention about signing some of the slip road crossings, apart from the following

All well and good, but the bridge which is marked on the official map as being advisory specifically prohibits cycles from being ridden. The actual signs at either end of the bridge are below.

South side of the footbridge

North side of the footbridge

Now colour me pedantic, but a cycle route where you are only allowed to push your bicycle, is NOT a cycle route, advisory or otherwise, it is a footpath. I have been across and appreciate why they stop you from riding a cycle, but to mention it as a cycling facility in a bid to show that cyclists are catered for is nothing more than a bare faced lie.

The A194 route is popular with commuting cyclists, not that there is that many as the conditions are so hostile, as it is a direct link in and out of the town and links several residential and industrial areas as well as schools. The current cycling provision is frankly zero.

This bid goes into lots of detail about car movements and into fantasy about how it will create more jobs cos more people will be able to drive there once the congestion caused by the "pinch point" is removed, which kinda seems like a self defeating prophecy to me.


Any congestion reduction will only come from reducing the number of cars, The bid actually hints that it would INCREASE traffic volume. This is madness.

As I mentioned above the bid makes virtually zero provision for improved walking and cycling apart from putting in better crossings on the A19 sliproads. That's out of £3.4 million, and as it has now gone public, it can be assumed that it has been given the green light from the DfT. Below is the section explaining the paltry amount of consideration given to pedestrians and cyclists as part of the bid

What should have been done, was to provide a wide 2 way cycleway from Whitemare pool along the A194. As well as very wide grassed verges, there are various sections of the old road (Roman Road and Hadrian road) which run parallel to the A194 which could be linked in to reduce the overall cost.

This would have provided people with a real alternative to driving, but it seems that South Tyneside council is stuck in the 1970s still.

This is why national mandatory high quality designs and guidance is urgently needed to force local authorities like South Tyneside Council to provide good quality and safe environments for pedestrians and cyclists

Get Britain Cycling - I've written to my MP, you should too

Below is the letter I have sent to my MP via They work For You asking him to attend the Get Britain Cycling debate on the 2nd of September.

Please also write to your MP asking them to attend. Feel free to steal, plagiarise and use the text below as you wish



Dear Stephen Hepburn,

I am writing to ask you to attend the Get Britain Cycling debate in Parliament on the 2nd of September, and represent the best interests of your constituents.

This was the focus of a parliamentary enquiry earlier this year, and has been in the media spotlight for the last 18 months. The report from the enquiry can be read here if you have not already done so.

Cycling has witnessed a large boom in recent years, and is one of the best forms of transport especially for the short journeys which make up the overwhelming majority of car trips in the UK.

Now is an ideal time to prioritise and promote cycling as it is still benefiting from the Olympic "effect" and Bradley Wiggins' historic first British Tour De France win for Britain  which looks set to have another British winner this year. The Tour is also due to start in Leeds in 2014, which is not too far away & certain to increase cycling's profile even further.

More importantly, increasing cycling provision by providing safe infrastructure and road environments  would provide several key benefits within the constituency which would help alleviate some of the issues faced by people living here.

As you are aware, South Tyneside and Jarrow have a significant obesity problem causing other long term health issues such as diabetes and heart disease. You have previously raised this issue requesting numbers.  The local paper has previously reported obesity and related conditions costing £50 Million a year in the borough.

Making cycling a safe and attractive option for people to integrate into their daily lives as a transport mode will make for a healthier population, as it is an excellent way of increasing & integrating activity into everyday life.

As you are also undoubtedly aware, the area is quite deprived, and lots of households are struggling with ever increasing bills.

Cycling could help people reduce fuel and other motoring costs by switching to bicycles. Also areas of the constituency have nearly 50% of households which do not have vehicles.

Prioritising the vast majority of transport policy on cars & other road vehicles negatively impacts these households which do not have cars & rely on public transport, & cycling and walking.

In these times of austerity, building cycling infrastructure has a very high return on investment from short term savings in reducing congestion & fuel costs to long term savings in health costs

I would appreciate your support in this matter on the 2nd of September and would be more than happy to engage in ongoing discussions with yourself about cycling in the constituency.

Yours sincerely,

"I hate cyclists. They never...."

...pay "road tax. They don't have insurance or pass a test" Go the cyclist haters on Twitter, the Daily Mail and localnews sites. "Ban 'em from the roads" until they do go the shouts from the baying mob.

As we all know this is a complete load of codswallop spouted from ignorant loons who don't frankly have a clue.

So lets quickly debunk these one by one,with a little bit of Google-Fu...

Tax (VED) - 2.1 Million vehicles untaxed according to this report published by Autocar in 2009. Also based on data from What Car there are over 230 models on sale that are legally VED free and pay the same amount as bicycles.

Insurance - 1.3 Million cars (1 in 25) without insurance - confused.com

Driver testing - It was not possible to get any accurate figure of unlicenced drivers, which includes disqualified and people who have never taken or passed a test, but estimates range from 1 million to 5 million+.

In addition, although bicycles are not subject to maintenance checks, cars are and 4.5 million MOT renewals are missed every year according to this report from uswitch So that is 4.5 million cars that are on the road illegally at some point during the year.

So to all drivers. STFU and sort your own house out, as you are all one and all guilty of the above

At least until you treat cyclists as individuals and not some delinquent hive mind!