Cycling article in the times (best one i've ever read)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/janice_turner/article6850125.ece

Thank you Janice Turner what a great article, to nicely counter the drivel i read in yesterdays times 2.

Interesting the comparison between Denmark and the UK. I didn't realise the numbers were similar in the 50s and the retards here favoured cars. I wonder if it will ever swing the other way..

Good article, by why was there no mention of Cambridge. They seem to have a pretty good cycle culture and also provision for safe cycling. Can we get a policy transplant?

Also good on New Labour's response to green politics.

I think most segregated bike lanes in London are inherently more dangerous. They are always too narrow, don't allow you to merge with traffic frequently enough and create the additional risk of cars turning right/left across the cycle lane without looking.

Torrington place is the perfect example.

People are just less considerate in London. The only real way around this would be to rigorously pursue all 'dangerous' driving (be it RLJ, tailgating, talking on phone, aggressive driving etc)...but the police can't be arsed to do this. And if they did we'd all moan anyway.

catch 22.

very good article, thanks. almost balances out their other drivel.

She's right. I have just moved to Berlin and the difference is striking. Most people couldn't care less what bike they ride and if you asked them what they ride they'd say "a blue one". Cycling is not cool or particularly edgy, it's just what you do.

"And with quite extraordinary far-sightedness, these three countries built endless miles of barriered lanes along major roads but, more importantly, in many residential streets cars were slowed to a crawl and compelled to give way to bikes. And to enforce this, the law assumed, unless otherwise proved, that in an accident between a vehicle and a cyclist, the driver was at fault."

yep. a good one at long last.

it is not about lycra. it is about urban planning.

good find magpie.

we already have a cycle superhighway? I thought it going to be a proper one, not a superficial one where it's just a bus lane.

disappointing that an otherwise encouraging article is full of misandrist bigotry

• Googles 'misandrist' *
  

"Indeed, to cycle in Britain today you must embody Tory philosophy: be a rugged fearless individual, wholly responsible for your destiny, battling against the collectivism of bendy buses and the red tape of illogical one-way systems. Norman Tebbit, after all, instructed the jobless to get on their bikes, not the train"

^This is bollocks, though.

But yes, it was a surprisingly decent article, and prompted me to read more about Copenhagen.

"Indeed, to cycle in Britain today you must embody Tory philosophy: be a rugged fearless individual, wholly responsible for your destiny, battling against the collectivism of bendy buses and the red tape of illogical one-way systems. Norman Tebbit, after all, instructed the jobless to get on their bikes, not the train"

^This is bollocks, though.

But yes, it was a surprisingly decent article, and prompted me to read more about Copenhagen.

I don't know much about English politics and have no idea who Norman Tebbit was, but I don't see that being total bollocks. Perhaps assigning it to a particular political party or philosophy is silly, but I think many of us choose to cycle through an individualistic streak. I hate taking public transport and being limited due to engineering works, strikes and poor service. The bike allows me to do what I want, when I want.

My wife lived in Copenhagen for 3 years and cycled everywhere. It's the norm there. Even when we go to visit, all of her friends show up on bikes whether it's a fancy restaurant, a social dinner or just drinks at a bar.

disappointing that an otherwise encouraging article is full of misandrist bigotry

Mi Sandra's the blonde, I think...

I don't know much about English politics and have no idea who Norman Tebbit was, but I don't see that being total bollocks. Perhaps assigning it to a particular political party or philosophy is silly, but I think many of us choose to cycle through an individualistic streak. I hate taking public transport and being limited due to engineering works, strikes and poor service. The bike allows me to do what I want, when I want.

My wife lived in Copenhagen for 3 years and cycled everywhere. It's the norm there. Even when we go to visit, all of her friends show up on bikes whether it's a fancy restaurant, a social dinner or just drinks at a bar.
yeah, it's more the assigning of cycling to a particular political philosophy (and to Toryism of all of them). And in what sense, exactly, are bendy buses 'collectivist'?

I guess i didn't like the fact that a decent article was slightly let down by the journalists lazy attempt at shoe-horning in her own political prejudice.

Thanks for the link to Timesonline.

I guess i didn't like the fact that a decent article was slightly let down by the journalists lazy attempt at shoe-horning in her own political prejudice.

Fair enough; I think I know where you're coming from. Lazy and biased journalism is a pretty big annoyance to me as well.

Other than that, good read.

"Indeed, to cycle in Britain today you must embody Tory philosophy: be a rugged fearless individual, wholly responsible for your destiny, battling against the collectivism of bendy buses and the red tape of illogical one-way systems. Norman Tebbit, after all, instructed the jobless to get on their bikes, not the train"

^This is bollocks, though.

^Oh I don't know. it makes the whole thing sound a lot more exciting and romantic than it really is.
Bendy Buses are collectivist because a big collection of people ride on them. All going the same way. obvious innit.

I guess i didn't like the fact that a decent article was slightly let down by the journalists lazy attempt at shoe-horning in her own political prejudice.

Like you're doing, you mean?

The article was clearly written as an appeal to an incoming Tory government.

Oh I don't know about that

New Labour men never have really liked green politics and cycling. Its not macho enough and looks and sound like the 80's Loony left .

I don't think it's quite that simple - she used to be a Guardian journalist so is probably realistic about the future government but more resigned to it than anything else, but it's more a question of ideology - public transport is collectivist because it's provided by the state, the tories are (these days) (mostly) ideologically libertarian - they believe the person should be big and the state should be small. Cycling is (arguably) the perfect embodiment of that.

Yes, very good article though.

^Oh I don't know. it makes the whole thing sound a lot more exciting and romantic than it really is.
Bendy Buses are collectivist because a big collection of people ride on them. All going the same way. obvious innit.

Like you're doing, you mean?

The article was clearly written as an appeal to an incoming Tory government.

I forgot I was reading a Times article until this:

"those countries have always cycled, just like their women have never shaved their armpits"

quality