My last post, Cycling and the Media, focussed on some of the issues faced by the cycling community in the run up to the General Election. The election has been and gone and with a change of government many of those issues are unresolved. One pending development is a House of Lords debate on cycling safety issues scheduled to take place on September 12th. I fear the worst but I’m going to put that to one side and try to highlight some of the more positive aspects of cycling.
This article in cycling.uk gives us some facts and figures to back up their claims. For example, “Compared to commuting by car, cycling is associated with a lower chance of dying from cardiovascular disease (-24%) and cancer (-16%).
The above quotation, which comes from an article published in The Lancet, points us towards another benefit of cycling.
Cycling has the potential to reduce disease in the population and the consequence may be that financial savings can be made by the National Health Service.
“The NHS would save £250m a year if one in 10 journeys were made by bicycle, according to a study commissioned for a campaign for government to treat cycling more seriously.” The Guardian 10th Feb 2014
The Guardian article quoted above is referring to a 10-point manifesto produced by British Cycling called Time to Choose Cycling.
Will their Lordships read that manifesto as part of their preparation for next Thursday’s debate? I hope they will but I’m not optimistic.
I came across this blog post whilst looking at road.cc. I was drawn to it because the events described took place in a part of Northumberland which is only a few miles away from me and it seemed to be an appropriate follow up to my previous blog post. In my opinion it is well worth a read.
It has been a difficult time to be a cyclist over the last few weeks – more difficult than usual that is. Following a small number of unfortunate incidents involving cyclists and pedestrians certain sections of the media have mounted a prolonged campaign in which cyclists are vilified and demonised. Inevitably some politicians have joined in and moves are afoot to introduce legislation designed to punish cyclists.
A number of media outlets have a long and inglorious history in the way in which they deal with cyclists and cycling issues. One of the repeat offenders is the Daily Mail. Between April 2019 and March 2020 the Daily Mail had an average daily readership of approximately 2.18 million. Its website had more than 218 million unique visitors per month in 2020. Those figures are slightly out of date but the bottom line is that the contents of the Daily Mail are seen by a lot of people.
A flavour of the Mail’s approach to cycling issues can be gained by a simple Google search using ‘Daily Mail Cycling’ as the search criteria and setting the search time range to ‘past month’.
The results include these headlines:
The rise of deadly cyclists: Chilling number of pedestrians mowed down by reckless riders as Sir Iain Duncan Smith plans to close shocking legal loophole that allows bike users to speed with immunity.
Peter Hitchens: I’m a cyclist but I can’t stand them …… and now I fully expect that one of those hunched morons dressed as an insect in Lycra will one day kill me.
There were others of course but Daily Mail headlines could be considered as low hanging fruit.
By contrast, the Daily Telegraph has a much smaller circulation (360 345 in 2020) but is considered a quality newspaper and a bastion of the UK’s political right.
According to the Press Gazette half of The Telegraph readers in print and online identify as Conservative supporters, with the audience skewing older and male. Based on my research, Telegraph headline writers assume the readership consists of old, male, Conservative supporting cyclophobes. Using the same Google search technique described above, here is a selection of Daily Telegraph cycling headlines.
Force bikes to have number plates to stop dangerous cyclists.
Celia Walden: The law needs to catch up with rogue cyclists .
Dangerous cyclists are a lawless menace.
Cyclists who kill or injure pedestrians face harsher prison sentences.
Politics latest news: Cyclists who kill face life in prison.
Bereaved families demand new PM for tougher cycling laws.
52 mph in a 20 mph zone: How cyclists are turning UK roads into death traps.
The last headline (52 mph in a 20 mph zone) is particularly interesting. It has been ridiculed and refuted on a number of platforms (see here). It is interesting because perhaps it gives us a clue as to what is going on. There is a war going on and motorists are the unlucky victims apparently. Rishi Sunak has identified the problem and is firmly on the side of the persecuted motorist.
Given recent events that vow is probably null and void, at least as far as Rishi Sunak is concerned. Motorists are overtaxed and forever being burdened with unfair new rules and restrictions, or, even worse, marginalised in favour of cyclists. In this war motorists are the victims and cyclists are the villains.
Ultra Low Emission Zones (ULEZ), Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) and 20 mph speed limits are some of the weapons used in the war against motorists and for some, cycle lanes are the final insult.
Now we are in the run up to a General Election (Thursday 4th July 2024} it will be interesting to see how things pan out. It seems likely that the Criminal Justice Bill, which was to include new laws to prosecute dangerous cyclists, is to be shelved. Its future is uncertain. Philip Davies MP is attempting to breathe new life into the number plates for cyclists debate. insurance for cyclists was debated in the House of Lords, with Lord Hogan-Howe expressing his feelings about why it should be legislated. To be fair the Lords were far from enthusiastic. Reform UK, who would like to see themselves as a popular alternative to the Conservative Party, don’t seem to have any policies with regard to cycling (or anything else it seems) but might be tempted to think an anti-cycling stance will attract disgruntled Conservative voters. The signs aren’t good. In 2020 Nigel Farage wrote an article for the Daily Mail.
NIGEL FARAGE: Cyclists need to stop being so pious, pay road tax – and obey the rules like us motorists
Farage’s reference to Road Tax reminds me that there is an excellent website entitled cycling fallacies.com. which deals with a fairly long list of common myths about cycling.
The future? At one level. A few miles from me there is a cycling route under development. Inevitably there is a lot of disruption and inevitably there is a lot of opposition. Every two weeks or so I cycle around the area to see how things are going. Quite often I get shouted at, sworn at and abused by motorists. I don’t live in the area so I had no part in the consultation processes which preceded the cycle route development. I wasn’t able to vote for or against the councillors who made decisions about the cycle route because I don’t live in the area. I do ride a bike though so obviously I bear some responsibly for what is happening.
Never mind though. I enjoy riding my bike and I’ll continue to do so.
The prospect of “dangerous cycling” laws being introduced in the United Kingdom in the near future looks increasingly likely, Labour joining the Conservatives in committing to introduce stricter laws if they win the upcoming general election.
That’s a confusing title because I’ve never stopped riding my bike.
This is my Giant Defy which I bought on May 29th 2020. My first ride was from Edinburgh Cycles in Newcastle to home. Since then I’ve done 332 rides and covered a distance of 9 069 miles.
When I retired in 2009 I began to take my casual interest in cycling a little more seriously. My retirement present was a bicycle, a fairly basic and inexpensive hybrid. My home in South East Northumberland is surrounded by an extensive network of off-road tracks and trails, an unexpected consequence of the long gone mining industry. Waggonways, formerly used to transport coal to the staithes at the rivers Tyne and Blyth, became excellent cycle routes I upgraded my budget hybrid to a series of MTBs, eventually buying a Whyte 529 on which I rode over 15 000 miles. Some of the earlier posts in this blog describe how I cycled some of those miles. As the years (and the miles) passed I came to realise that I needed a different challenge. Road cycling seemed to be the next step in my cycling career. Two things pushed me in that direction: Covid and lockdown. Lockdown was imposed on March 23rd 2020. Social mixing was discouraged but physical exercise was encouraged. In my situation that meant that the off road tracks and trails became very crowded with walkers, joggers and cyclists. Suddenly they weren’t the attraction they had been previously. Conversely the roads which I’d avoided were deserted were devoid of traffic and a pleasure to cycle along. As a bonus, the weather was excellent, dry and warm, and perfect for cycling. Another bonus was the money accumulating in my bank account. Bars and restaurants were closed so opportunities to spend money were greatly reduced. There was an obvious way to deal with all these issues – buy a road bike which was what I did. I wasn’t alone in thinking that cycling was the ideal way of coping with lockdown. Bike shops were enjoying record sales.
I almost got the next step wrong. I hesitated and vacillated about what to get and how much to spend. I eventually decided that the Giant Defy was the bike for me. My timing was just about right. I had to wait three weeks for the delivery of the bike. If I’d delayed much longer I’d have waited months or possible years for the delivery of a new bike.
The Defy was delivered on May 29th and I collected it from the shop in Newcastle and cycled home. I was in love with the bike then and now, four years later, I’m still in love with bike.
Seaton Sluice Backpedalers 