Reading - the new cycling "city"

[Mr R@T \ -Lsqco]

Some good news - whilst Reading has always had a lot of cyclists (its a University town/city [1]) I
appear to be seeing *more* of them every day.

And bucking conventions as well - I have seen a 60 year old grandad on a BMX, and teenagers
on 'bents!

Alex

[1] The municipal authorities here are hell-bent on making this place a City, whether HM The Queen
"liketh it or no".

[Ian Walker]

On Wed, 19 Feb 2003 09:07:50 -0000, Mr R@t (2.3 zulu-alpha) [comms room 2]
<ratsnest23@sovtel.su> wrote:

> Some good news - whilst Reading has always had a lot of cyclists (its a University town/city [1])
> I appear to be seeing *more* of them every day.
>
> And bucking conventions as well - I have seen a 60 year old grandad on a BMX, and teenagers
> on 'bents!
>
> Alex
>
> [1] The municipal authorities here are hell-bent on making this place a City, whether HM The Queen
> "liketh it or no".
>

Shame our plans to move there fell through...

Still, it would be nice if the CTC or some other such body really did compile a league table of
cycling towns and cities. Seems nothing gets done without a league table these days, so it might act
as a spur to local authorities, esp. if the facilities were only rated by cyclists (i.e., crappy
cycle lanes wouldn't actually count)

Ian

--
Ian Walker Remove the yummy paste in my address to reply. Homepage: http://www.drianwalker.com (http://www.drianwalker.com/)

[Simon Mason]

"Ian Walker" <i.walker@marmitebath.ac.uk> wrote in message news:oprkt5hd01lhb4wp@news.bath.ac.uk...

> Still, it would be nice if the CTC or some other such body really did compile a league table of
> cycling towns and cities.

It's from the 1991 census but here it is:

Districts with the highest and lowest proportions of residents cycling to work Rank District
Proportion

1 Cambridge 28.2 2 York 19.0 3 Oxford 17.4 4 Boston 15.5 5 Gosport 15.1 6 Kingston upon Hull 14.1 7
Waveney 12.5 8 Crewe & Nantwich 11.9 9 S****horpe 11.7 10 Peterborough 11.4 11 Great Grimsby 10.8 12
Hereford 10.7 13 Boothferry 10.6 14 Ryedale 10.4 15 Norwich 10.3 16 Fenland 10.2 17 South Holland
9.9 18 Barrow-in-Furness 9.7 19 Cheltenham 9.3 20 Portsmouth 9.2 Source: 1991 Census, ONS
--
Simon Mason Anlaby East Yorkshire. 53°44'N 0°26'W http://www.simonmason.karoo.net (http://www.simonmason.karoo.net/)

[Ian Walker]

On Wed, 19 Feb 2003 10:44:06 -0000, Simon Mason <simon@simonmason.karoo.co.uk> wrote:

>
> "Ian Walker" <i.walker@marmitebath.ac.uk> wrote in message
> news:oprkt5hd01lhb4wp@news.bath.ac.uk...
>
>> Still, it would be nice if the CTC or some other such body really did compile a league table of
>> cycling towns and cities.
>
> It's from the 1991 census but here it is:
>
> Districts with the highest and lowest proportions of residents cycling to work Rank District
> Proportion
>
> 1 Cambridge 28.2 2 York 19.0 3 Oxford 17.4

Simon,

Thanks for that - interesting (and surprising in places too). However, I was thinking more of rating
the towns on how good they were for cyclists and what facilities were provided, rather than simply
how many people cycle (which will be confounded by issues such as land flatness, existence of good
LBS's etc.)

Ian

--
Ian Walker Remove the yummy paste in my address to reply. Homepage: http://www.drianwalker.com (http://www.drianwalker.com/)

[Simon Mason]

"Ian Walker" <i.walker@marmitebath.ac.uk> wrote in message news:oprkt9m2trlhb4wp@news.bath.ac.uk...
However, I
> was thinking more of rating the towns on how good they were for cyclists and what facilities were
> provided,

Well, that's more contentious. Most people on this group (not me incidentally) would say the *worst*
councils install the most cycle lanes, traffic calming measures etc.
--
Simon Mason Anlaby East Yorkshire. 53°44'N 0°26'W http://www.simonmason.karoo.net (http://www.simonmason.karoo.net/)

[Ian Walker]

On Wed, 19 Feb 2003 11:38:45 -0000, Simon Mason <simon@simonmason.karoo.co.uk> wrote:

>
> "Ian Walker" <i.walker@marmitebath.ac.uk> wrote in message
> news:oprkt9m2trlhb4wp@news.bath.ac.uk... However, I
>> was thinking more of rating the towns on how good they were for cyclists and what facilities were
>> provided,
>
> Well, that's more contentious. Most people on this group (not me incidentally) would say the
> *worst* councils install the most cycle lanes, traffic calming measures etc.
> --

Yes, that's what I said in my first post - judged by cyclists to exclude any measures we
thought useless.

--
Ian Walker Remove the yummy paste in my address to reply. Homepage: http://www.drianwalker.com (http://www.drianwalker.com/)

[Jeremy Parker]

Ian Walker says:

> Still, it would be nice if the CTC or some other such body really did compile a league table of
> cycling towns and cities. Seems nothing gets done without a league table these days, so it might
> act as a spur to local authorities, esp. if the facilities were only rated by cyclists (i.e.,
> crappy cycle lanes wouldn't actually count)

Why shouldn't crappy lanes count, although not positively, of course.

Jeremy Parker

[Keith Wootten]

In message <HPH4a.557$tm1.17@newsfep1-gui.server.ntli.net>, "Mr R@t (2.3 zulu-alpha) [comms room 2]"
<ratsnest23@sovtel.su> writes
>Some good news - whilst Reading has always had a lot of cyclists (its a University town/city [1]) I
>appear to be seeing *more* of them every day.
>
>And bucking conventions as well - I have seen a 60 year old grandad on a BMX, and teenagers
>on 'bents!

But what proportion on the road? 25% is my guess, and that's the granddads as well as the
'irresponsible' youth.

Cheers
--
Keith Wootten

[Ian Walker]

On Wed, 19 Feb 2003 20:12:21 +0100, Jeremy Parker <JeremyParker@compuserve.com> wrote:

> Ian Walker says:
>
>> Still, it would be nice if the CTC or some other such body really did compile a league table of
>> cycling towns and cities. Seems nothing gets done without a league table these days, so it might
>> act as a spur to local authorities, esp. if the facilities were only rated by cyclists (i.e.,
>> crappy cycle lanes wouldn't actually count)
>
> Why shouldn't crappy lanes count, although not positively, of course.
>
> Jeremy Parker
>

Good point. If so, BANES council would score -5000 points for one cycle lane in particular. It takes
you round a sharp corner straight into the back of a parked car, as the cycle lane immediately goes
across a (heavily used) parking space.

Ian

--
Ian Walker Remove the yummy paste in my address to reply. Homepage: http://www.drianwalker.com (http://www.drianwalker.com/)