BBC wants stories

Text of a press release from the CTC:

The Beeb wants cyclists! January 16 2002

The BBC is producing a series of programmes on February 12 looking at the state of the transport
system in the UK.

Reporters are looking for cyclists from around the country who have interesting stories of their
experiences of travelling by cycle in rural and urban areas.

Is cycling in London or other cities a daily nightmare? How can we alleviate congestion? Are things
getting better or worse? What should the government be doing to meet the 2012 National Cycling
Strategy targets?

Please send your stories to [email protected]

 

"Orienteer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Text of a press release from the CTC:
>
> The Beeb wants cyclists! January 16 2002
>
> The BBC is producing a series of programmes on February 12 looking at the state of the transport
> system in the UK.
>
> Reporters are looking for cyclists from around the country who have interesting stories of their
> experiences of travelling by cycle in rural
and
> urban areas.

What exactly do they mean by stories? I never have anything interesting happen to me on my daily
commute and for that I count myself extremely fortunate and I sincerely hope I have lots more
uneventful rides in the future. Maybe thay should ask some of the people I see on my rides (no
lights, wearing black, etc) as I'm sure their journeys are a lot more exciting...

 

Orienteer wrote:
> The Beeb wants cyclists!

Here's what I sent:

I have heard a rumour that you are looking for cyclists with an interesting story to tell.

Sadly, I have to report that my story is entirely mundane: I get up in the morning, I hop on my
bike, I ride 7 1/2 miles to Henley, I work as an IT consultant, I hop back on my bike and I ride
home. For the most part the journey passes without incident in both directions.

I've tried to make it more interesting by buying a recumbent bicycle and riding down hills at
ludicrous speeds, but ultimately "cyclist rides to work, rides home, gets a bit damp because it
rained slightly" is hardly likely to make the Nine O'clock News. And I would be quite pleased if it
remained that way - cyclists who make the news tend not to live to enjoy the attention.

My whole family has taken up the challenge; during the spring and summer the boys and their Mum ride
the three and a bit miles to school along a narrow country road infested with man-eating 4x4's, but
happily the same dull result arises: family rides to school, rides home, no deaths or injuries
recorded. Thank God.

OK, I happen to think cycling is pretty special. For a start it's often quicker than when I used to
drive to Henley. On a good day I pass the same cars in the queue in Reading as I do in the queue in
Henley. And the time which I used to spend fuming in my car (can I call it a mobile death
greenhouse, as I do on Usenet? Is that naughty?) is now spent doing healthy exercise. I am a shade
over 6ft tall and used to weigh over 15 stone; I'm now about 13 stone and nearly 8" smaller in the
waist. I drink beer, eat pizza, and ride a bike.

I don't do it to save money, although of course you have to work hard not to. I saved the £2000 cost
of my new bike in a single year by selling the second car. This year is cash in the bank. I do it
for fun and for my health - cycling is also my favourite pastime; I have ridden from St Albans to
Reading in under two hours, and ridden a hundred miles in a day more than once. This is not
impressive, I'm not a racer, just a relatively fast "trundly tourist." I know people who've done the
Paris-Brest-Paris and London-Edinburgh audaxes, the longest schedules audax events in Europe, but
not me - 1,400km is a bit far for a weekend run, if you ask me.

And you know something? In just short of two years of daily cycling to work and back, I can only
recall a handful of times when riding has been unenjoyable. And sometimes it's fantastic. The joy of
riding in a summer thunderstorm stands out as one great moment, reaching 42mph down my favourite
short bit of hill is another. When was the last time you heard a driver come in and say "wow, that
was a great drive home!"

So I wish you good luck finding interesting cyclists, and I fervently hope that you don't make
cycling out to be some mad, dangerous, soggy, horrible activity. It's a great way to travel, and
regular cyclists live up to a decade longer than the average so it can't be that dengerous either.

--
Guy
===
I wonder if you wouldn't mind piecing out our imperfections with your thoughts; and while you're
about it perhaps you could think when we talk of bicycles, that you see them printing their proud
wheels i' the receiving earth; thanks awfully.

http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/09.shtml#103 http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/09.shtml#104

 

> Is cycling in London or other cities a daily nightmare? How can we alleviate congestion? Are
> things getting better or worse? What should the government be doing to meet the 2012 National
> Cycling Strategy targets?

Given the result of the 1996 national five year plan to double cycling - cycling in fact went down,
not up, and got a little bit more dangerous - perhaps the best way to help cycling would be to do
the opposite of what they did during those five years.

"When you are in a hole, the first rule is to stop digging."

Given that the reaction of the gov't's failure to double cycling is for them to announce that they
will use the same tactics to triple it instead, surely the most important thing to do is to break
the careers of anyone who has been involved with the project.

I suppose that it will cost about as much to scrub off all the bike lane paint as it did to put it
down in the first place, but it will be worth every penny.

Why should I want to relieve London's congestion? Congestion is the cyclists's friend

Jeremy Parker

 

"Orienteer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Text of a press release from the CTC:
>
> The Beeb wants cyclists! January 16 2002
>
> The BBC is producing a series of programmes on February 12 looking at the state of the transport
> system in the UK.
>
> Reporters are looking for cyclists from around the country who have interesting stories of their
> experiences of travelling by cycle in rural
and
> urban areas.
>
> Is cycling in London or other cities a daily nightmare?

No.

Next question.

 

"Fredster" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Orienteer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Text of a press release from the CTC:
> >
> > The Beeb wants cyclists! January 16 2002
> >
> > The BBC is producing a series of programmes on February 12 looking at
the
> > state of the transport system in the UK.
> >
> > Reporters are looking for cyclists from around the country who have interesting stories of their
> > experiences of travelling by cycle in rural
> and
> > urban areas.
>
> What exactly do they mean by stories? I never have anything interesting happen to me on my daily
> commute and for that I count myself extremely fortunate and I sincerely hope I have lots more
> uneventful rides in the future. Maybe thay should ask some of the people I see on my rides (no
> lights, wearing black, etc) as I'm sure their journeys are a lot more exciting...
>
>

I went for a cycle the other day, came across a garage sale, bought some books.

Will that do?

 

Jeremy Parker <[email protected]> wrote:

>
> Congestion is the cyclists's friend
>

I hate cycling with a blocked nose ;-)

Tony

http://www.raven-family.com

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place" George
Bernard Shaw.

 

"Jeremy Parker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> Why should I want to relieve London's congestion? Congestion is the cyclists's friend

Indeed. When colleagues tell me that the roads are chock full of traffic that particular evening, I
know my commute home is going to be even more rewarding.
--
Simon Mason Anlaby East Yorkshire. 53°44'N 0°26'W http://www.simonmason.karoo.net

 

Jeremy Parker wrote:

> Given that the reaction of the gov't's failure to double cycling is for them to announce that they
> will use the same tactics to triple it instead, surely the most important thing to do is to break
> the careers of anyone who has been involved with the project.

Closely followed by their legs - making them ride on a shared use path should do the trick

--
Guy
===
I wonder if you wouldn't mind piecing out our imperfections with your thoughts; and while you're
about it perhaps you could think when we talk of bicycles, that you see them printing their proud
wheels i' the receiving earth; thanks awfully.

http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/09.shtml#103 http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/09.shtml#104

 

Jeremy Parker <[email protected]> writes:

>> Is cycling in London or other cities a daily nightmare? How can we alleviate congestion? Are
>> things getting better or worse? What should the government be doing to meet the 2012 National
>> Cycling Strategy targets?

>Given the result of the 1996 national five year plan to double cycling - cycling in fact went down,
>not up, and got a little bit more dangerous - perhaps the best way to help cycling would be to do
>the opposite of what they did during those five years.

>"When you are in a hole, the first rule is to stop digging."

>Given that the reaction of the gov't's failure to double cycling is for them to announce that they
>will use the same tactics to triple it instead, surely the most important thing to do is to break
>the careers of anyone who has been involved with the project.

One of the symptoms of insanity is to keep doing what didn't work last time, in the hope that this
time it will work.
--
Chris Malcolm [email protected] +44 (0)131 650 3085 School of Artificial Intelligence, Division of
Informatics Edinburgh University, 5 Forrest Hill, Edinburgh, EH1 2QL, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/daidb/people/homes/cam/ ] DoD #205

 

"Simon Mason" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Jeremy Parker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >
> > Why should I want to relieve London's congestion? Congestion is the cyclists's friend
>
> Indeed. When colleagues tell me that the roads are chock full of traffic that particular evening,
> I know my commute home is going to be even more rewarding.

I guess you can sometimes get more slipstreaming effect once traffic slows from 35mph to 20-25mph,
but any slower than about 15mph and you can actually end up being slowed down a fair bit. Ducking &
diving between rows of 5mph crawling traffic is certainly not my idea of fun!

 

elyob wrote:
> "Fredster" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>"Orienteer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>news:[email protected]...
>>
>>>Text of a press release from the CTC:
>>>
>>>The Beeb wants cyclists! January 16 2002
>>>
>>>The BBC is producing a series of programmes on February 12 looking at
>>
> the
>
>>>state of the transport system in the UK.
>>>
>>>Reporters are looking for cyclists from around the country who have interesting stories of their
>>>experiences of travelling by cycle in rural
>>
>>and
>>
>>>urban areas.
>>
>>What exactly do they mean by stories? I never have anything interesting happen to me on my daily
>>commute and for that I count myself extremely fortunate and I sincerely hope I have lots more
>>uneventful rides in the future. Maybe thay should ask some of the people I see on my rides (no
>>lights, wearing black, etc) as I'm sure their journeys are a lot more exciting...
>>
>>
>
>
> I went for a cycle the other day, came across a garage sale, bought some books.
>
> Will that do?
>

Somehow I think they would much rather hear about a few scare stories rather than the overwhelming
majority of uneventful trips.

James

 

"Adrian Boliston" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

>
> I guess you can sometimes get more slipstreaming effect once traffic slows from 35mph to 20-25mph,
> but any slower than about 15mph and you can
actually
> end up being slowed down a fair bit. Ducking & diving between rows of
5mph
> crawling traffic is certainly not my idea of fun!

Yes, but at least you're actually moving and they're not (well barely). Simon.

 

On Sat, 18 Jan 2003 07:49:15 +0900, James Annan <[email protected]> wrote:

>Somehow I think they would much rather hear about a few scare stories rather than the overwhelming
>majority of uneventful trips.

I'd bet a fiver on it, except I haven't got a fiver because there was duty and VAT due on my parcel
from the USA this morning.

Guy
===
** WARNING ** This posting may contain traces of irony. http://www.chapmancentral.com (BT ADSL and
dynamic DNS permitting)
NOTE: BT Openworld have now blocked port 25 (without notice), so old mail addresses may no longer
work. Apologies.

 

Just zis Guy, you know? <[email protected]> wrote:
>I'd bet a fiver on it, except I haven't got a fiver because there was duty and VAT due on my parcel
>from the USA this morning.

Hah. My fresh Kool Stops arrived untouched... but they are the dual compounds, not the entirely
salmon as I asked for. Bother.
--
David Damerell <[email protected]> Kill the tomato!

 

"Simon Mason" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> Yes, but at least you're actually moving and they're not (well barely).

I guess there can sometimes be a sort of smug reward from the suffering of others.

 

"Adrian Boliston" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Simon Mason" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
> > Yes, but at least you're actually moving and they're not (well
barely).
>
> I guess there can sometimes be a sort of smug reward from the suffering of others.

There's an entire word for it - Schadenfreude.

cheers, clive

 

"Adrian Boliston" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Simon Mason" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
> > Yes, but at least you're actually moving and they're not (well
barely).
>
> I guess there can sometimes be a sort of smug reward from the suffering of others.

Yes, but the irony is, they think *we're* suffering. Simon

 

"elyob" <[email protected]> wrote:
( Iwent for a cycle the other day, came across a garage sale, bought some ) books.

It is a little advertised danger of cycling that it tends to increase the number of your books,
especially second-hand ones. Perhaps bicycle luggage capable of carrying books ought to come with a
health warning?

 

I was cycling to work last week, when I stopped off at the Newsagents. I've always fancied the girl
who works there. Well on this particular morning,....

Tim.