T
Tom Crispin
Guest
I have been asked to write a book review for the National Association
for Environmental Education. Here it is. Constructive critisism is
welcome before I send it off. I expect the first paragraph will be
heavily editied or deleted altogether. Still, I've a point to make
about GSK.
CYCLING TO WORK - A beginner's guide
Rory McMullan; Green Books, Foxhole, Dartington, 2007
95 pages; ISBN 978-1-900322-12-6
75p - £4.95 depending on quantity purchased
Weird! In forty years of life and thirty-five as a cyclist not one
book titled "Cycling to Work" has been sent to me… And then, last
week, two arrived through my letter box on consecutive days, one from
the London Cycling Campaign and one from NAEE published at Foxhole, my
now defunct former school. Both books introduced me to the term BUG
(bicycle use group) and both books cite GlaxoSmithKline (the company
which fired my Chinese sister-in-law from their Shanghai offices for
becoming pregnant) as being an excellent company to work for if you
are a cyclist - a non-pregnant one, I assume.
Rory McMullan's book takes the reader through the thought process of
why you should cycle, breaking down the obstacles and barriers, before
taking you on a tour of a bike shop, explaining the bewildering array
of bikes you may encounter. He then discusses what clothing you might
need, which, if the photos, posted on the Internet, of the London
naked bike ride are to be believed, is not a lot. He then goes on to
talk helmets and bells and lights and locks and other bike bling.
There follows an excellent chapter on safety checks and safe riding
position (which is not hugging the kerb, but making sure you can see
and be seen), and then a handy chapter on bike maintenance. The
journey continues through a discussion of cycle friendly workplaces -
which provide showers and irons and may even give you £2 a day for not
using a parking space - before it concludes with a mention of the joys
of leisure cycling and a list of handy WWWs for you to tap into your
web browser should you not already have enough information to dust off
that bike of yours in the shed.
A very basic no nonsense guide, made from 93% recycled paper. Very
useful if you are, or are considering becoming, a new or returning
cyclist.
for Environmental Education. Here it is. Constructive critisism is
welcome before I send it off. I expect the first paragraph will be
heavily editied or deleted altogether. Still, I've a point to make
about GSK.
CYCLING TO WORK - A beginner's guide
Rory McMullan; Green Books, Foxhole, Dartington, 2007
95 pages; ISBN 978-1-900322-12-6
75p - £4.95 depending on quantity purchased
Weird! In forty years of life and thirty-five as a cyclist not one
book titled "Cycling to Work" has been sent to me… And then, last
week, two arrived through my letter box on consecutive days, one from
the London Cycling Campaign and one from NAEE published at Foxhole, my
now defunct former school. Both books introduced me to the term BUG
(bicycle use group) and both books cite GlaxoSmithKline (the company
which fired my Chinese sister-in-law from their Shanghai offices for
becoming pregnant) as being an excellent company to work for if you
are a cyclist - a non-pregnant one, I assume.
Rory McMullan's book takes the reader through the thought process of
why you should cycle, breaking down the obstacles and barriers, before
taking you on a tour of a bike shop, explaining the bewildering array
of bikes you may encounter. He then discusses what clothing you might
need, which, if the photos, posted on the Internet, of the London
naked bike ride are to be believed, is not a lot. He then goes on to
talk helmets and bells and lights and locks and other bike bling.
There follows an excellent chapter on safety checks and safe riding
position (which is not hugging the kerb, but making sure you can see
and be seen), and then a handy chapter on bike maintenance. The
journey continues through a discussion of cycle friendly workplaces -
which provide showers and irons and may even give you £2 a day for not
using a parking space - before it concludes with a mention of the joys
of leisure cycling and a list of handy WWWs for you to tap into your
web browser should you not already have enough information to dust off
that bike of yours in the shed.
A very basic no nonsense guide, made from 93% recycled paper. Very
useful if you are, or are considering becoming, a new or returning
cyclist.
. A punctuation expert may be along ina
