In message <
[email protected]>
"Ara" <
[email protected]> wrote:
[snip]
> I have never claimed that riding in a primary position
> is unorthodox (READ WHAT I WROTE, as you might say in
> your weird ranty way). I am saying that you might be doing
> something (else) that *is* unorthodox. It seems like there
> should be some explanation as to why you experience so
> much more harrasment than other reasonably fast cyclists
> who assume the primary riding position (like me, for
> example - I have been cycling in Cambridge for about 15
> years, bought a copy of Cyclecraft about 10 years ago
> and found that it chimed well with what I do anyway).
>
> Your experience of cycling is so far outside the norm that
> it is not likely to be explained by chance, so I am led to
> conclude that it is most likely to be because of something
> you are doing incorrectly. You are obviously not interested
> in exploring this possibility but maybe this is for the best,
> since it might not be physically possible for you to ride
> safely in traffic.
>
> Ara
>
I've been cycling in Cambridge since 1978. Until 1990 I worked on the
Addenbrookes site and lived in the center or north of the river. I
regularly commuted using Trumpington Street/Road, Long Road, or Hills
Road. I still occasionally go to the Addenbrookes site, but the
commuting experience is now very different.
My personal experience is that certain routes in Cambridge have become
far worse for commuting cyclists and that on some of these routes,
it is become more regular to experience conflict with drivers. I'd point
to Trumpington Street/Road, Long Road and also Milton Road as three
examples.
Travelling north on Trumpington Road it is no longer accepted by many
drivers that cyclists can use the road, yet it is impossible to ride on
the shared cycleway safely at the same speed that it used to be possible
to ride on the road before the "improvements". Travelling south on
trumpington road in the cycle lane within the bus lane, you will be
harassed by buses whenever they cannot move out into the second lane of
traffic to overtake. Similarly Long Road, where the dual use pavement is
appalling, yet many drivers don't accept your right to be on the road.
Milton Road is another example of how the traffic improvements have made
cycle commuting less safe.
What most of these "traffic improvements" have done is to put in
shared use pedestrian/cycle facilities that are possibly OK with regard
to leisure cycling at a slow speed, with frequent halts and
interruptions at numerous junctions and other hazards. But once you've
reduced the average speed of cycling to little more than that of a fast
walk, it seems to me that what you succeed in doing is offering cycling
as an alternative to walking, rather than what it should be, an
alternative to motorised transport.
There are still many routes where you won't encounter regular conflict
as a cyclist, but there are now some where it is much more frequent than
it used to be.
Mike
--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
<\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
"> || _`\<,_ |__\ \> | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"
