Hovis Freewheel thoughts

Roger Burton West said:

At London Bridge, at least, they didn't even _try_ to check for bibs. I
put mine on a little way down the course just to be polite.

Average riding speed was about 8.5-9mph. Lots of very erratic riders
(mostly but not exclusively children). Fair enough; I only saw one
pileup, and it wasn't severe (no blood).

Very crowded round the Buckingham Palace end of the course, caused
mostly by the marshalls letting people across the road. This was of
course necessary, but it made for very big jams of cyclists. Can't see
an easy way to fix this, if you can't get a full road closure.

Free water (and bottles) from Thames Water - very smart move. Free
sandwiches were out of a fridge but very low in salt, and they ran out
of the bacon ones quite early. The "festival" was basically a bunch of
trade-stand tents and a few BMX demos. Some effort to get people to ride
to work, give up cars, etc., but it didn't seem to be making much
impression on the punters.

About 40-50% h*lm*t use, for those keeping track.

R

I took the 12 YO and he now hopes to attend next year.

Result as far as I am concerned!

Felix

--
Felix

Roger Burton West roger said:

Very crowded round the Buckingham Palace end of the course, caused
mostly by the marshalls letting people across the road. This was of
course necessary, but it made for very big jams of cyclists. Can't see
an easy way to fix this, if you can't get a full road closure.

Would the way they do it at the London Marathon work for bikes ?
They build larger central reservations in the middle of the road (so
that there is a pen that holds a larger number).
During the race they then have tapes running from this reservation
back out up the road with a marshal (or two) at the end of it. They
use the tape to divert runners to one side of the reservation (while
people cross over on the empty side of the road). After a while they
stop people crossing and then move the tape so that riders use both
sides. And then the tape is used to divert runners to the other side
and the reservation can be emptied/filled by people crossing.

Would bikes/riders be different ?

TimHenderson said:

Would the way they do it at the London Marathon work for bikes ?

Might well. The biggest jams I saw were going along Horse Guards Road
up to the left turn into Great George Street, and I'm not sure it would
be wide enough. Definitely worth considering, though.

--
The bicycle has a soul. If you succeed to love it, it will give you
emotions that you will never forget.
-- Mario Cipollini

TimHenderson said:

Would the way they do it at the London Marathon work for bikes ?
They build larger central reservations in the middle of the road (so
that there is a pen that holds a larger number).
During the race they then have tapes running from this reservation
back out up the road with a marshal (or two) at the end of it. They
use the tape to divert runners to one side of the reservation (while
people cross over on the empty side of the road). After a while they
stop people crossing and then move the tape so that riders use both
sides. And then the tape is used to divert runners to the other side
and the reservation can be emptied/filled by people crossing.

Would bikes/riders be different ?

I think the main difference is that the Freewheel is running in both
directions. This would make the tape business a lot more fiddly.

--
Dave...

dkahn400 said:

I think the main difference is that the Freewheel is running in both
directions. This would make the tape business a lot more fiddly.

The slow crossings were actually mostly on the one-way sections.

--
The bicycle is just as good company as most husbands and, when it gets
old and shabby, a woman can dispose of it and get a new one without
shocking the entire community.
-- Ann Strong, Minneapolis Tribune, 1895

Roger Burton West said:

dkahn400 said:

I think the main difference is that the Freewheel is running in both
directions. This would make the tape business a lot more fiddly.

The slow crossings were actually mostly on the one-way sections.

Pedestrian bridges, like the ones built for the TdF Prologue would
have helped at the busy sections. However, I think the reason for the
delay around Buck Palace was mainly due to congestion to get into the
bike park.

On 24 Sep, 18:28, Tom Crispin <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Pedestrian bridges, like the ones built for the TdF Prologue would
have helped at the busy sections. However, I think the reason for the
delay around Buck Palace was mainly due to congestion to get into the
bike park.

Yes - I think quite a bit more thought needs to go into planning the
bike park, its layout and routes and links with the festival area.
Queues to get into the bike park did impact on the main route and
there was lots of conflict with pedestrians trying to get out of the
bike park pedestrian exit because the bicycles (needlessly) had to go
the same way to get to the separate bike exit as there were no breaks
in the endless cycle racks.

"Roger Burton West" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

At London Bridge, at least, they didn't even _try_ to check for bibs. I
put mine on a little way down the course just to be polite.

Guess what arrived on my doorstep this morning ....

On Mon, 24 Sep 2007 22:04:17 +0100, "elyob" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

"Roger Burton West" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

At London Bridge, at least, they didn't even _try_ to check for bibs. I
put mine on a little way down the course just to be polite.

Guess what arrived on my doorstep this morning ....

Five arrived at school. The four children I was personally
responsible towards were thrilled.

My partner and I had a great time. Didn't bother going through the
funnel, just bypassed it and joined all the other riders making their
way into central London.

I thought the helmet percentage was much higher 80% maybe.

Well done to the LCC.

LN

lardyninja said:

I thought the helmet percentage was much higher 80% maybe.

My impression too.

--
Dave...

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

My partner and I had a great time. Didn't bother going through the
funnel, just bypassed it and joined all the other riders making their
way into central London.

I thought the helmet percentage was much higher 80% maybe.

I checked on the photos I took of the crowds cycling along the
Embankment. 10-12% tops. Don't know where you would get 80% from.

--
Tony

" I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong."
Bertrand Russell

Tony Raven said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

My partner and I had a great time. Didn't bother going through the
funnel, just bypassed it and joined all the other riders making their
way into central London.

Quoted message said:

I thought the helmet percentage was much higher 80% maybe.

I checked on the photos I took of the crowds cycling along the
Embankment. 10-12% tops. Don't know where you would get 80% from.

I didn't conduct a poll it was just an impression I got being in a
small minority. The crowd shots on the official website seem to give
that impression too.

LN

lardyninja said:

I didn't conduct a poll it was just an impression I got being in a
small minority.

It may well be that we all got different impressions simply because we
were travelling among different sets of people...

Quoted message said:

The crowd shots on the official website seem to give
that impression too.

The official web site had already taken a pro-helmet stance, though, so
it's unlikely that those are random samples.

R

--
Ever bike? Now that's something that makes life worth living!
-- Jack London

Roger Burton West roger said:

The official web site had already taken a pro-helmet stance, though, so
it's unlikely that those are random samples.

You're right it did, slightly. I hadn't noticed any mention of helmets
when going through it but a search reveals there are 2 pages
containing advice to wear a helmet. Fairly low key though.

--
Dave...

Roger Burton West said:

The official web site had already taken a pro-helmet stance, though, so
it's unlikely that those are random samples.

Some of my random photos here if anyone can be arsed to count the heads:

http://flickr.com/photos/drnoelkelly/sets/72157602124535046/

Noel

In article <[email hidden]>, 2007
@take.this.bit.off.lolith.net says...

Quoted message said:

Roger Burton West said:

The official web site had already taken a pro-helmet stance, though, so
it's unlikely that those are random samples.

Some of my random photos here if anyone can be arsed to count the heads:

http://flickr.com/photos/drnoelkelly/sets/72157602124535046/

Multiple pictures of the same three people don't count even if only 33%
of them are wearing helmets ;-) But
http://flickr.com/photos/drnoelkelly/1429499084/in/set-
72157602124535046/
is much more like my photos while
http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=1429502462&context=set-
72157602124535046&size=l
shows you can go over the bars sans helmet without having your head
smashed in.

--
Tony

" I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong."
Bertrand Russell

And how many handlebars sprouting frilly coloured paper did people
see ?

I think I saw four amongst the hundreds of bikes I saw all day.

And as I munched my Hovis at the back of their tent I was a bit
disconcerted by the family next to me in strange Wild West gear until
I remembered the exhortations.....

TimHenderson said:

And how many handlebars sprouting frilly coloured paper did people
see ?
I think I saw four amongst the hundreds of bikes I saw all day.

None on the handlebars; two sets of flags hanging from top tubes (in the
same party).

Quoted message said:

And as I munched my Hovis at the back of their tent I was a bit
disconcerted by the family next to me in strange Wild West gear until
I remembered the exhortations.....

I brought along the Fireflute for the Upper Thames Street tunnel.

R

--
Ever bike? Now that's something that makes life worth living!
-- Jack London