Shoot me..

Went to a meeting last night, in my CTC capacity.

Basically, various men in suits from Highways Agency and consultants to HA gave short presentations
on what is planned and not planned for the A47/A12 from Peterborough to Lowestoft over the next 3,
10 and 30 years.

All concerned listening - parish councillors, district councillors, county councillors, council
officers from various councils + yours truly and spouse alongseem to feel a right pig's ear is being
made of it. The A47 is going to be *hell* for *all* road users!

I wrote down some quotes from the various speakers, one of which was along the lines of 'what we
mean by road users are motorists' and 'minimum inconvenience to drivers'. Hmm.. full account taken
of vulnerable road users then!

Vernon & I raised two main points;

1. Lack of any mention in any of the presentations about considering the issues and problems faced
by vulnerable road users. Even the new head of planning & tranportation of Norfolk County Council
nodded in agreement to this!

2. Areas of conflict between HA plans for the road and local authority initiatives to get kids out
of cars and either cycling or walking to school - the A47 cuts through communities, where home on
one side of road, and school on other - gave real life example where to either cycle or walk to
school, kids wither have to go along a country lane (C class) that has been designated an HGV
route with no footpaths or cycle safety facilities, or cross the A47 where there is no safe
crossing point and it is three carriage lanes wide on a bend and a slope and no footpath etc.,

One guy (HA consultant) actually said publically that he had heard from some cyclists that they
refuse to use parts of the A47 now as it is simply too dangerous. I also know this to be true (A47
danger bit).

Vernon I did our bit by cycling there & back. Vernon actually cycled the A47 and was, ahem, educated
by the experience. I did the backroads and, although these are not too bad, they are narrow country
lanes with drivers doing 60+ in the effort to get home from work. Interesting

Cycling back in the pitch dark was interesting - came the back roads - as quieter than the A47
late at night, but *no* lighting. My super-duper Smart lighting went kaput. Being a boy scout in
a previous existance, I carry a spare light - but it is a basic British Standard front light.
Not exactly the best thing for cycling in the pitch dark - so slow & steady did it. At least the
rear ends of Vernon & I were well lit - I have three lights & Vernon two, plus were wore lots of
reflective stuff. Then my chain came off in the pitch black whilst going up the North face of
the Eiger.

It took me an hour to cycle to Swaffham along the undulating back roads but it took two hours to
cycle back in the dark :-(

If I ever suggest to anyone that I fancy doing a night time Audax, they have my permission to put me
up against a wall and shoot me ;-)

Cheers, helen s

p.s. I ache this morning. The headwind on the homeward journey + the effect of a laden bar bag on
steering gave me a really good upper body workout! I may be flabby, but boy, am I getting
fitter ;-)

~~~~~~~~~~
Flush out that intestinal parasite and/or the waste product before sending a reply!

Any speeliong mistake$ aR the resiult of my cats sitting on the keyboaRRRDdd
~~~~~~~~~~

 

wafflycathcsdirtycatlitter wrote:

> Cycling back in the pitch dark was interesting - came the back roads - as quieter than the A47
> late at night, but *no* lighting. My super-duper Smart lighting went kaput. Being a boy scout in a
> previous existance, I carry a spare light - but it is a basic British Standard front light. Not
> exactly the best thing for cycling in the pitch dark - so slow & steady did it.

Helen, kudos points for going and saying your bit at the meeting, but as far as the above goes I
think you may well be in need of signing up for the u.r.c Dynohub Fan Club (you know it makes sense,
and it'll cost less than a Trice!)... (My Smart 201s are currently gracing a friend's bike, and
she's very glad of them, but even though I got on fine with them and still use them every then and
now on the MTB I don't miss battery management and associated faffing at all.)

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email protected]
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

>Helen, kudos points for going and saying your bit at the meeting, but as far as the above goes I
>think you may well be in need of signing up for the u.r.c Dynohub Fan Club (you know it makes
>sense, and it'll cost less than a Trice!)...

Thank you. Funnily enough I kept thinking about dynamo lighting on the ride home ;-)

I still wonder if, as I don't do a lot of after dark cycling of any frequency or duration, whether I
can justify the expense. Is dynamo lighting as *bright* as the Smart lighting (when battery is not
buggered ...) as I do like just how bright the Smart lighting is.

Cheers, helen s

~~~~~~~~~~
Flush out that intestinal parasite and/or the waste product before sending a reply!

Any speeliong mistake$ aR the resiult of my cats sitting on the keyboaRRRDdd
~~~~~~~~~~

 

Thus spake [email protected] (wafflycathcsdirtycatlitter)

> Cycling back in the pitch dark was interesting - came the back roads - as quieter than the A47
> late at night, but *no* lighting. My super-duper Smart lighting went kaput. Being a boy scout in a
> previous existance,

> I carry a spare light - but it is a basic British Standard front light. Not exactly the best thing
> for cycling in the pitch dark - so slow & steady did it. At least the rear ends of Vernon & I were
> well lit - I have three lights & Vernon two, plus were wore lots of reflective stuff. Then my
> chain came off in the pitch black whilst going up the North face of the Eiger.

I have just suggested a head torch to someone In Another Place.

> It took me an hour to cycle to Swaffham along the undulating back roads but it took two hours to
> cycle back in the dark :-(

> If I ever suggest to anyone that I fancy doing a night time Audax, they have my permission to put
> me up against a wall and shoot me ;-)

Well, the Mildenhall Rally rides aren't to far from you, are they? Fixing punctures in the dark is
another facet of a cyclist's education...

--
Helen D. Vecht: [email protected] Edgware.

 

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

> Went to a meeting last night, in my CTC capacity.
>
> Basically, various men in suits from Highways Agency and consultants to HA gave short
> presentations on what is planned and not planned for the A47/A12 from Peterborough to Lowestoft
> over the next 3, 10 and 30 years.

One of the most annoying features of "improved" roads are these silly white lines 2 foot from the
edge which LOOK like cycle lanes, but contain cat eyes, drains, broken glass, large loose stones,
and no doubt motorists expect cyclists to use these lanes! Why not just have lines 6 inches from the
edge and save on tarmac?

 

"wafflycathcsdirtycatlitter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Went to a meeting last night, in my CTC capacity.

Well done -- your points are well made. Planners seem to have cyclists in a completely separate box
from road users. If they thought of the two together many of the worst nightmares could be avoided.

As it is they build a 'monster highway' and only then realise its a death trap for all not caged
(and some of them) so shuffle about trying to find a cut price method of putting a cycle track in
-- inevitably badly. Whereas if they thought of it at the start the cost would disappear into the
noise band.

As for lights -- grim!! But I switched to Smart souper-doupers because my dynamo 1. kept going on
the blink (well out actually) and 2. You need that sort of amount of light to make the bastards dip
their lights!!

Now the dynamo is in a draw where at least I'm not tempted to rely on it (note to self: it would be
better in the bin and a new one procured)

T

 

wafflycathcsdirtycatlitter wrote:

> I still wonder if, as I don't do a lot of after dark cycling of any frequency or duration, whether
> I can justify the expense. Is dynamo lighting as *bright* as the Smart lighting (when battery is
> not buggered ...) as I do like just how bright the Smart lighting is.

It's not as bright as both beams on together (I'm just blindly assuming you've got a 201 twin like I
have, apropos of it's the only one I know!), but it's substantially better than a vanilla BS lamp.
I've used my B&M Lumotec to guide me through completely unlit countryside quite a bit, and though
I'll apply the brakes a bit more on serious downhills, for typical riding I've been pleasantly
impressed at how bright it is.

For me, the best thing is you just don't have to consider lights any more: like on the car, they're
just *there*. There's also no worries about using it on darker days, in heavy rain, mist etc. when
you just want to be a bit more visible and hadn't really thought about bringing lamps along. I have
to use a switch on the Brompton's setup, but the sensor equipped rig on the 'bent just turns itself
on and off automagically, which I first thought of as a ridiculous gimmick first time I read about
it, but having been using it a couple of years really appreciate now (pop through an underpass, on
come the lights!).

When I bought the Streetmachine I posted here asking other owners what the no-brainer factory extras
were. Everyone said "the dynohub lights!", so I figured I may well have been wrong about dynamos all
these years and got them. It turned out I had been wrong about them all these years, and was so
impressed I got a SON for the Brompton too. Not cheap, but IMHO really worth it for not really
having to think about lights any more.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email protected]
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

"Adrian Boliston" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "wafflycathcsdirtycatlitter" <[email protected]> wrote in
message
> news:[email protected]...
>
> > Went to a meeting last night, in my CTC capacity.
> >
> > Basically, various men in suits from Highways Agency and consultants to
HA
> > gave short presentations on what is planned and not planned for the
A47/A12
> > from Peterborough to Lowestoft over the next 3, 10 and 30 years.
>
> One of the most annoying features of "improved" roads are these silly
white lines
> 2 foot from the edge which LOOK like cycle lanes, but contain cat eyes,
drains,
> broken glass, large loose stones, and no doubt motorists expect cyclists
to use
> these lanes! Why not just have lines 6 inches from the edge and save on
tarmac?
>
>
On my recent JOGLE trip <yawn>, I made use of these pseudo-cycle lanes on several occassions,
usually when I was on dual carriageways mascarading as motorways at really busy (but not congested)
times. There were times when I just couldn't make my mind up and I'd steer in / out of them. Not
quite frequently enough to be called weaving but probably a little disconcerting for approaching
motorists. Sometimes they were fairly clear and relatively useful. At other times, as you say, they
were full of hazards and merely distracted me from the beauty of the countryside around to the 10
metre tarmac gaze. cheers, Dave.

 

"Helen Deborah Vecht" <[email protected]> wrote in message <snip>
> Fixing punctures in the dark is another facet of a cyclist's education...
>
> --
> Helen D. Vecht: [email protected] Edgware.

I find it as difficult fixing punctures in noisy environments, i.e. lots of cars or a helicopter in
the case of Snowdon. Makes it difficult to hear the source of the leak. Always useful to have a
spare innertube, just replace then sort the puncture out at home in the warm, light and quiet, with
as cuppa to hand...much more civilised. ;-) cheers, Dave.

 

Peter Clinch <[email protected]> wrote:
>these years and got them. It turned out I had been wrong about them all these years, and was so
>impressed I got a SON for the Brompton too.

Do older Bromptons not have narrow front hubs, or did you have to kludge it on somehow?
--
David Damerell <[email protected]> Kill the tomato!

 

David Damerell wrote:

> Do older Bromptons not have narrow front hubs, or did you have to kludge it on somehow?

Mine's a Mk 3 and I did it the easy way: I said to Ben Cooper at Kinetics something like, "Can you
do me a SON for my Brompton", he said "yes", I went through with it and while he fitted it I played
on his various demonstrators!

IIRC he's done quite a few and I imagine he'd probably be happy to have a blether about what's
involved: [email protected]

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email protected]
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

Peter Clinch <[email protected]> wrote:
>David Damerell wrote:
>>Do older Bromptons not have narrow front hubs, or did you have to kludge it on somehow?
>Mine's a Mk 3 and I did it the easy way: I said to Ben Cooper at Kinetics something like, "Can you
>do me a SON for my Brompton", he said "yes", I went through with it and while he fitted it I played
>on his various demonstrators!

Ah, Google says he spreads the front forks. That seems a reasonable solution until the promised
BromSON appears.
--
David Damerell <[email protected]> Kill the tomato!

 

-)

~~~~~~~~~~
Flush out that intestinal parasite and/or the waste product before sending a reply!

Any speeliong mistake$ aR the resiult of my cats sitting on the keyboaRRRDdd
~~~~~~~~~~

 

>One of the most annoying features of "improved" roads are these silly white lines 2 foot from the
>edge which LOOK like cycle lanes, but contain cat eyes, drains, broken glass, large loose stones,
>and no doubt motorists expect cyclists to use these lanes! Why not just have lines 6 inches from
>the edge and save on tarmac?

Current A47 has those by us. Based on experience - cycle in them, and traffic does not give you
enough space when it passes alongside. Cycle outside of it and in the correct carriageway - you get
the room but also even more irate drivers.

Cheers, helen s

~~~~~~~~~~
Flush out that intestinal parasite and/or the waste product before sending a reply!

Any speeliong mistake$ aR the resiult of my cats sitting on the keyboaRRRDdd
~~~~~~~~~~

 

>Well done -- your points are well made. Planners seem to have cyclists in a completely separate box
>from road users. If they thought of the two together many of the worst nightmares could be avoided.

I thank you When I spoke I specifically said that although I was at the meeting as a cyclist, I
do also drive & walk.

>Whereas if they thought of it at the start the cost would disappear into the noise band.

Since when has UK transport planning been joined up thought? :-(

>As for lights -- grim!! But I switched to Smart souper-doupers because my dynamo 1. kept going on
>the blink (well out actually) and 2. You need that sort of amount of light to make the bastards dip
>their lights!!

I guess no system is perfect & always have some sort of back up for emergencies!

Cheers, helen s

~~~~~~~~~~
Flush out that intestinal parasite and/or the waste product before sending a reply!

Any speeliong mistake$ aR the resiult of my cats sitting on the keyboaRRRDdd
~~~~~~~~~~

 

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

> Current A47 has those by us. Based on experience - cycle in them, and traffic does not give you
> enough space when it passes alongside. Cycle outside of it and in the correct carriageway - you
> get the room but also even more irate drivers.

Most newer roads still leave plently of space for cars to overtake even if a cyclist is on the main
carriageway (to the right of the painted edge line), so I'm not sure what could cause them to be
"irate" unless they are annoyed we "don't pay road tax"?

 

"wafflycathcsdirtycatlitter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Since when has UK transport planning been joined up thought? :-(

Isambard Kingdom Mousetrouser is reputed to have synchronised the departure of his ships with the
arrival of his trains -- giving travellers the time to make the 'modal tansition' (in modern
consultant speak). Its just that, about 150 years later, this seems like a revolutionary concept (in
this country).

T

 

wafflycathcsdirtycatlitter wrote:

> If I *want* to do more night time riding (like, I go completely doolally in the brain cell
> department), I would have to consider dynamo lighting seriously.

Up here it gets dark by 4 in midwinter on a dull day, so it's not so much a case of *wanting* to
ride in the dark, but just needing lights to ride. But often it makes a useful difference for a
jaunt when the evenings get longer and you "accidentally" overstay in the last pub a bit or the
extra few miles you thought you'd tag on took longer than you thought etc. All those cases where in
the car you'd pop the lights on, because they're there, while on the bike you think, "yeah, I
*should* be alright, it's not *that* gloomy yet".

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email protected]
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

David Damerell wrote:

> Ah, Google says he spreads the front forks. That seems a reasonable solution until the promised
> BromSON appears.

Doesn't seem to have done mine any harm, judging from their refusal to collapse on several rather
impromptu MTBing excursions... ;-) Bike still folds fine etc. Only problem has been finding a
bracket for the lamp that fits under the Brom pannier while leaving enough room for standlight
condensors, but some creative work with a file on a cast alloy one designed for cantis seems to have
got it right, touchwood.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email protected]
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

wafflycathcsdirtycatlitter wrote:

> I still wonder if, as I don't do a lot of after dark cycling of any frequency or duration, whether
> I can justify the expense. Is dynamo lighting as *bright* as the Smart lighting (when battery is
> not buggered ...) as I do like just how bright the Smart lighting is.

Built some HardCore Lights (tm)

<http://alexpg.ath.cx:3353/lights/index.php>

Great fun to build, and they support Motorbike Emulation Mode (tm) as well which makes the evil rush
hour motorists scurry out of your way.

--

-Alex

----------------------------------
[email protected]

http://alexpg.ath.cx:3353/cycling.php http://www.westerleycycling.org.uk
----------------------------------