U
This time the call is not 'Don't cycle on the footway!' Instead it's
'Don't cycle on the road!...
Mallett on Sunday:
On yer bikes - but off the road, please
THE first indication of the season of rebirth is about to reveal itself
any weekend now. But it won't be the brave little crocus defying the
elements or the platoon of ducklings following mum across the lake.
This harbinger of things to come is clad in skin-tight Lycra with
streamlined headwear in fashionable back-to-front style and mounted on
two wheels.
Prepare to face the club cyclist, thighs bulging with toned muscle,
lean as a whippet, programmed to pump the pedals for as long as it
takes - and a menace to every motorist. You'll see 'em strung out along
the A6, the A505 and a score or more of other highways. They wobble and
waver and a line of them is harder to negotiate than the largest
juggernaut. Sorry to say this, lads, but cycling either for pleasure or
competition should be banned from major roads.
It is astonishing that such routes continue to be selected for club
outings. Get the Ordnance Survey out and make use of the country lanes.
Cars have no business there unless their drivers are either lost or
doolally and the air will be all the sweeter for the absence of exhaust
fumes. You might even be able to make a case for closing certain byways
to traffic for a couple of hours on a Sunday - even though you don't
pay a penny for riding on them. Failing that, there are plenty of
disused aerodromes around which Prescott hasn't yet got round to
commandeering for housing and lord knows how many thousands of acres of
MoD land lying idle. There couldn't be any more ruts, potholes and bear
traps on these sites than there are on the roads, in case you're
worried about smashing up your bikes.
Older residents of this area will remember racing bikes whizzing round
the lower sports ground at Wardown. The grass track could still prove a
greater test than any purpose-built velodrome and provide some
thundering good entertainment. The council might turn a bit funny,
though, because I seem to recall the terracing around the arena being
declared unsafe for spectators. According to the bureaucrats, it should
have fallen down around the time Harold Wilson became Prime Minister.
But it's still there and I'd risk it. Be nice to see the ground
offering regular attractions. Apart from spasmodic hockey and cricket,
it is unused - but don't tell Prescott.
Elsewhere, I'm sure Luton United would share their athletics track at
Stockwood with the wheelers. Any move to get 'em off the road is to be
encouraged and commended. As it is, they ride at their peril - as
horrifyingly demonstrated by the incident in Wales three weeks ago
which saw four fatalities in the course of a club run. Perhaps clubs
could be asked to engage in a voluntary ban. And this is one instance
where a bit more nannying wouldn't go amiss.
http://www.lsnmedia.co.uk/luton/page.html?pageID=26&storyID=38020
'Don't cycle on the road!...
Mallett on Sunday:
On yer bikes - but off the road, please
THE first indication of the season of rebirth is about to reveal itself
any weekend now. But it won't be the brave little crocus defying the
elements or the platoon of ducklings following mum across the lake.
This harbinger of things to come is clad in skin-tight Lycra with
streamlined headwear in fashionable back-to-front style and mounted on
two wheels.
Prepare to face the club cyclist, thighs bulging with toned muscle,
lean as a whippet, programmed to pump the pedals for as long as it
takes - and a menace to every motorist. You'll see 'em strung out along
the A6, the A505 and a score or more of other highways. They wobble and
waver and a line of them is harder to negotiate than the largest
juggernaut. Sorry to say this, lads, but cycling either for pleasure or
competition should be banned from major roads.
It is astonishing that such routes continue to be selected for club
outings. Get the Ordnance Survey out and make use of the country lanes.
Cars have no business there unless their drivers are either lost or
doolally and the air will be all the sweeter for the absence of exhaust
fumes. You might even be able to make a case for closing certain byways
to traffic for a couple of hours on a Sunday - even though you don't
pay a penny for riding on them. Failing that, there are plenty of
disused aerodromes around which Prescott hasn't yet got round to
commandeering for housing and lord knows how many thousands of acres of
MoD land lying idle. There couldn't be any more ruts, potholes and bear
traps on these sites than there are on the roads, in case you're
worried about smashing up your bikes.
Older residents of this area will remember racing bikes whizzing round
the lower sports ground at Wardown. The grass track could still prove a
greater test than any purpose-built velodrome and provide some
thundering good entertainment. The council might turn a bit funny,
though, because I seem to recall the terracing around the arena being
declared unsafe for spectators. According to the bureaucrats, it should
have fallen down around the time Harold Wilson became Prime Minister.
But it's still there and I'd risk it. Be nice to see the ground
offering regular attractions. Apart from spasmodic hockey and cricket,
it is unused - but don't tell Prescott.
Elsewhere, I'm sure Luton United would share their athletics track at
Stockwood with the wheelers. Any move to get 'em off the road is to be
encouraged and commended. As it is, they ride at their peril - as
horrifyingly demonstrated by the incident in Wales three weeks ago
which saw four fatalities in the course of a club run. Perhaps clubs
could be asked to engage in a voluntary ban. And this is one instance
where a bit more nannying wouldn't go amiss.
http://www.lsnmedia.co.uk/luton/page.html?pageID=26&storyID=38020
