Thorn Cycles Forum

Community => Non-Thorn Related => Topic started by: jags on May 03, 2014, 09:22:00 PM

Title: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: jags on May 03, 2014, 09:22:00 PM
yeah my audax aint going to far either  ;D just around the country lanes of co louth .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29W4Ogl0YS4

one of my routes lovely.

jags.
Title: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: phopwood on May 04, 2014, 07:03:52 AM
Jags,

That's a nice part of the world you are very lucky to cycle there.

Peter
Title: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: jags on May 04, 2014, 11:10:41 AM
Cheers peter yeah its lovely i have a few  lovely routes,  i do my best to stay well away from the main roads drivers hear are feckin mental at times.
a lot of people compair one place with another i never do i appreciate whats around me in my eyes its all nice.and if the sun and wind is on my back  i'm in heaven ;)

jags.
Title: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: phopwood on May 04, 2014, 07:44:29 PM
Too right, one's man's local is another man's distant land.  The adventure for me is getting out and cycling.  I have a bunch of circular routes I cycle all, away from traffic.

That said I cycle in London every week just to add some extra adventure.

Peter.
Title: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: jags on May 04, 2014, 09:09:40 PM
i worked in london in the 80's i to cycled to work  ;D ;D
you learn plenty of new bike skills prety quick ;)
Title: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: alfie1952 on May 07, 2014, 08:55:23 PM
Hi Peter & Jags

If it's excitement you want, try cycling the new tram route in Edinburgh. If the trams won't get you ,I'm sure the tracks will, especially you Jags with the thinner road tyres. Quite a few accidents already and the trams don't start running fully until the end of this month.

Alfie
Title: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: phopwood on May 07, 2014, 09:19:19 PM
Have they finally finished the team route, how much over due is it.  It's funny you say this we were in Blackpool the other week and there was some joker cycling along the team route, when just a few yards away was a nice cycle path. But at least he was facing on coming trams.

Peter
Title: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: jags on May 07, 2014, 09:32:47 PM
no thanks alfie smooth tarmac when ever i can find some .


jags
Title: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: Donerol on May 07, 2014, 10:19:46 PM
Have they finally finished the team route, how much over due is it.  It's funny you say this we were in Blackpool the other week and there was some joker cycling along the team route, when just a few yards away was a nice cycle path. But at least he was facing on coming trams.

In Edinburgh they have cleverly combined the tramlines and the cycle path. It's better to ride in the same direction as the tram, though.

(http://files.stv.tv/imagebase/128/623x349/128783-new-lanes-princes-street-has-new-road-markings.jpg)

 ::)  ::)
Title: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: phopwood on May 07, 2014, 10:22:36 PM
Wow.  No further comment to make.

Peter
Title: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: Danneaux on May 07, 2014, 10:27:27 PM
Quote
In Edinburgh they have cleverly combined the tramlines and the cycle path.
Yikes!  :o  How could this possibly be a Good Idea?

Best,

Dan.
Title: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: jags on May 07, 2014, 11:13:43 PM
are they having a laugh. :o
Title: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: Andre Jute on May 08, 2014, 02:27:34 AM
 
It's a bicycle lane left over from penny-farthing days, before trams, just about when the so-called "safety bicycle" was coming in. Then they built the tram lines over the signage, and they have protected the script. English Heritage and the United Nations are working hard to have it declared a World Heritage Site.

Typical.
Title: Re: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: phopwood on May 08, 2014, 07:27:01 AM
Quote
It's a bicycle lane left over from penny-farthing days, before trams, just about when the so-called "safety bicycle" was coming in. Then they built the tram lines over the signage, and they have protected the script. English Heritage and the United Nations are working hard to have it declared a World Heritage Site.

Oh I will visit the sight to watch the reenactments of people falling off and then the after show of insurance claims.

Peter
Title: Re: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: John Saxby on May 08, 2014, 03:21:45 PM
Ummmm, maybe they sent a high-priced technical mission to Berlin to see how they do it there, only to learn later that the HPTM didn't quite get the sequence right:

Start with the boulevard divider in the middle: check

Tram tracks beside divider: check

Beside the tram tracks, a lane of motor traffic, maybe even two on the wide streets:  check

Then a bike lane beside the sidewalk:  "Whaaa? ... Dang!  What were we thinking??" (Heel of hand to forehead, hard.) "I knew there was something amiss.  Must've got lost in the translation somehow, from driving on the right to driving on the left... Ah well, what's done is done, & the cyclists will just have to compensate."
Title: Re: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: Andre Jute on May 08, 2014, 03:23:42 PM
Oh I will visit the sight to watch the reenactments of people falling off and then the after show of insurance claims.

You will be the first tourist at the sight. Boris (1) will be the FOR (first official rubbernecker); he will be green with envy at how modern Edinburgh is.

(1) For our American friends, Boris Johnson is the Mayor of London, the only entertaining British politician, and a notorious cyclist. He owns and rides a Pedersen.
Title: Re: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: Andre Jute on May 08, 2014, 03:27:19 PM
...a bike lane beside the sidewalk:  "Whaaa? ... Dang!  What were we thinking??" (Heel of hand to forehead, hard.) "I knew there was something amiss.  Must've got lost in the translation somehow, from driving on the right to driving on the left... Ah well, what's done is done, & the cyclists will just have to compensate."

"The motorists will help the cyclists assimilate the idea and adapt."

You're a card, John.
Title: Re: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: John Saxby on May 08, 2014, 03:29:37 PM
Quote
"The motorists will help the cyclists assimilate the idea and adapt."

Ja, & helped along by a friendly wave from the tram-drivers too, eh?
Title: Re: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: Andre Jute on May 08, 2014, 03:58:31 PM
Ja, & helped along by a friendly wave from the tram-drivers too, eh?

Just so, & Edinburgh will be the cynosure of cities worldwide for all the taxi drivers smiling and saying, "You first," to cyclists.

Have faith, man!
Title: Re: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: alfie1952 on May 08, 2014, 04:13:58 PM
Hi Peter,
 Now that Donerol was kind enough to post photographs, you are cordially invited along with jags to join me in a ride along Princes St during rush hour when the trams are fully functional.... Donerol and all others are also welcome.

Regards from bemused resident of Edinburgh, Alfie ??? ??? ???
Title: Re: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: Relayer on May 08, 2014, 04:48:04 PM
If cyclists can cope with trams and their tracks in Amsterdam, I can't see why Edinburgh cyclists should have a problem.

I'll be quite happy to cycle with the trams, and even if it did give me a problem I'd simply ride along with the cars, as I do on any other roads.

Jim ... Proud of Edinburgh.
Title: Re: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: Danneaux on May 08, 2014, 04:54:10 PM
Quote
If cyclists can cope with trams and their tracks in Amsterdam, I can't see why Edinburgh cyclists should have a problem.
You do raise a very good point, Jim, and one worth noting when I look at my local traffic stream: Trams run on rails, so are limited in where they can go. Cars, on the other hand, seem to go wherever, driven by human squirrels. I saw one coming the wrong way on the *sidewalk* yesterday. He didn't want to go 'round the block, so connected two adjacent driveways by the nearest possible means. Yikes.

Best,

Dan.
Title: Re: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: julk on May 08, 2014, 05:05:55 PM
I am going on the CTC Lothians Rally in a couple of weeks time, based in Edinburgh I wonder if we will be taken on a guided tour of the new cycle/tram tracks…
The trams start to run on the 31st May >:(
Title: Re: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: Relayer on May 08, 2014, 05:33:59 PM
Hi Julian

If the CTC don't go there, you can always join Critical Mass on the last Friday of the month! ;)

Jim
Title: Re: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: bobs on May 08, 2014, 06:22:00 PM
|Can't see why there would be a problem with the trams. Nearly every European city has some trams and a cyclist can travel along Princes Street just as fast as a tram.

Bob
Title: Re: A contrast in cycling routes
Post by: Donerol on May 08, 2014, 10:04:12 PM
If cyclists can cope with trams and their tracks in Amsterdam, I can't see why Edinburgh cyclists should have a problem.
But Amsterdam is much better designed for bikes - lots of segregated paths, and lights at junctions - and most Dutch drivers are also cyclists and are used to making allowances for them.

In Edinburgh you have quite a lot of aggressive drivers - taxis!! - who try and bully the cyclists. The advance stop box for cyclists is hardly ever observed, so it is difficult to get into the right lane and the right part of the lane if you have to worry about the tramlines as well.

And I can't imagine Amsterdam allowing this kind of layout, where the tramline pulls into the kerb and the traffic lane crosses at a very narrow angle.
(http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/aE3W4kEBhuE/sddefault.jpg)

Although in this picture an escape route to the left is clear, it was often blocked by taxis illegally parked on the double yellow lines, forcing the cyclists to take a very dangerous route across the tramlines.  I believe there has been some improvement since.

It is not difficult to cross tramlines safely IF we are allowed to - but will the drivers learn to give us the time and space?

Ask yourself why British cities don't have as many cyclists as Amsterdam even when they don't have trams.