Boots & Spurs
ASSOCIATION OF CYCLE TRADERS EVENT
Have you ever thought of campaigning for better cycling facilities – Andrew Livesey of London Clarion has got stuck in. There are campaign groups all around the country. Find one near you and get banging the drum for safer roads and better cycle paths. Tell us how you get on in the next issue.
J
ust before Christmas, I was invited to what was to be the first Cycle Showcase Event at the House of Commons. It was subsequently cancelled first because of the general election then the COVID-19 situation. However, it is still on the agenda and will probably happen after the summer recess. The significance of this is that all the political parties are discussing cycling as a serious method of transport. If you are a member of the older generation, you will remember that cycling to work was quite normal, indeed as a keen club cyclist you probably do this now. The situation is that cycling to work now is not as easy as it was; but I’m sure that there are many readers of this magazine that can make suitable suggestions for making commuter cycling easier. I’m personally offering a prize for the best suggestion, dealing with the any of the following points: • 20,000 bicycles are stolen in London every year, cycle theft is a problem across the country too. • Since the 1950s we have moved to homes further and further from work, a forty-mile each way commute is now common. • As a cyclist you are very vulnerable on any road; trucks weighing over
40-tonnes and £1,000 cars capable of 150 mph being driven by teenagers worry me. • Bad road conditions, pot-holes and those silly traffic calming things that squash you into a narrow space with whatever is coming towards you at breakneck speeds. • Worst of all, in my opinion is the attitude, not just of motorists; but of many others, people being anticyclist, shouting insults from the pavement – I just don’t understand that one – it’s a sort of racism in my view. Of course, there are lots of other hazards and problems, please write in and tell us your thoughts, your suggestions. It’s worth looking at the Association of Cycle Traders website - www.cycleassociation. uk/ it contains lots of useful information and a good jobs board if you are seeking a job in the cycle industry. Andrew Livesey London Clarion CC Competition entry and comments to the editor via the Boots and Spurs email address which can be found at the foot of the Editorial
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