Hire Bikes - They Democratise Cycling

The London Hire Bike Scheme seems to be changing the culture on the roads of the capital.

You used to only see this sort of thing in places like Amsterdam...



But now everyday people in everyday clothes are seen taking to London's streets on two wheels.



Even the black cabs seem to be taking more care these days, after all one never knows if that is your boss cycling to work.



I was only wandering round for a couple of hours but cycling seems to becoming quite cool in some parts of London.



Now that's what I call a cycling hat :)

However, the issue is, would a scheme like this work in Manchester?

I think it could, but a scheme like this costs a lot of money to make a success of it. A major sponsor is needed with deep pockets and an image to promote..... It would be really cool if the Coop Bank were up for it!

Irwell River Path Gates - locked again

The gates on the Irwell River Path have been locked all day today. Strangely it was only the set under the Trafford Road bridge, as if the gates further down have not been locked overnight.

If this is the case then it is totally pointless locking the gates at all.



Around a quarter to nine this morning...



and six this evening.

I have been informed that Quaywatch manage the gated access along the Ordsall stretch on behalf of Salford City Council. It looks like they are failing to do their job properly.

These gates should be removed, as the cycle path should be available 24 hours a day. This is not the first time this has happened.


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August Critical Mass

Bit damp this month, most people were wearing coats or waterproofs, and apart from this photo at the start my camera stayed in a dry pocket.



However, the mood was surprisingly good despite the disappointing weather.

For everyone who came up and asked what the music was - it was an all female line up of voices, mostly remixed. As far as I can remember the tracks were...

Three from Mari Boine's album Idjagieas, including Vuoi Vuoi Mu. Two from Martyn Bennett's final album, Grit. Move sung by Sheila Stewart and Nae Regrets featuring the voices of Annie Watkins and Edith Piaf. Three from Peggy Seeger off the Broadcaster album Folksploitation - take a look at the video for First Time Ever. Tom's Diner by DNA featuring Suzanne Vega off Tom's Album and a couple off Mari Boine's Remixed album.

Then the song I got asked about several times was Bonny Bunch of Roses off Ragged Kingdom by June Tabor and the Oysterband followed by Barbara Dickson, Witch of the Westmerlands off Time & Tide.



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Update - just found this video of the ride...

Pedal Power at Pride

Looking at the floats lining up in Liverpool Road I only found one pedal powered participant.



I like the fact that there's a fire extinguisher on board, was someone not confident of the state of their wiring...



Sadly all the other floats on wheels were lorries or cars.

Irwell River Path - complaints work!

This morning my ride to work was interrupted by two pink & yellow vehicles in the cycle lane and on the pavement.



As soon as I got level with them I realised that there may have been progress on the path maintenance.



Sure enough, down under the bridge was a little pink street cleaning machine and several operatives dressed in yellow trying to remove the silt from the Irwell River Path.



By the time I returned in the evening the vast majority of the silt had been removed and the path was left with just a thin layer of sand...



There were patches that had been missed.





With piles of sand in the corners.



However, the vast majority of the silt had been removed.



And the look of the path has been considerably improved.



This has taken two emails and two blog posts with pictures, but it just goes to show that suitably targeted complaints do work, so get complaining about problems in your area!!

Irwell River Path - where is the path maintenance?

Well over a month ago I reported the coating of mud and silt on the Irwell River Path to several officers at Salford Council.

Over a month later I emailed them again to ask why they had done nothing about it....

I won't publish the embarasing email chain on this blog, but needless to say there has been no work done at all here, despite what some might claim.



Whilst some of the finer silts have been blown away by the wind, the mud still remains in many places.



On a wet morning the mix of fine sant and mud sticks to the bike and provides a nasty grinding paste for your brakes to eat into your wheel rims. It also sticks to the inside of mudguards and generally gets everywhere, no doubt shortening the life of various bike components.



Further along even this patch of crap has yet to wash away in the rain.



However, it's not the only part of the path that is being neglected.

All that gardening work earlier in the year that involved the closure of the path? Nothing but a patch of weeds.



A bit further west, mind how you go as the railings have gone...



All this work on the Irwell River Park seems to be going to waste. It seems to be easy to gain capital grants for major pieces of work. However, once that initial work is done there seems to be no money to carry out routine path maintenance.

This is not just a problem with the Irwell River Park. The Trans Pennine Trail is nothing but a muddy track in places, only suitable for mountain bikes. Maintenance is a serious problem for the National Cycle Network and other bike routes. I will post more about other routes in the coming weeks.

Fallowfield Loop - Broom Lane Bridge Puddle...

If you ever find yourself faced with this puddle under the Broom Lane Bridge on the Fallowfield Loop, then think twice before cycling through.

I discovered that this is a lot deeper than it looks. The tide marks on my bike showed that this was around 50cm deep, once I'd cycled through it.



From the other side it looked a lot less inviting.



The shoes took a whole day to dry out...


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