Dubious Data

 

Created by: ClinicalPsychology.net

 

Interesting graphic from www.clinicalpsychology.net.

 

Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry, Dead Lorry

A bogus article in The Guardian about getting cyclists to sit in a lorry cab, to better understand the hard life of a lorry driver in seeing cyclists, and then putting lorry drivers on a saddle to see the world from a different viewpoint is the perfect journalistic conceit:

1. Repeat what someone told you without any conceptual questioning of the principles;
2. Secretly recognise that you will polarise views completely amongst your audience;
3. Stand back and admire your blooming comment/page view statistics as irate readers vent their spleens.

As I found myself thinking at the recent Cycling Embassy of Great Britian Policy Bash, there are generally not simple solutions to complex problems. However, media debate and politics is just not capable of the sustained and difficult thinking often required - I refer you to the idea of stripping Fred Goodwin of his knighthood, as a way of reforming the banking system. Not exactly Nietzsche is it.

What the cycling blog of a national newspaper should be doing is calling this kind of lazy thinking to account. Whilst there is not a simple solution to the lorry problem, there is a simple philosophical position one can adopt when considering the issue. If a lorry driver, despite being highly trained and not setting out to kill anyone, is capable of causing death and injury simply due to the poorly designed machine he is operating, then the machine is not fit for purpose. Dragging cyclists into the frame and demanding that they be aware of the blind spot of a lorry or suffer the consequences is dangerous, unhelpful and just about the most counter-productive thing to say if you want to be encouraging cycling.

Of all people, the cycling blog of The Guardian ought to be the ones pointing that out.

Cycling Embassy Policy Bash

I was fortunate to be able to spend the weekend in London, attending the first Cycling Embassy of Great Britain policy bash (#CEoGBBash on Twitter) where we discussed many and varied topics and covered a wide range of issues relating to our desire to see gold standard cycling infrastructure which will enable all sorts of people to take advantage of the simple wonder of riding a bike from here to there.

As well as the fascinating debates and conversations, it was also rewarding to be able to put faces to names, and associate those faces with twitter handles and blogs. It certainly is a powerful tool this interweb thingy, but never more so than when it is enabling people to get together in a room and make plans.

We began with a quick reminder of the Embassy tour of the Netherlands last year, when some lucky souls got the chance to sample this advanced cycling culture at first hand - surely something we wish many more policy makers and engineers from this country were able to do. Then, we began to set out the themes and key issues that would occupy us for the weekend. It was determined that we should break into two main groups, one looking at infrastructure issues and the other looking at policy matters. Each group was tasked with exploring the themes identified earlier and cross reporting after the regular discussion sessions. It is the aim that the written-up results of these discussions will find their way onto the Embassy Wiki shortly, for wider debate and consultation.

Highlights of the weekend for me were, in no particular order of importance, the inspitational summary of Embassy aims and ambitions for getting our message out there, delivered in style by Mark Ames of ibikelondon, and the eye-opening infrastructure design session that resulted in a phased proposal for creating separated cycling infrastructure around a typical UK roundabout. And of course the plenary session in the pub on Saturday night, where the real work was done.

However one idea really stood out for me, biased of course as I am, which is that design is the solution to so many questions - be it setting out a cycling network to inform decisions about what and where infrastructure is required or in understanding how spaces can be used or occupied. Making good design decisions and following a recognised process of carrying out your analysis, formulating a strategy, creating a concept and setting that within a framework which you rigourously test is such a strong approach and I am grateful for my architectural training which has equipped me to think in such a way.

I return to Cardiff tired but energised, thoughtful and re-enthused. I look forward to seeing some of the great ideas we had come to fruition and forsee a strengthening of networks and the relationships made.

Place, Place, Place

http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=xa-4c7bcffd59d6390d

Great post focussing on the idea that bikes are just one weapon in the peacemaking armoury.

Shiny Bike for a Bash

The Brompton got a polish this weekend, and some overdue oiling and easing. This is because it is going up to Town with me this weekend for a bit of a bash;

http://www.cycling-embassy.org.uk/news/%5Byyyy%5D/%5Bmm%5D/%5Bdd%5D/policy-bash-and-virtual-policy-bash

and for some old fashioned reason I felt it ought to look nice. Don't want to let the Embassy down.

The only downside here is that I bought some 3-in-1 oil , mostly for nostalgic reasons, only to be sorely let down when I realised it now comes in a plastic container, not a tin can as I remembered from my youth. So no nice "plink" noise when applying. Bah.

Good Work 2011

I have been impressed and humbled by the work done in the bloggersphere during 2011. There was some really fabulous and inspirational stuff created and disseminated during the course of last year.

First up in this quick summary of what interested in the past year, and already covered extensively elswhere, is the video below produced by the Dutch Cycling Embassy. It is enthusiastic, elegant, inspiring and really annoying that they get it and we don't.

Cycling For Everyone from Dutch Cycling Embassy on Vimeo.

Next on the wall of fame is the work done by the LCC in producing imagery of how Blackfriars could be if TfL weren't so intent on backing the wrong horse in the race for the future of London. The way that LCC have conducted this campaign is very interesting and the level of expertise that has been broguht to bear by an interest group is impressive. The positive aspect is the actually the positive nature of the campaign - promoting an idea rather than just levelling criticisms. I suspect this will create a new paradigm for cycling campaign groups.

There have been so many other fantastic moments - the ride in London of the 10 worst junctions for cyclists, Mikeal getting his cargo bike back (but then stolen again - what is the latest there?) and of course the inaugral Harris Hack in Cardiff, with more tweed on show than has been seen in South Wales for many a long year.

 

Harris Hackers Cutting a Dash at the National Museum





Trike-vertising

Bike advertising in Cardiff

I enjoyed seeing this fine advertising tricycle in the centre of Cardiff today, remininding me of the infinite variety of uses for this wonderful machine. Today a mobile advertising hoarding, tomorrow a mobile barbers (maybe).