Cycling & bikes - Thousands ride for safer streets in London, Edinburgh and Rome

Had a great day out at this event yesterday and was really impressed
at how many cyclists turned out and how happy they all looked, despite
the pouring rain. There were some really unusual machines on display
and it was great to see them on closed roads usually snarled up with
nose to tail traffic. I told Bertie that I could see why there is such
a problem for London cyclists - on many streets they are squashed into
the gutter,

On my commute across Kingston upon Hull I have whole wide lanes to
myself and many off road routes made from old rail lines which don't
seem to exist across London. Plus I can cycle along the Humber, but it
does not seem possible to cycle through central London along the
Thames either. It is a pity as I saw quite a few people wearing masks
as they are stuck with having to use heavily trafficked roads with no
low polluted alternatives.

Still, it was a good day out.

QUOTE:Thousands of Cyclists braved some challenging weather conditions
today to take to the streets campaigning for safer conditions for
cycling. In London, between 5,000 and 10,000 riders (depending on
whose figures you choose) braved heavy rain on the London Cycling
Campaign's Big Ride which was held on closed roads in the capital.
Further north, Pedal On Parliament organised a ride on a cold but dry
day in Edinburgh which attracted at least 2,000 cyclists. Meanwhile in
sunny Rome, as many as 50,000 took to the streets on two wheels.

The London ride was organised with the assistance of The Times
newspaper who have been spearheading the current Cyclesafe campaign.
The aim was to get the London Mayoral candidates to sign up to the
Love London, Go Dutch campaign which calls for continental-standard
cycling infrastructure in the capital. All five main candidates have
now done so.

Feedback from the ride has been overwhelmingly positive, with many
people posting on twitter about their experiences. One of the most
poignant was from @citycyclists: "Woman on #TheBigRide hadn't cycled
for 56 years. First time she's felt safe enough. Much more of this
please. Should be Safe every day".

There was better weather in Rome and a huge turnout for the
Salvaiciclisti campaign's organised ride. The Italian campaign was
inspired by the Times one, with the two taking centre stage at the
Milan - San Remo earlier in the year

LCC chief executive Ashok Sinha, riding with his partner Lucy and
their children, said: “The Big Ride has been a spectacular success:
we’re incredibly grateful to the thousands who braved the very British
weather, and showed our politicians the amount of passion there is for
safer cycling in the capital and beyond." Certainly today's events –
and the recent protests against Addison Lee – have shown that there's
a real depth of feeling in the capital that cycling should be higher
on the agenda, not only from committed cyclists who are ready to brave
the current conditions, but also from an increasing pool of Londoners
who maybe aren't cycling right now but would like better provision and
infrastructure.

“An extra special thanks must go to the hundreds of volunteers,
without whom we couldn’t have made the Big Ride happen," added Sinha.
“The five main mayoral candidates have all put their names to our Love
London, Go Dutch campaign, so now it’s time to see action and funding
that match the aspirations of London’s voters.” If nothing else, the
London ride will have shown that the safety of, and provision for,
cyclists is likely to be a key mayoral issue.

http://road.cc/content/news/57301-th...burgh-and-rome

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Simon Mason