tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86662189227957545072024-03-12T22:27:47.135-07:00CountercyclicalUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger95125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-19628855051283591752020-09-30T08:18:00.005-07:002020-10-01T04:16:59.660-07:00Canal Entre Dux Mers Stage 8 - Port Lauragais to Carcassonne<p>I had decided that although the route continues all the way to the Mediterranean at Sète, I was going no further than Carcassonne, for a number of reasons - I didn't have time to go all the way; the towpath is reportedly unpaved after Port Lauragais and the popular guidebook by Declan Lyons rather sucks its teeth about the quality of the path; the canal becomes very sinuous so you ride a long way to make far less forward movement; there's an airport at Carcassonne with flights back to Stansted.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOEhhczxnxpI1kP3IgaB0ddPljy8b_9ni0RB3mGt0GE7M9_P-mj8KebORsqPlLgxG9Zq_sQHMGWCqaX3aa4cOI-cGSsqdYX66lR_0jBrkiOx_fq45YABH1Lr4K4GZuNpq-Ahp7oQKW_nFu/s876/Stage+8+Port+Lauragais+-+Carcassonne2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="876" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOEhhczxnxpI1kP3IgaB0ddPljy8b_9ni0RB3mGt0GE7M9_P-mj8KebORsqPlLgxG9Zq_sQHMGWCqaX3aa4cOI-cGSsqdYX66lR_0jBrkiOx_fq45YABH1Lr4K4GZuNpq-Ahp7oQKW_nFu/w640-h218/Stage+8+Port+Lauragais+-+Carcassonne2.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>I had a contingency plan so that if the towpath proved to be too slow or difficult, I could divert on to a minor road, the D33, which while it looks pretty boring to ride on would at least be quicker and more direct.<div><br /></div><div>As it happened, I didn't need to use it, although that is at least partly because the weather had been good and the path was accordingly largely dry and mud-free.</div><div><br /></div><div>To regain the towpath from the service area requires going back a little to the road bridge to cross to the other side of the canal, then turning right towards the east. For about a kilometre you retain the tarmac surface, but this comes to an abrupt end just after passing under the railway line, and gives way to a hard-packed dirt surface (when it's dry). Even on a Brompton though it proved rideable, albeit at a slower pace.</div><div><br /></div><div>You quickly come to the Seuil de Naurouze - the feeder system which supplies water to the canal from a lake up in the hills to the north, down "La Rigole du Canal Midi". (There is a bike path which follows this stream all the way up to Bassin de St Ferreol, the ultimate source of the canal's water. I didn't have time for it.) This marks the high point of the Canal du Midi, with the water descending in one direction to Toulouse and the other to the sea.</div><div><br /></div><div>The path is now all dirt or gravel, and varies considerably in quality. The very worst I experienced though was quite early on, about 2km immediately after the small hamlet of le Segala, where the path divided into two, either side of the line of plane trees, each 30-40cm wide dirt track etched into the grass. This was actually rideable, even on a Brompton, but to keep inside the narrow dirt path (where you could see any puncture hazards) and avoid frequent tree roots or stones required some deft steering and a leisurely pace. It soon gave way to a slightly broader path covered with chippings, perhaps 1 metre wide, and that in turn gave way to a wider still, perhaps 1.5m, of gravel, chippings or dirt.</div><div><br /></div><div>In fact, it seemed reasonably clear to me that most of the route needed to be passable in a motor vehicle, because most of the locks could only be accessed by the towpath and as the locks are electrically driven, the engineers from Voies Navigables de France (VNF) need access for their vans so they can attend to do repair work. Also of course they have to be accessible to heavier machinery which comes along to cut back vegetation and make repairs to the banks. So overall the route is fairly firm dirt or gravel and about 1.5-2m wide.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the dry: it is also pretty clear that the track could get muddy after rain, and it was not at all well drained, unlike the tarmac sections. Once or twice I had to skirt round the very edge of a path to avoid riding through puddles. However, I found that I could ride it comfortably at perhaps 20-25% slower than the tarmac sections so with a generous time allowance it was doable.</div><div><br /></div><div>There was one point, by the<span style="font-family: times;"> <span style="font-size: 11pt;">Écluse de Laurens which is a pretty spectacular three-chamber lock (see short video in link below) where the notorious French "Route </span></span>Barrée" signs and a high fence blocked access to the path. The reason was that some diseased plane trees were being felled up ahead - to contain the fungus which is killing the trees they burn the trees where they fall. They did however provide a reasonably clear deviation, which added perhaps 2km to the ride, and when I rejoined the towpath I was rewarded with a wide tarmac section (shared with canal management vehicles) for the res of the way into Castelnaudary.</div><div><br /></div><div>Castelnaudary is a nice small town with a large marina basin on the canal. It is famed for its cassoulet, a casserole of beans and tomatoes with Toulouse sausage, duck confit and belly pork, which contrives to make a substantial and flavoursome meal while using only a small amount of meat. We could learn something there.</div><div><br /></div><div>Continuing to the next small town, Bram, the path continued in the same vein - generally gravel or occasionally dirt, an occasional puddle to dodge, 1.5-2m wide, and a reasonably paced ride. Here there was a nice restaurant by the canal, L’Île des Oiseaux, whose patronne was an English lady.</div><div><br /></div><div>Onwards to Carcassonne in much the same vein, though the canal suddenly goes from being relatively straight to really rather sinuous, so you have to ride further to get each km close to the destination. Carcassonne itself is a charming town, though smaller than I had imagined, and it looks like its economy has suffered recently with a lot of the shops in the town centre being boarded up. Also I had pictured it as a turreted and walled medieval city - yes, but the "Cité<span style="text-align: center;">" is entirely separate from the modern town, which is neither next to it nor around it, but a good 20 minute walk away across the river. You can't even see the </span>Cité from inside the modern town because the modern buildings are in the way.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is quite a spectacular sight though, albeit a bit too much of a tourist trap for my taste. A kind of Mont St Michel with knobs on. At least there is no admission charge.</div><div><br /></div><div>Some geotagged snaps <a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/yEye55ovuYn62JTp8" target="_blank">here</a>.</div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><div><br /><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-84370633380928277112020-09-30T08:13:00.001-07:002020-09-30T08:13:28.080-07:00Canal Entre Deux Mers Stage 7 - Toulouse to Port Lauragais<p>The first part of the path along the Canal du Midi from Toulouse to Sète, on the Mediterranean coast. Also the only section of the Midi route so far to be tarmac surfaced.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAVN2bICzATnB7fMZu5uQWu7mGAmE2dvbifOgP2CBSvGgJyxfE4kTHWVu5xYe3jt3BvjMDxLjTs9Uh09c38NkrdevXWmxdyr_fJ8pp7MRGhyphenhyphenCw0iDH39y6mE-mB1iky0QJ_GiNnax_EmD4/s778/Stage+7+Toulouse+-+Port+Lauragais.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="546" data-original-width="778" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAVN2bICzATnB7fMZu5uQWu7mGAmE2dvbifOgP2CBSvGgJyxfE4kTHWVu5xYe3jt3BvjMDxLjTs9Uh09c38NkrdevXWmxdyr_fJ8pp7MRGhyphenhyphenCw0iDH39y6mE-mB1iky0QJ_GiNnax_EmD4/w400-h281/Stage+7+Toulouse+-+Port+Lauragais.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>The Canal du Midi starts were it connects to the Garonne canal at the Ponts Jumeaux in central Toulouse. The roads which run either side of the canal here are busy city streets with heavy motor traffic, but by crossing the road at a signalled crossing you can access the cycle path which runs directly beside the canal on the northern side, becoming the eastern side as the canal makes a right angle turn after a km or so.<div><br /></div><div>There aren't at this stage any signs for the Canal du Midi cycle path (and in fact there are none at all, anywhere on this route, advertising it as the<span style="font-family: times;"> <span style="font-size: 11pt;">Véloroute Entre 2 Mers) so you have to keep your eyes peeled for where you need to turn or change banks. I found that you stuck to the northern/eastern bank until you had passed just behind the main railway station and came to the Pont Riquet, where the road ahead appeared not to have a cycle path, so you cross the bridge to the south/west bank and can see a cycle path continuing ahead.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">You stay with the south/west bank for 3-4 km and shortly after passing under the flyover for the autoroute you cross again to the north/east bank, where you stay for the rest of the run down to Port Lauragais.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">It takes a while to get clear of the urban environment of Toulouse and while you're in it the cycle paths are very busy, with cyclists, walkers and joggers - and dogs. Most of the cyclists here are just commuting or going about their daily business, and they ride quite aggressively - I had a few occasions where I tested out my knowledge of French insults when cyclists close-passed me just as another cyclist or a walker was coming towards me from the other direction. As you get away from the city centre it gets more rural and the traffic on the path subsides. The path was however fairly well used by a mixture of day cyclists and tourers, all the way down to Port Lauragais and beyond.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">The path is not strictly speaking the canal towpath (where the heavy horses would have towed the barges from, before they were motorised) as it is for most of the length of the Garonne canal. You can see the towpath is still there but it is a rough, narrow footpath. The tarmac path sits slightly away from the bank, usually the wrong side of the trees to be a towpath, and in many places is also a minor access road for a handful of homes spaced out along the canal side. It is of almost universally good quality tarmac and typically 3-4 metres wide.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">The Autouroute des 2 Mers between Bordeaux and Narbonne is never very far away, running parallel to the canal to its north. You can almost always see it and sometimes it is literally just across the fence, but it doesn't really detract from the enjoyment of the route. There is also a railway line running from Toulouse to the coast via Carcassonne which runs just behind the autoroute and has small stations spaced out every handful of km along it. Trains seem quite frequent - I wouldn't be surprised if each halt is served at least once an hour.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Signage or any form of branding for the cycle route is now non-existent but it doesn't matter because it is pretty obvious where you need to go. As on the Garonne canal, there are no water fountains, but there are more frequent bench seats for a bit of a relax on your ride.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">I had hoped to stop for a drink at a canalside bar at the lock in MontGiscard - it features on Google Maps but there is no trace of it on the ground. There was however a bar and restaurant a bit further on, in the old lock keeper's cottage at the </span></span>Écluse de Gardouche. This is where I had my first encounter with two middle aged French couples I got chatting to.</div><div><br /></div><div>I met them again at a lock a little further on, chatting to some vacationers taking a boat through the lock. One of them raised an eyebrow at my ride, and broadly indicated she thought I must be "fou" to ride a city bike such a long way. I replied that it was quite feasible where the path was flat and tarmac surfaced, and she asked if I was English and where was I from. It turned out that she had in her youth worked as an au pair in Haslemere, for a family which is known to me. Small world.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then they went on again on their e-bikes. Not that I am jealous of course.</div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, to get to Port Lauragais where I was staying the night, I had to come off the path, cross a bridge and ride 500m or so to the Aire de repos. This was like no motorway service station I have ever seen before. It was formed around a canal port/marina which long predated it, and it was remarkably green and tranquil considering a motorway passed just a couple of hundred metres beside it. The hotel (Fasthôtel Avignonet-Lauragais) was basically a Travelodge, but it was the cheapest place I stayed at, one of the most comfortable, among the most peaceful - and it had a proper bath instead of just a shower, which was a real blessing for my achy legs! There was no restaurant but there was one on a separate site right next to the canal and marina, and for motorway service station catering, it was pretty damn good.</div><div><br /></div><div>Geotagged snaps <a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/v5VoBLnEW1e8ADeF7" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p><br /></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-7275690161643088232020-09-30T08:08:00.000-07:002020-09-30T08:08:12.648-07:00Canal Entre Deux Mers Stage 6 - Grisolles to Toulouse<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">From Grisolles, you can follow the canal towpath (27km, about 25m climb) all the way to the centre of Toulouse where the Canal de Garonne has its source, a short feeder canal from the Garonne river, and meets the Canal du Midi which heads out east from the city towards the Mediterranean. From there it is a short ride to points of interest in the centre.</span><br />
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">With a total distance to the heart of the old city of around 32km on substantially flat paths, I expect to have most of the day to explore the city.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKMEQAZv8CFQqFL_DwHz3C14d-DhsUIWQ8H6_X7c-ciZyj3x_-qOBbzPFDEjh0TAVacCmbxJg53aof_Gzw22eJejaEz5MwEUYtrO-I24m9JwEgd-RW54kPHvTSZsZU9llg_I3UH5akNPZR/s1600/Stage+6.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="569" data-original-width="462" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKMEQAZv8CFQqFL_DwHz3C14d-DhsUIWQ8H6_X7c-ciZyj3x_-qOBbzPFDEjh0TAVacCmbxJg53aof_Gzw22eJejaEz5MwEUYtrO-I24m9JwEgd-RW54kPHvTSZsZU9llg_I3UH5akNPZR/s320/Stage+6.png" width="259" /></a></div>
<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The towpath continues, as before, flat, about 2 metres wide, reasonable well maintained tarmac, and traffic-free. The landscape is now becoming noticeably more urban as you come into the greater Toulouse area. There are factories and industrial parks, and the railway line, on the eastern side of the canal, but the sense of tranquillity remains on the western side where the towpath runs. The route is substantially a straight line now all the way into Toulouse.</span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Shortly before reaching the centre you pass underneath an autoroute, and some 300 metres later the towpath appears to come to an end at </span>Écluse No 1, de Lalande. Normally you just ride straight past the locks but here there are clear signs "No unauthorised entry" and it looks fenced off at the other end. You appear to have two choices - turn right and follow a small road to rejoin the path on the west side of the canal about a kilometre further down, or turn left, cross the bridge and then turn right down a small side street which brings you after 100 metres or so back on to the towpath on the eastern side of the canal. I took the right, and it was a mistake - while the road/path were fine and rideable, they ran right along the edge of a very busy autoroute so were noisy and polluted. I could see the towpath across the canal, and most people using that. After a further 500 metres I was able to cross a bridge to rejoin the main path on the other side, and with the canal between me and the autoroute it was a more pleasant ride.</div><div><br /></div><div>This ends in a small residential street alongside the canal which emerges soon after at the Ponts Jumeaux, which is where the Garonne canal ends, and joins the beginning of the Canal du Midi. Here you are about a kilometre away, via the Canal de Brienne, from The Capitole city centre and Université de Toulouse 1 Capitole, the first of Toulouse's three universities, founded after the crusade against the Cathars in around 1229. Alongside the Canal de Brienne, whose primary purpose is to feed water from the Garonne river into the Garonne canal, are quite the most impressive trees I have ever seen - planes which I would guess are 80-100ft tall. We have a mature, 400 year old oak in our garden, which is barely half the height of these. I'm not sure my attached snap (which features a small van for scale) really does them justice.</div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><div>Toulouse is known as the "Pink City" (La Ville Rose) because its architecture is predominantly of terra cotta brick, with some stone detailing. It is well served for cycle paths of variable quality, mainly alongside city streets. Getting into the centre doesn't appear to be too tricky. </div><div><br /></div><div>Geotagged snaps <a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/NUYNMybeobdURayx6" target="_blank">here</a>.</div></span><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-86911160426243141452020-09-30T08:05:00.001-07:002020-09-30T08:05:30.259-07:00Canal Entre Deux Mers Stage 5 - Moissac to Grisolles via Montauban<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">From Moissac you stay on the canal towpath all the way to Montech (about 24km, virtually flat with about 13m gentle climb at the end), where the Canal de Garonne meets the Canal de Montech, which takes traffic down to the Tarn River. Then follow the Montech towpath to the edge of Montauban (12km, about 20m descent) and a short stretch on urban road to finish. About 35-36km morning ride, leaving time to have lunch in Montauban and do some sightseeing. </span><br />
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">After lunch, retrace your steps up the Canal de Montech (12km, climb that 20m again) to rejoin the Canal de Garonne towpath to Grisolles (17km, about 10m climb).</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizHSgoyf795puhttgHtiJx23irep2gt0qkIBQSOG4Y_EhOojkj62wgVEK_cBuirZKdQuHRXikGi6K2p2DxagsmnwZhL5DjwxfapUcDiHn-nIRf2-hDTtehzJwFX1j71X763-nczCjTUOGC/s1600/Stage+5b.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="343" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizHSgoyf795puhttgHtiJx23irep2gt0qkIBQSOG4Y_EhOojkj62wgVEK_cBuirZKdQuHRXikGi6K2p2DxagsmnwZhL5DjwxfapUcDiHn-nIRf2-hDTtehzJwFX1j71X763-nczCjTUOGC/s320/Stage+5b.png" width="187" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">About a kilometre along the towpath out of Moissac you come to another aqueduct, the Pont-Canal du Cacor, which carries the canal over the Tarn river. It is about 300 metres long and like the Agen aqueduct it does not lend itself to cycling across, due to the narrowness of the path, lack of protection against falling in the canal, pedestrians and other cyclists to navigate - and a bumpy pebbled surface.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Once across, the tarmac surface resumes and continues to Montech,, a small town and marina for the canal, where a branch canal, the Canal de Montech, takes water traffic down to Montauban and to a lock which reconnects with the Tarn river.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">En route, you pass a curiosity, the Pente d'Eau de Montech mechanical boat lift. This was designed to bypass a succession of three locks and presumably it was hoped it would increase the speed and capacity of the canal system at that point. In essence, a barge enters a form of bathtub of water at the bottom of the slope, and powerful engines on tracks then haul the tub of water, with boat, to the top of the slope where the tub opens and the boat can sail out. Or vice versa. It doesn't look like the Pente d'Eau has been used any time recently, but there is clearly a project in train to make a museum of it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At Montech itself, to access the Canal de Montech cycle path to Montauban you need to continue a couple of hundred metres past the junction to go up to the road bridge to cross the canal (it is quite busy but there is a cycle path on the sidewalk) and then double back on the other side of the canal. It is then 12 km of gently descending canal to a port/marina just before the final lock which descends back into the Tarn River. Here, you cross the canal and head out of the port area, keeping an eye out for a sign for the <span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">Véloroute</span></span> pointing right at an underpass below the railway tracks, with extremely limited headroom. At 182cm tall myself, I had to bow my head slightly to get through. From there you take separated cycle tracks along the road which bring you first to a modern road bridge, and then to the old bridge, Pont Vieux, where you cross into the town centre.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Montauban is an imposing, slightly gothic, town built, like Toulouse, mainly in red brick.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You can then return up the Canal de Montech to rejoin the Garonne canal at Montech towards Toulouse. I stopped over about 30km short of Toulouse, in Grisolles right by the canal, so I would have a short sector into the city the following morning and the rest of the day to explore.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Geotagged snaps <a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/KtkCUw6zbVkSxo4W9" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-55780977332389595352020-09-30T08:02:00.002-07:002020-09-30T08:02:33.148-07:00Canal Entre Deux Mers Stage 4 - Agen to Moissac<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Stage 4 is an easy 44km from Agen to Moissac, entirely on the canal towpath and almost entirely flat - it rises perhaps 30m in the entire route, as ever as a series of level steps with a slight climb with each passing lock. The canal passes through or close to the centres of both towns so the amount of on-road required to position to or from an hotel is negligible</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx0f-y5yxXTkNez70b0Tz3TIAcbyk6HwOgX4JVO30-lglrbujn2iaxV9tZaE1gwhqUaAQ45xaV4upglswn4JLs5XMpUsTPEpo6w1JAX5RJ-1wRfbR5tjk69kQursNUjiCA9NyuQ3xypsSS/s1600/Stage+4.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="297" data-original-width="733" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx0f-y5yxXTkNez70b0Tz3TIAcbyk6HwOgX4JVO30-lglrbujn2iaxV9tZaE1gwhqUaAQ45xaV4upglswn4JLs5XMpUsTPEpo6w1JAX5RJ-1wRfbR5tjk69kQursNUjiCA9NyuQ3xypsSS/s640/Stage+4.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The tarmac towpath continues around the north of the town centre of Agen, just north of the railway station, and then along the north bank of the canal through mixed commercial and residential areas for perhaps 5-6km before returning to a more rural setting. The run to Moissac however has a more built-up feel than the route all the way from the western end as far as Agen does. There is evidence of a busy road, small industrial estates, and most notably the railway line (Bordeaux to Toulouse) which runs directly alongside the canal much of the way now to Moissac. At times the cycle path is on the other side of the canal, at others it runs between canal and railway as it crosses and re-crosses the canal from time to time on small bridges.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A note on the railway line: the Bordeaux-Toulouse line is never very far away from the Garonne Canal for the entire length of the canal to Toulouse. It passes through La Réole and Marmande for example, and might be 5km or so away at times. It provides some comfort that, in the event of an emergency or a total breakdown in your bike, you would not have very far to go to find a station at which either express or local stopping rail services can be connected to get directly to a city or even return home if necessary. For much of the way from Agen to Toulouse you could access the next station simply by sticking to the canal towpath/cycle route until you see it right beside the canal. If there is no-one in the ticket office, and no automatic ticket dispenser, no worries - the ticket inspectors will almost certainly find you on the train and willingly accept that you couldn't get a ticket before boarding. They just sell you one on the spot without fuss. Fares are competitive compared to the UK.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As you approach Moissac, route signs for the Véloroute des 2 Mers direct you south of the town centre towards the embankment of the Tarn river, which is fine if you are passing straight through as it brings you back to the south bank of the canal where the towpath/cycle path continues, but you can also continue straight though a short section with "Quais", or canal-side streets, either side. The main town centre is just to the north of this section of canal.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Moissac is considerably smaller than Agen, but it has bars, restaurants and shops to belie its size. It has a very posh hotel on the banks of the Tarn (Moulin de Moissac) but other more modest establishments in the town centre. The main historic attraction is L'Abbaye St-Pierre, in the north-centre of the town close to the main square.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Geotagged snaps can be found <a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/J1gQqUcxEvtuvJgH7" target="_blank">here</a>.</div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-66793302130988368362020-09-30T08:00:00.002-07:002020-09-30T08:00:22.803-07:00Canal Entre Deux Mers Stage 1 - Bordeaux to Sauveterre de Guyenne<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">From the city centre, you cross the Pont de Pierre (stone bridge) and then ride along cycle paths on the east bank of the Garonne for a few kilometres until turning sharp left to join the Roger Lapebie cycle path, which is laid on an old railway line. In places the route climbs to about 100m amsl, but quite gently, before descending a little to about 70m at Sauveterre de Guyenne.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD8V-OMRWSVOZq93LpBrSYip5kfFA9ZXSTSA0k_3TIgKvKv5D98Ts1jZf2JFVf_yvdAfLS2Un21hUA27p_X-eT8s65qpUPRVS1OhRnvjOpa0LA_IJ-8yyn-GMDfU71lyYycnTVf3mgO-Pz/s953/Stage+1+Bordeaux-Sauveterre+de+Guyenne.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="953" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD8V-OMRWSVOZq93LpBrSYip5kfFA9ZXSTSA0k_3TIgKvKv5D98Ts1jZf2JFVf_yvdAfLS2Un21hUA27p_X-eT8s65qpUPRVS1OhRnvjOpa0LA_IJ-8yyn-GMDfU71lyYycnTVf3mgO-Pz/w561-h196/Stage+1+Bordeaux-Sauveterre+de+Guyenne.JPG" width="561" /></a></div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bordeaux has quite an extensive network of cycle paths but their quality is never very high, and is often quite poor, in fact some of those I rode on I would say would be safer if they were torn up and cyclists just used the road. The situation however improves as you get further away from the city along the river bank.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Piste Cyclable Roger Lapebie betrays its origins as the bed of an old single-track railway, with the old stations still present, some converted into cafes and bars. The path is asphalt from start to finish, generally about 2 metres wide, and shared with walkers, but the volume of traffic in September was manageable without any serious conflict. The path was clearly popular - I saw lots of walkers and cyclists, some just out for a day ride but quite a few clearly touring.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The condition was almost universally good, and much of the route is shaded by trees planted along both sides. What it conspicuously lacks however is either benches or picnic seating at regular intervals to relax on for a moment, and in particular there are almost no water fountains en route. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Being an old railway track, there are gradients - it ascends from sea level to almost 100 metres over the 15km or so from its start to Creon - but these are very shallow, so that they are imperceptible to the eye. Which is not to say you can't feel them - you seem to make relatively slow progress for quite a lot of effort, for quite a long time. In some ways a more undulating path with steeper gradients is easier, at least psychologically!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Creon is the only settlement of any substance which is directly on the path of the route until you reach Sauveterre de Guyenne at the other end. It has an information office about the cycle path, a bike shop with repair and bike hire facilities, and some shops, bars and a restaurant in the town centre which is only 2-300 metres away. On my day riding this path the afternoon temperature reached 35C - some 11C higher than the seasonal average - and I found I was rapidly dehydrating, so the almost complete absence of water fountains along the way was irritating. Creon is the last real opportunity before the end to top up water bottles, so take it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The path ends just outside Sauveterre de Guyenne, a small bastide town with its own wine Appellation. There is a hotel, and a chambre d'hotes which was very pleasant - no evening meal but they point you to a restaurant close by which offers a free aperitif if you mention their name.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you prefer to camp, there don't appear to be any official campsites near the path, but you can wild-camp quite legally in France, on public land or - with the owner's permission - on private land, as long as you stay one night, using a backpackable tent, and leave no trace of your presence. There was certainly space alongside the path where you could pitch a tent in reasonable comfort.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Alternatively, you can continue another 15km to <span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">La Réole</span></span> where there is a municipal campsite on the banks of the Garonne river.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Some photos, with geotags in the information tab, <a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/GHMBsAqdQe2Qhdoa8" target="_blank">here.</a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-24997486777379483882020-09-30T08:00:00.001-07:002020-09-30T08:00:14.953-07:00Canal Entre Deux Mers Stage 2 - Sauveterre de Guyenne to Marmande<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Stage 2 is 41km from Sauveterre de Guyenne to Marmande, the first 14km undulating and descending on country lanes to<span style="font-family: times;"> <span style="font-size: 11pt;">La Réole</span></span> on the banks of the Garonne river, then a flat run to reach the canal towpath at Fontet, followed by about 15km along the canal, and finally across the Garonne flood plain for about 5km to Marmande town itself.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNQoCldj0IMnCKWoWV5GWSgx3zpYE56nfRp2ce1sKLvsB9pW8A-tcHw50vzOEsUxnzlZMaqIBqIvdYvg5t63RKrbOGl6g298mGo9QkZ9CfloYAWtDdQ02kPLlXLC2xEsK1Eh4WPNUDmJBh/s1600/Stage+2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="519" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNQoCldj0IMnCKWoWV5GWSgx3zpYE56nfRp2ce1sKLvsB9pW8A-tcHw50vzOEsUxnzlZMaqIBqIvdYvg5t63RKrbOGl6g298mGo9QkZ9CfloYAWtDdQ02kPLlXLC2xEsK1Eh4WPNUDmJBh/s320/Stage+2.png" width="312" /></a></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">After
perhaps a kilometre of busy road leaving Sauveterre de Guyenne you turn left on
to a much quieter country lane, designated a "voie partagée" with
bike signs towards La Réole. The road is quiet, though not traffic-free – watch
out in particular for agricultural vehicles which seem to be able to move quite
fast – and the terrain is moderately undulating. My assessment though is that
the maximum gradient is probably no more than 5-7% and within the capabilities
of the gearing on my Brompton. About half-way through the 15km to La Réole you
pass a splendid old watermill, the Moulin de Loubens.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">As
you approach La Réole you can join a busy road or you can cross this and follow
a quiet back road which brings you into the northern side of the town instead
of taking you direct to the bridge over the Garonne river. The town has a few
bars and cafés, notably one overlooking the river close to the bridge, from
which it is a short gentle climb up a street which connects directly to take
you across the bridge.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">On
crossing the bridge, you follow a moderately busy local road for about a
kilometre before reaching a junction with a much busier bypass road, which you
cross to access the quieter road which leads down to Fontet, where you meet the
canal. For the next 20km or so you are on the canal towpath, which alternates
from one side of the canal to the other from time to time – you can’t miss the
changes because you see that the path in front of you is no longer asphalt, and
usually there is a sign to indicate that you need to cross the bridge</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">To
access Marmande town you need to leave the towpath and follow local country
lanes for about 5km across a flat alluvial plain. You will see evidence of
sand/gravel extraction by Lafarge all around you. There is about a km of
slightly busier road before you come to a junction where you can join a
separated cycle lane for most of the way into town, apart from over the bridge
across the Garonne river just before entering the town.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Marmande is a modest
town with hotels, bars and restaurants and small grocery shops. </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I
didn’t see any evidence of a camp site but again you can wild camp discreetly
beside the canal if you wish. It styles itself "La Ville des Tomates" but I didn't see any tomatoes on my route. It has its own wine appellation, </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Côtes</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> du Marmandais</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; font-size: 13.5pt;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; font-size: 13.5pt;">The
towpath is a prepared tarmac surface, in fact for its entire length to Toulouse
which is well over 150km. It is in pretty good condition overall, although in a
few places the top dressing is crumbling and the surface becomes a little
rougher. I saw no signs of potholes, though, and drainage seems pretty good
with no puddles of any size on the path. It is about 2 metres wide, which for
the traffic seemed adequate, and it is of course substantially flat, as it
follows the water. The level rises in steps with each lock but in this area the
locks are well spaced and rise perhaps 1.5-2 metres a time. The path does
however vary in height above the water surface, between about 50cm and perhaps 2-3
metres, so there is a very slight undulation.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">The
path is also heavily shaded along its entire length in this area by tall mature
plane trees on either side – planted originally by the constructors of the
canal, to provide protection from the summer sun for the commercial barges
plying it. This does mean some tree root disturbance creating mini speed bumps
which were slightly uncomfortable on a Brompton, but generally they were easy
to spot, often easy to steer around, and I wasn’t in any hurry.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Like
the Roger Lapébie cycle path, there are very few benches or picnic tables to
stop for a rest en route, and no water fountains to refill your bottle,
although down in the shade of the trees that becomes a less pressing
imperative.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">The path is exclusively for walkers and cyclists - there are clear signs prohibiting cars and motorcycles, with an added panel saying horse-riders are prohibited too. The only vehicles you typically see are the engineers' vans from Voies Navigables de France (VNF) and some heavy machinery maintaining the banks, eg brush cutting or doing embankment reinforcement. It seems that VNF sees no need to instal gates or barriers to discourage motor vehicles so by and large there is nothing to obstruct non-standard bikes, and indeed I saw families towing child trailers and baggage trailers, and even one tandem and one tadpole trike.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">There are however occasional spots where staggered barriers have been installed, apparently to force more sporty cyclists to moderate their speed as they approach small boat marinas, picnic areas and the handful of designated waterside campsites. These might require a certain amount of manhandling to get a bike/trailer combo through.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;">Geotagged photos along the route can be found <a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/tyGkx8XRP671Rf6ZA" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></p><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-11703965581268667982020-09-30T08:00:00.000-07:002020-09-30T08:00:05.589-07:00Canal Entre Deux Mers Stage 3 - Marmande to Agen<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Stage 3 was 63km from Marmande to Agen, almost all along the the canal, including traversing the Garonne River on an aqueduct, so it is all almost entirely flat.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUv-3GBYIYLIX2cN-FBAprt1nW9in-tDl1HN4U7Z3XR_W2V-AzX0Fow53ILk3SNy2nt1hiwUTwTJscJMhEWxJFtqg6JLvCWL9N1rgPHQJ6dstZyahgM3ANU3q3ovr8q9CDRHaHDTlmPv40/s1600/Stage+3.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="647" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUv-3GBYIYLIX2cN-FBAprt1nW9in-tDl1HN4U7Z3XR_W2V-AzX0Fow53ILk3SNy2nt1hiwUTwTJscJMhEWxJFtqg6JLvCWL9N1rgPHQJ6dstZyahgM3ANU3q3ovr8q9CDRHaHDTlmPv40/s400/Stage+3.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Marmande is a few km from the canal but after that you stay with it all the way to Agen where the canal passes through the town centre after crossing the river on an aqueduct.</span><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">On crossing the bridge over the Garonne back out of Marmande, you join a serviceable cycle path which runs all the way down the D933 until you rejoin the canal. The roadside cycle path is partly segregated from the road, in other parts just a lane divided by paint, and at the road junction and roundabout just outside the town it deviates from the road to pass through underpasses directly across the roundabout. It's not an especially nice stretch due to passing traffic but safe enough.</span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Once back on the towpath, the 2m wide tarmac path resumes, flat, reasonably well surfaced and drained as before. Much of the way it is heavily shaded by plane trees but there are some gaps in the cover where the trees are either smaller and affording less shade, or not there at all. There are one or two short stretches where the path gives way to a minor road running parallel to the canal, but these are very quiet.</span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">After roughly 9 km, you reach Le Mas d'Agenais which is a boat marina and a base for one of the canal boat hire companies. "Le Boat". There is a picnic area, and the little village, which is just over the bridge on the other side of the canal from the cycle path, has a couple of small shops. At this point the Garonne river runs right next to the canal, but is quite a lot downhill from it.</span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">The next village is Damazan, just a few hundred metres up the hill from the canal, where there is a bar, a restaurant and a small grocery shop. A few km beyond that you come to Buzet sur Baise, with its own wine appellation for reds, whites and </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">rosés. (Buzet is apparently the origin of the English terms boozy, and booze, arising from British troops stationed there during WW1). This is also a base for a canal cruiser hire company (Nicols, which has bases on the Canal du Midi as well). </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times;">What is more in evidence here than vines is large apple orchards, with the trees trained in rows. The apples were not, fortunately, Golden Delicious, but a slightly firmer texture and sharper taste.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">The path continues in similar vein towards Agen. Approaching Agen it climbs to several metres above the canal water level but the canal itself then climbs through a series of locks which lift it to the level of the aqueduct by which it crosses the Garonne river. Passing the sequence of locks immediately before the aqueduct, a distance of a few hundred metres, the tarmac surface disappears and is replaced by a stony chippings surface.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Crossing the aqueduct itself on a bike is not for the faint-hearted - I personally would have chosen to walk my bike across, even if I hadn't been compelled to by a flat tyre just as I reached the locks. The paths either side of the canal as it crosses the aqueduct are narrow, no more than about 1.5 metres each side. There are walkers and other cyclists to negotiate as you cross, and there is no guardrail to prevent you falling in the canal so I'd say attempting to cycle across is quite risky. It would also have been a bumpy ride, as the path surface is composed of large pebbles embedded in cement.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">The canal passes through the heart of Agen so from here it is a few hundred metres at most to the town centre and shops, bars, hotels etc. Fortunately there were several bike shops, and the first I visited was able to supply a new Marathon Plus 16" tyre to replace the one on my Brompton which had failed (not punctured) and the mechanic knew enough about 6 speed Bromptons to be able to remove and replace the rear wheel.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Agen itself is a small town but it feels bigger than its population might suggest so, for example at 35k population it is about the same size as Farnham, which is near me, but the town centre felt much bigger, the size of Guildford, pop 130k. Of course, France has about three times the geographical area of the UK for a similar population, and the big cities of Toulouse and Bordeaux are rather further away (and rather smaller) than London is to Farnham/Guildford, but the difference is noticeable.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Agen itself is apparently famous for its plums, which are dried as prunes and marketed as pruneaux d'Agen. I'm not aware though that I saw any plum trees on my route.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Some geotagged snaps can be found <a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/FTqv8JbN5Yzr9T7u6" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-6162376891417171782020-04-12T08:55:00.000-07:002020-04-12T08:55:25.915-07:00Riding the Canal Entre Deux Mers, Episode 1(a) - change of plan re bikes.<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So, that puts paid to the Birdy, which by now is presumably in the hands of a proud but oblivious and unsuspecting new owner and some little toe-rag has a wad of cash for it. My first thought was that probably killed the scheme, because it relies on being able to bag up a folder and take it in the hold of an airliner. But, a little more thought and I reckon it can be done on a Brompton.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Years ago, before our children were born, we used to tour the wine regions of France on vintage 1988 Bromptons (which I still have, to give to my kids as heirlooms). I think the most we ever did in one day was about 70km, around the Monbazillac/Bergerac region on the Loire, and that is slightly more than I plan for any one day on this occasion, but we didn’t carry luggage with us as we travelled </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">from town to town with the folded bikes on the back seat of our vehicle. We did however have small pannier bags which permitted us to collect 6 bottles of wine per bike to bring back to base camp, the boot of our vehicle, so not entirely luggage free.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Since then I have a new Brompton, which is a story in itself - one of the vintage Bromptons got damaged in an accident at Hyde Park Corner and was considered probably beyond repair, I bought the Birdy as a replacement, because it folded and was really nice to ride, but quickly discovered that it doesn’t fold easily or neatly enough to do three times a day in my home-bike-train-bike-office-bike-train-bike-home commuting routine. So I bought a new Brompton and kept the Birdy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(Curiously, several months later FW Evans called to say “aren’t you going to collect your Brompton?” so I went to get it. The bent pedal crank and seat post had been replaced, the frame it turned out was undamaged, and Brompton, to whom it had been sent for evaluation by Evans, refused to charge anything for the repair)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anyway, the new Brompton, which I’ve had since 2007, is this one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">According to this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfQe4f0jbZs" target="_blank">Youtube video</a>, it fits the bill for touring: an M6 with the reduced ratio on gearing (by fitting 12% larger rear sprockets). It goes part way towards <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnCd3ti4RFQ" target="_blank">this video</a> in that it has the Titanium seatpost, rear triangle and front forks, but I’ll dispense with the rest of his suggestions. I won’t be able to use my Ortleib panniers on it, but the standard Brompton handlebar </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">stem-mount bag and a rear rack-top bag should suffice - I'll travel light, and I’m not expecting Aquitaine in summer to require much waterproofing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In comparison, the Brompton is certainly easier to fold than the Birdy, it folds more compactly, and the more delicate components are better protected inside a carapace of mainframe ironmongery - being thrown around by airport baggage handlers always required a certain amount of straightening out and resetting gears and brakes etc on the Birdy where more delicate stuff found itself near the surface of the folded package. On the other hand, the Birdy rides like a full size bike and has full suspension. It could handle the gradients on Iceland’s roads, and the very coarse chippings used in the surface dressing of their road tarmac, in a way I suspect the Brompton wouldn’t. But this trip involves asphalt-dressed off-road cycle paths, mainly dead flat canal towpaths, with an old railway track at the start. About 360km, of which barely 20km is on roads, and only 10 of those on undulating ground.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So, hopefully this virtual trip will still become real, eventually.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-5919883989061933612020-03-29T07:20:00.000-07:002020-04-12T08:54:59.336-07:00Riding the Canal Entre Deux Mers<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">After my week cycling the Eastern Fjords in Iceland a couple of
years ago, I decided to look for something a little different this time.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Warmer,
for a start. Also, less hilly. And without the day-long gaps between outposts
of civilisation.</span></span><br />
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started to look at the south of France. Initially, I was looking at the V<span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">é</span>lodyssée
cycle route along the Atlantic Seaboard, riding out from Bordeaux to the coast
at Arcachon and then down to Biarritz, but the towns along the route didn’t
look very interesting – just coastal holiday resort towns really, with little
history.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Then I spotted a guidebook to cycling the towpath of the Canal
Lateral de la Garonne, from Bordeaux to Toulouse. This forms the western half
of the Entre Deux Mers route from Bordeaux to the Mediterranean at Sète, the Eastern half continuing from Toulouse eastwards following the Canal du Midi via Carcassonne.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">I won’t be able to get away for long enough to do the entire route
so I am* going to do the first part as far as Toulouse, and hopefully come back later for the second half.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can fly into Bordeaux on a Monday morning,
with my Birdie folder stowed in the hold, and out of Toulouse airport on the Saturday
evening. Both airports are easily rideable to or from the city centres.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">(* At the time of writing, this is just a dream - the Corona Virus has put it on hold, certainly for the original timing of May 2020 and possibly until 2021 or later. But what do we have if we don’t have dreams?)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">As in Iceland, I'll be riding this German folder, a <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8666218922795754507#editor/target=post;postID=5939328000465713681;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=3;src=postname" target="_blank">Birdie by Reise & Müller</a></span>. It doesn’t fold as easily or as compact as a Brompton,
but it is longer-legged, full suspension, works pretty well as a tourer with panniers and folds fairly neatly into its own cordura duffel. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTsTZga-r8xR9NP-31b9mJd9FiuGuJiiZ-hjZzlqwwulVkLE07EoCjOYcHSM7B6YbcQYdIoGI426dDqc9hy7BXK8xvuKqll-rrmBYt5JKOWBRKSkf2L6iVO3WhYka5eFwe4Up8VaZh7zCu/s1600/IMG_20180612_211840.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="621" data-original-width="911" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTsTZga-r8xR9NP-31b9mJd9FiuGuJiiZ-hjZzlqwwulVkLE07EoCjOYcHSM7B6YbcQYdIoGI426dDqc9hy7BXK8xvuKqll-rrmBYt5JKOWBRKSkf2L6iVO3WhYka5eFwe4Up8VaZh7zCu/s320/IMG_20180612_211840.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><i>Update: so, some little sods stole the Birdy out of my garage. They forced their way through our security gates, thus damaging the electric mechanism, took the bike but nothing else - I guess it is easy because it could be wheeled silently, and of the 8 bikes in the garage they were smart enough to identify the one with most value (RRP new about £2.5k) - apart from the gate remote from the car so they could walk out of an open gate. First thought was “well, that’s it” but I reckon I can do it on a Brompton instead, covered in “Episode 1(a)”.</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">I'm splitting the route into six easy stages. Stage 1, from Bordeaux to Sauveterre de Guyenne, largely follows a tarmac cycle path known as the "Piste Cyclable Roger
Lapépie" on an old railway track bed, so although not entirely flat, the gradients are shallow and the total climb and descent is a modest 250m over 65 km.</span></span><br />
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After that the route descends to meet the canal at La Reole on Day 2, from where it is substantially flat, just rising a few metres each kilometre with the canal locks. Stage 2 will end at Marmande, 3 at Agen, 4 at Moissac, 5 a little beyond Montauban, with stage 6 finishing in Toulouse city centre.</span></span></div>
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I planned the route with the aid of <a href="https://www.cicerone.co.uk/cycling-the-canal-de-la-garonne" target="_blank">this book</a> "Cycling the Canal de la Garonne" by Declan Lyons, who also wrote a similar guide on the Canal du Midi route beyond Toulouse. It provides detailed directions to find the canal path, as well as information about points of interest on the way, notably the many "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastide" target="_blank">Bastide towns</a>" scattered along the principal waterways of the Dordogne & Lot region of France.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Apart from short sections in Bordeaux at the start, Toulouse at the finish, and on Day 2 between the Lapépie path at Sauveterre and the canal near La Reole, there isn’t really any wayfinding involved - just follow the paths - but for navigation I’ll use the “<a href="https://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/carte" target="_blank">Geoportail</a>” app on my phone and iPad, to get French IGN mapping, which is similar to Ordnance Survey Landranger and Explorer maps.</span></span><br />
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I'll be travelling lighter this time. For one thing I won't need as many clothes - at Midsummer in Iceland the temperatures rose to a giddy 8 Celsius (OK - I chose a bad year to go) - but I expect better in Bordeaux, with the climate averages for May showing a daytime max around 18-20C. For another I have no plans this time to camp so won't need to carry a sleeping bag or tent. I don't want to anyway - I prefer a proper bed with a chocolate on the pillow and a turn-down service, and I only contemplated (very briefly) camping in Iceland because of the thin spread of hotel accommodation - but one slight issue with the Garonne Canal route is that there are few camp sites near to the route so some detours would be necessary, whereas small hotels and Logis are liberally sprinkled along the route in the little Bastide towns.</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">In addition to blogging, and tweeting, along the route I am also hoping to post photos from my phone (so not exactly art photography) onto a shared Google Photos folder. After a bit of playing around I figured out how to ensure that the geotagging gets uploaded so you can click on the <span style="font-family: "webdings"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Webdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Webdings;">i</span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span>symbol for location data and a link to it on Google Maps. This way I hope if you're interested you will be able to see the quality of the route if you feel inclined to try it yourself.</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-16503614521386404672018-06-11T08:38:00.000-07:002018-06-11T08:38:10.077-07:00Don't follow me, I'm lost too!<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I suspect that you probably couldn’t go far wrong touring
rural Iceland without maps. The country is very sparsely populated and most of
the terrain is rough and mountainous, much of it semi-desert, so the road
network is also fairly sparse. <a href="http://www.road.is/vefur2.nsf/Files/RoadSystem2017/$file/vegakerfid2017-enska.pdf"><span style="color: #0563c1;">This
pdf leaflet</span></a>, in English, describes the road network in 2017. It tells us
that there is only 12,901 km of road in the entire country, and only 4,416 of
those are the “Primary” roads which you would travel between towns and
villages, which are almost entirely on, or within a few kilometres of, the
coast. It would be difficult to get lost on such a road network.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The main reason why you might want maps is to have tourist
information. There is quite a range of maps available, notably from Stanfords,
but like almost everything else about Iceland, they are expensive. They also
have a reputation for being printed on thin, poor-quality paper – perhaps OK
sitting in a car but useless out in the wind and rain on a bicycle. My daughter
bought one and it was falling apart after a few days spread out on the sitting
room floor for planning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">You can in any case get all the information you need for
free on the internet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The starting point would be <a href="http://cyclingiceland.is/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/NET-CM-Ahlid-EN-ny.pdf"><span style="color: #0563c1;">this
cyclists’ map</span></a>, updated in 2016, downloadable from cyclingiceland.is. It can
also be obtained on paper from cycle shops in country.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Information about roads includes: paved (red/pink) or gravel (grey);
daily traffic volumes, distances
km between marks; summit heights between marks; sectors with gradient 6-10% or
>10% and which way is uphill. It also shows services available at
settlements, location of cycling support services, and bus stops outside settlements.
I’m going to print off the area I need and laminate it, and also store the pdf
on my iPad.</span><br />
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<i>A corner of the cycling map, with legend. This section of road is all asphalt, </i></div>
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<i>500-1,500 vpd (roughly 1 per minute in either direction)</i></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">A lot of useful information can also be gleaned from Google
Maps – most hotels, hostels, guesthouses, restaurants and tourist attractions
can be seen at large enough scale, or searched. While parts of Iceland have 4G mobile coverage, most has only 3G and some is only 2G so maps on the go are going to
be difficult, but an alternative is to download the country map from maps.me
onto a phone or iPad. Then the map is stored and can be followed by the GPS.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I used google maps in Chrome browser to use the Walking Directions
feature (cycling directions doesn’t seem to work for Iceland) to get point-to-point
distances with an altitude profile and max height, total climbed and total
descended. It doesn’t quite tally with the topo maps on highest point on route,
but they are close.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRTHsZvsnEuuLViPiCpu2oCoRGbFG-xswUefrEll8b_Sv-Ob5YYtVPN2KKzVVfMuCli1vC3zcvr71kQLNsF0JTZRrG43KEwc6ld3R3E_kzSmHiBTvJwcDYoKNxx97fyFhjZlUzC0TOII8B/s1600/googlemapwalkdirection.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="1128" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRTHsZvsnEuuLViPiCpu2oCoRGbFG-xswUefrEll8b_Sv-Ob5YYtVPN2KKzVVfMuCli1vC3zcvr71kQLNsF0JTZRrG43KEwc6ld3R3E_kzSmHiBTvJwcDYoKNxx97fyFhjZlUzC0TOII8B/s640/googlemapwalkdirection.PNG" width="640" /></b></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;"><i>I hope it doesn’t take
me as long as it shows here! (Reydarfjodur to Neskaupstadur via the <span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Oddsskarð</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span>pass. My return will be low-level, via the tunnel opened in November 2017)</i></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">A good source of topographical mapping is available at
opentopomap.org, part of openstreetmap. I printed to pdf, to store on my iPad,
about six pages at a scale of about 166k, which has contour lines at 10m
intervals. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij7HRxts7Erf7s6Y1Nn6KWLvBAkLbDPPd94q8J5sVnu-SRUgQn-Je4WTYdfKtj92aU7tGBeAPR3DuRGRmSUWrzS_e8DLksUVUdArOlEkMEJ9r5ghuVrl5lmXIMpof0x_CJoVSRoTj0M8Lm/s1600/opentopo.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="656" data-original-width="1364" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij7HRxts7Erf7s6Y1Nn6KWLvBAkLbDPPd94q8J5sVnu-SRUgQn-Je4WTYdfKtj92aU7tGBeAPR3DuRGRmSUWrzS_e8DLksUVUdArOlEkMEJ9r5ghuVrl5lmXIMpof0x_CJoVSRoTj0M8Lm/s400/opentopo.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It doesn’t have much tourist information, but it does show
campsites, and the detail increases as <a href="https://opentopomap.org/#map=14/64.92756/-14.02259"><span style="color: #0563c1;">you increase the
scale</span></a>.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">For tourism information, about campsites/hostels, where to
eat and drink or buy groceries etc, and sights of interest, each region has its
own website: east.is covers the east, northiceland.is covers the north etc.
They have links to local websites such as <a href="http://en.visitfjardabyggd.is/">http://en.visitfjardabyggd.is/</a>
covering the principal eastern fjords.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Finally Google streetview gives useful clues about the state
of the road, its surface, gradients etc, if you drop pins regularly along a
road. I find <a href="http://instantstreetview.com/">instantstreetview.com</a> works best for this. You can also create
rather crude animations from streetview with utilities such as <a href="http://www.tripgeo.com/Directionsmap.aspx"><span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.tripgeo.com/Directionsmap.aspx</span></a>
and watch them play out, in rather slow motion, if you have nothing better to
do!</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-59393280004657136812018-06-03T02:29:00.001-07:002018-06-03T02:29:13.400-07:00Riding Iceland - my ride<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">A folding touring bike?</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdRzNGckEteZK2fy1NzdbjNvitJH8vbHjfFwPqWLuxqK-6IH0O7LzJhoIZSVCxBz89xsZVWc3rPefKbTgrm-YZ1T34dUcrQWTaqlbiCILTsWDkFAZNmU8vNr8V-_TD0T96c5s5jL9p72Yi/s1600/Birdy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="703" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdRzNGckEteZK2fy1NzdbjNvitJH8vbHjfFwPqWLuxqK-6IH0O7LzJhoIZSVCxBz89xsZVWc3rPefKbTgrm-YZ1T34dUcrQWTaqlbiCILTsWDkFAZNmU8vNr8V-_TD0T96c5s5jL9p72Yi/s400/Birdy.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">Current model Birdy.
Mine, about 10 years old, is substantially the same but without the disc brakes</span></i></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Birdy, by German firm Riese & Muller, is a
full-suspension folding bike. It has no fold in the frame, which apparently,
rather than the small wheels as I had always thought, is what contributes most
to the mechanical inefficiency of most folding bikes. Instead, the rear
frame triangle pivots under just as it does in the Brompton, and the front
wheel similarly pivots under and back below the top tube. It is this fold
style, and the bulkier folded package, which led me quickly to abandon the
Birdy as a daily multi-modal commuting bike and buy another Brompton, but I
have to admit that it has much longer legs than the Brompton when it is unfolded.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcaDjTVBxCW7Ar-6sg-UbgrKcouhgezQBgz7N6PQ476kWCeSYCFXw8YpUU0N1yd-NbxG9jUOMx2YdnBV4Eootl-VzOt5A35eS116l9IKU2vaN8z4bZvgwRwD95d7FYVlCm_27Sf7ZqC7mz/s1600/16_hlf_birdy_faltgenie_1159.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcaDjTVBxCW7Ar-6sg-UbgrKcouhgezQBgz7N6PQ476kWCeSYCFXw8YpUU0N1yd-NbxG9jUOMx2YdnBV4Eootl-VzOt5A35eS116l9IKU2vaN8z4bZvgwRwD95d7FYVlCm_27Sf7ZqC7mz/s400/16_hlf_birdy_faltgenie_1159.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The wheels are a slightly unusual 18”, 40-355, a smidge larger
than the 16” on a Brompton. My technical reading on the efficiency of small wheels,
slightly surprisingly, informed me that they are actually more efficient than
larger ones. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Both front and rear wheels have suspension, but I would still
distrust them on stony or potholed roads so sticking to well-paved roads (as
most of Iceland’s coastal routes are) seems sensible. Anyone who has ridden a Brompton
or Birdy however will also be aware of how sensitive their steering is compared
with full-sized bikes – the wobble while climbing steeper gradients is quite
noticeable.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">But, the coastal routes are relatively flat, with only
occasional gradients above 6%, and I think the only one to exceed 10% is my second day, over
the 700m <span lang="EN-US" style="margin: 0px;"><i>Oddsskarð</i></span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>pass to Neskaupstadur. I think I will be getting off and pushing for a fair proportion of the 7km to the pass, especially on the 3km of gravel road at the top, and I'll be carrying spare brake blocks, in case I wear out a set on the descent. The return leg back to Reydarfjordur will be at low level, through the new, 7.6km long, Nordfjordur Tunnel.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Certainly a fair bit of googling produced forum threads
cautiously endorsing the Birdy as a touring bike, as long as you weren’t
planning a lot of off road or exotic locations where the unusual sized tyres
could be difficult to find. The R-M webpage on the Birdy pitches it as a
tourer, and they supply a folding rear rack and a “Lowrider” bolt-on for the
front fork to hold rear and front panniers.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG5Cmm3L4-B6-19y52x2RUQRG_28wxIIJo6MvzY2wycfUNbGSGvgBydfS8Fphyphenhyphent2qz0kzr4Zuskh7BRUdzO4d406noxBszaApK7DOusNOwWuSVbbXcbvvpWF20JAErkchNbGiZeVAR5ck5/s1600/16_stf_birdy_lowrider_gepaecktraeger_1192.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG5Cmm3L4-B6-19y52x2RUQRG_28wxIIJo6MvzY2wycfUNbGSGvgBydfS8Fphyphenhyphent2qz0kzr4Zuskh7BRUdzO4d406noxBszaApK7DOusNOwWuSVbbXcbvvpWF20JAErkchNbGiZeVAR5ck5/s400/16_stf_birdy_lowrider_gepaecktraeger_1192.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">The rear rack folds
neatly under when the bike is folded. My Birdy came with this as standard. The
bit of bent tube at the front set me back an eye-watering £60.</span></i></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The big advantage though, if you aren’t planning a wild
transcontinental trek, is that it packs down into a cordura bag the size of a
large duffel, which when not in use folds up into a small backpack. This makes
it more practical to transport on flights (as regular hold baggage) or on
regular bus services. While the principal bus operators in Iceland all carry
standard bicycles, some make a hefty charge for them and there is always the
risk that you won’t be able to get your bike on if the allotted space is
already full. I want the reassurance of being able to call it a day and finish my
day’s segment in comfort if I get too tired.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In terms of touring accessories, I got Ortlieb Cityroller
front and rear panniers, as my daughter’s experience this year tells me
waterproofing is important. I'm going in mid-June, Iceland’s driest
month of the year, which overall is still drier than where I live in Surrey,
but I gather that the weather is always changeable and unpredictable, with
almost every month having about 20 days with some rain (or snow)fall, and most
of the rain seems to fall as drizzle which is
the wettest kind.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In the bags or on top of the rack I will have an ultralight
one man tent, a down sleeping bag certified to 3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">o</span></sup>C comfort (max daytime
temps in June average 10<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">o</span></sup>C and night-time temps average 5-6<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">o</span></sup>C),
an inflatable mat and pillow, and specialised travel clothes, mainly Rohan.
I’ve weighed everything, and it adds up to 28kg, of which 13kg for the bike
with racks, 1.25kg for the bike bag and 13.5kg for everything else. For
transport the bike bag will have two of the panniers, a pair of shoes and some soft stuff like fleeces etc to cushion
the protruding bits of the frame, and anything which might not get past airport
security in hand baggage. I can go up to 20kg maximum, as the regional flight from
Reykjavik to Egilsstadir is indifferent to the dimensions of the bag, but very
firm on weight limit. As they also impose a 6kg limit on hand baggage I’ll just
have to stuff my phone, iPad, chargers etc in my coat pockets and hope they don’t
weigh me too!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDWN2SaST4drhWyt-6CJR_tpHoVLqMiL1PUgik_gCBg5L1sBTnR7U18WZhv-1RV9YZ5lRpV7YhAdeDsfj9gVfV4bzRiWRrs9Yss-fzZ3ZJcOZTDDA7EFt8W1EuCQGd-lXsZmXWvLXUWcuk/s1600/metamorphosis.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="823" height="379" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDWN2SaST4drhWyt-6CJR_tpHoVLqMiL1PUgik_gCBg5L1sBTnR7U18WZhv-1RV9YZ5lRpV7YhAdeDsfj9gVfV4bzRiWRrs9Yss-fzZ3ZJcOZTDDA7EFt8W1EuCQGd-lXsZmXWvLXUWcuk/s640/metamorphosis.PNG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;"><i>Metamorphosis</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-89331297472067332762018-05-28T01:35:00.001-07:002018-05-28T01:38:11.247-07:00Riding Iceland - Prologue<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">For several years I’ve had an ambition to cycle round
Iceland, broadly around the “Ring Road” (<span style="color: #2c2c2c; margin: 0px;">Þjóðvegur</span>) or
National Route 1. I’ve never had the chance before – the minor matter of
earning a crust to feed the family got in the way.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Without detours, it is 1,300 kilometres.
Perhaps 3 weeks, and my 5 weeks annual leave belonged to my family.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Now I’m retired I have all the time in the world. My kids,
one a recent graduate and the other a second-year degree student, are now
independent and self-sufficient in all matters non-financial. Far from
demanding my presence, my wife would probably be only too happy to have the
house to herself again for a while.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I’m planning to travel light, and
spend most nights in hostels and a couple at camp sites. For several years
we've stayed at 4 or 5 star hotels, or rented apartments through AirBNB, so
this is going to be a bit of a departure, but some camping is going to be unavoidable however I feel about the austerity of it, because in some areas it will simply be too far (for me) to ride to reach the next available hostel or guest-house.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">If anyone is thinking “mid-life crisis”, well yes, I heard a
programme on radio 4 about it recently and recognised myself immediately. At least I
have no yearning to buy a Harley Davidson.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">There is however just one snag – if I had done this when I
first thought about it, perhaps I could have contemplated 3-4 weeks of
cycle-touring with a tent and a sleeping bag. Not any more. I'm not going to
risk spoiling the whole experience for myself by attempting it in one go, and
quite probably failing. I’m getting a bit old for that.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So, I’m planning to break it down into three or four stages,
one for each of the next few summers, each with seven days on the road, 9-10
days including travel to and fro. OK, it means 3-4 return air fares instead of
just one, but at less than £300 if you buy well in advance, I reckon I can
afford it. It’s only the cost of two nights in an average B&B in Iceland.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I’m also not going to aim for a complete, uninterrupted
circuit. My daughter planned to do that this summer, but followed local advice
which was to transport your bike on the bus to get well clear of Reykjavik and
the whole “Golden Circle” region around it, where the roads can be very busy.
Similarly the section between Myvatn Lake and Egilsstadir, which is lightly
travelled and peaceful, but is also 200 km of nothingness and sameness, with no
settlements and hardly any facilities, and where wild camping is unavoidable.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I’m going to start with the region which is reportedly the
quietest populated part of Iceland, and currently the least visited by tourists
– the East Fjords, starting from Egilsstadir Airport and working around the
coast road to Hofn/Hornafjordur. It’s about 350km, so an average of 50km/day
but, with some long gaps between settlements, the daily runs vary from 35 up to
70km. My last day I'm hiring a car to drive back to Reykjavik - I'd take the bus but I can't risk it being cancelled or full, and a car will give me more time to sight-see on the way.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_Ou6_Xm9CvASI9zPdIJKFNzIVUtKlfkv3pASlmXZqhxR9R_at6oeW8D5yHRxLpFT3kBzpx1fV-kVHXth1h65TbWofm0PCxwbr4vYEGY0dzsrNuH3I2ZeTaXYbXmJDfz0RRqeikcnE7g-/s1600/Eastfjords.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="652" data-original-width="526" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_Ou6_Xm9CvASI9zPdIJKFNzIVUtKlfkv3pASlmXZqhxR9R_at6oeW8D5yHRxLpFT3kBzpx1fV-kVHXth1h65TbWofm0PCxwbr4vYEGY0dzsrNuH3I2ZeTaXYbXmJDfz0RRqeikcnE7g-/s640/Eastfjords.PNG" width="515" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
<i>Planned route round the East Fjords - the As & Bs denote my planned daily stages</i></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I've planned the route North to South, on the basis that reported weather averages show the prevailing wind to be from a little West to a little East of due North. As the average wind in June, when I plan to go, is 20kph and can be quite a lot stronger, I obviously want it behind me if possible.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilbFcl6YAbo1GOG7UN_RJIXY0hGhxRm2ULE6w1l0UDROGQMrMNWrZKXNBlYnhQvX92w474FoKAe253UomOs74jSnYprKw1XFcH5jhPEoqrydR7GG1WJGypji7rFnl-ZKrh2lccxfDuRWQa/s1600/image1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="1600" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilbFcl6YAbo1GOG7UN_RJIXY0hGhxRm2ULE6w1l0UDROGQMrMNWrZKXNBlYnhQvX92w474FoKAe253UomOs74jSnYprKw1XFcH5jhPEoqrydR7GG1WJGypji7rFnl-ZKrh2lccxfDuRWQa/s320/image1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Postcard from my daughter last summer</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">If that goes well, next time I’ll probably go around the
east and north coasts between Egilsstadir and Akureyri (both have airports), and
finally across the south coast to or from Hofn, bussing one way.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The routes all substantially follow the coastline: this is
almost all paved road, in good condition, at low level and with only moderate
gradients. It’s where the population lives and the roads have to be usable in
winter without ploughing. (The interior is uninhabited and most roads are
gravel, rough and undulating). </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I can’t contemplate off-road or much gradient any more than
I can contemplate long sectors, because of the bike I’ll be riding: a Riese
& Muller “Birdy”. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>More on that in
the next post.</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-72061225723025670262017-11-06T12:43:00.000-08:002017-11-06T12:43:18.428-08:00All the Queen's Men
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fulminating about the Queen investing offshore is fairly
stupid, and diverts attention from the real scandal of tax avoidance.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Firstly, this is 2% of her estimated fortune. 2 percent! As
an allocation to this “asset class” it is really quite modest.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Life insurance companies, pension funds,
charitable foundations probably all allocate more – possibly as much as 6-7%.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Secondly, HM appears to be participating as a “limited partner”
in collective investment schemes. HM will be one of perhaps 100 or more high
net worth investors in any one fund, with a small percentage of any one fund’s
assets – the modest involvement in Brighthouse certainly suggests a fraction of
1% interest there.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Most of the investors in funds like this are governments
(sovereign wealth funds), pension funds (private and public), and charitable foundations.
You might well find fellow investors include The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
Board, GIC (the Singapore government social security fund), Surrey County
Council pension fund, the Wellcome Foundation, and an Oxbridge college or two. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>In fact, it is fairly likely that your own
pension arrangements, if they are an occupational scheme, are involved in the
offshore fund sector!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One thing all these entities share is this – they are exempt
from tax anyway.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Such funds are almost always set up as Limited Partnerships.
These might be useful for tax evasion (because the information is outside the
UK’s domain, although that is about to change as the “Common Reporting Standard”
comes into force with effect from 1 January 2017) but they are useless for avoidance
(ie legal if immoral tax mitigation) because partnerships are fiscally
transparent – their members are, in law at least, liable to report and pay tax
on their individual shares of the partnership’s profits.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Most investors in such schemes wouldn’t have to pay tax
anyway, and HM is one of them. She is exempt from tax, for the simple reason
that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Her Majesty’s </i>Customs &
Excise are collecting <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Her Majesty’s </i>Revenue.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sure, there are elements of offshore fund structures which
don’t bear much scrutiny. The main tax saving they achieve is on VAT on
management fees, and they may be exploiting lax regulatory standards applied
outside the major economies, but the funds are only open to professional
investors writing seven-figure cheques, and you might think they should be able
to look after themselves.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Beside this, there is of course a huge industry in hiding
income or capital from the eyes of the taxman, or laundering proceeds of crime,
but can we focus on that please?</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-17180789761063290392016-09-23T12:58:00.001-07:002016-09-23T12:58:06.573-07:00Bixing around Montréal<div class="MsoNormal">
We recently returned from our fourth visit to Montréal, and
the first in which we used the Bixi hire bike system.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our first visit in 2014 was in February, for a prospective
students’ open day at McGill, and only
the most intrepid Montréalers cycle then. No 2 was in August of that year – we were
mainly occupied with new parents’ receptions and events so all I managed was a
quick try-out, mainly because I had never used the identical London hire bikes
and wanted to see what they are like.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No 3 was August 2015. We walked – and walked, ending up with
very sore feet. Montréal is perhaps half the size and population of London and
a comparable trip – the Old Port to Rue Sherbrooke is like Charing Cross to
Euston Road – is about 2/3rds the distance, so it’s a walkable city, up to a
point. We hired bikes for a day from <a href="http://fitzandfollwell.co/">Fitz & Follwell</a> to tour the Lachine
Canal and St Laurence riverside, but that is all. Our daughter at this stage
was just moving into a rented apartment after her first year in student hall
close to the campus, and so we got her a bike from F&F (which sadly no
longer sells bikes, apart from its hire bikes when they come to be replaced).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
A year on, and daughter announces that she travels <u>everywhere</u>
on her trusty Breezer Downtown (a kind of American Pashley Poppy) and if we want
her to show us around, we are going to have to follow her on Bixis.<o:p></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU0-Y_Ta7W8GXBnGc3xNpTI9g0GUeeERuXWp09IL2yPvzMzrDR9RYGozr4Z0DktcfUfYFJDYYkR0Pdvwc7LqEUX3uZlOLyEH6zL7QOMTBeSOhfNMPtY5Ae28BAIqmzBjd3y58LoIzwKWfT/s1600/12039589_987366414638856_7856823484522295026_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU0-Y_Ta7W8GXBnGc3xNpTI9g0GUeeERuXWp09IL2yPvzMzrDR9RYGozr4Z0DktcfUfYFJDYYkR0Pdvwc7LqEUX3uZlOLyEH6zL7QOMTBeSOhfNMPtY5Ae28BAIqmzBjd3y58LoIzwKWfT/s320/12039589_987366414638856_7856823484522295026_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daughter on "Judi Dench" (don't ask...) with some <br />of the Plateau's celebrated street art behind.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(It’s a tribute to a decent bike and a decent, albeit far
from perfect, cycling environment that this SW Surrey born-and-raised girl has
moved away from the attitude of her set, ie bikes are for losers and you get
your provisional licence on your 17<sup>th</sup> birthday, to embracing urban utility cycling)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How does the Bixi system compare with, say, hiring a bike by
the day from a retail outlet? Well, it is certainly cheaper. The basic daily
rate is $5 – you can buy three days for $14 but it is barely worth the saving,
or if you reckon on getting more than 6 days’ use it would make sense to buy a
30 day subscription for $30, and get the smart key which saves you slotting
your credit card into the machine and printing off an unlock code every time. (If you're racing to get the last bike in the dock before some other bugger beats you to it, that could be an advantage). Of course the cost doesn’t necessarily end there, as you may occasionally need
to incur overrun charges ($1.75 0-30 mins, add $3.50 31-60, then add $7 61-90 etc) and you
really do need to use the Bixi App to find available bikes or spaces, so you
are into data roaming charges from your mobile provider. It probably still compares
favourably with $25 a day for a retail hire though. And don’t forget tax. <u>Never</u>
forget tax!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You are also spared the hassle of owning/renting a bike. No
worries about punctures or maintenance issues, no need to lock them up. If
there is a problem with a bike, dock it, wait 2 minutes and take another one. Dock when you’re done and get another one when
you have finished your coffee or shopping.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After that, it is mainly disadvantages. Bixis are heavy and
cumbersome and low-geared and slow (although a tourist probably doesn’t mind a
leisurely pace – you notice more of your surroundings like that). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You really do need to break trips into <30 minute sectors
too, so you avoid the overrun charges which can quickly mount up (as some
unwary users have found to their cost) and our experience was that the 2
minutes it takes before you can take a new one can see a docking station
totally denuded, hence the need for the app to locate the nearest alternative
(never very far, but usually not in line of sight). This happened to us when we
rode back from Atwater to the Plateau Mont Royal along Boulevard Maisonneuve
cycle path, which takes more than 30 minutes, and “changed horses” at Peel
Street.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unlike your own or a hire-bike, you have to walk the final
leg, you can’t just stop right on the doorstep of the shop/café/museum you want
to visit, (or even closer, as described in <a href="http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage/into-the-alleys-of-lunch-rode-the-dockyard-light-cavalry-1-6712389">this little doggerel about naval dockyard workers in Portsmouth in the old days</a>).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Montréal is a reasonably sympathetic environment for
cycling, but isn’t perfect. There is probably more cycling in the Plateau (a
kind of Shoreditch on Steroids) than the rest of the city combined, and even
here, the kerb-separated cycle tracks still leave you exposed at junctions.
Montréal is an exception to the common rule in North America permitting right
turns on red, and motorists are by and large considerably more careful and
courteous than in London, but for novice or nervous riders it can still be a
little intimidating.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But, we saw immensely more of the city than we would have
done on foot or public transport, and Montréal has enough to keep you busy for
weeks. You could spend an entire week in the Plateau Mont Royal district for
example, and still not have seen everything – Parcs Lafontaine and Wilfrid
Laurier, Jean-Talon market, Mile End. Bars, cafés, microbreweries and bagel
bakeries etc. And the street art.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKExiCQEP7i9iHVDfw1zE4fuLSaBmrq6n_JVf5fcAzIYGrOzdF1atbqNFkLA9VhC2Mbcc8RV18pgqFYP6d0zFJqXmCrwgfpCG6PYfsJZVuJW3vudMKqofi2yuml3ur5NIvJR90dXc19tph/s1600/20160914_164422.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKExiCQEP7i9iHVDfw1zE4fuLSaBmrq6n_JVf5fcAzIYGrOzdF1atbqNFkLA9VhC2Mbcc8RV18pgqFYP6d0zFJqXmCrwgfpCG6PYfsJZVuJW3vudMKqofi2yuml3ur5NIvJR90dXc19tph/s320/20160914_164422.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A stall specialising in mushrooms in Marche Jean-Talon. Also a<br />good source for that signature Quebec product - Maple Syrup</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A couple of cycle excursions which are worth doing: along
the Lachine Canal, stopping at Atwater Market, to the St Laurence River and
back along the riverside to Old Port, 40-45 km in total, and The Plateau to the
Olympic Park, Biosphere and Botanical Gardens along the Rue Rachel cycle track.
A Bixi wouldn’t be recommend for either – for one thing it would be unduly hard
work, and for another the docking stations are either non-existent or
availability of bikes or spaces is simply too uncertain. You would just have to swallow hard, and take the overrun charges.<o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-69070213652724917662016-05-17T10:29:00.000-07:002016-05-17T10:29:07.965-07:00Quayaxing<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Quayax </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">(v.t.) </span></i><span style="font-family: "calibri";">to move or transport a kayak by
bicycle.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">You may by now be familiar with the new verb to “Quax” – to perform
an errand, such as shopping for groceries, on a bicycle, where many people
might believe it can only be done with a private car. It derives from the
Auckland, NZ politician who apparently couldn’t conceive how anyone could go
shopping on a bike.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I already regularly go into town and to the supermarket on
my “shopper”, an omafiets-style German bike by the snappily-named VSF Fahhrad
Manufaktur (which I think means something like German Cycling Federation Bicycle
Makers). It’s a mile and a half away and the time penalty of cycling instead of
driving is more than recovered through not having to search for a place to park,
walk over to the ticket dispenser, walk back to the car etc. Plus I save £1 in
parking charges. Traditional quaxing.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Now, I thought, when I’m on holiday, could I transport my
kayak behind my bike? The beach is only
perhaps 10 minutes walk from our house but dragging the kayak on its trolley is
a bit tedious, and car-topping it is completely unjustified, quite apart from
the difficulties of parking the car by the beach in high season.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So, could I tow it behind my bike? In principle, I suppose I could just tie the
end of the kayak to the back of the bike and pull it on its trolley but a
typical kayak trolley has a fairly narrow wheelbase, and if you take a turn at
any speed it would topple.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPB7qiAkmHhoHQnRUY3yUUToL8bpu1-TBAd4nqUyLzyanMpTZtmRWadEMrDG1LR3PkUOCUy6PRHuztc3ovlGG9HWg7bZwJ8QrAF3ZClaBdSjsrS73Ol1hHcEZlCDTR1klO300LpZY2KXQ/s1600/kayaktrolley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPB7qiAkmHhoHQnRUY3yUUToL8bpu1-TBAd4nqUyLzyanMpTZtmRWadEMrDG1LR3PkUOCUy6PRHuztc3ovlGG9HWg7bZwJ8QrAF3ZClaBdSjsrS73Ol1hHcEZlCDTR1klO300LpZY2KXQ/s1600/kayaktrolley.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A typical kayak trolley as sold on Ebay</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I looked online for bike-towed kayak trolleys and I found a
couple but they were eye-wateringly expensive. One guy in British Columbia could
sell you one for about C$700, plus another C$150 to ship it here, but that is
almost the cost of the kayak itself.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So, I set to work figuring out how to make one myself. The task was simplified by the fact that the
kayak is the “sit-on-top” variety – instead of sitting inside the hull, you
sit on a fully-sealed polythene shell, which has “scupper holes” to allow water
to drain out from the seat well. The trolleys use the scupper holes to support and
hold the kayak, using alloy tubes poking up vertically through them. Three
metres of assorted 25mm alloy tube, some tube connectors as used to assemble
clothes railings for shops, and a pair of trolley wheels later, and I had my raw
materials.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">One metre of a thick-walled tube forms the axle, with holes
drilled at either end to hold R-clips, which keep the wheels in place. The
kayak is 75cm wide so the 1 m wheelbase provides adequate stability to keep the
centre of gravity between the wheels. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinbeZybzGcWjMZVw65C6AfTKmIg0QDsGSDvalBIqjbFUV6Vhq9hCqSnOW21Ic1GwdamRTSBsPpME8-k-j6Xijqet5BxLG3k8CL5LZFY24vEZmK3gz44D7QD-vyWdX_LtOY76WNApmei5XH/s1600/20160317_163331.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinbeZybzGcWjMZVw65C6AfTKmIg0QDsGSDvalBIqjbFUV6Vhq9hCqSnOW21Ic1GwdamRTSBsPpME8-k-j6Xijqet5BxLG3k8CL5LZFY24vEZmK3gz44D7QD-vyWdX_LtOY76WNApmei5XH/s320/20160317_163331.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Two metres of a thinner walled tube form
upright bars and a framework to support the kayak above the level of the
wheels, all held together with T-section or five-way chromed steel tube
connectors.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRjM6SMWLjrUOUAmbNwWG7E5Qc8Y4AWappjXZV1imS_kLkWH-7Ecfo5O5HgjH3UxGHsxEUkIAX9gAWRWUZ_PwVdaxCTAljWg5_QxiupngIFj5ma4dYgbsY6KvX2_FtqiDtkQqpdUL3pIRe/s1600/20160317_163313.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRjM6SMWLjrUOUAmbNwWG7E5Qc8Y4AWappjXZV1imS_kLkWH-7Ecfo5O5HgjH3UxGHsxEUkIAX9gAWRWUZ_PwVdaxCTAljWg5_QxiupngIFj5ma4dYgbsY6KvX2_FtqiDtkQqpdUL3pIRe/s320/20160317_163313.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Finally, a small hole in the stern post of the kayak,
provided to take the hinge pin of a rudder, makes the tow hitch. A 6mm drop-nosed
pin, as sold in any good marine chandlers, acts as a tow hook, through a hole in
a piece of 2x1 timber battening attached to the rear pannier, to position the
hitch point behind the back of the rear wheel.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEije5_FJLIHR4WJxazjgTEkyn9jrb4wZ2MBdpZPPejc-HWbuAtEyl8Y01BQvZpfl_NaHzk58ORfRYNiZfYP09k72cpMrOBcuVv79998qiV-Ce9Lz69jswJjphCA_SpAJ3Elr1q7TRKPSzPJ/s1600/20160317_163115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEije5_FJLIHR4WJxazjgTEkyn9jrb4wZ2MBdpZPPejc-HWbuAtEyl8Y01BQvZpfl_NaHzk58ORfRYNiZfYP09k72cpMrOBcuVv79998qiV-Ce9Lz69jswJjphCA_SpAJ3Elr1q7TRKPSzPJ/s320/20160317_163115.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd4BgwWZ2jqPl7HJp3CD1W0PCLXo24V5EuY3NahfHpr5RqU-7j1M-Pf3rm8yXqLAVOd3EM7UT8hnijzOah_WLlS2qDEFCvwtILrR_lO9p-k_X-LL5baSJleXc_CVe5KmV9bz2hGQYyhYHd/s1600/cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd4BgwWZ2jqPl7HJp3CD1W0PCLXo24V5EuY3NahfHpr5RqU-7j1M-Pf3rm8yXqLAVOd3EM7UT8hnijzOah_WLlS2qDEFCvwtILrR_lO9p-k_X-LL5baSJleXc_CVe5KmV9bz2hGQYyhYHd/s320/cropped.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Simples!</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-65589637937830005422016-05-17T05:22:00.001-07:002016-05-17T10:25:11.617-07:00Riding into the sunset<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So there it is. 39 years working in central London. 33 of
those around Fleet Street. 30 years commuting into Waterloo from South West
Surrey. The First 20 walking the final stage, the final 10 on a bicycle. Prior
to 2006 I would not have contemplated the journey by bike. The section from Waterloo
to Blackfriars Rd either via Belvedere Rd and Upper Ground, or through the back
streets via Roupell St was OK, even if the surface on Belvedere Rd is utterly
crap and the loading vehicles and buses coming at you on the wrong side of the
road can be tiresome – the pavement is mainly on the same level so you can
escape if necessary. However the shit-sandwich which was the cycle lane between
two lanes of fast motor traffic on the northbound carriageway of Blackfriars Bridge, with buses
crossing from left to right, and vehicles crossing from right to left to zoom
down the large-radius turn onto the Embankment slipway, was quite enough to put
me off. I would just as soon have swum across the Nile.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It took a death, actually the second death, of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/may/23/transport.world">Physiotherapist and Guys/StThomas Trust employee Vicky McCreery</a>, majorly contributed to by this
road layout, although I recall the bus driver who killed her was convicted of
something as a result. (Ironic then that her employer is now whipping up a petition to oppose floating bus stops on the south side of Westminster Bridge on spurious and evidence-free pedestrian-safety grounds). </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">With what qualifies as lightning speed for a local
authority building a cycle lane, the layout was radically altered. The pavement
was widened, three traffic lanes were reduced to two, and a cycle lane was made
with the difference along the kerb line. Traffic lights were installed on the
sliproad and its turn geometry was tightened to cut the speed at which vehicles
could take the turn. For a while, I counted how any cyclists passed me in the
time it took me to walk from Doggetts pub to the traffic lights on the other
side of the bridge, at virtually the same time every morning. I noted the
numbers treble before I bit the bullet, dusted off my vintage Brompton, and
started to ride. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I still managed to suffer three left hooks on this junction,
each and every one being a taxi, each and every one racing to beat the traffic
light as it went amber. “Amber-gambling” with my life. The third time finally hospitalised
me, albeit months later when the shoulder injury didn’t respond to physio or
drugs.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">But I think Blackfriars Bridge galvanised the cycling
community, and it contributed to a change of emphasis at LCC, moving it in the
direction of greater activism and the eventual “Go Dutch” campaign. The bridge
saw more than one flashride which attracted four-figure numbers of cyclists.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Now we have the two new cycle superhighways, one north-south
across Blackfriars Bridge and the other meeting it along the embankment under
the Blackfriars underpass. The sliproad down to the embankment where I suffered
my three left hooks is now for cyclists only.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">And it is not just cyclists who have benefitted, despite the City of London's whining about them in their submissions to the consultation. We have a pedestrian crossing over Stamford Street, scandalously absent in all the years I previously walked that route. We have crossings of Fleet Street and Ludgate Hill at Ludgate Circus, also previously non-existent. We have re-instated a crossing at Blackfriars Junction which existed for a few short years before being removed again in the remodelling of the road layout last before the current changes.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">None of these developments has made, in my anecdotal
experience, any measurable difference to traffic congestion. Perhaps it has
improved it but I am sure it hasn’t made it any worse. The loss of the third
lane back in 2005 or so certainly didn’t have a noticeable impact, possibly
because all that lane-changing was mightily disrupting the flow before.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We can thank Boris Johnson, in almost every other respect a
complete disaster for London, a very clever but shallow, lazy, not-into-detail and
self-absorbed individual, for the installation of the superhighways. We can
applaud Andrew Gilligan for persevering in his part-time role as cycling
commissar, proving that not all journalists are hacks. But frankly, would any
of this have happened without active agitation by cycling campaigners, both
individually and collectively via LCC? Would Boris, personally an active utility
cyclist but one who is apparently content to use ordinary roads “as long as you
have your wits about you”, have responded so positively without the 150 or more
large London corporations, including my own (for one more week) employer,
Deloitte, who supported the campaign? In some cases clients or suppliers of one
well-known nay-sayer who, rumour has it, have been exposed to and shrugged off not-very-subtle
threats as a result?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Whatever, I am glad that I have lived and worked to see
these cycle routes finally opened officially for use, even if I only get about
a dozen days of usage before I retire back to the Sussex borders.</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-59956748675175936942016-04-28T06:05:00.000-07:002016-04-28T06:06:36.694-07:00Tudor Street - the Truth<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So, the Pre-Cambrian cretins on the City of London’s Court
of Common Council have overruled their Pplanning & Transportation Committee’s
decision to support the closure of Tudor Street at its junction with New Bridge
Street.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The decision apparently follows fierce lobbying by senior figures
in the Inner Temple, including Baroness Butler-Sloss. Their logic?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently it interferes with deliveries to
Temple and would prevent film crews accessing the area for filming, which would
deprive the Temple of some revenues.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So, what access, apart from the eastern end, is available to
vehicles wishing to go to or deliver in Tudor Street? </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ahzEMUB8aO15Rhe6tOHrB_0NndvSsTsbnGxKegVdZlwulN_Vh3BBAiJTIWb09gHXDt8Agk67ivjXyVhpwUGK3d3p9vmuRujUDzVDCCDtPiEXS3y51D_jprPsxHtr4G8NpkfXMmA5VblN/s1600/TUDORST.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ahzEMUB8aO15Rhe6tOHrB_0NndvSsTsbnGxKegVdZlwulN_Vh3BBAiJTIWb09gHXDt8Agk67ivjXyVhpwUGK3d3p9vmuRujUDzVDCCDtPiEXS3y51D_jprPsxHtr4G8NpkfXMmA5VblN/s400/TUDORST.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Well, you can enter from
Fleet Street via Salisbury Court or Bouverie Street, and you can exit to Fleet
Street via Whitefriars Street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
planned that you can enter or exit to New Bridge Street via Bridewell Place,
and you can exit to New Bridge Street via Watergate, which brings you out next
to the Unilever Building. Not exactly no choice! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span> </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXfUqX4YUYwDAUqAZzA-OnbiSzfqcBxbPoNYWBkloNQicP-DkqLdAMIaAbMPr9eGlgceHHGJ943ee0CBMaycDkyj12d8AAxiQDbIigltwohBPeKUndUYIOkzKiIpGuhDusL-9DBvivzsa9/s1600/temple6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXfUqX4YUYwDAUqAZzA-OnbiSzfqcBxbPoNYWBkloNQicP-DkqLdAMIaAbMPr9eGlgceHHGJ943ee0CBMaycDkyj12d8AAxiQDbIigltwohBPeKUndUYIOkzKiIpGuhDusL-9DBvivzsa9/s640/temple6.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left-turn lane for New Bridge St traffic to turn into Bridewell Place. To permit turning into Tudor St TfL would need to provide a similar lane there, and there isn't room there.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-ZfCsCaEqkJqgHHE77toXmB0S_mANY5QLaNmWGGap1aH_nFo1291Grdkh93wxX-uHUTm3-2qK7uUIYTNzXkLQytUucu5OmklqtfXfeJZpjRI237HfbNyxm-xtoV4SYV_NZabjvbrko9Q/s1600/temple7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-ZfCsCaEqkJqgHHE77toXmB0S_mANY5QLaNmWGGap1aH_nFo1291Grdkh93wxX-uHUTm3-2qK7uUIYTNzXkLQytUucu5OmklqtfXfeJZpjRI237HfbNyxm-xtoV4SYV_NZabjvbrko9Q/s640/temple7.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cycle lane just north of Bridewell Place. Note the eye-level traffic signal - this junction has always been light-controlled. The Tudor St/New Bridge St junction never has been.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjLQesYDX3CP35boSQX9_phyphenhyphengoXQPffCKlPbMo87rO_4OETi2k12P6SVwRQzRTA4Npc4wHAufPb78KmBRnnloSnuEg3bUU4B014nAl1QxNa-z5oRxAzj1a87ZyTB-FPwqO4yF3jEfLj2jW/s1600/temple5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjLQesYDX3CP35boSQX9_phyphenhyphengoXQPffCKlPbMo87rO_4OETi2k12P6SVwRQzRTA4Npc4wHAufPb78KmBRnnloSnuEg3bUU4B014nAl1QxNa-z5oRxAzj1a87ZyTB-FPwqO4yF3jEfLj2jW/s640/temple5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Temporary barriers at Tudor St. It is however clear that TfL was not contemplating left-turning traffic into Tudor St, or they would no doubt have given it a nice wide turn radius! At the moment, traffic is permitted to exit Tudor St turning left/north - that is all.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The streets to the south, towards Embankment, are largely
filtered now and I understand that TfL wants Temple Avenue to be filtered too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">How do these access points work out, for large commercial
vehicles – you know, like film crew trucks?</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX5ireoG920DlQUqTeeKFf9i0RoRXa_VRjKeax5NiOs0XFc4YcB7V9mRriCrgGXW7Zr5UoR2cadSqc9lUb7sofAITnftNycRjMTGY3QV1QCwMgkDPxDNYasGrzFvNmuf9043WFi-1AE8RX/s1600/Temple1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX5ireoG920DlQUqTeeKFf9i0RoRXa_VRjKeax5NiOs0XFc4YcB7V9mRriCrgGXW7Zr5UoR2cadSqc9lUb7sofAITnftNycRjMTGY3QV1QCwMgkDPxDNYasGrzFvNmuf9043WFi-1AE8RX/s640/Temple1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There is actually ample space for two HGVs to pass each other here - or there would be.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Yes, parking bays and a taxi stand already constrict access
fairly tightly, as this photo I took this lunchtime demonstrates – the eastbound
HGV mounting the pavement to make space for a westbound HGV to pass through the
narrow gap. I didn’t photograph it, but I also noted that in Whitefriars Street
the no parking, no loading “At Any Time” markings were being constantly and
routinely flouted, further obstructing the passage of vehicles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">And when a large vehicle – you know, a film crew’s truck –
gets to the end of Tudor Street where the gate into Temple can be found?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, this is what they will find.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsxV0S8U3DNEDP7JlElexnIM8Bl-LgM-_XjDO-g9ieThyphenhyphenqL_NsYc1pvX7EFsfD61TNXGri50Yyi-cLwFyaxNi99y8GFBkD1t1O7NeBrRVfKM_2ScNnUqSgdELs-ruc8JoTq-m_6S4GCI5y/s1600/temple4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsxV0S8U3DNEDP7JlElexnIM8Bl-LgM-_XjDO-g9ieThyphenhyphenqL_NsYc1pvX7EFsfD61TNXGri50Yyi-cLwFyaxNi99y8GFBkD1t1O7NeBrRVfKM_2ScNnUqSgdELs-ruc8JoTq-m_6S4GCI5y/s640/temple4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sign says "Vehicle Restrictions: 3.4m high, 2.4m wide" Large enough for a film truck, say?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">A bit like the Needle’s Eye in Jerusalem which apparently
gave us the famous Biblical quote about camels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So what is the fuss <u>really</u> about?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, this:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYTsui0s8RdEHMbG69xcUCM6MhJfeIvJw_q6hi1GfQdwT-fdzoCsxi1kvHDJri09iXHHztt0avZeK319VV0HQL5rVpoOME3c20lbbaEuEjfZ1jRWJyN_d_qx2se-X7BfjbxjzGTJGvPgKj/s1600/Temple2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYTsui0s8RdEHMbG69xcUCM6MhJfeIvJw_q6hi1GfQdwT-fdzoCsxi1kvHDJri09iXHHztt0avZeK319VV0HQL5rVpoOME3c20lbbaEuEjfZ1jRWJyN_d_qx2se-X7BfjbxjzGTJGvPgKj/s640/Temple2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9M-5QrFGqvFKJ9Fy2Q42q3cBwVy7aPd657cfTYg3s7qlNobHXWbayf9IVL09rVwpWLizQlz7i27vkFb4cz2uTdiLiHBdQsoPjxif0rFTZFU_tUX6jcDhPMGGmgFejz6gf1YEPKwFqJmoZ/s1600/temple3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9M-5QrFGqvFKJ9Fy2Q42q3cBwVy7aPd657cfTYg3s7qlNobHXWbayf9IVL09rVwpWLizQlz7i27vkFb4cz2uTdiLiHBdQsoPjxif0rFTZFU_tUX6jcDhPMGGmgFejz6gf1YEPKwFqJmoZ/s640/temple3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And in case you couldn't read that sign...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Yes, there may be some notable senior QCs who have not yet
lost the use of their legs, but apparently not many.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-51551933411243491982016-04-06T09:27:00.000-07:002016-04-06T09:27:11.419-07:00Musings
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I recall reading somewhere – probably graphics on tweets – that
the nationwide average distribution of car trip lengths is: 25% are under a
mile, 50% under 3 miles, 66% are under 5 miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The average car trip overall is 11 miles. (Those short trip percentages for
inner cities broadly translate miles into kilometres – so 2/3rds of inner-urban
car trips are under 5km/3 miles. I haven’t seen a value for inner-city average
trip length but I would guess rather less than 11 km)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ll make some crude assumptions: all those trips under 1
mile are exactly 1 mile, etc. These would flatter the results below but the
point is substantially the same.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On these assumptions, shorter car trips which account for
2/3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> of all trips actually only account for 15% (or less) of all
car mileage driven, because of the effect of a small proportion of much longer
trips. So if all shorter trips were walked or cycled instead, this would make
hardly a dent in the overall use that a typical car owner made of his or her
car, in mileage terms at least. That might well explain why the world’s most
active cycling nation, the Netherlands, has a very similar level of car
ownership to the UK or other western European states, and (as far as I can
tell) wears them out over about the same number of years. The fact is, they
drive almost as much as we do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But they walk/cycle circa 40% of short trips, compared with
about 2% here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is not the total miles driven that determines traffic congestion
– and I would guess that the relationship to emissions/pollution is far from
linear – because longer trips must generally be on more open roads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Unscientifically, it “stands to reason,
innit” that no sane person would crawl along at walking pace beyond a certain
limit before they decided that it isn’t worth the candle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the concept really belongs to daily
commutes, there is a kind of “Marchetti Wall” effect that determines travel
distances in terms of how long people can tolerate. Purely anecdotally, having
been a small child before any of the modern motorways were even built, I can
recall that the arrival of the M1 and the M6, even when they were shorter and
less continuous than they are today, incentivised my parents to pay far more frequent
visits to my grandparents in Sheffield and Ambleside respectively. But I
digress.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What determines congestion is the number of trips occurring
in one place at the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
example, it is not the long-distance road hauliers, travelling round the M25
from one motorway to another, say the M2 to the M1 or the M4, which create the
congestion on the M25 at peak hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
M25 was in principle built for them and for other long distance drivers but,
apparently to the complete surprise of the government’s traffic planners, who
clearly have no understanding of the concept of induced demand, it brought
about huge numbers of trips which join and leave the M25 within 2 junctions –
purely local trips, probably more than 5 miles but quite possibly less than the
average 11. Trips which perhaps, to some extent, were previously made on local
roads – oh, how I remember hacking (in the back of my dad’s car) through Ascot,
Bagshot etc before the M25 was built – but to a greater extent simply weren’t
made at all. Or trips generated by the ribbon-development which road building
brings about, and which largely explains the enthusiasm of some local
(landowning) supporters of schemes like the Norwich Northern Relief Road.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But, as a message, incentivising walking and cycling does
not mean, for most of the target audience, giving up their beloved cars or even
actually reducing their use all that much. It represents minimal threat to the
interests of the motor manufacturers, who must surely be behind most of the
lobbying both for road building and widening and, in a subtle “don’t you think
it is too dangerous without helmet and high-vis?” way, against cycling. They have
motorways in the Netherlands. They call them Autowegs there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They generally have smoother, quieter, more
expensive surfacing than our motorways and are in better condition. Their maximum
speed limit, at 130kph, is fully 10 mph faster than ours. And they don’t even
have, comparatively, so much of an automotive industry to believe their economy
can’t manage without.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So what is it that our politicians, notably Zac Goldsmith
and Sadiq Khan, are so afraid of?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-88734939832489284462016-03-22T09:29:00.000-07:002016-03-22T09:29:20.824-07:00Talkin' 'bout my generation
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For several months, I regularly visited the St John & St
Elizabeth Hospital in St Johns Wood – next door to the Wellington
Hospital. I was being treated for an
injury to my shoulder, caused by a left-hook incident with a black cab on
Blackfriars Bridge. Months of physiotherapy, with an unsuccessful cortisone
injection into my shoulder joint, culminating in the unavoidable keyhole
surgery which finally fixed it.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The shoulder injury didn’t however prevent me from riding my
bike to my appointments, nor did the experience which had led me there
discourage me – despite this being my third experience of left hooks, the first
two also being with black cabs, which ought to have told any sane person that
riding a bicycle on London roads is just plain dangerous.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">To return to my office in the City, I would ride down Park
Road and turn left into Hanover Gate, passing the Regent’s Park Mosque, to
access the Outer Circle. The first time I was struck by how many black cabs
turned with me. I was rather more struck
however by the speeds at which traffic (not specifically black cabs) passed me
on the Outer Circle – I wasn’t carrying a radar gun but my impression was that
they were well above the 30mph speed limit.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Back to the title of this post: it is also the title of a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN5zw04WxCc">hit single by ‘60s supergroup The Who</a> – one of their signature tracks, on their 1965 LP “Meaty
Beaty Big & Bouncy”. In it Roger
Daltrey starts with </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
“People try to p-put us down.<br />
[Chorus] Talkin’ ‘bout my generation<br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Just
because we get around”</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
Well, in 1965 Daltrey was 21, and he was clearly talking
about the age’s new adults.</div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
A couple lines later, Daltrey sings:<br />
“I hope I die before I get old”</div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
Well, I am not sure he does now, and indeed he might not
regard himself as old, despite now being 72 – “old” is more a state of mind
than a number of years.</div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
But Daltrey’s generation is also the Baby Boom generation.
They are distinguished by many things – the peak of the final salary pensions
boom for example, and cheap housing made even cheaper once the early ‘70s high
inflation had taken effect.</div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
They were also coming of age, and so becoming eligible for a
driving licence, just at the time that the era of mass car ownership was
kicking off. </div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
And now? Well, I sense that Roger Daltrey’s generation was
probably the most heavily represented, indeed over-represented, demographic at
the meeting last week with Andrew Gilligan and TfL about CS11 and the proposals
for the Outer Circle in Regent’s Park. </div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
So we see a backlash from the first – and in some ways last -
generation of universal car ownership.
If you look at those graphics showing car ownership by age, the peak
decade is 65-75. Now, if you find
similar graphics for previous years, what you see is a kind of moving wave –
ten years earlier, the peak age was ten years younger, and so on back to the
‘60s. Certainly the tail-off is quite
gentle at first, steepening as you get to the under 35s, but it is nevertheless
distinct.</div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
Daltrey’s generation grew up to see the private car as a
relief from the postwar austerity of their childhoods and a symbol of personal
freedom – the freedom of movement for example enabling them to travel further
afield for work and explore opportunities not available to their parents. The trouble
is they simply cannot imagine that there may be other ways of achieving the
same mobility and the same freedoms, at least within the short distances and
congested streets of an inner city. A challenge to their unfettered freedom to
drive is an assault on liberty itself, an existential threat. They are
frightened.</div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
But it will pass. In another ten years they will be relying
on mobility scooters, and they will be grateful then that the superhighways
were built, despite their best endeavours to stop them.</div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
</div>
</span><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-75155048109714515642015-08-27T07:10:00.000-07:002015-08-27T07:10:27.325-07:00Epiphany<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Well, my 19 year old daughter Harriet has just
been converted to riding a bicycle.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
She was brought up in a sub-rural setting, on the edge of a prosperous Surrey
market town surrounded by kilohectares of National Trust common land, but the
geography, topography and fast, winding rural roads would discourage all but
the most committed on-road bicycle enthusiasts. It is also the area with about
the highest penetration of car use anywhere in the UK, at around 83% of
households. One of H's friends - admittedly a more than averagely
indulged child of more than typically affluent parents for this area - received
a brand new Mini for her 18th birthday. Other less fortunate kids had to
make do with second hand Polos as their coming-of-age gift. To them, a
bicycle is merely a toy, a mountain bike for playing on the many miles of
bridle paths just on our doorsteps. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
Small wonder that H's ambition was to start driving lessons at 17, and that she
had no real interest in bikes despite her father's enthusiasm. I have been
sticking my fingers in my ears and La-la-la-ing for quite a while as she coaxed
and wheedled for me to pay for driving lessons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Imagine then my relief when she asked me to buy her a bicycle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mrs M made faces at the cost of a quality
Dutch-style bicycle (from Fitz & Folwell, kind of Montreal’s answer to
Bobbin Bicycles), but driving lessons would have cost more, never mind the
insurance cost of adding her to our policy.</span>
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5shi9R053m19qPOJR4RiR64Cbp_ecX9t8yg8pIQXYNR1RO71b0ApCgm89azybcgMAC7TqjtDvNljd-42Su-xjNTA2GRq1NX2Kvb1E0PXvbgDQ6fyW5KiLN6WBZxVtuI1vJPLXUzCYPuQ/s1600/downtown.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5shi9R053m19qPOJR4RiR64Cbp_ecX9t8yg8pIQXYNR1RO71b0ApCgm89azybcgMAC7TqjtDvNljd-42Su-xjNTA2GRq1NX2Kvb1E0PXvbgDQ6fyW5KiLN6WBZxVtuI1vJPLXUzCYPuQ/s400/downtown.PNG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breezer Downtown, one of a clutch of "Dutch" bikes, such as Canadian makes Linus <br />
and Simcoe, and the UK's own Bobbin and Pashley, stocked by <a href="http://www.fitzandfollwell.co/">http://www.fitzandfollwell.co</a> <br />
in Montreal. They also offer great bikes for rentals</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Then she went on to Uni. Ever independent,
she opted to go abroad, to Montreal to study. Montreal is reputedly one
of the leading North American cycling cities, and the university - McGill - is
located just on the [south]* western boundary of the Plateau Mont Royal.
Her first year residence was on Avenue du Parc, just inside the Plateau.
This year she is sharing an apartment a little further east* into the Plateau,
close to Rue Rachel/Boulevard St Denis.</span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
Montreal's reputation as a cycling city shouldn't be overplayed. You
certainly see more cyclists than you do in London, especially outside commuting
hours, and Montreal is a few years ahead of London in developing decent
infrastructure - the equivalent of the East-West superhighway, on Maisonneuve,
having been in operation for a few years now. </span></span><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m0!3m2!1sen!2suk!4v1440683173287!6m8!1m7!1s5YA0ODgOL7QJQqDHtRq04g!2m2!1d45.5023897265803!2d-73.57324532177438!3f40.05994624966782!4f-9.255236751554278!5f0.7820865974627469" style="border: 0px currentColor;" width="600"></iframe><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">However, Amsterdam it ain't. Like London,
a considerable portion of the bicycle use is in one part of the city. The
Plateau has far higher bicycle use than the city as a whole, and reminds me
quite a lot of Hackney/Shoreditch. Located just to the northeast* of the main
commercial/financial district of Downtown, slightly dilapidated built
environment but vibrant and full of life, quite young feeling. They have
much of the cycling infrastructure, but like our own Hackney not much of it is
segregated! It is easy to navigate downtown on infrastructure but it is
far harder to navigate back uptown, with one-ways without contra flows or cycle
lanes. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
H will benefit from the best that they have, living close to Rue Rachel which
provides a segregated two-way about 3.5m wide all the way over to Parc, where
more segregated paths take you down to the University. </span></span><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m0!3m2!1sen!2suk!4v1440683555982!6m8!1m7!1sAlXzK-E3UBjFyKkt34DjxA!2m2!1d45.5193979!2d-73.5804406!3f200.23281670485602!4f-6.317241898874229!5f0.7820865974627469" style="border: 0px currentColor;" width="600"></iframe><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Rue Rachel cycle track with, to right of frame, Bicycletterie JR, one of Montreal's numerous bike parts/repair/rental shops which doesn't sell bikes.</span></em><br />
<em></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">For wider travels, she will, from time to time, have to
"man up" and ride the road which, entirely unlike London, is far less
threatening as motorists do seem to be far less aggressive, far more patient,
and almost universally law-abiding when it comes to traffic lights. In fact, in
the 15 or so days I have spent in Montreal, I don't think I have ever seen a
motor vehicle or a cyclist run a red light, and few pedestrians either.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
But I don't think it is the infrastructure, such as it is, or the road
environment, which has achieved this epiphany, or at least not directly.
What has made the real difference is the sheer normality of cycling here.
It really looks like everyone cycles. Every row house (typically divided
into two or three apartments in "Colonial" style) has a half-dozen
bikes chained up outside, or on a balcony or staircase. Around metro stations,
supermarkets, or Downtown you'll see dozens of them vying for any available
lockable object.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">I would hazard a guess that schemes like Maisonneuve and Rue Rachel, together with more leisure routes such as the Lachine Canal, have brought out more, younger and older, and more timid, cyclists, but that the real momentum has come from the normalising effect of this first wave of new riders, making a mass of potential cyclists feel that they won't be freaks if they join them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">That, I fervently hope, is what will happen, gradually, with London's East-West and North-South superhighways.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
* Montrealers tend to twist their city map around so that the principal
crosstown streets, Sherbrooke, Maisonneuve, Sainte Catherine, run across the
page. In fact they run slightly to the north of northwest, rather than
East-west.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-14244272009090135282015-07-09T06:37:00.000-07:002015-07-09T06:37:01.687-07:00Nothing (much) to do with cycling: “Greece is the Word, the Word..”
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A few years ago, I took the family for an October half-term
holiday to a Mark Warner resort near Kalamata, in Greece.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had been spending this week for some years
at Sunsail resorts in Turkey, until, for reasons too complex to go into here,
their entire Aegean operation folded, and we were left looking at late notice
for a Plan B and at this stage we had not yet discovered Neilson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The proposition is similar across several operators including
Warner, Sunsail, Neilson, Club Med etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A hotel and beach complex offering pool, spa, pilates etc plus dinghy
sailing and windsurfing, with RYA-certified courses and instructors, and
tennis, with a team of coaches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mark
Warner is heavier on the tennis than most, with about a dozen courts in their
Kalamata resort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But (and I’ll return to
this later) no mountain biking, normally a significant part of the mix in these
resorts. (Actually, what they mean is a 50/50 mix of on and offroad riding,
using upper midmarket Hardtail XC bikes by Specialized or Gary Fisher).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyway, back to Kalamata.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With capacity for about 500 guests, the resort witnesses the Home
Counties professional middle classes wandering about in their tennis whites,
enjoying a drink at the bar between matches and coaching sessions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have everything you (apparently) need
right there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Your chances of meeting a Greek though are pretty
small.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hotel manager was local, and
quite possibly the housekeeping staff were too, although they kept themselves
largely invisible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the beach staff,
the instructors and the tennis coaches, were British.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bar, restaurant and kitchen were staffed
by Poles and Balts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And you were not very likely to meet Greeks outside the resort
either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were no organised trips to
sites of local interest (Kalamata, as a city, is actually not very interesting,
despite being the home of the eponymous olive) and barely any information
either, just a few typewritten notes and photos in a folder at reception about Pilos,
a small port town to the west – a local bus service every hour, with the stop
at the top of the service road about a mile from the resort entrance – walk there
yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And, curiously for such resorts, no bicycles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not merely no MTBs for guests, and no guided
tours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Knowing this in advance I packed
my Birdie (full-suspension folder) in its carrying bag and, after a tense
discussion at the charter operator’s check-in at Gatwirck, checked it in as
hold baggage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tracked down a 1:100,000
road map of the area, photocopied the relevant pages, and made annotations from
a careful study of Google Earth photography.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thus equipped I was able to tour widely around the resort on roads and
tracks, coming across the occasional ford not detectable on map or Google and
giving my Birdie a much-needed though unplanned wash, and visit the local small
towns and villages.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A few intrepid guests solved the dilemma by going into nearby
Messina and hiring a curious motley of roadster bicycles, but otherwise I
suspect 475 out of 500 guests never ventured past the resort gates all week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now, how much was any of this doing for yer average
Greek?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not much, it would seem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know whether locals were too snooty
to work in tourism, or were simply undercut by eastern European migrants and
British Gap Yah types willing to work for beer money, a roof over their heads
and as much sun and sex as they could lay hands on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hotel owner was probably a corporation or
a wealthy individual whose wealth and profits were quite likely being spirited
out of the country to avoid tax, while local people didn’t appear to be making
any money on which to evade tax.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Contrast this with Neilson on the Turkish Aegean coast
where, through Turkish labour policy and what I suspect was a more
socially-responsible corporate policy, all housekeeping, catering and bar staff
were locals, together with a fair proportion of the sailing and waterski
instructors and the mountain bike guides – many of whom were brought to the UK
in the off season to freeze their butts off in the Solent undergoing instructor
training courses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There my money really
was going partly into the local economy, and that made me feel better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The problems faced today by Greece are many and complex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go back far enough, and there is the wartime
occupation and the plundering by the Nazis of Greece’s treasures, for which
only fairly minimal compensation was ever paid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Euro can’t have helped, denying as it did the latitude to devalue
the exchange rate to protect Greek exports from “unfair” price competition and
put up barriers to the more frivolous imports.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I think it has long been suspected that much of the government borrowing
went ultimately to line the pockets of politicians and their cronies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the major investment banks have been
shamefully let off the hook when the IMF, unusually, insisted that the consolidation
of Greek government debt into the NGO lenders should fully repay the private
banks, at least one of which to my certain knowledge actively marketed complex
derivatives which they promised would serve, Enron-style, to disguise the
related borrowings from the national balance sheet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Whatever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The one
person you can confidently say is not responsible for this mess, but is being made
to pay the price, is Iannis, or Androulla, Publikos.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-893138001566788002015-06-10T05:19:00.001-07:002015-06-10T05:19:17.313-07:00Feedback loop
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Why do so many cyclists have to look like a character from “The
Roswell Incident”?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This morning on my way into work, astride my Brompton,
dressed in<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a cotton long-sleeve business
shirt and navy blue cotton chinos, I come up at the lights behind a guy on a
carbon (I guess) road bike with skinny tyres, derailleur gears and treadless skinny
rims.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His attire comprised cleated
shoes, lycra shorts and jersey, helmet and shades, topped off with a natty
Rapha rucsac.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">All for the journey into work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least I guess that was his plan – he wasn’t
practising for Le Tour de France.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think this was a fairly extreme case, but it is a
commonplace that London cyclists ride derailleur-geared bikes – when hub gears
are far more practical for stop-start at lights and junctions – without mudguards
or panniers, and they wear broadly sporty clothing, shorts and tees even in
cold weather.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But, isn’t that just part of a vicious circle, a feedback
loop?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People ride in what is comfortable
for the style of riding they want to adopt, and on machines which they
consider, on balance, to be more efficient for the style of riding they want to
adopt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That style is VC – behave like a
motor vehicle, occupy the road and keep up with the traffic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because that is what makes them feel safe and
tolerably comfortable in the traffic conditions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It also reinforces their alien quality, their otherness,
which validates in the minds of non-cyclists their dislike and distrust of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It excuses politicians and engineers for
disregarding the interests of cyclists, allocating virtually no money to their
needs despite the fact that they pay quite substantially towards the roads (as
all taxpayers do – “road tax” is pitifully inadequate to cover the true cost of
roads) and then taking back even what they have allocated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The result is no or insufficient good cycle
infrastructure which would otherwise bring ordinary people in ordinary clothes
on ordinary utility bicycles out of hiding, leaving the roads still dominated
by “Small Grey”, and so the cycle continues.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Only two days ago, I was passing the works on a section of
the new East-West superhighway on the Embankment in front of the Whitehall government
buildings and Portcullis House – in a taxi, as I maintain you might not need to
be mad to cycle there, but it certainly helps – and I could see that a fairly
respectable width of track was being created behind a clearly defined line of
kerbstones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is good to see that this
is actually happening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s hope that
when it is finished, it sees lots of new cyclists riding those ordinary bikes
in those ordinary clothes, at a sedate jogging pace with occasional stops to
respect the traffic lights imposed on the route.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With that perhaps we will see firstly the
irrefutable empirical proof that infrastructure is good both for cycling and for
all other modes of transport, and secondly an appreciation from the general
public that “cyclists” are just people, trying to go about their normal
business, only on a bicycle. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-39171082970522665162015-05-28T09:55:00.001-07:002015-05-28T09:56:25.940-07:00A Senior Moment<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So,<a href="http://www.bikehub.co.uk/news/health-and-fitness/researchers-ask-why-do-people-in-later-life-give-up-cycling/"> BikeHub reports on research conducted by the University ofWestern England</a> into why “seniors” do so little cycling in the UK, compared
with Denmark or the Netherlands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I could have told them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I “celebrated” (if that is the right word) my 60<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
last week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tomorrow is my last day as a
full-time worker – from next week I give up my position as a partner in an
accounting firm and I start a part-time consultancy with them for a year or two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have already collected my “Senior Railcard”
– which I will need to make my commuting bill manageable as South West Trains
makes no provision for part-timer season tickets and has no apparent intention
of doing so in the foreseeable future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I digress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My commute
to work is a sandwich, two short cycle trips as the bread with a 50 minute
train ride as the meat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bottom slice
is a peaceful saunter down a country lane, through the station car park and a
hundred metres or so of busy road to the station entrance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The top slice is from Waterloo to
Blackfriars, over Blackfriars Bridge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I hope that I will still be working and commuting this route
when the new North-South Cycle Superhighway, whose construction has now started,
is complete and could take me from Stamford Street to a point barely 100 metres
from my office, where Farringdon St meets St Bride St.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By then I think I am going to need it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Firstly, anyone
over 40 will know that your faculties begin to decline with age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My one-time 20/20 vision has now deteriorated
to eth point where I have to increase my reading specs prescription every 2-3
years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not quite at the point of
needing specs for driving, but I can’t be far off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More to the point, my strength, stamina and
flexibility are all declining, and I have to work ever harder in the gym to
slow the rate of decline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am now
overtaken by more often than I overtake other cyclists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am finding it ever harder to achieve the sprint
speeds and rapid acceleration which John Franklin calls for in his book to be a
vehicular cyclist – a term I deplore although I readily acknowledge that VC is
the only real strategy for staying safe on busy roads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have mild osteo-arthritis in my left knee
and I know there is only one way that can go – downhill.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Secondly, I am losing my confidence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am becoming more anxious and more
fearful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That seems to be a common
feature of ageing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Older people’s fears –
of strangers, youth, immigrants, anyone who is somehow “different” from themselves,
may not be laudable but I can understand it as I experience more anxiety about
other things which really don’t matter like whether I forgot to put my phone on
charge. In cycling terms, I am becoming more anxious and less confident about
the behaviour of people around me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not
only motorists but occasionally other cyclists – I have been unbalanced by
close-passes to my right, and experience an increasing number of close-passes
to my left which, if they unbalanced me, could tip me into the path of something
much heavier and faster and more lethal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I view most motorists these days with suspicion, even if that great
majority of them are actually not hell-bent on killing me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But there is one thing about which my anxiety is entirely
rational – fear of injury.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As you get older,
you take longer to recover from injury or illness or the effects of an operation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have had four collisions with cars or taxis
since I took up cycling in London, and the last of these, while really no more
serious than the first three, which I shrugged off, left me in need of an operation
on my shoulder which, 2 ½ years later, I have still not fully recovered from –
in most respects I get along but when my personal trainer makes me do a plank,
it is not my core strength which fails me but my right upper arm and shoulder
which buckle after about a minute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inability
to recover from injury really frightens me, as I recall how a botched operation
to repair her knee largely immobilised my mother and started her spiral of
decline into eventual dementia and a care home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Thank the Lord that she is no longer around to suffer the steep spiral
of decline we can expect in local authority adult social care – they were
piss-poor five years ago, I shudder to think where they are going now).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, I simply don’t see myself continuing to cycle in central
London for much longer without segregated cycle provision. My travel by bike
has already been curtailed to routes I know well, and where I can stay clear of
the worst situations such as deliberately-narrowed busy streets like Cheapside,
Strand, Pall Mall or Ken High Street.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So roll on the two segregated superhighways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May they be only the first, as I am sure they
will be, when live data hammers home the point beyond even the densest
petrol-head minister’s capacity for self-denial, that they are a brilliant solution
to any city’s transport problems and should be implemented wholesale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666218922795754507.post-73406300041039132842014-12-10T03:10:00.001-08:002014-12-10T03:10:56.069-08:00Private Lives, Public Virtues<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In its responses to the consultations on the East-West and
North-South cycle superhighways which are due to meet at Blackfriars Bridge,
the City of London cited two principal concerns.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The first of these, adverse implications for pedestrians in
the City, I have commented on elsewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In short, instead of focussing on the entirely new pedestrian crossings
aligned parallel to the N-S route where it crosses Fleet St and Ludgate Hill
(where currently pedestrians just have to chance their arm – or their leg –crossing
without any form of pedestrian priority), or the restored crossing at the foot
of New Bridge Street near the Black Friar pub (whose removal a few years ago
elicited not even one squeak of protest from the City) or even the proposed
entirely new crossing on the other bank of the Thames, at Stamford Street,
where thousands of city workers walking from waterloo currently have to run the
gauntlet of fast and heavy traffic without any form of priority or protection,
The City instead quibbles about a 20 second increase in waiting time for
pedestrians at one or two crossings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
they really had their constituents’ interests at heart, don’t you think they would
have attended to those other concerns before now?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The second is the suggestion that the space given over to
the cycle paths and so, partly, taken from moving motor traffic will increase
congestion and so journey times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
of course not the City’s fault that TfL has failed to provide any modelling
data on what would happen to congestion and journey times as a result of
transference of journeys from car/taxi to bicycle, or indeed to simple traffic
evaporation (a well known consequence of reducing road capacity).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TfL has simply modelled as though traffic
volumes do not change.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">However, how sincere is the City’s concern about traffic
congestion?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They must surely then be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">very</i> opposed to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anything</i> which takes away road space from motor vehicles and so
exacerbates congestion on their streets?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Don’t you think?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Take a look at this square of the City immediately around my
office building, between Shoe Lane and Fetter Lane, Fleet Street and Holborn.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG0CGK76W4uBLwPL9ztUrjBLNeOOTQfLN9Gtr0bWU5DThRxmVC7BpoDly-cDcyMlkAu_CsLwcuR5PX7px2dzE2AMbrw3VNLtE-w5CntDZyQwPzcaSN-OfJjqsVV4zXmtoTa_FAEanKrjd2/s1600/congestion.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG0CGK76W4uBLwPL9ztUrjBLNeOOTQfLN9Gtr0bWU5DThRxmVC7BpoDly-cDcyMlkAu_CsLwcuR5PX7px2dzE2AMbrw3VNLtE-w5CntDZyQwPzcaSN-OfJjqsVV4zXmtoTa_FAEanKrjd2/s1600/congestion.PNG" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span id="goog_1246618972"></span><span id="goog_1246618973"></span></span></div>
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have crudely drawn in red lines to indicate road space
which has been expropriated, with the City’s consent, to the exclusive use of
private property developers.</span></div>
<br /><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One short stretch has been closed across its entire width,
leaving only the footway passable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
stretch is being used as the loading/unloading area for materials entering or
leaving the site of Land Securities’ new development at One New Street Square,
the former site of the International Press Centre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose I should be grateful – rumours are
afoot that this building, once completed, will be occupied by my firm, so
allowing us to escape from the 70s multi-storey-car-park monstrosity we occupy
today.</span></div>
<br /><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Forming a corner with this, half of the available width of
Little New Street has been expropriated, also for Land Securities, to site
their plant – generators and the like.</span></div>
<br /><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And just around the next corner, in Shoe Lane, another
stretch of the road has been expropriated over half of its width, same reasons.</span></div>
<br /><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A stone’s throw away, in New Fetter Lane, there are two
similar expropriations, each of about half the road width, adjacent to a new
luxury apartment block nearing completion, and a little further north adjacent
to the redevelopment of Number 20 New Fetter Lane.</span></div>
<br /><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What do all of these have I common?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are private uses of public amenity
land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They extend the area on which a
private developer can operate to build a privately owned development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They therefore permit the developer to make
more profits by permitting development of the entire footplate of the site
and/or to facilitate construction operations there.</span></div>
<br /><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now, I am not going to make a value judgement about whether
there is public benefit to be gained from these private arrangements – for
example more profits might mean more taxation on the developer and more square
footage of development might mean higher business rates for the Exchequer – but
I don’t think <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anyone,</i> not even Canary
Wharf, is denying the manifest public benefit of protected cycle paths into
central London. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So why are they so critical of the perceived congestion
outcomes of the cycleways but apparently perfectly happy to accept similar
implications from private developments?</span></div>
<br /><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /><br />
<br /><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0