CYCLING SOLUTION from "Girodilento "!

This Blog Post copied from the following site :

http://girodilento.com/eliminate-urban-road-congestion-good-uk-20bn-open-letter-department-transport

There are links there to a variety of photos & short films , which i am unable to transfer !

ADVOCACY

ELIMINATE URBAN ROAD CONGESTION FOR GOOD IN THE UK FOR £20BN – AN OPEN LETTER TO THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT

AUGUST 8, 2014 GIRODILENTO LEAVE A COMMENT

Transport is a key challenge for healthy, happy, prosperous & more liveable towns and cities. It’s something that almost everyone in most UK urban environments agrees doesn’t work well anymore for anyone.

We’ve had the answer to this problem hidden in plain sight for over 100 years.

It’s the bicycle.

In this post I’ll attempt to explain why I believe it’s the solution to make our towns and cities work better and our citizens (of all ages) healthier and happier.

Britain invented the bicycle as we know it today. Britain pioneered the use of the bicycle for transport and led the world until the 1950s. In the early 1950’s the British made as many trips by bicycle as the Dutch do today – over 30% of all journeys, all over the country.

Our geography hasn’t changed, our approach to transport did.

In our towns across the country we cannot continue to have the private motor car as the primary way people make their journeys – it’s not sustainable and it’s not working any more.

We simply don’t have enough physical room in our towns and cities for everyone to have a car, drive it around and park it. This doesn’t work, not anywhere in the world.

The good news is that it’s fixable – if we put the bicycle back to the centre of urban transport.

It’s time to remind ourselves of why the bicycle is the best transport solution for moving people in towns & cities.

The sum of 100 years of traffic engineering is if you build more space for traffic, more traffic will come to fill it. Fortunately the reverse is also true. We’ve spent the last 65 years designing out cycling in the UK but it’s time to turn this around for the sake of our health and the future prosperity of our communities.

Cycling is enormously space efficient, it has no pollution, eliminates congestion, has virtually no wear on the roads, increases health and can be a quick, easy and pleasurable way to get around town and to do your shopping – but only if we design it properly into our streetscape.

To do this requires leadership and it means taking a step back and thinking about how we can best move people for the benefit of everyone in our towns and cities. We should be aiming to make cycling the default choice for the majority of urban journeys.

In many towns, the vast majority of car traffic is local journeys that start and stop within a few miles. We should be aiming for 50%+ of all local journeys by bike and this is easily and cost effectively achievable.

40 years ago the Dutch made a choice to prioritise cycling over motor traffic – we (in the UK but also almost all English speaking countries) carried on designing only for motor traffic. The Dutch are now healthier, less obese, more active, have less congestion, less pollution and have the best children’s well-being in the world. They also have road injuries of less than 1/3 of we do and easily manageable health system as people’s health continues to improve across all ages.

We’ve become one of the most obese, most sedentary nations in the world with terrible congestion that costs us billions a year, road design that put us all into conflict with each other, rising deaths and injuries for the vulnerable on our roads, falling quality of life, 10’s of thousands of deaths each year either directly or indirectly as a result of our transport system and a high cost for personal travel. We designed cycling, walking and active health out of our transport system, whereas the Dutch made active travel the core principle.

This film available via :

HTTP://GIRODILENTO.COM/ELIMINATE-URBAN-ROAD-CONGESTION-GOOD-UK-20BN-OPEN-LETTER-DEPARTMENT-TRANSPORT

Some notes to consider from the film above:

–           People think the Dutch have always planned and designed for cycling – it’s simply not true

–           Also notice the speed people were riding. Transport or utility cycling is low speed at 10-15mph, so people ride in normal clothes and don’t get into a sweat (they don’t have showers at work as they don’t need them). People of all ages can ride comfortably and safely at this speed with the right road design. Road design is absolutely key and we’re decades behind in the UK right now as we can see outside our windows or windscreens.

Some of the specific UK problems the bicycle can help solve include the following

Congestion

o   We simply don’t have the room for everyone to drive a car as their main method of getting about. Cities and towns all over the world have tried and failed to make this work.

o   The car based transport monoculture is stuck in the 1960’s and it’s created the same problems everywhere in the world. Congestion, pollution, road deaths, obesity etc, etc, which have never been fixed. It’s a system that can only work with much lower numbers of cars. Building more roads only brings more traffic – Google induced demand to find out more.

o   In 1970 the population of the UK was 48m and we had 12m cars. By 2010 we had only increased the population to 56m but we had 30m cars.

o   A single road traffic lane can at best accommodate around 2,000 cars per hour. The same space can allow 14,000 bicycles an hour. We can move 7x the people using bikes where space is limited (most towns and cities).

o   It’s not just roads we don’t have the space for cars to dominate it’s parking them too.

• The Institute for Transportation and Development (USA) calculated the space required to park 2,000 people.
  • By car: 7.2 football fields
  • By bike 0.15 footballs fields – 2% of the space needed to park cars!

o   The solution to congestion is counter intuitive – the Dutch cut their streets in half to increase safety & reduce congestion. Reduce road space available to cars and re-think where we let them go. We need to put people first not cars because that’s our challenge:moving people not cars

o   Most UK car journeys are short: Of all trips made in 2012, 20% were less than one mile in length, 66% less than 5 miles and 95% were less than 25 miles. All eminently cycle-able distances. The average length of a journey in the UK is 7m and in the town where I live 60-80% of local journeys start and finish in the town.

Cars don’t just produce congestion, there are other consequences too:

Pollution

o   Our road transport system in the UK kills 29,000 people per year from traffic pollution. Road Transport accounts for 50% of total emissions and has a cost of $1.7trillion across the EU

o   Pollution also has other health impacts, such as asthma and allergies for many people and is deeply unpleasant to live with

Traffic noise

o   Dutch towns are quiet – traffic noise reduces liveability for residents near busy roads (including lowering property values)

o   Studies in Scandinavia have shown that traffic noise significantly heightens the risk of strokes

Road safety

• 5 people die every day on UK roads and this is positioned as a good result! 5 families destroyed everyday.
• 30,000 people are KSI on UK roads and 195,000 injured each year.
• 200 Children a month are killed or seriously injured on UK roads
• Sweden set a target for 0 road deaths – Vision Zero – why haven’t we? Perhaps because it requires a complete rethink on all parts of our road network. Whilst there are still road deaths in Sweden today – they’ve cut the toll by over a 1/3 already. Saving lives and saving cost to society.
• Sustainable Safety – mistakes that don’t kill. The Dutch principle of Sustainable Safety says that regardless of transport mode people make mistakes and that when people make mistakes, they shouldn’t have to pay with their lives. As a result they design their roads knowing people will make mistakes but working to ensure no one is killed as result. When someone is killed, a full investigation takes place and road is redesigned and rebuilt within months. Let’s do that here too.
• For every 1 cyclist death there are 4 pedestrians killed on UK roads and the UK has one of the highest rates of pedestrian deaths in Europe. It’s shameful that we kill so many vulnerable road users, especially as it needn’t be this way.
• When road deaths amongst vulnerable users falls it’s more likely that it’s because they’ve been scared away altogether rather than the roads are working better. People stay out of dangerous places wherever possible.
• Today 5 people will die on our roads, 63 will be seriously injured and 534 will be injured. We could design our transport system to significantly reduce this – if we decided to.

Cycling Safety

• Cycling is statistically safer than gardening. You’re more likely to get injured in an hour of gardening that an hour of cycling but to many, it doesn’t feel safe.
• If you cycled 1 hr per day for 40 years, you’d cover 180,000km. You’d still only have a 1 in 150 chance of being killed. If you lived in the Netherlands, your risk of danger would be 2/3 less than this.

Obesity (in both adults & children) & health

• 67% of men & 57% of UK adults are overweight or obese. Transport policies are a key reason that needs to be acknowledged. The Dutch level of obesity for adults is 10%
• 60,000 people die every year from inactivity related heart disease – the Dutch level of risk is half that of the UK
• A minimum of 5,000 people die from obesity each year
• Health report after health report and experts continue to argue that active travel must be prioritised to improve UK health – cycling as transport can be a game changer like it has been for the Dutch
• A recent UK govt report said that we are less physically active than at any time in the history of this country

All told about 100,000 people a year die because of our transport system as it’s currently configured.

Once again visit the original blog :

HTTP://GIRODILENTO.COM/ELIMINATE-URBAN-ROAD-CONGESTION-GOOD-UK-20BN-OPEN-LETTER-DEPARTMENT-TRANSPORT

Some points to note from this second film:

• As well as benefitting a wide range of people this video also shows some important points about the design of the paths:
• They are continuous and focus on helping cyclists maintain momentum (ie. Not stopping) which means people can & do ride slowly but still cover distances highly efficiently and easily with minimal effort
• They are wide, smooth and separated from heavy traffic
• Routes are direct and shorter than travelling by car because bikes are prioritised over cars
• They are well maintained and of a very high quality – think A-Roads for bikes
• They make the journey and progress easy and pleasurable

I’ve spoken to a number of mobility scooter users in the last few months and they tell me our roads are a terrifying place for them to travel in even using our “best” cycle paths.

Our car dominated society has contributed to creating social barriers

• Having people “locked” away in cars has increased social isolation and busy roads split communities. We all behave differently behind the wheel and behind glass.
• Bikes get people connecting with each other, with their neighbourhood and with nature. Neighbours can chat with each other on bikes and ride side by side.
• 40% of the UK population don’t have a drivers licence including 28% of adults over the age of 17. Let’s build a bike transport system everybody from 8-80 can use
• Whilst motoring has brought us advantages – it has brought unintended social consequences too

Eliminating the school run

• 50% of Dutch primary school children ride to school – over 90% of secondary school children. After 8 years old most children do this unaccompanied and completely safely. This also eliminates after school car journeys to clubs and activities and is key to childhood freedom, health and happiness. 38% of Dutch children ride between 6-15km each way to get to school – it’s not just those who live close.
• In 2010 the average distance for a child to travel to their primary school was 1.5m 43% of children were driven there! The National Transport Survey in 2011 said 64% of primary school children live within 1-2miles of school but only 2% of UK children cycle to school.
• The former Mayor of Bogota said “A great city isn’t one that has highways but where a child on a bicycle can ride safely everywhere”.  He also said “If children had as much public space as cars most cities in the world would become marvellous”
• This is simply an engineering problem
• Let’s gives back some childhood freedom & independence to our children that’s been almost totally lost thanks to motor traffic
• If we want our children to be safe in our town – we need to redesign our roads but we’d all benefit.

Let’s reduce transport costs for our citizens

Running a car is expensive. Figures from London say the costs of running a car is £458 per month, travelling by public transport is £225 per month and a bike £9 per month. Start multiplying that for multi car families and we are talking a large amount of money per household. All of this expense on cars represents money not spent in our local shops and businesses. Money spent at the petrol pump typically leaves the local community.

Let’s help our local businesses

• All over the world retailers overestimate how many people shop by car. They also think that more cars mean more customers – it does not & I haven’t managed to find a study yet that says this.
• Pedestrians spend 65% more than motorists – TfL data
• For every car parking space we can fit 10+ bikes – would we rather retailers had 1 customer visit or up to 10?
• If we think about car parking outside shops – is it better to have parking spaces for say 20 cars or a bike lane that can safely bring 1000 people a day?
• Out of town shopping malls work not because of parking – once someone gets out of their car they’re in a completely safe, car free, pedestrianized environment where they focus on the retail experience.
• Bikes can easily carry shopping and cargo bikes can easily carry large loads
• Shopping habits are changing in a way that is perfect for bikes: People are now shopping little and often.
• 10 years ago we didn’t have a café culture – in 10 years time let’s be a city bike society – our health, happiness and international competitiveness may well depend on it. If we don’t other countries will.

Free-ing up road capacity for essential trips

• If we can move 50%+ of local journeys to bikes we would free up road space for people who really do need to use a car.
• Cars still have a place for longer trips but once we’ve made our towns around the bicycle we can then start joining up towns with high speed cycle paths and motor traffic will continue to fall as will congestion.

Where this takes us too is that I want a better quality of life for everyone in urban Britain regardless of age and I believe that only the bicycle can deliver this magic bullet.

It’s people and places that make towns great, not cars and traffic. If you plan for cars and traffic, you get cars and traffic. If you plan for people and places, you get people and places.

Cycling infrastructure only works if it’s of sufficient quality to attract people to use it – it has to be direct, safe, convenient and a pleasure to use. There has to be a network that goes everywhere designed to be accessible for those from 8-80 who have not ridden bikes but want to. It’s for people that don’t ride a bike now

Currently our roads are noisy, dangerous and hostile. Let’s give them back to people.

Let’s give the UK public a true choice in transport modes whilst remembering that a significant number are either unable or would rather not have to drive

• 60% plus UK citizens when asked say they’d like to be able to use a bike and that more should be done for cycling.
• Around 70% of people say they simply will not ride with motor traffic of any kind.
• Many people now resent the money and time they spend in their cars

The car is a 20th century solution that doesn’t work in the 21stCentury.

People are driving less

• Young people are choosing not to get drivers licenses
• We don’t have the space for everyone to drive anyway and the side effects are literally killing us or making us miserable
• We need to work out the most efficient ways to move the most people in our urban environments – not use traffic modelling to force a few more cars in at the expense of everything else.
• Mileage driver per person has continued to fall every year since early this century (DfT stats)
• We don’t have a choice but to fix this

So why don’t 98% of the population cycle now?

• Our road designs
• Appallingly poor cycling provision & repellent conditions
• We’ve not built for cycling but you don’t build doors based on how many people are walking through walls, nor do you build bridges based on how many people are swimming across rivers.

What it’s not:

• Because of hills – San Francisco is one of the fastest growing bicycle cities in the USA. The Swiss make 5-10 times more journeys by bike that the UK do. Our bodies are amazing – they’re designed to move and they adapt rapidly. Today’s daunting hill is next months, no problems. Our hills will give our residents greater & faster health benefits.
• Because of getting sweaty – transport cycling is about riding slowly and just using a more efficient model – 10-15mph does not get your sweaty especially when we design so that cyclists don’t need to stop. The Dutch and Danes ride in ordinary clothing on comfortable bikes that are easy to ride
• Of not wanting to – we’ve removed the choice – we’ve made our roads too hostile.

So what is: it?

• It’s that we’ve tried to “encourage” or “educate” drivers & cyclists for 40 years to share the road rather than build high quality cycling infrastructure so only 2% of people cycle. The Dutch redesigned their road system with cycling at the centre and 40% of journeys are made by bike.
• The vast majority of people will not ride with motor traffic. It’s these people we need to design for – not people who already cycle. Again the Dutch have solved this and perfected it over 40 years – if you build it well, people will come
• 23% of Journeys by people aged over 65 in NL are by bike. Less than 1% in the UK
• 40% of all trips by people aged under 17 in NL are by bike. Less than 2% in the UK

How to fix this:

• Look at the world’s best – we’re very lucky that it’s only 200 miles from here
• Take the world’s best and improve it – don’t re-invent the wheel
• To reduce congestion we have to reduce the road space and access for cars – it’s worked in the Netherlands, Sweden and more recently in New York City. Nothing else works.
• Realise that bikes have different needs than cars or pedestrians & design for them.
• Design for Cargo bike traffic – let’s make it easy for people to not have a second car – we don’t have the room for them – let’s build dual carriageways for bikes
• Allow bikes to keep moving from one side of the town to the other without stopping.
• Engineer out the school run – make it safe for children to ride across town in safety on their own. Remove the need for parental taxi services.
• It only took the Dutch 10 years to transform their transport system.
• In 1970 bicycles only made up 10% of Copenhagen traffic – now it’s 50%.
• They decided to make it happen, overruling complainers– many of whom now ride instead, permanently eliminating congestion.
• Recognise there is currently little best practice at all in the UK but British engineers are some of the best on the planet – let’s allow them to fix this for us and make us a world leader – not to mention healthier, happier, richer and less stressed.
• Try things – trial to see what works before we do it permanently – it also gives people a chance to get used to it.
• Let’s make bold changes – tinkering around the edges will mean failure. We need to open up to new ways of transport planning. What we’ve been doing isn’t and won’t work.

That’s my magic bullet – it’s the only proven and cost effective way that I’ve been able to find to deliver all of these benefits

It will make Britain more liveable, healthier, prosperous and welcoming.

So what is it going to cost?

The Dutch spend €30 per person per year as the world’s best. To keep it simple, let’s just use £30 per head per year. That works out to around £2bn per year. It would take 10 years to transform our country, if we do it properly, so say £20bn. According to the government’s own estimates, for every £1 spent on cycling infrastructure, £4 is saved in the NHS. £20bn to eliminate congestion permanently and save the NHS £80bn – not to mention save 10’s of thousands of lives per year. It’s so much cheaper to build high quality bike infrastructure compared to roads for motor traffic.

This government has allocated around £40bn for HS2 and nearly £50bn for new roads – so the money is there. To transform the entire country we need £2bn a year for 10 years – half the price of the lowest estimate for the HS2 project and we’d transform the lives of everyone in the country.

Two quotes for you before my final video:

“Adding more cars in urban environments is not going to work” Alan Mullaly, CEO Ford Motor Co, 2014.

“If access by road is the key to economic prosperity, Birmingham should be the wealthiest city in Britain. It is not.” Oliver Tickell, 1993.

Here’s my final video and it’s one to inspire us all….

Again visit the originating blog :

HTTP://GIRODILENTO.COM/ELIMINATE-URBAN-ROAD-CONGESTION-GOOD-UK-20BN-OPEN-LETTER-DEPARTMENT-TRANSPORT

There are some powerful messages in there … not least notice how big the applause was for the improvements to cycling! Everyone benefits from fixing this and bikes are a key tool. It’s a fantastic video.

We can’t make our towns or cities work now or in the future the way it is – as the UK continues to grow we need a different paradigm for us to keep up – let alone to prosper.

Other countries and cities are already doing this – we will be left behind if we don’t and jobs will leave, house prices will fall, sickness and obesity will continue to rise.

Let’s choose to make Britain a model for embracing the bicycle and make this country a truly wonderful place to live. Let’s turn transport from being a burden to a blessing.

Thanks for reading

For those who’d like to know more about how cycling can fix our towns and cities, please visit the following sites for a much better explanation than I’ve given. These are where I’ve gone to learn:

http://www.cycling-embassy.org.uk/

http://aseasyasridingabike.wordpress.com/

http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/

The last post I wrote about why we need to embrace the bicycle in Britain is here, in case you’d like to read it: http://girodilento.com/why-britain-more-than-ever-needs-the-bicycle/

One last extremely good video that explains what’s possible and how to do this:

HTTP://GIRODILENTO.COM/ELIMINATE-URBAN-ROAD-CONGESTION-GOOD-UK-20BN-OPEN-LETTER-DEPARTMENT-TRANSPORT

ADVOCACYCHILDHOOD FREEDOMCITY BIKESFEATUREDOBESITYSOLUTIONSTRANSPORTURBAN TRANSPORT

HEALTH WARNINGS IGNORED

During the last few days we have had “World Cancer Day” and there was an interesting item in Newsweek involving Lance from cycling and Major Bloomberg from New York. Great work is being done by both and others in bringing people to an awareness of just how serious this Growing Health problem is and will continue to become.

However much effort we make at this time the real results will not become apparent for as long as a generation. Tough decisions have to be made now so that the toddlers and youngsters of this decade have a future to look forward to in 20+years time. The Tobacco and Alcohol Lobby controlled too many Governments for decades because they created jobs and were an easy source of Taxation. Politicians love to spend money on programs that make them look good in the eyes of the electorate. Growing up we all remember Tax increases imposed on Tobacco and Alcohol so as to balance the Budgets proposed by the politicians seeking their re election. Note the increases until recent years were not deterrents against the abuse of these substances.

Only in recent years are we seeing responsibility being taken for the growth in Alcoholism and Cancers caused by in the main “Smoking related issues”. This is because we are now seeing a “New Style Politician” who is recognising that the future has already arrived and is recognising the growing expense associated with the Hospitalization of growing numbers of their electorate. The Older Political Animal was always hoping that this problem would be someone else’s to solve and that they could accept the benefits without suffering the consequences. These days we are paying higher taxes as an increased burden falls on this generation for the ills created in earlier generations. How many cigarettes and how much alcohol was responsible for the deterioration of the populace’s health that is now filling Doctors’ Surgeries, Hospital Wards and Mortuaries.

Growing up I recall seeing many “TV Campaigns” about “Norm the Couch Potato” in the 70’s, yes 40 years ago. Amazing that only in recent years Obesity has become a greater problem in the schools to the extent that People from all walks of life are looking for solutions as they are seeing more obvious trends indicating the problem will only get worse , fast! Jamie Oliver School Menus is a politician’s excuse for solving a more serious problem , that being what is going on in the School Childrens own homes whether of the one or two parent variety

Exercise and Competitiveness were virtually banned some years ago in some schools and now we are seeing the consequences. Ill health has become the norm these past few years as a result of people growing up within a cocoon of soft living. Parents whose upbringing was easier than their parents are now passing on an even easier regime to their offspring. School children are being ferried a few hundred yards to school, given pocket money to buy “sweets, soft drinks, etc”, some of this money gets to be used to make an impression on their mates by buying cigarettes and other illegal items.

Schools were the source of inspiration for the Post War Generation and they could and should become the source of a change in direction back to a “Healthier Style of life”. Exercise needs to be the first priority on the school curriculum , healthy food education the next on the agenda and only then should teaching languages and social sciences take their place on the agenda . Getting more school children riding their bikes to school will lead to more exercise and this together with discouraging “junk foods” will help handle a small part of the Obesity problem that continues to grow out of control. Peer pressure and Bullying is the cause of the use of prohibited substances and more education as to the health risks associated and stricter penalties one hopes will penetrate the indifference that currently exists.

As I travel throughout Europe I see school children receiving cycling lessons from Police Officers, great to see that they are getting the education in a formal setting but more important is that they are learning the rules of the road so as to be safe in the way that they use their bike. Many countries in recent years are imposing a 1 1/2m width for overtaking a cyclist and this should mean that there will be fewer collision accidents involving cyclists. Parking is a problem wherever you are, as the minority of drivers are totally inconsiderate. Parking in a “Disabled Parking spot is their right, “only going to be a few mo’s” is their usual reply, if they don’t criticize you for interfering in their business. I have even asked a police officer to intervene and got the same attitude from the offender. Parking on a cycle lane is also for a “moment“, a justification can be “hey the cyclist can look over their shoulder or wait if there is traffic” or “ you can’t stop me parking here if I like, there are no parking signs, who cares anyway ”! Cycle Lanes should have the twin yellow lines indicating “No Parking” for the totally inept to comprehend “ Cycling Lanes are not meant to be parking areas”!

But with all this effort to improve cyclist safety measures the “Adults” are driving with increasing carelessness ! Yes it is possible to drive their car with the knees holding the steering wheel still as they light up the fag and talk on the phone that they are holding to their ear and at the same time reading the directions off their “Garmin/TomTom/whatever! It’s called “Multi Skilling” by some and an “Accident looking for a Happening” by most. Oh I forgot the eating and drinking that is also going on as they look at the floor to find that dropped pen or crumb of sandwich dropped whilst trying to overtake that slowcoach in front of them. Any of us feel like this is a reflection of our current driving technique?

Technology is a wonderful thing , it now thinks for us and we are now no longer responsible for the cyclist being skittled through sheer bad luck. When some one is killed on the road it is currently only the grieving relatives that arrive in court to see paltry fines handed out because you cannot bring back the dead and there is the “There by the Grace of God” attitude adopted by the authorities. Only when the Legislature takes a grip will “Murdering Innocent Cyclists” be treated correctly with the appropriate sentences being handed down. A wife may not mean to kill the husband with a knife but she still sees a prison sentence, a home owner killing an intruder does time, but mowing down a cyclist merits more than a slap on the wrist and community service and a paltry financial penalty!

Reading some of the Blogs in recent times it is apparent that Cyclists need to mobilise their Media connections into creating a Massive Joint approach to canvassing the authorities for more “Cycle Awareness and Safety”. All Cycling Journals contributing to the same Petition on a regular basis whether in writing or online will gain traction but as individuals we are treated as a nuisance rarely worth swatting. Complaining about individual driver behaviour to the local police will at best gain a few seconds of attention but if that party is already known because of earlier misdeeds then you may get a little more attention. It comes down to creating a data base of reports that are catalogued by a disparate community so as to be seen as unbiased reporting rather than “grinding an axe”. Too often you read of “road rage” between car drivers and action is taken but rarely do you read of action after a car sideswipes a cyclist.

Monthly action by the disparate Media Outlets combining to create a well publicised Petition will get results as starting in March, continuing in April, gaining more publicity in May whilst the “Giro d‘Italia is taking place and on the TV, adding more signatures in June and gaining more publicity as the Dauphine Libere and Tour de Suisse are in progress and getting the Racers from the Tour de France involved in July whilst the whole world looks on will overpower the ineffectual Politician Response! Amazing how interested in cycling matters the world is when the Tour de France is on the TV! Very few Politicians will be negative towards Cycling Safety Matters when they see daily the response the voters have to Sports Reports centred on the Cycling communities biggest event.

Governments need to understand that the majority of healthy people are “healthy” despite the distractions available . You will see the occasional cyclist/ sports person smoking a cigarette or overdoing the alcohol but the bulk of this segment of the population recognises that their lifestyle choices will lead to a better quality of life if they are abstemious and work on cutting out the habits that others choose to destroy their health. Awareness of the issues will eventually lead to more enjoying good health and this is why 30+million are wearing the “Livestrong wristband” and more people than ever are participating in Community Health activities.

Sydney to Surf, London Marathon , New York Marathon , Etappe of the Etappes style event subscriptions close early due to the overwhelming demand of people wishing to be participants in these events, but regardless of the demand many of the world’s population will continue to succumb to ill health due to the glamour of life styles created by “Advertising”. “Marlboro Man” style advertising will continue to trap the South American, Asian and African communities into taking up smoking. “Miller and Coors” adverts screened or broadcast will continue to recruit their share of over indulgent users! “Bacardi Events” will attract users both responsible and irresponsible over indulgent users. Fact is that Good Advertising is great for creating illusions but Mankind is responsible for their own interpretation of the benefits offered .

Health warnings are very rarely read and understood , as the Here and Now is the time that is important to most consumers , not the future consequences of Today’s excesses!

Feeling good now is the all important thing and damn the consequences too often the result.

HEALTH WARNINGS ARE DISREGARDED BY MOST AND AT THEIR AND OUR PERIL!!

GEELONG TO ADELAIDE

With the World Road Race Championships arriving in Geelong will come the rest of the world. I am speaking of Equipment , Media , UCI Officials ,Protour Team Officials , their mechanics and other support staff , families , friends and supporters. In addition to those with connection to the racing will be visitors with an interest in Cycle racing some of whom will be retired and will have an interest in seeing more of Australia than two cycle events.

I will not be the first to have thought of this but I wonder what has been done in the last years to make sure that those that arrive early for Geelong will prolong their stay so as to be at the Tour Down Under. In recent weeks we have heard mutterings about the TDU being the race event of South Australia but little of making other events more prominent so as to capture the interest of a wider audience. Tourism Australia must certainly be well aware of the huge opportunities provided to them by these two events.

Each of the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France starts and finish sites have huge amounts of equipment trucked in on a dily basis but the Worlds sites set up at the start and at the end strip out their equipment. The point I am making is that there is all this equipment that will be available for use whether for existing events or for events that are created for this period. Many existing events can perhaps be expanded to allow for visiting racers to participate. What UCI regulations need amendment to allow this perhaps temporary arrangement I am sure Cycling Australia can sort out easily enough.

Each cycle season is planned years in advance and to not see the advantages posed by the Worlds and TDU falling within a short period of each other will leave cycle fans wondering about the level of leadership in their sport. This year the TDU was helped by the arrival of two major individuals but throughout the years there has been comings and goings of teams and athletes so there should be a level of flexibility in event management. I fail to see that UCI would refuse to allow variance of regulations during this period so as to allow visiting racers the opportunity to enjoy a prolonged stay with their families in an enjoyable environment.

Every winter the Protour teams and indeed all cycling teams at other levels have get togethers, Team training sessions whatever you like to call these events but on occasion bad weather intrudes so being in Australia could solve some of these needs.

Having looked at the UCI calendars it is easy to see that there is time available to add or upgrade events so as to utilise the opportunities presented by those visiting that wish to remain in Australasia during the Southern Hemisphere Summer months and enjoy a change from the Northern Winter.

Sponsors that do not see the possibilities I am sure will welcome the addition of other Sponsors who do so as that will in the long run benefit them also. The bigger the event becomes the larger the media contingent present thus the possibilities of increased returns for their outlays. Jayco must be feeling pleased that their Tour starts within days of the Worlds concluding and will be hoping that the New Mens World Champions will participate in their event. It goes without saying that the media room will contain more international correspondents than previous years although some will wish to be at the Giro Lombardia.

Cycling Australia and Cycling Sponsors have the opportunity to provide the up and coming talent with better racing possibilities than in previous years. Will they seize this opportunity and present the cycling community with an unrepeated feast!

FATCYCLIST and BLOGGING

THE CYCLIST ON THE ROAD ALONGSIDE LANCE IS KNOWN AS FATTY!

he has raised $136000 for two charities in a little over two days.




THE $US1million "SKIPPYS LEGACY " still available to establish the "PARRABUDDY FOUNDATION".

In the past months I have been looking at a variety of Cycling Blogs to gain an insight as to what people are saying and enjoying.

People return to interesting and action packed blogs. I hope what I am offering will prove entertaining and worth visiting regularly. During 12 seasons of riding the routes of the various cycle tours that I have chosen I have met interesting and entertaining individuals throughout Europe. My primary objective has always been to motivate others to help “Disabled /Paralympic sport” in their own way. Each individual has their own perspective on how they can contribute to their community.

Returning to the blogs I am following, the outstanding example is “Fat Cyclist”. this guy has had a rough time these past couple of years with personal tragedy in his family. He has risen above the grief and continued to work at helping others.

Two weeks ago he sent a humorous letter to Johan Bruyneel which I picked up on Twitter and then went to @fat cyclist and to his Blog/fatcyclist.com. I will let you read and enjoy at your leisure as repeating here will not do the story justice. I watched the thrilling action with amazement! Fatty as he is known by his followers met the challenge thrust on him with an adroit skill few possess. It is an envious situation that “Fatty” found himself in as a result of the help of his team. “Fatty” motivated an instant result by his generosity and the lives of his followers, the beneficuaries of his fundraisings and the onlookers such as myself have been enriched as a result! Johan Bruyneel has risen to the occasion also in the way he received Fatty and arranging a range of “goodies” in addition to what Fatty had anticipated.

I have met many members of the “ Radio Shack Team” in their previous teams and his first report of the Saturday evening bears out my good opinion of them all. Nevertheless I envy the opportunity he had to go one on one in their space.When on the tours I have met the cyclists and their support staff in a variety of locations and generally they have been preparing for the upcoming days work.

Occasions have arisen when I have been able to have a reasonably relaxed chat. Chris horner at the “tour de Suisse invited me into the team Pullman he was curious about what I was about ,how I got around and where I stayed. As I was leaving I said “remember when you are standing on the podium tonight say “aider handisport” as this is the French speaking area of Switzerland, he laughed. Later that evening at the hostel I saw the last 25kms on tv and was able to see the TV interview after. Chris was not good with his French and certainly forgot what I predicted he should say! When I saw him the next day he was laughing as I congratulated him and asked if I thought he had enough on his plate trying to remember to mention his sponsors let alone speak in French!

Being on hand at the finish of an etappe can be a real thrill particularly when an aussie is on the podium, lots of people take the time to offer congratulations and ask what the particular rider is like up close and personable. Knowing my way around the back area I am generally able to get into a position to voice my approval of their success on the same day. A particular case was Dave Mc kenzie in the Girod’italia some years ago. I had finished the etappe and arrived in the finish area near the large TV screen. When it became apparent that dave was out front I got out the aussie flag as he went through the finish area for the first circuit. Some locals saw this and invited me up to their balcony to join their party. Plenty of time for food,drink and sign language, of course the flag was on the railings and then the cameras were focused on the party . Before leaving the finish area Dave acknowledged the group much to their pleasure.

I then excused myself and went looking for the “doping control” shook hands with dave , collected a team cap which he autographed and went back to the hosts of the party, who were thrilled with the souvenir. Later that evening in another town that was the next days start I found that I was staying in the same hotel as the Giro motorcycle route checkers. They were very complimentary about the result buying wine to celebrate the occasion.

I try to put something back into cycling as I get around. At this years Giro d’italia I was passing out “Livestrong wristbands to people I came across in wheelchairs, some I handed out, some I whizzed out as I raced past with a call of “Aiuto Disabili”.Livestrong had a party of volunteers giving out the wristbands at the start and finish areas but even though I asked them to pay attention to the “disabled “ as they drove the route it was not always easy for them to be prepared to slow down and hand out an item. A couple of times people have come up to me and told me of seeing me doing this on previous days, goes to show how many people follow the tours in their own way.

The Caravan vehicles at the “Giro d’italia “ are not as numerous as the “Tour de France” but they are more friendly and more approachable both at the start and at the finish. There is also the sponsors villages at both ends which are accessable for the general public.In past years particularly on the flat I have found as they pass me they passed out food and water to keep me going. In the towns they slow so it is not as easy to make my way through, particularly when they are stationary. Many of the workers are ski instructors in the winter as I am so this helps the connection particularly those who work with “disabled sport”.a lot of the workers return year after year so it is a pleasure to see them as it helps make a favourable connection.

When I was at Torino 2006 Winter Olympic I was waiting the passing of the “Olympic torch” a car came to a screeching halt and I found myself in a bear hug with one of the “Giro staff”. He arranged for me to run with the “torchbearers” for a period, which did my feet no good as I was wearing steel cap boots and my “Dryasabone coat” with the aussie flag hanging off my shoulders. About 10km later after their rest stop I hobbled off back to my friends appartment. Through these guys I was invited into “Casa Italia” once again.

On the first Sunday evening at “Casa Italia” I was introduced to “Sergio “ the Major of Torino. On arriving back at the appartment Ricardo, my host mentioned that Sergio’s office had been in the front of his building for a number of years. When I mentioned on another occasion this story to Sergio he immediately named Ricardo and arranged for him and Giovanna his wife to be guests on the final evening. Before leaving Torino I was introduced to the “Mayor of Vancouver, Sam Sullivan”, he was in his motorised wheelchair entertaining the public on the handover of the “Paralympic flag”.

In 2005 I was cycling into Torino and saw an Aussie team cycle jersey ahead in the traffic so I chased him down through the traffic. When we got talking it was Ricardo who had been given the shirt, as the story progressed I finished up with an invitation to overnight in his apartment. He fed me and took me to a party where I met some of his mates in a typical Italian party.

Next morning he rode with me towards Navarro on my way to Milano and the conclusion of that “Giro”. As we parted he extended the invitation to stay during the “Olympic period”. between times I had him visit in Kaprun where I was skiing and wintering that year.Last year he was on the Petit St Bernard pass but we missed each other in the crowds and I was pushing to get to Bourg St Maurice before road closures. That day I had to be in Bourg to try and catch up with Alain a Paralympics cross country skier whom I had not seen since the previous year when he handbiked up the major climb on the route to Cuneo. Again no luck with the crowds so I had to cycle to Albertville, chamonix and Martiney to collect the car which had been abandoned by the driver.

In the years of riding these tours I have found that transport is more of a hassle than value. Rarely have I been able to rely on a driver for more than a few days since noone is prepared to commit to the full 4 w/ends. 10 tdf transport free were really so much easier to enjoy. The first tdf in 1998 I was supported to some extent by an Englishman who wanted me to return to Pau when the repair job to the bearings that he half did on the cheap failed. I continued through to Albertville before I saw him again, subsequently I saw him in Pontalier.

He later dumped some of my gear in the campsite there, the valuables I am still awaiting as the problem happened in France the Sheffield police were not interested. Each time I have seen him since he decamps before the police arrive. During the 2004 Vuelta I had my Athens Olympic shirt lifted by the Frenchman with the megaphone. Whilst in the shower he substituted the shirt with a toilet roll, he also does a bunk whenever he sees me after I had the polizei to the Verona youth hostel during the world champs.

Over the years I have been invited into so many homes to eat or to sleep and as said before I do try to email, write or keep in touch. Sometimes it is frustrating to get close to their home and find that time has run out due to not riding at strong enough pace but on other occasions a landmark flashes past that gives you deja vue. To all those kind people out there once again my heart felt thanks.

Another ramble down memory lane closing for the moment!

WELCOME TO PARRABUDDY

............NO RESPONSIBILITY TAKEN FOR THE CONTENTS!!

I AM TRYING TO CREATE THE FORUM FOR THE DISCUSSION ON SETTING UP A PROJECT TO TAKE "DISABLED/PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED CYCLISTS " TO THE MAJOR CYCLE TOURS,ie GIRO'ITALIA,TOUR OF CALIFORNIA, TOUR DE SUISSE, VUELTA ESPANA & TOUR DE FRANCE.

IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT ALL CYCLISTS WISH TO BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN A FASHION IN THESE CYCLE TOURS! ABLE BODIED, FULLY FIT CYCLISTS FIND THE DAILY ETAPPE A CHALLENGE, EVEN AFTER 12 SEASONS THERE ARE DAYS I FIND THAT THE FINISH LINE CANNOT COME QUICKLY ENOUGH.

IF A TEAM OF CYCLISTS WERE ABLE TO PASS THE BATON FROM ONE TO THE OTHER IN A TIMELY FASHION THEN WITH THE CORRECT SUPPORT TEAM THEY WILL ACHIEVE THE OBJECTIVE. TIMING IS OF THE ESSENCE AS "HANDBIKERS & TRICYCLES WILL NOT TRAVEL AS QUICKLY AS TANDEMS AND ADAPTED CYCLES. SOME VARIETY IN STYLE AND FITNESS WILL ALSO ENTER INTO THE EQUATION.

MY EXPERIENCE AS A SINGLE RIDER AT 12 TOUR DE FRANCE, 11 GIRO D'ITALIA ,10 TOUR DE SUISSE AND A VARIETY OF OTHER TOURS DOES NOT EQUIP ME TO PROVIDE ALL THE ANSWERS SO I WILL DEFER TO THE SUPERIOR EXPERIENCE OF OTHERS. EACH DAY BROUGHT IT'S OWN CHALLENGES BE IT WEATHER, MAINTAINANCE DEFECTS, ACCESSIBILITY TO THE TOUR ROUTE OR THE CHALLENGES POSED BY THE RELEVANT AUTHORITIES.

WHAT I THINK IS NEEDED ARE VOLUNTEERS WHO OFFER THEIR SERVICES AND ARE CONTENT TO RIDE SECTIONS OF THE ROUTE AS THE OPORTUNITIES ARISE,HELP WITH THE DRIVING OF SUPPORT VEHICLES, MUCK IN AS CAMP WARDENS AT ARRIVAL AREAS AND/OR BE INVOLVED IN BREAKING CAMP IN THE MORNING. OF COURSE HAVING A TEAM TO DISTRIBUTE LITERATURE OR GOODIES IF THEY ARE AVAILABLE ADDS TO THE PUBLICITY, AS DOES HAVING VIDEO,PHOTOS TO GO TO MEDIA,BLOG, WEBSITES DURING THE EVENT.

STARTING TO SEE WHY I ALONE AM ABLE TO COME AND GO AS I PLEASE, BROKEN BIKE OUT GOES THE THUMB IF I DON'T FIX IT ON THE SPOT. IMAGINE A BROKEN "HANDBIKE", NO CHANCE OF IT GOING IN A CAR! SO ALL THE YEARS I WANTED TO TAKE A HANDBIKE WENT OUT AT THE FIRST HURDLE!

......FIND ME ON TWITTER.COM/SKIPPYDETOUR

EMAIL SKIPPI@AUSI.COM

SMS 00436764061232 (I CHANGE THE NO IN EACH TOUR COUNTRY)

.... I WELCOME INPUT OF VALUE.