About Social Media Today
With a huge thanks to Anna at Pineapple Bikes for the amazing inspiration!
Next Wednesday many of you are joining us on the Mall at 6.15 for our ride around Parliament to make sure that cyclist's voices are heard - the next day MPs will be holding the biggest debate on cycle safety for 16 years - we want to make sure they get the message right.
Why do I care? Why am I prepared to take to the streets?
Because this....
...is one of my bikes. It gives me ENORMOUS pleasure. It's huge fun to use, it gets me to work quickly, it saves me money, it helps keep the air clean, it is quiet and easy to park. Every time I ride it one of you has a better chance of getting a seat on the tube.
But! Because I ride that bike, and this bike...
...and sometimes one of these bikes...
...sometimes I feel like this:
You see, even though riding a bike is as easy as, well, riding a bike, we seem to have made it super complicated. We all get dressed up in body armour just to survive our rides to work, and end up looking a bit like this..
Maybe if conditions were right for cycling, and the Government did a lot more to create conditions which were inviting for cycling for all, we'd all be a lot less like this...
...and a hell of a lot more like this...
...or this..
...or even this...
..just imagine that!
As the Government goes in to debate cycle safety, I'd urge all our elected representatives to take it really seriously, and to dump what has been till now a paucity of imagination when it comes to cycle safety.
What we don't need is more of wasted space like this...
..or having to "keep our wits about us" like this (eek! I didn't pack spare trousers today!)..
...and as someone who pays really quite a lot of tax I'd really appreciate it if you'd stop building this sort of thing...
...because I'm just not ready to believe in the magical powers of paint just yet, and I'd like it even more if you'd stop building things like this...
(I mean, come on, really?!) And what we certainly don't need is a recommendation that cyclists dress more like this:
..when, let's face it, every one likes it much much more when all the cyclists look like this...
She's from Copenhagen, in Denmark, which is just an hour away over the water from here, where they have cycle paths that look like this:
It's shocking, I know. I'd like to see lots more of this! And this..
...and this...
...in fact, those last two images are from London, so I KNOW we can do it we really try! Then, cyclists like me can stop having to get distraught by the side of the road going to things like this..
...and doing wild, angry things like this...
...and we can all get on with being a little bit more like this:
What's not to like, eh? Please, Parliament, spend the money, build the infrastructure and let's move on from the hi vis, helmets and training "solutions".
Help to focus Parliament's mind - join us on the Duke of York steps at 6.15PM next Wednesday the 22nd February for our ride to the Houses of Parliament in advance of the biggest debate on cycle safety in 16 years. For full details, see here.
Share |
Next Wednesday many of you are joining us on the Mall at 6.15 for our ride around Parliament to make sure that cyclist's voices are heard - the next day MPs will be holding the biggest debate on cycle safety for 16 years - we want to make sure they get the message right.
Why do I care? Why am I prepared to take to the streets?
Because this....
...is one of my bikes. It gives me ENORMOUS pleasure. It's huge fun to use, it gets me to work quickly, it saves me money, it helps keep the air clean, it is quiet and easy to park. Every time I ride it one of you has a better chance of getting a seat on the tube.
But! Because I ride that bike, and this bike...
...and sometimes one of these bikes...
...sometimes I feel like this:
Maybe if conditions were right for cycling, and the Government did a lot more to create conditions which were inviting for cycling for all, we'd all be a lot less like this...
...and a hell of a lot more like this...
...or this..
...or even this...
..just imagine that!
As the Government goes in to debate cycle safety, I'd urge all our elected representatives to take it really seriously, and to dump what has been till now a paucity of imagination when it comes to cycle safety.
What we don't need is more of wasted space like this...
..or having to "keep our wits about us" like this (eek! I didn't pack spare trousers today!)..
...and as someone who pays really quite a lot of tax I'd really appreciate it if you'd stop building this sort of thing...
...because I'm just not ready to believe in the magical powers of paint just yet, and I'd like it even more if you'd stop building things like this...
(I mean, come on, really?!) And what we certainly don't need is a recommendation that cyclists dress more like this:
..when, let's face it, every one likes it much much more when all the cyclists look like this...
She's from Copenhagen, in Denmark, which is just an hour away over the water from here, where they have cycle paths that look like this:
It's shocking, I know. I'd like to see lots more of this! And this..
...and this...
...in fact, those last two images are from London, so I KNOW we can do it we really try! Then, cyclists like me can stop having to get distraught by the side of the road going to things like this..
...and doing wild, angry things like this...
...and we can all get on with being a little bit more like this:
What's not to like, eh? Please, Parliament, spend the money, build the infrastructure and let's move on from the hi vis, helmets and training "solutions".
Help to focus Parliament's mind - join us on the Duke of York steps at 6.15PM next Wednesday the 22nd February for our ride to the Houses of Parliament in advance of the biggest debate on cycle safety in 16 years. For full details, see here.
Share |
