Sticky poster for the new campaign. I should get this message around town quite a bit with this :)

Good signs

  Call me an optimist but I thought reading this on the East Cambs Council website was a good thing. Let's see how much comes to anything, they at least know the problems, their causes and some of the possible solutions. Will they take advice? Will anything come out of them consulting the Cycling Campaign? Only time will tell.

Ely Traffic and Environment Study

This study was established as a result of the Section106 agreement for the new Sainsbury store in Ely, which opened in February 2012. The agreement committed £611,000 towards traffic and environmental improvements in Ely, linked to assimilating the new store development into the city centre. Since then a small working group has been established involving officers from East Cambridgeshire District Council, City of Ely Council and Cambridgeshire County Council and the work to date has included:

• The first of two rounds of traffic surveys across the City; the next round of surveys takes place in July 2012.
• Air quality monitoring in Ely during 2012, to establish baseline data on nitrogen dioxide pollution
• Comprehensive consultation on traffic and access issues and potential solutions for
• Ely, involving a website survey, stakeholder event and public consultation sessions at Ely Markets.

As a result, a number of key issues and possible solutions have been identified including:

• The need to improve the quality of pedestrian access and the shopping experience, including more pedestrian crossings
• Safer and better cycling routes along with cycle parking
• More effective parking enforcement to reduce blockages
• Reduced speeding across the City (to 20mph)
• To find a solution for Broad Street blockages
• Change the layout and management of Market Street
• Improvements in the Lisle Lane area

Further work is now being undertaken to identify a shortlist of priorities.       

Leon's new Loekie

Leon's new bike!

Well, it arrived the day before the last day of term and I wanted to show it to him first thing before school and let him have a try, not expecting him to be confident enough to ride to school that day. He got on and rode it, I am not sure why I'm surprised as this is the same as what happened when I took the stabilisers off his other bike. We've been riding into town and round and about, on picnics and shopping trips and he loves it. Still getting the hang of the gears, he still gets up off the saddle when the gearing is to high and sometimes he's peddling fast and not changing up. There are only three gears and unlike a dérailleur set, he can change gear while stationary and stop peddling or keep peddling and no chain will fall off. My only reservation is it's very heavy, this was the 100 eur difference between the Puky and the Loekie (made by Basta, a very reputable Dutch bike manufacturer), the Puky is German and aluminium where as the Loekie is Steel frame it is as heavy as an adult utility bike. He's handleing it very well and as you can see. He loves it!

Polar bears are epic

Give me strengnth

I've been finding it hard to find a balance between reading every article and piece on transport and roads that relates to cycling and wanting to blow up parlament and then the local council. There's only so much information and evidence that has been ignored while I wonder why I can't cycle on a 60mph road without at best drivers calling me a liability and at worst ending up an organ donor.
It angers me that the roads aren't safe to cycle on and there's no alternative; I don't want to cause a collision while a driver overtakes me on a blind bend at 60mph or end up dead but I want to choose the transportation I deem most appropriate.
The British Medical Association told the government they ought to make the roads suitable for use for bikes as well as motorised transport as this would be beneficial on so many levels and they choose to ignore it, followed by a constant growth in car use and deaths.
My priority is to my kids and my family, part of that is bringing them up to cycle safely where ever they want to. In order to do that I have to do what I can to improve things in Ely. I also have to be here at home and not huffing around being angry which is what some of the stuff I read does to me. I won't stop reading it but having spent the last 5 years buried in nappies, toy sheep and wooden railway, emerging and remembering the real world is a mess is at times, hard to handle.
A sense of humour, proportion and still urgency in measures I'm still trying to work out.

Curb car use

http://www.bikehub.co.uk/news/sustainability/curb-car-use-urges-bma/

Cycling in heels

Bringing glamour to cycling.

Reuben in the sleepy, literally

Prepared printout for Forum Meeting yesterday

City centres are slowly returning to being places for people to walk about, cycle about and shop or enjoy a coffee in the sunshine after 3 decades of parking problems, traffic jams, pollution and stress. This has made our high streets unpleasant places and removing cars will make them habitable again.

Advantages of Cycle friendly streets in the Centre of Ely

Studies show that shoppers who come in by bike spend money in small shops.

They come into the centre more frequently.

They visit multiple outlets rather than visiting one shop and returning home.

Less space needed to park – by taking away 2 parking spaces in the carpark next to Waitrose, potentially an additional 20 people can park and access the centre.

By encouraging residents to leave their car at home and visit the centre by bike, walk or bus, your are freeing up parking spaces for visitors from the outlying villages and further afield.

It is a quick as coming in by car but you get 20-40 minutes fresh air and exercise and it's not cost you anything in fuel.

Children who regularly cycle to school and with their parents to go shopping develop road sense and will ultimately grow up to become safer drivers as adults.

Cycling is only partially a leisure or sport activity; it is also a means of transportation – one that is cheap, enjoyable, healthy, quiet and doesn't involve as much space as parking cars does.

Opposition:

Some argue that the existing bike parking in Ely is not used; the bike parking placed in places where cyclists are confident their bike is secure and in sensible walking distance, such as opposite costa are always half full and on market days full. The parking behind waitrose is never used as it doesn't appear very secure and isn't on anyone's route – people seldom approach the centre that way by bike.

Cycle parking that isn't a Sheffield stand style often involves stands that damage tyres, buckle wheels and don’t provide a secure object to fix a locked bike to. Cycle parking like this is rarely used by cyclists. If you insure your bike, your bike would not be insured unless it is fixed to an immovable object – would drivers park their cars in spots that damaged their wheels and would they leave their car open? No. so why would cyclists?

Strategy:

By closing the high street to cars 7 days a week, cycle parking could be placed at both ends and in the middle of the high street.

Reducing the speed limit in the centre of Ely to 20mph would make Ely a safer place for cyclists and pedestrians alike.

If residents could be assured of safe and convenient places to leave their bikes, they could pop in to town after work, market days and weekends for top up shopping by bike.

Initiatives like columns in the paper on how to get your bike out of the garage and into a usable condition would encourage many who own bikes but don't use them.

Cycle surgery on market days – bring your bike in and we will give it a tune.

There are literally hundreds of residents who cycle to Ely train station every weekday to go to work, what is stopping them cycling in to town on a Saturday?

Could it be they have kids and they don't feel the roads are safe enough to cycle as a family?

If they cycle long distances like from the villages, the roads are quiet early in the morning and a busy Saturday on 60mph roads is too dangerous?

Cyclists who cycle for sport or leisure have expensive bikes, too valuable to leave in town if they can't be assured of finding a secure spot?

Leisure and sport bikes don't come with mudguards, carriers, chain guards etc and require specialist clothing. By encouraging Utility cycling you are adding cycling as a means of transportation into the consciousness of people.

Families with trailers for young children can put a pushchair in the cargo bit of the trailer and walk with their kids once parked up. They then have plenty of room for shopping and kids to get back home.

A long term strategy of cycle paths and routes in from all the housing estates into the centre would encourage young families on to bikes to access the centre and the river, they would spend money and enjoy the experience of living in Ely, a place more beautiful from outside the confines of a car.

My first Ely City Forum Meeting (Portas Report Action Group)

Well....it was quite terrifying in places!

Traders association were there in force understandably but I was pleasantly surprised to see a few other groups represented.
Main points going forward were to investigate the commercial entities that contribute money, much like the Lancaster way cycle path and what Sainsburys are doing, there was a bloke there who drives the Norfolk Green buses and was representing the Market Towns association who seemed to know alot about channelling funds generated through businesses great and small; money that could be used to improve facilities and pretty the place up.
There was a big winging session about the lack of signs for tourists and that visitors can't find Oliver Cromwell's house or the railway station, lots of winging about generally how badly things inside and outside Ely seem to guide visitors to Ely.
The position with the older members seemed to revolve around people not picking up their litter, businesses not keeping the centre tidy.
When I approached the subject of making the centre car free, pedestrianising the high street and putting in more cycle parking I got screamed at (for all intents and purposes) by one of the traders association who said and I paraphrase 'I'm not going through this again, we've had this for 2 years, my shop closed down when because it was on a street that got pedestrianised, don't talk to me about parking' I said I wasn't interested in talking about parking more about making the centre habitable for people to use other forms of transport and the chair said despite agreeing with me that he thought the high street should be pedestrianised, we will leave it there before it reaches fisticuffs.
I did manage to get in that the council are already planning the 20mph zone, there's talk of a one way system and that we as a forum should keep up to date with their plans and consult and feed back to them - the role of transport has a pivotal role in the enlivening the centre plan.
One thing the traders and everyone, me included agreed on was that the business rates in Ely were far too high and there were too many charity shops as a result (they get it much cheaper). The powers that be ought to investigate into initiatives to increase and encourage the independent traders. Some mentioned pop up stalls too. The traders association have been given the task of asking all the local shops to feed back what works and doesn't work for them (I'm surprised it hasn't already been done).
There was a bit of talk about how crap and under used the market square was and that needs enlivening, not turning into a carpark.
While I was chatting after someone pulled the 'cyclists don't do themselves any favours disobeying the rules, running lights and wizzing about on pavements' card. I am learning not to rise to this. I did say, I don't and lets not get started on how bad some drivers are. The guy then went on to say there were heaps of stands at wisbeach depot and the cloisters land owners are the reason there are no bike parking by waitrose. There was agreement (outside the traders) that paid parking would be good because the 2 hour free parking window limits the amount of time people stay in the centre and where they visit - Forehill gets bad foot fall because people don't stray too far from their cars. In theory, if they pay, they will stay as long as they need to, or leave their car and come in by other means.
The bloke who owns the waitrose car park and building was really lovely and said he'd put in cycle parking under cover, between the trolleys and the cash point. Was he serious? we shall see I suppose? Next meeting I'll ask...
I handed the chair a small folder with a bit I'd written just including the advantages of cyclists as consumers and strategies both cheap and short term and more long term on how to go about changing habits. It also had a print out of the wikipedia definition of utility cycling which is very enlightening and had lots of useful facts relating to town centres and prosperity linked to utility cycling. How much attention it will get, who knows. I'm not holding my breath.
The star attraction was the Ely App, which will be an app downloadable from new planned free wifi hotspots in the centre of Ely. It will guide tourists, provide joined up information about products, services, attractions, what's on, when and why. It could replace the Ely papers!
I will attend all the meetings and follow this up to it's conclusion.

Thought for the day

The high street is dying

So, is it the recession? They are concentrating on ooo maybe better parking will attract them? But, But, the traffic, parking prices are extortionate! What? how about making it seamless and cheap to get in without a car? Studies show on the continent cycling makes town centres more prosperous.
Utility cycling increases local economies and livens up town centres. This wikipedia page explains what Utility Cycling means.
I'm going to the Ely City Forum Meeting on Wednesday to discuss the Portas Report and on how we can enliven the centre of Ely. I hope I can put forward a good case for making the centre of Ely cycle friendly and hopefully in the process improve it's prosperity.

6 kids, one woman on a bike

A mum in Oregon USA does the maths and works out that even with 6 kids getting around by bike saves alot of money.http://bikeportland.org/2012/06/28/with-six-kids-and-no-car-this-mom-does-it-all-by-bike-73731

Thought.

Getting around Ely

Yesterday, I took Alex and Reuben in the trailer with Leon cycling himself across town to Nana's, we came down Lynn road and turned off the main roads to avoid the Lamb junction and St Mary's Road area as it was midday on a Saturday and rammed with traffic. The turning with Downham Road and West Fen Road is the most hair raising, you are turning right on the outside of a corner, as you signal and head for the middle of the road you realise that actually you are on the other side of the road facing oncoming traffic and you have to go right round the bend to see if there is any oncoming traffic before turning onto West Fen. Either that or you bottle it and turn early onto the wrong side of the road and hope that there's nothing there in the way. Not sure what could be done to make it safer apart from moving it! Possibly a mini roundabout, actually would make it easier; it would stop cars coming round that bend so fast as they would have to stop because you've changed the right of way to the vehicles turning into West Fen. Then West Fen Road, barely wide enough for cars in both directions is littered with parked cars on one side so I needed the entire road. The on coming cars politely waited as we came through and I thanked them. Ely backstreets are a series of narrow lanes with parked cars on one side or the other and relies on politeness and consideration so the drivers are usually very good. I've come up against drivers on the wrong side coming up with me on the left who've motioned I should get up on the pavement to let them through. I don't mind back streets as the narrowness and amount of obstacles means that cars have to go slowly and I have the best visibility being up on a bike anyway.
We got to Nana's fine, Leon talking about why there are so many parked cars everywhere and what would happen to the houses if cars went really fast and bashed into the houses. He made up this amazing scenario with one house on a bend where they'd all sat down for lunch and a car came crashing into their living room! I did try and point out that on the back streets, cars travel nice and slowly so they generally don't crash into people's houses.
Later that afternoon I took Reuben and Alex in the trailer down to Pocket Park and Leon stayed with Tobe at Nana's. Alex's parents took Alex's and Reuben's little bikes down in the back of their car and parked in the Fisherman's carpark, I had the two boys in the trailer and we cycled into town, got an ice cream on the market place and cycled down Forehill, into Willow Walk and through the Fisherman's carpark which is the only access into the park with a trailer. I parked the bike up against a bench next to the baby swings (which meant we couldn't sit on the bench) and we sat on the picnic mat I brought in the trailer. I can't lean the bike against anything else there, there will be bike stands soon.
Reuben and Alex got on their little bikes and cycled round the circular path a few times as well as playing in the park which was pleasantly busy with lots of kids and families. Pocket park is a great place to get little kids on their bikes and let them cycle without fear from cars. We left just before tea and I took Reuben on the back of my bike and put his bike in the trailer while Alex went home with his parents in their car. I cycled back through the fisherman's carpark, up to Willow Walk and right onto Lisle Lane. I cycled all the way up to Prickwillow Road without getting off and walking which is easy without the trailer but with Reuben on the back and a trailer with a bike in I was quite proud of myself! Quite often I've walked it with the trailer, so I must be getting fitter (I did have the wind behind me too). I've found a nice short cut through the back of High Barnes using an alleyway that leads out onto Bentham Way so I can miss most of Kings Avenue on the way home. Ely is a town where I've never found so many streets with the same name; they are more like areas with multiple side roads of the same name than streets, Beresford Road, Columbine Road, High Barns, Kings Avenue, Odds this bit, evens somewhere completely different. I would hate to be an Ambulance looking for the right number.
Cycling round Ely is pretty good, it's small and accessible, only a couple of hills. There's really only the lack of bike parking in certain places and having the guts to behave like a vehicle rather than seeing yourself as in the way of the cars. The roads are there for cycling and driving, they are used to being held up by tractors, other cars and so on so one more Mum with a trailer and a five year old shouldn't be a problem.
If anything I get more smiles and Ahhh's as I ride through Ely than expressions that I take to mean 'you are nuts - how can you subject your children to such risks' I know that statistically their car in an accident can no more protect their kids than my trailer. I ride in a way that there is little possibility of not being seen and I wouldn't dream of taking the trailer on 60 mph roads. In a car, if our lovely safe Mazda 5 was hit at 70mph on the A14 it would be more luck than the quality of our car or car seats whether any of us survived. People think their cars and car seats are safe but kids seats are only tested at 30mph and results at 60-80mph show a very different picture.
I know where I stand on my bike, I control things and I know what I can and can't do, I'm rarely doing more than 10mph anyway. As a passenger in a car barrelling down the A14 at 60mph I have no control and I know that if something were to happen, that might well be the end of this part of the Jones Family. Driving or at least being in a car for me relies on alot of faith and, if I'm honest I have to accept that it's the most dangerous thing in my life. People still see my cycling as the riskiest part. It really isn't!!! They are making driving as safe as they possibly can, now it's time to make using the roads perceivably as safe as possible for all users.
What I would love to see is a more nurturing nature to the roads so nervous cyclists have space and know where to go plus all A roads and main heavy traffic roads need a cycle path/route next to it or close by so that you can travel between towns and villages without being overtaken at 60mph or worse knocked off/killed by 'sorry I didn't see you (because I was texting/changing the CD/lighting a cigarette)'.