When it started up, I thought at last! lets get the local authorities to acknowledge the importance of cycling as a mode of transport! Lets help them, feed back our experiences and facilitate the next step towards using the research, evidence and new techniques in road design so that we can make roads fit for all users. Having cycled for a decade in Holland, no lights, no hi-viz, no worries I know what a difference road design makes.
I see my kids getting around Ely and the cars that pass us, cars we wait for and wait for and wait for so we can cross, like angry rhinos. Always be grateful that they slow down or stop and not kill us. When you ask a driver politely to give you a bit of space at the lights, they shout back, " your a bloody bike, get out of my way!" and that's the women drivers.
In the light of the Emma Way twitter post, cyclists temporarily thought that we might be able to publicise the fact that cars don't pay road tax. That we all pay for the roads and in fact, a driver is allowed to use the roads under licence only with the agreement that they abide by the highway code. Temporary being the word at best, as not even the BBC properly explained that the "cyclists don't pay road tax" mindset is behind why our roads claim so many lives.
Some drivers believe in their heart of hearts that their car is born to be on the road, it will protect them from evil and that the speed limit must be upheld or exceeded when there's nobody to tell them off or fine them. So when you prevent them from reaching 30mph in towns, heaven forbid, they are million miles from the fact that on our roads, especially in towns, they are guests who should be considerately tiptoeing in their 4x4's past old ladies and children, apologising for the toxic fumes, not making us run out the way in fear and thank drivers for not killing us.
After 18 months, looking at the evidence and the symptoms. I declare this country terminal. I am deeply unhappy with the way the car is overriding common sense, medical and scientific evidence and above all, quality of life. The economic benefits are short term and questionable, it's just a way to make us pay more while our tax money doesn't pay for quality roads or user friendly public transport, both are neglected to the point where you are only really comfortable in a 4x4.
So what next? Even the act of getting the £60k sainsburys S106 money divided so that we might get some more cycle parking and some hard standing and bus shelters for the bus stops is taking years.
My kids are 5 and 7, they will be adults before there is a cycle provision in Ely like we are asking, if we get it at all. Do I stay here? do I move to a City in the UK with better cycling? Where in the UK would you say it would be safe to let 8 year olds cycle to school? No me neither, can't think of anywhere in the UK. There are isolated pockets of provision but nowhere where you could go about your daily life from the school run to the supermarket to visiting the grandparents.
I feel like having spent so much time in Holland where, no, it's not perfect but it is so much better than here, I can't understand why it's so badly organised here. I'm not making it up. In the league tables for happiness and raising kids the UK is nowhere in the ranking and the Netherlands is usually in the top 5 or 10. I have friends there, family and I speak Dutch. I share their appreciation of bikes, beer, chips, flowers and chocolate. The telly there is a bit pants, but you can at least get BBC 1-4 and there's always the internet for live streaming 6music. Here all there is is telly, I can't afford to buy tickets to gigs, the theatre or stuff like that. There it's much more affordable and yes accessible without a car.
I just can't see it getting any better here, I thought I'd grown out of my hatred of the system the first time I left England in 1989 but it's back now and it's stronger than ever, the more I read the more I am ashamed of what should be a fantastic country, it's neglected and still incredibly feudal.
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