Category Archives: Cyclecraft

Let’s get vehicular

Posted on July 1, 2014 by aseasyasriding

The new edition of Cyclecraft was published last week. I haven’t had a chance to give it a good read yet, but at first glance it appears to contain much of the same dogma previous editions contained. For instance, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cyclecraft, Infrastructure, John Franklin, Subjective safety, The Netherlands | 26 Comments

The myth of incompetence

Posted on September 16, 2013 by aseasyasriding

You won’t need me to tell you that John Forester is the ‘father of vehicular cycling’. One of his biggest apparent obsessions is the notion that cycle tracks and cycle paths foster ‘incompetent’ cycling. He has written, for instance, that … Continue reading →

Posted in Cyclecraft, Cycling policy, Infrastructure, John Franklin, Subjective safety, The Netherlands | 27 Comments

A letter from Zohra

Posted on May 16, 2013 by aseasyasriding

I recently chanced upon this amazing letter, written to the British Medical Journal, almost exactly 13 years ago. Why do school children cycle on the continent, but not in the UK? Dear Editor, I have been reading the responses to … Continue reading →

Posted in 20 mph limits, Cyclecraft, Cycling policy, Infrastructure, John Franklin, Subjective safety, The Netherlands | 28 Comments

Cycling on the pavement

Posted on December 5, 2011 by aseasyasriding

I wrote a rather long piece a few months ago about a West Sussex County Times article entitled Councillor warns of road ‘peril’. This was an article that, for some reason,  decided to focus entirely on the dangers of ‘selfish cyclists’ who … Continue reading →

Posted in Cyclecraft, Helmets, Horsham Police, Infrastructure, John Franklin, Transport for London | 16 Comments

West Sussex County Council member for Highways and Transport, Lionel Barnard, admits that Sussex roads are lethal for children attempting to cycle to school

Posted on June 19, 2011 by aseasyasriding

Lionel Barnard, West Sussex County Council Cabinet member for Highways & Transport I wrote recently about the plight of the villagers of Cowfold. West Sussex County Council is proposing to axe the number 86 bus through the village, which would … Continue reading →

Posted in Car dependence, Cyclecraft, Cycling policy, Road safety, West Sussex County Council | Leave a comment

RAC driver helpfully adds realistic road conditions to a Bikeability lesson

Posted on May 14, 2011 by aseasyasriding

My Bikeability class were practising right turns into a junction yesterday, on a reasonably quiet back street. While we were doing this, an RAC breakdown driver – sensing that the road conditions under which we were performing this manoeuvre were … Continue reading →

Posted in Cyclecraft, Horsham, Parking, Road safety | Leave a comment

The ‘primary position’ – putting UK cyclists between a rock and a hard place

Posted on May 9, 2011 by aseasyasriding

Don’t worry if a driver is beeping at you. In fact, it’s good. It means the driver is aware of your presence, and has seen you. I may not have the wording exactly right, but the above is the essence … Continue reading →

Posted in Cyclecraft, Cycling policy, Road safety, Transport policy | 46 Comments

John Franklin in action

Posted on May 3, 2011 by aseasyasriding

I mentioned in a recent post that John Franklin – the author of Cyclecraft, and prominent U.K. advisor on cycling policy and design – appears to have one governing principle, which is that cyclists should be on the roads, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Cyclecraft, Cycling policy, Infrastructure, John Franklin, Road safety | 27 Comments

Anatomy of the death of a cyclist – William Honour

Posted on April 27, 2011 by aseasyasriding

I mentioned in yesterday’s post on Cyclecraft that I generally avoid dual carriageways (along with single-carriageway trunk A-roads) as much as I possibly can. I don’t think this is irrational. The relative approach speeds of vehicles behind me, and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cyclecraft, Cycling policy, Dangerous driving, Road safety, The judiciary, Transport policy | 13 Comments

John Franklin and Cyclecraft – Cycle safely by turning yourself into Mark Cavendish

Posted on April 26, 2011 by aseasyasriding

Next month I am planning to take some Bikeability Level 2 classes. My main motivation is not really the training itself because I feel, perhaps hubristically, that I am a competent ‘vehicular’ cyclist, fully versed in the speed and positioning … Continue reading →

Posted in Cyclecraft, Cycling policy, Cycling renaissance, Infrastructure, John Franklin, Road safety | 42 Comments