Bradford Cycling 4 All are an inclusive cycling group in West Yorkshire. Inspired by pictures of a similar stunt in Riga, the group fitted their bikes with cages custom made by a local artist - a colourful, physical reminder to fellow road users of the space cyclists need - and they headed out on to the streets of Bradford.
Adam Tasker, the group's leader explained: "Having ridden adapted bikes on the streets of Bradford I'm concerned about visibility and vulnerability when cycling. Having your head near a car bumper is not a nice experience."
Adam continued: "The idea was proposed to us by Tim Curtis, a Bradford based artist with a strong interest in community based collaboration in the region. He also happens to be a volunteer at our cycling sessions. We were discussing some of the issues we might face this coming summer, we're doing a coast to coast and a LEJOG, and some of our cyclists with disabilities have never ridden on the road before. He suggested we make a video to highlight the space needed to cycle, especially if you have additional need and may be less visible. Tim drove the project forward, and we collaborated to help make it happen."
Adam added that the group wanted to highlight CTC's Space for Cycling Campaign, and whilst the campaign is more about infrastructure, rather than driver behaviour, he feels there's a strong link between the two that needs to be considered if we're to ever have harmony between drivers and cyclists.
The group produced a fantastic little video of their experience, so grab yourself a cup of tea and spend an inspirational 5 minutes in their company.
Comments
Whilst I thought the frames
Whilst I thought the frames set around all the bikes certainly would give motorists food for thought, cycling down cycling / pedestrian paths and other cyclists riding abreast of the framed units was very unthought'ful .
Loving the frames, hope they
Loving the frames, hope they come out more than the once!
Here in Portugal, the legal passing space is 1.5m. Sometimes I get 1.5dm. On a good day ;)
However, "users of adapted bikes who can be easily missed" is, in my nearly 25 years of recumbent cycling experience, a common misconception.
Although lower and less in line-of-sight, unless you are actually hidden behind something, you are far more noticeable, being unusual, and therefore get more space than on an upright. Just goes to show that what 'SMIDSY' actually means is "SMI wasn't paying attention".
I am very disappointed that
I am very disappointed that the CTC is causing confusion over the 'Space for Cycling' brand by endorsing this video's claim.
The video shows sharing the road with motor vehicles, which is not the main thrust of the campaign.
Space for Cycling should be kept on-message: primarily it is for the creation of safe, protected (segregated) space for the use of people riding bicycles.
~Andrew~
p.s. Even the poster at the recent London workshop on space for cycling showed simple paint on the road (and a dashed line no less!).
A very interesting PR
A very interesting PR exercise and I wish you every success on your LEJOG.
Just one quibble. The introduction feeds the myth that recumbent bikes, trikes and hand cycles are hard to see and are more likely to be hit by drivers. In 15 years of riding a recumbent tandem trike including a LEJOG and riding through the centre of many cities I have found I get far better clearance and consideration than I ever do on my upright tandem or bike. I regularly get the incongruous comment "I was watching you coming round the corner and you can't be see on that." This is of course rubbish. Given some good hi viz marking and good lights at night and in our case a flag you are just as easily seen as an upright bike. The difference is that drivers not only see us but also notice us and pay attention. Most accidents to cyclists are not caused by the cyclist not being seen but by the driver not paying attention to the cyclist's course and speed. They are dismissed from the drivers attention as a piece of street furniture that is not currently in my path without any consideration of speed and possible change of direction. Both my wife and I now have solo recumbent trikes as well as the tandem trike and we get much better treatment than on our upright bikes. Of course the catch is that this consideration will probably fade as recumbents get more common.