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198 – Soggy cycle to work

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9 May 2009

My bike looking forlorn in the rain

Rain and cycling…not a good combination! Plastic bags cover the leather seats and handlebars outside the Business Car Manager office

Plus shopping baskets and cycling safety

I cycled to work Friday morning. I thought the light shower was virtually at an end, the forecast was for a sunny day, so I set off…and the rain suddenly got a lot worse. Not the greatest piece of judgement! It took a while to dry out.

And then into my inbox that morning popped this nicely humourous piece suggesting Conservative leader David Cameron should get a shopping basket for his bike. I was intrigued. I had to read more.

Apparently David Cameron has had a second bicycle stolen in the space of 10 months. The press release suggested that he should fit a shopping basket to his next bike if he wants to deter thieves. It seems such bike apparel a real turn-off for street-cred thieves.

The release, from cycle insurer ilovemybike.co.uk provided five tips to reduce the estimated 500,000 bicycles stolen each year in England.

1, Aim to spend 10 per cent of the bike’s value on a stout lock
2, Fit a shopping basket – even bike thieves have street cred
3, Do not allow the bike lock to rest on the ground – it is vulnerable to attack
4, Don’t advertise your bike’s value – put tape over the brand name
5, Don’t forget to insure your bike – shop around as some policies are much better value than others

Andrew Davis, director at ilovemybike.co.uk, added tongue-in-cheek: “A shopping basket of the correct size would be ideal for carrying parliamentary papers as well as putting off thieves.”

On a more serious note, the National Audit Office suggested more could be done to improve the safety of pedestrians and cyclists, despite the fall in the number of deaths.

Tim Burr, head of the National Audit Office, commented on the report: “Making roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists is a key element in encouraging people to walk and cycle more. While their safety has improved generally, some are more vulnerable, such as child pedestrians from deprived areas. The Department for Transport needs to draw on its research programme and the lessons learned from the projects that it funds to find ways of improving safety, especially for groups most at risk.”

I don’t want to get into a bikes v cars argument. I love cars. I love bikes (I have three, the rather elegant retro bike pictured – and no, it’s not a Pashley! – a beaten up old jalopy of an off-road bike, and my racing bike for triathlons).

Both cars and bikes are great means of transport. And not mutually exclusive.

But it does wind me up the half-hearted attitude this country has to cycle lanes. These are very rarely cleaned (so they are full of stones, glass, and so on – all the stuff to give you a puncture); and often suddenly come to a halt – often at the most dangerous point of a route, at which point the cylist is spat out into the traffic again. Which doesn’t help the car user either. It just smacks of tokenism.

Better cycle routes; and more consideration all round (from both bike and car users) would make cycling a much better proposition. And a safer one.

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Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton is an award-winning journalist and the founder of Business Car Manager (now renamed Business Motoring). Ralph writes extensively about the car and van leasing industry as well as wider fleet and company car issues. A former editor of What Car?, Ralph is a vastly experienced writer and editor and has been writing about the automotive sector for over 35 years.

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