#BikeIsBest Advocacy Digest - Edition No.24
#BikeIsBest Digest Edition No. 24 | Thursday, July 28th 2022 | View in browser
Hello and with school out, we’re witnessing a different kind of congestion… the holiday kind. My sympathies are with anyone whose hard-earned summer holidays have been affected by the chaos at Dover.
GENDER INEQUALITY, CYCLE ROUTE GROWTH AND A MILLION MILE MAN
This week we’ve some good news, some less good news, and a bit of inspiration. With schools out for the summer, rush hour traffic peaks will be less bad than usual, a decent time to take stock and remember there are better ways of getting around - if only we can make them feel safe and easy for everyone, not just the fit and the brave.
BIG STORIES FOR CYCLING ADVOCACY
INACTIVITY TIME BOMB FOR WOMEN?
47% of women have done no vigorous exercise in the last 12 months, according to an online survey, with many saying they got out of the habit during lockdown. This is a potential public health disaster and another reason we need to build physical activity into everyday lives. Cycling and walking deliver this in spades, but research shows women are less likely to cycle than men.
RALEIGH-ING CRY?
In a timely fashion, Raleigh and Women in Sport partnership have found 58% of women who don’t cycle regularly would like to, particularly in urban areas and among younger respondents, 67% and 76% respectively. The main reasons for women not cycling more are sadly familiar: feeling unsafe on the roads, confidence and access to cycles. It’s unacceptable women are disproportionately locked out of cycling and it highlights that safer roads are a gender equality issue.
DOUBLE DIGIT GROWTH ON EUROVELO ROUTES
From earlier this month came news the European long-distance cycling network, EuroVelo, saw double digit growth this year. Cycling increases, measured by 170 automatic counters, ranges from 10% to 45% compared with 2019 levels. Following a pandemic cycling peak, numbers are still up on earlier years and the trend continues, reports Cycling Industry News.
MILLION MILE MAN
He’s cycled a million miles in his lifetime and now has a plaque recognising his efforts. Russ Mantle, 85, became the first person to cycle a million miles in 2019, as he recorded meticulously by hand the details of each trip he made. Mr Mantle says he was doing his biggest mileage ‘long past his peak’, into his 60s and 70s - an inspiration for us all. The plaque was unveiled on Farnham’s ‘famous faces’ wall, reports Cycling UK.
CARGO BIKING USA
One Good Housekeeping journalist has discovered the many ways families go car-free around the USA. There’s one woman who grew up in Austin, Texas, not knowing what public transit was, and now cargo-bikes, ride shares, or takes public transport with her family everywhere. One New Yorker says: “Now I can see a bookkeeping client, pick up my son from his nanny-share and get groceries all in one run, and I don’t have to deal with the traffic or parking”.
OTHER HEADLINES
SCHOOL’S OUT
Imagine if we could ditch the dreaded school run. Kids can cycle and walk themselves to school unescorted from much younger ages where it’s safe. A friend of mine has three kids and her youngest finished primary this year. She’s spent 2,400 hours driving kids places because she felt there was no other choice. Parents want to keep their kids safe, and it’s a reflection of the lack of good choices given to us as a society.
TIMMY MALLETT DISCOVERS BAD CYCLE ROUTES
The presenter and artist is cycling round the country at the moment painting and posting on social media. He discovered a sheep path through some grass, branded as a (non national cycle network) rail trail and asks the question many of us ponder: is this good enough? Sustrans says no and though it’s not one of theirs they’re looking at helping improve it.
JUST A MINUTE!
Campaigners with a sense of irony in the US hold ‘just a minute’ protests when drivers park in a cycle lane, repeating the excuse used by people who know they’re doing the wrong thing the world over. By blocking traffic lanes while the driver is ‘just a minute’ in the cycle lane, they highlight the inequity of road use, and how the little cycle space available is easily usurped by drivers. Chicago cyclists are the latest to follow San Franciscans’ lead.
INTERESTING GRAPHIC OF THE WEEK
Whether people miss their commutes, in the post-pandemic working world, depends very much on how they travelled. Source: Marco te Brömmelstroet, 2020
Source
ACTIVE TRAVEL PHRASE OF THE WEEK; OVERTON WINDOW
The policy parameters within which we see normal society operating. The idea is this is a worldview, and can be shifted. New ideas that may seem radical at first, can become normal over time - and this can and does apply to how we use our public spaces.
Until next time,
Founder, #BikeIsBest
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