Alongside sampling the beer (or perhaps just slightly before sampling the beer, given the large quantity of canals in the country and the aforementioned alcohol content which really can take you by surprise) I would urge any government mission to spend some time cycling around the cities of Belgium. Robert Goodwill, the new minister for cycling would like to see more 'basket-on-the-handlebars' type cyclists on British roads. If he pops over Bruges on the Eurostar he will see many of these wobbling around on the pavé.
I do not have a basket on my handlebars; partly because they do nothing for bike handling or aerodynamics, and partly because I have set my handlebars so low that it would rub against the front wheel. The slammed handlebars probably put me in the category Goodwill describes as the 'Lycra mob' who are in his view as intimidating to novice cyclists as cars and trucks. This actually isn't quite as silly as it seems; he was probably thinking specifically about this lycra mob:
I suspect however that in this instance the gripe is more about cycling style and speed rather than sartorial taste. As a commuter I tend to ride as quickly as possible at all times. This is admittedly partly because of my abysmal time management skills but mostly because it enables me to keep up with the traffic flow and behave like a car when necessary, especially now that the admirable Brighton Council have introduced a blanket 20mph limit across the town. I ride like this irrespective of whether I am wearing shorts and t-shirt or a tweed suit; by dint of sheer physical presence motorised transport sets the tone and the pace of a road and cyclists can either ape their behaviour and speed or put their lives in the hands of others by crawling along in the gutter.
In cities such as Bruges, Amsterdam, Hamburg and Copenhagen there is undoubtedly a much nicer cycling culture. There are many more cyclists on the road and most of these are Goodwill's everyday people wearing normal clothes and riding upright, traditional bicycles. Average cycling speeds are much lower, cyclists tend to obey the rules of the road and almost no-one feels the need to wear a helmet. This is not because the people riding bikes are any different to those in the UK; it is simply because they are not asked to compete with cars on busy main roads. Given a similar network of completely segregated cycle paths whole swarms of waspish, vituperative commuters with their helmet cams, small wheels and sharp elbows would be transformed into amiable dandies atop Pedersens. Like this chap:
Of course we do have cycle paths in the UK, and some of them are even segregated. Unfortunately they are for the most part completely unusable. In Brighton they are like a mountain brooks that run swift and clear for a few hundred metres before disappearing unexpectedly. A handful are well designed and built it is true, but most are pavements which have been bifurcated with paint and are much too narrow to serve their purpose. The one thing that is consistent about all the cycle paths is that they are absent where they are needed most; they have been built where they can be fitted around the existing roads and pavements, not where dangerous junctions need to be made safer.
It's nice that cycling is back on the political agenda, and good that Goodwill has pledged to spend £375m over the next five years to improve infrastructure. I suspect that the changes that are bought by this money will be slight however, and it is small fry next to the £28bn that the government has pledged to spend improving the road infrastructure over a similar timeframe (cycling is not mentioned once in the document incidentally - it is all high speed trains, planes and automobiles). I hope I am proven wrong, and if so I pledge here and now to leave the lycra mob, swap my helmet for a cloth cap and purchase a Pashley. I'm damned if I'm cycling it up a hill though...
I do not have a basket on my handlebars; partly because they do nothing for bike handling or aerodynamics, and partly because I have set my handlebars so low that it would rub against the front wheel. The slammed handlebars probably put me in the category Goodwill describes as the 'Lycra mob' who are in his view as intimidating to novice cyclists as cars and trucks. This actually isn't quite as silly as it seems; he was probably thinking specifically about this lycra mob:
I suspect however that in this instance the gripe is more about cycling style and speed rather than sartorial taste. As a commuter I tend to ride as quickly as possible at all times. This is admittedly partly because of my abysmal time management skills but mostly because it enables me to keep up with the traffic flow and behave like a car when necessary, especially now that the admirable Brighton Council have introduced a blanket 20mph limit across the town. I ride like this irrespective of whether I am wearing shorts and t-shirt or a tweed suit; by dint of sheer physical presence motorised transport sets the tone and the pace of a road and cyclists can either ape their behaviour and speed or put their lives in the hands of others by crawling along in the gutter.
In cities such as Bruges, Amsterdam, Hamburg and Copenhagen there is undoubtedly a much nicer cycling culture. There are many more cyclists on the road and most of these are Goodwill's everyday people wearing normal clothes and riding upright, traditional bicycles. Average cycling speeds are much lower, cyclists tend to obey the rules of the road and almost no-one feels the need to wear a helmet. This is not because the people riding bikes are any different to those in the UK; it is simply because they are not asked to compete with cars on busy main roads. Given a similar network of completely segregated cycle paths whole swarms of waspish, vituperative commuters with their helmet cams, small wheels and sharp elbows would be transformed into amiable dandies atop Pedersens. Like this chap:
Of course we do have cycle paths in the UK, and some of them are even segregated. Unfortunately they are for the most part completely unusable. In Brighton they are like a mountain brooks that run swift and clear for a few hundred metres before disappearing unexpectedly. A handful are well designed and built it is true, but most are pavements which have been bifurcated with paint and are much too narrow to serve their purpose. The one thing that is consistent about all the cycle paths is that they are absent where they are needed most; they have been built where they can be fitted around the existing roads and pavements, not where dangerous junctions need to be made safer.
It's nice that cycling is back on the political agenda, and good that Goodwill has pledged to spend £375m over the next five years to improve infrastructure. I suspect that the changes that are bought by this money will be slight however, and it is small fry next to the £28bn that the government has pledged to spend improving the road infrastructure over a similar timeframe (cycling is not mentioned once in the document incidentally - it is all high speed trains, planes and automobiles). I hope I am proven wrong, and if so I pledge here and now to leave the lycra mob, swap my helmet for a cloth cap and purchase a Pashley. I'm damned if I'm cycling it up a hill though...
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