Cyclopedia

I just finished reading an excellent book: Cyclopedia: It's All About the Bike by William Fotheringham.

Reading this book is a good way to upgrade your bicycling knowledge from novice to besserwisser, and it contains lots of enjoyable reading even if you already know your bicycling. It provides a great overview of the history of bicycling in general and as a sport. I just wish that there was a bicycling-themed Trivial Pursuit. I'd really kick ass in that game now.

Besides the sports trivia and history of bicycling, there are also informative clues about bicycling events around the world, films and further reading. And a great Eddy Merckx joke. Highly recommendable. I have only a minor complaint about the book: some of the text is printed in dark yellow, which is nearly impossible to read in poor lighting. And I have a 20/20 vision.

Here are a couple of entries that really struck close to home for me (emphases by yours truly):

Cycle lanes

"Famously crap, except in Holland (go to that country's section to find out why this is the case). The first cycle lane in Britain opened in 1934, alongside the A40 in West London and was two and a half miles long, 2.5m wide on either side of the road. Even then cyclists were complaining of a lack of investment in facilities and things have hardly improved since. Every urban cyclist has their own horror story of cars parked where they shouldn't be, lanes that lead on to dual carriageways and stop just when they are most needed, and lanes that last, ooh, two metres if you are lucky. The phenomenon was significant enough that it generated its own pocket novelty book, Crap Cycle Lanes. We read it and wept."

Holland

"The only European country where a conscious, long-term nationwide effort has been made to promote cycling as transport. It has 19,000 kilometres of bike lanes; nearly 85% of the population own at least one bike, and there are estimated to be 16 million bikes in the country. Cycling has been made such an attractive option that in one town, Groningen, 57% of all journeys are made by bike and virtually all the children cycle to school, some travelling up to 20km.


The Dutch did not implement a national cycling policy until 1990, but as early as the 1970s there had been an increasing awareness that unrestrained road building to accommodate ever-growing car traffic was not possible; there wasn't enough space in this densely populated country. Beginning in 1974 the cycle route network was massively expanded, with investment of some US$230 million; from 1990 all major cities had to implement plans for increased cycle use. The result is a massive network of traffic-free cycle paths, many of them two-way, with junctions at motor-traffic roads specially designed for cycle safety, including underpasses and bridges and clearly marked areas where cyclists can wait at traffic lights in front of cars. The aim, said one cycling policy paper, was to ensure that 'all traffic participants must have equal rights.'


Groningen offers a detailed view of what can be done. Pro-active cycling policies began in 1969: over the years, car access to the city centre has been restricted, initially in the face of opposition from businesspeople and shopkeepers. Through traffic was removed from the centre, and cars directed to car parks. By 2000 a huge network of cycle lanes had been built (equivalent to perhaps 60% of the major roads); from 1980 secure, supervised cycle storage facilities were provided, roughly one a year. These provide lockers, repair facilities, hire racks and carriers; there are 15 at various schools. At traffic lights heavy flows of cyclists were given priority. Investment in cycle-specific facilities between 1989 and 2000 was some 23 million euros, with cycle-friendly facilities also forming part of other investment programmes.


Policy documents available through the Dutch cycling information service make it clear that this has only been achieved by sustained long-term investment over several decades, with every planning decision taking into account how people are going to travel and how they can best be accommodated. Food for thought as cities grapple with congestion and climate change."

Well put. Now, if only the local politicians became aware of the obvious: there is not infinite space in Helsinki either to accommodate ever-growing car traffic, and a sustained long-term investment is required to change things...