This week’s round-up features ambitious but fascinating cycle path designs, winter cycling decisions, an excellent flashmob, and a welcome U-turn from Eurostar.
The top image is of a bicycle blender made by a co-op somewhere in the USA, posted by user Mahoolihan3301. Another great example of the unusual but seemingly infinite possibilities available from bikes! The comments rightly praise the innovation behind the product:
After the gradual opening and frequent discussion of the London Cycling Super-Highway (Boris Johnson’s pet-project), it’s nice to see that people are still pursuing blue-sky plans for future cycling infrastructure. One such idea is the Thames Duckway – a proposed path that would float on the Thames and offer cyclists a quick and direct route through the city. An article in Gizmag describes it thus:
Situated close to the shore to avoid commercial river traffic, it would feature four lanes, multiple entry and exit points, and amenities including refreshment kiosks and rest areas.
It may sound mad, but the design is actually quite convincing. It’s designed not to make a negative environmental impact on the river, and to take advantage of the fantastic and existing resource that is the Thames.
There’s much more information (and the opportunity to donate to the project) at the project’s IndieGogo page.
Update, 20/01/2016: The video and IndieGogo page this story referred to have since been removed!
This is a debate that always gets fiery: should you put your bike away for the winter months and settle for public transport or your car, or should you ride in all weather? CBC in Canada published an article recently attempting to summarise the debate, as well as offering 8 sensible tips.
Given the snowy forecast for the coming weeks, the decision on whether to ride in wintry conditions could become a very necessary one! Here’s a video to inspire your decision:
The article also mentions a book called ‘Frostbike – The Joy, Pain and Numbness of Winter Cycling‘ – a description that captures it perfectly!
Check this out:
This video from Riga, Latvia, shows what happens when a bike flash-mob stops traffic with a spectacular show during Car Free day. It’s a great thing to see, especially with the cool tricks going on in the middle and the fact that the police are on-board with the event too – much to the chagrin of the drivers / forced audience!
It reminds us a bit of the old BBC cycling ident screen:
This week’s top story is a case of activism in action: Eurostar have decided to cancel their impending (and unpopular!) policy change regarding carrying bikes on their services!
A petition signed by over 9,000 people, as well as a letter from the CTC expressing concern with the policy led to the decision being changed. It’s a great sign that your voice really can count!
Read more about this change in policy in our dedicated post.
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