Angus Hewlett
@angus_f_h
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Bikes & maps, @CroydonCyclists advocacy, code/c++, synths, homegrown/homebrew, g/Green. Personal account.
Allotment, Bike, Croydon, Desk
Joined May 2009
One of the under-acknowledged advantages of cycling is that a full-blown mid life crisis poseur machine is an absolute steal at £4k. The car equivalent would run to at least 80 grand.
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"Obstructing ordinary people who are just trying to get to work is unacceptable". (And before you ask "but how are they supposed to unload. " - that is literally a marked loading bay on the opposite side of the road).
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"Shall I park on the pavement, in the cycle lane, or on the double yellows. ?. "Fuck it, YOLO, three for three.". @CroydonCyclists
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Look at the state of these privileged Just Stop Oil bastards disrupting ordinary blah blah blah 🤦🏻♂️.
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Tell me your soul is a joyless, shriveled wasteland without etc.
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You're a national journalist. Can you please show a little responsibility and stop pretending that speeding is a victimless crime. (Pictured: Serious injuries, Hackney area, 2022 - Crashmap data.)
If you have recently been given a speeding ticket for a 20mph offence, you are not alone !. My article today:.
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It's curious that the "15 Minute Cities are an instrument of totalitarian control" crowd seems to have a lot of overlap with the "Make number plates compulsory for cyclists" crowd. (And a fair few of them are also team "Tattoo all asylum-seekers with barcodes."). Curious, I say.
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@GeorgeMonbiot Best comeback:."Someone asked me, how I could get as strong as an ox without eating any meat? My response was, have you ever seen an ox eat meat?".- Patrick Baboumian, Game Changers.
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"D'you want me to pop it in the boot of your car?", asked the man at the tree shop. "Something like that", I replied.
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Church Road and South Norwood Hill this morning. They hadn't even had time to fix the damage from the last smash on this pedestrian island. Police and ambulance on scene, but do carry on about how it's cyclists & liveable streets schemes who waste the emergency services' time.
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Can't believe #CelebsWhoSmellFishy is trending and nobody's done David Bad Eel. I'll see myself out.
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Well done Mark Drakeford for doing the right thing on 20mph. The car-uber-alles people always react angrily when challenged, it's their default setting. ULEZ, 20mph, whatever. Which is not a reason to give them an inch of ground.
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Thanks to car culture and its adherents, my animal-loving 12yr old witnessed a cat being hit & killed this morning while he was waiting for his bus to school. He flagged the driver down, who simply said "That's life" and drove off. 1/2.
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@don_dapper What's worse is that you could take that exact photo in hundreds, if not thousands of places across the UK. Can think of half a dozen within five or ten miles of me.
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London, 2022. There are whole entire postcodes given over to oligarchs, arms dealers and planet-fucking Saudi princelings with private swimming pools in their triple-decker basements. And this lot get angry about. some kids playing with a marble run in what used to be a road.
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A Tesla Model 3 has peak power ranging from 225 to 360 kilowatt. An eBike or scooter runs on 250w - *one thousandth as much* - and is plenty adequate to move an adult and 30kg of stuff around a city. You don't need to be a maths genius to spot an energy-efficiency problem here.
Your regular reminder that we can't replace all the cars with electric ones and go on as we were. This doesn't solve particulate pollution, congestion, we haven't the clean electric, it doesn't make the roads safer. Fewer cars -and- newer cars.
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I didn't think my respect for Chris Morris (he of Brass Eye, Four Lions, The Day Today etc.) could increase any further. But not only is he a member of the Evil Cycling Mafia, here he is speaking up for his local bike shop @brixtoncycles. 👍🏻👍🏻.
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Son texted me, I retrieved the body from the road, and was able to find and inform the owner. What the actual fuck is wrong with people?. Both the individual driver, and the culture that turns a blind eye to this in the name of getting to work 5 minutes earlier. @FuckCarsReddit.
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Do London Tories have any actual policies left besides "Muh Car"?.
These are the leaflets the Conservative Party is currently putting out in London. Just straightforward disinformation, designed to trick people into handing over their data.
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@umairh You know how the US has been unable to mount an effective immune response to its gun problem? Strong parallels. Ambulances are stuck outside the hospitals, 'cause hospitals are full of people who don't need to be there, but can't look after themselves & there's no-one else to.
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Bike twitter, you can now be even more self-righteous: knowing that with every push of the pedal you're pissing off Jordan Peterson. Well done all, keep up the good work. 👏🏻.
Aggressive, self-righteous moralistic narcissistic cyclists: saving the planet with every push of the pedal. Remember when people just rode their bikes?.
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Overhead in the barbershop earlier:. "Aren't them fires in Greece awful. 48 degrees in Italy, climate change innit.". (5 minutes later). "Aren't them low traffic zones awful.". /facepalm repeatedly.
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Oh look, it turns out the "cycle lanes on main roads not low traffic routes" lot don't actually want safe cycle infra on main roads either. Keep up the intellectual honesty, chaps, and you might *finally* admit that what you don't like about active travel is the "active" bit.
What we want for 2024. The removal of floating bus stops. It will require a rethink of cycling policy in London. But that is overdue. Policy on cycling must sit alongside policies for disabled people, pedestrians & bus users. Thanks to @NFBUK for the video & your campaigning.
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Susan Hall's idea of "damaging effect" is "I have to drive a bit slower". Pictured below, an actual damaging effect. Vote accordingly.
Today I met with the Secretary of State for Transport, @Mark_J_Harper, to see the damaging effect the 20mph limits are having on our major roads. I am listening to Londoners and I will make sure that our roads are moving.
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@stuarthelmer Substitute "cyclist" with "combine harvester", and all of a sudden he's not looking too clever.
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PSA for people cycling on the Capital Ring. (Or anywhere else, for that matter). Whoever did this (see photo) is a dick. Don't be that person, for you will also be a dick. Thanks. @CroydonCyclists
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If elected for @CroydonGreens on Thursday, I do hereby solemnly promise not to say or do anything, ever, that might be popular with the Daily Mail.
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@AdamBronkhorst I'd be fine for cyclists to pay an annual road tax of £1 to cover their damage to the road surface. And all other vehicles paying in line, according to the 4th power of axle weight, which is how road wear scales. 100kg bike inc rider £1.1000kg Fiat, £10K.2.5T wankpanzer, £400K.
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Lot of people dunking on this, but what I think they're missing. 11 miles across London is driving within a mile or two of a million-plus homes. That's going to take 90 minutes *anywhere*, longer in rural places w/ bad roads. Speed is inversely proportional to density.
Driving in London is a joke. Hour and 38mins to drive 11miles???? I will scream.
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Quick thread on @lb_southwark's brand new Sydenham Hill protected cycle lane - the good, the bad and the ugly. First good thing: it exists! Has been in the works for a very long time, nice to see it finally delivered.
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Not an official #KidicalMass here in Croydon, but almost 20 kids out on the roads and Country Park today w/ their families, and another five getting the hang of the basics at the Lakes. Like/RT if you think these kids deserve safe streets to be able to do this every day. 💚
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Take that green shading off your map, you dreary nest of weasels. There's only one Green party in London, and it isn't you lot calling for a free pass to pollute kids' lungs.
LATEST UPDATE. 11 Councils across London, led by a total of FOUR different parties, have expressed concerns around Sadiq Khan's unpopular ULEZ expansion, with 6 Councils calling for him to stop it altogether. Is YOUR Council standing up for Londoners? 👇. #TheULEZScandal
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Dear @SteveReedMP , "traffic calming" doesn't work, and never has. For the simple reason that through-traffic in a hurry has no interest at all in being "calmed". It's a non-solution. Yours, A Constituent.
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In case you were wondering if a GSD will go up a steep hill with an adult passenger. that's exactly what this fellow is doing. Chapeau!
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@AdamSaquib There are front yards there. But realistically the council should give up the pretence that it's providing anything for cyclists on this road & route them a different way, one block over where decent provision is possible.
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@MetPoliceEvents Just wait until you find out how many officer shifts you're going to need to deal with climate breakdown. it won't be pretty, and I very much don't envy anyone on the front line of law enforcement when it arrives at our doorstep.
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Cargo bike finally met its nemesis on @MertonCycling patch. This at the end of an alleyway half a mile long, no "no cycling" signage, and it's too narrow to turn an 8'6 bike around. Reversing up on foot it is 😡
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@CityPolice Wish you'd seize motor vehicles which caused harassment, alarm or distress to other road users, but I suspect there aren't enough hours in the day or space in your car pound.
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@humantravl Not fit to be on the road without an MOT, so I guess he thought he could use the cycle lane instead.
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This just brought a stupid big grin to my face. Sieske Valk is a dog walker and pet carer covering SE15 and the adjacent post codes. She carries up to five dogs at a time in her Riese&Muller e-cargo. Ran in to her just off CS4 and had to take a photo!.
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@richey @GeorgeMonbiot Here they got variously described as "the Berlin Wall" and "North Korea". Because the Berlin Wall was, of course, famous for causing people to have to make a short detour in their Trabants, or just get out and walk across. 🤦🏻♂️.
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@JustineBrian @DulwichRoads @MPSDulwichVllge @DulwichSociety The ding just says "I'm here". This cyclist is passing slowly and, overall, considerately. On a bike, you get sh*t for using the bell, and sh*t for not using it. I've had both, you literally cannot win.
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"Croydon puts pedestrians first, and we want them to stay healthy. That's why we put the 'active' in Active Travel, encouraging everyday citizens to incorporate a little hurdling, parkour and gymnastics into their walk to the bus stop or corner shop." @CroydonLiving
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For the benefit of the 'gotcha' replies ". but without oil you can't have industry / modern fabrics / etc. ". You're right. Well observed. 👏🏻. So, just maybe, we should stop pissing this finite, valuable, useful resource away on private jets, SUVs and tourist flights to Florida?.
📢"I’m very much working class, and I ask all working-class people to join the movement.". 🚔Two people were arrested today for marching, whilst the climate criminals are allowed to get away with genocide. 🦺Join us this Saturday, 12pm, New Scotland Yard
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So at the weekend just gone, @marcusboyle, @AmyF0ster & I took a big group of kids and their mums and dads out to explore @yourcroydon's temporarily low-traffic streets around South Norwood. [1/n]
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Well there's a surprise. The "real genuine concerns about main roads" people turn out to also be "don't call out the sheer heartless stupidity of allowing 2.5 tonne, 200bhp wankpanzers anywhere near schools" people. Apologists for the unacceptable.
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@Robotbeat Still can't understand why they didn't make cookie consent UI/UX per site a default feature of the five (or thereabouts) web browsers in common use, rather than making millions of web sites each come up with their own implementation.
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@Vasiii__ @jayforeman Agreed. "Conservatives" is not a word that under-12s should be familiar with.
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@michele_paule Cargo bike: £1200.VED: £0.Fuel: £0 (OK, the occasional extra slice of cake on long hauls).Parking: £0.Speeding fines: £0.Insurance: £0.MOT: £0.Servicing: £300 for a full overhaul after eight years. Clean, healthy and fun: Priceless!
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Genuinely unusual machine spotted here in East London earlier today. Front wheel drive(!) cargo trike with rear wheel(!) steering. Bet this is an "interesting" ride.
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@RantyHighwayman @FietserSteve "Route cyclists along back streets instead.". (Council puts in LTNs and Quietways to create safe back street routes). "No, not like that!".
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Quick lunchtime spin around our LTN to grab a few windfall pears and clear my head a bit. Of the six other people I saw on bikes and e-scooters? Every last one of them BAME. Still, tell me again how this is just a white-middle-class thing. .
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@NotInventedHere @Russell__Davies @iancollinsuk A decent cargo bike costs more than a old banger, but the running cost is basically zero. No tax / fuel / parking; insurance £20 & optional.
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Popped out to pick up some Hallowe'en bits for the kids. Think I might stick with this look though tbh.
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Business as usual in Car Culture World. Kids. Walking on the pavement. On a minor residential street. A price worth paying for convenience and "luxury"? Sod that.
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@ClemMoraschi @theeyecollector Ditto roadies / club cyclists who campaign _against_ utility cycling infrastructure. "Cycling the roads is for tough men; women with kids should be in a hatchback or the kitchen". They'd literally rather share their bit of road with HGVs than with seven-year-olds.
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@welshman2k4 @CBikeLondon @RobertLeeDist @DulwichRoads @London_Cycling @MikeyCycling @theJeremyVine Hand in your license. If you can't cope with a 20 limit without developing anger issues, you're not mentally fit to be operating heavy machinery around the public.
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Preventing kids from dying of asthma should not come at the cost of getting in the way of people making money. Okay. .
Croydon, Hillingdon, Bexley and Harrow councils to work together to resist ULEZ expansion - read the full joint statement here:
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@BicycleLobby Most of the "crap" towns in the UK where everyone whinges about closed shops and no sense of community? It was mass car ownership, not mass immigration, which did it. Places where people still walk, still have a sense of community. This is not a coincidence.
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@hirr4 #HatedByTheDailyMail - a surer sign that you're on the right side of history is hard to find. 👍.
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@CMKSE20 Me: disgusted at humanity. Him: surprisingly level-headed about the whole thing. Wants to be a vet, so being able to take something like that in his stride is, I guess, a plus?. Am aware that shock / psychological trauma can take time to hit home though. Will keep an eye on him.
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@bike_rogers A helmet can, in a narrow and limited set of circumstances, reduce the risk of brain injury. There's no circumstances where that will do Ben any good though. Thick as a brick.
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If cycle superhighway 7 had been built properly the first time around, they'd actually be able to use it.
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Peak "car laws aren't real laws" conservatism on show here. Guessing by "criminals" she means phone muggers and not those responsible for these 200+ people being hospitalised in 2022 - and that's just one tiny corner of SE London.
People underestimate how much Sadiq Khan's war on cars plays into crime. If the police can't get to places quickly, criminals know they have more time to get away with crime. The police also aren't able to handle the same volume of incidents due to delays in travel.
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@RossLydall Just a thought. what would the police response have been if this kind of criminal damage and destruction of public property were committed by pro-environmental, rather than anti-environmental, protestors. Am guessing invoke anti-extremism laws and throw the book at them. 🤔.
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Think a lot of people just don't realise what kind of distances are easily manageable - and not tiring or sweaty - on a bike or scooter. Five miles = half an hour at a pace that won't ruin your outfit. An hour on an electric will get you more than half way across London.
This is insane, 1-2 km is walkable and you can cycle in minutes. E-bikes can open up a world of active travel for people who have previously dismissed cycling. Cities are made for people not cars. If you *can* walk or cycle you should.
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@SSmith9591 @DoubleEmMartin Physically, a steward. But as well as the High-Vis Tabard of Petty Authority, they're equipped with the Moral Certainty of Scriptural Justification. Gives them a +2 attack roll against Dissenters and Hippies.
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"Bromley does not recognise the value of most measures included in the Healthy Streets Scorecard.". - Cllr Nicholas Bennett, Portfolio holder for Transport & Streets, LB Bromley.
A person riding a bicycle has died after being hit by Audi driver in Bromley. 😢
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@MalickOnX @MattZeitlin Distances aside, just much more _happens_ on British roads, even most of the trunk roads. Endurance-wise, four hours of UK driving on stick shift feels like 8 or 9 in the US on auto. (Or about twenty minutes in various cities around the Mediterranean).
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@willnorman @TfL Why the huge gap south of the river?. At least with the Tube they could blame sub-surface geology. What's the plan for the rest of C17, C35 & C48?
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They're called friends, loved ones and colleagues, you dim-bulb racist goons.
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A thread about low traffic neighbourhoods, Quietways and suchlike, courtesy of last night's "Tour de Dads". Group of ten or so from South Norwood, thought we'd take a look at what's been going on elsewhere in South London & see how it's settling in.
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Fab day for Critical Mass 30th. Son was v happy to meet the famous Sigrid @sigirides. Good tunes, good weather, good vibes.
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Strong @ft article on LTNs and healthy streets. "What many people may not realise is that if the UK is to take its net-zero goals seriously, measures such as LTNs are just the start." - Prof. @lwhitmarsh.
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@BobFromAccounts Yes, a few - some of the bridges? A bit of CS9 in Hammersmith?.But, as someone who rides buses a lot, this is not, by a very long way, the main cause of bus delays. Pay-per-mile, demand-based road pricing would make a huge difference; anyone who supports buses should support it.
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So this evening took an unexpected turn as Eldest Boy and I ended up rescuing this little fellow who was very cold. Now warming up at a friend's house with some cat food if he gets hungry.
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@crisortunity SL500 is just grossly, monstrously excessive for shifting one person three or four miles to a tennis game. These things run 300bhp!!. I wouldn't suggest that all 76 year olds should suck it up and get an eBike but. she's still playing tennis. Suck it up and get an eBike.
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The lost rivers of London. Because on a bike, especially a heavy bike or if you're out of shape, you feel all the ridges and gradients. You can measure the Effra, the Wandle, the Pool River, the Peck, the Falcon Brook, the Graveney and the Beverley Brook in their ups and downs.
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So much this. Fab thread @SarahJ_Berry!. Drivers screaming about "equal" access to roads. When you've come up with a design for local streets where my 9yr old can feel equally safe on his bike as you do behind the wheel of your Volvo, then @ me. 'til then, kindly keep it muted.
One thing I think drivers don't get is that the inconvenience they're experiencing from school streets, LTNs and cycle lanes is miniscule in comparison to the inconvenience other road users have been asked to take for the benefit of drivers over the years.
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So this is odd. A busy-ish back street near me has been closed for months for bridge repair work. And not a peep from the usual quarters about "disruption", "displacement" and so on. If it's acceptable for works, why not for active travel?. (Rhetorical question. We see you.).
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@LeifBersweden If only society could rouse itself to the same levels of anger around SUVs near schools. (I did draw the line tho' when I spotted a Datura stramonium growing in the playground at the local primary. School had no idea what it was so I doubt they were going to teach the kids.).
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Cargo bike modular synth in the forest. If it's possible for something to be more Berlin than this, I don't see how.
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. It occurred to me today as I cycled along a "traffic calmed" bit of Quietway 5 in Croydon that traffic calming is a bit like lion taming. You can tame it, but it's still a lion. And not many people would leave their kids in a room with a "tame" lion.
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Active travel #CargoBikeLife cyclo-positivity photo thread. Southwark, Lambeth, and stay to the end for a bit of bonus Wandsworth (it's worth it if you like this stuff. promise!). All photos taken yesterday am (& a few pm) - got so much I had to wait til today to edit & post.
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Strangely enough, no close passes from Beemers this afternoon.
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