Forum Topic

Council Plans to Give Away 1,000 Bikes in Southall.

Of course there's no reasoning or influence whatsoever on why Southall is The Chosen One ....... 😂

Rosco White ● 353d8 Comments

The scheme is a mix of refurbished bikes and recovered bikes and all are safe for road use.  Choosing a flat district at least increases a degree of take up.I hope that there is a clause that the bike is returned if not used or grown out of or replaced with a better one.  Then it can be repeated.But I would lay odds that if not, there will be a spike in bikes for sale on EBay in the Southall Area pretty soon. In fact not just Southall but anywhere where this is happening.There are good aspects to this but I remain a bit cynical about the lack of a standard level form of proficiency.  It would be good if a ' secret shopper' with impeccable cycling and safety credentials checked out the wildly varying degrees of tuition and testing and a return to the common sense of not allowing under 11s cycling to school without a full certificate of proficiency.Since I did mine, much has changed, some good, some bad. I did not have ear buds, mobile devices with screens, cameras or good lights.Nor a helmet, knee and elbow pads or hi-viz anything.But vehicles are much larger, too many have blind spots and poor near visibility.They are now global products and not ideal for British streets - Even worse in some European streets.Buses are almost silent from behind as are EVs.Cycling requires greater spacial awareness - as does crossing the road as a pedestrian.The distractions of today have added to the hazards which were brought home and taught to be instinctive.It's pure simple common sense to not do what too many Cyclists and Scooterists do.  But they do it and too many.That alone says how important safety first is.

Raymond Havelock ● 352d

Still the same idiotic responses from you Paul.‘I mean the biggest obstacle of course is that who would cycle on Ealing's roads in the first place given there are so many angry people such as yourself driving round and making the place feel too dangerous for cycling?!’Strangely, in all the years I’ve been driving I’ve never managed to hit a cyclist, not even come near to it.The really angry people are the entitled, pompous twerps like you who bleat and bleat about the same old things year in, year out. Like little kids stamping their feet because they don’t get everything they want.

Simon Hayes ● 352d

Are these bikes "quality" bikes, I mean, what are they worth/how much do they cost each?What's the criteria to be given one, or are they going to be handed out willy nilly?Why Southall, why not evenly & fairly throughout the Borough?I thought LBE had no money, you know, "The Tory Cuts!"  😁

Rosco White ● 352d

I thought that you might have posted, I thought that I could hear the whining at the other end of Boston Road.Always fun to hear from a representative of a minority transport interest

N V Brooks ● 352d

Weren't your pearl clutching mates ripping the crap out of Julian Bell for doing just that? Highlighting that there are cultural obstacles to increasing cycling in Southall?I mean the biggest obstacle of course is that who would cycle on Ealing's roads in the first place given there are so many angry people such as yourself driving round and making the place feel too dangerous for cycling?! :D

Paul James ● 352d

There’s a massive cultural obstacle in Southall that the council simply won’t acknowledge. I wonder how many free bikes end up on eBay straight away orvsimply get left to rot in a back garden.

Simon Hayes ● 352d

a paragraph missing from my last entry>I've sampled several cycling courses and found all of them woeful with some even callous towards other road users and discouraging etiquette and sensible riding.Very few advocate defensive riding or checked roadworthiness of cycles. No mention of what the legal requirements actually are.Much is a tad politicised and confuse safe riding or pleasure riding with a political statement.I have to say as well that some courses have been excellent, the best by far being the Urban Cycling run by Camden and taking riders into their patch of Central London. Extremely good all round.

Raymond Havelock ● 352d

Probably to do with the huge amount of large showy cars !Seriously though, Southall is the only part of the borough that is largely flat and thus easier to ride. It was ( from reference ) a very popular destination for Inner London Cycling touring clubs as it was "very open suburban and quiet with lots of good level roads"  - From 1953 !  Hard to imagine now but it is still quite level.Even as a lifelong cyclist locally, Many parts of Ealing, Hanwell and Greenford were a real struggle, even when very fit and agile and not possible now without some form of assisted propulsion.Even Brentford to Ealing is on a deceptive gradient. Which is why those in the know use traversing quiet street routes and not the marked cycleways.But much of the district is for those young, agile and very fit. I note that only those riding super light racing machines are capable of non stop or non wobble riding on the hilly bits.The reality most will need a more rugged practical versatile cycles that can carry shopping and possibly a small child.  Not a razor blade saddle and a bike with toe clips.The geography of a district does not make day to day chore riding really practicable. - Thus why so many shelled out for a small private car when they became affordable to working people. Life was hard and limited by means then. The private car unlocked that gate for many ordinary people.In all seriousness though,  will LBE also be providing mandatory training that has to be passed and not run by some fly by night Council Preferred operator?Will safety equipment from helmets to mudguards and working lights be provided?Or are lives in Southall not considered valuable enough to put safety first?Road safety in schools and in workplaces was Something that Ealing Borough of the past was excellent at.  It was always first priority.  Cycling to schools was only permitted at 11 and over and only with a RoSPA Cycling proficiency certificate.  Ealing, RoSPA and the Met Police excelled in this area for decades.I wonder if the same exponents will accept liability for any mishaps from rider inexperience or ignorance?Choice is one thing. Imposition by enticement is another.I strongly feel that priorities are so misplaced and safety and diligence should be first, rather than so many schemes that only benefit a very small gamut of cyclists.It's a shame that these implementing such schemes refuse to listen and address the negatives to make practicable positives and work harder to make things a proper success rather than a load of PR soundbites for a few weeks.

Raymond Havelock ● 352d