Active Travel

[forestboy]

16 minutes ago, HiVibes said:

At home obviously, I cycled to work, keep up grandad.

Mind you I passed quite a few cars stuck on small inclines so quite a few more people perhaps ended up enjoying a nice walk in.

Please ride off into the sunset and never return. 

[HiVibes]

21 minutes ago, forestboy said:

Please ride off into the sunset and never return. 

Cheer up love, it will all be over soon enough.

[The Voice of Reason]

On 12/8/2022 at 3:39 PM, emesde said:

Sounds good but I really think you missed a trick by not grabbing on to the Arnold Lowery ,escape option.

You would have been thought of as a Cultural God and you could have have been Minister  of Arts and Culture and created your own money no object Empire.  Opportunity lost I feel. 😃 

Nope, I think as a politician who admits to making a mistake ( albeit a spelling and totally irrelevant one) you get more kudos.

 

[HiVibes]

On 12/9/2022 at 8:19 AM, HiVibes said:

What a beautiful morning to ride to work, probably better weather than the Netherlands.

Turns out it is colder in the Netherlands, -2° there now whilst here it's a balmy 4°

[0bserver]

29 minutes ago, HiVibes said:

Turns out it is colder in the Netherlands, -2° there now whilst here it's a balmy 4°

The Netherlands Iives in your head rent free.

[Roger Mexico]

39 minutes ago, HiVibes said:

Turns out it is colder in the Netherlands, -2° there now whilst here it's a balmy 4°

It normally is in Winter, because of the Gulf Stream.  That's why they go skating on the canals and we have to make do with falling over on the top deck of Chester Street Car Park.

[Roger Mexico]

On 12/7/2022 at 8:17 AM, HiVibes said:

On 12/6/2022 at 11:27 PM, Roger Mexico said:

Not actually true:

In 1801, Richard Trevithick built and demonstrated his Puffing Devil road locomotive, believed by many to be the first demonstration of a steam-powered road vehicle.

whereas:

The first means of transport making use of two wheels arranged consecutively, and thus the archetype of the bicycle, was the German draisine dating back to 1817.

Neither was exactly the same as their modern descendants, but using four wheels has a longer history than two. 

 

Expand  

Well done on the googling to try and make a meaningless technical point, but fact is that in the Isle of Man cycling was widespread as a means of transport before cars. The workers that built promenades walked or cycled to work, not drove.

Well I though you (or at least some others) might find it interesting.  But the fact that cars and bicycles develop around the same time is quite telling.  And the 'modern' versions of both also develop at the same time in the 1880s-90s.  The development of the road network must be linked to that - but that is driven by cars mostly.  But there was never some car-free utopia where everyone cycled.

As for the Isle of Man, certainly there would have been more going to work by cycle in the past, but walking would I think have been more important as would public transport, especially within Douglas.  People commuting to different parts of the Island would have much rarer (though there were trains and trams) and the main people who did so would be the elite, who started to move outside Douglas in the late 19th century and were the first to adopt cars to travel.  Workers going to factories might have coach transport provided.

Once the 1950s came more people started to switch to cars and motorbikes (often ignored as a popular commuter option from the 30s onwards), in part prompted by driving experience in WWII or National Service, which gave greater flexibility in employment.  But what also needs to be considered is the popularity of cycling as a leisure activity.  From about 1900 there was a boom in cycling clubs, formal and informal, racing and social, which peaked in the 1930s but continued at near that level till the 50s/60s.  Those  involved probably outnumbered those using cycles to get to work, though there would have been an overlap.

As for cycling infrastructure, in the UK cycling was certainly seen as something that should be allowed for, as this fascinating blog explains, in the late 30s new roads had to be built with adjacent cycle paths (explicitly in the Dutch manner).  The idea was never revived after the war, but it does explain the 'look' of some roads of the period in the UK with those wide verges.  But even then the intention may have been more about leisure and there don't seem to be any on this model in the Isle of Man.

[Steady Eddie]

On 12/12/2022 at 6:55 PM, HiVibes said:

Turns out it is colder in the Netherlands, -2° there now whilst here it's a balmy 4°

I saw an ‘active traveler’ go right on his arse on a patch of ice yesterday morning. He probably should have used the bus. 

[HiVibes]

1 hour ago, Steady Eddie said:

I saw an ‘active traveler’ go right on his arse on a patch of ice yesterday morning. He probably should have used the bus. 

Yesterday morning was not even icy, but all the same if you say you saw that you must be right.

[Happier diner]

1 hour ago, HiVibes said:

Yesterday morning was not even icy, but all the same if you say you saw that you must be right.

You are right it wasn't particularly icy because of the dryness of the air. However it was still only just above freezing point and therefore there were still some icy patches in some shaded areas. I know because I walk to work. So its possible. I still wouldn't want to be on 2 wheels just yet.

[swoopy2110]

This isn't from over here, but it's wonderfully satisfying to watch

https://www.facebook.com/RorysStoriesOfficial/videos/867995171056268/

[HiVibes]

13 hours ago, swoopy2110 said:

This isn't from over here, but it's wonderfully satisfying to watch

https://www.facebook.com/RorysStoriesOfficial/videos/867995171056268/

Block paving is the worst, you will all be pleased to know that sort of thing rarely happens.

It's a bit weird that guy saw there was an issue that would injure other humans and decided to keep filming for facebook likes rather than be public spirited. Douglas Councillor material right there. 

[HiVibes]

Lovely ride in this morning as it has been all week, a bit of frost and those epic sunrises just add to the magic.

Really disapointing to see so many people leaving cars running on driveways just to de-ice, such needless pollution, some right dickheads out there.

[0bserver]

22 minutes ago, HiVibes said:

some right dickheads out there

Agreed, I saw one cycling by this morning enjoying the sunrise. 

[BillyNoMates]

saw a guy on an escooter almost crash earlier. maybe they could make a mini snowmobile version of one cause the ones with wheels sure dont seem to work well on ice.