Welcome to the post-Jubilee Bike Blog roundup, and I'm sure Peter Walker meant no reflection on her Maj when he suggested that we are governed by dimwits. The Road Danger Reduction forum was also cross while Kats Dekker (who appears to have set her blogging output to the 'firehose' setting this week) pointed out that, when it comes to finding space for bike lanes, it's not rocket science. Not everyone was cross with their politicians, though as Simon Bannister takes a look through the green window (other political parties are available) at Brighton & Hove's green-led council's first year - perhaps that's why Hove's latest bike infrastructure manages to be not entirely rubbish - while West Sussex County Council also manages to get something - well, right is a strong word, let's say less wrong.
All of which is somewhat baffling when you consider that a fall in driving of just 1.2% results in a 30% drop in congestion - while young people the world over are driving less than their parents. What could be the magic ingredient to get the rest out of their cars? (we'll give you a clue: it's not training)? The US own official Department of Transport finds that proper buffered bike lanes help motorists and create cyclists - so does that make our own politicians anti car? (Though before we get too carried away with the US situation it's worth realising it's not the US Government that's funding that programme, it's the bike industry.
Even in London, it turns out, if you build a largely segregated, easy to follow route in London, it quickly becomes a victim of its own success - which bodes well for this proposed green bridge in Leith. On the other hand, safe, direct, comfortable, attractive and coherent: are five words which have nothing at all to do with Kats' bike commute. Nor do they describe this proposed bike route in Bristol nor this mysterious shared use path in York - and there's more musings on shared use, bells and bikes on a Jubilee ride that stopped just short of being a patriotic 60 miler.
Also neither safe, direct, comfortable, attractive nor convenient is Bow Roundabout despite its recent remodelling. Both As Easy as Riding a Bike and Diamond Geezer were unimpressed - although as Cyclists in the City points out, half the problem is the current national guidelines. The Evening Standard reported that the redesign needed a hasty redesign - which appears to have amounted to some yellow signs. Sigh. If only they'd all read Pedestrianise London we'd all have been saved a lot of trouble.
More Jubilee hangover as Cycalogical learns some lessons from the chaos caused by Jubilee road closures... oh no, hang on, wait. Could it be that closing roads, like London's congestion charge actually has a beneficial effect? This kid in Baltimore seems to think so while in Manchester, A grim North relishes the chance to cycle the wrong way up a motorway and survive. Mad Cycle Lanes of Manchester was there too, while presumably the rest of the city wasn't entirely gridlocked beneath them.
In fact, Manchester seemed to be having a bit of a moment this week, with its plans to become England's leading cycle city. The GMCC interviews the Embassy's own Naturally Cycling about how far they have to go. While over the border Magnatom delves into the figures and discovers that Glasgow's high rating for cycling isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Further abroad, Atlantic Cities looks into the evolution of the bike lane and considers the domestication of the urban cyclist. Barcelona's cycling revolution may not be all its cracked up to be - especially when you compare it to Copenhagen. The Bike Show was there too, as were the heads of Europe's environment ministries (and on pink bikes, too) while the Danish Cycling Embassy was preparing to be elsewhere. David Hembrow takes a look at different approaches to traffic calming while As Easy as Riding a Bike makes a similar point.
Meanwhile, back in the land where bikes are supposed to fend for themselves, Downfader is upset about sentencing of a driver who killed a cyclist then fled the scene - although as the Cycling Silk points out this is actually quite a stiff sentence for causing death by careless driving. At least the driver was prosecuted - an HGV driver was much luckier after the death of a cyclist which the Cycling Silk felt should have been something for the jury to decide. The Invisible Visible Man finds himself in trouble for waving at the police - but at least in Colorado one hit and run loophole has been closed.
Safety of course is all relative (statistically you live an extra hour for every hour you cycle although presumably you can't acheive immortality by cycling forever ...) but Magnatom finds that Strathclyde police's latest stats make for grim reading. If that bothers you, mark your diaries for the next Streettalks, which asks what next for the Times Cyclesafe campaign. Surely there must be more to the rules of the road than physics and greed.
Could it be a sign? Real Cycling finds something to like in Clapham while Mad Cycle Lanes of Manchester is less impressedwith one slap bang in the middle of a shared use path (though that lamppost can't help much either).
The inevitable storm-in-a-cycle-helmet was this week brought to you by Spokes Lothian's refusal to support the creeping compulsion behind mandatory helmet use for events (someone should tell the Romans) while across the Atlantic James Schwartz just wrote his a break up letter
But lest all that seriousness get you down, the bike blog world seemed to be having a faintly surreal week: from a China without bicycles to a two-year-old's view of Amsterdam, via the wilder reaches of bike culture to - our personal favourite - cow herding, Dutch style
Yee ha! See you all next week.