Bygone Barking By Bike

A few photos taken at this year's histiry bike ride.

https://plus.google.com/photos/105158567856821703505/albums/6027032924025679409

Unreconstructed B&D Council

Prospective and successful councillors in the recent council elections weren't the most supportive group in London of LCC's Space 4 Cycling campaign initiative. Maybe their support was passive, maybe they were unaware, maybe they didn't get around to expressing their support. Almost certainly at least some of them had, or believed they had, bigger fish to fry.

I thought, though, that cycling had made it from being the pariah of transport modes to the paragon - yes with some reservations about the behaviour of some cyclists sometimes, but basically cycling crossed the floor from loser-loony to normal, on trend, hipster, mainstream.

It's hard to describe my reaction to a newly built (or re-opened) road down which cycling is not allowed in both directions. Is it frustration that after about 23 years of cycle campaigning in this borough the council still pulls stunts like this, or is it amazement that the ostrich like organisation can still operate a de facto anti-cycling policy in the face of the cultural shift that even the most petrol headed myopic sand blinded ostrich must have got wind of.

Anyway, attached is an image of the offending road, off North Street in Barking. Yes, it is only short but it's the principle of the thing.And far be it from me to suggest that perhaps the car facing away from the camera was not illegally driven through the no-entry.

Ironically, the new block of flats in the background of the photo has apparently got a large cycle parking facility. You just have to get off and walk  to get to it from here.

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London Cycling Design Standards

Tfl is inviting comments on the draft London Cycling Design Standards (LCDS).

Last published in 2005, this revised LCDS sets out the approach needed in London to deliver a step-change in quality. Now comprehensively updated to reflect established and emerging best practice, it is a document that should inform design options and promote an integrated and ambitious approach to delivering high quality infrastructure for cycling in all parts of London.

You can comment on the draft LCDS until Friday 25 July 2014. To view the document, and to comment,please visit https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/cycling/draft-london-cycling-design-standards

New look stibasa website

I have transferred www.stibasa.org.uk  to Wordpress, but I intended continuing to blog here at blogger.com, which is entirely separate.

Following the Wordpress site (which has a blog) will not give you updates from this blog. This may change, but for the moment, the website and the blog remain separate.

Led rides to/from RideLondon FreeCycle - help needed.

We are looking for marshals, back stops, and ride leaders for led rides to/from the central London circuit of RideLondon FreeCycle on Saturday 9 August. Please consider helping out in this way.

In particular we need someone to lead a ride back to Barking Station from Tower Hill at 3pm. This needs to be someone who has experience of leading, marshalling, or back stopping rides and who is a strong cyclist. Also s/he needs to know the route (which she can choose) well.

The back stop needs to be a strong rider as s/he may need to "catch up" with the leader, though usually the job involves staying behind the slowest rider.

Marshals need to be assertive riders who are adept at keeping the group together by facilitating crossing of roads and encouraging less confident riders to keep together with the group.

Useful / interesting railway websites

Depends what you mean by useful, I suppose, but here goes. Some sites have been mentioned here before, but here they are together:

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/maps/areas/swml/1 - is a link to the first of a series of 6 diagrammatic real time train information. There are no links to it on the main page and the levels of folders aren't accessible, but there are links to pages 2-6 on this page itself.

www.brtimes.com

www.brfares.com - see also http://data.atoc.org/member-area (previous blog post explains).

www.opentraintimes.com previously metioned here has closed down, according to Barry Doe, but was working when I tested during writing this.

trains.im (Open National Rail times, maps and stats).

Thanks to Barry Doe and Rail magazine - p48 of issue 746 - for the information.

How to download the free National Rail fares database

Barry Doe explains in Rail Magazine, issue 749 (28 May - 10 June 2014) page 42. Go to http://data.atoc.org/member-area and create yourself an account. The download to go for is the Avantix fares database.

Please don't ask me for support doing this - I'm just passing on the info.