As far as I am concerned the two cyclists you describe were doing exactly as a cyclist should. Neither machine would suit me, but, given the distance already covered and way you describe the riders, this does not seem to have disadvantaged them. As for carrying anything else, why should they? Pootling along in the UK hardly demands water bottles, they just add unnecessary weight and clutter. Day to day cycling will only be as it should be, unremarkable and unthreatening, when riders cease dressing themselves up in special togs and equipping themselves for world tours or competition when all they are doing is using a public road to get from point a to b and back again. Good on them, and the A24.
Nicholas Oddy.
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ps: Returning to the theme of women cyclists. I just (about an hour ago)
had a conversation with two women cyclists on a trip to the coast. This
took place in Dorking and they proudly mentioned they had already cycled
from Kilburn (about 50km which, given this conversation took place at 9.00am
in the morning, meant they'd cycled through London at the peak of the rush
hour). But they were on their way to Worthing, about another 75km, on
really not very suitable bikes (one a full mountain bike and the other a
heavyweight hybrid with balloon tyres). They had only a vague idea of the
route....they were planning on using the A24 based on a dodgey printout from
Google maps...(not a nice route south of here) and had very little in the
way of gear on their bikes (such as water bottles, tools, pumps, etc.).
On the one hand, whilst not to decry the "go for it" attitude, it does
highlight the lack of knowledge within the cycle owning community and
weakness of the supporting knowledge base on how to go on a bike ride. The
ride planning was about the level I used to do when I was a teenager (in the
60's) and even then we had tools and drinks with us.
(Note: I did the decent thing and gave them my favourite route in that
direction, along with a couple of good café stops along the way.)
-----Original Message-----
From: Cycling and Society Research Group discussion list
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Richard Mann
Sent: 22 June 2011 09:57
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Bicycling's gender gap: It's the economy, stupid | Bikenomics |
Grist
On Wed, Jun 22, 2011 at 9:30 AM, john meudell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> That said, and having spent a major part of my career living in the
> Netherlands, in respect of the wider utility function of a bicycle a
> lot can be put down to (at least in the UK) a very limited and
> uninspiring range of accessories to make utility tasks easier along
> with a lack of knowledge, and/or confidence to use knowledge, of how
> to adapt a bike to many utility transport tasks.
I think the lack of accessories is a result of lack of demand, not the other
way round. There are plenty of bike-seats and trailer bikes (and trailers
and tandems, even the odd cargobike, tricycle and tridem) in Oxford (and
probably in a few other places too).
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