August 20th – pleasing to see that the new bike racks that sprang up throughout Birmingham city centre in advance of the tunnel closures are being well used. Wandering down to New Street after doing a little evening shopping, I noticed this new facility was almost at capacity, even at 5pm. Interesting variety of bikes, too. That fixie with no brakes looks like a fun ride…
July 18th – Commuting, security and bike racks. In preparation for tunnelgeddon hitting Brum at the weekend – when the city’s Queensway tunnels are closed for six weeks for refurbishment and traffic chaos is expected to ensue – Birmingham City council have been encouraging car or public transport commuters to take to their bikes instead. This is a good idea, and to support it, bike racks have been springing up around the city centre like mushrooms. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.
But then there’s what you do when you get to a rack. I was intrigued by the bike I spotted on the way to work this morning, which had no less than three locks wrapped around the seatpost. Only 2 looked like they were used regularly, and the third is made of cheese. That’s serious extra weight to be carrying.
An odd thing, indeed.
June 26th – Interesting to see that the unusual solution to bicycle parking employed at Leicester station is now heavily oversubscribed. The station operators expanded to two more carousels, and have now had to put some in the car park, too. It seems almost as if when you create a pleasant, secure facility, people adapt their habits, and use it.
I do hope the people at Birmingham New Street have seen this.
Sadly, a minority still don’t seem to grasp the mechanics of these stands.
May 20th – A small result. The bike racks at Birmingham New Street Station – relocated to a dark corner on the the opening of the new concourse – were formerly only bolted to the ground and could easily be disassembled by thieves to steal users steeds. I noticed this morning that the ordinary nuts securing the Sheffield frames had been replaced with shear nuts, which are nigh-on impossible to remove. For added security, they’ve been bonded on with thread lock adhesive. This makes them much more secure.
I hope Network Rail have learned something from the bad publicity here. It ain’t rocket science really, is it?
April 12th – I love Moor StreetStation in Brum. Not only is it a lovely, light airy and atmospheric station, but on the whole the staff are more relaxed and customer focused than their competitors. Coming through tonight, I noticed some inconsiderate muppet had locked their bike to the security railings by the ticket barrier inside the station. If this had been a Virgin Station, the bike would have been removed and it all would have been rather tetchy. Here, they sellotape a warning notice to the bike, which considering it’s not actually a trip hazard, makes sense. That’s a nice approach.
Their spelling is about as good as mine.
February 26th – Today’s tasks in Telford ended early and I returned home at lunchtime. Mindful of the wind after a dreadful commute that morning, I came back to Lichfield for a cup of tea and hopefully a better journey home with a following northeasterly. At Lichfield City Station, I noticed that, despite the cold and poor weather, the cycle racks here are still very well used and clearly popular.
I noted too, that the immense Pashley flying bedstead was still here – a bit less shiny, but still as loved. The guy who rides that must do stunt double for the Jolly Green Giant. That bike is huge.
August 4th – Up at Chasewater, a cracking example of why the authorities need to sort out the anti-traffic barrier halfway across the dam at Pool Lane. Formerly consisting of plastic barrels filled with concrete, they have now been destroyed. Result? Yesterday, this car was actually parked off the road, on the site of special scientific interest that surrounds the 9-foot pool. Why? Because the owners were too bone idle to park the vehicle in the proper car park and walk a little. This needs sorting.
August 2nd – Walsall Wood’s branch of Fitness First, a national gym chain, used to be a nightclub. It has always had insufficient parking in the daytime, most of it being shared with the small group of shops on Streets Corner. The problem peaks around 6-7pm, when punters, desperate to park as close to the entrance as possible – after all, you wouldn’t want to get inadvertent exercise – leave cars on the pavement, blocking pedestrian access. Oddly, the local councillors and traffic enforcement folk appear to condone this, but get very uptight about parking in the High Street.
All that effort to drive to the gym, getting caught in traffic and then the hassle of parking as close as you can. All in order to ride a stationary bicycle.
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 