First of all: Happy New Year! As 2018 drew to an end, and as an adjunct to the Year in the Saddle piece, I decided to do a video round-up of the various bike-related products I’d acquired over the course of...
Banging on about bikes
2018: my year in the saddle
It’s been a while since I’ve done a round-up of my cycling year, primarily as I haven’t been blogging quite so conscientiously for the last year or two. However, with the revivification of the blog this year, here goes my annual...
December 30, 2018
On the birth of a new movement for walking and cycling in Greater Manchester – and an interview with Chris Boardman
On the evening of Tuesday 4 December 2018, around 300 people gathered at the Friends’ Meeting House in central Manchester to attend the inaugural meeting of what was billed “a new Greater Manchester-wide, non-political advocacy group promoting walking and cycling as...
December 17, 2018
Why cycle campaigners need to retire the obesity crisis argument
Another guest blog from Jenny. As always, with anything I write, I ask that you read with an open heart and open mind and consider what you can do to make the world a more compassionate and inclusive place ✌ On Saturday...
November 16, 2018
On Salford’s inaugural Walking and Cycling Forum
A phrase that resonated at the Salford network planning meeting held back in March was that “the world has changed”: the formerly sidelined acts of walking and cycling are becoming increasingly mainstream in the urban travel context; Chris Boardman is banging...
November 16, 2018
On Manchester’s infernal congestion crisis and how we think we can solve it.
As I left work on Tuesday (23 October), I noticed a denser level of traffic than usual around Deansgate, the air seemed that extra bit noxious and there was palpable frustration emanating from the occupants of the hundreds upon hundreds of...
October 27, 2018
On the National Funeral for the Unknown Cyclist
On Saturday 13 October we travelled down to London to attend the first National Funeral for the Unknown Cyclist, at which I had been invited to speak. The aims of the event, which was organised by the Stop Killing Cyclists pressure...
October 18, 2018
On getting back on the horse (bike)
It’s been around three weeks since a spate of run-ins with motorised morons caused me to take a break from cycle-commuting for the sake of my physical safety and mental health in equal measure. Since then I’ve been sampling the delights...
October 3, 2018
The road to hell is paved with chocolate and cars
Love the sentiments in this. Cycling isn’t just transport or exercise: it’s pure joy. And no one should not feel safe enough to partake. That’s why we keep fighting.
October 2, 2018
On starting a conversation about Beelines with the good folk of Prestwich
Background Beelines is arguably the most important local transport initiative I will experience in my lifetime. A plan to create a network of a thousand miles of safe routes across the Greater Manchester city-region to enable increased levels of walking and...
September 30, 2018
