Undeniably an attractive design (before the line painters got there)

Well, entirely unsurprisingly, it hasn’t magically made the inherent conflict between tram passengers and cyclists go away.

There is no magical solution for the fact that pedestrians and cyclist still cross paths.

But has it improved the situation or made it worse?

I’ve traversed the area as both cyclist and pedestrian, and these are my initial impressions.

Cyclist approach

Well, it’s wide and smooth to ride on, but despite Robert Doyle’s protestations, it isn’t immediately obvious where one is supposed to ride and where the waiting passengers are supposed to stand and walk.

I was a bit concerned that the fancy bluestone surface might be a bit slick in the wet but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Stepping on

Part of the design is to separate the road level for each mode—foot, bike and tram—the act of stepping down from the pedestrian area to the shared space should cue-in pedestrians that they are moving into a different space. This effect is diluted as for much of the length of the curb there are wide, gently sloping ramps (presumably for mobility aid access—a major reason for installing a raised-platform tram stop), which means there is no sense of stepping down (at least, I didn’t notice it). But elsewhere there is a noticeable step down at the edge of the footpath.

Like water

People, like water, follow the path of least resistance. In the afternoon large numbers of people get off trams on the southbound side, then queue to cross at the lights, heading for the train station. And in order to get to the crossing, they take the shortest route—down the bike lane:

People, like water, follow the path of least resistance

As a tram passenger, I found this was the natural thing to do. Bear in mind that this doesn’t feel like stepping down onto a road or even a safety zone—it feels like stepping down into a safe pedestrian-friendly space. Inevitably, people are going to walk with a bit less caution than they otherwise would when leaving a tram.

The cyclist’s experience of this is to ride through a narrow tunnel of people wandering aimlessly along the bike lane. This is sure to lead to verbal, and possibly physcial, clashes between cyclists and pedestrians.

Inviting criticism

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle invited criticism by making much of the top-notch bluestone that’s been used in the upgrade, saying it’s like paving the streets in gold—the sort of thing every rate-payer loves to hear. I don’t see it myself—it appears to be largely indistinguishable from concrete. I guess it’s attractive. But in an interview with 3AW’s Neil Mitchell, Doyle states that this installation is effectively a prototype: “We always said we would open this one first, we would see how it operates knowing there would be difficulty and confusion. And that means when we do Bourke St and Collins St then the onus is on us to get it right”. Why then would you use the most expensive materials when the design may need later modification as we learn more?

Counter-intuitive

But one of the main criticisms of the new setup is that it’s confusing. But is this really a problem? Let me run a half-baked idea past you: maybe a lack of signage and markings (and the consequent ambiguity) is a good thing.

David Engwicht talks about intrigue and uncertainty as mechanisms to bring about calmer traffic—and this is a place that needs calm traffic flow (even after the removal of most motorised vehicles).

Engwicht’s first proposition is “It is a myth that the only way to improve safety is to increase predictability”. It’s counter-intuitive, but it makes sense when you think about it: increase predictability and vehicles (in this case, bikes) can move faster, which increases the risk of collisions with pedestrians. But decrease predictability and increase the need for ‘negotiation’ and vehicles will move slower.

Hang on, I’m a commuting cyclist—why am I advocating slowing down cyclists? Because everything about the design of this new tram stop screams “shared space”. No amount of yellow lines and bike stencils on the ground is going to stop people sauntering along in the ‘wrong’ place, in the ‘wrong’ direction, without paying enough attention.

But it seems that the City wants to increase predictability on the new tram stop with lines and stencils being laid down, and no doubt all sorts of warning signage is also being prepared. Interestingly, if I hadn’t been specifically looking out for them I’d scarcely have noticed the new road surface markings. Like some others, I’m a bit disappointed that we weren’t prepared to give a fair trial to a true shared space before giving up and daubing paint all over the place and putting up ‘thou shalt not’ signs.

Conclusion

Overall, it doesn’t seem significantly different from the previous arrangement. From a traffic movement perspective, the same effect could have been had much more cheaply by making the same stretch of road car-free (e.g. by putting up some barriers to motor vehicles) and leaving the passengers, riders and tram drivers to sort it out on the unmodified roadway. But it does look great (or at least it did before the line-painters got to it)…I’ll leave others to decide whether looking fabulous is worth the price tag.

Melbournism calls for Melbourne’s best cycling paths

What do they ride at Microsoft?

Apple’s campus bikes are classically minimal—a plain silver mixte, to be precise.

Perhaps I’m reading too much into it, but if you think about it, this simple, classic bike seems like exactly the thing Apple would pick to get its employees around the campus. I wonder what Microsoft uses? Probably electric golf carts. Or even (shudder) Segways.

[thanks flipsockgrrl]

Once was car city

Detroit Bike City [Thanks tom]

Not quite bike city

Melbourne gains ‘bike city’ status. Oh, really?

Actually is bike city

NYTimes.com on The Dutch Way – Bicycles and Fresh Bread.

Number crunch

Mez Dispenser on checking the numbers on bike trips in Toronto—how did the city get it so wrong?

Design

• Plastic bike looks like a toy, but rides like the future [Thanks tom]
• Brian Cloyd’s Recumbent Trike impresses NASA [Thanks tom]
• Apparently Toyota is working on the bicycle of the future that shifts gears via brain waves. OK, cool idea and good on them, but I can’t see myself replacing reliable cable and levers any time in the foreseeable future.

Recognition

Dave Moulton on distinctive bike designs.

Retro

• In the Doone Valley by Frank Patterson [twitterer]
• Bicycles. Sears, Roebuck & Co. Advertising Booklet, 1914.
• The trend today is to BSA [twitterer]

You go girl

Bicycle Thief, Interrupted:

Some idiot has the brass balls to steal a bike in broad daylight. But Kristen Bell and her co-workers saw what was happening and sprung into action, taking revenge for theft victims everywhere.

[Thanks tom]

Light up those hoops

Project Aura: Bicycle Safety Lighting System [Thanks tom]

“These jeans hate me”

Commute by Bike on Levi’s Nerd-Repellent Commuter Jeans:

I’m working on finding out if Levi’s makes an uncool version of these pants, and if they do, I’ll review them sometime in the future — and I’ll find out if “higher back rise” means, “covers your butt crack.”

Park it there

Apple shaped multi-story bike park in Alphen aan de Rijn [Thanks tom]

Counterintuitive

New road sign: Lane Closed to Ease Congestion [twitterer]

Best advice ever

Keep calm and ride on.

Another way a bike is better

Simple way to cool down your car after it’s been baking in the sun.

Too much Tour de France is barely enough

• Dave Moulton calls it A Perfect Result.
• The Conversation on the science of the Tour de France time trial.
• I’ve really come to look forward to the Boston Globe’s two-part folio of shots from the Tour de France: Part 1 and Part 2.
  (Incidentally, if anyone ever tries to suggest that every single one of these riders isn’t an incredibly hard man, just point them this photo of Laurens ten Dam.)
• road.cc reminded me of the wonderful TdF film Vive le tour! Sure, you’ve probably seen it before but go and watch it again.
• And I just need to keep a bookmark of Senor Coconut – Tour de France for future reference.

Sadly, we need to keep it in perspective

Amy Gillett Foundation on a stark reminder of the dangers cyclists face on our roads:

As the nation celebrates Cadel Evans’ famous Tour De France victory, it is also a time to highlight the issues of safety for cyclists on our roads as we mourn the death of another cyclist on Beach Road in Melbourne last Friday.

Work it out

Triathleteurope on effective hour-long bike workouts:

Not everyone has the time to put in five-hour rides every week. Fortunately, there are a few hour-long sessions that you can do that are invaluable for developing your bike fitness.

Energy supply

Interesting article on Why do we get exhausted?

Futile

KarlOnSea on the futility of culture change through exhortation:

Supposedly, all we have to do to make the roads attractive to the 98% of the population who don’t ride bikes on a regular basis, is to change the behaviour of these drivers. Yeah. Like that’s going to happen by just asking drivers nicely to pay a lot more attention, and curb any aggressive tendencies they may have.

Apropos: Bike crashes in Queensland: cyclists most likely to be at fault. [twitterer]

And when cycling infrastructure is everywhere, you get installations like this. [twitterer]

Accessorise, dahling!

@noteon: “Finally, somebody makes an affordable saddle scrotum”.

Handlebar clearance

Heidi Swift suggests Don’t look down. Mmmmmokay!

The debate the just keeps on giving

Cycle helmets: safety essential or health risk?

Cycle helmets should not be made compulsory, according to medical experts. The surprise finding from a poll of readers of the British Medical Journal suggests there is no simple answer to improving cycling safety.

Back to the drawing board

Human Powered Cycles reports on a prototype utility bike:

Not long after we built the first prototype furniture removalist bike, we tried moving some wood. Well actually it was a few hundred kilograms of wood.

Ah. Oops.

Cook now

TravellingTwo offers a free bicycle touring cookbook (from 1979):

There are hints on proportions (note that the book was aimed at groups of cyclists, so all recipes serve 10 people!), nutrition and how to carry tricky things, like sticky jars of honey.

Girls in the biz

Oregon Business reports from Interbike on why women lag in bike riding and business. [twitterer]

Jens says

The Jens Voigt Soundboard: ’nuff said!

The Pillars of French Cycling

Interesting film on the French bike industry, in two parts: Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.

This little fella is better than a bike lock—he nearly took my arm off when we went to pat him!

Plane vs bike

Bicycles beat commercial airliner—was there ever any doubt?

Get a fix

Bike Fixtation

Bicycles are incredible tools for transportation and recreation. And of course, they’re a blast to ride. But sometimes you get a flat tire, forget to bring a snack (beware of the bonk!), or need to make a minor adjustment. That’s where Bike Fixtation comes in.

Bike Fixtation offers self-service kiosks on an extended-hours basis for bicyclists in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. You can buy a tube or patch kit, pump up your tires for free, and make simple adjustments using supplied tools.

[Thanks tom]

Urban planning and design

Can bicycle networks create socially sustainable cities?

Can bicycle infrastructure increase the rate of cycling enough to reduce obesity and the costs of health care? Will people develop a new sense of place in their cities, discovering areas they never knew, and spend money in local businesses in the process? And will bicycle infrastructure encourage a new audience to use a bicycle (a vehicle which, despite its affordability, is still mostly used by those with a higher income, and avoided by ethnic minorities)?

[twitterer]

More on the same sort of thing:

• How to Plan Good Cities for Bicycling [twitterer]
• This pretense of neutrality[twitterer]
• Mia Birk’s TED Talk on pedaling towards a healthier planet [twitterer]

DIY

• Bike seat cover tutorial
• Bicycle Hoist or “How to get the wife’s bike out of my way”

Getting a woody

Custom hand-built bike [twitterer]

Advice

• Cyclist’s guide to safe driving, recommended by @exframebuilder “One of the best pieces I’ve read on the subject”.
• The Ten Golden Rules To Becoming A Better Cyclist

Moths

Should You Flash Motorists? The Moth Effect and The Bicycle:

Should the rear light blink or remain steady?

The debate arises from something dubbed the “moth effect.” Studies considering when emergency vehicles should and should not utilize flashing lights at a crash scene have sometimes demonstrated this effect. Like a moth to a flickering flame, a human being behind the wheel will be attracted to a light blinking in the darkness. The implication is that blinking lights on vehicles, and on the back of bicycles, may be more dangerous than steady lights.

My rule: flash and static, front and back.

(And as an aside, I’m astonished that any jurisdiction would allow any vehicle on the road at night without it’s own lighting. See my previous thoughts and observations on rear visibility)

Touring

• She packs it and she leaves it: disposible biking wardrobe.
• Biking adventure takes Israeli around the world
• Life is a wheel: the story of the bike
• Bikamper Tent: “fits nicely on your bike and protects both you and the bike from the outdoor elements.” [Thanks tom]

Getting it backwards

Our backwards approach to road safety

Similarly, when a plane crashes, they don’t decide to hand out parachutes to all passengers on similar planes just in case people need to jump if something goes wrong mid-flight. They get to the source of the problem and prevent it from happening (by implementing a change to the mechanics or inspection processes for airplanes).

[twitterer]

Meanwhile @CycleAdagio wonders if the author of this Letter to Australian Cyclist thinks that “removing the Dutch & Danes from the gene pool would be a good thing”.

Bike share

@CycleAdagio also on a related topic:

What disappoints me so much about the current plight of the Melbourne & Brisbane bike share schemes is the resigned shrugging of the shoulders from our so-called state cycling advocates…

Video

• dirt spineology: white knuckle viewing [twitterer]
• Victoria’s Secret [SIGH]
• Alas, it’s yet another cute video of a dog on a bicycle
• Angry bike guy [twitterer]
• Vanoise Express by Bike—but why? [twitterer]
• Mountain bike skills holiday in Spain
• Unicyclists in Edinburgh or “Nutters R Us”
• No tom, I don’t care how good he is I ain’t doing that: Cirque Eloize Bicyclist

Tour de France insights: crashes

Brooks blog on why are there so many crashes in this year’s Tour?

Absence of Hoxton Basket on Front of Most of the Bikes- The Hoxton conveys a subliminal message to those around it. “Hey. Slow down. Don’t overtake me. Give me some space here. Thank you!” We’re already discussing plans with several teams for 2012.

Tour de France insights: amateur racers

Recommended read of the week is winning with style and honour:

At the amateur level, however, in the racing that you and I partake in on the weekend or during the week, there are no monetary or professional factors at play…Cycling is both beautiful and brutal and we have an obligation to emphasize the former. As such, the burden of fair play and riding like a gentleman is much higher. As such, we would be wise not to follow many of the examples of our professional heroes. We would do well to adopt their style and sang-froid, but not their refrain of ruthless riding.

[via gusk]

Reminded me of Elizabeth Coxhead’s quote:

A sport is advanced by the handful of people who do it brilliantly, but it is kept sweet and sane by the great numbers of the mediocre, who do it for fun.

Tour de France insights: science

The science of elite cycling: Tour de France stages 1 to 11 and stages 12 to 21.

Tour de France insights: food

Masterchef meets TdF: feeding riders on the Tour de France. [twitterer]

Or if you want it graphically, how much does a Tour de France cyclist eat in a day?

Or straight from @andy_schleck: our cook put together what each rider in our team eats a day during a day in the TDF .

To your health

OregonLive.com: Cars versus bikes: why medics are choosing to pedal:

There’s pretty good evidence that switching from car to bicycle transport produces a net health benefit for the individual – and society.

[twitterer]

Gadgets

• With the Mopha Tool Roll you can carry your bike tools just like how professional chefs keep their knives in a roll-up then lay them out when it’s time to go to town on a whole pig. [Thanks tom]
• Cycling apps for the Android
• Cycle EXIF has found “how to transport the pushies on the back of my moto”.

Hub-bub

• Aerospace Hub for bicycles aims to give bearings a break [Thanks tom]
• The NuVinci Shifting Experience: no gears!?

Commute

Your bike commute stories—the good, the bad, and the opossum:

My best commute: Portland, Ore. Surprise snowstorm at 3 p.m. Worst traffic snarl I have ever seen. I left work at 5:30. That night, it took people up to eight hours to get home. Buses were caught off guard without chains and were stuck behind abandoned automobiles.

It took me one hour.

[twitterer]

Warning! Concept bikes ahead!

• Audi Electric Bike Concept takes brand’s eco campaign one step ahead [Thanks tom]
• Vanhulsteijn Cyclone Bicycle Defies Gravity [Thanks tom]
• 4H – A four person unicycle for individual and collective experience [Thanks tom]

The best job in the world?

Calling all cyclists – Growler delivery riders wanted in St Kilda—what work could be more satisfying?

[twitterer]

A man takes a ride with his best friend

Bike share done right

Streetfilms presents The Biggest, Baddest Bike-Share in the World: Hangzhou China.

A good problem to have

Amsterdam’s Unique Problem: A city with too many bicycles [twitterer]

Fuel for randonneurs?

While investigating possible uses for a batch of marshmallow that didn’t quite work out, I discovered the Flutternutter Sandwich “a calorie-laden sandwich made with two slices of bread layered with peanut butter and Marshmallow Fluff, and sometimes along with the occasional banana”. My first reaction was to hold back the almost overwhelming urge to retch, but on second thoughts I began to wonder if this might become the new fuel of choice of the weary randonneur. Then I saw some actual pictures and my doubts returned.

Hello sailor!

@KarlOnSea thought he’d seen it all. Now he probably has.

‘ello ‘ello ‘ello

Carlton Reid reports on BikeBiz that “Zealous cops in London don’t know their transport law as they prevent woman carting her two kids on a cargobike”.

Meanwhile, ‪caseyneistat‬‏ gets booked for not riding in the bike lane, then proceeds to demonstrate why it’s often not safe to ride in the bike lane. [via Biking in Heels]

The Cannibal

Videos of Eddy Merckx in action.

All the answers

Some answers to just about any bike forum post I’ve ever read. Read of the week.

Consider this

Carlton Reid on travel time considerations by car or by bike.

Danger?

I looked at the The Seven Most Treacherous Paths In The World and thought, “Gee, the Sichuan-Tibet Highway looks like it would be a cool ride!”
[twitterer]

The numbers

From ‘The Vancouver Observer’: More bikers means fewer accidents.

Gear you need

How to get a pizza home on a bike.

Butt ugly

Securing bikes and other very portable but expensive stuff: is the answer to uglify?

DIY

• Bicycle Generator and USB Device Charger
• What the hell is sugru?
• Possibly the most complicated guide to making your own panniers [PDF]
• Helmet mounted LED light? – having it my way!
• Build a bicycle trailer and another approach

Want

Bike Light by Fraser Mort. OK, now I want one of these. [Thanks tom]

Explosion

@_rogers: Brilliant photo of an exploded Mercian bike (pre-assembly).

Small wheels

Another Brompton review: the M2L. Oooh, look a review of the Moulton TSR2 as well. However will I choose?

Bloggage

• Lovely Bicycle!
• Biking in Heels
• A Girl and Her Bike

[twitterer]

Utility cycling

• Woman moving house from East to West coast of USA decides to go by bike
• The Two Faces of “Commuter” Cycling (Is that video taking the piss?)
• Refrigerator on bike—a man after my own heart…

How MacGyver does it

How to fix a bicycle puncture with only a pump. We think “cut the tire using his teeth” at point 3 and “tied the tire firmly” at point 4 is actually referring to the old knotted inner tube trick. See it in this list of emergency bike repairs along with a number of other MacGyver tricks.

Kids

Three Bikes on the Trail

City

• The real reason why bicycles are the key to better cities [Thanks tom]
• Driven to despair in Australia’s outer suburbs
• How to design a bicycle city

Stepper bikes: why?

There’s this and this and even this, but I simply don’t get why someone would want to go a ride a mobile stepping machine. (Come to that, I don’t even understand why anyone wants to use a stationary stepping machine.) I’ll stick to a bike thanks all the same.
[Thanks tom and ozzmosis]

Gadgets

• Our favourite way to stay hydrated while cycling [thanks flipsockgrrl and tom]
• Veltop or would an umbrella work just as well? [Thanks tom]
• Saddle Couch [thanks flipsockgrrl]

Bike parking

• Secure bike parking [Thanks tom]
• Monitoring bike parking in Utrecht [Thanks tom]
• Senza Bike Lock System by Jaryn Miller » Yanko Design [Thanks tom]
• TiGr Bike Lock [twitterer]

Hack

• Rube Goldberg powertrain [Thanks tom]
• Make a Mini Recumbent from a Kid Bike
• Lego Bike—don’t ask why. [Thanks tom]

On the way to Utrecht I met a man…

This man rides 80km a day. He’s 78 and doesn’t look it. [twitterer]

A Sunday in Hell

Good to see this classic documentary of the Paris-Roubaix on You Tube.

Bikes on a plane

How to take a bike on a plane: “Forget expensive bike bags – my road bike flew Ryanair in a massive plastic bag and lived to tell the tale.”

Bike share “disappointing”

A range of excuses offered as the Melbourne bike share scheme returns disappointing numbers. More bike stations wouldn’t hurt but it really comes down to compulsory helmet laws.

Helmets

Of course, you don’t need bike helmets. Oh, hang on, yes you do need bike helmets.

Well, if you’re going to wear one, maybe get one with an in-built ring of confidence.

Car vs Bike: The difference

The Difference campaign [twitterer]

Road safety

In New Zealand, the coroner is to look into ways to reduce cycle deaths, meanwhile a combined CPF/Heart Foundation survey finds that two in three blame unsafe roads for staying off their bikes. While I this is a very interesting survey, I think ‘unsafe roads’ is just one in a suite of excuses that people will use not to ride.

While we’re on the subject, would driving test changes boost cyclist safety? [twitterer]

In training to be an organ donor

What a Total Muppet! Watch for the idiot having a little tantrum and throwing his bike against at door at the end of the video.

Brrrrompton!

On London Cyclist, Nicole goes to Antwerp…with a Brompton and then does the Full Brompton Review.

Le Tour from above

Fake of the D. [twitterer]

Set the pace

Set the Pace with these Raleigh fetures

Chic

• Keep Ride And Stay Chic.
• Victoria Pendleton Grazia Fashion Shoot
• Remembering Amsterdam

Peak Cars

Angry Birds poop on cars:

In the near future cars won’t disappear (trains haven’t) but if a transport mode is in decline, even a very small decline, there’s less need to create infrastructure for that mode. Why build more motorways when use of such infrastructure is likely to decrease? Transport modes in the ascendency need the infrastructure spend. Yep, that’s right: bicycles. (And light rail, but that’s for another trade mag to champion).

Awwwwwww

Cute pic o’ the day