I Want To Ride It Where I Like
April 28th, 2007Yesterday, as I walked from Leeds Station to my house at about twenty past six in the evening, I passed a large group of bikes. These were being ridden a little faster than walking pace in a large group, taking up all three lanes of the City Centre Loop*. They also had a banner, which said “we are not stopping traffic; we are traffic”. All in all, I thought, a nice protest against the way cyclists are treated by motorists, especially since we really ought to be encouraging them, rather than just trying to scare motorists away with labyrinthine one-way systems.
(Really; if the City Centre Loop doesn’t form the shape of the dread sigil Odegra then it had damn well better have David Bowie in the middle lording over all the goblins (read: the city council. I have no guilt about referring to the council as goblins — honestly, you leave for one year and suddenly you end up with a BNP guy in the council. Blasted public, can’t take them anywhere. Not really sure what the BNP guy think’s he’ll achieve; city councillors have very little input into national immigration law and the BNP have no other policies…)
The cyclists were also ringing their little bells which was really a rather feeble bit of protest, but it did sound exactly like the shitty ‘instrumental’ bit towards the end of Queen’s Bicycle Race. But my favourite bit was the guy stuck behind them in the Toyota Almeira (not the character from 24) who wastrying to make his own political statement, which I think was “I’ve got a bigger vehicle than you so I’m just going to barge through”. The cyclists just boxed him in and talked at him. Really there’s a fine line, though, between trying to squeeze through traffic and attempted murder, so in the end he backed down and turned off the Loop at the next opportunity.
I thought the whole thing was great. I like protests, I do. I like them in general, even when I have no strong feelings about the subject of the protest. I think it shows that peope think about stuff and care about things, and I like a well-done protest like I like a well written song or a well made film. There’s work goes into them, and imagination, and if they’re done well, that shines through.
It made me smile.
*For those outside the city, the City Centre Loop is the one way system in Leeds city centre. It forces all traffic to go round the city clockwise. If you’re going that way it’s great because you get anywhere up to four lanes to choose from, but if you want to get to anywhere in the other direction it forces you to drive right round and make a long trip to go a short distance. This was done to reduce traffic.
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3 Responses to “I Want To Ride It Where I Like”
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May 2nd, 2007 at 15:35
Their “We are not stopping traffic, we are traffic” protest is somewhat flawed, though. If I choose to drive significantly below the speed limit then I’ll do it on the left side of the road, so that people can pass me if they want to. And if there were several lanes, I certainly wouldn’t go slowly in anything other than the inside one. Because that’s what the Highway Code encourages you to do - keep to the left so that people can overtake safely. The protesting cyclists could have reached their destination just as happily by riding in file rather than several abreast, and then the motorists and cyclists could happily co-exist without anyone being slowed down. Not to mention the fact that, by travelling slowly, cars will be operating less efficiently and so will probably negate all the positive effects of the cyclists. I’m not saying they don’t have a right to make their point - and I don’t have any problem at all with cyclists on the roads - but just because some of them want to cycle along next to their mate instead of behind them doesn’t give them the right to slow down an entire road.
And I’m well aware that the tone of this post was generally light hearted and not intended as a protest in itself, but I’m in a ranty mood and need an outlet. Sorry sorry sorry :)
May 2nd, 2007 at 15:44
Yeah, but riding along the inside lane would have been a pretty pointless protest. You have to get noticed. I suppose the slogan probably should have been in the simple-present rather than the present-continuous (i.e., it should have said “we do not hold up traffic”), but let’s not get into grammar today. It’s lovely and sunny.
Personally, I’ve never tried to cycle through the city centre, so I don’t know if they’ve got a point or not. I’ve driven through it once or twice, though, and never found cyclists to be much of a problem.
May 2nd, 2007 at 15:56
Exactly - it’s a pointless protest. If cyclists cycle responsibly, keeping to the bike lanes where they’re provided, staying in file, indicating when they change direction (note: all things that responsible motorists should also do (apart from the bike lane part)) then there’s no problem, no arguments, and no need for a protest in the first place.