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bike nation. how cycling can save the world. peter walker. yellow jersey softback 255pp £12.99

"Republican member of Wyoming's legislature, David Northrop, introduced a bill decreing that anyone riding a bike in the state should have a flashing light at the rear, and carry some photo ID. Oh yes, and be wearing high-visibility clothing in fluorescent orange, pink or green..."

peter walker: bike nation

one of islay's local constables visited the newspaper office last week to inform the editor of an upcoming advanced driving course to be held on the island. the target market for this educational situation is that of the younger driver, those who recently passed their driving test and are now haring about the principality in vauxhall astras and honda something-or-others with matt black windscreens and pretending to be lewis hamilton.

thankfully, of late there have been no serious accidents resulting from such anti-social behaviour, other than the occasional vehicle in a ditch at the edge of the peat moss, but many years ago, islay experienced a spate of serious and occasionally fatal motoring accidents. in order to forestall any repetition of such undesirable circumstances, the driving course has been organised to point out to this exuberant portion of our population that those noisy vehicles in which they attempt to emulate the formula one circus, in the wrong and inexperienced hands are akin to high-speed weaponry. weapons that can not only excite, but maim and kill.

as cyclists, we are fortunate that the majority of the aforementioned group of individuals tend to practise their iniquities in the evening when most of us are tucked up in front of the tellybox. nonetheless, it is not entirely unknown for the velocipedinally inclined to experience the side effects of their ignorance during a daytime bicycle ride. but i'd be the first to admit that such happenstances are nowhere near the level incurred on city-centre and urban roads.

but what's an intrepid cyclist to do?

well, for starters, we could buy as many copies of peter walker's new book bike nation as we can afford and hand them out at the local motor club's next drive-it day. or better still, nip round to your nearest car dealership and brazenly slip one into every glovebox in the showroom. each and every motorist, no matter their professed skills behind the steering wheel, ought to read this book. then we ought to take delivery of a few more copies and send them to the town planning officer, local mp, local councillor and in scotland, one to our msp too. but this is not to excuse the cyclists amongst us; this is an entire social degree education in a single volume.

author peter walker is not only a news correspondent for the guardian newspaper, but the man behind their well respected bike blog. in bike nation he has written an (almost) balanced account of the situation that exists between motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, though one that logically and happily leans towards the latter two. for it is an inescapable fact that on the occasion of any cycle/motor vehicle interface, no matter which side is the more culpable, the cyclist will inevitably come off worst. and should this happen, it may not be entirely the motorist's fault; it could be that society (or the transit authority) is to blame.

yet cyclists are perennially encouraged to wear bright, fluorescent clothing and helmets in order to prevent or mitigate the effects of any such collision. while the cyclist is most often the victim, it is rarely the motorist who is the target of roadcraft education.

"Rachel Aldred, a cycling policy expert at London'd westminster University, says the emphasis on care and skill on the part of the cyclist rather than the wider environment, is anomalous. 'We wouldn't think it was acceptable if train passengers had to cross a live rail to get to a platform and were told to "be aware", she says. We wouldn't accept a company putting up unsafe scaffolding, and the police then ackowledging this by handing out leaflets nearby saying "Be careful...you might be hit by falling planks."

walker does, however, take into account that there is more than one type of cyclist on the road, that we might not all be possessed of the constitution of attila the hun, ready and willing to do battle with any set of wing mirrors on four wheels. this is illuminatingly illustrated by the stunningly obvious (in retrospect) action of portland, oregon's transport bureau.

"...one of the few North american cities to properly understand cycling, put out a fascinating paper that sought to create a taxonomy for the local population when it came to whether they rode or didn't ride a bike."

their four categories encompassed the 'strong and fearless', 'enthused and confident', the 'interested but concerned', followed by the 'no way, no how'. the 'interested but concerned' heading contained sixty percent of those responding to the survey, so that's the demographic around which portland decided to plan its bike infrastructure. however, as walker concludes "...in many countries it is a realisation that has only just, if at all, begun to dawn on city planners."

my coercive advice, however, to slide a copy of this book into the glove compartments of as many new (or old) cars in similar manner to that of the gideon bible in hotel rooms, was not simply of comedic or vacuous intent. a book entitled bike nation almost by definition, suggests itself to one section of the travelling public; cyclists. and at the risk of undermining the veracity of walker's ministrations, many of us already understand the problems and difficulties outlined within. the folks we really want to read a book such as this from cover to cover, ultimately checking out each and every entry in the copious references at the back of the book, are the motorists. and, come to that, politicians and town planners.

bike nation has been meticulously researched and written in a most approachable style. all too many of this genre tend towards the academic in tone, leaving the reader estranged from the importance of the content. walker has comfortably avoided such pitfalls offering a comprehensive treatise on the state of our bike nation and precisely what action might be taken to improve matters.

"Cycle advocates are 'devotees', 'true believers' 'hard-core enthusiasts'; their ideas are 'radical thinking'. Building more bike lanes is 'wishful thinking' and 'fantasy'. It's the sort of language you'd expect to be used for a religious cult, not a group of people who'd just sort of like it if they and their friends and family were able to cycle around a bit more easily and safely."

i'd be more than suprised if there were any cyclists who thought that the current situation on britain's roads was anything more than barely tolerable. surely there's an excellent case for the facilities and culture that pervades much of the netherlands, where any physical conflict between car and bike is automatically deemed to be the fault of the former until proven otherwise. you may already think you know it all when it comes to the inquities visited upon the hapless cyclist, but i think you might find a great deal of further enlightenment in bike nation.

if you're a motorist or politician who has inadvertantly landed here in the search for a washing machine, make no mistake, this book is for you. feel free to thank me later. as chris boardman has attested on the front cover "peter walker has written the book i wanted to write."

compelling and compulsory.

thanks to the generosity of publishers 'yellow jersey press' i have one copy of 'bike nation' to give away. simply tell me to which uk national newspaper peter walker contributes and the first chosen correct answer will receive the book. please remember to include a full postal address and send to brian@twmp.net. closing date is wednesday 12 april.

wednesday 5 april 2017

twmp ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................