All entries for February 2008

Consultation

At Thursday’s Environment & Amenities Committee it was agreed that the Bicycle User Group (BUG) be consulted before any proposals which impacted cyclists were finalised. So I’ve been asked to find a BUG contact name to help distribute details of any proposals.

The contact person need only send out the information via the mailing list or the blog:

1. email: bug@listserv.csv.warwick.ac.uk
2. Blog: http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/cyclingtowarwick/

If the email option is used, the contact person would have to forward whatever comments arose to whoever wanted the BUG’s opinions, as only people on the mailing list receive the BUG emails. That’s one of the reasons I prefer using the blog, as with that technology it’s easy to ensure that all comments on an entry are visible to any university member (or indeed any web user, if that’s how you set the parameters). Blog technology also handles images better than email and more than one comment can be seen at a time.

I can only fulfil the role of contact person up to June, as I’m departing the university at the end of the academic year.

Don’t be put off if you are not already registered as an administrator or author of the Blog, I can register you by inputting your “IT Services User Id” (mine’s pducbw) into an online form.

People registered as administrators of blogs.warwick.ac.uk/cyclingtowarwick/

Peter Elias, Robin Ball, Catherine Fenn, Richard Hicks, Alistair Lawry, Steve Rumsby, David Sait, Emily Polack, Mark Downes, Claudie Combelas, Tim Thornton, Andrew Dickerson, Andrew Marsh, Florian Theil, Jen Marsh, Trevor Brown, Sally Hicks, Sunil Chhita, Justine Pedler

I think that when someone adds a new entry or comments to an entry, all the people registered as administrators or authors are sent an email notification.

I’ll also email these words to bug@listserv.csv.warwick.ac.uk

: 22 Feb 2008 10:05 |  Comments (5) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Cycling conditions on campus

Fed up bike commuter wrote (07:30 today)

Actually the really important point is this: cycling is surprisingly unpopular at Warwick, every little new obstruction and difficulty will make it even less of an attractive option.

Personally, I am an ordinary commuter, not a cycling enthusiast. I choose my transport on a practical basis. I see very little advantage in cycling to Warwick. Obviously it is hard work, especially with a child. But more significantly, it is dangerous and clearly unwelcome. Routes are incomplete and full of permanent and temporary obstructions.

If the University wants more people to cycle, there must be a change of attitude throughout the university…

1. don’t let contractors wreck our routes.
2. don’t let staff drive vehicles and park on cycle paths.
3. provide complete safe routes, not just show-piece fragments for the press.
4. enforce road rules.
5. ensure that all drivers at Warwick (including those coming from very different cultures) understand our road laws.

: 14 Feb 2008 10:55 |  Comments (16) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

The Bridge in Tocil Woods

It’s been discovered that the bridge on the track between main campus and Gibbet Hill needs replacing. As it’s feared that the bridge would collapse under the weight of a motor vehicle, their entry has been blocked by placing obstructions on either side of the bridge.

There’s no problem in seeing the barriers. But what would happen if two cyclists approached the bridge at the same time in opposing directions?

The speed at which two cyclists approached the bridge would be the sum of their individual speeds, perhaps 20 to 40 mph. Cyclists would have to leave a gap of at least 40cm between their wheels and the barriers/railing as the latter are quite tall.

: 12 Feb 2008 17:16 |  Comments (18) |  Close comments |  Report a problem