Chris Boardman's stirring views on Utrecht

What will it take for Britain to be more like the Netherlands?

So, there I was, sitting on my sofa, watching ITV 4's highlights report about the Tour de France 2015 on its first rest day (Monday, July 13).
I'm not sure what I was expecting to watch - it was a rest day after all - but it definitely wasn't cycling champion Chris Boardman's inspiring report about cycling in the Dutch city of Utrecht.
It's not the first time Boardman has flagged up the progressive attitude towards cycling in the Netherlands. Not much more than a month ago, he shared a link on his Twitter feed to a film about cycling in Groningen. (To watch it, click here) More recently, he has shared a link another link about cycling in Utrecht (which you can find here).
Boardman's inspiring conclusion to his report for ITV's Tour de France coverage was so stirring, it fired me to leap off my sofa and run to my computer keyboard.
I'll be honest, I've never cycled in the Netherlands. But I do cycle every day to get around my home town of Southend-on-sea, and also in central London where I work most days.
It wasn't that long ago on June 22, 2015 when I turned down a street near the Bank of England in central London on my way to work in Farringdon. Just minutes away, PwC employee Ying Tao lay dying, after being hit by a tipper truck on a notoriously  horrible junction. It was at work later that day that I realised the reason traffic had been so bad that morning was due to this fatal accident. I'd missed it by metres and minutes.
The London Cycling Campaign (LCC) held a protest at the Bank of England crossroads a few days later to commemorate Ying and demanded action. LCC's chief executive Ashok Sinha said a "complete redesign of major junctions to create safe space for cycling" is the first of three steps needed to reduce the road danger faced by cyclists on a daily basis. (Click here for LCC's full report.)
I couldn't help think about this as I watched Chris Boardman talking about the safety of cycling in Utrecht, where hardly anyone wears a cycle helmet and yet the Netherlands has the lowest levels of head injuries among cyclists. Are the Dutch invincible? No, they just have road layouts that put cycling first. And that takes more than a bit of blue paint down the side of a road. Of course, without the proper facilities, who wants to ride a bike in Britain?
In the conclusion to his report, Boardman called on politicians to pull their fingers out and act. Of course, he put it far more powerfully than my crude summary. Boardman said: 

"In my opinion, the people who make big transport spending decisions on our behalf should be obliged to come and spend just a few days here (Utrecht) before deciding what is and what isn't good value for public money. I've spent a couple of days now riding around the streets of Utrecht and I've seen tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of bikes. But I haven't seen a single cyclist. I've just seen normal people in normal clothes doing normal things, dressed for the destination and not the journey. The bicycle is just a simple, fun, inexpensive way to get from A to B. It is a contraption that quite literally has the potential to change the world - if we let it." 

Well said Chris.
It really is time for people to stop dying on the way to work. Something has got to be done about it. And it has got to start right now - not next year, next month or even next week. Otherwise, there'll be another dead cyclist on our streets.
So, who's up for a #millionbikeprotest? Name the date, and I'll be there.

Resources

If you want to watch Chris Boardman's report on Utrecht, click here.

On the hunt for traffic-lite cycling routes - part II

My very first Savvy Cycle Route

Sitting comfortably? With a brew? Then let's begin. 
Last time, I was explaining what I like to look for in the perfect quiet route for urban cycling. It has to dodge traffic and jams and isn't too arduous to pedal. 
If you're thinking of finding such a mythical route, how do you go about it?
Let's take my home town - Southend-on-sea - as an example. (By the way, don't be put off if you're not local to Southend. I'm confident my reasoning here can apply to wherever you are.)
I live near Leigh-on-sea - a delightful part of Southend with a working harbour and an abundance of independent shops. About three miles away is Southend High Street with all the big chain stores you would expect in any decent town. 

Crowded: A typical jam in London Road, Westcliff-on-sea

The main link between these two towns - imaginatively called London Road - is one of only two long-distance routes in and out of the borough. It can get horribly busy, jammed with cars, buses, vans and lorries at times, especially during the tourist season and at the weekends. 
The council has spent many years building pedestrian refuges, push-button crossings and expanding the pavement to create pinch points to slow down the traffic and help people cross more easily. 
Despite being a very well-used main road, this route has two advantages for cycling between the two towns. Firstly, it's pretty flat with only a few gentle inclines here and there. Secondly, it's the most direct route for me to use. 
For years, I've cycled this route without much thought given to finding an alternative. Then one day, for no particular reason, I decided it was time to find a quiet route. 
My first search for information was to check Southend Council's cycle map of the town - which is very good. Unfortunately, it's not that easy to find online on our council's website. 
As with many of these sorts of maps, it only highlighted cycle paths that would have sent me out of my way on this occasion. 
A quick search of Google Maps using its bicycle filter revealed a similar set of out-of-the-way routes. When I actually searched Google Maps for directions, it even highlighted the main road I was trying to avoid as the best choice!
So out came the my trusty street map and I began to think. 
I knew of an alternative route between the two towns, but parts of it were quite hilly - that is "hilly" in Southend terms, and certainly not anything like the never-ending gradients on the Tour de France!
But I digress. Getting back to those Southend inclines, I began to wonder if there was a way to dodge them.
Slowly, I began to realise there was. A left turn here, a right turn there and you practically had a neat little backstreet route.
The only snag was a particularly unpleasant up and down section. This wide stretch of road is where cars have a tendency to speed up and travel at what feels like a lot more than the 30mph speed limit. (For all those locals who are interested, it's Kings Road, Westcliff-on-sea.)
The eureka moment came when I realised cycling across Chalkwell Park would dodge all this - although the park, to the best of my knowledge, is not an official cycling route. (Now, there's a subject for another blog post!) 
After forming a plan, the only thing left was to get out there and give it a go. 
Everything went brilliantly on my way into Southend until I encountered a maze of one-way streets near my goal. Contrary to the stereotypical opinion about cyclists, there was no way I wanted to ride the wrong way along these roads. (And that'll be another future blog post topic, too.) 
After a quick rethink, I hit on a route which varies slightly, depending if you're heading to Southend or heading to Leigh. 
I use this route all the time now. No more sneaking past queues of cars waiting at traffic lights or struggling to breathe among all the fumes. It really has made cycling between the towns a pleasure and not a chore. 
For me, I like to think of it as my Savvy Cycle Route! 
But what is this wonderful route? Ah, well that's going to be the subject of my next post. Until then, keep on riding.

Resources 

If you want a copy of Southend-on-Sea's cycle map, the council advise you to email cyclesouthend@southend.gov.uk
If you have a rummage around the web, you can find it here online at Southend Council's dedicated cycling portal, Cycle Southend. 
Or alternatively here is a direct link to the main map.