Bike Week. School run fun!

Morning all.

As part of bike week and bike to school week  I've teamed up with Sustrans to talk about their campaign for safer streets and why I think it's important for safer streets as a cyclist and also explain how I do the school runs using the bike and trailer.

Where I live we're fortunate to have Travel Choices, a joint project with Central Beds Council and Sustrans and together they actively work within the community to get more people out and about and trying to educate the wider community to make the streets safer, while some of the changes have been a tad annoying to the town it's not going to be an overnight conversion it's a darned good start.

Our school runs are usually a mix of bus, Bike/trailer or and scooters depending on the girls moods and the state of my knees and back. The bus being reserved for the more extremes of weather or pain levels.

We spend the majority of the school year cycling and scooting to school, the benefits of this being less hassle for the girls and I lose a bit of belly in-between!

On bike the girls jump into the trailer and gabble, argue while i make the mile journey to school.

It'a an awesome little trip which can be (for the girls) epic depending on the route we take, being the Luton and Dunstable busway or the main road.

The busway path is a crushed lime which needs to be replaced with tarmac or a hardcore and sand mix as it can be unstable and with the trailer on the back I've wheelspun and bashed the trailer and nearly the kids with loose stones spinning off the tyres, It's not the preferred choice mainly due to it's exit on an active and very busy industrial estate, if the pathways were upgraded It would improve things there. So we go the main roads mostly.

The main road takes us down two busy roads, but set out well with comfortable and wide dual use pathways so there's less risk of getting in the way of anyone here and lots of good light too. The girls use this to sing lots of Frozen songs, Hug Roo and Tigger (Not Boo, Roo and Tigger Too! D'oh!) when they're having a grumpy day and gabble like awesome little monsters do!

What I love about riding and scooting with the girls is how happy they are when out riding and scooting with me to school it's an instant grump fix, no matter the cause of the grinch!

You should try it as it's fun. Yeah it's a learning curve but awesome experience.

If there's anything you want to know. let me know.

Paul, the kids, Naughtybike and grouchotrailer

Watch out for us.

I was involved in my first accident involving the bike and trailer this Monday gone.

Image credit - Rutland cycling
(Note this is identical to the model i have bar the colour scheme as mine was from halfords)

It's pissed me off but got me wondering what's it going to take for cyclists to get noticed on the road?

The town I live in is awful for cyclists. And we have the likes of the Traffic droid here. for instance. on Monday I was hit in the trailer by a lady whom 2 mins beforehand I had given enough space in front of her because I had the trailer. She was probably playing on her phone and touching the accelerator pedal without realizing she's moving forward. Her excuse was laughable "The sun was in her eyes" funny how when she was producing details her phone was not in her handbag as she claimed, but in her door pocket.

I done everything i can to be legal here, give space to me and other road users. Phone on a mount and Bluetooth hands free in use (unless it's raining then it's wired hands free  lights on both the bike and the trailer and finally the flag pole is lit up like a Christmas tree. Mainly because some arsehat clipped it, snapping it in two. It's taken an age to get it fixed, hence i give more space than usually right now.

But it does annoy me We should be using bikes on the roads and 99% of drivers are good, they give space and will not cut you up. But the same as cyclists the idiots spoil tar us all with the same brush.

Over the upcoming weeks I'm going to be in talks with the councils new Travel choices team to see about organizing a monthly Critical mass type ride through Dunstable and Houghton Regis to try and highlight the fact we are here too.

As for being noticed I don't know how to make the trailer better lit as it's got minimal spaces for lights but will be speaking to the manufacturer about this to see if they can help me.

If you use a trailer and want to get more out of it or help lighting it up please feel free to drop me a line

Paul

My permanent take on #NokiaSustainabilityChallenge

Well I'll admit it. I want a Nokia 808 Pureview.

Hence i thought I'd share the way i use a sustainable fun toy to keep both the kids and me happy. Not just for the week, this is a long term sustainability tool.

Nope it's not a Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc HappyInator-Inator-Mobob. It's a bike and a trailer.

I present to you my Vitus VEE ONE '11 edition and my trailer. parked up by the school 

Now How does such a contraption save money you ask?

Firstly Bus travel.

A weekly hip hop ticket for use on Arriva the Shires and Centrebus (Grant Palmer it sucks you pulled out of this) costs £16.50 and a day ticket costs £4.20.
For a 48 weeks travel this would cost me £792 in weekly passes and £1008 in day tickets.
The bike cost £250 and the trailer approx £130. this cost in total. If i were to cycle all 48 weeks I save £682 in daily tickets and £412 in weekly tickets.
(this is approximate and probably inaccurate. as I walk and ride in nice weather and use the bike and the local bus services when it's soggy. Sadly I can't use it in heavy rain or icy conditions for risk of accidents. Brakes hate wet or slippy stuff)

Yes I know public transport is more economical than a car as buses carry vast amounts of people on them, but the way Luton and Dunstable traffic goes on a daily standstill they still consume a vast amount of Derv(diesel) on stop starts, especially on school times when they are most busy.
with some of the buses Centrebus and Arriva use there could be a lot of waste emissions belching out, especially in some of the older buses. (remember there's no Low Emission Zone here, We're on a major arterial route A5)

Also time saving is a good reason to ride.
The bike gets the kids to school in about 12 minutes whereas waiting for the bus, it arriving, getting on, getting off and walking to the school can sometimes stretch to about 30 mins, (HINT ARRIVA. A TIMETABLE IS MEANT TO BE KEPT TO NOT IGNORED IN PEAK TIMES THROW A COUPLE MORE BUSES OUT FROM BOTH TOWNS) I'm serious about the 30 mins.

The most important part about riding the bike and trailer for me has to be interaction.
As a whole I find 90% of people see the trailer and smile as the kids are usually happy in the back as they can see everything going on around them. Especially the diggers where' Bovis homes are building. (Tilia park management. your staff are exceedingly friendly when we've talked to them. nice one!)

The girls sing, talk with me, say hello to the cars, buses and trucks all the way to school. meaning we're all happy.

I would show you a week of riding, but the weather has stopped me from using the cameras. (must get a waterproof cam)

Could you replace the car or bus with a bike? Dare you try it? Or have you done the same as me. Let us know below.

Paul

P.S. one more reason why being sustaniable is easy. I run a symbian device. (nokia e6) and love the battery life. For instance I was at Cybher the other month and I charged my phone the evening before the event. Hammering it for tweeting, photos in molome, emails and facebook it lasted 2 days on one charge when many devices ran dry around halfway though the day