Do not adjust your set, 14 Bike Co are working on some big things for this years Bespoked Bristol show! For more photos check out the album on the Bespoked Bristol Facebook Page and hit ‘Like’ while you’re there!

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It seems like every week someone is calling for the British Government to do something about our cycling infrastructure and every week these calls fall on deaf ears.

The most recent one, by The Times, seems to be reaching further than most in the mainstream media and they have released an 8 point manifesto which seems nice but as with most things, I don’t wholly agree.

1. Trucks entering a city centre should be required by law to fit sensors, audible truck-turning alarms, extra mirrors and safety bars to stop cyclists being thrown under the wheels.

We all know how dangerous lorries are and any extra measures to increase the safety and awareness of cyclists sharing the road with a lorry can only be a good thing but at the same time a lot of cyclists are to blame when they’re involved in accidents. I am a cyclist, I know that a lorry can crush me like an ant and I know that the driver of a lorry may not see me from his driving position so when I am on the same road as a lorry I may pull over and wait for it to pass; I live another day and the driver goes about his business. Maybe roads that are frequently used by us both should have signs informing cyclists of the lorry drivers blind spots etc?

2. The 500 most dangerous road junctions must be identified, redesigned or fitted with priority traffic lights for cyclists and Trixi mirrors that allow lorry drivers to see cyclists on their near-side.

If I feel that a junction is particularly dangerous I will either use the pavement and crossing (which is legal in such a case, I think), take the lane (not always possible or advisable) or just take my life in my hands and risk it (most of the time). I really like the priority traffic lights idea, it seems to work for buses and would certainly make us feel safer.

3. A national audit of cycling to find out how many people cycle in Britain and how cyclists are killed or injured should be held to underpin effective cycle safety.

Things like this can be very easily misunderstood by Joe Bloggs putting them off cycling, and easily skewed by the press to make cycling seem like a very dangerous thing to do. Cycling is incredibly safe, the chances of us actually being injured or killed whilst cycling is miniscule. I’m pretty sure all this data is already widely available so is the audit really necessary?

4. Two per cent of the Highways Agency budget should be earmarked for next generation cycle routes, providing £100 million a year towards world-class cycling infrastructure. Each year cities should be graded on the quality of cycling provision.

A nice idea but our tight-ass government isn’t going to cough up £100 million for anything any time soon. I’m all for cycle routes but I think that education of both cyclists and drivers is equally as important. Painting the side of a road red and calling it a cycle lane is all good until it’s full of parked cars resulting in us swerving in and out of them pissing off drivers and making them angry enough to run us down.

5. The training of cyclists and drivers must improve and cycle safety should become a core part of the driving test.

I’m down with this one, I don’t feel like I need training because i’m not a total retardo but some people can’t cycle for toffee and I think we all agree that a lot of drivers are incredibly useless! I don’t drive and have never had lessons but I’d like to think that both driving lessons and tests have a lot of cyclist safety content. I think a fair amount of time should be spent highlighting the vulnerability of cyclists on the road with regards to recommended passing space etc.

6. 20mph should become the default speed limit in residential areas where there are no cycle lanes.

Nobody needs to speed in residential areas but slapping up some 20mph signs won’t make the slightest bit of difference and I’d more than likely be going faster than that on my bike.

7. Businesses should be invited to sponsor cycleways and cycling super-highways, mirroring the Barclays-backed bicycle hire scheme in London.

So who is actually paying for these things? The government with their 100 million or Argos with their adverts for the Challenge fixie bike? I do love the idea of the Boris Bikes though so maybe the sponsoring thing works, I don’t know exactly what the deal is.

8. Every city, even those without an elected mayor, should appoint a cycling commissioner to push home reforms.

Swansea has a cycling dude, I don’t think he does anything at all. I’m sure your city already has one that does nothing too. Actually, they do do something, this.

I think that our cities are super crowded and as long as motor vehicles and bicycles occupy the same space accidents can, and will, happen. The one thing that will make the biggest difference is education of both drivers and cyclists on how to use the road and more importantly how to SHARE the road; sometimes it’s their fault, sometimes it’s our fault and more often than we’re probably both to blame.

I also think the name ‘Cities Fit For Cycling’ is terrible, what about ‘Cyclists Fit For Cities’ instead? As always with these things we’re made out to be the victims and never the culprits by the cycling advocacy groups. It works both ways.

So, what do you folks think about this thing and the many hundreds of similar ideas that came before it and will come after it? What do you think will make the roads a safer place?

Related posts:

1. Car Buzz Cycling Article There’s a really great article on carbuzz.co.uk outlining loads of important stuff that drivers should know about cyclist’s rights....
2. Interactive Map of London’s Cycling Accident Black Spots The Telegraph site features a detailed interactive map about the 4,274 reported accidents on London's roads between August 2010 and July 2011....
3. Hardlyart Cycling Quotes Print Series To celebrate the start of the Tour of Britain today I have added a series of five cycling themed prints by illustrator and fixed gear rider Hardlyart to the shop....

Just a quickie to say thanks to all y’all for visiting the blog in January. It was by far the biggest month since the site launched two years ago, so high five!

2012 is going to be a good year for The Foot Down, I’ve got lots planned and it would be good to hear what you want to see more or less of on the blog so hit up the comments below, Facebook or Twitter with your suggestions.

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The second Wednesday Wordsearch is a tough one, I’d be surprised if anyone gets them all. You need to find 10 fixed gear videos, they are all ‘long’, meaning not just a couple of minutes; some are available on DVD, others not.

I’ll post the answers on Facebook on Friday evening. Good luck!

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Maybe not every Wednesday but always on Wednesdays from now on I will post one to relieve your midweek blues.

This one is easy, you just have to find 10 bicycle parts, I’ll post the answers on Facebook tomorrow evening. Get to work!

***CLICK HERE FOR THE ANSWERS***

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The Foot Down Facebook Page is closing in on 2000 Likes, if you haven’t already liked the page then now is the time to do it.

When the 2000 barrier is broken I’m gonna give away some cool stuff and I can offer you a 100% radness guarantee on the page content.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE PAGE OR CLICK ‘LIKE‘ OVER ON THE RIGHT.

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At long last I have fixed the problem that prevented the site from working inside the Facebook app for iPhone! It’s been a long time coming and I know it’s been pissing a lot of you off for ages. Thanks to everyone that complained because without you I probably wouldn’t have bothered fixing it, haha.

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BIGxTOP have a new website, expect loads of behind the scenes blog posts and rad stuff like that…

You can still enter to win a set of BIGxTOP straps, hip pouch and a t-shirt from The Foot Down all you have to do is ‘Like’ the BIGxTOP Facebook page before Monday, it’s as simple as that.

Go here to LIKE the page. Share it with your friends too!

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Last week the 18 year old dumbass that ran over and killed Rob Jefferies was sentenced to a truly insulting 12 month, 200-hour community order, 18 month driving ban and a compulsory re-test.

How the fuck can killing someone because you are a complete and utter ignorant prick result in practically no punishment at all? A Community Order is not even a slap on the wrist; it is however another massive slap in the face for cyclists. Stories like this are becoming far too common, it seems that it’s perfectly fine to run cyclists over; the sentences are so measly that drivers could almost deliberately use us as skittles in the knowledge that they will get away with it.

The vast majority of us enjoy playing in traffic, there’s a huge amount of fun to be had racing cars and weaving in and out of lanes but is it maybe a bit too dangerous? The photo above by Chris Lanaway captures not only the excitement of our pastime but also perfectly illustrates just how small and vulnerable we are on the roads.

Every time we take to the streets we take our lives in our hands, we dice with death. Whether we’re riding foolishly in busy city traffic or sensibly along a less congested road like Rob Jefferies was is irrelevant, the fact remains that even a Smart Car can permanently put an end to our fun in the blink of an eye let alone a bus, a lorry or a dick in a silver Clio (it’s nearly always a dick in a silver Clio).

Do tragic stories like that of Rob Jefferies put you off riding though? Do they make you change the way you ride? They generally have very little impact on the way I ride because at the end of the day I know that cycling is extremely safe even when we ride like knobheads and regardless of the fact that we’re sharing the road with millions of potential murderers, manslaughterers and irresponsible kids that respect their G-Star RAW jeans more than our lives.

There is always a fine line between safe vs dangerous, we just never know when the scales are going to tip against us…

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The Tokyo Fixed tool wall is looking mighty fine, there’s not a bike on earth that couldn’t be dismantled with this kit. If you’re in London and need something fixed you know where to go!

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