A view from the cycle path: Biomotion tour

Saturday, 17 October 2009

Biomotion tour

The Biomotion tour came to Assen yesterday. Yesterday's event was at the TT circuit, and today we were in the city centre.

There were many alternative fuel cars, but to me other things were more interesting. There were a few electric vehicles of one type or another, but I don't need to write about those. Large car companies are quite capable of dealing with their own publicity (however there are details at the organiser's website). There were also a few small electric vehicles of one type or another and ours were the only purely human powered vehicles. We took along a selection of Sinner recumbents. Our new black demo Mango attracted a lot of looks.

It was a novelty to get to ride on the famous TT track. Someone there told me he'd ridden a bike around it before and found it hard going, and he was right. The surface does seem a little odd. Presumably it's designed for maximum grip for motorbikes cornering rather quickly. Also, the total lack of protection from sidewinds made corners quite "interesting" even at my speed.

The last time I was there was during the prologue of the Vuelta, but we were sitting in those seats that time around, not on the track.

The vehicles next to my Mango are Drymer electric assisted tricycles. It's a leaning tricycle with optional cover. Really quite good.

This vehicle isn't human powered at all, but I liked it. It's a local school's entry in the Shell eco-marathon. 270 km on one litre of petrol is pretty good. I wish I'd had the opportunity to get involved with something like this when I was at school.

In other news, I've now had my Mango for one week and one day. It has 311 km on the clock. The total would have been higher, but yesterday it covered only the distance to the TT track and back, and today just the 4 km round trip to the city centre.
Read my review of the Sinner Mango Velomobile.

3 comments:

Brent said...: Do you find that the mango's shell prevents airflow such that you perspire more? (Or maybe this is more a summertime issue?); 18 October 2009 at 02:27
dr2chase said...: Perhaps you've answered this elsewhere, but how warm does it get inside a Mango on a warm day? Or, how warm can it be outside, before it is too warm inside? I can see that the enclosed cockpit would be a wonderful thing on a day like today (near Boston, bizarrely, it has decided to snow, and some of it is even sticking, though most of the leaves are still on the trees, and some have not even turned).

And snow tires? Or is a tricycle stable enough?; 18 October 2009 at 23:06
David Hembrow said...: Brent, David: Earlier in the year I borrowed a Mango in the middle of the summer. When racing I did get rather warm, but not too warm for comfort. Ease off a bit and of course you're a lot cooler.

This week when I left on my commute on Wednesday and Thursday it was before sun rise and -4 C. Nevertheless, with the rubber cover on, I still got warm enough that I didn't need a fleece.

I've ridden trikes before, and of course a trike is a lot better on ice than a bike. I am not considering snow tyres. Mind you, around here the snow doesn't stay on the cycle paths for very long.; 18 October 2009 at 23:20

Posts sorted by subject

The positive stuff
Three types of safety - As well as preventing injuries and death, high quality cycling infrastructure addresses both subjective safety and social safety which are of vital importance in encouraging people to cycle.
A second revolution took place on Dutch streets in the late 20th century, transforming streets which were just as clogged by cars as those of other nations.
Pedestrians are well catered for in the Netherlands and pedestrianized shopping streets are common. Usually they allow cycling for access.
Dutch Safety Figures - Cyclists in the Netherlands are the safest in the world, but it has little if anything to do with "safety in numbers".
Sustainable safety - the principles which have lead to Dutch roads, streets and cycle-paths being safe.
A million per hour - The scale of cycling in the Netherlands is enormous. Dutch people make more cycle journeys each day than the entire English speaking world put together.
Campaigning - a collection of posts about how to campaign for more cycling. Primarily campaigning should be for children to be able to cycle. These links include reference to "Stop the child murder", a successful campaign from the 1970s.
What Works - examples of policy, infrastructure and campaigning which have made a different in the Netherlands.
Superhighways - "Cycling superhighways" are not a new idea in the Netherlands
Cycle Paths - Well designed cycle paths benefit all cyclists, regardless of experience or speed
Segregation without cycle paths - you don't always need a cycle path to keep cyclists safe from motorists
Unravelling of routes is vitally important
History - how the Netherlands got to where it is now. See especially "Stop the child murder"
Before and After - views of places before and after they have been transformed for cycling
Directness - examples of prioritising cycling
Traffic Lights - examples of how cyclists can be prioritised and kept safe at traffic light junctions. Note that it's almost always possible to turn right on a red light when cycling in the Netherlands.
Roundabouts - roundabouts in the Netherlands have one very important feature to learn from: They keep cyclists away from motor vehicles. This is far more important than the differences in geometry vs. roundabouts in other countries.
Exceptional infrastructure is always nice to see, but remember that a dense network of mundane routes is far more important to boost cycling modal share
Gritting of cycle paths - dealing with snow and ice.
Children - It may seem hackneyed, but children really are the future. If they can't cycle safely then where will future adult cyclists come from ? This is why children should be the primary focus of campaigners. Note also that according to UNICEF, Dutch children are the happiest in the world.
School travel - Everyone knows that Dutch children cycle to school, but it's a surprise to many people that school trips are also usually by bike.
Cycle Parking - including our favourite design of stand.
Cycle Parking at railway stations, see in particular Groningen and Assen as each have multiple posts showing how the cycle parking has grown over time.
Health effects of cycling
Road Works - It's important that cyclists are thought of when there are road works. If the environment becomes hostile for cyclists then they may stop cycling and never start again.
Commuting - Commuting cyclists are interesting, but they're not the only people who should ride bikes.
Anatomy of a reliable everyday bicycle - the common features of bikes used by nearly every person every day in the Netherlands.
Speed - Some people have the idea that Dutch cyclists are slow. This isn't true. It is just that in the Netherlands, everyone cycles, including the slow people. Fast cyclists are as fast as anywhere. These posts show people who ride faster than average, using the same infrastructure as those who ride slower.

The less positive stuff
What not to do if you want a cycling "revolution" - Long list of interventions and policies which are not helpful.
Copy the best examples from the Netherlands - a short list summarising the above. Important to copy the best examples, not just anything "Dutch". Bear in mind that the Netherlands is not perfect.
Shared Space - this much hyped idea simply does not work well. It disenfranchises the vulnerable and claims of safety are exaggerated. Don't confuse the concept with far more successful nearly car free streets.
Shared Use Paths designed to be used by pedestrians and cyclists together. These rarely work well because the two user groups are too different and it leads to conflicts. They are not built in the Netherlands (but cycle access to pedestrianized zones is good).
Strict (or presumed) liability - If you think this is an important part of why people cycle in the Netherlands then it is probably not what you think it is.
Helmets - one of several ways of scaremongering about the supposed dangers of what is actually a very safe means of transport

Myths about cycling

Long list of myths and Excuses - Various reasons that many people, even existing cyclists, give for why the cycling rate is low in their country, including:
  "our streets are too narrow"
  "it's too expensive"
  "our population is too spread out"
  "we have hills
  "our distances are too great"
  "it took decades in the Netherlands"
  "it's because of the price of gas"
  "it's the weather"
  "Cycle-paths cause indirect journeys"
  "Cycle-paths make people slow"
Cycling is "booming" in Britain - a claim we hear remarkably frequently, but it'll take a lot more than the action taken now before it will be true.
The Truth about Copenhagen - Pretty pictures and nice branding are all very well, but facts are important too. Denmark has no explanation of why the cycling modal share is falling in Copenhagen. The Netherlands has avoided this problem and sets a much better example of how to achieve a high cycling rate.
The Truth about Cambridge - Cambridge in the UK has made claims of being a true cycling city. The city does have the highest cycling rate in the English speaking world, but there are special reasons for its high cycling rate which cannot be copied elsewhere. Most people don't talk about this. I do.
London Superhighways - Unfortunately, London seems to be having trouble coming to grips with the idea of prioritizing cyclists.
Boris Bikes - London's bike share scheme, just like others worldwide, lacks the capacity to make any real change, and makes up for it with hype.