Saturday 26 October 2013

Perne Road, Radegund Road, Birdwood Road Roundabout


This roundabout is a crucial part of a major motor route going south - north in the east of Cambridge city. It's also part of a cycle route going east - west and, more importantly, a hub of a local community with nearby schools.

Recently it's been noted that the current design causes considerable conflict between different transport modes with the inevitable damage to the more vunerable road users.
There have been 16 reported accidents involving cyclists on the Radegund Road roundabout in the last five years, three of which were serious.
All the STATS19 accident data I can find (which may not cover the same years as the above note) shows it's people driving going into people cycling from behind, short of one report which was someone cycling falling off on their own. Not a single instance of anyone cycling without lights or weaving/jumping out into traffic. It also should be noted that there's a trail of further accidents up Radegund Road and a little on Perne Road (south) but nowhere else.

So, changes are proposed by Cambridgeshire County Council.

The Proposal

Here's the diagram of the changes. It consists of a two main changes.
  • Reduce the size of the motor vehicle space, including widening the pavements and putting a central "over-run" strip (to allow larger vehicles to get round but discourage fast use of it)
  • Allow the pavements around the roundabout to be shared-use




Whilst the speed reduction measures are useful, this is a proposal woefully short of delivering a decent cycle infrastructure that this junction demands. This has been written up by others so I won't go into all that here.

There are a few notes to make about the general ideas here. The slowing down of people driving here is good. I'd suggest it doesn't do enough of this. This is because a lot of people worry that vehicle journey times may be increased by slowing the peak speed through the roundabout. The ARCADY analysis has been done to suggest this will not happen. And to an extent, it's clear that speed through this area in general is not going to be reduced greatly by changing this one junction. It's simply a question of getting to the next queue of cars at the next junction a little later.

The ARCADY analysis of the junction is quite a tome and peppered with analytical terms and a lot of acromyns making it quite a hard read. A few notes.
  1. It has only been done with the proposed change in mind. Nothing has been done to look at any other proposal, like the one I make below, which would seem to follow the Dutch model more closely. So, this isn't looking for the best solution is just comparing the current situation with the new proposal. Who's to know if there's a better model out there?
  2. Analysis like this simply assumes the same activity by all transport modes before and after. Again, I'd like to suggest an "improvement" should be designed to improve the status quo. In fact, the idea is to make this more appealing for people doing active travel.
  3. Most of the analysis work here seems to completely and only focus on the capacity of people driving. Again, this means any gains from converting people to active travel is simply not included.
  4. It, quite rightly, notes that there is no cycling facilities along Radegund Road with just traffic calming at points. This is where a school exists and the arm with a greater number of further accidents (see hostility of this road below).
  5. It also highlights that the roundabout has no facilities for people walking.
  6. It incorrectly refers to the new plans as segregated cycle facilities. They are not, they are shared-use, which does increase conflict between people walking and riding.
  7. It does say that it does not expect all people cycling will use the shared-use paths, so makes no change to the data analysed for people cycling in the carriageway.
  8. And finally, the really SHOCKING bit. The analysis final figures say that the car capacity of the junction will actually improve. And how is this delivered? By changing the way in which people drive into the roundabout. In fact, this looks like it SPEEDS up people driving onto the roundabout and not the claimed "slowing down". To me, speeding up entry whilst slowing down traversal is likely to increase danger here.

The only postive note for people cycling is that it will allow people who find the roundabout itself unappealing and give them space to ride out of it. This sounds like it's a great idea for the local school kids. However, as anyone whose been near this junction when the schoolchildren are riding to or from school will say, the already use the pavements. Perhaps legitimising this behaviour is a good thing, it's just not a great deal for people cycling in general.


So, the entire analytical section of this junction proposal is to show that vehicle interaction is not impaired, and actually shows that it's improved. There's nothing in this to look at how this junction can be improved for people cycling. It may, it may not. There's just no analysis of it.

So, how about some analysis of the cycling infrastructure of the anecdotal nature? After all, that's all we've got.

For those people who don't want to cede way at 3 occasions (going straight on) or 5 occasions (turning right), they are left in a narrow lane. Well, it's just narrow enough for some people driving to feel they can pass someone riding leaving a metre or so of space. This is in a turning, twisting space. And effectively a cut back in at the exit of the roundabout. Hardly very safe. The design here looks to make things less safe for people riding in the carriageway.

Looking at how the junction works brings up several things. Here's a clip.

Or link to it here.

The clips bring up two items from a cycling point of view.
  1. Worn out cyclelanes. Currently people driving are cutting back into the cyclelane on the entrance and exit of the roundabout. This is highlighted by the damage caused in the cyclelane.
  2. Parking near to the junction on Radegund and Birdwood Roads.

Worn Out Cyclelanes

Not all the damage caused is a direct result of people driving over the cyclelanes. The obvious direct damage is the missing paint. This quickly gets removed by car tyres. The broken up surface is more indirect. Vehicles heavier than a bike create a lot more wear on the road surface and sub-structures. That, in turn, allows water in and weathering has a strong effect on the break-up of the surface.

Well, the cyclelanes are being taken out of the Perne Road part, so why does this matter. The near miss on the clip illustrates a big issue. The cyclelane exit onto Radegund Road is quite close to the junction. It's all too easy to see that the cyclelane here will be run over. Just in a place where people may be riding back out into the road space in what would normally be considered a safe space not intruded on by motor vehicles.

This really isn't helped by the shared-use path also crossing the exit of the shops parking spaces. It means people riding have to focus on both directions to avoid being hit. The route needs adjusting and protecting. This has already been done elsewhere in Cambridge, why not here?

And it's not the boy (and girl) racers that are the big concern here, it's the poeple whose focus is not entirely on the road. Thinking about what to cook for dinner, or what that meeting was about, and not considering that slightly slower lump of person just off to the left. It's a well researched phenonomen that after a few minutes of driving people stop focussing as much as they should.


Destroyed cyclelane on Perne Road (south)


Worn out cyclelane on Perne Road (south)


Cyclelane wear on Perne Road (north) and some obvious reasons


Parking on Radegund and Birdwood Roads

Getting onto and off either of these roads is distinctly hostile. And it's down to the on-road parking that occurs. This needs removing and enforcing.Let's not confuse that with the off-road parking as it's is good and useful if it's for someone with limited mobility.

The obvious and pretty limited change would be to remove it up to the schools at either side of the junction. It's not obvious why any local homeowners need on-orad parking. The houses are large with considerable open space in the front of the private properties.

Additionally, it should be noted that the last parked car o nthe video clip before the exit of Birdwood Road is illegally parked in the verge. The double-yellow line restriction applies all the way the other side of the pavement. This needs education and if it continues to occur, enforcement.


Hostile environment coming from Radegund Road


The off road parking north of Radegund Road (limited mobility parking?)


Hostile environment going onto Radegund Road


Hostile environment on Birdwood Road



Improving the Scheme

The thing is, this scheme actually isn't far away from something that would deliver those benefits to all parties. Well, improve it for the community and only slightly impact those needing to drive through here.

1. Protecting cycling entry into the on road cyclelane. On all cyclelane exits from the "pavement" there should be a kerb protecting the lane from motor vehicle encroachment. In the case of the Radegund Road exit, it also should be moved further along the road to allow for a prioritised cross of the shops side road to occur before moving out into the road.





2. The speed dilemma. Whilst the proposal of an over-run strip is welcomed as a way of limiting faster vehicles, the devil is in the detail. This needs to really work and not be some attempt. There are examples of it hardly being any different from the main road surface and the result is that all motor vehicles run over it.



3. Priority crossings. The ultimate mechanism to slow people driving down to a reasonable speed is to ensure they do not have priority on the roundabout crossings. This also works well for people walking around here. These crossings are not limited by traffic lights, so it must be assumed that the crossing rates are low. Perhaps thats because this is not a very friendly environment? Perhaps it's just there ar less people crossing. Whatever, improving the friendliness here would help bring people back to more active travel choices. And if it's just not used much, it won't impact people driving much! It's win-win.







In Summary

This change should not go ahead without updating and possibly more research. I hear that Dutch engineers were consulted during this process, but it can't have been anything to do with cycling. Although some will say that further changes will take more money, and I'd agree, the current proposal is essentially more of a waste than spending more. The simplistic and minimal research, wholly based on car capacity and not looking at the fuller picture, really doesn't justify anything.

I'm aware that council officers have worked hard to get as far as they have with the current proposal and have had to balance the needs of a lot of different groups. Sadly, they are having to take into account people who have very little understanding of the situation and how financially beneficial active transport is for local areas both in terms of medium to long term reduction in road costs and massive health savings (as well as making communities a lot more pleasant). It's proven that for every £1 spent on properly improving cycling infrastructure (so not this scheme) returns £4 in savings. This ends up simply giving the worst of both worlds to all parties

It's not like we don't have examples from round the world (The Netherlands, Paris, New York, Chicago, and now even in some part London) of how when you do plan for a better world, the naysayers often stop grumbling very quickly afterwards, especially when a change of transport mode choice reduces the need to maintain (in in this case improve!) car capacity.





Subnote:  I've used terms such as "people cycling" and "people driving" rather than "cyclists" and "drivers" to highlight a few simple issues.
  1. We are all people underneath it all. And all just going about our daily business. 
  2. Often us people doing it are capable of doing both driving and cycling. We don't fit into one camp or the other and we are not defined by the current choice of transport. 
  3. Last, when we drive or cycle, our behaviour can be vastly different at different times. We have good behaviour, something most would aspire to, and we have bad behaviour, something to be a bit embarrassed over.  We can choose which pattern to follow. There is no such thing as a "bad driver" or "good cyclist", just behaviour that can vary.  It'd be good to reward ourselves for good behaviour and encourage towards that when we see bad behaviour, we are all capable of it.








Wednesday 23 October 2013

Tour de France Announcement Entertainment in Cambridge



Whilst the good folk of Paris where keen to find out which French cities the beloved bike race known as Le Grand Boucle was going through, us UK folk where keen to find out the stage 3 route from Cambridge through Essex to London. And to have a little non-lycra bike fun at the same time.

The good folk at Outspoken Cycles (which as of very recently includes me!) set up to run Scalectrix bike races powered by, of course, actual pedalling. And behind, the big pull, free smoothie making again by pedal power.

Here are a few photos just after set up with people from all cycling backgrounds coming to join in the fun before the Tour route is announced. And yes, there is some genuine Tour de France paraphernalia littering the place. That sign came from Briançon during the 2006 Tour (swag picture and blog of the day).


Bike race table with (genuine) Tour de France route sign

The racing was great fun and taken up by all kinds, see clip below.

But that wasn't the big pull of the stand. The bicycle-powered smoothie maker was a big hit with many more! In the morning it made a great diversion for those who needed a free bike check. Drop the wheels off with the mechanics explaining the joyous foibles of it's current state, then meander along to a bike on a roller and power through a few bits of fruit to get a free drink!


Both bike race table (mountains classification!) and smoothie maker stand beyond, but where are we?

This was all done whilst waiting for the official announcement happening just along the road in front of the world famous Kings College front.


Ah, the familiar landmark of Cambridge city centre!

So, how did that fun go down? Here are a couple of short clips from the morning showing people engaging with the great idea of this fantastic race coming to Cambridge, bringing a wealth of tourism publicity.

Bicycle Powered Smoothie Making!

Or link to it here.


Bicycle Races are Coming to Town!

Or link to it here.


Sooooo, now we know what to do during that wait for July 7th when the Le Grand Boucle does indeed arrive in Cambridge. Here's the Cambridgeshire Route in Cyclestreets.net.



Friday 18 October 2013

Freehub Maintenance


Effect

Sometimes something strange happens whilst you are riding. The top chain loosens when you stop peddling, and if you look it's because the rear cassette is continuing to move a bit after you've stopped. Alternately, and a bit more upsetting, when you leap majestically on, start peddling and everything goes round except the rear wheel. Often this can be followed by a squark, a slight topple and you sprawled across the ground as you've not antipated this rum behaviour from your trusty friend.


Cause from Effect

The cause, a gummed up freehub. Simple actions like taking it off the wheel, thoroughly lubricating, then returning is only going to hold it for a little while. It needs to be taken apart, properly cleaned, regreased and reassembled.

Looking at Wikipedia there's a good diagram of what the mechanism is (or roughly, bikes have more than one red pawl!). The spring or space between the light green inner and turquiose outer has become gummed up. 


This means the red pawl sticks in against the green inner (allowing the rear cassette to not power the wheel and you to fall over) or the red pawl sticks out against the turquiose outer (allowing the chain to keep moving).


Let the Maintenance Begin!

This is where it get's a little tricky, especially if you're British. I do scan for help on how to do bike maintenance quite regularly and know where to look. Also, Google is quite good at finding things. However, finding a site that covers this is quite difficult.

Well, I was at my workshop with a whole load of others enjoying being outdoors. And I had a bike I was maintaining for a charity for which I work. A good friend and trained engineer wandered (and wondered) in looking for things to do and I said "Let's play with a freehub!". Well, we scanned again for web pages. Not even the great Sheldon Brown's freewheel disassembly page (or here) seems to have the exact details.

Well by now my mate had the cassette off, an easy "year 7" task shown in many places.

Cassette Removed

Now comes a a slightly sticky bit which is also quite well written up, but I thought I'd share my mechanism (well, the one my mate did with my kit!). I have a "travel" bike tool box that has a good lid with edges that means upsidedown it acts as a good tray. Get spanners set on either side of the axle and give it a turn to get it loose. Now turn the wheel to being horizontal and put this tray under the wheel axle. Finish by unscrewing the axle preferably pulling it up and eventually out. This will leave the hub with loose bearings, some of which will have dropped into the tray.


Freehub on wheel with bearings showing

Now knock the remaining bearings out into the tray. If you don't have a tray, a cleaning cloth makes a good replacement. You can buy cushions or pillows that do the same thing. Move the bearings tray to somewhere safe.

A 10mm Allen key is all that's needed to remove the freehub fixing bolt as Sheldon Brown says.

Unscrewing the Freehub Fixing Bolt from the Wheel

Now you have the freehub. What a thing of beauty it is. This is what it looks like from the wheel bearing side. You can just make out a small notch in the inner assembly. Ah. Hmm.

Freehub from Wheel bearing side

And here it is from the side that attaches to the wheel. The cog on this side neatly slots into the opposite grooving on the wheel. Like a Connection. I'm going to call it a Connecting Cog.

Freehub from Connecting Cog side

The Connecting Cog is part of the inner mechanism, it that it goes round separately from the cassette mounting but with the notched bearing holder on the other side.


Going In

Now the fun begins. We've still not found any websites helpfully telling us how to take this bit apart. We're distinctly rueful as we know there's going to be numerous bearings, probably a lot smaller, and possibly some springy things, likely to fly out at any moment of disassembly. We've tighened and pulled and twisted lots of parts to no effect. Actually that was pretty good, this bit of a bike is pretty indestructible.

Then, a Swedish page pops up. Yes, Swedish. And then a Polish one! Wahoo! Er, neither of us spoke either language. But hey hoo, there's a picture and I think it's obvious we need to focus on those notches.

The Notches are the Key

So what to do? We didn't have any kind of tool that'd deal with that. Well, we did have a well stocked workshop and quite a bit of rough metal odds and sods. My mate hack-sawed a piece to fit. The steel has to be pretty tough, it's going to twist something super tightened.

Makeshift Tool

Well, we tried, then thought and tried left-handed, that is reverse to how you expect it to loosen (the adjective confuses me as I'm left handed). With the Connecting Cog firmly in a vice and a good long pair of pliers it started coming undone!

Tool Pushed into Freehub

Once it was loose it was quite easy to move, holding the Connecting Cog and the makeshift tool in the notches. Again, we transferred work to in the tray. Eventually it came loose and some bearings meandered, but in the tray.

And this is what you get. An Inner Hub with pawls, which are the moving rachet parts. The bearings here are sitting in new grease, but many will be here in the old stuff.

Inner Hub with Pawls

This is the notched section turned the other way up showing the bearings at this end (again in new grease).

Inner Hub Lock Ring and bearings (notches on underside)

And this is the Outer Hub on which is mounted the cassette. Note the circular rachet facing in on the inside.

Outer hub with circular rachet facing in

Well, the next bit is pretty easy. A good clean up, oil up, and test the pawls.

Inner Hub with cleaned pawls

Then re-grease, especially where the bearings are so they can be stuck in place. These are all in the above pictures. The unit goes back together easily after that, although still worth using the tray.

Again, we re-mounting and returning axle bearings to the wheel, the tray is useful.

Hub on Bike with Bearings

Finally, tighten the axle cones until it moves freely but doesn't shift through the mounting. Again, this is shown in many places.

Full Hub on Bike


Aprez Hub

Now, searching for that tool. It's meant to be a Shimano Cassette Hub Race Remover. But they seem awkward to find. Even in a Google a TL-FH40 search doesn't seem to give many places to buy one.

Then, a French Blog with Park Tool gives a different ID. And in Google a FR-2 Park Tool Search gives a lot more places! After finding them in a Random Place and another Random Place there's loads of places in Ebay that will give them, with the cheapest here.

And subsequently, I found posts about lots of different Freehubs and a slightly strange-but-useful-pictures blog about cleaning without taking apart. Not really sure about the amount of chemicals being used once here, though.

Thursday 10 October 2013

Up Brazier's Lane to Checkendon Black Horse and Return


An quiet route from Brazier's Park to the Black Horse at Checkendon. For more routes around south Oxon look here.



And here's an interactive Google Map.

View Up Brazier's Lane to Checkendon Black Horse and Return in a larger map

And finally, the video footage...

Or link to it here.

Or to parts of the clip with special highlights.
00:07 Brazier's Park Main House and a link to the Braziers Park Picture
00:14 Out the back gate and up the lane
01:18 Off road, no vehicles now
02:23 Bluebells in Spring and a link to the Bluebells Picture
03:22 Garsons Lane and a link to the Top of Garson's Lane Picture
03:34 Blue Tin Shop turn and a link to the Blue Tin Shop
04:29 Turn right
05:05 On NCN5 by now
05:19 First pass of the Black Horse pub and a link to the Good Pub Guide for the Black Horse
05:41 Turn back up the lane
06:29 The Black Horse, Checkendon and a link to the Black Horse Picture
07:39 Turn left
08:27 Vale of the White Horse
08:35 Back onto Brazier's Lane

Ridgeway and Alternative Route Back Through Chilton


An alternative route eastbound from NCN544 to Blewbury avoiding the very dangerous A417. For more routes around Blewbury look here including some issues.



And here's an interactive Google Map.

View Ridgeway and Alternative Route Back Through Chilton in a larger map

And finally, the video footage...

Or link to it here.

Or to parts of the clip with special highlights.

00:50 Ascent of Woodway
02:51 View from the top of Woodway and a link to the Woodway Picture
04:26 Ridgeway View and a link to the East Ridegway Picture
05:36 Bridge Over the Old Railway Near Churn Halt
07:17 Concrete Farm Track Along Hill Ridge
09:32 Under the A34
11:35 View from Ridgeway and a link to the West Ridgeway Picture
13:33 Top point near Cuckhamsley Hill
13:43 Descent towards East Hendred
14:16 Autumn View of East Hendred Road and a link to the East Hendred Road Picture
15:04 Turn onto NCN544 Cycleroute
15:48 Autumn View of NCN544 Cycleroute and a link to the Cyclepath Picture
16:25 Route Through Harwell International Business Centre
17:28 Turn off NCN544 Cycleroute to avoid dangerous roads
18:30 Centre of Chilton and a link to the Chilton Picture
22:26 Bridge Over the Old Railway Near Churn Farm
23:43 Descent of Bohams Road into Blewbury

Wednesday 9 October 2013

Pateley Bridge to Brimham Rocks through Hartwith Mill up Darley Dale over Padside and down Two Stoops


Another route up Nidderdale in the Yorkshire Dales. For more routes around Pateley Bridge look on this map and here for more descriptions of Nidderdale.



And here's an interactive Google Map.

View Pateley Bridge to Brimham Rocks through Hartwith Mill up Darley Dale over Padside and down Two Stoops in a larger map

And finally, the video footage...

Or link to it here.

Or to parts of the clip with special highlights.
00:29 Ascent of Panorama Walk to The Knott
01:35 View from Panorama Walk and a link to the Panorama Walk Picture
02:45 Descent from The Knott to Wilsill
03:27 Off up towards Smelthouses
04:08 Ascent from Smelthouses to Brimham Rocks
07:25 View South from Brimham Rocks


07:57 Through Fiddlers Green
08:09 View from Hartwith and a link to the From Hartwith Picture
09:02 Descent from Hartwith to Hartwith Mill
10:21 River near Hartwith Mill (but not bridge near mill!) and a link to the River near Hartwith Mill Picture
13:03 Stop for a chat about lost dogs
14:17 View from Sheepcote, Darley  and a link to the Sheepcote, Darley Picture
17:05 Start of Red Syke Farm hill (15%)
17:42 View over Red Syke Farm and a link to the Red Syke farm Picture
19:07 Descent of Two Stoops and a link to the North west from Two Stoops Picture

Raw normal speed footage of the descent of Two Stoops.





Up Valley from Pateley Bridge to Scar House Reservoir and Return


Another route up Nidderdale in the Yorkshire Dales. For more routes around Pateley Bridge look on this map and here for more descriptions of Nidderdale.



And here's an interactive Google Map.

View Pateley Bridge, Lower Wath, Heathfield, Gouthwaite, Ramsgill, Lofthouse, Scar House, and Return via Upper Wath in a larger map

And finally, the video footage...

Or link to it here.

Or to parts of the clip with special highlights.
00:18 Descent through Pateley Bridge High Street and normal speed footage.
01:35 Heading up to Heathfield
04:20 Top view from Heathfield


04:45 Descent towards Gouthwaite
05:05 View over Gouthwaite


06:20 Gouthwaite Reservoir



07:45 Yorke Arms, Ramsgill


10:00 Descent towards Lofthouse
10:57 Waterfall near Manchester Hole



15:35 View across to Little Haw


16:39 First view of Scar House Dam


19:14 Scar House Reservoir



19:43 Descent from Scar House and links to other times.
22:11 Lofthouse Jam
23:01 Catching and Keeping up with Cars
23:55 Ramsgill Beck Cottages


25:15 View south towards Gouthwaite dam


27:06 Wath
27:29 Cows at Wath


28:20 View north towards Gouthwaite dam


29:06 Silver Hill, steepest bit at 15.4%
29:44 View across upper Nidderdale


30:09 Back into Pateley Bridge