Soon we will be free of this menace

The Royal Mail is phasing out its bicycles, replacing with (presumably diesel) vans. Yes, this will screw up the post's 10:10 commitment to global warming, make pollution worse, and shows that the Royal Mail's spreadsheet shows a different cost model of future oil and fuel costs from the Peak Oil people.

But it will mean: no more being stuck behind Posties who are trying to cycle up Cotham Brow with 20 Kg of mail, while you are in a hurrly. At least the students admit defeat and push their bikes up the pavement, some of these postmen -effectively professional cyclists- get in our way, and stay there, all the way up.

What's worse, that's our tax money at work. Our petrol and road tax money.

The best bit: rather than explain this away as the only way they can impose unrealistic schedules and weight loads on individual postmen and postwomen, the RM is saying they are doing this because cycling is too dangerous! We love this, it is one in the eye for cycling city, for Bristol's "have you tried cycling" signs up on the B4018 from Cribb's causeway to the Downs, for the "try cycling" propaganda the council pushes through our doors. If one of those council-funded pro-bicycle assistants turns up at our door, before we set the pit bulls on them, we will say "If cycling in Bristol is so good, how come it will be one of the first places in the country where the posties will have their bikes taken away?". Answer us that, eh?

Better to ban the cyclists

Down in the van to pick up some post from Monty. Since the DVLA provided a prepaid envelope with a note "place your no longer valid driving license in here" it's a lot trickier to drive round the city. Lots of the cycling activists complain about unlicensed, uninsured drivers, but they miss the point: once your license is taken away, your insurance becomes invalid, yet still you have to get around.

What is nice to see is that the Montpelier post office has a big sign: No Cycles in the Office. North Delivery office has a duty of care and safety to all customers.

There is one of those "front wheel mounts" over there in the distance, by the hedge, just past the three car parking spaces.

Anyone complaining about bias and unfairness has nothing to complain about. If we had our way the sign would say "No cyclists in the office"

Royal Mail bicycle parking

The snow has given us less cyclists to denounce, so here is something from before the snows came.

Here we see a Royal Mail delivery bicycle, insensitively blocking the pavement by the zebra crossing on Cotham Road South, the one with the Mercedes F55CNU parked on the zig-zags

This makes it much harder for pedestrians to get down the pavement safely, such as the one coming up alongside the Saab Y848PBJ parked on the other set of zig-zags on this side of the road.

These cyclists have no sense of pedestrian safety! They park wherever is closest to their destination! They pop in and out without a thought to convenience and safety of pedestrians and other road users!

We should write a stern letter to the Evening Post! That will stop them!

The post always gets through

Here on a Saturday, we see the post being delivered -somehow the delivery cyclist managed to get their bike past the Range Rover B9SKW blocking the path, and so get over to Stokes Croft

There's an impressive amount of luggage to push round the streets

Whoever this postman is, they must be fit. They must still hate getting parcels to deliver to nine-tree hill though.