Friday Competition: Temple Quarter

Over in Temple Quarter there's a big purple wooden fence up with some marketing blurb, including a photo of someone on bike in hi-viz who is "building the future in Bristol"

Where is Temple Quarter. Next to station, where the cyclists dismount stretch of a sustrans route begins.

In the other direction, there's a sign saying "cyclists should dismount for their own safety", specifically, if they don't, they may hit the barriers put to make cyclists dismount for their own safety.

One commuter deftly negotiates the safety feature. One that presumably creates a pedestrian/cycle conflict too.

People might think the area picks on cyclists, and hence note the complete inconsistency between the marketing and reality, but that's unfair.

They pick on all round things, be they cylindrical or spherical.

Now: the competition. What is behind the big purple fence?

Abbeywood Week: the Lockleaze connection

On the west side of the MOD site is this path. We don't know where it goes, as that would involve walking or cycling it. Presumably it comes out by the A4174 behind the ex-woolworths. It is marked as shared use, but as it is unused, perhaps it could be used for MOD parking instead.

To the left, there is a route to Lockleaze. But not for bicycles -despite this being marked in green on the cycling city map!

And look! when we went there, some teenager trying to cycle over. That is despite the money invested in a no-bicycle barrier!

These cyclists are selfish and dangerous. They should recognise that money spent adding no-bicycle barriers to cycling city routes shows that South Gloucester isn't on their site, and aspire to the dream we in the North Fringe live: to spend 45 minutes every evening stuck in the A4174 ring road in a high-performance car. It's not about the fastest or most cost effective form of transport, it's about visible displays of wealth and status. Cycling on back paths behind Lockleaze achieves none of this, and does not contribute to the national economy either.

Not my council, guvnor

Here we have Cllr Jon Rogers with his bicycle. Normally we'd denounce him for not having a helmet, hi-viz top or any kind of body armour.

Not today though. Here we have him pointing at a cyclists dismount sign on a bike/pedestrian route in S. Gloucs.

He is smirking. We think instead of being bemused by such signs, he should recognise the valuable contribution they make to bicycle and pedestrian safety on bike paths, and roll them out across the cycling area, possibly using the aforementioned cycling city funding to do so.

Any path that encourages people to cycle where pedestrians also walk will give cyclists unrealistic expectations about where they can cycle, that will only cause problems in the inner city.