Albert's Amble

What could be finer? This lovely looking bridleway begged to be explored on a day like today. This is typical of many of the rural Lakeland bridleways. You don't have to climb the biggest hills to gain great pleasure from exploring off road in Cumbria.




As I stood admiring Albert's Amble this morning, a carriage drawn by four horses and an entourage in period dress passed by. I was distracted enough to forget to take a picture. Maybe I was just dazed by the utter peacefulness of this bit of the Lakes near Winster or perhaps I was fascinated by their descent of the steep hill. Plenty of folk were out enjoying the outdoors. If you want a daily dose of Lakeland views, check out Tony Richards' excellent photo blog http://www.lakelandcam.co.uk/

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Seven Trees

Tree Fellers Wanted. Reminds me of that Irish joke. Anyway, another event this morning heralded the demise of another tree on my route. That's four in as many months. I haven't seen many new ones planted to replace them either. I'll have to plant some of my own if this continues!



This tree was on Whalley New Road near Seven Trees. The aborists told me it was coming down because it had been hit by a truck. I couldn't tell, but then I'm no tree surgeon.

And then there were six. (Actually there aren't seven trees at Seven Trees).

Brilliant Weather

This morning was one of those mornings that make autumn so special. A chill night brought a crispness to the morning air and a heavy dew on the ground. Trees, hedgerow and grass were all glinting in the early sun. Being on a bike allows you to appreciate the differences in the days, as senses overload on the rich atmosphere of bright sunshine, cold air and high humidity.

Glorious weather is not without its drawbacks though. As a cyclist, it is worth thinking about the impact it may have on your commute. I and many others that ride to work will not have much choice over when we ride. It will usually be at set times in the morning and evening. This means at this time of year we ride as the sun is rising and setting. Dazzlingly bright sunlight is nearly as bad as darkness for making cyclists invisible. This was reinforced this morning as I was nearly sideswiped by an Alfa Romeo coming out of a side road that was facing the sun. As I approached, I saw the driver looking the other way and suspected she might not have seen me. I took a slightly wider line as a precaution but she continued out of the junction into the road where I was riding. I swerved and then she saw me and braked to a halt. She was very apologetic, as drivers tend to be in situations like this. The explanation "I didn't see you" is not really adequate as it only means she didn't make the required effort to double check the road in the low sunlight. I'm sure she was sorry but 'She didn't see him" is not something I want on my tombstone.

Stay safe out there.

Talking bike lock

This is pretty cool. A bike lock that communicates with a security firm. When locked and when disturbed it sends an sms text message alerting the security firm enabling CCTV to home in on the problem. Invented by a policeman at the University of Portsmouth, PC Dave Fairbrother, it just needs bringing to market. I'm pretty sure Boris Johnson would be one of the first to sign up as he has had so many bikes stolen.

From SOS Response.

What's the opposite of a bike lane?

I've mentioned before the little cycling infrastructure between home and Blackburn town centre, which makes up the majority of my route. The one short cycle lane is near Brownhill (shown in this post ). I concluded the cycle lanes are not generally of much use. The objective should be to consciously separate road users in a way that provides some 'virtual' protection for the more vulnerable cyclist. Here we see the opposite: some road markings and obstacles that promote forcing the cyclist into a restricted road space with motorised traffic. I'm not sure what benefit this device is supposed to have since the junction on the left has a clear view of the road anyway. It seems a lot of taxpayers' money used to create a hazard for cyclists and other minority road users.