The problem with cycle paths and why they havn’t been designed for cyclists!

There’s no doubt that cycle paths are slowly increasing in numbers across the UK. The increase in the number of paths isn’t as constant as I’d personally like to see, and it always leaves me feeling frustrated when a new section of road is built without a cycle path, or even a narrow lane for cyclists, along side the main highway. Surely it has to be more cost efficient to add one to any on-going infrastructure developments, instead of what appears to be the norm of building them independently?

There is however a big problem with the cycle paths we have, and the problem is that they havn’t been designed with cyclists in mind!

Having added a road bike to my fleet of mountain bikes recently, I was shocked when I first put my peddle to the path.

Cycle paths are a ‘nudge’, they aim to get more bums on saddles, and there are many positive reasons to get more people cycling.

·         More people traveling by bicycle means less people in cars. This saves the individual money and helps lower the country’s carbon emissions.

·         If people participate in regular active travel then they will more than likely become healthier individuals, both physically and mentally. As well as living healthier lives, this will also save the NHS financially.

·         Cycle paths also help to promote tourism and allow family’s to enjoy active times together in a safe environment. (I wouldn’t want to take my 8 year old cycling along the twisty roads of West Wales.)

The Welsh government strategically set out to do just this as stated in its Action plan for cycling and walking 2009-2013. With focus on wellbeing, health and fitness and tourism all being led from cycle paths and designated trails, of critical importance in this document was the need to ‘Change Behaviour’

So, why don’t cycle paths appeal to cyclists, or am I on my own with this opinion?

No, I’m not, ask any keen road rider and they’ll give you the same answer. Cycle paths are not for serious cyclists, and the UK has an ever growing number of serious cyclists.

I asked other cyclists on twitter what their thoughts where on the matter and here a re a few of the replies I received, (anonymously)

‘@shemKSW Narrow, dogs, walkers, dark, vegetation growth...etc. Never use them’.

‘@shemKSW as a paramedic scraping you off the road along side the cycle path is rather painful for both you & me’.

‘Lorry parked across Festival Way #cyclepath in Bristol docks this morning. Driver nowhere in sight’

 and so on…

Just one example on a section of Cycle path near Machynlleth. A parked car, loose gravel and traffic light signage are just some of the obstacles and thats before you have to cross the road to continue the path, on one of the busiest bridges in Wales! 

Yes cycle paths are generally raised from road levels, and sometimes even have a hedge to block you form the road and make things even safer for cycling with children, but they still don’t appeal. The main reason they don’t appeal is because they do appeal to lots of other users and don’t provide the same benefits that riding on the road does.

Surface is a major problem. Many cycle paths are surfaced with the cheapest form of tarmac possible, you only need to look at a 19mm wide racer tyre pumped up to over 100psi to realise that this rough surface is not going to feel good for the bike rider! Further more, gravel that becomes loose is a hazard for cyclists, especially for, you guessed it for keen road riders that can maintain speeds of around 20mph or more.

Debris is a major problem. Any rubbish thrown out of cars will generally land on cycle paths, this means dodging not only loose gravel but other obstacles as well.

One of the major off puts is thorns and branches. When roads get hedges cut, its common to see a road sweeper following along clearing up all the Debris that could give car drivers a puncture. Cycle paths do not have this privilege, and most cycle paths I’ve used are covered in tyre wrecking potential. If there’s one thing cyclist’s hate, its punctures. During many a ride I’ve exited a cycle path within seconds from fear of ‘copping’ a puncture.

As well as the above there are all the other reasons not to use a cycle path if you’re a cyclist. These include; other cyclists, yes we’re all bike riders, but when your trying to beat a personal best or simply maintain a steady pace, the last thing you want is to be slowed down by children or leisure riders or which brings me onto my next off put, walkers. Of course I want people to get out and walk, but why call it a cycle path if it’s designed for people to walk on as well?

Finally my pet hate, people using them as a car parks. Yes you can fit a car on one, yes there’s not any ‘No Parking’ signs, but does that mean its right to park your car there? Car drivers are more than happy to point out that a cyclist is using the road when there is a cycle path readily available, as cyclists we are however entitled to use a road and just because there is a cycle path, doesn’t mean you have to use it; in-fact if there’s a car parked on the cycle path, its very hard to use it, in the same way that its hard to use it, when there’s walkers, other cyclists, thorns, loose chippings and various debris to dodge. So, what needs to be done to make cycle paths attractive to cyclists?

In my opinion it would actually be pretty easy to get more cyclists to use cycle paths, you need to look at what cyclists want, not just give them what some one that’s never ridden a bike or spoken to cyclists thinks they want.

My suggestions would be :

·       Smooth tarmac, it feels good when your on a bike, cyclists would flock to it! (build it and they will come principle)

·       Designated lanes rather than a free for all path, a large amount of European roads have a cycle lane on each side of the road to ensure cyclists don’t collide.

·       Keep them clean! Roads get swept and kept clear, couldn’t cycle paths be?

·       A code of conduct, we have a highway code, wouldn’t a cycle path code make sense? This could inform all users, including walkers, roller bladders, cyclists, car parkers? What and what not to do.

Enough ranting! Over all I’m happy that cycle paths are slowly on the increase, the people designing them do however, need to start considering their end users needs if they want them to be fully accepted and used.

If you have any comments I’d love to hear them, please drop me a line here or tweet me on my handle @shemKSW 

Thanks

Pizza, mountain bikes and building your own clay oven

If theres two things I feel passionately about its Pizza and bikes. Ideally not at the same time, but theres nothing like a good pizza to refuel after a solid ride, or to just chat over legendary days on the trail with other biking buddies.

Yesterday was a day of epic proportions for both of these two key ingredients!

After a day sat at the desk, I put out a last minute message on the Dyfi mtb facebook page and managed to gather 3 buddies for an after work ride. The sun was out, the trails where dusty and with it being Machynlleth's epic Cli-Machx, smiles per miles were guaranteed! :-D

The view from 'flap jack corner' at the start of the major down hill section was exceptional. We're so used to looking down at Corris in the rain, or more realistically just cloud; that having a view like this and the summit of Cadair Idris across from us was a real treat.

Its days like this that really make me wonder why I dont live somewhere warmer and drier!

So after an epic session up the mountain and the usual bike based banter, I headed home and decided that tonight would be the night to test run the new home made clay pizza oven.

The Pizza oven!

As a major fan of all things Pizza I've always made my own from scratch, but have always been frustrated by conventional ovens not being hot enough to cook a 'real pizza!' A couple of years ago, whilst watching River Cottage, my food hero Hugh, featured a series where he made a pizza oven using clay and sand and very little else; Id planned on doing exactly this...for about 2 years now, when all of a sudden about a week ago I thought, "today is the day!"

I happened to be spending a day with my niece, (Misha). She's always up for something wacky and fun, so I knew she'd be keen to help her favourite uncle out for this mission!

The build

So, heres how it goes...

I started off by levelling the land at the spot I wanted the oven, and laid six 9" blocks on their side. 

  

On top of the concrete blocks I then laid eight heat blocks, recycled from a storage heater. At this point I should mention that my budget for building my dream pizza oven was exactly diddly, zero, squat! Call it what you want £0, Nothing. 

Next up, I needed sand and clay. I had a friend that wanted some sharp sand clearing from his garden, so off we went to fetch the sand.  This was the easy task, next up was the clay. I knew of a especially clay based river bank not far from our home, so it was off down the river with bags and a little shovel to fetch the clay. Digging from down in a river and filling bags of clay isn't the easiest task, but it was sunny and I had good company, and we got our clay. :-D

So, next up, you need to create a mould of the shape you want your oven to be. Sharp sand is easy to shape especially when its wet,  and we soon had our form ready for covering. Remember this form will be the internal measurements of your oven, so ensure the size is right for your needs. I was aiming to be able to cook one 9" pizza at a time, or possibly a slightly elongated pizza. 

Once shaped you will need to cover the sand in a few sheets of wet newspaper, to a) help stop any movement and b) to help hollow out the shell once dried. 

The fun part

You now need to mix the clay with the sand, I used a 50-50 ratio for this. We did this by getting a plastic sheet on the floor, adding both components and then treading it in with our bare feet. This is great fun for all the family, kids love it, so do adults :D and it really cant go wrong. Keep mixing until you have a nice doughy clay mixture. I used river clay which was already more than wet enough. If you have drier clay you will need ot add water to the mix here as well. Another optional is to add chopped hay to the composite mixture you now have to help bond and insulate the mix. I didn't bother with this, but if I build another I probably will. 

With our mix now ready we set to adding approximately four inches of clay around the sand mould. Ensuring that all your hand fulls of sand are well joined was essential and once we had the whole oven covered, we then used wet hands to further obtain a smooth finish, by simply rubbing in a circular motion. 

Cut the door   You'll now need to cut in a door. There are a couple of considerations here. Obviously you need the door to be wide enough to fit in your desired pizza, and secondly the height of the door affects the draw and chimney function of the oven. A good guide to the height of the door is 60% of the total height of the inside of the oven. 

I chose to add a pattern to the outside of the oven, as you can see here...

Retrospectively I wish I hadn't added patterns, purely because I'm told most clay ovens, this one included, will crack and need filling in places. I'd hoped to save the door when I pulled it out, but this wasn't possible. 

Patience! With your oven now made, you now need to do nothing, for a good few days! All I wanted to do was hollow it out and get cooking, but you really do need to step away, cover it if it rains and just let it settle. I left it 4 days before hollowing out the sand, very slowly, ensuring the clay had dried just enough to support itself. Once hollow I allowed it to air dry for another couple of days before slowly starting to light very small fires to begin the true drying process. 

Back now to ending my epic bike ride up the Dyfi forest and having that after ride hunger that only a quality pizza and ideally a refreshing real ale or premium continental Larger can satisfy. I'd cut some well dried ash into suitably sized kindling and logs earlier that day, and 10 days after initially building the oven its first real fire was lit! I kept adding logs and stoking it up and about 90 mins in decided the pile of now red hot embers where hot enough to start cooking. I split the pile of glowing embers down the middle and pushed them equaly left and right to each side allowing a snug space in the centre of the oven for the pizza's to sit. 

Here it is in action

As it was the first session I wanted the heat blocks to clean up a bit in the heat, so I used a pottery oven dish to cook the pizzas on, (next time they'll be directly on the bricks). 

Within a minute I realised just how quickly the pizza's would be cooking, I quickly commandeered the kids to start making pizza's while I checked on progress and ran pizza's to and from the kitchen. Cooking time was around 2.5-3 minutes each and I'm guessing the oven heat was around 275-300 degrees. 

I wont go into the perfect base, the light and crispy perfectly cooked dough or feeding a few of my neighbours before driving a pizza 4 miles to my niece that spent the day helping me make the oven.  But it was a success, perfect pizza cooked in a home made clay oven built purely from left overs and natural resources. I probably shouldn't have eaten three whole pizza's to myself, but I was excited and they kept on cooking and getting better and better, so I just couldn't resist. 

Next time I fire it up, (which will be soon), Ill take some video footage of stages and probably a few more photos of pizza's with slightly more exciting ingredients than just cheese and tomato, but really if you've ever thought of doing this or just love real stone baked pizza's go out, get some free or very cheap materials and make your own clay oven. You wont regret it! 

Shem ap Geraint is a leading authority in all things Pizza and has researched this area for over 2 decades. ;-) Thanks for reading x