Tag: Safety

Environment, Tourism, Travel

To Oulu -reflections

Posted on by insightndes
The route (excluding within UK)

That was an amazing trip to Oulu and back.

Negatives: getting food poisoning and train delays. Germany really struggles to get trains to go on time. Eurostar also had its issues. I did have a 77 minute delay on the sleeper to Stockholm, but that worked in my favour. The sleeper Stockholm was also too hot and the curtains were poor allowing flashes of bright light into the cabin while travelling.

Questionable things: seeing people smoke on train platforms in Germany was strange, and also a bit objectionable. The speed that cars drive at in Hamburg is ridiculously high and not suited to the roads. Also objectionable.

Positives: the trains in Finland, Sweden and Denmark were great, excluding the sleeper. In time. The rolling stock was high quality throughout including Germany. Met some great people. The cycle facilities in Copenhagen and seeing so many cyclists was incredible. We should be doing this in the UK.

Exceeding expectations: The ferries between Stockholm and Helsinki were amazing, good prices, amazing views, great facilities. Finland in winter, incredible, stunning snowy landscapes.

Tips:

Don’t plan to catch the last train of the day.

Don’t make connections too tight.

Travel in your sports gear, make it multi purpose. (Sensibly)

Travel as light as possible.

Plan for the weather.

Don’t arrive late and leave early, it’s exhausting.

Staying for more than one night is more pleasant .

Rucksacks are better than wheelie luggage.

Make use of the late checkouts in hotels.

Carry just in case food and drink.

Make use of sleeper services.

Double check reservations.

Download apps for local public transport. They can be used to get the correct tickets and give directions.

Double check routes given by apps, sometimes they are sending you to the wrong place.

If in doubt, ask a local.

Chat to people on the trains.

Use tracking apps so friends and family can follow your progress. It’s fun and good for safety.

Give someone your itinerary- routes, hotels etc.

Look at and enjoy the landscape, as you travel through.

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Environment, Safety, Travel

Cyclists should be as near the kerb as possible ❌

Posted on by insightndes

This is rule 72 from the Highway Code:

72
Road positioning. When riding on the roads, there are two basic road positions you should adopt, depending on the situation.
1) Ride in the centre of your lane, to make yourself as clearly visible as possible, in the following situations

  • on quiet roads or streets – if a faster vehicle comes up behind you, move to the left to enable them to overtake, if you can do so safely
  • in slower-moving traffic – when the traffic around you starts to flow more freely, move over to the left if you can do so safely so that faster vehicles behind you can overtake
  • at the approach to junctions or road narrowings where it would be unsafe for drivers to overtake you

2) When riding on busy roads, with vehicles moving faster than you, allow them to overtake where it is safe to do so whilst keeping at least 0.5 metres away, and further where it is safer, from the kerb edge. Remember that traffic on most dual carriageways moves quickly. Take extra care crossing slip roads.

So it’s ride at least 0.5 m from the kerb but in some circumstances in the middle of the lane. In particular when the road is narrow, so it is unsafe for the vehicle to overtake the cyclist.

It is Bike Week 2025. https://www.cyclinguk.org/bikeweek.

There are a lot of misconceptions out there. This bike week I thought that I would address a few of them.

Number one – not particularly contentious, it’s in the Highway Code.

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