Ride out to Dumbarton Rock with GoBike! Sunday 05 November

 

Sunday 5 November – Dumbarton Rock
On this ride we shall follow the Loch Lomond Cycle Path out through Clydebank and Bowling to visit Dumbarton Rock. At Bowling we will see the latest developments at the Bowling Bridge. After lunch in the town centre we’ll take a tour up to Overtoun House before returning to Glasgow. Note that there will be a couple of short sections on main roads, plus a tricky main road crossing, on this ride.
Meet 10am Bell’s Bridge, Congress Road, Glasgow.
Ride on paths Ride on quiet roads Ride on canal towpaths Ride on busy roads Significant hill climbing
Rated: Go Bike star rating Go Bike star rating
 Go Bike star rating

For further details of GoBike cycle rides see the Cycle Rides page on our website.

Councillor Tour 7, Drumchapel / Anniesland, Ward 7, Thursday 12 October

Congratulations and a gold star to Councillor Elspeth Kerr, SNP, pictured above wearing purple, who doesn’t own a bike but yet cycled 6.5 miles round her ward on Thursday with Anne Glass, from Drumchapel Cycle Hub, also pictured and GoBike Convenor Tricia Fort.  We are indebted to Anne and the Drumchapel Cycle Hub for the loan of Elspeth’s purple bike, shown above.  The route we took, a shortened version of one devised by Andy Preece,  is shown below:

Here’s a guide to the route: Councillor Ward Tour – Anniesland & Drumchapel final

There are some busy main roads in this ward and we cycled on the footway along Drumry Road East, through the roundabouts to Great Western Road, then from the point where we left the canal path up Great Western Road to Knightswood Cross and again at the end of our ride along Drumchapel Road and back up Drumry Road East to the Hub.  There are no cycle facilities on these busy roads and although it is not correct to cycle on the footway, it is far safer for someone like Elspeth, who is not confident on the road.

So, in this relatively poor area with fairly low car ownership, what did we see apart from the lack of cycle facilities?  As Andy points out in his notes, when we crossed from the Great Western Retail Park to the south side of Great Western Road, the footway is shared.  At the Glasgow boundary, with no change of width in the footway, this stops, and people on bikes are directed to the canal towpath.  What if they want to go straight up Great Western Road towards Knightswood?  Tough, and they encounter a lack of dropped kerbs if they do venture here on a bike or they are pushing a pram or a wheelchair.

We went on the canal towpath for quite a bit of this ride, and one has to be aware of pedestrians and dogs.  There are ground lights for part of the way, but to ensure these are effective, vegetation must be kept back.  At Lock 35, we crossed to the north side to look at the garden that has been developed by volunteers, including members of GoBike:

Back on Great Western Road, we noticed that, although laybys have been provided for parked cars, some drivers prefer to leave their car in the inside lane of this 3-lane road!

This picture shows 1 car in the layby, 3 parked in the inside lane, and 1 car actually moving in the middle lane.  This doesn’t leave much room for bikes, or buses.  This dual carriageway, a major artery to the city centre, has plenty of room for a cycle way on each side.

At Knightscliffe Avenue we cut in round the Netherton Community Centre and onto the path, Temple Walkway, which runs from Glencoe Street right past the Community Centre and the disused Temple Swimming Pool to Shafton Road.  The path has a good surface and could be used much more for cycling and walking if it were lit.

Shafton Road took us round, via Avenel Road to the canal, with a steep access path and we cycled west as far as Blairdardie Road Footbridge.  From here, with no dropped kerb to help us down to the roadway, we made our way along Moraine Avenue, and to the path that took us under the railway to Essenside Avenue and more locations needing dropped kerbs:

Here, at the access to the path leading to Drumchapel Road, the fence is blocking the very bit of the kerb that is dropped, albeit only slightly.  So, all in all, this is not an area that is active-travel-friendly, but with much potential for improvement.

Glasgow Councillor Tour 5, Victoria Park, Ward 12, 06 October 2017

On Friday 06 October Councillor Maggie McTernan, Labour Councillor for Ward 12, Victoria Park, toured part of her ward with GoBike committee members John Donnelly and Alasdair Macdonald and GoBike member Neil Lovelock.  Councillor McTernan doesn’t cycle so John took her, and Neil, round in the rickshaw he currently owns.  After the ride she posted her photos and a commentary on her Councillor Facebook page; she has very kindly sent us the photos and allowed us to use her words to describe the ride.  They are reproduced in bold below:

“The question you need to ask is, would you let your child cycle ahead of you?”

Thanks to Neil, Alasdair and John from Gobike for taking me on a cycle tour of my ward, Victoria Park, today – with an honourable mention for John, who powered the cycle rickshaw for non-cycling me!

If we want to cut emissions and improve health, we need to take seriously the cycle routes across the city – as John said, they should be safe enough for a child to use.

Most of us don’t just use one form of transport – we walk, cycle, drive or take public transport depending on the situation. So our infrastructure should reflect this, supporting us to share our public spaces safely.

Cycle paths don’t always have dropped kerbs – here, the entrance to the cycle path had bollards that were too close to allow the rickshaw through!

Double parking to block a cycle path, opposite a bus stop…

Some of the signage is faded, making it hard to follow cycle routes

There’s good news too – this pavement at St Paul’s Primary was widened in 2014, to improve safety for children cycling to school

The route that the group followed was devised by GoBike ride leader, Andy Preece and is given here: Councillor Ward Tour – Victoria Park map and his comments on features along the route are here: Councillor Ward Tour – Victoria Park

Today is #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17

#GlasgowCycleInfraDay17
It’s Friday!

It’s September 8th!!

It’s #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17!!!

 

Yes, the day has finally arrived for us to take to the streets of Glasgow and show the world exactly what our cycling infrastructure is like.  Some of it will be good, some of it will be bad, and we need to see it all so we can show it to the Council and help to make ours a true Cycling City.

Keep your camera with you today and when you spot any cycling infrastructure that you want to highlight (good or bad) – or if you spot somewhere that’s crying out for infrastructure it doesn’t have yet – take a picture and Tweet it with the hashtag #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17.  Don’t worry if you don’t have Twitter, you can still take part by emailing your pictures to us at CycleInfraDay@gmail.com.

You’ll be able to watch the gallery build throughout the day by keeping an eye on the hashtag on Twitter (you don’t need an account for this – just click this link), or by following the Twitter account (@CycleInfraDay).

Remember, this is supposed to be an easy way of documenting a day in the life of Glasgow’s cycling infrastructure.  So please be sensible; don’t go dashing across busy roads to get an ‘action shot’, or exploring the collapsed section of the cycle lane along the Clyde to show the damage after the weir jammed last week.

Most importantly… have fun!

#GlasgowCycleInfraDay17 is coming tomorrow!!

Just one more sleep until the return of #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17 to our city!

#GlasgowCycleInfraDay17

With the Scottish Government this week announcing their commitment to double the budget for Active Travel in 2018/19, making sure your voice is heard when that money gets spent has never been more important.  Tomorrow you can shout it out loud.

It’s as easy as snapping a photograph of Glasgow’s cycling infrastructure and posting it on Twitter with the hashtag #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17.

Take pictures of the good stuff, what we want more of, as well as the not so good stuff.

Don’t worry if you don’t have a Twitter account; just email your pictures to us at CycleInfraDay@gmail.com and we’ll upload them for you.

So, get your cameras ready, charge your batteries and load up your memory cards… for tomorrow we shape the future of cycling in Glasgow!

 

#GlasgowCycleInfraDay17 needs you!

#GlasgowCycleInfraDay17 Needs You!

The first GlasgowCycleInfraDay, back in 2015, was the brainchild of Magnatom (a.k.a. David).  Shocked at the state of Glasgow’s cycle lanes he put the call out on his blog one Tuesday night.  With a little over 24-hours notice, the response from across Glasgow (and beyond) was phenomenal.

This year’s campaign, #GlasgowCycleInfraDay17,  is nearly here.  Next Friday, September 8th, it will be time once again to fill Twitter with the best and the worst of Glasgow’s cycling infrastructure.

Taking part on the day will be easy.  All you need is the desire to make Glasgow a better city for cycling… and a camera.  You don’t need a fancy camera, the one in your phone will do the job.  Just take a picture of any cycling infrastructure you see on Friday that you think is worth recording (or a place where you think it’s needed) and Tweet it with where you took it and the hashtag #GlasgowCyclieInfraDay17.  Don’t have a Twitter account?  No problem, just email it to CycleInfraDay@gmail.com and we’ll Tweet it for you.

It couldn’t be easier to help shape the future of cycling in Glasgow for everybody.

But we need your help before then too.

The more people who take part, the better the picture of Glasgow’s infrastructure we’ll end up with and the harder it will be to ignore us.  So please, spread the word.  Tell your friends.  Tweet about it.  Every single photograph is important so shout it from the rooftops: #GlasgowCycleInfra17 is coming! Get involved!!

 

 

 

Lanarkshire circular, the GoBike ride for September, Sunday 03 September

Sunday 3 September – Lanarkshire Circular
To round off the longer summer season rides we will take a trip into the countryside to the south and east of Glasgow, taking in East Kilbride, Strathaven and Glassford. We will then ride around some woodland paths in Chatelherault Country Park. After lunch at Chatelherault’s café we will move on to Strathclyde Country Park and the new cycle infrastructure at the Raith Interchange. From Uddingston there will be an opportunity to return to Glasgow along NCN75 or to take an alternative route to see some of the new motorway-related cycle infrastructure around Baillieston, followed by a return into Glasgow along Edinburgh Road.
Meet 10am Bell’s Bridge, Congress Road, Glasgow.
Ride on paths Ride on quiet roads Ride on rough tracks Ride on busy roads Significant hill climbing
Rated: Go Bike star rating Go Bike star rating
Go Bike star rating Go Bike star rating

As an added, delightful extra, Jimmy Keenan, is offering soup, sandwiches and blethers at his home in Uddingston.  If you wish to join him towards the end of the ride please help him to know how much bread to buy in by e-mailing him at: jadeekee@hotmail.com

Raith Interchange cartoon by @cartoonsidrew