Sport England survey finds twice as many people cycle for leisure than for travel

ktache wrote:

Rode out to the sainsburys in calcot the other day, personel quest for Yorkshire Gold loose leaf tea, they didn't have any, grrr.  Huge car park, internet says close to 1,500.   After searching I found 3 bike stands.  According to the fag smoking staff there was another bit of bike parking next to the sports direct.  Now the Bath road was not a particularly enjoyable cycling experience, but reserving what must have been 2 car parking spaces for bicycles was woefully inadequate.  The bike parking I did use was right next to the exit.

Blimey, I remember when that was all fields!

"Men are two and a half times more likely to cycle for travel than women are, at 10 per cent versus 4 per cent.

When it comes to cycling for leisure and sport, however, the gap is narrower, at 19 per cent compared to 11 per cent."

Funny how statistics can be portrayed in different ways. Cycling for leisure and sport the proportion may be reduced but the gap is actually wider, 8 percentile points against 6 for travel. Sorry, slow afternoon.

ktache wrote:

Rode out to the sainsburys in calcot the other day, personel quest for Yorkshire Gold loose leaf tea, they didn't have any, grrr.  Huge car park, internet says close to 1,500.   After searching I found 3 bike stands.  According to the fag smoking staff there was another bit of bike parking next to the sports direct.  Now the Bath road was not a particularly enjoyable cycling experience, but reserving what must have been 2 car parking spaces for bicycles was woefully inadequate.  The bike parking I did use was right next to the exit.

I go there at least once a week. Usually chain bike up on the railings around the greenhouse entrance, or even inside that entrance. Think the official bike racks are further to the left, or you can use the railings on the walkway between the entrance and the bus stops.

Considering it's a broadly out-of-town hyper market where they're expecting the majority of their customers to arrive in a car (probably with kids) for the weekly shop, it's understandable and not really a surprise that cycle parking isn't their priority.

Bath road isn't so bad for the traffic - it's the road surface that's the problem. I reported potholes a couple of years ago that STILL haven't been fixed! Was told they weren't going to do them as the road was scheduled for re-surfacing.

ktache wrote:

Rode out to the sainsburys in calcot the other day, personel quest for Yorkshire Gold loose leaf tea, they didn't have any, grrr.  Huge car park, internet says close to 1,500.   After searching I found 3 bike stands.  According to the fag smoking staff there was another bit of bike parking next to the sports direct.  Now the Bath road was not a particularly enjoyable cycling experience, but reserving what must have been 2 car parking spaces for bicycles was woefully inadequate.  The bike parking I did use was right next to the exit.

Ignore the Bath Road, use Pincents Lane from Tilehurst. No through road for cars and you can say hello to the horses in the fields. Just don't buy anything too heavy and make sure your gears are low...

PaulBox wrote:

To increase the number of people using bike to travel I think we need to improve the facilities at the destinations. For me personally that is more of an issue than the building of bike lanes etc.

I cycle to work, because there is secure parking and good shower facilities available.

I don't cycle to the supermarket because I won't leave any of my bikes chained up in a public place.

I agree that you need to make the end destination facilities good, not sure I agree with the supermarket part. The supermarkets I go to have good bike facilities right next to the door so theft would be very visible, I do have issues with a lot of train stations locally though who have the bike areas out of sight.

ClubSmed wrote:

PaulBox wrote:

To increase the number of people using bike to travel I think we need to improve the facilities at the destinations. For me personally that is more of an issue than the building of bike lanes etc.

I cycle to work, because there is secure parking and good shower facilities available.

I don't cycle to the supermarket because I won't leave any of my bikes chained up in a public place.

 

I agree that you need to make the end destination facilities good, not sure I agree with the supermarket part. The supermarkets I go to have good bike facilities right next to the door so theft would be very visible, I do have issues with a lot of train stations locally though who have the bike areas out of sight.

They might be right next to the door, but nobody is going to challenge a couple of blokes with a van and some bolt cutters nicking your bike. Definitely not the fat bloke dressed as a security guard.

I've seen some strange little parking garages in some supermarkets where people can secure their trolley while they visit the cafe. something like that in the entrance foyer would do it for me. You could even leave your shoes in there while you do your shopping in some flip-flops or something.

PaulBox wrote:

ClubSmed wrote:

PaulBox wrote:

To increase the number of people using bike to travel I think we need to improve the facilities at the destinations. For me personally that is more of an issue than the building of bike lanes etc.

I cycle to work, because there is secure parking and good shower facilities available.

I don't cycle to the supermarket because I won't leave any of my bikes chained up in a public place.

I agree that you need to make the end destination facilities good, not sure I agree with the supermarket part. The supermarkets I go to have good bike facilities right next to the door so theft would be very visible, I do have issues with a lot of train stations locally though who have the bike areas out of sight.

They might be right next to the door, but nobody is going to challenge a couple of blokes with a van and some bolt cutters nicking your bike. Definitely not the fat bloke dressed as a security guard.

The facilities that I use are under cover between the door and the trolley park meaning there is a good flow of footfall from both public, door security and trolley collectors. You may have not faith that someone with a van that has to park a significant distance away from the bikes will be challenged when walking up with bolt cutters and back with a bike or two. I have a different belief in what would happen, each to thier own.

Just out of interest, how long do you expect to spend at the supermarket if you are travelling on your bike?

PaulBox wrote:

To increase the number of people using bike to travel I think we need to improve the facilities at the destinations. For me personally that is more of an issue than the building of bike lanes etc.

I cycle to work, because there is secure parking and good shower facilities available.

I don't cycle to the supermarket because I won't leave any of my bikes chained up in a public place.

I'm not arguing against better cycle parking at supermarktes, but:

I suspect you are approaching utility cycling from a lesure cyclist standpoint.   You are already interested in riding a bike, so much so that you are prepared to get tired, hot and sweaty on the way to work and you are worried about your nice bike being nicked. 

Put yourself in the position of the average person, not interested in the process of cycling apart from the doctor telling them to get more excersise, owns a bottom of the range carrera bike from halfords and pretty scared of traffic.  You could put all the bicycle storage/security features you want at all supermarkets and I am sure it wouldn't make much difference.  

You already cycle, and most people like you already cycles, the article above shows you that there aren't that many of you though!  Providing somewhere secure for your nice bike at a supermarket wont make much difference to the levels of cycling in the rest of the population.  At best it might convert a proportion of the small number of lesure cyclists into utility cyclists. 

P3t3 wrote:

PaulBox wrote:

To increase the number of people using bike to travel I think we need to improve the facilities at the destinations. For me personally that is more of an issue than the building of bike lanes etc.

I cycle to work, because there is secure parking and good shower facilities available.

I don't cycle to the supermarket because I won't leave any of my bikes chained up in a public place.

I'm not arguing against better cycle parking at supermarktes, but:

I suspect you are approaching utility cycling from a lesure cyclist standpoint.   You are already interested in riding a bike, so much so that you are prepared to get tired, hot and sweaty on the way to work and you are worried about your nice bike being nicked. 

Put yourself in the position of the average person, not interested in the process of cycling apart from the doctor telling them to get more excersise, owns a bottom of the range carrera bike from halfords and pretty scared of traffic.  You could put all the bicycle storage/security features you want at all supermarkets and I am sure it wouldn't make much difference.  

You already cycle, and most people like you already cycles, the article above shows you that there aren't that many of you though!  Providing somewhere secure for your nice bike at a supermarket wont make much difference to the levels of cycling in the rest of the population.  At best it might convert a proportion of the small number of lesure cyclists into utility cyclists. 

That's a very good point!
How many people are likely to go to the supermarket on the ££££ race bike vs. pub bike?
To my mind a supermarket shop on a bike involves a pannier rack or similar which would rule out the majority of top end bikes? So therefor facilities to cater for high end bikes are a bit of a waste?

ClubSmed wrote:

P3t3 wrote:

PaulBox wrote:

To increase the number of people using bike to travel I think we need to improve the facilities at the destinations. For me personally that is more of an issue than the building of bike lanes etc.

I cycle to work, because there is secure parking and good shower facilities available.

I don't cycle to the supermarket because I won't leave any of my bikes chained up in a public place.

I'm not arguing against better cycle parking at supermarktes, but:

I suspect you are approaching utility cycling from a lesure cyclist standpoint.   You are already interested in riding a bike, so much so that you are prepared to get tired, hot and sweaty on the way to work and you are worried about your nice bike being nicked. 

Put yourself in the position of the average person, not interested in the process of cycling apart from the doctor telling them to get more excersise, owns a bottom of the range carrera bike from halfords and pretty scared of traffic.  You could put all the bicycle storage/security features you want at all supermarkets and I am sure it wouldn't make much difference.  

You already cycle, and most people like you already cycles, the article above shows you that there aren't that many of you though!  Providing somewhere secure for your nice bike at a supermarket wont make much difference to the levels of cycling in the rest of the population.  At best it might convert a proportion of the small number of lesure cyclists into utility cyclists. 

That's a very good point!
How many people are likely to go to the supermarket on the ££££ race bike vs. pub bike?
To my mind a supermarket shop on a bike involves a pannier rack or similar which would rule out the majority of top end bikes? So therefor facilities to cater for high end bikes are a bit of a waste?

Indeed.  If you aren't prepared to lock your bike up outside, then how can you use your bike as a realistic mode of transport?  I'm mainly a utility cyclist, and having parking facilities doesn't even cross my mind before going somewhere.  The route to get there with the fewest cars, however, is probably my main consideration.