#cyclehub

Today sees the announcement from Stoke on Trent council that the Cycle Shelter built in 2015 to encourage more people to cycle in the city. The idea was badly planned, badly executed and cost the taxpayer £40,000 but are we missing the real problem here?

Firstly, there were obvious failings in the planning and execution of the idea. The cycle hub itself was designed to be a safe, secure location to park and maintain your bicycle. It was built as self-serve, and the location chosen was a patch of unused land towards the back of the city centre. With no security measures in place, and a location far away from any form of security the unit became susceptible to anti-social behaviour - well colour me surprised. The hub provided shelter from the elements so you can understand why it may have been used as a refuge from the wind and rain.

If the council felt the need for this hub then it should have been built in a well lit, secure location. There are examples of well-performing bike racks housing multiple bicycles in most train stations across the UK. Built alongside a sheltered area this would have been sufficient to encourage people to cycle to work. I’m all for encouraging people to cycle, particularly with the state of the bus station which the council previously wasted millions on and then had to adapt it due to not being able to fit in enough buses. Buses in Stoke on Trent and many parts of the UK are expensive, poor quality and sometimes dangerous. The bus station itself has had its fair share of antisocial behaviour issues.

Transportation has always been an issue in a city famous for being six towns. The council decided to relocate the city centre away from the train line and then provided a monopoly situation for First bus to capitalise and exploit the people of Stoke on Trent. As a result, people moved towards cars which have created bottlenecks, particularly joining the A500 at rush hour. The council is right to move people away from bringing their cars to the city centre to protect the environment and quieten roads.

However, it was anti-social behaviour that has meant the removal of the cycle hub, nor is it the low usage. The council have decided to remove the shelter because it was being used as a refuge for homeless people.

Homelessness is a problem in the UK and has been a growing issue in the north in recent years. A walk around Hanley town centre tells you there is a problem with homelessness. Stoke on Trent is overstretched with homelessness and there must be a solution found. To rip down a 40,000 cycle hub because homeless people feel desperate enough to sleep there is not looking at the route cause of the issue.

Contrary to reports in the media, people do not choose to become homeless because it is a good option, it is usually the only option. No employment, family crisis, and spiralling debts are the main reasons, and they usually follow with substance abuse. Whilst Stoke on Trent is not alone is having such a problem, and 40k would not be enough to solve it, the focus needs to be on trying to help these people.

Oct 25, 2015

Part 2: Bike

Cycling all starts with the machine itself, and a proper professional fit. There’s no getting around it; you may develop your skills and endurance in shorter events with a bike that’s not quite right, but longer distance require a dedicated machine tailored to your shape, ability, style and technique. Beyond that, cycling is simply a matter of churning through the miles and hours to clock up experience, nail fueling and refining your race craft. There’s not a lot of point in pouring all of that effort into training if you have no idea what you’re doing, what you’re trying to achieve with your technique, or how to reassemble your bike once you’ve flown halfway across the world with it. 

THE PROCESS

For a proper bike setup, professional fitters like TriPod, Cycle Hub, Wolfi’s or Ride bike shop, all in Dubai, provide a complete full body assessment of the rider that takes into account things you may never have considered. For a tri-bike, hip flexion is key because it determines just how low a rider can get on the bike and, by extension, just how aerodynamic he can make him or herself.

In fact, the entire movement of the leg and foot is vital to setup. Techs need to know just how good your hamstrings are, how your knee naturally collapses (in or out), the stability of your feet and whether you need extra support in the arch or under your toes. It’s an all encompassing process that takes a fair bit of time and effort to get right. It’s certainly a process that a novice won’t master without help, and something that is core to your training. With such distances to cover in some of the longer events, athletes need to know their machines inside out. Making small changes may suit shorter events, but for the longer ones where you’re grinding out the miles, hour after hour, you don’t want to introduce anything that may undermine your training effort.