SAFE PASSING 101

Friday, February 24, 2012

Cities fit for Cycling : Comments to the " TIMES " , difficulties abound !

This may not surprise you ! During the period of the " Cities fit for Cycling " campaign , i have virtually daily tried to find the way to leave " comments " on The Times particularly encouraging people to read my blogs which are a series of articles on " Cycling and Road Safety matters " !

So far i have " pledged Support for the Campaign and even put the " Logo " on each blog , in the prime position ! Further i have commented to other well known Blogs to give the " Logo detail" so that they can copy and Paste to their blogs !

Reading : http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3309117.ece i see that it is not updated since the 4th Feb !

Some occasions whilst attempting to reach the " Comments " or the intro point to leave a Story , i get a box asking for £ 2 a month , guess what !
the times are seeking to turn this Campaign to their financial benefit !

Another time i saw that only those registered with the Times can access the " Stories " !

Perhaps someone will assist me to get my Point of View across since i am in Austria on a low Broadband access ( 16bits/sec ) and seeing the same story in a round the houses series is totally frustrating !

My blogs can be found by Googling : " Parrabuddy & Skippydetour " as can my Twitter.com/skippydetour and Farcebook " Skippy Mc Carthy "!

Please recommend my blogs to others since i am a supporter of " Adaptive Sport " and wish to see the roads become SAFER for ALL !

In conclusion i would add that  only 77 MPs attending the debate is an OUTRAGE !

Where and WHY were the remaining 500 + that were in good health and no doubt claiming " expenses " for their " Duties " yesterday ?




TO THE “TIMES ” , this is the normal situation i experience !

Visiting your paper to add comment results in frustration !

Visited the following page:

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3327435.ece

On there is a box that says : “ Follow stories about “ Cities fit for Cycling” , clicked on and arrived at :

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/

Went to “ Most read “ clicked on :

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3329890.ece

Went there and clicked on :

“ Post your Comments “ and arrived at :

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/contact/

Back to the start so to speak , but then got to a box which announced a demand to pay £ 2 for access to “ The TIMES “ ! cancelled that box and went to :

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/

From there I went to :

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/contact/

Around and around the houses we go , where we are going , nobody knows !


WAKE UP " TIMES " personnel , Smell the roses !

YOU ARE RUNNING A SAFETY CAMPAIGN for Cyclists !

Not selling your On line services on the back of others misfortunes are you ? If you are , then , SHAME ON YOU !

This is one of the “ Box Ads ” !



The Times and The Sunday Times on your terms

Join and enjoy access to:
Latest news, comment and analysis from
The Times and The Sunday Times
The Times and The Sunday Times Tablet
editions and smartphone app
Times+ benefits worth over £100 every month


Cost me a couple of Megabytes to discover this , but I did not get to the story I had clicked on !

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/thunderer/The Times,

Do they really think I or others , are going to PAY for their opinion ?

Indistinct under the “ Sell Box ” was a newsy page , something other than the item I was seeking ! You think I want to look at something other than the item I clicked on and THEN PAY ?

CITIES FIT FOR CYCLING : Parliament Debate !

Comment to “ The Times “

Disgusted to see that “ the Times ” reports ONLY 77 members of the Houses of Parliament , attended the “ Cycling Debate ” , which was announced several weeks ago ! If memory serves me correctly , there are about 645 members claiming expenses and other benefits ? Can you imagine how let down the “ Cycling Constituency “ must feel about the MAJORITY of their Parliament representation “ boycotting ” this debate ? Additionally the debate did not allow ALL those attending to speak although there was a consensus !

“ The Thunderer” has over the centuries led the media with their accurate reporting and has been responsible for exercising influence in British Politics to the extent there have been changes in government brought about by their efforts ! What conclusion can be drawn from the LACK of INTEREST by the majority of MPs yesterday ? Road Safety is a “ High Profile ” issue for all road users but particularly the V unerable R oad U sers comprising Cyclists and Pedestrians ! The lack of interest yesterday tells the “ Great British Motorists ” NOTHING is going to change !

YES , Westminster is not interested , so back to normal , continue to “ Bully ” the cyclist , continue to ignore the pedestrian , in fact what were you worrying about , as long as we can keep our snout in the trough it will be business as usual !

“The Times “ has a responsibility to identify those “MPs ” that attended and to name and shame those that voiced support to the media , and failed to attend ! Fact is your readership should advise which MP’s responded to their constituents’ concerns and then failed to attend the debate !

Action NOW !

Notice there was praise for the 8 point campaign BUT there was no commitment to the one point that required the allocation of money ! Doesn’t that not tell a story ?

ONCE AGAIN THE CYCLISTS ARE BEING LET DOWN !

PS Do they really think that people will pay to sit on Box Hill during the Olympic Road Race when they can sit at home in comfort ? Get real you thieving cowboys ! Promises made by Politicians are worthless ! Legislation promised is worth less than the enforcement of existing legislation which is too often too leniently applied even in events where Lives have been lost through blatant acts that would be described as Manslaughter or Murder if another weapon was used !



TO THE “TIMES ”

Visiting your paper to add comment resulted in frustration !

Visited the following page:

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3327435.ece

On there is a box that says : “ Follow stories about “ Cities fit for Cycling” , clicked on and arrived at :

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/

Went to “ Most read “ clicked on :

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3329890.ece

Went there and clicked on :

“ Post your Comments “ and arrived at :

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/contact/

Back to the start so to speak , but then got to a box which announced a demand to pay £ 2 for access to “ The TIMES “ ! cancelled that box and went to :

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/

From there I went to :

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/contact/

Around and around the houses we go , where we are going , nobody knows !

WAKE UP , Smell the roses !

YOU ARE RUNNING A SAFETY CAMPAIGN for Cyclists !

Not selling your On line services !

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

VALENTINE'S DAY

Whilst most were at the Florist , yesterday , there was an exceptionally moving post on a blog I visit :

http://liveupdateguy.com/2012/02/a-valentines-day-thank-you/

Wordpress seems to be refusing my entry details , so here is my comment to that article :

WOW ! What a powerful declaration of your Love for your Wife and Family ! Your wife must be floating on air , and justifiably so . This Valentine Message will be around for long after the flowers, that others have given , will have wilted away

Wishing you all , many more years of contentment and happiness .

Being of an age that meeting people , other than whilst pursuing my sporting activities , is somewhat limited , I don’t have the need to join in the annual rituals that are part of this yearly activity .

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Solden Visit

Quite by chance i find myself taken to Solden today . Over the years this has been a favourite Ski destination for me . Those that follow World Tour Ski Racing will have seen " Solden " on Bode Miller's helmet and that is because the US Ski Team is based in this area whilst in Europe . Currently all the " Stars " are in competition elsewhere but some are due back tomorrow for training .

Those that have read my blogs last year will have seen reference to my meeting Bode on numerous occasions . The first time was at Hintertux Glacier in 1998 when i remarked to Darren Ralves and Bode that they were dtrange names ! Bode replied at the time that " i had better get used to seeing their names in the Media "! So recently Bode scored a second place but last week he was 45th out of the starthouse in choppy conditions and finished off the Podium . Recently i have not seen Darren's name since he races in another discipline !

Back in 1998 i was a guest of Soeldon through the good offices of Peter Voerst the then Marketing Manager of the Bergbahn in Solden . Peter is now retired living in Innsbruck . That period in October was the lead up to the Annual World Tour Giant Slalom Races . One of the days i even trained with the Austria Ski Team using their training track . One run i did was at the same time as Hermann but he disappeared and i dropped into a hole , tubled and bent both of my Race Skis . Going back up on the T bar i met Benny for the first time ! Not knowing his face i introduced myself and he said his colleagues had already remarked that they had met me many times on the Kitzsteinhorn when i was Ski teaching and race training there .

During my visit in 1998 as a way of repaying the Hospitality , i did a 24hr ride on the rollers in the foyer of the then Tourist Office whilst it was located on the main street until 7am and then transferred onto the mountain restaurant where i continued in their foyer to add to the total. During the Friday afternoon Michael Hipp and Gerd Schoenfelder of the German Behinderten Team also rode their bikes and Andy Schistl of the Austria Team joined in his wheelchair . This effort raised a considerable amount of " Schillings (austrian currency then , for " Behinderten Sport " ).

Many new buildings have sprung up in recent years so there are new facades on the main street . During the years after 1998 when visiting i would stay with haus Raphaela and so i took time to visit and Daniela and the Daughter , Raphaela and her Daughter Sarah invited me to join them for lunch .

After lunch i headed up the hill and bumped Matt , the Cook for the US team House and laughably forgot to give him my telephone no. since i forget the no. of the phone with me and ringing his no. did not go through as it is a US number .

Sitting here in the old house , " the Hunter's Inn " , that was the " Internet Cafe " then , thanks to the boss here , Chris , who has been around for ever and a day . Some things never change !