Cycling to school

[ianrauk]

Have split the thread moving the relevant non school topic posts to a new thread in General Cycling forum here

 

[spursdave]

I'm surprised at the interest my original comments have created.
I was so incensed by seeing so many tubbies waddling around with their chubby kids (that is bloody unacceptable!!!)
that I felt compelled to get it off of my chest.
My comments are a bit harsh I know but if you don't tell it as it is (forget a thousand reasons or excuses)then another generation is condemned to a life of misery.

 

[ianrauk]

I'm surprised at the interest my original comments have created.
I was so incensed by seeing so many tubbies waddling around with their chubby kids (that is bloody unacceptable!!!)
that I felt compelled to get it off of my chest.
My comments are a bit harsh I know but if you don't tell it as it is (forget a thousand reasons or excuses)then another generation is condemned to a life of misery.

I think you are very justified in your comments.
My jnr cycles to his pre-school on his balance bike twice a week. He's 2 &1/4 and it's not far. He loves it.
He is the only child in the pre-school to do this.
All the other kids are dropped off in their 4x4's.
Lazy bloody parents.

 

[summerdays]

I noticed a little kid on an Islabike balance bike this morning just exiting the school gate at the same time as me.

 

[ColinJ]

I'm surprised at the interest my original comments have created.
I was so incensed by seeing so many tubbies waddling around with their chubby kids (that is bloody unacceptable!!!)
that I felt compelled to get it off of my chest.
My comments are a bit harsh I know but if you don't tell it as it is (forget a thousand reasons or excuses)then another generation is condemned to a life of misery.

Indeed!

 

[Ian Cooper]

The thing that annoys me is how quick some are to pretend that it's 'genetic' or 'glandular', as if they couldn't possibly benefit from a bit of diet and exercise anyway. I'm not exactly thin myself, but at least I'm the first to admit I'm a lazy sod - and at least I do drag myself out on the bike on occasion. In fact, much of the reason I never bothered to learn to drive is that I recognized at an early age that I was a lazy sod and decided to use my bone idle nature as a tool to stay fit. So I never bothered to learn to drive, never got a car and never put on the sort of poundage that a car might help me to gain. Instead, I kept a bike around and use it whenever I need to get somewhere on my own steam - which probably has a lot to do with why I still weigh under 200lbs.

The worst, these days, though, is fat kids. In my schooldays I knew one, maybe two overweight kids. They weren't fat - just big in a way that you might confuse it with being muscular. These days though, my daughter's school has many obese kids and one or two morbidly obese kids. It's disgusting! It's not as if parents can't prevent them from eating, and it's not as if there aren't free sports and fitness programmes on offer for kids.

Maybe that's horribly bigoted, but it's how I feel.

 

[400bhp]

Often fat families end up the same shape-parents & children. Sad state of afffairs that.

 

[Hebe]

I did tow my daughter to nursery, but have stopped because of poor road surface at a junction with poor visibility, I needed eyes to pick a line through the holes and subsided pavement, and extra eyes to see behind the parked vehicles obstructing visibility at the T-junction. It got worse after the April rain, I wrote to the council, and they said that the defects aren't bad enough for intervention. Which I would get if it was just a case of one or two avoidable potholes, but the whole width of a lane is trashed. Anyway, she starts school in September and the route there is far more bike -friendly, even with a chunk of it off-road.

 

[Ian Cooper]

I wrote to the council, and they said that the defects aren't bad enough for intervention.

I'd write back asking them who makes that decision and what legal action they would expect your next of kin to take if you happen to be killed while trying to avoid the potholes.

 

[Alun]

but recently they've sent out a letter/email banning people from cycling anywhere near the school including the nearby mk cycle network

Really? Could you post a copy of this, I'd be interested to see the exact wording.

 

[MrJamie]

Really? Could you post a copy of this, I'd be interested to see the exact wording.

Its usually quite busy on the paths they refer to and children are often poorly supervised by parents so are nipping around your ankles on small bikes and scooters so thinking about it more I do see their point and there is sense in it, even though its a bit like banning cars because a few people misbehave and cant be responsible.

Dear Parents/Carers

Please find attached a letter regarding the No Wheel Zone around the school. This enables all pupils, parents and carers to travel to the school in a safe environment and ensure the safety of cyclists whilst in the car park area.

Dear Parents/Carers
Can we remind you that children should not be riding their bikes in the school grounds or the ‘no wheels zone’ around the school? This enables all pupils, parents and carers to travel to the school in a safe environment and ensure the safety of cyclists whilst in the car park area.
Some children have been riding their bikes in a very thoughtless and dangerous manner. Bikes and scooters should not be ridden in the school grounds or the ‘no wheels zone’ and particular care should be taken near younger children.
When approaching the school area, please dismount from your bicycle, scooter and other wheeled forms of transport and walk to the school entrance.
Whilst travelling to/from school, be aware of the Redway Code. A selection from the code is below:
• The Redways are for use by pedestrians and cyclists of all ages and levels of experience,
including people with prams, pushchairs and those in wheelchairs
• Users of the Redways must be seen at night
• Dogs should be kept on a short lead to prevent entangling
• Cyclists should take due care when approaching pedestrians, persons with prams, pushchairs
and wheelchair users
• Cyclists should use a bell or other form of audible warning to indicate their approach
• Cyclists should ride not more than two abreast and slow down at bends, and ride so as not to
endanger themselves or other Redway users
• Pedestrians should keep to the right as you would if walking on a road
• Pedestrians should not walk more than two abreast
• The Redways benefit all users and are to be shared…please be considerate to others
Thank you for your support.

 

[Alun]

Looks fair enough to me !
Dependent on the extent of the "No Wheel(s) Zone" it doesn't appear to mean " banning people from cycling anywhere near the school" though.

 

[Hebe]

I'd write back asking them who makes that decision and what legal action they would expect your next of kin to take if you happen to be killed while trying to avoid the potholes.

I think it's policy. They did acknowledge that the surface was poor and that they might be able to do a temporary fix, and that they would add it to their list of roads to monitor (which surely should be all of them, anyway?). It's simply not a pleasant ride, I have no idea why a remote corner of an industrial estate was considered a suitable place to site a nursery without adding dropped kerbs, pavement where missing and parking restrictions.

 

[adds21]

I kid you not, one of the parents at my sons' school drives two kids *300* feet to school (just measured it on Memory Map, and that's being generous). Her argument is that "it's on her way" to work...

 

[Sara_H]

I've written about this on these forums a couple of times, the head teacher at my sons primary school writes to parents once a term stating that only children who have completed bikeability and wear a helmet are allowed to cycle to school.

Where on earth she got the idea from that she has any say in what my son does outside school hours I have no idea, but it makes me feel quite cross TBH!