Cycling boom could be good for East Lancs (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Cycling boom could be good for East Lancs

10:52am Wednesday 8th February 2012 in Opinion By Nick Nunn, Assistant editor

THE idea of the county and particularly East Lancashire becoming the country’s top destination for cyclists is great.

We’ve got a head start in promoting the area by having the president of the fantastically successful British Cycling (Brian Cookson), the governing body of the sport in the UK, working in Pendle.

Cycling is healthy and we have some great countryside to explore and excellent venues like Lee Quarry in Rossendale being developed.

The money mountain bikers and more leisurely pedallers could bring in to East Lancashire as visitors is another reason why they should be encouraged.

But cash has to be invested in facilities specially for two-wheel enthusiasts to stop them ruining the countryside for others.

Walkers were the first to follow the historic network of footpaths and they turn out in their thousands through the week as well as at weekends to stroll across moorland and through fields and forests.

The county and Blackburn with Darwen councils have done a lot of maintain and develop these walkways.

They also employ rangers and have managed to do a fair job of keeping out the idiots who a few years ago threatened to invade and destroy many open areas by illegally speeding about on off-road motorbikes.

Mountain bikers don’t make any noise (apart from the heavy breathing of less-fit cyclists) but the men and women in lycra don’t half make a mess of footpaths.

Comparatively firm walkways are quickly churned up into mudbaths that mean water finds its way into even the best walking boots and on sloping ground its difficult to stay upright.

Segregation is the key and in the same way that horse riders have to stick to official bridleways – we must develop cycleways.

The Dutch and Germans have superb networks of cycle tracks and solid routes that keep those on two wheels away from walkers – and motorists too.

Getting more people out cycling on East Lancashire’s roads is another laudable idea – but in order for this to be successful there need to be big changes in the mindset of motorists as well as cash.

We must have cycle lanes properly marked on roads, not the stupid sections that suddenly appear for a few hundred yards and then vanish – as if they have been randomly drawn by a workman with a tin of paint.

And drivers need show cyclists the same courtesy as the Dutch rather than treating them as an annoying obstacle that should be forced into the nearest hedge!