So, its been a while since my last blog, mainly we have been very very busy but also because there has been something on my mind, and I have been mulling over the best way to approach it.

Under this blog post is a photograph or two taken this morning at around 10am. Feel free to scroll down and take a look. Just make sure you come back to here.

Good, you are back. Before I start I would like to point out that I could have taken that photograph at any time, day or night, during the last 2 days.

I would also like to point out that its outside of the CycleRecycle shop in Kessingland,

It is also a particularly quiet day today.

So, have you guessed my problem with this photo yet?

Well, running along the side of the road is a cycle path that leads from a local built up area and our local schools. This cycle path runs for some 2 miles through the Village of Kessingland and was painted on the road by Suffolk County Council and Waveney District Council so cyclists have somewhere safe to cycle.

Check the photo again if you like to see what my neighbours do on a regular basis... (they are a car garage)

That's right... They park their `cars for sale` on the cycle path. What a wonderfully thoughtful thing to do.

And their argument for this is? The cars have road tax on them and are road legal.

So, when a cyclist rides into the middle of the road to go around his cars, gets knocked over, and then gets injured or killed. They at the least have the piece of mind the had the legality's covered. That is some social conscience you have there neighbour.

Thing is I am all for people making a living, but if you look at the photos there are parking spaces free on the `legal` side of the road.

So I spoke to our local beat policeman. He looked into the situation for me. Apparently he cant issue a ticket because there are no signs saying `no parking on the cycle path`, which means he cant police it. So he cant help...

So I spoke to our local government, I started with the parish council

Out of their jurisdiction, it was either highways agency or Suffolk county council

so I spoke to highways.... they said it was Suffolk county council

no prizes for guessing who Suffolk county council thought the priority laid with – you got it `Highways`

So, someone is going to get horribly injured or killed and everyone is avoiding responsibility

So I tweeted the current Member of Parliament, and the former member of Parliament for Waveney. I didn't hear back from Peter Aldous (current MP) but that was no surprise, however Bob Blizzard did visit the shop two Saturdays ago and we had a deep conversation about CycleRecycle and then we talked about the Cycle Path. He gave me the name of John Goldsmith at Suffolk county council who is responsible for this issue. I will be in touch with him before the day is over

But it got me thinking, if the government organisations are unwilling to do anything about this, then maybe us cyclists should show strength in numbers and get this problem sorted out.

OK, today its a small village in the east of England, however these problems are everywhere. So I am asking you to get involved, show your support and throw your digital weight behind this issue.

How? Well here's my thoughts

Below are the twitter accounts for the people and organisations that can do something about this, Just click the links below to access their twitter accounts

Peter Aldous – Conservative Member of Parliament for Waveney

Bob Blizzard – Former MP for Waveney

Suffolk County Council

Waveney District Council

Drop them a tweet,

direct them to this page via this link http://www.cyclerecycleuk.com/#/blog/4561096503/someonewilldie/1589322

use the hashtag #someonewilldie

no one likes that sort of negative publicity directed at their twitter accounts

Secondly, Retweet or share this page with your friends so they can show their support. That would be awesome

Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for showing your support, We will keep you updated.

Today i sat through over an hour of listening to the Chancellor outline how he was going to improve Britain.

I listened closely wearing my Business head and my cycling helmet. I was keen to find out how he was gonna help to promote both. Im not overly into politics, but I do work hard for my money and id like to know how its going to be spent.

From a cycling point of view the only thing i could notice was the £15million being pledged to improve dangerous junctions in London for cycling.

Thank god all the UKs cyclists live in London i thought. They should come and have a look at the roads i cycle on. Buts lets look a bit closer

6 months ago i enquired to my local council for having some signs put up at the ends of my street to direct people to my shop. I didnt want anything special, just a sign saying `Bike Hire` and an arrow. Sure i would benefit from these signs, but im sure the local tourists and visitors would too. I spoke to a man from the council who kindly called me.

`i need to ask you some questions, are you open all year round?`

`yes` i said

`ok well the signs will be £750 each`

`whoa` i said. and then asked why?

`well we would need to do an assessment, we would need to check location and possibiiltiy of putting a new pole in the ground`

Then he told me that a `team` of people would be required to fit the sign, and we would have to sort traffic calming measures and.... blah blah blah

Ill be honest, i switched off.

So, if two new signs in a rural village is going to cost £1500 (plus Vat i should add), how far do you think £15million will go in central london - not far.

It should also be added that its interesting the governments prioritys, £15million for cycling, £25million for faster broadband in london. So downloading is more important than health and fitness, zero emission transport etc

And, is the government telling us the junctions in Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Edinburgh are safe? Of course it isnt. and here lies the problem.

The Cycling infrastructure is desperately underinvested. We should be encouraging cyclists onto their bikes with Safe well lit roads instead we focus on the few who use their bikes in the capital.

There is a cycle path outside the CycleRecycle shop. its painted clearly on the road for all to see. but no one uses it because there are cars parked on it nearly all the time. Ive spoken to the local authority, the police and the parish council. Nothing can be done as there is no notices stating that you cant park a car on there. My argument is why bother painting the lines (which cost money + Vat) in the first place to create something that no one uses, is abused by vehicles and cant be policed.

Its time that the cycling infrastructure was looked at in this country - sadly 2012 isnt the year

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So we went and did it... We went and flew in the face of common sense and all sanity.... We went and started a Race Team.

In fairness weve been talking about it for months. It was all Rob`s fault. Mr fitness and racing himself. Mr. always wanting to prove himself, and as usual i got roped into the deal because as usual, it seemed a good idea in the pub.

There are a couple of subtle differences between Rob and I. I walk to work (a total distance of maybe 12 feet) He runs to work in a different county (about 13 miles).

He competes in marathons and cyclocross events, i havent raced for many many years

hes motivated and enthusiatic, Im.... less than.

So why am i putting myself through what is going to be 200 days of hell preparing for Dusk til Dawn?

well, firstly its my new years resolution to race before im 40 (which is in December), second because ive been assured that its `going to be a laugh`

but most importantly im doing it because i need to prove to myself that i can do it. In order to prove that i can do it i need to get myself fit. In order to get fit i need to get out on my bike and ride, and that, dear reader, is no bad thing.

So, i have 200 days to get there, to a level of fitness where i dont show myself up, and thats an exciting and scary prospect.

So, back to Team CycleRecycle. It grew from Rob and I. Now we have two new members in the shape of Jonny and Gareth. Weve dubbed ourselves `the vainest team in world cycling` purely on the fact that we havent ridden a ride yet without having at least 3 team photos taken. For rider profiles please visit our Team Page

So there is four of us in Team CycleRecycle which means i wont be pedalling quite so much. Each rider is going to be posting video updates to the site, so you can closely follow our progress over the next 200 days. Should make some interesting watching.

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welcome to our first competition...

You could win yourself this great pile of goodies (plus any other goodies we lay our hands on in the shop)

we have a HIGH5 t-shirt, some MUC OFF bike cleaner, tonnes of stickers, posters and samples. And its all for FREE

`so whats the catch?` i hear you cry.

no catch, you just have to get involved...... but how???

Simple. We want our cycling forums to be the best around, so we need your input

You post = We post

Ee will post (free of charge, and to anywhere on the planet) the goodies shown below, to the person who gets most involved in our forums (by that we mean starting new threads, posting on existing topics, helping others etc).

We will decide on who that person is on the 1st April. That gives you just 2 weeks to post, post and post. You may even get offered a job of moderating the forums. just get posting

Remember you can Buy, sell, argue, disagree, laugh, discuss and question... you can even start new topics. There are aprox 50 topics so far to get you started.

And remember its all free and always will be

to join simply click here

you will need to join if you havent already, once you are a member you can post all you like.

Good luck and look forward to interacting with you

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