Leisure Cycling Research Articles

Riding with the sharks: Serious leisure cyclist's perceptions of sharing the road with motorists

As serious leisure cyclists increase their presence on Australian public roads, there have been reports within the popular and mainstream literature of a growing tension between these cyclists and other road users. Until now, there has been limited research exploring the relationship between serious leisure cyclists and other road users as it pertains to issues of safety and motivations to cycle for leisure. This mixed methods research provides insights into a particular cohort of serious leisure cyclists and their experiences of sharing the roads with motorists. Analysis reveals a range of concerns amongst this sub-group, mediated by factors such as age, experience and environment. The paper calls for a differential focus on sub-groups of cyclists when considering policy formation, regulation and safe provision for cyclists on roads.

Spatial characterization of landscape functions

There is little information available on the spatial variation of landscape functions. We developed a methodological framework to map and quantify landscape functions depending on the availability of spatial information. In this framework three different methods were proposed (1) linking landscape functions to land cover or policy defined areas, (2) assessing landscape functions with empirical models using spatial indicators and (3) assessing landscape functions using decision rules based on literature reviews. The framework was applied to the Gelderse Vallei, a transitional rural area in the Netherlands. We successfully mapped and quantified the capacities to provide goods and services of eight landscape functions (residential, intensive livestock, drinking water, cultural heritage, tourism, plant habitat, arable production, and leisure cycling function) for this region. These function maps provide policy makers valuable information on regional qualities in terms of landscape functionality. Making landscape functions spatial explicit, adds an important component to research conducted in the field of quantification of landscape goods and services.

Weather and cycling—a first approach to the effects of weather conditions on cycling

AbstractIn urban and suburban recreation areas, walking and cycling constitute an important part of leisure activities. Both activities involving motion, are not only carried out for recreation but also for commuting to and from work. The mixture of recreation and commuting cycling is a challenge for park management. Conflicts between user groups, such as walkers and cyclists, exist due to the different movement speeds and also different user profiles: walkers, leisure cyclists and cyclists who commute have distinctive degrees of acceptance towards other user groups. Another challenge for park management is the damage caused by the bicycles. There is damage to the surface of gravel trails due to the frequency of use and there is damage to the vegetation next to the trails as a result of evasive manoeuvres by the cyclists. Paved trails are preferred by cyclists as this results in increased speed.Important issues associated with park management are: degradation of the soil surface in general, and trails in particular, as well as conflicts between different recreational users, such as walkers and cyclists caused by their different user profiles including different speeds and acceptance of social carrying capacities.To shed some light on bicycling activities in Vienna, an analysis of the pattern of the temporal use of daily frequency of recreational and commuting cyclists was carried out, taking weather conditions into consideration. The results show that, principally, cycling is an activity performed during fine weather. This is especially the case for recreational use. Fine weather is interpreted as generally sunny weather with an ambient temperature of more than 5 °C, few clouds and no precipitation for a period of 1 year. In this study, the temperature, precipitation and cloud cover, as well as the thermal index ‘physiologically equivalent temperature’ (PET), were used as parameters to describe more precisely the dependence of both cyclist groups on the local weather conditions. Copyright © 2007 Royal Meteorological Society

Use of non-motorised modes and life stage in Edinburgh

Links between life stage and travel behaviour are explored using Scottish Household Survey non-motorised mode data for Edinburgh. Employing cluster analysis, the sample is split into ten population segments, largely based on life stage. The life stage of having children is shown to affect individual travel behaviour. Households with children present have distinctive travel behaviour characteristics: they are particularly car dependent, tend to own but not use bicycles, and favour leisure cycling trips. A concerted, targeted policy effort is recommended in order to reduce motor car usage and encourage non-motorised modes.

Helmets for cyclists and the ethics of legislation

With regard to the paper by Professor Sheikh and his colleagues (June 2004 JRSM1) and the subsequent critical correspondence, no argument on effectiveness can be valid unless related to a particular helmet. Helmets have a centuries-old history and have been designed to protect against specific sources and sites of injury. In 1952, during the Korean War, the Admiralty raised a requirement for a protective helmet for Naval aircrew. It stemmed from reports of ditchings in which pilot or observer failed to abandon the sinking aircraft as a result of concussion following an apparently minor head injury. It was triggered by an accident in which a pilot was scalped when his aircraft went into a deck-landing barrier. I was serving at the RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine at the time and was tasked with developing the helmet. The RAF were not interested. Cade,2 following a study of 1545 cases of head injury in RAF aircrew, had pronounced that only a heavy helmet would give adequate protection and this would interfere with operational efficiency. I started by analysing reports of head injuries in Naval aircrew resulting from flying accidents, to determine the frequency of various types of injury and, where possible, to relate them to protrusions within the cockpit (e.g. the gyrogunsight). I then studied the mechanics of skull and brain injury, from which were derived the constructional requirements of the helmet. The final product was constructed of layers of woven nylon bonded with phenol formaldehyde resin, with an extra layer coronally across the forehead, the commonest site of injury. Additional protection for the forehead was provided by padding of expanded polyvinylchloride, and the helmet harness was made of nylon, which had the property of stretching under tension, thereby tending to absorb an impact as well as distributing it. The helmet was polished to give a low coefficient of friction, so that it would skid over obstructions and minimize the negative g force in an impact. After extensive trials the helmet was accepted by the Navy and 350 were ordered.3 The RAF, without reference to the Institute, ordered 3000. A member of the Institute’s staff, a neurologist, had contacts within the motor-racing fraternity. Drivers used a variety of helmets, none of which met the criteria of consonance with the mechanics of skull and brain injury. They were soon replaced by helmets based upon the Mk 1 Aircrew Protective Helmet. The only motorcyclist’s helmet was the Don R (despatch rider’s) helmet, consisting of a dome of asbestos fibre with leather cheek-pieces, on which Cairns and Holbourn reported in 1943.4 Although the helmet evidently had a substantial effect in reducing the incidence of skull fractures and concussion it was far from ideal. Maximum protection was provided to the roof of the skull, which is very seldom the site of injury in motorcycle accidents. There was little protection to the frontal area and no protection to the temporal area. However, it had a British Standards number, and in 1956 I wrote to The Lancet suggesting that the BS was unwarranted. The British Standards protested but at the same time invited me to join them in the development of a new BS for an improved motorcycle helmet. I presented the aircrew helmet at a meeting of the Department of Transport’s Road-user Sub-committee where a helmet resembling a deerstalker hat, with fore and aft peaks and made of cork, was favoured by the Police Federation and supported by a consultant neurologist from Oxford. The helmet gave no protection against penetration and its high coefficient of friction was enhanced by a covering of grained leather. The aircrew helmet prevailed and, in cooperation with Road Research at Hayes, Middlesex, the Royal Aircraft Establishment and the Snell Memorial Foundation Inc, a new BS was created that was accepted in 32 countries. Today’s motorcycle helmets are derived from the new BS version, to which has been added improved coverage with protection to the face. Today’s bicycle helmets come in several very different forms, obviously differing in stability, protective coverage and resistance to penetration. Before considering the question of legislation it is essential to conduct a study of bicycling head injuries in relation to individual helmets, and if necessary, to develop a helmet combining the best features of the existing helmets, following the procedures outlined above for developing protective helmets for other activities. Bicycle-racing enthusiasts might consider stream-lining to be an important requirement; leisure cyclists might attach more importance to appearance. These features would have to be taken into account.