Hairdressers. Cycle paths. Adventures

This morning I had a phone call from my hairdresser. It was not quite, “Hey, we are open for business again.” More, “We have dealt with the backlog of all the people desperate to get their hair done as soon as possible and now have appointment slots available.” So basically, they were touting for business. Maybe central Manchester is still quieter than they would like. But it was nice to hear from them

As for me, I am still working on convincing myself that it looks a little as though I have blonde highlights. And then I see a photo one of the older granddaughters has taken and well I have to admit that those are grey roots you can see there. So I asked them to pass on my regards to the stylist who always does my hair and told them that I’ll get in touch once I have decided that I feel confident about public transport again. I have only been to places accessible on foot or on my bike. Somehow I don’t think my cycling, even though my ability to get up slopes is improving by the day, is really up to a ride from home to Manchester just yet.

At the height, or perhaps that should be in the depths, of lockdown, there was much talk about all our towns and cities being made more cycle friendly. Peter Walker was writing about bikes in the Guardian the other day.

Headline: “UK plans to boost cycling and walking under threat, say campaigners”. The organisation Bikeisbest apparently organised a survey which found that 77% of the country supports changes to make the country more cycle-friendly. More generally, 65% of people said they wanted streets redesigned to protect pedestrians and cyclists. It found 51% would cycle more if this happened, while 33% said they would drive less if street layouts were changed. People also want streets to be made safer for children to play in, without what would normally be quiet streets becoming rat-runs for motorists.

However, motorists’ lobby groups have managed to get proposed changes cancelled in a number of places around the country. BikeIsBest’s Adam Tranter said: “When 20mph streets were first proposed, pro-motoring groups were whipped up into a frenzy, just as they are today. In 2017, data showed that the proportion opposed or strongly opposed to residential 20mph limits was just 10%. The same is happening here with measures to enable more people to switch their journeys to cycling and walking.”

Other factors come into play, of course. If more and more people cycle instead of using public transport, then bus services come under threat. And for many people cycling now in the summer time, even the rather damp summertime we are having at the moment is a quite different matter to cycling to work in midwinter when the rain is a lot colder and feels much wetter.

In the meantime, I shall continue to cycle along the bridle paths around here. I notice a big increase in families cycling together and youngsters aged probably between 9 and 13 out and about unaccompanied on their bikes on these safe paths. My daughter and I reflected yesterday that people who live on the housing estate just near the start of the Donkey Line bridle path have an ideal situation for sending their youngsters out on their bikes with the instruction to stay on the Donkey Line and not to venture onto the main roads. And so ramps for a bit of stunt riding have been built on the approach to the Donkey Lone and a rope swing has appeared half way along the bridle path. Some kids are rediscovering old-fashioned, traditional play activities.

We walked the Donkey Line yesterday on our family “adventure”, heading eventually for the park in Uppermill where we had a bit of a picnic. The sun came out and made the bridle path a very photogenic place.

And the canal looked rather good too.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!