It is a fundamental matter of not allowing your liberty to impinge on that of others. Those affected were never consulted. That included my church. Here is the experience of one member trying to cycle from Drayton Green to The Park.
I decided to cycle to church yesterday as I was sure that with the Sky Ride I'd have an easy cycle with no cars on the road. In fact my short journey from Drayton Green, West Ealing, to TVU where our church meets was really stressful. I kept being told by officials that I was going the wrong way, so I had to either ignore them and cycle on fast or tell them repeatedly I am going to church. The worst bit was when I turned on to the Uxbridge Road close to the Town Hall - I was told very firmly I couldn't go on the cycle route as they were all riding the other way which only left the pavement as the cycle route was barricaded off and I couldn't cross the road there. I rode up behind about 8 ride officials and asked them if I could ride on the pavement and they said yes, it was ok. Less than a minute later I rode confidently up to where 2 policemen were standing. They stopped me and told me to get off and that they could give me a £30 fine but they wouldn't this time, and I had to walk the rest of the way. I got back on my bike on the road by M and S and was again told I was going the wrong way, but did eventually get to church feeling very stressed. It was a lovely relief to walk into the calm familiarity of our church and to sit down and calm down. |