Stop! Go! No, wait! Argh!

When I first came home tonight this crossroads had temporary lights up for some roadworks. All fair enough, till you look at the exact position, and three sets of the lights were positioned such that the ASL was completely unuseable by the cyclists they were put there for. It's a little thing. A really tiny thing. But remember this is the city that claims it wants to be a 'model cycling city' and has signed up to targets (quickly described as aspirational so it's okay if they are missed) for much much higher modal share of the commute by bikes come 2015.

Copenhagen can close a bridge, and build a temporary one solely for cyclists; and if roadworks take away the use of a cyclelane they take space way from the motorised traffic to make sure the lane is continuous and remains segregated. That, dear City of Edinburgh Council, is a model cycling city. Not maintaining the bike markings (check out how worn that ASL is!) and then removing its use entirely when positioning the temporary lights just a yard or two further back would have left the utility of the ASLs intact, might therefore feel like a small thing, but it shows the cultural shift needed. Needed but not wanted, I fear.

I'd gone out under cover of darkness to move the temporary lights so the ASLs could be used (I have vigilante previous - that pic even ended up on the Grauniad site) and found the lights had been removed, and the roadworks shunted to the side. I felt cheated!

Oh, and... First anniversary today. Doesn't feel like a year since we sprung a teeny wedding on people, but there you go. I was dutiful. Flowers, present, card. I'm sure I can save for future reference the absence of shiny new stuff in return. Not that you get married for the additional present-giving-receiving day in the year of course. Well... It's not the only reason anyway.

p.s. appears from yesterday's blip that no-one here likes macaroons! Shocking state of affairs!