We're covering Slix in Stokes Croft this week, and we've noticed that it attracts some interesting clientele. It also sells burgers and chicken.
Yesterday we looked at the corporate appeal of the area, with cars such as WP06XTR using the cycle lane as a convenient stop-off to do a bit of business in the area, or pick up a burger and chips.
These parked cars, though, are actually an inconvenience, as they restrict the ability of mini-cab drivers to pick-up, drop-off and park-up to re-fuel.
Slix is an essential part of a central Bristol taxi driver's life-style, and, we hear, a destination of choice for many of their passengers, as YY05WEF and FB57KDF illustrate.
As usual, we got our coverage in days earlier. If somebody is now surprised that it takes a while to get out of town by the M32 at 17:00, they don't know the secret routes through Broadmead or St Pauls. Tourists.
Bristol Indymedia has some more coverage. While we are against students, obviously, some of them may go on to earn enough to afford decent cars -but with these proposed funding changes, they may be forced to walk, cycle or use public transport for many years after graduating.
Which is why we have a company car, just like anybody with a proper job. And we like to park-up on the pavement outside Bank to monitor the competition.
Not all cars are company cars, though.
There's no way to tell if T31DYA is parked in the cycle lane to grab a legitimate and corporately funded bite to eat in Slix (or Mrs Lovett's), or if it just belongs to a local from City Road picking up a few extra copies of the Big Issue to sell in Clifton.
The same is true for other cycle lane users, J44NUG, T364VCF and R790EDV.
One thing is certain: these cars are not there now, which at least proves that none of the drivers, even if they had their hair cut in 'Anointed Touch', ended up as take-aways from Mrs Lovett's. These drivers are safe.
We know that Stokes Croft is the centre of the universe.
And at the centre of Stokes Croft is that most favourite eatery, Slix.
Ignore the fact that it's next to Mrs Lovett's meat pie outlet, ignore any references to Sweeny Todd, or the fact that the Stoke's Croft is full of barber's shops. Probably more barbers than massage parlours. Even the venerable Croft features Harry Blades in the front room once a month at their heady "Barrymore's Pool Party" Nights - buzz cut for a tenner, anyone?
No, the interesting thing about this stretch of inner city Bristol is the way in which users of the Bike Lane here generally form a parked string of pearls on an otherwise unused piece of road.
Also interesting is the wide variety of patrons Slix appears to attract. So this week, in the spirit of a minor contribution to documenting the urban fabric of Bristol in 2010, we'll be celebrating a small selection of the trades that frequent the area.
Now that winter is here, can we drop a quick reminder to everyone driving around not to believe those "buy a 4x4 and cope with winter" adverts. Without studded tyres or chains, all four wheel drive will do is get you into trouble by hiding the problems on the uphill, only for them to surface on the descent. Here is some footage from Seattle last week: Lots of these vehicles are 4WD, but once you've hit the brake pedal, that's useless. Winter tyres then studded tyres (legal in Washington State during winter) and chains are what you should be thinking of. Otherwise, stay at home. Don't walk down the sidewalks on roads like this either. If you have a 2WD car with traction control features, when that light starts flashing it means "chains on". No chains? Pull over, park on a road that isn't so steep, walk.
While a darkness falls over kingsdown as new yellow lines and pay-to-park machines pop up, Cliftonwood is holding out against the resident parking plans.
As they must! Were resident parking zones to pop up with their neat little white boxes showing where people can and cannot park, the middle of Ambra Vale would certainly not become a "designated" parking area, so vehicles like J6SRY would not be able to keep their car safe in the road, away from pedestrians who could damage it.
The same time we were getting a video of one driver, X108YDY, prepared to fight the anti-car city and use the secret rat-runs of Kingsdown, we were also getting some shocking footage of parents walking their kids to school.
Some were clearly going on to cycle to work, so instead of driving their children to school in comfort and safety, they were being forced to walk alongside a bicycle -while the parents push them without even a helmet on!
Others were actually encouraging their children to cycle to school.
Such actions not only endanger the children, they threaten the bodywork of those of us who drive the wrong way down one-way streets as an alternative to traffic lights. Can't these parents see that we are in a hurry!
Posted by
Kimberly on Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Over in Caledonia Mall, Clifton, someone selfishly attacked a car doing a bit of smart-car parking, by pulling up their wipers
Nearby, another car, KL51UUY manages to get by unscathed. We have mixed feelings here. Yes, smart-car parking finds a new space, but it makes double parking harder, and this road is ideal for a bit of double-work.
In Clifton Village proper, we can see the real problem: mud covered bicycles and their rides, taking up the pavement. by leaning them against dustbins.
Apparently the Ashton Court golf course cafe no longer has its "no muddy mountain bikers" sign up. We say every cafe in the city needs such a sign.
For some reason we could not get our van down Whiteladies Road and over to the M32 this afternoon, so had to divert up the hill and hit the Highbury Vaults for a few beers before continuing. One thing we could see was this police helicopter circling the university quarter, which may be a sign of student unrest.
Students! Yes the government is going to massively increase fees for all future degree students, and take away the attendee allowance for anyone in higher education colleges. But the collapse of the economy implies the chances of you being in the payback part of the scheme is much less likely than you think! Furthermore, this government has abolished all funding for speed cameras! For that reason alone, we cannot come out and support you. That and the traffic jams you have created today!
Back in June we covered the unfair persecution of a motorist, purely because they had the temerity to park across a dropped kerb.
It seems this sort of behaviour by uncaring, irresponsible council officials is still going on. Poor old YL04ZWW has been targeted in the same way, with a ticket on two successive days.
Our roving reporter did re-visit the site on the third day, but sadly the Mini had gone. We suspect the evil council took it to the car-pound to be crushed, but it could be (this is Redland after all) that some kindly neighbour contacted the owner, who then flew back from Barbados, and parked somewhere else.
We just hope it wasn't here, where unlucky R125SLB, has also been persecuted for nothing more than inconveniencing a few children on their way home from Redland Green school.
I love Christmas. Especially the oversized tins of chocolates that have become so symbolic of the festive season. As soon as Christmas season officially begins at the end of August I always make sure I buy at least three tins. One for the kids and family, one to keep on the passenger seat for those long winter commutes and one to store in the space where the spare tyre used to be in the boot.
So imagine my disappointment when I went to fill in a form to win some "quality streets" and found out it was actually just a devious plot to subvert people into fuelling the war on the motorist.
We know it's illegal to pretend to be police, but is it illegal to put out fake police warning signs?
Look at this sign here in Cliftonwood, telling off a car for parking on the pavement.
Now look at the car. One wheel up. Over in Monty the fact this car was sticking so far out would merit attention -that it was stopping through traffic, not supposedly interfering with pedestrians. It has to be fake.
We aren't naming names, but we do note that John Grimshaw of Sustrans lives nearby...
October's bike park movement on Cotham Hill was apparently to help the local cafe -the one that is being repainted as "manga manga" have some outdoor seating. Well, we don't know or care about that, but one thing that does interest us is whether the newly positioned bike parks do enough to discourage walking?
The combination of some seemingly accidentally badly placed bike racks with some shopping signs put out for passing cars does make it very hard indeed to walk across this road, and so should discourage students from doing so. FirstBus and we motorists will benefit from this, obviously.
But does it work? We can still see people trying to squeeze past all the furniture.
The bike racks make cyclists feel welcome, even if the one we see is heading towards a junction which we hope the GBBN proposals will make impossible for them to cross.
Furthermore the other side of the road is still open to pedestrians, and if they can't skateboard down the pavement, they just switch to the road instead.
It may make walking less pleasant, but it isn't enough to stop the locals and students from getting in our way.
We posted a while ago about the Emergency Services, and we're pleased to be able to report that the Manor Park emergency service has now acquired a second vehicle.
The addition of M758XWS to this essential 24 hour service must be a good indicator that the economic recovery is well underway.
Whilst we are always happy to park anywhere we want, there is a downside, as WU58ZFR demonstrates. This is the Downs, where thankfully no cycling is allowed.
The problem is that if you can park a car on the grass you can also put a bin on the grass, which is a real waste of parking opportunity.
We love taking visitors from the US through Montpelier at speed, watching them in teror stamping the ground where the brake pedal should be, as we drive our van through at 40 mph with millimetres between us and the parked cars on either side while texting ahead to our destination. But sometimes we like variety, and other fun place is Cornwallis Crescent and Clifton Vale. That blind Z-bend/T-junction when you are coming up the hill is fantastic. No visibility, you have to get the line exactly right or you get stuck.
This week we are making it more entertaining by making our US visitor cycle round, so watching someone from "cycle-friendly Oregon" encountering urban UK roads, so we took the opportunity to take them down this and see if they'd survive.
The first issue here is that one of the cars in front gets its line completely wrong. For reference, here are the tactics
Descending from Goldney Ave: hold back until you see a gap, then commit, but swing out before turning in, Alpine style. This early swing out ensures that you finish the turn on your side of the road, which is better for bad visibility situations, and here, ensures you can get round.
Coming from Cornwallis Crescent: head through, don't show weakness.
Coming up from Clifton Vale: head up, keep left ready to swerve right into Goldney Ave.
After the entertainment of a car having to back up twice, our U.S. tourist gets the give way markings wrong and almost loses out to the car on Corwallis Crescent. More importantly, by waiting where he is, he's lost visibility of what's happening on Clifton Vale, which can be tactically unwise. This time, he survives as the cars in front have stopped motor traffic heading up, but next time may not be so safe.
Posted by
Kimberly on Wednesday, November 17, 2010
People have been mailing us, where is the Yoghurt Van YA55VDY? Has some disaster struck Bristol's supply of dairy goods. The answer is no, the clocks changing just altered its schedule.
It doesn't pull off without indicating from the buildout by Whiteladies Gate until 08:10 now, helping to remind the driver of the honda SUV why buying a vehicle that may survive a collision with a white van was a good decision that makes school runs safer.
Note how the driver actually waves our (sadly cycling) reporter. The proposed GBBN changes may make it harder for this van, as the buildout may not be so large. While we can't see from the design whether or not bollards are planned, we fear the worst.
By way of the Legacy Printed Press, we see this video of a car being forced to push a Ford Ka out onto the road by the school entrance to Cabot Primary School.
The comments on the E.P. Article are pretty polarised.
On the one hand, this is someone exerting their right to get their car out of the garage despite the selfish actions by lazy parents who themselves park on the keep clear zones just to drop the kids off faster. On the other, this is someone potentially endangering children who if not walking to school, are being dropped off by their parents outside it and expected to walk across a road. It's hard to say who is most wronged here.
The Bristol Traffic Project is a Big Society project, a community database of those people bold enough to stand up for their rights in an anti-car city. Today we are pleased see it at work.
This is Marlborough Hill, "nominally" one way. We say "nominally", as it is wider than most two-way streets in nearby areas. While over in Waltham Forest, Freewheeler complains that one-way streets increase traffic speed, our niggle with it is that it increases the expectation by cyclists that they should be on the road.
Look at this video of the polish-plated BMW KTT86LT heading doing a bit of contraflow on Marlborough Hill.
The driver is giving way to cars coming up the hill, on the narrow one way bit he even slides to one side to let the bicycles up this 1:5 hill. Yet are the cyclists grateful for his generosity? No, they abuse him. At least he is generous enough to laugh politely while shaking his head, but then he is probably in a hurry. Why else take this contraflow rat-run on a Sunday morning?
Returning to our community database project, note how we always omit spaces in registration numbers. This makes it easier to index them in large distributed column tables and other fancy servers, which makes it easier to find them in the search engines of our strategic partners, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! included. Today we can see that KTT86LT has already been seen in Stokes Croft. We are slowly building up our dataset on who is prepared to stand up against the oppressors -and who the little people are.
If you have not yet had the honour of being on our site -you are probably one of the little people.
Our commentary yesterday hinted at bus problems in Crow Lane, as a result of criminal activity in the area.
Over here leafy Redland Road this is less of a problem, and the brave owner of EF59VBA is even comfortable leaving the Volvo half on the pavement.
The problem here is not muggers, but bus stops. This bus stop in particular, and the one nearly opposite it, where poor people, the young, the old, students and those awful busy bodies from Transition Bristol stand and wait to catch their sustainable transport down to Temple Meads.
This means that those of us with a proper job, and car to match, have to suffer huge tracts of perfectly good parking provision removed from use, just to accommodate a bus stop. Just how selfish can these people be?
Why is that unusual? Well, FirstBus are stopping buses coming past here from 18:30 onwards as it is too dangerous -the drivers keep being robbed. They may go through the area, but they won't stop. On the back of this bus is a mural encouraging people to walk. Sensitive that.
The Yamaha FZ1 Fazer ABS Limited Edition body kit comes with official body kit parts, screen and wheel rim stickers and a pillion-seat hard cover. it also comes in classic Yamaha customer
Another issue we had with the Russel Square area is that this marked a clear attempt to bring cycle-friendly infrastructure into the inner city, rather than, as in Bristol, leave it places where we hope it doesn't get in the way of anyone important.
First, signs, encouraging cyclists to find their way round
Full green bike paths, with raised kerbs to make it slightly harder to accidentally park in them.
Junctions for the bicycles themselves, with no cyclists dismount signs
And here, worst of all, an "except cycles" get-out clause on a one way street. Not "except cycles, taxis and van drivers", but cycles only.
What is really depressing here is that the Camden council staff behind such schemese visited the proposed GBBN Whiteladies Road development, the one that will help motorists driving in to town by removing the zebra crossings in our way and making cycling more dangerous. We know this as we infiltrated the event, keeping track of what people were saying, and whether complaints were being dismissed -as expected- or actually listened to, and tried to slip our own ideas in to distract them.
On the topic of that camden council cycle team visit, can we extend our apologies to the woman driving the green nissan micra down WL road who was held up for fifteen seconds by the funny bicycle people. Yes, you were right to beep your horn at us for not being in the bike lane, even though cyclists don't have to cycle in them, they can cycle two abreast legally, and the traffic jam ahead meant you weren't losing any time. Yes, you were right to complain that eight people on bicycles at 08:50 on a weekday were causing utter chaos, which is why the local council had arranged the cyclist visit to during the quiet period mid-morning. Sadly, some of the cycle troublemakers had spotted the flaw there and pressured for a rush hour visit, which is why you were held up by three people cycling two-abreast down whiteladies road.
Because we were trying to blend in with these subversives we did have to come up and argue with you while you were stopped at the traffic lights, as anything else would have aroused the suspicions of the rest of the group.
Sorry!
We didn't really mean to call you a selfish idiot who would clearly benefit from getting out of their car and trying to do some exercise! It's your right to get fat and stay unfit by driving to work and back, stopping only in the supermarket to buy ready-to-fry fast foods.
We didn't really want to dispute the niceties of the highway code and the fact that nowhere in it does it say "bicycles should be banned from our roads" -because like you, we think it ought to! It was just something we had to do to blend in!
Interestingly, this bit of the city exists in our database, but it was actually so depressing to us we hadn't bothered to put up. Look at this, Malet Street, the heart of the student area, just E. of Russell Square.
There is only one free parking space for electric vehicles.
You are limited to parking there for 2h only, which is barely enough for a family-funded arts student to finish three cafe lattes.
The fast moving bicycles endanger the paintwork on these premium vehicles.
Yet to the left of the EV parking space, there is clearly enough space to put in four or five more charge points, enough to make a greener city. Yet it is taken up (even on a saturday) by a vast collection of bicycles -parked on our road tax funded roads- and a zebra crossing, again, tax dodgers stealing Road Tax space.
Slightly south, a row of borisbikes on a pavement buildout.
And in the university itself, some bicycle lockers for staff -even they are being encouraged to cycle.
Posted by
Kimberly on Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Along dovercourt road, we see a member of Keiths Driving School and a paying customer getting their paveparking right.
Note how
the wheels are all aligned
it is further in than the nissan micra, so should avoid being scraped by passing traffic
the driver has left enough space for a pedestrian to pass
Learning such skills are what makes the difference between a low-end driving school and a high-end one. We just hope that the driving examiner recognises the harsh truth about Horfield's parking problems, and doesn't live a noddy-land world where people park on the roads and even then not opposite junctions or within 50 feet of a corner.
Everybody knows that there are no parking problems in Cliftonwood, and that is why its citizens recently rejected the imposition of a CPZ. However, what fewer people know is where the "secret" parking slots are - the ones that are normally free and you actually have to seek out. Here we see two cars demonstrating two of these slots - DY52OLC at the end of Randall Road, and NY54EWP at the bottom of Ambrose Road.
What these camera angles don't show is that both of these cars have bits of paper stuck under their windscreen wipers. They were probably from admiring local residents congratulating the drivers on locating these hidden parking spots, but we'll never know - sadly, the rain has rendered them illegible!
Concerned of Cliftonwood
PS: In the case of DY52OLC it could be to apologise for the fresh dent in the back right hand corner. Whilst admiring the honesty of the perpetrator, we say: next time, use indelible ink! Unfortunately, the wronged car owner will never know who you are.
Whilst we all get hot under the collar about the problems that putting Bus Lanes up Whiteladies Road are going to cause, and the onerous parking restrictions that will be put on us as a result, here's something to think about:
Tax dodgers, parked for free, making their own entertainment.
We can't do that, the best we've got in the X5 is sat-nav and Jack fm.
Here at Bristol Traffic, we like leaving the 4x4 outside Somerfield all day, whilst walking into Clifton, pretending to be pedestrians. Unless we complain by 12th November, that'll all be over and they'll give our parking spaces to bicycles and buses, at least in rush hours.
If you want to keep the free, 24 hour, inner city parking in Whiteladies Road you'd better get over here and make some comments. Quick.
Real-world performance that will make your everyday ride extraordinary. The Yamaha 2010 FZ1 a cutting edge sport bike with a twist. Unlike most other machines in this class, the Yamaha FZ1 features a state of the art engine and chassis designs. The twist is you do not have to sacrifice performance or handling to gain excellent rider and passenger comfort... the FZ1 offers it all.
Crunch the numbers, do the math and then take a seat aboard the world's best "naked" sport bike. Surprisingly comfortable eh? You are looking at one of the best values in Yamaha's 2010 line-up. The FZ1 offers exceptional open class performance with cutting style. R1 inspired power, fuel injection, twin spar aluminum frame and fully adjustable suspension. The FZ1 is a serious sport bike that offers an exceptionally comfortable and exciting riding experience. Stripped down and ready to rumble.
Think of the 2010 Yamaha FZ1 as an upright Yamaha R1 ready to take on the world. There is more fuel-injected power in that smooth 20-valve four-cylinder than most riders will ever use in a sure footed chassis. It is a riders best ally, from track days, to commuting to touring.
The ECU mapping has been revised to achieve improved throttle response in the low to mid-rpm range.
Our ultimate street brawler brings 998cc of fuel-injected power to the fray, in a light-and-strong aluminum frame. Sculpted bodywork and a comfortable handlebar position for great looks and rider comfort. Adjustable suspension lets the FZ1 be dialed in for a wide range of uses—everything from urban assault to sport touring.
Engine:
Compact design, 998cc DOHC 20-valve engine is tuned for tremendous mid-range punch and massive top-end power. Fuel injection with computer-controlled sub-throttle valves provides precise fuel/air mixture for superb power delivery across the entire rev range. Closed-deck cylinder block provides great strength while allowing a narrow engine in spite of big, 77mm bores. Narrow-angle five-valve combustion chambers produce a highly efficient 11.5:1 compression ratio. Carburized connecting rods with fracture split big ends produce a quick-revving engine with excellent high-rpm durability. High silicon-content ceramic-composite cylinder lining reduces friction and maximizes heat dissipation for consistent power delivery. Four-into two-into one short-style exhaust system with Exhaust Ultimate Power valve (EXUP®), a stainless catalizer and oxygen sensor. Delivers outstanding power throughout the FZ1’s broad rpm range while meeting all emissions regulations. Race-inspired curved radiator with twin ring-style fans keeps everything cool under all conditions.
Chassis/Suspension:
Aggressive chassis geometry with Supersport inspired 51 percent front wheel weight bias. Provides quick and nimble handling. Short 4.76-gallon fuel tanks allows the rider to move into a forward position. Rider forward ergonomics move the rider into a position of great control. Cast aluminum frame uses the engine as a stressed member. Allows for optimal rigidity, light weight and superb handling. Stressed-engine design holds the engine in place with six mounts, for excellent vertical stiffness and handling. Controlled-Fill (CF) aluminum swingarm. Lightweight and tuned for excellent handling and tire grip; looks great, too. Fully adjustable 43mm inverted fork and a single shock with adjustable preload and rebound damping. Tunable for sport touring or track days. 320mm front discs squeezed by monoblock four-piston calipers up front and a single 245mm rear disc serve up strong and consistent stopping power. Removable subframe for easy maintenance and detachable passenger footpegs for even more stripped-down style. Light, five-spoke wheels and fat radial tires, including a 190/50-ZR17 rear, complete the look and serve up the traction.
Additional Features:
Half-cowl fairing design features aggressive eye-catching naked bike profile. High-tech instrument display features analog tachometer, digital speedometer, dual trip meter with miles on reserve function, odometer, water temperature and lights for neutral, high beam, low fuel and turn signals—also a fade-in lighting feature with adjustable brightness. Two-piece seat serves up great comfort. Passenger grabrails provide passenger comfort while maintaining an aggressive appearance. Durable O-ring-sealed drive chain provides longer chain life. Dual 12V 60/55-watt multireflector headlight features a sleek, profile for superb aerodynamics and visibility. Standard toolkit located in convenient storage compartment under passenger seat.
Yes we've seen this car before. The miracle that is an internet-scale index/search engine tells us we saw WR08HXK in exactly the same place in Chedworth Road, Horfield, back in March.
Well, before your customers are ready for the pavements of Monty, you need to teach them how to get on and off the kerb safely, and quiet roads like this with plenty of dropped kerbs are ideal. One issue though: six months? And their customer is still learning? That's not good.
Footage of someone on Cobourg Road managing to get their car out safely.
This is why in inner city Bristol you don't want alloy wheels. They may be a status symbol for some drivers, but they are clearly not people who have to drive round the anti-car parts of town, where getting on and off pavements and skirting kerbstones are a regular part of every driving journey. They are a luxury for outsiders.
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