Product Description

Cyclecraft provides a guide to safe cycling both for adults and children. It contains practical advice on how to ride a bike confidently and safely in modern traffic conditions; The following areas are covered, including: how to get started; choosing a bike; basic skills; sharing the road with other traffic; advanced techniques for cycling safety on busier roads and faster traffic; advice on carrying children and goods and riding with others.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19801 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 249 pages

Customer Reviews

If you're thinking of taking up cycling, a _must_ read.
After many years of not cycling (at least 10) I recently decided to start commuting the few miles to and from work. Many posters to the uk cycling group highly recommended this book for all cyclists but I thought that as a born-again beginner it might be of particular use to me. How right I was!

Franklin is a recognised authority on cycle safety issues and in this book he presents some very sensible advice on how to ride your bike as safely as possible. Such things as road positioning in different traffic scenarios and the safe use of "cycle-friendly" facilities are all covered. He also discusses various safety measures such as reflective clothing and helmets in some detail.

Some of the conclusions reached by Franklin are controversial and even counter-intuitive (for instance, he's no great fan of cycle lanes). His opinions are clearly explained, with plenty of diagrams, and he certainly justified the conclusions he has reached to my satisfaction.

I'm positive that I am a much safer cyclist (and driver, and pedestrian) as a result of having read this book. Every cyclist should gain something from it. Anyone thinking of getting themselves (or their kids) a bicycle _must_ read it.

At less than a tenner it's the best insurance you'll ever buy!

How to get road-wise
As in previous editions, Cyclecraft provides very useful advice on road-sharing in general, and detailed advice on how to recognise and negotiate hazardous situations, cyclist-hostile road designs and pretty much all pitfalls and obstacles. Its scope is comprehensive and its style is admirably clear.

The advice to keep your bicycle well maintained is spot on, though you'll need a different book if you want to do such maintenance yourself; this book focuses almost exclusively on how to travel safely and enjoyably.

Since it's published in the UK, the text assumes you will be travelling on the left side of the road. The text is certainly broadly applicable to the Republic of Ireland as well, though, as another reviewer says, the law in the Republic of Ireland currently compels cyclists to use cycle tracks. Given that, the advice in this book on how to negotiate the poorer designs might actually be even more useful there.

Turns positioning on its head
This is an excellent book. It explains in simple terms how to ride more safely in traffic. It's the source book for the National Standard for Cycle Training (and Bikeability).
If there's only one thing you take from it, it should be how to answer the question "Where do you position yourself when you ride on the road?". Most people start talking about kerbs & white lines. Franklin says these are often irrelevant. What we should be thinking about is where the other traffic is and then riding either in front of it or to the side of it.
Brilliant!