In 2007 we published the first edition of Crap Cycle Lanes. It was designed to raise awareness of some important issues of safety and convenience that Britain’s cyclists face, raise funds for British cycling charities and hopefully raise a smile.

We worked in conjunction with the Warrington Cycle Campaign, and we are proud to have been associated with this project, not least because it appears to have had some positive impact.

We know this because while researching for this second edition, quite a few people came back to us with a similar comment: that the original cr*pness of the cycle lane has been addressed. This probably has at least as much to do with the lobbying of groups and individuals at the local level, but we are daring to believe that our first book may have played a role here and there (if only to embolden said individuals to make a complaint).

So, being a fair-minded bunch, we have decided to do the right thing and devote a section of this new book to "The Good" (as opposed to the more amusing “Bad and the Ugly"), in which we highlight places where improvements have been made.

There is still a way to go. As long as the cycle lane remains the first resort in the placement of unnecessary street furniture, as long as town planners are satisfied that they have “made provision for cyclists” by designating a thirty-centimetre wide, twelve-metre long stretch of potholed tarmac as a cycle lane, our work will not be complete.

Satire can be a powerful weapon, but it is only the opening fusillade in the battle. If step one is aiming ridicule at an example of some mindless planning, steps two and three are
sharing the news and doing something about it. A lone voice may not be enough to have a hazardous bollard removed, or a cycle path rerouted a bus stop instead of through it,
but communicating your concerns: with us at Eye Books, with the Warrington Cycle Campaign, with your local cycling group…

In an age where every politician wants to be seen to be cycle-friendly, there has never been a better time to make our voices heard. So, share this book with your cycling buddies and we will move forward in the hope that this edition will have at least as great an impact as the first.

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A book for cyclists fits nicely with our back catalogue of books, many of which are about cycling expeditions. Please visit our homepage to find out about mammoth adventures that were conceived while pootling along a suburban backstreet. Maybe.