tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568852931152106119.post8711001915606933210..comments2024-03-17T18:53:05.139-07:00Comments on CycaLogical: Compare and Contrast: Olympic Cycling and Ordinary Cyclingcrossriderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00896858165635612158noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568852931152106119.post-63845311063109848322012-08-20T03:59:14.417-07:002012-08-20T03:59:14.417-07:00Just found another quote which I thought relevant,...Just found another quote which I thought relevant, this one from Michael Crichton in a speech he made in Washington DC in 2005: "The work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. Consensus is the business of politics. Science, on the contrary, requires only one investigator who happens to be right, which means that he or she has results that are verifiable by reference to the real world."Fruity Bluehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01052465084530923295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568852931152106119.post-35962544184432111292012-08-20T03:50:42.582-07:002012-08-20T03:50:42.582-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fruity Bluehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01052465084530923295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568852931152106119.post-87978780591546624672012-08-17T12:51:35.152-07:002012-08-17T12:51:35.152-07:00Of course, the money helps as well. UK elite spor...Of course, the money helps as well. UK elite sport has enjoyed squillions of taxpayer and lottery money over the last 7 years - since we "won" the Olympic bid for London and determined that we had to dominate our own games. Add to that what Sky must have spent on supporting their team of Wiggins, Cavendish, Froome et al. We now hear that British elite sport will enjoy a further £500m over the next 4 years to prepare for the Rio games.<br /><br />I reckon that will be at least 10 times what is spent on everyday cycling.Paul Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07929808238663838155noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568852931152106119.post-13839397397058759972012-08-16T13:23:46.067-07:002012-08-16T13:23:46.067-07:00Regarding your point about falsifiabilty, when Ein...Regarding your point about falsifiabilty, when Einstein was asked what he thought about a pamphlet entitled <i>A hundred authors against Einstein</i>, he is reported to have said: "Why a hundred? If I was wrong, one would be enough."<br /><br />So come on LCC! Come on CTC! If you don't agree with the importance of thinking in terms of a network, or the prudence of introducing this network to a minimum level of functioning, then do some falsification!<br />Fruity Bluehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01052465084530923295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568852931152106119.post-23911463279184591732012-08-16T05:40:58.709-07:002012-08-16T05:40:58.709-07:00And the sheer arrogance of a Road Minister when he...And the sheer arrogance of a Road Minister when he recently suggested that the Dutch could learn something about road safety from the UK, as we statistically had fewer total deaths! :(Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05327337668636183116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-568852931152106119.post-62902229999967526972012-08-16T04:25:25.218-07:002012-08-16T04:25:25.218-07:00"Small improvements in many areas aggregate u...<b>"Small improvements in many areas aggregate up to big improvements in overall performance."</b><br /><br />A similar point has been made <a href="http://www.cyclelifestyle.co.uk/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=297%3Aolympic-countdown-reasons-for-a-london-cycle-map-&Itemid=89#7-a-network-is-more-than-the-sum-of-its-parts&Itemid=1" rel="nofollow">here</a>. <br /><br /><b>"There is no unified vision."</b><br /><br />Indeed, <i>The Guardian</i> blog has said, "The world of organisational cycling is famously fractious, riven with splits, some of them with amazingly ancient roots. Trying to get bicycle organisations to agree on something, on anything, is like herding proverbial cats." <br /><br /><b>"We don’t use science."</b><br /><br />An important component of the scientific method is falsification. That is, people set out to prove that something is right by establishing that it is not perhaps wrong. As Sir Karl Popper explains: "Insofar as a scientific statement speaks about reality, it must be falsifiable; and insofar as it is not falsifiable, it does not speak about reality."<br /><br />The scientific method also takes an evidence-based approach. Using the seminal work <i>Cycling: the way ahead for towns and cities</i> as my guide, I have laid out the seven steps needed to take us <a href="http://movementforliveablelondon.com/2012/07/27/towards-a-revitalised-london-cycling-network/" rel="nofollow">Towards a revitalised London Cycling Network</a>. As yet, no one has controverted what I have to say.<br /><br /><b>"We don’t pursue gains in any organized manner."</b><br /><br />The first step I identified is the appointment of a Cycling Commissioner.bikemapperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16902775699101288384noreply@blogger.com