Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Hackney fieldwork – finishing off

Monday, November 29th, 2010

We’ve been finishing off the main fieldwork in Hackney, and as in Hull there is lots more stuff we could have done. One of the themes that’s been coming up in Hackney as well as Hull are the links between cycling and childhood, and how to (a) encourage children to start cycling regularly as well as (b) encourage them to continue cycling into adulthood. We’re planning to write an article on cycling and childhood based on our interview data (as so many people have mentioned cycling, or occasionally not-cycling, as children), so some thoughts along these lines may appear on the bike blog in due course…(on my part when my marking permits!)

In the meantime, here is a picture of part of a Dr. Bike poster produced by Hackney Council – schools can apply to run a Dr Bike session during term time and the Council will provide support. I liked this image (the bottom half of the poster has a space where the school can write the date of their session).

Dr Bike is coming!

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Bike tagging

Monday, September 13th, 2010

I attended the first of four sessions that Hackney Police are running this month to tag people’s bikes for free. Today, they were located outside the Hackney Library and the session ran from 8.00-13.00. I arrived around 11.30 and stood with at least 10 others to take advantage of this free, prompt and friendly service. And there were a wide range of bike types in the line; hybrid, mountain, dutch, road and fixed. A Police tagger said it had been very popular. They had already tagged over 100 bikes this morning.

Tagging consists of removing the seat post and hammering a plastic circular plug that holds an RFID tag into the tube. You then register your details along with your code and hope there is more chance that if your bike gets stolen and recovered, then you will get it back. The person doing my tagging turned my bike over to look for an ID number. This would have been added to the registration process. He bemoaned the fact that along with many other road bikes he had seen this morning my bike didn’t have one. One of the biggest problems for Police, on top of bike theft, is finding and matching owners with their recovered steeds. Immobitag is one way they are attempting to address this problem.

After re-fixing my seat and registering my details I was given a plastic bag with various bits of information and a sticker with my unique Immobitag registration number on it. It listed further bike tagging events and guidance on how to keep my bike safe. This included the usual: photographing it, investing in and using quality locks, securing removable parts and locking it in well lit busy areas. Having registered my bike, I realise that if I sell it I will have to remember to tell the new buyer and agree for one of us to change these details.

Tags: police , security , tagging
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