BBC's The One Show needs cyclists for filming in Stevenage today (Thursday)

I live in East Kilbride - one of the new towns from the 50's

There are some few paths like this there - but nothing on the order of Stevenage

EK is also the location of some of the worst facilities around, including a classic that was all over the web showing a telegraph pole right in the middle of a cycle lane

All the 'new towns' have these networks I think: Harlow is the same. Although they're great for local bimbling and kids, they're no use for 'proper' ( >15mph ) cycling.

Isn't the Stevenage network one of (if not the only) cycle network systems that also allows mopeds to use it?

I live down the road from Stevenage and have often found it easy to get lost on it. As it's below "normal" street level visual reference is often difficult and before I know it I've taken a wrong turn and am on the wrong side of a roundabout / junction.

I think just about the only conclusion from the under-use of the off road network in Stevenage is that most people are lazy, and if given the chance to drive on a road without long traffic jams, they will opt for the car and not the bike.

I lived in Milton Keynes for about 15 years and brought up two kids there. The red-paths were ideal for encouraging children to learn to ride bikes, as my two girls and my wife did, and not to rely on cars or even public transport to get around. Unfortunately, by the time we left, they were becoming less attractive places to ride and walk due to the inconsiderate attitude of a few who used them as race tracks and littered them with domestic rubbish, glass, dog crap and the rest of the stuff you find on most urban pathways.
They also produced a generation of kids who had no idea how to ride on a road.
While segregated facilities appear a great idea, Stevenage and MK are good examples of the worst problems.

I rode through Stevenage last Friday (part of a charity bike ride from London to Newcastle, http://bigladsbigone.blogspot.co.uk/). It was rather quiet on the cyclepaths, apart from a woman on a moped!

Perhaps we should flip this on its head, and view Milton Keynes and Stevenage as good examples of how much space you really need for roads (unachievable in most old towns and cities) to make the road system work for private cars without the constant traffic jams and gridlock in every other city.

I was rather skeptical of Reid's book to begin with, but he seems to be unearthing some really interesting bits of cycle infrastructure history.

I'm also wondering how long it's going to be before one of the One Show presenters mentions "road tax" though...

I lived in Stevenage until I was 11, and remember using the cycle paths to cycle the 2 miles to school from age 6 or 7, unaccompanied, safely and without car traffic, from about 1970 to 1975. I used the cycle paths to visit friends and family quite autonomously. I remember an amazing parallel system of roads and underpasses just for bikes.
I have the enduring feeling that all towns should be like this, and of astonishment and disappointment that they are still not.

I think that this is a crucial lesson for those calling for money to be put into new cycle paths. Spend the money by all means, but you need to understand why this did not work.

No point repeating the mistakes of the past.