A new book due out next year, 'Roads Were Not Built For Cars', has  quite a few heads turning. For those of us growing up in a car-centric world it may sound like spin, but author Carlton Reid insists that he has undertaken pain-staking research: his book will reveal the story behind roads and the pivotal role cyclists played in their construction. Enjoy the exclusive ECF interview! 

Q. You’ve got quite the provocative title for your new book. Tell us what it’s all about?

 I was playing with all sorts of titles. Most were anodyne, playing it safe. I think the provocative title is arresting for both cyclists and motorists. Cyclists will go 'hell, yeah'; motorists will snort with disbelief. Hopefully, some motorists will read the book and have a fresh take on the history of motoring, and how cycling benefitted them more than they may have ever thought possible.

The book came out of the 1930s research I did for my iPayRoadTax campaign. I came across an individual called Rees Jeffreys who was an arch motorist and was one of prime movers behind motorways, trunk roads out of London and who lobbied to create what is now the UK Department for Transport. I learned he had started his career in lobbying for roads as a cyclist. In fact, he was a council member of the CTC before 1900 and was put in charge of the CTC's Roads Improvement Association, which had been created in the 1880s. He went on CTC research trips to Europe, finding out about spreading tar on roads and other ways of stopping the "menace of dust."

He later transformed the RIA into a motoring organisation but I was fascinated by his cycling credentials, which he never forgot. It was he who said: “Cyclists were the class first to take a national interest in the conditions of roads.”

At the same time as Rees Jeffreys and the CTC, there was an even more influential movement in the US: the Good Roads movement, created by the League of American Wheelman. In the 1896 presidential race, LAW was the only organisation to have its own room at the Republican campaign HQ.  It's amazing to think that cyclists - before cars came along - could make or break Presidents. 

Today, motorists don't know about any of this heritage or how "their" roads are anything but. Cars are the johnny-come-latelies of highways.

Q. We noticed that you’ve done more than 2 years research to write this book. Did it lead you to any quirky discoveries?

Quirky stuff: the Ancient Babylonians and Egyptians used asphalt. The Babylonians used it on baths, walls and even roads. The Egyptians used in their death rituals. The ancient Egyptian for 'mummification' is 'asphaltos'.

Q. And how about some insight into bicycle lobbying back in the day? And the cyclist mentality?

 Reading the CTC Gazettes of the 1890s and the League of American Wheelmen magazines of the same era, it's clear that many of the same fights are still with us today. Cyclists of the time were dead set against drivers of horse-pulled carriages in much the same way that cars are our natural 'enemy' today. 

And the propensity for infighting among cyclists was perhaps even worse back then! There were court cases of slander and all sorts. However, when we pull together we're capable of amazing things: back then we improved roads for all; today we can have a similar civilising influence by pushing for cities to be designed for people rather than motor vehicles.

Q. How do we get our hands on a copy? 

The publication will be free online, via clicky-flicky page-turning Issuu.com. There will also be free e-books for the Kindle and iPad. A paid-for print-on-demand version will also be placed on Amazon.com. The e-book will be free because I'm accepting sponsorship and ads. Free distribution is the best model for getting info out into the world.  Every word of the book will also be on www.roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com which I shall be populating soon. 

About the Interviewee

Carlton Reid is the executive editor of industry trade magazine BikeBiz.com and editor of industry levy website BikeHub.co.uk. He also runs the campaign website iPayRoadTax.com and blogs at Quickrelease.tv.