cycling to work in London

[3 Body No Problem]

I've been biking to school/univ/work since primary school. It's great. I have turned down a really well-paid job once, partly because it was somewhere where cycling would have been difficult. It keeps you fit, it is generally faster than driving a car or using public transport in London, but cycling can be a bit dangerous in a car-centred city such like London. A motorcyclist did a hit-and-run on me two years ago, leaving me with a broken arm. Try and avoid traffic hotspots.

 

[jenks]

Started cycling to work about 6 years ago and have never regretted it.

There is no law on helmets - however, i really do think you should. a friend of mine was recently knocked off and but for his helmet would now be in a PVS.

I tend to have clothes at work and get changed in a cupboard when i get there.

The only possible down side is that it can turn you into a biking obsessive - because of my commute i now own three bikes, am thinking of buying a fourth and am seriously considering riding up some alps next year!

 

[Lichen]

I bought a lovely Condor road bike pretty much half price through Cycle Scheme.

My commute has been reduced form 45 mins to 15 and the burst of exercise in the morning is invaluable.

 

[Grievous Angel]

Move to Sheffield, the hills will soon cure you of your habit!

I wouldn't cycle down Kingsland road - it's a bit of a newbie mistake IMO. I used to take the roads on the west side - much quicker and MUCH safer. Might be different now of course.

 

[tryptych]

RE helmets - I stopped wearing mine when it got hot, because it was making my head too sweaty.

According to my cycling obsessed housemate (he frequently spends his weekends doing 20 hr 400km non-races called audaxes - always amusing to hook up on a Sunday after we've both been awake all night ) studies have shown that:

1) Drivers subconsciously pay less attention to you and will get their cars closer to you if you are wearing a helmet.

2) In low speed collisions, wearing a helmet can actually make you come of worse

I don't have the figures to back these claims up, but they're handy lazy reasons not to wear a helmet. Wearing a helmet without it having a tight fit and the chinstrap properly fastened is asking for it - in my youth when I used to go mountain biking, I remember a rider not having his strap done up - the helmet rolled forward in a crash, and the wraparound shades he was wearing sliced right through the bridge of the nose, leaving it hanging off...

 

[john eden]

Move to Sheffield, the hills will soon cure you of your habit!

I wouldn't cycle down Kingsland road - it's a bit of a newbie mistake IMO. I used to take the roads on the west side - much quicker and MUCH safer. Might be different now of course.

Yeah the west side is what the route planner recommended.

http://maps.camdencyclists.org.uk/a...&center=51.54614822972842,-0.0757455825805664

 

[jenks]

RE helmets - I stopped wearing mine when it got hot, because it was making my head too sweaty.

According to my cycling obsessed housemate (he frequently spends his weekends doing 20 hr 400km non-races called audaxes - always amusing to hook up on a Sunday after we've both been awake all night ) studies have shown that:

1) Drivers subconsciously pay less attention to you and will get their cars closer to you if you are wearing a helmet.

2) In low speed collisions, wearing a helmet can actually make you come of worse

I don't have the figures to back these claims up, but they're handy lazy reasons not to wear a helmet. Wearing a helmet without it having a tight fit and the chinstrap properly fastened is asking for it - in my youth when I used to go mountain biking, I remember a rider not having his strap done up - the helmet rolled forward in a crash, and the wraparound shades he was wearing sliced right through the bridge of the nose, leaving it hanging off...

It's one of the longest standing arguments in the cycling community

People's opinions generally change after they have had an accident.

I tend to wear a cloth cycling cap underneath the helmet - it generally takes care of the sweat.

The cycle to work scheme is great if your employer can be convinced to do the paperwork - 1/2 price of your work bike is covered in the grant

 

[jenks]

Yeah the west side is what the route planner recommended.

http://maps.camdencyclists.org.uk/a...&center=51.54614822972842,-0.0757455825805664

Those TfL maps that are being given out free are excellent - there's about 10 of them and make cycling really easy.

Also last year the Mayor had a freecycle day and closed great big chunks of the city down for cyclists - i think they are planning something similar this year

 

[viktorvaughn]

It's one of the longest standing arguments in the cycling community

People's opinions generally change after they have had an accident.

I would like to hear more about it really. It is quite irritating having something clamped to your head but I think necessary.

 

[wonk_vitesse]

After cycling for a few years in an urban environment you learn a kind of 6th sense of awareness. I used to go really fast all the time. Now I realise where the danger points are and can read them and know where to slow. Anyone starting cycling in London should ride for an hour with an experienced cyclist and pickup on those danger points as they're quite easy to learn.


JUNCTIONS / LORRIES

 

[noel emits]

Good points.

Also pedestrians crossing without looking. You learn to spot legs moving behind parked cars. Don't expect anyone else to have any sense at all.

 

[DannyL]

People's opinions generally change after they have had an accident.

I don't cycle but if I was to going to, I'd wear a helmet. A friend of a friend was killed a few years back in a crash - rolled up onto the bonnet and banged her head on the windscreen. Would still be alive if she'd had a helment on.

 

[viktorvaughn]

After cycling for a few years in an urban environment you learn a kind of 6th sense of awareness. I used to go really fast all the time. Now I realise where the danger points are and can read them and know where to slow. Anyone starting cycling in London should ride for an hour with an experienced cyclist and pickup on those danger points as they're quite easy to learn.


JUNCTIONS / LORRIES

Yeah I think the safest thing to do is just build up as many hours experience as possible. You do learn what are hotspots, when you should have your fingers primed on the brakes etc don't you? I would definitely recommend getting experience with another cyclist.

 

[STN]

The bus I was on actually hit a cyclist on Monday. Totally the driver's fault and had the cyclist not managed to do a weird half-leap, half-roll onto the ground in front of her bike she would have been killed. I can now see why cyclists break red lights a lot.

 

[HMGovt’s Glorious Return!]

I get around on one of these. I go through Richmond Park on my way into the centre and it flattens the hills, counters headwinds and takes the slog out of long flat stretches, keeping my average speed up all the way. I know of no faster way to get across London in rush hour than on this thing.

Not for everyone, I know, but if you need to cycle 20++ miles a day and arrive fit to work, it's the business.

 

[HMGovt’s Glorious Return!]

Regarding cycle helmets, I never wear one, though I probably should, hooning along at 20mph or so.

But there is a clever argument against making it compulsory to wear a cycle helmet, and it is this: compulsory helmets would be yet another barrier to entry that would work against getting more cyclists on the road. The number of accidents including cyclists appears to be inversely proportional to the number of cyclists on the road. Why? Because where cyclists are very common, especially where they are the most numerous population of road users, motorists learn to taken them into account and drive accordingly as they expect to have to manoeuvre around them, make allowances at junctions, etc.

So, enforcing helmets might mean less cyclists on the road, which would mean more accidents per cyclist. Along with the evidence that motorists make less allowances for cyclists with helmets, that is not a good outcome.

 

[john eden]

But there is a clever argument against making it compulsory to wear a cycle helmet, and it is this: compulsory helmets would be yet another barrier to entry that would work against getting more cyclists on the road. The number of accidents including cyclists appears to be inversely proportional to the number of cyclists on the road. Why? Because where cyclists are very common, especially where they are the most numerous population of road users, motorists learn to taken them into account and drive accordingly as they expect to have to manoeuvre around them, make allowances at junctions, etc.

Sounds entirely plausible to me - interesting stuff!

Reminds me of the road humps argument (that it might reduce accidents, but actually makes life worse for people because it reduces air quality with all the slowing down and speeding up).

I had a pootle about last night and got about half way down my route to work and it seemed pretty good actually. Definitely thinking about it now, but will need a helmet...

 

[benjybars]

you are truly dumb in the facepiece if you don't ride to work in london!

commuting on public transport in london is NOT the one...

seriously, just do it.

 

[luka]

in sydney helmets are compulsory are there are NO cyclists on the road. none. not one.
the few people you see on bikes are weaving through pedestrians on the pavement.

 

[rockypoppy2]

i sometimes listened to music too. its really fun. probably not clever though. makes you get all hyped up and go fast and take even more risks than usual.

i cant actually cycle any more without my music

i used to be able to, now i just get bored - still, you can hear most traffic if you dont put the music ridiculously loud and it trains you to really perceive whats going on around you unless you wanna be flat on the floor

im amazed at how many cyclists i see that dont look behind them at all. I do a cursory glance every few seconds on a busy road, and definately when changing lanes - some people just dont though, weird

also, i think its probably worse to cycle slowly in london than not. i think that if you are more or less at traffic pace your chances of survival are better. its not every red light you can jump, some are safer than others, and some people are so slow getting out of the traffic lights, more bikes build up behind them - absolute recipe for disaster. keep it quick, focussed, no distractions.

if anything, i reckon music makes me focus more. maybe thats just denial.

EDIT- get yourself a nice garish windrunner. keeps you visible, and the wind simply parts away from you, a much nicer ride