cycling to work in London

[hmg]

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.

This is the big advantage in london of having electric power, it amplifies your effort as you pull away from a standstill, into the open road. Steady pedalling will propel you up to 20mph easily and you can keep that up for miles and miles, at a pace that matches and exceeds the flow of city centre motor vehicles. Motor assist cancels out your mass, it's weightless cycling, which is at least as welcome as power steering and cruise control in a car.

 

[run_time]

love my ride to work...the mix of adrenalin and endorphins on the ride home is often the highlight of my day and has led to cycling becoming one of my extra curricular passions alongside music.

Would reaffirm the view that it is a good idea to cycle aggressively ie cycling at traffic speed and in the middle of the lane rather than in the gutter.

Big danger is overtaking on the inside, particularly with HGV as these are the ones that are going to flatten you and have major blind spots. The following gives you an idea of blind spots

http://www.movingtargetzine.com/forum/discussion/598/hgv-blind-spots-from-nozzer/

Gave me a wry grin when I found out that Hackney had been awarded best (or was it most improved) borough for cycling. something to do with the fact that public transport leaves something to be desired there.

 

[jenks]

iim 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

Yeah, i agree, the advice is always look around and try and make eye contact with the cars behind you - i started actively doing this about a year ago and I really noticed the fact that cars gave me more room and didn't try and overtake me on a bend quite so much.

Generally, i try and get to the front of the traffic on reds but do not jump most red lights as i am aware that this pisses people off far more than any direct befit i may accrue by getting ahead of the traffic.

Finally, i do wear a helmet and have heard all of the arguments aired here for not wearing one and they are all logical and quite persuasive but they are not as persuasive as hitting your head on the road - i have a cracked helmet (that i replaced) that reminds me of the damage that would have been done to my head if i hadn't been wearing a lid.

 

[viktorvaughn]

I'm well pleased at all the enthusiasm.

I've found you have to have a moderate level of agression (or at least assertiveness) to get the best out of it as well. Plus if you are right next to the curb and someone cuts you up there is nowhere to go...

And be very careful around lorrys and HGVs of course. I've only been cycling properly for a year though.

I got knocked of my bike on Holloway road and the guy didn't even get out of his car to see if I was ok - and I flew right over the handlebars! He was turning left though the bus lane to get down a little side road, so he basically didn't see me, though I guess I could have been checking more frequently over my right shoulder but you don't really expect to look up and see a car steering towards you. He just told me to fuck off and get my bike out of the road. What a cock, I can see how people get bike rage (I was totally fine fortunately).

 

[hmg]

Eye protection is at least as important as a helmet. There is nothing more distracting than having a bumblebee collide with your eyeball when you're going full pelt. Happened to me once, I felt my eyeball quivering with the shock of it. And when it's not flying insects, it's flakes of bus exhaust or dry, spiky bits of trees getting under your eyelids. If anything, decent glasses should be compulsory, not helmets.

 

[rockypoppy2]

what about those pollution masks, anyone wear one of them? buses and lorries are the worst to get stuck behind obviously but im not sure id ever get one

 

[john eden]

what about those pollution masks, anyone wear one of them? buses and lorries are the worst to get stuck behind obviously but im not sure id ever get one

I'm not convinced they are any good.

Plus I suspect people who wear them just reckon they look cool in a Mad Max road warrior stylee.

 

[tryptych]

I've found you have to have a moderate level of agression (or at least assertiveness) to get the best out of it as well. Plus if you are right next to the curb and someone cuts you up there is nowhere to go...

Some study recently found that men tend to have less accidents than women when cycling, and this was put down to a tendency to more aggressive cycling, including running red lights.

RE - Hackney being most improved borough for cycling - I pass a bus stop advert that proudly proclaims "London: built for cycling" on the way to work every day that always provides a cynical chuckle. I can't really imagine a city less built for cycling - those absurd short cycles lanes that go no where, or just start and end on a busy road, direct you over pavements and zebra crossings.

Cyclists are hard done by, especially by the motorists. I read that twat Captain Gatso complaining how all cyclists should be forced to have a registration number on a vest, so motorists could complain. yeah, maybe when a collision doesn't equal a broken limb for me and scratch on the paintwork for you, and you actually pay attention to the bit of the highway code that says bikes are entitled to take up as much room on the road as cars.

 

[rockypoppy2]

Captain Gatso

god that website is actually quite disgusting

"you're a mug if you pay speeding fines"

wtf? tell that to families of the victims of road collisions.

 

[IdleRich]

"I'm in the same situation actually, well my friend moved out of London and left his bike in my house."

Funny thing though, it suddenly struck me that I hadn't actually seen the bike that he had left for me which was a bit strange because my house aint that big. I saw the guy on Friday night as he was back in London for the weekend and I asked him where the bike actually was - turned out he had chained it to a railing on the pavement outside my house. I had a funny feeling that in the two months since it had been there it would have been stolen and or vandalised but I was very pleased to see that it was still there and fully intact when I got back on Friday night. Irritatingly enough though, when I went past it again on Sunday someone had nicked the front wheel - seems weird that in the two months I didn't know it was there no-one touched it and then the day after I find out where it was someone pinched part of it. Guess I'll be sticking to the bus for the near future.

 

[mos dan]

i swear i saw benjybars cycling down kingsland road yesterday afternoon.. all part of the cycling dissensian dalstontopia i guess

 

[benjybars]

i swear i saw benjybars cycling down kingsland road yesterday afternoon.. all part of the cycling dissensian dalstontopia i guess

was i going VERY slowly with a look of extreme pain etched on my face??

cos i would of been coming back from the Dunwich Dynamo at that time... 125 miles through the night... it's alot.. literally.

 

[bun-u]

I've been cycling to work for about six years and I'm completely addicted to it...I now loathe the occasuions when my bike's broke and I have to get the bus or tube.

I first did Hackney to New Cross, then Hackney to Bridge and now Hackney to Statford - all very different journeys (currently it's all viccy park and the greenway).

Music is a must...you generally shouldn't rely on your ears as a cyclist anyway, you'll get caught out if your not looking behind you checking for traffic. Also you start associating places with certain bits of music...the greenway is forever trim because I was listening to soulfood 3 with I started doing this journey. Although I'm currently listening to german tuition tapes and barking out german phrases to startled on-lookers.

Helmet is probably advised - I've had one accident in that time - car hit me after trying to beat a red light at a crossing, landed head first but was totally okay.

 

[luka]

bun u i never knew you started working in stratty... have you cycled down the greenway after dark yet? its fun.... specially the bit where you go down that slalom thing, you know where you get onto the greenway off stratford high street then you have to come off it and go under the railway....
i used to do stratford-romford or stratford-bethnal depnding on whether i was staying wiht my mum or my dad. thats a nice little ride. more or less a straight road with a little diversion round ilford.....

 

[bun-u]

bun u i never knew you started working in stratty... have you cycled down the greenway after dark yet? its fun.... specially the bit where you go down that slalom thing, you know where you get onto the greenway off stratford high street then you have to come off it and go under the railway....
i used to do stratford-romford or stratford-bethnal depnding on whether i was staying wiht my mum or my dad. thats a nice little ride. more or less a straight road with a little diversion round ilford.....

it was pretty quiet when I started doing it a few months ago, but now it's got all these little checkpoints onto the 2012 site, so there's all these suits walking along it now, them and all the wannabe psycho-geographers. Yeah the ramp is good to white-knuckle it down and hope that nobody is coming the other way. I like working it statford, quite an eventful place, though very very busy with people

 

[tryptych]

Music is a must...you generally shouldn't rely on your ears as a cyclist anyway, you'll get caught out if your not looking behind you checking for traffic. Also you start associating places with certain bits of music...the greenway is forever trim because I was listening to soulfood 3 with I started doing this journey. Although I'm currently listening to german tuition tapes and barking out german phrases to startled on-lookers.

Equally, I don't think relying on your eyes as a cyclist is good idea - i can think of loads of occasions I've been alerted to things by sounds, despite always looking around carefully

 

[Lichen]

One earbud in only.


Surely any other means is lunacy.

 

[dHarry]

buds don't drown out outside sound - if it's not too loud you can still hear traffic etc. imhc*o

*cyclist's

 

[woops]

there's all these suits walking along it now, them and all the wannabe psycho-geographers.

glad i had to f-off when i hear this

 

[rockypoppy2]

have you cycled down the greenway after dark yet? its fun.... specially the bit where you go down that slalom thing, you know where you get onto the greenway off stratford high street then you have to come off it and go under the railway....
.

omg so scary

i did this completely by accident a few months/year ago - just cycling randomly around hackney wick in winter and ended up on the greenway - totally pitch black. i definately had to turn the music off for that bit, if only to hear for other people

greenway is lovely