Cycling in London on a Friday Night

[Jezston]

I'd planned to take my bike down to London with me this weekend but things have gotten a little complicated so am having second thoughts! Wondered if any of you could help settle my procrastination

Option A
Take bike on train down from Nottingham, arrive at St Pancras 8pm.
Lock bike up in apparently secure CCTV'd bike parking within Kings Cross station.
Meet friend at KX at 8:10pm and go for dinner.
Retrieve bike from KX at 11pm or so.
Ride to sister's bf's flat in Bermondsey to collect keys.
Ride from Bermondsey to Westminster and stay night at sister's flat.
Ride around by bike everywhere in Central London that weekend.

Option B
Take NO bike on train down from Nottingham, arrive at St Pancras 8pm
Meet friend at KX at 8:10pm and go for dinner.
Get tube from KX/Angel way out to High Barnet and stay at Mums.
Have to endure lengthy and expensive tube journeys to get in and out of town that weekend.

Hmm.

What would you do?

 

[4F]

What about option c

Leave your bike at home, hire a boris bike and stay at your sisters ?

 

[Matthames]

I would go with option C as well.

 

[Jezston]

Thanks for the suggestion, however I don't really get on with Boris Bikes. They don't seem to be able to fit me right. And I think I'd prefer to ride that journey on my bike than one of them!

 

[Fnaar]

Option A, deffo.

 

[Sittingduck]

Option B, gives more scope for Beerage....?

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Option A
Option C

and I'd be a bit leery about the post chucking out rides to and from Bermondsey if the bike is a nice one

 

[Norm]

Too late to be much use but I'd go with option C too. Boris bikes are a great way of getting around, IMO. They won't / don't / aren't meant to compare with stuff that we'd buy to ride ourselves but compared to walking or using the Underground, they are way ahead of the game.

 

[Red Light]

Too late to be much use but I'd go with option C too. Boris bikes are a great way of getting around, IMO. They won't / don't / aren't meant to compare with stuff that we'd buy to ride ourselves but compared to walking or using the Underground, they are way ahead of the game.

+1

 

[jon.mithe]

I would get an oyster pay as you go card and use that. Trips around central on oyster are £1.90 as opposed to £4 when paying by cash, also they lend themselves to an auto daily cap of £6.60. I.e. take 4 or more trips and your price per trip decreases. Buses also included / cheaper again. And you can use it on national rail to get out to weirder places.

 

[slowmotion]

Boris is your Man. "Take a Walk on the Mild Side"

 

[topcat1]

option D
take train get pissed have dinner
buy new bike ride around town and ride home

 

[Sleeping Menace]

Option A
Option C

and I'd be a bit leery about the post chucking out rides to and from Bermondsey if the bike is a nice one

+1.. if the bike is worth more than £5 .. then you don't want it anywhere near Bermondsey.

Either leave the bike home.. or borrow a complete POS bike.
I don't blame you on the Boris bikes.. They're like trying to shuttle around London on 35lb shopping trolley.. wretched pieces of equipment..

As much as I always try to see bikes / biking as an option.. just doesn't sound like bringing your bike fits all too well with your scheduled weekend..

........................
http://anotherdooratthe.endoftheinternet.org

Cycle related blog entries, including a few 5 minute reviews:
http://anotherdooratthe.endoftheinternet.org/category/cycling/

 

[Jezston]

Well I went with option A in the end and had a ball

Did a lot of riding around London, and it was mostly fun. Only had one incident where I had to raise my voice which was when a taxi overtook me very close on a lane that was narrowing as I rode up it.

Noticed that close passes and aggression were a lot more common than up here in the Midlands HOWEVER this was heavily mitigated by how slow everything was moving. I'd rather be close passed a foot away by a car moving at 20mph than be passed 3 feet away by a car moving at 50mph!