Respect to the London boys and girls

[Gooner Mad Dog]

In London I think it looks more scary than it really is I whiz round parliament square twice daily with my union jack flying behind, drivers in London are mostly bike savvy, and quite often they have have to sucumb to the sheer numbers as pedal power boxes them in, calms them etc They cant speed off anywhere we will catch them at the next lights and more likely ovetake take them cyclists in provincial towns can be abused by a white van man and he's away in 5 mins, miles away, here in "el-capita-smokio" that isnt case!!

 

[MissTillyFlop]

I have to agree with it not being as bad as it seems - drivers in London are used to sharing the road with cyclists and although you do get a few, terrifying exceptions (let's call them "taxis"), the majority of drivers are absolutely fine.

Also, although they're not ideal, the profusion of bus and cycle lanes helps a great deal, whereas you don't seem to get as many in other towns and cities.

 

[defy-one]

Zone 3 and inwards is fine. It's in the suburbs (particularly on a Friday afternoon - when there are dozens of hairy ars*d builders speeding their way home, so they can get down the pub and neck 6 pints of Stella before fighting) that you get the worst of it.

My plan for the Olympics is to park the car for cheap in zone 3 and cycle the rest. If it works,i may make it a permanent arrangement.
Have a tatty 10 year old hybrid sitting around that could be permanently looked up there.
What do you think?

 

[Sittingduck]

Go for it!

 

[martint235]

Go for it!

Nah get a road bike and cycle the whole way in.

 

[defy-one]

Nah get a road bike and cycle the whole way in.

Iver/uxbridge to London is around 25 miles,but i don't work at one base. Usually striaght to customers to fix their systems. Could do zone 1 though.

 

[Lancj1]

What's a "not proper" bike look like then? I use both my bikes for commuting depending on how I feel although the cost of replacing Lelly means that the Giant tends to commute more I'd still say both are proper bikes.

Hmm I was meaning my observation as a positive thing. I would say the bikes looked like factory workers coming off a night shift rather than a pretty girl clocking into a building society...

 

[cyberknight]

Pah !!
get these city boys dodging cow + sheep shite on country lanes

 

[subaqua]

My plan for the Olympics is to park the car for cheap in zone 3 and cycle the rest. If it works,i may make it a permanent arrangement.
Have a tatty 10 year old hybrid sitting around that could be permanently looked up there.
What do you think?

good luck in finding cheap parking in zone 3 !!!

OOI whereabouts in zone 3, over this side there is a huge Olympic CPZ for residents only with a limited number of visitors permits available to residents.

 

[Red Light]

My plan for the Olympics is to park the car for cheap in zone 3 and cycle the rest. If it works,i may make it a permanent arrangement.
Have a tatty 10 year old hybrid sitting around that could be permanently looked up there.
What do you think?

Get a Brommie and take the train in.

 

[defy-one]

I'm thinking zone 3 to the west, Acton,Ealing common or Chiswick. If that doesn't work then plan B is train to Paddington and cycle all day
We have a satelite office behind kings x and mgmt are talking about hiring 4 pool cars. I don't see how that's going to help us????

 

[subaqua]

Really? Darn

Looks like train to Paddington and then cycle all day will be my reality.
We have a satelite office behind kings x and mgmt are talking about hiring 4 pool cars. I don't see how that's going to help us????

forget about driving. get a cycle with panniers. (waterproof ones this is the british summer). i have provisionally accepted a new role in the same company that involves multiple sites and have invested in a new bike and paniers , i could have just bought panniers and fitted them to one of the other bikes but it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

cycling beats cars in central london hands down.

 

[Red Light]

cycling beats cars in central london hands down.

+1 And it beats all other forms of transport in Central London hands down too. Quicker, easier and more enjoyable than cars, buses, taxis or the Tube IMO.

 

[subaqua]

+1 And it beats all other forms of transport in Central London hands down too. Quicker, easier and more enjoyable than cars, buses, taxis or the Tube IMO.

on thursday me and my line manager needed to go from our new project to the old project on the olympic park for a handover meeting. i had ridden in to London bridge in the morning and said i would go by bike as it meant i could go home straight after. He used the tube, I beat him by a good 20 minutes .

i moved the ofice across the week previous and used the tube to take my desk drawer contents and PC . i remembered why i cycle in that day.

 

[Red Light]

on thursday me and my line manager needed to go from our new project to the old project on the olympic park for a handover meeting. i had ridden in to London bridge in the morning and said i would go by bike as it meant i could go home straight after. He used the tube, I beat him by a good 20 minutes .

i moved the ofice across the week previous and used the tube to take my desk drawer contents and PC . i remembered why i cycle in that day.

I cycle a lot between meetings in London and have never yet arrived after colleagues travelling by taxi, Tube or (very rarely) bus. I often get an earlier train home or back to the office afterwards too.