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| What were they thinking? |
Get a fix on the move
When the inevitable breakdown comes, rather than lugging your bike to a repair shop, you can book a mechanic through Fluidcycles
(020 7021 0742/www.fluidcycles.co.uk). They’ll come out to anywhere in
Zone 1 to make minor repairs (£25 for a half-hour call-out) or give
your bike a service (from £45). Prices don’t include parts.
Buy the essentials
A decent waterproof jacket is a must – the best you can afford. Go for one which will pack down small, nothing too bulky or padded, or you’ll get too hot, even in the middle of winter. Gor-tex is the best breathable jacket material to go for, but it’s also the most expensive. Gloves (fingerless mitts in summer and full-fingered thermal/ waterproof in winter) stop your hands slipping in the rain and prevent your palms turning into rhino hide. Buy a pair with padding in the palms – this will absorb some of the shock from bumpy roads and the resulting impact on your wrists. They will also protect your hands in a fall. A rear mudguard will protect you from road spray, which contains oil and dirt and will ruin your clothing rapidly. If you need to carry things, a cheap set of panniers (bags that go over the rear wheels) will save you from a sweaty back in the office. Bear in mind that some panniers have been stolen by moped-riding thieves, so find some way of securing the panniers before setting out. Finally, a pair of decent flashing LED lamps are absolutely essential, especially when autumn arrives. Cateye is a reliable brand but for sheer brightness on both ends. If you’re after a super-bright headlamp, then few can touch Light & Motion’s justifiably pricey Vega.
Expert tip
‘Face masks don’t protect from the greatest pollutant threat to a
cyclist’s health: sub-microscopic soot particles, known as PM10s,
produced by diesel combustion. Unfortunately, few masks are effective
and PM10s are too minute to be caught by filters.’
Matt Seaton, author of ‘On Your Bike: The Complete Guide to Cycling’ (Black Dog Publishing).
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| Ever get the feeling that cycle lanes are planned by people who don't cycle? |
Keep an eye out for cars…
Drivers
of just-parked cars rarely look for cyclists before opening their
doors. Try and ride a metre wide of parked cars, just in case. Cars
turning left at traffic lights only seem to signal about 75 per cent of
the time, and it’s very easy to get stuck inside them as they’re about
to turn. Never assume the driver at a junction has seen you. Look for
the whites of their eyes!
And motorbikes… Cars stuck in stationary traffic tend to let other vehicles through into side roads. Slow right down as you approach a gap in traffic and always assume a speeding motorbike is about to cross your path.
And lorries… Drivers
of trucks don’t always see cyclists. Never ride up the inside of an
articulated lorry or bus, especially when approaching a junction. You
might get squashed should it decide to turn left.
Brake dance
Always
ride with a couple of fingers over the brakes. You might not have the
extra couple of seconds it will take to get your hands in place. Also,
avoid painted road markings when riding in the wet, and occasionally
apply your brakes to purge water from the rims.
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8 comments
UrbanCycleChic.com : bike fashion, velo vogue and bike porn. Bespoke recycled bike advocacy and boutique. Fix it, bling it, flaunt it - join the catwalk on wheels. Fixed, Dutch, road or dumpster? It's just an everyday way of getting around your urban playground, in everyday clothes. Beat the traffic, beat the credit crunch and be inspired.
Re: 'myth 2', the main thing to remember about is that almost all with-flow bus lanes are open to cycles, whereas many contra-flow bus lanes, eg Piccadilly westbound, are not. (Tip: Jermyn Street makes a good alternative to Piccadilly if you're heading west).
Moving to London in September and I plan to bike as my primary mode of transport. Great article! Great advice! Thank you!
I do however worry about the rain. Can anyone recommend proper attire for riding in such conditions? May sound like a silly question, but I've ridden my bike for years in the desert southwest of the United States. Not used to rainy weather. Thank you brothers and sisters.
Peace.
Brian
James Ivy, great tip!
About cycling in the Netherlands, it's more comfortable because it has always been a policy to create a good infrastructure in the Netherlands in the biggest part of the country. It's about much more than only segregated cycycle paths although they are very important indeed!
Other factors which are very important:
1. Limiting the distance to work, shops and recreation
2. Limiting cars in cities
3. Limiting the cross sections for cyclists
4. Choosing for a specific design of roads to limit the number of cross sections
Etcetera
Here is some interesting reading material in Englisch, from the Dutch government: www.fietsberaad.nl/library/repository/bestanden/Cycling %20in%20the%20Netherlands%20VenW.pdf
This literature has been written because they got a lot of questions from foreign governments. It should be olibgated lecture for every urban architect and traffiic politician.
Greets to Eugenie in the NL! Some London councils DO offer FREE cycling lessons aimed all levels of cyclist. Check your local council website, and then go and learn how to play with the multi-lane interchanges! Having last lived in London pre-congestion charge, it was really useful to take up the offer on moving back, as a kind of inner-city cycling refresher course.
Eugenie has one great advantage in the NL as a cyclist - right of way over cars and trucks. A great discovery as a Brit! And with all those segregated cycle paths, no wonder my colleagues there were so chilled. My London commute has different pleasures I guess (namely adrenalin!)
But she is right about the value of the police booking cyclists too: you don't forget your lights often if it's going to cost you 40 Euros each time! That said, having recently being pulled up by a PCSO, for pushing my bike onto the road outside Vict Station, and then getting on to it, the signage needs to be a lot clearer! Apparently this quiet corner of tarmac, with good visibility, controlled by traffic lights, constituted part of the bus station, not the road (??!!!), and was therefore private!
Red lights, are however stop lights, world wide.
An excellent article, very informative and good to read. A great beginner's guide too. Regarding stopping at the lights… I've been cycling for 25 years – no accidents – and have found the safest option is to get away before the traffic behind. If that means me going through a red light then so be it – as long as you still give pedestrians right of way. The cars behind are more of a danger to me than I am to anyone else. By hoing through the lights I don't mean flying tthrough with abandon. Either cross from a standstill – having watched for crossing traffic – or slow down to walking pace before continuing across th junction. You'll live longer that way
I ride a recumbent trike in London a lot, I see all sorts of things and can give the following comments.
Cyclists should stop at red lights, most do but some fools don't, the rest of us get a bad name from them.
Pedestrians are all blind, especially in Docklands and Canary Wharf, they will happily step out in front of a cyclist after first making eye contact, they object to suffering physical contact due to their stupidity.
Cyclists should note hackney licence numbers of any cabs that cut them up, it's actually quite rare, I get a lot of respect from black cabs in general.
Police cars will knock you off your bike, the drivers are blind.
Bus drivers are blind and below average intelligence, make allowances, buses can squish cyclists and not notice.
Don't cycle on pavements and abuse pedestrians, cyclists that do this should be clubbed to death, if I am walking and this happens to me I always make the cyclists get off.
Use lights at night, there is no excuse.
Some cycle lanes are good, most are not, ride the road when the lanes are naff.
Ride a recumbent, it's more comfortable, I think most of the problem cyclists are just miserable because of the extreme pain of having an axe head to sit on.
Love the articles. Have been riding in London for years and worked at Condor. Now back in Holland. Just one thing what I have noticed since July 7: there are more and more cyclists on London roads (positive, of course!), but most "7-July-riders" (as I call them) could do with traffic lessons as many just don't seem to know how to handle traffic (or stop signs!) in London. They are not only endangering themselves but also other cyclists. Maybe Ken should, beside creating a decent cycle network by people who actually know what they are doing, also offer some free lessons for Londoners (or otherwise the Police should be stricter and book them!). Greetings from Amsterdam!