Sport & Fitness

The right way is the wrong way
Should more local councils allow cyclists to travel the wrong way down residential streets?

Motorbikes in cycle lanes
Is Boris's first bit of road legislation a recipe for suicidal disaster for London's cyclists?

Tykes on bikes
Is exposing children to the perils of London's traffic too dangerous?

Evading kamikaze jaywalkers
How to kick absent-minded pedestrians back to the kerb

How cyclists can beat the elements
Surely when the heavens open, it's time to leave the bike at home?

Why we need more cycle lanes
The Olympic Development Authority will be pumping ‘multi millions’ into new cycle lanes - but does the capital really need them?

Why headphones are for headcases
Why you need all your senses on two-wheeled trips around the capital.

How to beat bendy buses
Nothing strikes fear into the hearts of London's cyclists like Ken's bendy buses. Here's how to beat them.

To helmet or not to helmet?
It's unlikely to save your life in a full-on collision – so why bother?

How to cycle under the influence
Should there be a legal limit for cyclists?

Should cyclists pay road tax?
The state of London roads is diabolical - so should two-wheelers contribute to their maintenance?

How to ride the tube with a bike
The folding bikes that won't cause fuss on the underground

Why bike cops need to get busy
Hot-wheeling fuzz: eco-friendly patrol or overgrown prefects in gym kit?

What to wear on your bike
With sweat-proof merino wool tops, stylish headgear and reflective ankle cuffs, are London's cyclists trendier than ever?

When to jump red lights
Can running lights preserve a cyclist's safety?

Avoiding the couriers
Of the various cycle tribes in London, none are more wilfully offensive than cycle couriers. Learn their tricks.

When to ride on the pavement
Cycling on the pavement in London is illegal, but with so few cycle lanes and increasingly aggressive motorists, why adhere to a law that endangers you?

Where to leave your bike
With too few bicycle racks for too many cyclists, isn't it time the capital's pedal pushers we're allowed to lock their bikes to London's many railings?

How to ride the canals
How to beat the drinkers, dealers and dog walkers on London's canal paths.

When to ride on the pavement
City police have recently started targeting cyclists who jump lights or cycle on pavements. Their enthusiastic clampdown follows BBC1’s ‘Road Rage’ programme about reckless cyclists. For the most part, I try not to cycle on pavements, not least because it’s illegal. I also get annoyed when I see idiot pedallers scattering pedestrians like skittles with a two-wheeled swagger.

However, there is an exception: right at the end of Theobalds Road. In rush hour, I’m faced with Hobson’s choice: either join a busy and treacherous one-way system down to Holborn or take a hop, skip and a jump across the pavement in front of Central St Martins, over the lights and down Bloomsbury Way and rejoin the road at New Oxford Street. It’s generally quiet: if it were heavily peopled I’d walk my bike. Most pertinently, if there were adequate cycle lanes – proper sectioned-off areas that cars can’t drift into – in the busiest, most dangerous areas of town, I wouldn’t contemplate it.

In the meantime, I go slowly and don’t overtake pedestrians unless I can do so without them having to move to one side. By and large, this arrangement works well. I respect pedestrians’ superior claim to the pavement and they, barring the pinstriped cross-patch and his steel-tipped briefcase I once met, respect the fact I’m being considerate.

The stock response from cycle organisations to sticky legal issues like these is to blame the law breakers (ie people like me) for giving others a bad name. But why adhere to a law that endangers you? Fifty-three per cent of cycle collisions happened during rush hour last year according to Met figures. Until London recognises that, despite ads encouraging us to saddle up, facilities for cyclists are still substandard, those who bend the rules will remain a fact of life.

Route rating
Miles 1 (Theobalds Rd-New Oxford St).
Calories burned 36, but it all counts.
Pedestrians mown down 0.
Bendy buses avoided 4.

Where to leave your bike
In his column in The Times recently, Matthew Parris said that it would vastly improve life in his village if cheese wire were strung across the narrow lanes to garrotte passing cyclists. By way of retort, I have my own similar improvement for life in the city. I propose, equally in jest you understand, that all cyclists attach sharp objects to their spokes and ride like Boudicca along London’s thoroughfares, flaying the tendons and scratching the vehicles of anyone – black cabs, bendy buses, pedestrians stepping into the road – who makes life difficult for cyclists.

At the top of my hit list would be property owners who don’t allow you to lock your bike to their railings, particularly in light of Ken Livingstone’s latest proposed law to allow the forcible removal of all bikes left chained up. In theory it is their private property so they do have the right to do with it as they wish, but the decision to erect snide notices reading, ‘Bicycles left on these railings will be removed’ seems to me governed more by a knee-jerk, get-off-my-land attitude rather than any coherent reason.

Around St Paul’s Cathedral there is charity enough to allow bikes on the opposite side of the road. However the Royal Courts of Justice on the west end of Fleet Street have gone so far as to erect an additional barrier around the railings to make extra sure no one parks up. They say that bicycles left on the railings pose a security risk.

Further into town it gets worse. Down the Strand and around Bedford Street, Long Acre and Bow Street, the problem is exacerbated by too few bicycle racks for too many cyclists. Every lamp post available is festooned with bikes, while the wrought iron railings stand unadorned. Yet these doughty railings are quite the best street furniture for deterring thieves when a bike is secured to them with a decent lock. Famously, during World War II, many similar railings were removed and recycled for the war effort. How fitting for those premises to put their railings back into public service, this time aiding the city cyclist.

Route rating
Miles Two and a half.
Calories burned 120.
Security risks posed Possibly one.

How to ride the canals
London cyclists often eulogise Regent’s Canal – which runs from Paddington to Limehouse – as the best way to cross town. On the surface, it’s a good idea: the thought of arriving at your destination refreshed by bucolic birdsong certainly appeals. Yet beyond the illusion the canal holds some hidden tribulations. Canals are all about travelling at a leisurely pace, so why do some cyclists ride so fast? These idiotic nuts make passing through the numerous arches – where the towpath narrows to a knife-edge – more like a white-knuckle ride.

Heading west from Victoria Park, where the canal flanks the De Beauvoir estate in north London the territory becomes more feral, with silhouettes of burnt-out scooters – stolen, ridden and discarded – visible beneath the water’s surface. Still, it makes a change from round the back of King’s Cross where the canal ducks near Caledonian Road and street drinkers and drug dealers join the occasional fisherman by the water’s edge. Antisocial as these elements are, they can’t touch the biggest bête noir to cyclists, especially evident as you head towards Primrose Hill. It’s the self-righteous dog walker who refuses to believe, in spite of notices stationed along the canal stating it, that the path is for everyone – cyclists included. Ineed, the Regent’s Canal is one of the GLA’s designated cycle corridors. Perhaps by giving and receiving consideration in equal measure to other users, cyclists can all make it worthy of its name.

Route rating
Distance Six miles (Victoria Park to Primrose Hill).
Average cycle time 50 minutes.
Calories burned 350.
Dog leads entangled Three.


How to take the devil's own delivery men – London's couriers.
Earlier last week I was hailed by a neighbour as I was passing the Duke of York on Clerkenwell Road. For anyone who’s never passed it, the Duke of York is the couriers’ pub of choice.

Of the various cycle tribes in London, none are more wilfully offensive than cycle couriers. Case in point is their use of the Duke: while these urban gibbons are happy enough to cluster, whoop and drop litter on the pavement outside, their patronage doesn’t seem to extend to buying a drink there. Instead they shop at the offie a few doors down.

‘Just follow my lead,’ said my neighbour, a courier, when it was time for us to go home. Had I done as he suggested I would have jumped the red light at the busy Farringdon Road junction, and again at St John’s Street, ridden slap bang in the middle of Old Street, using my hands only to give the finger to other road users, and finally turned the wrong way into Columbia Road.

Bending the rules, which I sanction, is one thing: snapping them in half is another. When I quizzed him he justified his behaviour by saying that his take-no-prisoners attitude was a response to aggressive drivers who were in any case planet-wrecking bastards. Anarchic behaviour under the guise of protest is selfish and self-defeating.

It undercuts any reasonable debate or considered protest that London cyclists can make about poor conditions.

Route rating
Miles Four (but felt like ten, Clerkenwell Road to Columbia Road)
Average cycle time 20 minutes
Calories burned 180
Road rules flouted At least five


When is it OK to jump red lights?
Last week a motorist was sentenced to 21 months in jail for hitting and killing a cyclist after jumping the red lights in Hammersmith. In 2006, 18 cyclists died and 349 were seriously injured when cars collided with them. By comparison, there were 58 injuries, most deemed slight by Metropolitan Police figures, when cyclists collided with pedestrians. If a motorist jumps a red light and hits a pedestrian there’s every chance they’ll kill them. If a cyclist does it the unlucky victim will probably limp off with a few cuts and bruises. Light jumping is criminal for all but you cannot compare the two cases.

Jumping lights with good judgement can preserve your safety. Where’s the harm if a cyclist jumps a red light on a clear pedestrian crossing at a reasonable speed ? The benefit, stealing a march on the traffic, is immeasurable.

The green boxes at junctions are supposedly for this, but the few that there are in London might as well be printed with ‘please park here’ for all the notice some motorists take of them. This is particularly apparent weaving south through the city on busy Bishopsgate and continuing where the road narrows to become Gracechurch Street before you reach London Bridge.

Perhaps an amnesty would do the trick. We cyclists will stop jumping red lights if you motorists will stop hogging our space at junctions. Now that would be thinking outside the box.

Route rating
Miles 0.8 (Bishopsgate to London Bridge)
Calories burned 60
Road rules flouted No comment
Risks run Oddly, virtually none


Why do cyclists have to look so nerdy?
What exactly is sensible cycling attire? Trouser clips and a nylon mac? A kindergarten-coloured helmet and high-vis jacket? Pedal through Shoreditch on a Saturday night and you’ll see that the queens of the road around this part of town view the whole issue rather differently.
Riding off for an evening out dressed up to the nines with high heels to match may seem ridiculous (and dangerous) to cycling purists but it’s actually underpinned by practicality. It’s not love of fresh air, care for the environment or even keeping fit that governs them: it’s being too cash-strapped to fork out for a taxi in the face of lamentable transport links when heading north or east.

On five-inch peep toes, the totter to and from tube station or bus is a sole-burning nightmare. On a bike: problem solved! Head north on Hoxton Street round the Hyde Road roundabout, cross New North Road, duck through Arlington Square and round the elegant back streets on to Upper Street. Your feet will barely touch the ground.

Now designers of every ilk are seeing sense, too. The Wheels & Heels show on Columbia Road during London Fashion Week showed sweat-proof merino wool tops, stylish headgear and reflective ankle cuffs. At last, it seems, we’re leaving bad cycling fashion standing.

Route rating
Miles 1.6 (Hoxton Street to Upper Street).
Average cycle time 15 minutes.
Calories burned 70.
Current trends referenced 4.


Why bike cops need to get busy
Police on mountain bikes seem to pop up everywhere. The ethos behind hot-wheeling fuzz is sound: it benefits the environment more than a car or motorbike patrol and, by mingling with the people, this modern-day Dixon of Dock Green pushes the friendly face of policing. But police on pushbikes will always seem comical. So much of what defines the police as a force to be reckoned with is down to their uniform, of which vehicle, weapon and thousand-yard stare are all part. Denuded of the armoury of a car they seem punier and more vulnerable, less the hard men and women of the mean streets. Dressed in cycling helmets, police livery and yellow jackets, they look more like overgrown prefects in gym kit. The fact that they are most visible pedalling slowly around areas like Brick Lane telling other cyclists to dismount in the one-way zone doesn’t help.

Conversely, in pursuit of their quarry, their image is instantly more dynamic. Heading along Kingsland Road to Ridley Road market and down Dalston Lane towards the Pembury Estate on Pembury Road, patrol cars stall and grind to a halt but mountain bike cops can take the lead dodging speed bumps, using pavements, flying the wrong way down roads (police prerogative, I assume) and following thieves and drug dealers into estates with ease. If you haven’t seen this yet, live in hope. Could it be that ‘Pedal Power, The Action Movie’ is just around the corner?

Route rating
Route 0.5 miles (Kingsland Road to Pembury Road).
Calories burned 150 (if you’re part of a chase).
Street cred 0.


Taking bikes on the tube
This writer has been an avid road cyclist for the past 15 years. Or at least that was the case until last summer when I became overcome by irrational thoughts of death by bendy bus. So I put my prized Bianchi into storage and began a flirtation with a folding bike instead. The plan was to cut safely across Cricklewood’s Gladstone Park in north-west London to Dollis Hill tube, where I’d pick up the Jubilee Line to Bond Street and change to the Central Line for the two-stop trip to our offices in Tottenham Court Road. Frankly, I haven’t looked back.

As a rule, non-folding bikes are restricted to surface lines outside peak times. Folding bicycles, though, are permitted on any part of the tube, and at any time. Most folding bikes will be suitable for off-peak periods. Where it gets tricky is in the middle of rush hour, which is when you’re most likely to be travelling. From personal experience, folding bikes with protruding handlebars and pedals do not go down well with testy passengers, especially if it’s standing room only. With that in mind – and having ridden and reviewed every folding bike on the market – I’ve narrowed the choice down to two models that will cause neither embarrassment nor stress during rush-hour travel: the Brompton (www.brompton.co.uk) and Mobiky (www.foldingbikes.co.uk). Both of these bikes fold into tidy packages that take up no more room than a small suitcase. Derek Adams

Route rating
Miles 7 miles in all; 1.5 miles by bike.
Average cycle time 8 mins.
Calories burned Around 50.
Hacked off commuters None.


Why cyclists don’t pay road tax
A ride into town this week nearly derailed me. For once it wasn’t a car – the culprit was the route itself. Heading into Covent Garden along Kemble Street I just about negotiated the undulating patchwork effect that passes for a road but on Bow Street a giant chasm that seemed to open beneath my wheels nearly sent me flying. Advice from cycling organisations when faced with pot holes is along the lines of: ‘Don’t swerve to avoid it, stay on course but raise up out of your saddle.’ To recap: faced with a sizeable hole in the road I should head towards it full throttle, pausing only to destabilise myself further first.

I managed to stay the course but the chippy octogenarian in my block of flats got short shift later that day when she commented, ‘You lot should pay road tax, you know.’

The state of London roads is diabolical. My bike contributes less to this deterioration than anything else yet I suffer much more than any car.
More pertinently, ‘road tax’ was abolished in 1936. Its replacement, the Vehicle Excise Duty, is based on carbon emissions. Vehicles (eg bikes) emitting less than 100g of carbon dioxide per km are exempt. Frankly, in light of the damage I think the stratification should be taken further: road-wearing vehicles, lorries and Chelsea tractors alike should actually pay us cyclists. Just make those cheques out to ‘Pedal Pusher’. Fiona McAuslan

Route rating
Route 0.25 miles (Kemble St to Bow St)
Calories burned 15.
Potholes swerved Half a dozen.
#

Cycling under the influence
I would generally never set out to cycle in a state other than stone sober. But the other night one drink turned into several and suddenly I was following my friends back to theirs for ‘one for the road’.

It’s a long way from Piccadilly to Clapham, yet we sailed across Green Park, round Buckingham Palace over Chelsea Bridge and through the mean streets of south London in half the time, fuelled by the giddy power of alcohol.

Strangely, there’s actually no legal limit for cyclists. There’s a charge for being found ‘drunk in charge of a pedal cycle, carriage or animal’(drunken dog walkers tread with care) but you have to be obviously incapacitated. Theoretically, you can’t even be arrested on the spot for this as it’s a summons-only charge but, as the police tend to treat drunks as emergency health cases these days, you and your bike run the risk of being bundled into the back of an ambulance and ferried off to the nearest A&E.

More sobering thoughts come from studies at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, US, which found that a single drink increases cyclists’ risk of death or serious injury by five times. And, because riding a bicycle requires greater coordination than driving a car, the danger rises dramatically with alcohol intake. Having five drinks before riding your bike increases the risk a whopping 20 times. Strangely they don’t mention the increased invincibility and warm glow.

Route rating
Miles 4.6 (Piccadilly to Clapham).
Average cycle time A fleeting 20 mins.
Calories burned 170.
White wine consumed 4 glasses.


To helmet or not to helmet?
I started using my chrome-look BMX bikers’ helmet the year a hot-headed motorist clipped my back wheel and knocked me into the gutter on Upper Street on my journey north from City Road to St John’s Villas in Archway. She was eventually charged with dangerous driving and I ended up with a cut over my left brow, which bled dramatic drops of crimson all the way to University College London Hospital A&E on Euston Road, and a black eye the colour of a ripe aubergine. A helmet would have saved me from both.

However, while bike helmets are good for low-speed falls like mine, the debate about how well they protect your head during a full-on collision has raged since their introduction in the 1970s.

Objectors say that not only do they offer minimal protection, but an ill-fitting helmet can actually cause serious neck injuries in a crash. Add to that the University of Bath study which discovered that drivers are actually less careful around helmet-wearing cyclists (believing them to be more experienced road users) than those without, and my chrome dome starts to look less shiny.

The London Cycling Campaign refrains from promoting the use of a helmet but does offer useful advice for anyone wanting to buy one. For my part I’ll stick with mine – even if it does provoke people to compare me to Barbarella and Dusty Bin in one fell swoop. Fiona McAuslan

Route rating
Intended route 3.09 miles (City Road to St John’s Villas)
Actual route 1.9 miles (City Road to UCLH A&E part by ambulance)
Treatment received Butterfly stitches to head. Rump steak to eye.


How to beat bendy buses
So, bendy buses will face the wall if any number of mayoral candidates have their way. Though I suspect the candidates of political opportunism, while cycling the route of the 38 along Essex Road this morning, I find myself agreeing with them. It seems that the transport genius behind bendies cared little for the safety or comfort of cyclists. Rounding Holborn is perilous in itself. But the problem is particularly bad heading west on New Oxford Street towards the turning for Tottenham Court Road. Because driver visibility on the left of the bus does not extend along its entire length, I’m forced into the centre of the traffic lane instead of the safe left-hand side.

Then the dreaded moment arrives: up ahead I see another bendy approaching. Marooned in the centre I try to speed up to outflank the first bus before the second bus reaches me. Too late! Sandwiched between the two, sunlight vanishes in a seemingly endless red wall of doom. For bendy buses the margin for error on London’s narrow roads is hairline thin. While a shorter style of bus gives cyclists the option of speeding up or dropping back to avoid being trapped, the length of a bendy bus does not. And when you consider the consequences if a careless bus driver were to narrow the gap even further, it’s no surprise that cyclists are so keen to see the back end of this bus.

Route rating
Miles 3.1 (Essex Rd to Tottenham Court Rd).
Average cycle time 30 mins.
Calories burned Around 180.
Metres of buses dodged 36 end to end.


Why headphones are for headcases
For all the things I love about cycling to work, there’s something that the bus ride has that two wheels doesn’t. On the days when rain drives me onto public transport, the 45-minute time capsule in which I can listen to music or read a book is an oasis. It’s technically possible to listen to music or even a podcast book while cycling but it’s anything but wise.

Cycling along Highbury Corner on to Liverpool Road on my way to Camden recently, I noticed tell-tale twin wires hanging from the ears of a fellow cyclist – and the accompanying glazed look of one who has plugged into their own private soundtrack and unplugged themselves from the reality of their immediate surrounds.

A decent tune may enliven the commute but any sort of diversion on a bike is far more dangerous than it is for other types of road users. A cyclist’s hearing is a crucial sense, second only to sight. Out on the road, you hear the engine behind you long before you turn and see it. You can tell from the nuance of its rumble and chug whether a Mini or a bus is about to outflank you – and thus what your next move should be.

A cyclist who is giving less than their full attention to the road is a danger to all those around them, not just themselves. Personal stereos
give you the means to opt out of the space you’re in, but to do so in the middle of a road is the pinnacle of dangerous stupidity and selfishness.
Fiona McAuslan

Route rating
Miles 2 miles (Highbury Corner to Camden Rd)
Average cycle time 25 mins
Calories burned Around 200
Playlists scorned while sitting on public transport Two


Why we need more cycle lanes
As I pull out from the cycle lane on Amwell Street into the busy stream of traffic because of an illegally parked van, the news last week that the Olympic Development Authority will be pumping ‘multi millions’ into new cycle lanes in the capital couldn’t be more welcome. Although they will only concentrate on the areas to and from the Olympic sites, anything that improves the situation gets my seal of approval. Those thin green pathways visible on far too few roads are a woeful excuse for the joined-up network of routes to which cyclists should be entitled.

Because nothing but a painted white line segregates the cycle lane from the rest of the traffic, it’s all too easy for motorists to drift on to them squeezing us cyclists into the gutter. What is needed is a fortification of low-level bollards to repel the invaders or at the very least a raised pavement-style trim beyond which their wheels cannot pass.

A perfect example of how well a properly protected cycle lane can work is in gentle Bloomsbury, particularly on Montague Street and Bedford Place, where cyclists glide in single file on their side of the divide with motorists on the other. Here, with a place for everyone and everyone in their place, there is a natural harmony to which road users in other parts of the city can only aspire. Fiona McAuslan

Route rating
Miles 1.3 (Amwell St to Montague St)
Calories burned 50
Obstacles negotiated Four


How cyclists can beat the elements
The smugness with which a certain type of cyclist proclaims ‘There’s no such thing as bad weather – just bad clothing’ makes me want to knock them off their waterproof perch. The merest wisp of precipitation, and out comes the bin-bag couture of nylon trousers, foul-weather cagoule and waterproof haversack. It’s not just water that they repel – all notions of style go flying too.

If I suspect a deluge, I’ll often skip the pedal power for the day and take public transport. But as soon as I climb aboard a bus that’s sluggishly lurching into town I realise it’s a false economy: traffic is always ten times worse when it rains during rush hour, as everyone else tries to dodge the puddles too.

A downpour certainly makes cycling less than pleasant, particularly along Hackney Road and Cambridge Heath Road towards Clapton, where the runoff gathers in filthy roadside pools through which cyclists must plough. But considering the average cycle time is only 22 minutes for a four-mile London journey, perhaps I should aim to be more robust. And for all the rain it appears to suffer, London actually only had 116 days of rain last year. Since a heavy downpour never seems to last longer than 20 minutes, the best solution is to wait it out. For fair- and foul-weather cyclists alike, that’s blue-sky thinking.

Route rating
Miles 3.4 Hackney Rd to Clapton Rd
Average cycle time 15 mins
Calories burned 144
Times splashed 37


Evading kamikaze jaywalkers
There’s a new menace on London’s streets. It appears to be most prevalent along Kingsland Road, which I cycled along recently on my way north to Stoke Newington Church Street, but I am sure it exists in other areas that are just as ‘vibrant’, as the estate agents would have it.

Adorned with chains of gold, this reckless urban male lurks by the side of the road, swaying languidly in the breeze like a gilded triffid, waiting for the cyclist’s approach.

He casts a sly glance to gauge your distance, and then, with something between a slope and a swagger, he’s off. With his eyes trained firmly on the pavement opposite, his loping gait takes him directly into your path, forcing you to veer dangerously off course.

This is not the absent-minded pedestrian who blunders into the road without checking the traffic first. These jaywalkers are engaging in a militant act. It is the pedestrian equivalent of a dog peeing up a tree: the jaywalker is saying ‘actually I do own the road, and I’m going to let you know it’. No one in the Green Cross Tufty Club was ever so blasé.

The most satisfying response would be to hold my course and plough ahead regardless. But fear of swift and violent retribution stays my handlebars. So far, the furious tinkle of my Miss Marple bell hasn’t been half as effective.

Route rating
Miles 2.8 (Kingsland Rd to Stoke Newington Church St)
Average cycle time 30 mins
Calories burned Around 210
Jaywalker collisions None, regrettably


Tykes on bikes
Cycling up Stoke Newington Church Street on my way to Clissold Park to take advantage of a rare dose of sunshine, I find myself surrounded by bikes sporting London’s most placid cycle accessory: the child seat. Balanced on their cross bar seats like little Crocs-wearing mascots, or stowed behind the rider, pint-sized passengers seem all the rage on Stokie High Street. Occasionally you even see the real mavericks go by, their kids immured in a trailer buggy attachment: the north London equivalent of the Caravan Club.

Critics might say that exposing small children to the perils of the capital’s traffic is irresponsible and dangerous. But there are actually so few incidents of road accidents involving children in child seats that the Department for Transport doesn’t even have a separate category for records. By contrast there were 1,802 severe injuries to four year olds and under from car accidents in 2006 compared to 54 cycle accidents in the UK.

Not only is it statistically safe for children to travel by bike, it also gives them valuable experience of how to handle themselves on two wheels. What better way for them to learn about tribulations of London’s byways than listening to an irate parent swear with fury at yet another inconsiderate driver? Fiona McAuslan

Route rating
Miles 3.1 miles (Horatio St to Clissold Park).
Average cycle time 35 mins (leisurely Sunday pace).
Calories burned 254.
Children spied 5.
#

Motorbikes in cycle lanes
Boris on a bike was a conspicuous sight on the recent mayoral campaign trail. This ‘man of the people’ stance now stands (or rides) rather at odds with one of the first pieces of legislation likely to be passed, which would allow motorbikes to drive in cycle lanes to aid their safety on the road. This is despite the advice of cycling organisations like London Cycling Campaign, which points out that motorcycles are involved in a greater proportion of collisions per kilometre with cyclists than cars.

It’s not just the size of other vehicles that presents problems, it’s also their speed. Sailing along the cycle lane on Bloomsbury Way towards Theobalds Road, I’m confident I can avoid collisions with the relatively slow moving buses in my lane. It’s where the cycle lane vanishes at the junction with Farringdon Road and all vehicles proceed up the incline towards Britton Street that it all goes to pot. With my commuter bike and its Cheerio-sized wheels, I start lagging behind and have to contend with motorcycles pulling out and weaving in front of me for the rest of the ride. In a cycle lane with little room to swerve away, this would be a suicidal slalom. There are few enough places were cyclists’ rights are sacrosanct, but a cycle lane should be inviolate. Fiona McAuslan

Route rating
Miles 1 (Bloomsbury Way to Britton St)
Average cycle time 10mins
Calories burned 102
Swerves pulled 3


The right way is the wrong way
Kensington & Chelsea Borough Council has just introduced a measure to allow cyclists to travel the wrong way down selected residential streets in the borough. Given that the Department for Transport made provision for boroughs to do this, subject to its approval of each case, back in 1995, it’s surprising that it’s not better used throughout London where so many cycle-friendly directives fall into the all-mouth-no-trousers category.

I rarely go to K&C: geographically and demographically it’s several removes from Hackney, but I’ve taken it upon myself to adopt the practice in the areas I do travel through – regardless of whether it’s been legalised or not. This works particularly well on my way home to Clapton. Heading down towards Chatsworth Road from Lower Clapton Road, the tangle of leafy streets has been subjected to the most ham-fisted traffic direction with one-way designations handed out seemingly at random. Turning down Blurton Road allows me to take the path of least resistance to the bottom of  the hill.

The approaching cars are slowed by speed bumps and have ample time to see me; the road is wide enough to accommodate us all and I get down the hill quick sticks. It might not be entirely legal, but it’s a harmless perk of being
a cyclist. Fiona McAuslan

Route rating
Miles 5.9 (Tottenham Court Rd to Chatsworth Rd)
Average cycle time 45 mins
Calories burned 446 (most of a cheese-and-ham sandwich)
Wrong ways taken 1