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If I was 20 again I rather be in London than the Lakes for sure...I'd be drippin' in minge, **** the biking.
I tried to help London, but London wasn't willing to listen.
What did you do, to 'try and help'?
Maybe you just came here, like so many others, expecting the streets to be paved in gold, and found instead dogshit.
I could probbly slag London off more than any of youse could manage. But I instead prefer to be positive. London as a city has stagnated, and is slowly rebuilding itself. Not always for the good, but overall, the London I know now, is a better London than when I was a child. Having spent 37 years here, I'd say that gives me a pretty good idea of what change has actually occured, than some outsider who's only seen a small fraction of it, for a relatively short period of time. Sody; I know loads of people who work hard to make this city a better place. Work that many people just don't see, or appreciate. Comments like yours are hardly encouraging or respectful.
If you don't like it here, **** off back where you belong...
Or, if you want to be a little less reactionary;
If it's not the place you dreamed of, or you feel it hasn't got what you want, then try elsewhere. Staying here isn't going to make you any happier, is it?
A mate of mine moved back to North Wales, after living here for years. He's happier up there now, and good luck to him. Means I get somewhere to stay, when I want to go biking there!
Can't it just be enough that London is an interesting place with some great nightlife, culture etc, rather than having to pretend that it's also scenically stunning and a mountain biking mecca as well?
I don't think anyone is pretending it's some kind of mountain biking mecca...
What did you do, to 'try and help'?
More than you. I can accept it's failings, and criticise them. Which you have to be dragged backwards through a hedge to recognise.(sorry, Rural metaphor). I've only been here since 1993 (bar a few years in the colonies). Not long enough for you? Will I always be an outsider in this great, welcoming, multiculti, metropolis?
And as far as the streets paved with gold? Please, you can patronise others here if you like, but your'e not in a position to patronise me. I think you know that.
My comments are probably a hell of a lot more realistic than your Mayors office bullshit, and you know that. You also know that I've worked shittier jobs in London with your downtrodden Londoners than your soft little fingers could even contemplate of. I'd love to hear of your time sweeping the streets of Woodford Green for a living. Or even washing dishes. So please, don't give me that crap. I actually know what I'm talking about. Spare me the lecture this time. You're not in any position to decide what is respectful and what is not. The fact that you were born here doesn't give you exhalted status as a Londoner son, I've been here since I was 18, without any family to lie back on.
You know what? you need to try and listen to people with a different experience of life than your own. You may just learn something, and stop being so reactionary to different opinions.
Cheeze, chill out...
Will I always be an outsider in this great, welcoming, multiculti, metropolis?
Only if you want to be.
(BTW; YGM)
Ok, embrace me with your open arms O'London town..."is it ok if I point what is shit about you, or will I be told to bugger off home?"
Really RudeBoy, listening is a skill. Sometimes it has to be worked on. Constructive criticism is invaluble. It's worth more than a quid. Ambivalence is natural, human nature. And it's a bigger world out there than you seem to realise sometimes.
And it's a bigger world out there than you seem to realise sometimes.
It is indeed a bigger World than I can even imagine...
I won't pretend I'm some World-weary traveller, who's had amazing experiences in far flung places. There are the odd occasions where I wonder if I should've gone abroad a bit more, maybe even tried living elsewhere for a bit, just to gain an outside perspective, if nothing else.
London's not the most perfect place on Earth (not that such a place could even exist anyway), I've never suggested that. It's dirty, smelly and full of Cs. But it's also got it's good points, loads of them.
I never tire of the place, I'm always up for seeing more of it, learning new things. And I love being part of it all. I'm sorry if you can't see things in the same way, and as I've said, it's not for everyone. It has many failings, but which huge city hasn't?
I disagree with some of your views on London. IMO, as someone who probbly has seen more of it than most, I feel I have the right to disagree, and also defend my Home. I'm sure you can appreciate that. So, slag it off all you like; don't expect me to agree with you.
Look; beautiful:
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I see poverty and a nun...
Don't do it man! How many wednesday evening rides down jacobs ladder are you going to get in London...?
try south east as far out as you can get as after zone 6 you have the green belt/kent/northdowns which is ok for evening hacks etc
pypdjl knows the score. Our Wednesday night rides in the north do rule.
I'm still working hard on the assumption that it won't happen, but if it does it's good to see that there are some Londoners down there that are properly into the riding. And to those who offered, yes I will be giving you a call if I do end up down there...
I have to say, it would have to be a pretty special person to convince me to live in London.
Maybe that's why you are happier to live there than a lot of people on here then Rudeboy? For a lot of us here mountainbiking and easy access to proper countryside IS pretty much the be-all and end-all of our lives. I live right at the edge of Leeds, and I know that even if I moved a mile further into town I would feel trapped. The idea of living in the middle of all of those people in London fills me with absolute horror. Cities like that are for 2 or 3 day visits. Not living in.You see, the thing some of you fail to grasp, is that mountain biking is not the be-all and end-all of our lives.
I have no beef with London since I work there, and live just outside the M25. As previously stated by many, plenty of good singletrack is available, local knowledge goes a long way.
Hans 'no-way' Rey rode our local trails at Epping recently. He liked them, and commented on how nice and 'flowy' the singltrack is. Can't argue with that! 😉
Time for me to have an opinion.
I've lived in London(Big City) for 4.5 years now. Before that I lived in Reading (Large Town) went to uni there for 7 years and before that I lived in Lichfield(Small Town) staffs till I was 18.
I loved living in Lichfield its pretty, tidy lots of countryside etc etc ..
But there were things I wanted it didnt have ie Cinema, lots of shops a decent train service.
When I went to Reading (PS whatever anybody says on here life as a student in Reading is great) I realised it did have a lot of things that lichfield doesnt.
Ie Shops, Cinema, Rileys Pool, Lots of young people, decent public transport, lots of clubs bars pubs.
I then moved to London partly cos I actually got offered a job there and partly because my now wife had moved there.
However I dont feel it has anymore advantages than Reading. Although everyone previously has been saying how convenient London is I say the opposite.
Whenever you want to go somewhere you basically cant walk as its too far so you have to use the tube/bus. People who you meet at work/hobbies in invariably live miles away. If you want to use a car you have to think carefully about when to use it as the traffic is so bad. Its also very very dirty or a least wandsworth borough is.
What more does London have to offer than Reading ???
I dont know I went to the theatre once it was ok but much more expensive than going to the cinema. Call me a philistine I probably am.
It does have lots of clubs,bars pubs but frankly there all much the same to me once Im in one I could be in Reading, Barcelona anywhere. Museums again there the sort of thing I visit a couple of times a year I dont need to be near them. Im far more likely to visit a National Trust property on a Sunday afternoon and and theres plenty of them round the country.
So basically for me London offers no more advantages than a large town. Its only offers disadvantages expect for one very crucial exception my Job is here thats about it.
Theres a guy in my office just like you Rudeboy, he goes on about the vibe, theres something special about London, its where everything is happening etc. But I just dont get it and I definitely dont feel it.
Dunno if anyone has suggested it...
Can't you find another GF?
Run duck and cover 😉
As for riding southampton is just on hour away from London. Usually don't expect to became a stunning rider by stuff around london (unless you are into street/dirt) but you can manage skills such as
riding fixie 😉
not getting killed on your commute
and any other urban riding technics.
But as general rule, don't knock it down before you've tried it (I have tried and I wouldn't live there, but each to their own).
Its obviously crap for mountain biking as OP knows it. You'll be on trains or in car (traffic nightmares) to get to decent trails. Depends on your perspective. IMO mountain biking is crap here compared to where I used to live (New Zealand), but you make do with what is available.
there is something special about london, if you like clubbing especially its the diversity and choice
pick a type of music or a type of museum or a type of gallery or whatever
outside of london
if youre lucky you may have 1 or 2 of your particular flavour
in london
you will have 5 or 10 times the choice
if you are not into street messing about and stuff then the biking is pretty crap, although all u have to do is get up at 6 am and drive/ train it for a couple of hours and wow you are in the middle of the countryside by 10 am
im a nightmare at getting up early for work but come sunday for some reason, even hangover, i can leap out of bed if i know im gonna spend the day bombing down cwmcarn or trying to keep up with the pack on the north downs
if you want to bike in london you have to make more of an effort than you would in other parts of the world
and if you wanna party there is [u]nowhere[/u] better 🙂
Is he GF a better ride though? 😈
What more does London have to offer than Reading ???
🙄
Its obviously crap for mountain biking as OP knows it. You'll be on trains or in car (traffic nightmares) to get to decent trails. Depends on your perspective. IMO mountain biking is crap here compared to where I used to live (New Zealand), but you make do with what is available.
Funny that- imo moutainbiking is great here compared to where I used to live (New Zealand). It's the bridleways et al, isn't it?