Not even cycling myself but have been down here for a couple of weeks working in the city centre and it’s absolutely crazy. Taxis, buses, vans, lorries, scooters, motorbikes, and then the pedal bike all mixing it up on the roads…

How close all of the road users get to one another is frankly scary and I’m not sure I would be up for it for commuting myself, let alone with no helmet or lights etc. like some of the crackers I’ve seen.

I went down there last year with mate for a spot of site seeing on the bikes. Absolutely mad and loved it. What a rush. At least the drivers down there know what a bike is. Try riding round Birmingham the locals just don’t know what to do when they see a bike. They look all confused.

i quite enjoy it myself (most days anyway). Must remember to keep calm though otherwise it’s a recipe for disaster.

I find it alright. You have to keep your wits about you, and assume everyone’s trying to kill you and then it’s fine!

Second that. Occupy your road space and assert yourself. Those that ride the gutter and dither are as good as dead.

I guess keeping calm and expecting everyone to kill you is a good strategy! It just looks so dangerous!

I do it 3 days a week and I reckon it takes more skill than downhilling! It’s certainly a buzz. Scary and exhilarating. But I have to watch the red mist descending or I’d be a casualty.!

Try somewhere properly chaotic, London is a haven of orderliness.

Cycling in London is absolutely fine IMO – average traffic speeds are very low, and there’s usually enough space to filter safely. Drivers are typically resigned to it taking ages to get anywhere, so nowhere near as aggressive around cyclists as in the provinces.

Commuted for a few years in London and it’s not all that bad. I know loads of people that cycle to commute that more than likely wouldn’t have touched a bike if they weren’t in London and plenty of people jump on the Boris bikes that clearly haven’t been on a bike in a good while and they manage to survive. I see far more bad cycling than I do bad driving (obviously Addison lee vehicles being the exception to that rule) and I’m more wary when driving round than when on the bike.

Iain

London is oh-so-nearly on the cusp of a massive cycling revolution. Summertime rush hour on the major routes looks like the Tour de France start line, and it’s got to the point where car drivers know to expect bikes and most of them know what to do around them and they haven’t got much choice anyway – sheer weight of numbers. 🙂

It’s actually remarkably safe riding in London, certainly in all my years living and working there I never had any major problems (and that was years ago before there were the numbers of cyclists that there are now). Traffic speeds are generally very low.

addison lee plus 1 million=- one of them bstards nearly took me out this morning cutting into the cycle lane to get round someone turning
then there was the guy in the jag on his phone weaving all over the place, or the truck with its loading ramp hanging open nearly decapitating me and white van man who squeezed past me in the bus lane only to come screeching to an emergency stop 100metres further on

5 days a week and i love it, mind this time last year i was sofa bound with a broken heel and ankle after a 7 yr old on a scooter took me down in hammersmith!

Try somewhere properly chaotic, London is a haven of orderliness.

Cycling in London is absolutely fine IMO – average traffic speeds are very low, and there’s usually enough space to filter safely. Drivers are typically resigned to it taking ages to get anywhere, so nowhere near as aggressive around cyclists as in the provinces.

+1

although I nearly got taken out by a Boris Bike trailer this morning on Old St roundabout.

it’s actually other cyclists and pedestrians that you have to be most aware of.

simon_g – Member
Try somewhere properly chaotic, London is a haven of orderliness.

Cycling in London is absolutely fine IMO – average traffic speeds are very low, and there’s usually enough space to filter safely. Drivers are typically resigned to it taking ages to get anywhere, so nowhere near as aggressive around cyclists as in the provinces.

^^This^^

Combined with the simply massive amount of investment in cycling recently (Such as better signage, better routes, the “Super highways” etc) and as he of the mad lower limbs says, London’s on the very cusp of a REAL cycling revolution.

London is relatively tame compared to some places.

Cycled in central London for the first time in a while today, really didn’t enjoy it after getting used to the quieter roads and how easy it is to get out of town in the midlands. Wasn’t tragic though, felt perfectly safe cycling around even if I didn’t enjoy it much. Just reminded me of how awful it is to be a cyclist (as in, not a commuter) living in London!

When I started working in that there London and walking to the office I was a bit freaked by the sheer numbers of bikes/cars/buses/taxis all buzzing around and vowed never to get on a bike. However once the Boris bikes arrived then I gave it a go and never looked back (no pun!), used a BB every day for about a year until I moved away.

Rock!

I like city riding, I like the culture, I like the people that ride bikes, I like cafes and shops that don’t bat an eye when you take your bike inside, I like those that roll their jeans leg up and ride in clips on their race bikes just to go to see mates/shops, I like the traffic, I like zipping in/out of lanes, I like weaving,dodging,slipping and sliding through the melly, I like the fact that everyone seems to now accept the bike as a full on lifestyle choice, I like the bike lanes, I like watching tourists fall off boris bikes, I like the weather, I like playing beat me at the lights, I like it rather a lot.

What I don’t like is road ignorance by other road users (bikes included) I don’t like bike thieves.

cycling in London is a joy compared to Manchester.So many bikes that drivers tend to recognise your existence. GF commutes east to west 15 miles a day through city & loves it. hates it in MCR

London comes alive when you’ve got a bike, done more there in the last 4 years than previous 10 since getting on us bikes.

Try riding round Birmingham the locals just don’t know what to do when they see a bike. They look all confused.

yer I had to do a demonstration brompton fold and unfold on Wolverhampton station for some old dudes…

it perplexed them, like an alien had landed.. 😉

“and you cycle in London on that,,, mental” (in a wolves accent)

Got my 40mile round trip everyday… you get used to being invisible and driven at ;-/

must say 1 of the worst are the other cyclist!!! lol

I’d much rather ride in London than most rural A and B roads in the South East. Traffic moves slower and there are bikes everywhere! Scariest day was when congestion charging started and the roads were unusually empty and the few drivers were going so much faster.

Some interesting points above. I had never really considered the low average speeds and the abundance of bikes which means drivers expect cyclists. Maybe I should get a Boris Bike tomorrow instead of a tube ticket…

Started working in central london (soho)again recently.
There are far more bikes around than the last time I was here a few years ago. You have to watch you don’t get run over by them.
And also the Barclays London hire bikes are being used everywhere.
Not a lot of helmets in use generally.

I love the fact that the cool urban bikes look pretty much like an old racer I had niked years ago. Single speed, one brake maybe, lots of miss matching stuff. Upturned chopped bars.

I like the completely straight bars with domed ends, no tape or grips of course. like these. nooooo don’t get sucked in.

http://www.velosolo.co.uk/vsbar.html

Lots of fixie bikes too. Not sure if I fancy trying too stop fast on one of those with no brakes.

Not on a bike but saw a couple of girls almost getting flattened by a taxi while crossing Oxford St today without looking. If they had not been walking so quickly they would have been hit.

I also saw a pizza delivery “jesus” scooter doing a u turn and taking out a motorbike courier. Nobody bady hurt but the motorbike was a right off.

That handlebar looks like a double sided didlo. Bloody hipster scum

I cycled there for years as a commuter, the only places I hated it were the Elephant and Castle, Marble arch and Vauxhall cross intersections/roundabouts. Otherwise it was great. The only time I had a problem was in the wet coming down hill towards Kings Hospital (Dog Kennel Hill?)when a white van did a right hand turn across the road in front of me. Had the slow motion realization ‘I’m not going to come close to stopping in time’. Left teh superman inprint in the side of the van. Bike was OK, think I was a little concussed, but got back on teh bike and wobbled home.
Cycling in London is much better than here in Melbourne, where drivers scare the crap out of me often when I ride into town.