Being a London tourist - observations of cyclists

[Matty]

Had a few days in London last week as an official tourist. It's been a while since I was in London with nothing else to do than look about. Being a commuting cyclist I spent quite a lot of time observing other cycling folk going about their normal business and thought I'd leave a few comments. This is in comparison to my normal haunt of Edinburgh.

1. Loads more cyclists in London
2. Lots and lots of red light jumping
3. Tons of 'cool' fixies
4. Boris' bikes look pretty bad!
5. Dubious use of lights

Maybe these observations were easier made because of the quantity of cyclists about. Seemed to be plenty of commuter racing going on, and some dodgy filtering moves to get in front, probably no worse than the scooters though.

I left with one thought - looks a lot of fun and wish I'd brought my bike!

 

[HJ]

The last time I was in London (earlier this year) I was struck by how few cyclist there were compared to Edinburgh and just how more much RLJing there was (more than I have ever seen anywhere else).

 

[gaz]

Timing and place is key with seeing London commuters on bikes. The busiest routes have around 500p/h on them but visit in jan or feb when it's cold and you won't see nearly that many!

 

[jimboalee]

The last time I was in The Smoke was when the Christmas Fair was on Hyde Park right opposite the Hilton.

Lots of cyclists, posey bunch of tossers.

 

[Ed Crane]

I was in London in early September and used Boris' bikes all the time. Was great fun riding in the Capital. Normally my legs and feet are aching after a few days in London, with all the walking and up and down steps to the Tube. Felt great after 4 days cycling everywhere. Couldn't of done it without smartphone apps for cycle stations and Google maps tho. Recommend you give it go next time in the smoke.

 

[jimboalee]

I've been toying with the idea of putting my Birmingham Small Arms 20" shopper in the car and taking a day's ride round London. Where can I park near Ealing Common?

 

[snorri]

I also was a tourist in London last week, but formed slightly different views to the OP.
1 After reading on this forum of increasing cycling in London, I had expected to see a lot more cyclists, although there was certainly an increase from previous visits.
2 As the OP said, and not only cyclists!
3 I'll pass on that one.
4 I thought Boris Bikes looked good for what they are intended. I might have given them a test run, but was deterred by a lack of local knowledge regarding location of docking stations at my destination. It was good to see lots of them in use by people who were recognisable as normal people.
5 Lights indeed. I suppose when you don't need lights to see the road in front of you different standards come into play. There were few fixed front lights, and as a pedestrian I can't say I was impressed with flashing front lights which I feel make it more difficult to judge distance. Many of the flashing lights were very feeble affairs.
Overall, it was encouraging to see cycling playing a more prominent role in transport in the capital.

 

[plainlazy]

I was in London for some training the other week, first time in about year or so and i must say that i was impressed with how many cyclist there where.
I stayed in the Travistock hotel in Travistock square and every time the lights went Red, there where between 10 and 20 cyclist waiting and very few of these where RLJ or had no lights.
Good to see, as where the Boris bikes.

 

[dellzeqq]

I've been toying with the idea of putting my Birmingham Small Arms 20" shopper in the car and taking a day's ride round London. Where can I park near Ealing Common?

take the Chiltern Line

 

[zimzum42]

If you're coming at the weekend then you can park for free on most of the single yellow lines around there. Check the council website for Controlled Parking Zones (CPZ) and their operating hours

 

[srw]

<br />take the Chiltern Line<br />

You took the words out of my mouth. Quicker, cheaper, more pleasant, less polluting. The Chiltern Line (Britain's largest nationalised railway) is one of the unsung wonders of the rail system.

 

[taxing]

I'm popping* down to London on Saturday and I'll be watching out for bikes, it's my first time down since I started cycling myself.


* By 'popping', I actually mean 'catching the rail replacement bus at 4.50am'.

 

[dellzeqq]

The Chiltern Line (Britain's largest nationalised railway) is one of the unsung wonders of the rail system.

and you don't need to pre-book bikes outside of weekday rushhour. And they have a sensible pricing structure.

 

[jonny jeez]

I've been toying with the idea of putting my Birmingham Small Arms 20" shopper in the car and taking a day's ride round London. Where can I park near Ealing Common?

Free parking all day at the posey tosser car park...but then you wouldnt go there would you

 

[beanzontoast]

A lot of the cyclists I've seen in London seem to go faster and cycle with more confidence (and maybe more risk-taking in some cases) than those I see on my commute.

I guess this may be due to their familiarity with cycling in heavily congested traffic and / or roads that are way busier than those I have to contend with.

The other thing that strikes me is there are so many more of them in one place at one time than I'm used to seeing that their physical presence just makes them seem to me more a real part of the transport system.