London cyclists...

[Tynan]

What do you mean by this bit, please?

like

the commute, not the regular clothes

 

[Fab Foodie]

I had a lovely and well paid job with lots of OT in the Heales building on Tottenham Court Road, straight out to the pub every day, restaurants etc etc lovely

company went pop just before christmas and it was three weeks before I could get anything, by which time it felt like I'd been out of work for years

the first thing half decent that came up was Morden area, certainly a few miles past Colliers Wood anyway, double day shifts, I drove it, tubed it and finally cycled it, 15.5 miles each way as I recall, and in those days (eight years ago?) I rode in jeans, T shirt and trainers, knew nothing, I used to lie it, all the way into and then all the way out of London

all good fun at the time after some initial fitness issues, sadly the bike that knocked out all those miles for years and years is the one I'm riding again, bless it, it's most certainly done me proud for a £300 special

I'm debating spending a bit on to keep it as a spare, barring a possible new rear wheel and front hub it seems to be performing very well, that or I'm a powerhouse that could pedal a pallet of bricks to work

Shame you had to go to Morden! (Mrs FF is/was a Morden girl...), nice commute though, I used to enjoy that route, I just followed the tube-line (A24?) all the way, especially enjoyed hurtling manically down through Tooting.
Me and the Mrs were students at South Bank Poly at Heffalump, I'dkiss her goodbye (Awww...) at the Heffalump tube, then race her to either Clapham South (my digs) or Morden Station to go to her place (choice was either sex or decent grub...), I was rarely beaten by the tube to either destination.

I still have the same bike as my Turbo mule, in ~83 I converted her to fixed and rode that route as my fixed fixed outing. Never really changed her back except for a couple of cycle tours.

I'd love to commute that route again.
Happy Daze...26 years ago...

 

[Fab Foodie]

I still maintain that London is safer for cycling in then the 'burbs (as long as you have a modicum of road sense).

Reason being that there are more lights, more traffic and more cyclists.

And a lot of bike lanes. I'd agree with you.
Hence in the winter doing evening miles I always head for Oxford, wide bus lanes, lots of lights and drivers used to having bikes around.
The bicycle was definately made for the city.

 

[Horace Goes Skiing]

My least liked vehicles are:
- buses (big bullies)
- white van man (aggressive)
- large 4 x 4s (also bullies and tend to try to pass close at high speed)
- scooters (generally not as skilled or as "understanding" of cyclists as motorbikes)

Don't forget the "minicab" drivers,many of whom drive Toyota people carriers or similar.

If I feel a wing mirror scraping my right elbow, I can safely predict that it's a people carrier with a green TFL minicab sticker in the rear windscreen.

Perhaps the stickers are given out to those who failed the minicab driving test!?

 

[Horace Goes Skiing]

And a lot of bike lanes. I'd agree with you.
Hence in the winter doing evening miles I always head for Oxford, wide bus lanes, lots of lights and drivers used to having bikes around.
The bicycle was definately made for the city.

Really!? I recall it being a bit hairy going up Banbury Road, jousting with busses and impatient drivers darting across to Woodstock Road. Not the kind of road I'd feel comfortable going very fast on...

 

[Fab Foodie]

Really!? I recall it being a bit hairy going up Banbury Road, jousting with busses and impatient drivers darting across to Woodstock Road. Not the kind of road I'd feel comfortable going very fast on...

Really!
They're great at night!, sometimes do a couple of laps (Banbury, Davenant, Woodstock) with a sprint down St Giles to a "finish line" at Broad Street.
Abingdon road is a good 20+ mph drag-strip, sometimes out to Wolvercote, Botley and Cumnor hills various backroutes for some climbs, Out the Cowley road, accros by Templars and back the Iffley road...no end of fun. After 8.30there's little traffic and a choice of routes back to Abingdon.
We usually cover about 25 miles...enough for a couple hours nightime training session.
Oh, and the sights, sounds and smells can be pretty intoxicating too

 

[Tynan]

Shame you had to go to Morden! (Mrs FF is/was a Morden girl...), nice commute though, I used to enjoy that route, I just followed the tube-line (A24?) all the way, especially enjoyed hurtling manically down through Tooting.
Me and the Mrs were students at South Bank Poly at Heffalump, I'dkiss her goodbye (Awww...) at the Heffalump tube, then race her to either Clapham South (my digs) or Morden Station to go to her place (choice was either sex or decent grub...), I was rarely beaten by the tube to either destination.

I still have the same bike as my Turbo mule, in ~83 I converted her to fixed and rode that route as my fixed fixed outing. Never really changed her back except for a couple of cycle tours.

I'd love to commute that route again.
Happy Daze...26 years ago...

agreed, nice long straight route and I learnt it following the tube line, some nice long open roads too mind you my current E4 to NW6 is much the same, seems like there's more lights with far longer timings these days

I seem to recall that it took me an hour and a quarter regardless witht he bike being the most reliable and by far the most fun, the tube especially was mind numbing