One day, cycling around Soho, a Rolls Royce with blackened windows was stuck behind me. With cars parked on the left, the road was too narrow for the driver to pass. It felt a little intimidating to be holding up this big hunk of metal.

Eventually, the road widened and the car overtook me. Pulling up in front of me, Simon Cowell, the brains behind talent TV shows such as X-factor, stepped out from the back and walked in to an office. 

Simon Cowell’s decision to drive, negative impacts the people around him. The car causes pollution that others have to breathe in. It requires space to park, which could be occupied by 8 bicycle parking spots, or space for pedestrians. His decision to drive, means that others will decide not to take their bikes to work. It means shops won’t benefit from more pedestrians. It means visitors in London will leave with memories and stories of noisy, congested streets. Office workers won’t be able to open their window without being greeted by the sound of cars. 

Am I angry at Simon Cowell?

Not at all. 

It’s not Simon Cowell’s fault. He is a smart businessman that I look up to. 

It’s the fault of Westminster council. 

Westminster Council, led by cabinet member for transport Cllr Algar has decided that everyone should have the unchallenged right to own, drive and park a car in central London. 

Do I expect Simon Cowell to walk, cycle or take the bus to his office? 

Not really, but I also don’t believe any special provision should be made for him at the disproportionate expense of everyone else.

However, that’s exactly what Westminster council is doing.

For the few people in central London who insist on using a car, the rest of us have to suffer. 

Cycling should be thriving in Westminster and we should all be reaping the benefits. The only reason it isn’t is because Westminster council has decided against it. 

Here’s how they plan on keeping the cyclists and pedestrians out, and the cars in:

Public space should be allocated for people to park their car

If you’ve ever cycled, walked or driven around Soho, you’ll recognise there isn’t much space. The pavements are tiny, there’s nowhere to leave your bike and driving here is a nightmare. 

Why then is it, that with such limited space available, it is agreed that it is a fundamental right for the residents here to use public space to park their car?

Residents of Soho have made the conscious decision to live in the very heart of the city. Everything they could possibly want or need is walking distance away. If it isn’t, then there are plentiful public transport options.  

One person, parking one car outside their home, is inconveniencing 100′s if not 1000′s of people.

Road narrowing

Perhaps the oddest of Westminster’s road design policies is to narrow roads. They reason that cars and cyclists should mix together and that without enough space for cars to overtake, everyone will travel at the same speed.

Anyone who has cycled on these narrows streets will agree that this is incredibly intimidating. I’m sure drivers will also attest that it doesn’t work. 

For more on the ill conceived policy of road narrowing read here and here.

Maintain current speed limits

Westminster council controls 92% of the roads in the borough. Average driving speeds in London are already around 10mph, yet occasionally a road will be clear and cars will speed up to 35-40mph. It’s easy to see how that would be intimidating and irritating to both pedestrians and cyclists.

A uniform speed limit of 20mph could really help reduce dangers and improve conditions for cyclists.

Give cyclists free “bike bells”

I was baffled to read in the Cyclists in the City blog that the council plans on giving out free bike bells to cyclists to encourage them to warn pedestrians of their presence.

Ugh! 

We’ll never see the benefits

In the draft version of the 2013 – 2026 version of the council’s cycling strategy, it’s clear the benefits of cycling in Westminster are recognised:

• Sustain its population growth and new jobs
• Ease congestion on its roads
• Offer a viable way to its population of travelling at minimal cost
• Significantly improve the health of its residents, workers and visitors
• Improve local air quality

Yet, Westminster council, spearheaded by Cllr Algar, is planning to fail cyclists. If they fail cyclists, then they’ll fail the Mayor’s cycling vision. They’ll fail the local residents, they’ll fail visitors to London, they’ll fail businesses, cafes, shops, workers and they’ll fail London as a whole. If they were hoping that at least they’d be making a handful of car owners happy, then ask any car owner if they are happy with driving conditions in central London.

Image via Cyclists in the City

The post How westminster plans to keep the cyclists out and Simon Cowell in appeared first on London Cyclist Blog.

Maybe it’s the outdoor cinema showing The Flying Scotsman, the proximity to London, or the 180 mile route that covers some of the most beautiful British countryside. Whatever it is, the MITIE London Revolution has just become the largest multi-day sportive in the country, with over 1,800 riders attending and that number is only going up!

I tried the route last year and had a great time and this year London Cyclist writer Sam is going to be covering it for us!

There’s also a bonus for anyone who refers a friend. Get your friend to sign up by the 12th of May and make sure they state your name in their application. Both riders will receive either a free delicious lager or ale at the Windsor Racecourse, to be enjoyed watching the best of London’s Buskers playing a variation of wonderful instruments for the riders, friends and family.

It’s not all about the half way entertainment of course. There’s plenty of riding to be done before that. After exiting London, the roads quieten down and you start to enjoy the best of the countryside.

On the second half of the route, if you complete both days, you’ll be riding around Box Hill and along parts of the 2012 Olympic road race route. Finally, it’s over Tower Bridge for the final stretch.

In all, it’s a really fun challenge, that’s incredibly well organised and supported. It’s no shock that it’s quickly become so popular among London cyclists and it will be excellent to see the event continue to grow.

The MITIE London Revolution is also a testament to the growth in popularity of cycling in London and in the interest commuters are showing to pushing themselves and enjoy riding around the UK.

There are plenty more details on the ride on the London Revolution website:

http://www.london-revolution.com/

The post MITIE London Revolution is now the largest multi-day sportive in the UK appeared first on London Cyclist Blog.

The London to Cambridge bike ride is in support of Breakthrough Breast Cancer. To see just how popular and big an event it is, checkout their video from the 2012 ride:

This year’s event is on Sunday 28 July, so fingers crossed for great weather.

The ride starts in North East London and is around the 60 mile mark, so is a nice leg stretcher for those of us who regularly cycle long distance and crucially isn’t too far for partners, and even growing kids (minimum age is 14). The ride will take you through English villages before ending in Cambridge, which is a short train journey back to the city.

What’s in it for me?

You shouldn’t really need any other reason other than knowing you’ll be raising money for a great cause, but if you need any further incentive then check out what’s on offer at the finish line:

• A medal
• Live music
• Refreshments
• A beautiful, historic city

How do I enter?

To secure your place in the ride you need to pay £20 entry fee and pledge to raise at least £100 in sponsorships. The £20 entry fee covers event administration and none of it goes to Breakthrough Breast Cancer, so your sponsorship is crucial.

The 2012 ride involved around 5,000 cyclists, and this year’s event promises to be even bigger. It’s a great opportunity to get a group of friends together, raise money for a great cause and meet lots of fellow cyclists at the various rest stops along the way.

Registration is quick and easy and there are discounts if you’re signing up a team. Transport options are also available, both to the start and at the end of the day.

£100 isn’t much money to raise so you can always aim for £300, which will secure you a Breakthrough Breast Cancer jersey too. It’s a glorious ride, hopefully in glorious weather, and a great way to have fun and help a great charity!

The post Cycle London to Cambridge for Breakthrough Breast Cancer appeared first on London Cyclist Blog.

On May bank holiday, The Truman Brewery in East London will play host to a new urban bike show – Spin LDN.

We caught up with founder, director (and subsequently sleep deprived) Alex Daw to find out more about the event.

The first thing I had to ask was why?

“I want to celebrate the spirit of independence, I am excited by it”, says Alex grinning over his beer. As I expected Alex is a ball of energy, with a head full of ideas and a phone that rings a lot.

Being a cyclist, but not having a bike industry background Alex hopes he can bring a fresh dimension to the concept of the ‘trade shows’ – “for me it’s all about people having an authentic experience in an unconventional location… I want people to see ‘new’ things”.

Spurred on by the ‘unimaginative’ shows on offer at the moment, Alex has decided that this show “will be a full sensory experience”.

The exhibition space will take on the traditional format in that there will be brands exhibiting products from their own stands (all brands are independent), but in addition to that there will be a pop-up restaurant hosted by critically acclaimed chef Jimmy Garcia. “It’s all in the name of fun” says Alex “but the whole menu will feature around cycling, we will have Tour de France breakfast a Giro d’Italia lunch.. I want the event to feel like a good day out, you can have some good food, go to the pedal powered cinema, listen to some live music and of course it will be an education too”.

A real highlight of the show has to be the ‘Frame Lab’, various bike builders have been invited to do live demonstrations allowing visitors to watch the craftsmen at work “It’s really exciting” Alex tells me, “I mean this a real art, it’s incredible what these guys do, oh and as well as the builders there will be some ex-thieves doing a talk, which sounds weird, but it’s not, they are reformed ex-bike thieves and they are going to explain how the market operates and how best to protect yourself. It will be really interesting to hear from such a different perspective”.

I ask Alex about the brands we can expect to see and more importantly can we buy anything?

“Oh yes, this is no trade show, it’s a consumer show, you can come and buy a new jacket if you like. We even have some never seen before products, cutting edge stuff from Scandinavia, I mean everyone who is coming to exhibit has been invited; I really want to encourage people not to accept the first thing they see, the cycling clothes they buy, the saddle they sit on, there is so much innovation and design out there and I want to bring that together”.

Everyone from Vulpine to Cloud9Cycles and Foffa bikes will be attending so it will be exciting to take a look at the latest innovations from these brands.

I finish my beer with Alex and leave the pub feeling nearly as excited as him about the whole thing.

You can buy tickets for the show online for just £5.00. It’s £10.00 if you pay on the door, which is still more than reasonable. Head over the website for further details on opening times, exhibitors, film listings and I will see you there.

The post Spin LDN the new urban cycle show is coming to east London appeared first on London Cyclist Blog.

The city of New York has recently signed a contract worth $2 million to double the number of bike parking spaces in the city, by adopting the Cyclehoop design.

If you live in London there is a good chance you have come across Cyclehoop Ltd without even realising. The London based company specialise in producing innovative cycle parking solutions -many of their designs have been utilised by local authorities and private companies across the city.

As with all the best ideas, Cyclehoop Ltd started with a problem. Way back in the mid 2000’s product designer and subsequent founder Anthony Lau had his bike stolen; it had been lifted straight over a sign post!

Inspired and incensed he went away and created the ‘Cyclehoop’. The handy design allowed existing signposts to be converted into secure cycle parking for 2 bicycles – unlike traditional designs this bike stand required no digging, no concreting, in fact all you needed to do was quickly install it onto existing street furniture.

Of course Lau’s innovative design didn’t go unnoticed; he won the street furniture category of the ‘Reinventing the Bike Shed’ International design competition in 2006. He then spent the next seven years winning a whole load more awards and created a range of new and interesting products.

Cyclehoop’s latest win in New York follows a pledge by the city (New York City Department of Transportation) to invest in cycling infrastructure following a 26% rise in cyclists since 2005. The adaptation of the Cyclehoop will see the conversion of 12,000 old car parking meter poles into cycle stands, doubling the current number of cycle parking spaces in the city. The commitment to parking sits alongside a range of measures including dedicated cycle lanes across Times Square and a bike sharing system which will be launched later this year.

The Cyclehoop project is a great example of innovative thinking applied in the cycling industry and of the benefits that such investment adds to the economy.

I for one take great pleasure in knowing that some lousy bike thief inspired a fellow Londoner to create a world leading product.

The post Bike parking in New York inspired by London designers appeared first on London Cyclist Blog.

You can still watch it, if you want to grit your teeth at every close call here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01p7q2l/War_on_Britains_Roads/

It will only be available for about 5 days, at which point it will be banished in to the BBC archives. Which is where many cycle campaigners and indeed motoring leaders believe it belongs.

I decided to watch it with the track “Why can’t we be friends” playing in the background, which rather brightened the bleak mood.

I couldn’t help but find myself wanting to say to the participants: “Come on mate, let’s calm down and chat this over with a nice cold pint and packet of crisps at the pub”.

Once you peel away all the layers of sensationalism, you find some very interesting interviews. Particularly heart breaking was the interview with Cynthia, the mother of a cyclist, Alex, killed by a Heavy Goods Vehicle on London’s roads.

The documentary did a good job of highlighting the dangers to cyclists, of cycling on the inside of heavy goods vehicles.

This is a position you never want to be in and it’s where a large number of fatal accidents in London occur.

Perhaps the most important point to take away is:

“Many cyclists feel they are under threat, even when they are in the cycle lane”

People don’t feel safe in the cycle lane. Time and time again, this is what they’ll report when asked why they don’t cycle.

A car passing you at 35mph at arms width, doesn’t feel safe.

The solution, and what campaign groups are calling for, is Dutch style, segregated infrastructure.

This would create the sort of conditions for cycling, that I’d be happy to tell my little cousin, my dad or my gran to go by bike.

Boris Johnson and TfL have just announced a plan to treble spending on cycle infrastructure in London to almost £1 billion over the next ten years. That is less than 2% of the TfL’s transport budget. (If it was 2% it would be around £1.5 billion).

There’s no doubt this is significant. However, there are two issues. The first is that a 5% modal share for cycling is being targeted by 2026. Yet, less than 2% of the budget is being spent on cycling.

There are also no firm commitments on exactly how that money will be spent. Will we see more cycle superhighways which when you reach a dangerous junction, the superhighways simply disappear?

The car wins the war

In the mean time, George Osborne handed yet another victory to the car.

Osborne announced a further £1 billion to be spent on upgrading the road network.

This follows an announcement of £20 million to be spent on cycling. If you add up all the money promised for cycling, it adds up to just 0.5% of the Department for Transport budget.

I.e. “We don’t care about cycling”.

1 – 0 to the car.

He also announced a further delay to the planned 3p a litre rise in fuel duty. Meanwhile, commuters who’d like to go by train, bus or underground, will continue to see fares rising by 1% more than inflation for the next ten years.

Public transport users are being penalised, while drivers are being rewarded:

“..the fact is that over the past 10 years the real cost of motoring has declined by 10%, while bus and train fares have increased by more than 50%.”

No wonder car use is up in the UK, with only London bucking the trend.

The governments message is clear: We want to make it as cheap and easy as possible for you to go by car, and we don’t care about the extortionate rail fares in the UK.

2 – 0 to the car

Wake up to the changing dimensions

I understand why George Osborne didn’t increase fuel duty. It would have been an incredibly unpopular decision. I can also understand that motorists contribute £27bn to the treasury by filling up their cars. I also understand that these are hard times.

However, we can’t keep going along our current path.

There’s a limit to fossil fuels, a limit to the number of roads we can build and a limit to the number of cars we can squeeze in to our cities.

My hope is that London can lead by example, and that TfL will invest this money wisely to increase cycling. We shall see!

The post If there is a war on Britain’s roads, the car just claimed another victory appeared first on London Cyclist Blog.

A few weeks back, I was trying to become a little less pasty, by catching the sun near the Highgate Ponds in Hampstead Heath. Being a people (and bike) watcher, I observed the number of cyclists pedalling past. All of them were riding respectfully around pedestrians, but you could see it was frustrating for pedestrians. They had to perform that classic dance move, where they are not sure whether to walk left or to the right. All the cyclists, including the one in the picture above with his daughter, were breaking the law.

Later that day, I returned home and discovered that a cyclist had been arrested for pedalling through Hampstead Heath. They spent the night in jail, after refusing to give their details to police. The next morning, the judge told the City of London Corporation to drop legal action against the cyclist. A night in jail being punishment enough.

A reader also reported that £50 fines were being handed out by police to cyclists pedalling through Green Park, from Piccadilly to The Mall. This is a commonly used path by cyclists but once again, it violates Byelaw 13. The law, which has been in existence since 1933, forbids using a bike when there’s a no cycle zone sign.

Additionally, I’ve recently spotted signs in Primrose Hill, stating that plain clothes officers were patrolling the park and would be handing out fines for any cyclists pedalling through the park.

The Royal Park executive agency is responsible for many of London’s largest parks. The parks have the potential to provide safe routes through the capital. Hyde Park in particular provides a great North to South route, avoiding the busy Park Lane. The route that crosses Hyde Park from East to West is also excellent, providing a very different cycling experience than most are used to.

Unfortunately, the Royal Parks executive agency has been slow to respond to the growing demands of cyclists. A small step forward, such as the cycle route that runs through part of Regents Park, took many years of campaigning to be opened up to cyclists.

There’s an argument that this is a bad use of police time. However, the police force has to respond to what residents complain most loudly about. I was shocked a few years ago to discover that amongst the three most pressing concerns for my local police force in Camden, after guns and burglary, was cycling on the pavement. I recently heard that the house I use to live in less than 12 months ago, was burgled, after someone kicked in the front door. Perhaps the police should have focused more on catching burglars?

There is little use complaining about these issues on a cycling blog. It’s the equivalent of trying to scream underwater. Instead, I should be contacting my local police force about my most pressing concerns as a resident. I should be contacting the Royal Parks to request more cycling provision. I should be contacting my local member of parliament to provide better cycling facilities. In fact, that’s what I’ll do after I’ve hit the publish button on this blog post.

I can feel both the frustrations as a pedestrian and as a cyclist. It’s never nice while you are walking on the pavement, to be shocked as a cyclist zooms past you. In the same way, it’s never nice as a cyclist, when a vehicle zooms past you. It doesn’t seem like the most intelligent solution to the problem is to simply fine cyclists. Instead, I believe there should be improved provision in the parks and more widely on London’s roads.

Correction: The Royal Parks Foundation does not manage the parks. It is managed by The Royal Parks, an executive agency of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The Royal Parks Foundation is a charity that helps support the parks.

Thanks to London Cyclist reader Sophie, who reported the fines in St James Park.

The post Police cracking down on cyclists in London’s parks appeared first on London Cyclist Blog.

Next year there will be a two day cycling event that will provide a lasting legacy for the 2012 Olympic Games. This is according to an announcement today by London’s mayor Boris Johnson.

The two day festival will be held on August the 3rd and 4th. This was initially announced back in January, with Boris holding off announcing more details until the last few days of the Olympics.

Four events will be taking place. The Freecycle will close off an 8-mile route in central London. It will replace the SkyRide and should see around 70,000 people attending.

The RideLondon Grand Prix will be a race through central London along a 1.3 mile loop close to The Mall.

There will also be a 100 mile RideLondon sportive challenge on a closed route designed to imitate the Olympic road race. It is expected that up to 20,000 riders will take part. Entry will cost £48 and cyclists can apply now.

Finally, there is the RideLondon classic. This will be attended by many of the world’s professional cyclists and is likely to become part of the UCI race calendar. It will be covered by the BBC.

This is all well and good but is this something that London’s cyclists really need?

There’s no doubt the two day event provides a focus point for cycling and will raise much money for charity. It also has a feel good message to it and encourages people to try out cycling, some perhaps for the first time.

But once the two day event is over – what are London’s cyclists to do with the other 363 days in year?

This is the questions cycling campaigners are today asking. It’s unlikely they’ll get a response from Boris.

The Mayor had promised to look in to the London Cycling Campaign’s “Go Dutch” initiative. What this call for, is to have a major review of London’s road network and to begin to integrate Dutch style infrastructure, that will provide safe cycling in London.

Others are taking a more upbeat view. British Cycling President Brian Cookson is quoted in the press release as saying:

“The Launch of RideLondon today is further proof that British Cycling’s Olympic legacy is already in place. Like the rest of the country I have celebrated the achievements of Laura Trott, Bradley Wiggins and Sir Chris Hoy, not just because they have succeeded during a wonderful summer for British cycle sport, but because they and the rest of the British Cycling team are inspiring people across the country to get active.

Success in the Tour de France and the Olympics has seen membership surge, seeing 250 people a day join British Cycling. There are over 160,000 more people cycling once a week or more than was the case six months ago.”

What do you think? Will you be attending?

The post Is a two day cycling event what London’s cyclists really need? appeared first on London Cyclist Blog.

There’s a new site on the block called Newsflare. It’s a place for people to upload their newsworthy videos which are then syndicated to news organisations. Any clips that are sold, you then get paid.

To promote it, they’ve decided to partner up with London Cyclist for the Olympics and Paralympics. If you’ve got helmet cam videos, traffic videos or any such newsworthy content in and around London then upload it to to our London Cyclist assignment on Newsflare:

http://www.newsflare.com/assignment/97/travel/london-cyclists–win-50-bike-gift-voucher. 

The best clips will show the good and bad points of being a cyclist in the City, and will convey a unique cyclist’s perspective of London as it hosts the biggest event of 2012. News organisations are looking for this content right now and if your video gets picked up, then you’ll get paid. The best video received will win a £50 bike gift voucher which can be redeemed at many local bike shops. The voucher will be drawn on 17th September.

Checkout our London Cyclist assignment here and get started:

http://www.newsflare.com/assignment/97/travel/london-cyclists–win-50-bike-gift-voucher

The post Get your videos in the news appeared first on London Cyclist Blog.

“Re~Cycle ships donated bikes (41,000 thus far), tools and spare parts to Africa, where partner organisations refurbish and distribute them.”

If you’ve got any old bike bits taking up space in your flat and you are wondering what to do with them then you can donate to Re~Cycle:

http://www.re-cycle.org/

The founder, Merlin, has informed me they are opening a new location at 250 City Road, half way between Angel and Old Street tube stations in a weeks time.

Other locations are listed on the website. Merlin is also looking for any volunteers to help out.

The post Got any old bikes or parts taking up space? Donate them to Re Cycle! appeared first on London Cyclist Blog.