It is just 2 months short of 2 years since London Cyclist Blog started. I wanted to take a moment to take you through some of the highs and what we have accomplished together. The best place to start is some of the great e-mails I have been receiving from people.

“Hi Andreas,

Thank you so much for your email!

I am still discovering the basics about bikes and traffic in London and your website has been a great help!

Fernando”

and from Denise about where to find these cool bicycle bells:

“My husband works in London and says he knows the Punch and Judy pub, so i shall send him on a trip to Covent Garden one lunch time!

many thanks for your help, I am sure my daughter will love it!!

Denise”

and from Michelle from the Guardian referring to the 5 things I love about England post:

“Thanks for that! It was HILARIOUS! Literally smiling through the thing… Anyhow, great post”

It is always great to hear off people and some of the statistics have also been really encouraging. In the past 6 months alone there has been over 46,000 visitors. It is hard to visualise that but I can only use my most advanced language skills and call it: “a lot of people”. Couple that with over 600 fantastic Twitter followers. I love asking you guys questions and reading your updates. It feels like a great community.

Of course this is only the beginning. As cycling continues to get more popular in London so will this blog. I will keep writing about:

• London cycling news – capturing the London cycling scene with all the interesting news
• Commuting tips – useful tips to get the most out of your daily commute
• Cycling accessories – the things to know before going out and spending your money
• Ideas for weekend escapes – for when you feel like getting out of London and enjoying the open space

I also plan to write more about cycling routes you can try out in London and review more products that you may be interested in.

Big announcements

I have big plans for this place! The first is a blog redesign which should be coming to you in the next month. I must love you guys as I want you to come to the blog and really enjoy looking around. At the moment I think the site looks far too much like every other blog on the internet but London should have a cycling blog it can be proud of and I really hope you like the new design.

Even if you don’t, pretend you do!

Along side with this I will be starting a newsletter but I will reveal more about that nearer to the time.

The third big announcement is London Cyclist has its first advertiser! Thank god because our internet hosting bills are mounting fast! Apparently someone loves you London Cyclists so much they want to send you off all the way off to Asia! Hopefully you will come back with great stories to tell.

It’s called the Silk Route and it spans 10,700km all the way from Istanbul (somewhere in Turkey) to Xi’an (somewhere in China!). Now, if you are the explorer sort and want to cycle all that way then the lovely Theresa from Tour d’Afrique is knocking off 400 euro’s as long as you sign up soon. Of course not everyone is lucky enough to have the time to do the full route so you can choose to do sections of it.

Either way I think it will be the trip of a life time and would rather you didn’t tell me about it because I will be very jealous. Only joking, please do come back and let me know about your adventures!

I won’t spoil it by telling you any more of the details but if you to find out more then checkout the website here.

1) London. Made for Cycling.

2) Summer’s Here

3) Extend your life. Cycle.

4) Shift it

More after the cut off..

5) You’re better off by bike

Thanks to: Jovike

6) Make room for cyclists

Thanks to: Elyob

Video adverts

7. Test your awareness
I really enjoyed this advert – it makes drivers think not just about the other major road users but also about cyclists that you may not be looking out for.

8. ‘Signs’

I believe these campaigns can be attributed to M&C Saatchi. A special thanks to John Levick at TfL for sending me a copy of the poster adverts.

Love them or hate them? Do you have a favourite? Leave a comment with your opinion on the TfL cycling adverting..