As soon as my delayed Easyjet flight landed in London around 1am and I got my very tired self home I remembered the post I had written last week. I asked all of you to send me in some birthday wishes. I was worried to check it because what if there was just 2 comments in there!

I created the post before my short trip to Jordan and Israel. Two countries that I thoroughly enjoyed and would happily recommend.

As my laptop loaded and I clicked on London Cyclist I found there was more than 2 comments. There was around 85 and all of them really nice and reading through them instantly put a huge smile on my face! So thank you so much for everyone who took the time to leave their birthday wishes. It was also the perfect thing to read upon my return to London.

I wanted to pick out a couple of them:

“Your blog has not only made me feel safer about cycling but also allowed me to pass on your tips and advice to my boyfriend when he first started cycling to work (and I was worried about him!). So thanks for everything – keep up the good work.”

This comment by Caroline sums up perfectly why I run this blog. Making it easy for people to start cycling safely and enjoy it.

…you did a review of cycle cafes once upon a time. One of them was near my work; I wandered over to check them out. I got along brilliantly with them, and am now building a new bike with the lovely people.

Elena – happy to help you discover some new things in London!

OK a few things … discovering Wiggle…finding your recommendations for good waterproof jackets…Micycle workshops….bike cleaning ….. buying a floor stand pump (thanks- brilliant!)….bike marking schemes with local police (my local plod emailed me the next day)…the low-down on overtaking and waiting-at-lights etiquette …and also I like your style of writing about bikes so makes me feel good about cycling in London.

Thank you Claire for picking out so many things!

Encouragement to a not-so-confident cyclist to become a much more confident one!

Definitely one of the best outcomes of the blog! Thank you Ann.

I also really liked this image that was sent to me by Brian of a GPS drawing that took 2 hours to do!

Just pretend it says Andreas!

All of the comments were amazing. So thank you so much. Was interesting to see how useful people are finding the maintenance guide and also the cycling routes.

Which brings me on nicely to the big update…

The London Cycle Routes eBook, which has been downloaded just over 400 times, will be receiving a major overhaul. Just yesterday, I was busy improving the maps on the first three routes. Now they are far clearer and easier to follow. It made me wonder why I didn’t just make these improvements sooner!

Above that I also listened to all the feedback emails I received and I’ve started adding a Google Maps version of them to make it extremely easy for someone to use.

Of course the biggest suggestion people had was “more of the same!”. So I’ll be adding 5 more routes to the eBook for people to enjoy.

I’ll reveal more of the exciting new features in the coming weeks but needless to say I’m sure there’s going to be some very happy customers!

The good news is, as promised, anyone who has downloaded the eBook will receive a copy of the new version for free. Though, I’m not quite sure how I’m going to send it out yet as I have to figure that one out (hopefully it won’t involve a painfully slow one, by one email – but if that’s what it takes then I’ll do it!)

The new version will really complete the guide and I’ll be proud when I add it to the website 10 days from now.

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When I met with David Dansky from Cycle Training UK last week we got a chance to talk about the work they are doing in Lambeth. What I heard sounded very promising. At least if the initial success is anything to go by.

With more than half of all cycle fatalities on London roads involving a collision with a goods vehicle, Lambeth council approached Cycle Training UK to create an awareness course for HGV drivers. There was also an awareness course created for cyclists where they are encouraged to take further training.

The course for the drivers begins by asking the drivers about any incidents they have had with cyclists. This invariably leads to plenty of “why do they jump red lights” discussions. They are then asked what sort of behaviour they would like to see from cyclists. The question is then reversed and they are asked what they think cyclists would like to see from HGV drivers. It is usually at this point when drivers begin to understand the difficulties we cyclists face on the roads and how standing next to a 7.5 tonne vehicle can be off-putting. The drivers are also given basic level training on bikes.

After the driver awareness course is over there is a complete reversal in attitude. It changes from anger and wanting to get cyclists off the road to a far more sympathetic position with understanding and awareness of the dangers cyclists face. This translates to more courtesy on the roads and of course safer conditions for everyone.

The initial feedback from the drivers and their companies has been very positive. Transportation companies such as Veolia have praised the scheme and continue to use it. Lambeth council has been extremely supportive and they have made it compulsory for all their drivers. Camden council are also getting on board.

This council funded scheme could be the solution everyone is desperately searching for. Whilst statistical evidence is still unfortunately lacking due to the fact it has been running for less than a year all the signs are looking good. Cycle Training UK are now looking to expand the scheme and roll it out across more London boroughs. For that they will be needing the support of TfL.

See also:

• 7 mistakes you are making with your cycling and how you can correct them
• Two visions for the cycle superhighways
• Boris seeks to close the HGV inspection unit

It’s true. The London School of diving have taken a stationary bike, placed it underwater and claimed to have invented:

“World’s First Underwater Turbo-Training Bike”

In other words a bit of underwater cycling. The reason behind it is uncertain. There is definitely a publicity element charity element to it with the £100 entry fee is being given to Sports Relief.

The whole shoving a bike underwater and then attempting to cycle isn’t a very new sport (many have probably taken the first steps to doing this inadvertently when cycling through potholes in recent days). There was even the case of the woman who tried to cycle underneath Brighton Pier. Though looking at the state of her bike I was surprised it even went anywhere on land.

If you fancy a bit of underwater cycling then for details in how to take part check out this page.

Subsequently the hashtag #LDNcyclist was setup and I wanted to go through some of the responses to see what people thought about London’s Cyclists. As a bit of brief background this is where the “us” and “them” argument stands:

• Some newspapers have called London Cyclists Lycra Louts to which there was severe denouncement in other newspapers and cycling blogs. Those killed include two fitness instructors, a film producer, a Goldsmiths’ graduate, a City director and an architect.
• There has been various cases of road rage including recently in Australia where a bus driver was punched by a cyclist.
• Recently in Cambridge cyclists have been given fines for anti-social cycling.
• In cities such as Copenhagen where cycling is seen as the norm there is no “us” and “them” everyone just cycles but thinks nothing of it.
• There is even a debate being held soon by the Spectator where speakers include the former Mayor of London asking: are cyclists a menace?

Moving on to some of the points raised on Twitter:

About not breaking the law

atlaz : @LDN Not sure how many are needed. How about don’t jump red lights, do ride on the road. Those seem to annoy most.

lucyinglis : Don’t ride on the pavement, then shout at me because I have my headphones on and don’t know you are there!

MrSnoobs : #LDNcyclist If you are on the road, how about you take notice of the colour of the traffic lights? 2 wheels doesn’t make you an exception.

alexecrawford : #LDNcyclist -cyclists- DO indicate, DO make eye contact, DON’T jump lights, DON’T cycle on pvmnts, DON’T cut people up, DON’T go near HGVs..

tristanprooth : And one more thing: Do NOT ride on the pavement, even if there is no cycle lane. You are road traffic. Behave like it.

It definitely does not help the image of cyclists that many of us go through red lights. Though there also needs to be appreciation of the danger of setting off at the same time as cars do. This is why in cyclists friendly cities such as Copenhagen the light turns green for cyclists before cars.

Violence justified

ajjmcd : @lucyinglis was the idiot wearing a helmet? it justifies knocking him over….

This is one of the more worrying and extreme sides of the debate and is also an angle some of the newspapers have taken.

Paying to use the road

mulene : the road is NOT yours. #LDNcyclist There are other vehicles on the road who PAY to use it!

alexecrawford : @mulene #LDNcyclist – who says we don’t pay? I do

I think this argument has been countered many times successfully. The one figure I will add is that £140 million will be spent on cycling in the next 3 years. This is about enough for four miles of motorway.

Advice to cyclists

ktcita : Cyclists: please wear bright clothes & lights at night. You are invisible otherwise and cannot complain about not being seen. #LDNcyclist

Excellent advice and also the reasoning given behind the recent Cambridge fines.

From Cyclists

jacquidarlow : @LDN please pedestrians don’t step out between parked cars, when traffic at a standstill cyclists are still moving!

djientan : @LDN I’m a cyclist who gets upset by reckless cyclists. Some of us a good road users!

contrabland : Dear pedestrians, try looking before stepping out into the road (even if you are on a phone call).

simonmdt : we aint perfect, but Pedestrians are far the greatest hazard. Don’t yell at me. here’s a clue in the name Bike Lane.

I too have bumped into a person stepping off a bus onto a cycle lane without looking. I think both cyclists and pedestrians need to be more mindful of each other.

Some helpful suggestions

TexCorie : If you cycle on the pavement, behave like a pedestrian. If you cycle on the street, behave like a car. #LDNcyclist

alexecrawford : as always when discussing cycling, talk quickly turns angry. I’m a cyclist and a pedestrian-It doesn’t need to be a war

With the Mayor aiming for an increase of cycling from 2% to 5% of journeys this debate is likely only to intensify. So what could be done to resolve it? Wired magazine recently discussed the success of the complete streets concept. This is where the road and pavement is shared out equally between all users. Also we could perhaps try the Toronto approach where thank you notes are given to courteous drivers. One final idea is car free cities. Is this somewhere you would choose to live?

It is clear that there is a growing animosity between pedestrians and cyclists. As always those few that break the law and cycle inconsiderately are causing a bad image of cyclists. In any case I think the worse thing that could happen is for the two groups to turn on each other. These are definitely the two most vulnerable road users and should be the two groups that get along the most. Let’s not forget we are all pedestrians at some point.