Hey – my name is Anna, writing to you from Denmark, I have a rookie
question you might be able to answer.

I don’t know anything about the bike culture in London or the
facilities on the roads and would like to ride in zone one. Do you
think it’s too dangerous when you’re first of all used to ride in the
right side of the road, and don’t know the roads in inner London?
And…. do a lot of people go by bike in inner London?

Thanks in advance

Do you tell a person who is visiting that it is safe to cycle in London or do you tell them that it can be very dangerous?

I’ll leave it open to the comments..

This table lists the cyclists killed in London in 2011:

1. Gary Mason (48, male) Sandy Lane South
2. Daniel Cox (28, male) Dalston Junction
3. Tom Barrett (44, male) A40
4. David Poblet (20, male) Tanner Street
5. Paula Jurek (20, female) Camden Road
6. Gavin Taylor (40, male) Mildmay Grove North
7. Naoko (34, female) Queen Caroline Street
8. Thomas Stone (13, male) Bell Farm Avenue
9. Unknown (62, male) Layhams Road
10. Paul McGreal (44, male) Hackney Road
11. Johannah Bailey (49, female) Cavendish Road
12. Sam Harding (25, male) Holloway Road
13. Min Joo Lee (24, female) Pentonville Road
14. Brian Dorling (58, male) Payne Road
15. Svitlana Tereschenko (34, female) Bow Road
16. Eleanor ‘Ellie’ Carey (22, female) Abbey Street

This evening at 6 p.m. they’ll be a chance to remember them at the King’s Cross Vigil. The Vigil is organised by the LCC, RoadPeace, London Living Streets and cycling bloggers.

The event is open to anyone who wants to mark their respect. It will be part of a larger call on the Mayor and TfL to put cyclist safety above “smoothing traffic flow”.

On one hand it feels that posting the names of cyclists killed on London’s roads is off putting to new cyclists and creates the image that cycling is a risky activity. However, it would be wrong to let these tragic deaths go unrecognised. It reminds us of the dangers and to be as careful as we can be. It is also a chance to rally together as London cyclists.

What can be done?

Reading through what accident reports are available, a repeating pattern emerges. Heavy Goods Vehicles are involved in a disproportionate number of incidents. Wide blind spots are blamed for the problem.

Part of the solution is seen as a rollout of Trixi Mirrors. The mirrors installed at key junctions reduce drivers blind spots. Currently they’ve been implemented in the first Cycle Superhighway and have received positive feedback from drivers and cycling campaigners. Thanks to their perceived benefit, the Mayor has pledged to continue their rollout to all new cycle superhighways as they are built.

Unfortunately, any progress of getting Trixi mirrors installed in some of the most dangerous junctions in London is hampered pending approval by the Department for Transport. They are likely to need more statistical evidence before granting wider permissions.

Training for HGV drivers is another way of improving cycle safety in London. Currently it isn’t mandatory for freight companies to provide training to their drivers. The Freight Operator Recognition Scheme by TfL is one route some companies have pro-actively joined. Once again the feedback of these training schemes has been very positive. HGV drivers have noted an improved awareness of what it is like to be a cyclist and of the potential dangers.

The more recent rallying cry by cyclists and campaigners is for safer design of junctions. The Blackfriars Bridge protests were a part of this. However, so far this advice has largely been ignored and walkouts by the conservative assembly members have delayed any fruitful discussion as to ways of moving forward.

While Dutch style infrastructure remains largely a pipedream for London cyclists, it is clear that in 2012 the Mayor, whoever that will be, will continue to face tough questions about ignoring cyclist safety. Those tough questions will come from cyclists who continue to pile on the pressure in any way they can. Perhaps the most encouraging thing to have come out of 2011 is the increased organisation of cyclists as a group and the growing power that gives them.

Thanks to Ben Broomfield for the picture and Olaf Storbeck for compiling the statistics on serious cyclist incidents in London.

"It grieves me to sometimes, to see the way that [Transport for London] is blamed.” was Boris Johnson’s response when pushed by Jenny Jones about cyclist safety. In his response, the Mayor then continues by denouncing suggestions for safer measures in dangerous junctions. He states “But sometimes… I don’t think that interventions are really, that physical street works are the answer”.

The junctions that are in question will be visited tomorrow (November 12) starting at 10.30am from St Mark’s Church, The Oval, Kennington, SE11 4PW. The ride will be run by Cyclists in the City and the iBikeLondon blog in partnership with LCC campaign groups.

The locations the ride will visit include Hyde Park corner, Parliament Square and Waterloo. Over 100 cyclists are expected to attend and it is open for anyone who wishes to go along and see the dangers of these junctions for themselves.

The purpose of the ride is to demonstrate what is causing accidents and what could be done to prevent those accidents. The ride will be documented and it will give TfL even less space to hide behind when questioned on road safety. It is hoped amongst the attendants will be local reporters as well as a national newspaper.

The ride will last for approximately two hours and will end up at Look Mum No Hands.

For more on Boris Johnson’s performance see this post:

Boris Johnson’s cycle revolution. I don’t see how a single London cyclist could vote Boris after watching his performance today.

I was on my way to the Little Greek Pie Company the other day feeling the need for a delicious pie. (I frequently get this need). Time was on my hands so I thought, you know what, I don’t fancy battling it out on the busy roads, I’m going to hit the quiet back streets and I uttered those famous last words: “How hard can it be?”.

Sidenote: How horribly humid was it yesterday?!

A quick glance on Google and my plans look doable I thought. Sure, bit of exploring of back streets of London, could discover something new. I’m feeling a little crazy! I’m going to do it!

Of course, I was soon caught up in a maze of one way streets. There’s something strangely painful about going the wrong way and having to double back on yourself. Other cyclists may be able to confirm this feeling? I believe it’s because you are doing it on your own steam so you don’t want to waste the effort you just put in.

I spotted a turn that would put me much closer to where I wanted to be. But it was a one way. Should I take it?

It was a bit cheeky but I went for it.

At the next junction I needed to turn again. Of course, yet another one way sign stood in my way.

I was on the slippery path so I went for it again.

The pie was in sight and I had accomplished my mission. Albeit, by bending some rules.

I’m wondering who here would have done the same thing or should I be deeply ashamed of my little bit of rule breaking?

London’s one way systems

The map at the start of this post is from the Cyclists in the City blog. It shows the streets that are being considered to be made two ways for cyclists as well as the ones that have already been made two way.

The initial trial of two way systems was greeted with anger from organisation such as the AA. They called it dangerous and illegal.

Of course, as is often the case, there wasn’t a single collision reported during the trial period.

The City, with the clear support of City Police, concluded: "The cycle permeability improvements implemented in December 2009 have been well received with cyclists. They provide alternatives to some of the busy City Streets and make it easier and safer to navigate the City by cycle without prejudicing safety and convenience for other road users."

More two way systems are on the way and I believe this is one of easiest steps we can take to make London more cycle friendly.

See also:

• Cycle down one way streets.. and not illegally
• What cyclists can be fined for
• Bike vs London Underground

Here are three simple rules that should be etched into your mind to help you stay safe whilst out cycling in London.

1# Thou shall never undertake a moving vehicle

There’s a reason they put this on all Boris Bikes! When you pass a vehicle on the inside (left) that’s considered undertaking. A driver most expects someone to overtake on the right. Therefore, they often check their right mirror. Unfortunately, the left mirror is under used. This is a particularly dangerous scenario when a truck is turning left. They may fail to see the cyclist as they have a very large blind spot.

Stay back, give it a couple of extra seconds, an overtake the same as a motorbike or car would.

2# Glance at the vehicle behind every 8-10 seconds

Three important principles are at work here. The first is psychological. The eye contact makes the driver feel they are being watched and so are likely to act with more courtesy. The second is that your glance backwards draws the drivers attention to you. Finally, it gives you an awareness of the road behind so you don’t get any nasty surprises. As my cycling instructor said to me with a very serious look – he doesn’t like surprises.

That glance behind also means that if you suddenly have to swerve to avoid something you know the position of the car behind.

3# Fight the fear to be shouted at

Picture a narrow street, lined with parked cars, with barely enough room for a car to overtake you on the left. Of course, knowing your luck, a taxi is revving up behind rushing to get to the next traffic light to wait.

Out of wanting to avoid any confrontation you squeeze to the left, the taxi sees the opportunity, and takes the risk to overtake narrowly on the right with their mirror barely missing your shoulder.

You sir, have just put yourself and the taxi in danger!

This is because you could have been hit by a parked car opening the door, you could of been hit by the taxi and you have absolutely no room to swerve to avoid anything that appears on the road suddenly. The taxi is in danger because if you swerve they’ll either hit you or ram into a parked car.

In this situation fight the urge to avoid a few angry revs and a look of disgust from the driver by realising you’ve done both you and the driver a favour by staying in the middle of the lane completely preventing them from overtaking.

As they angrily get by you at the next opening, only for you to catch up with them at the next traffic light, flash them a smile and a thank you wave.

Are you some kind of saint?

No, I break these rules often too, especially when I’m tired and just want to get home. But I am aware of it as I do it and try to remind myself why what I’m doing is dangerous.

See also:

• 7 mistakes you are making with your cycling and how you can correct them
• One simple way to make your bike less attractive to thieves

Method 1: £45 for a bike lock?

When you are buying a bike ask if you need a bike lock. Of course, the assistant will foolishly say yes – little does he or she know that you want your bike to be stolen. Play along but purchase the cheapest one you can find. I strongly recommend avoiding the Kryptonite New York 3000 as that is likely to majorly hinder theft. Instead, choose something that looks like it could be cut with a pair of children’s safety scissors.

Method 2: One is more than enough

Walking past bike stands you may notice a number of cyclists use two bike locks. Believe it or not, it’s even frequently recommended by police stickers left on bike stands! Fools! Little do they know how much they are inconveniencing thieves and how much they are decreasing the chances that their bike will be stolen. To that end make sure you only ever “secure” your bike with one bike lock.

Method 3: Time to play a game of chance

One of my absolute favourite ways of getting my bike stolen is to leave it somewhere unlocked. Preferably, my back garden. Then a thief is easily able to open the garden gate (of course leave this unlocked) and ride off with the bike. However, don’t restrict your creativity just to the back garden. When you pop in to buy some milk at the corner shop leave your bike outside for a few minutes unlocked – if you are lucky an opportunistic thief will have that.

Method 4: Take cue from the UK’s prime minister

One man who knows exactly how to get his bike stolen is David Cameron. Often known as the UK’s prime minister but less frequently known for his hilarious bike locking antics. To execute this method start by finding a post you can lock your bike to. The post should be have a maximum height of 1.5 to 2 meters. Just enough for a bike thief to be able to easily lift the bike off and ride off with it. Brilliant and hilarious!

Some people have also had success locking their bike to a post with a sign above it. Whilst common sense would say that a thief wouldn’t be able to lift the bike off they have been known to cut the top of the post off.

Method 5: You don’t need to be a Houdini

Someone who wants to get their bike stolen needs to be familiar with how not to lock their bike. Unfortunately, with an abundance of information on “how to lock your bike” this information has sadly often remained hard to find. This forum post provides some inspiration. The best thing to do is to focus on locking just one part of your bike. I highly recommend locking just the front wheel to a bicycle stand.

Of course, some strange people amongst you don’t want to have their bike stolen. In which case you might find these articles of interest:

• Good bike lock guide
• One method for making your bike less attractive to thieves
• London Cyclist’s share their experiences of how their bikes were stolen
• How to lock your bike
• How to prevent your bike from getting piranha’d

Image via LFGSS forum.

I remember well my bike being stolen outside college. I returned from my class, walked to the bike shed and it just wasn’t there. At first I was completely stumped and even started to wonder if I had actually cycled that day. Looking back it’s no surprise it was taken. It had a cheap £10 lock attached to just the front wheel. I wasn’t saddened by the monetary value of it (an old mountain bike) but more the fact suddenly I didn’t have my beloved bike to get me home. I talked to the security about any footage of the theft happening but they had nothing. Defeated, I took the bus to get home.

Share your bike theft experiences in the comments..

Important reads:

• How to lock your bike
• How to make your bike less attractive to thieves
• Unconventional ways of preventing your bike from being stolen
• Bicycle insurance

Image via Barry Pousman

As you all know, I’m not a fan of wearing high visibility clothing and I prefer to let my bike do the talking in that sense.   I do have a set of reflective arm and leg bands which I wear and my Bspoke jacket has a reflective belt.  I don’t mind reflective, it’s neon and flouro I can’t be doing with.  I don’t want to look like I’m doing something hazardous, when I’m trying to convince people that cycling is safe and fun.  I know that a lot of readers don’t share my views but let’s agree to disagree.

My commute takes place on roads that are well lit with street lights and are busy with other road users.  I don’t really ride on roads where I need to see, but rather I need other traffic to see me.  To my mind, there’s nothing more ineffectual than a cyclist all neon-ed up with a single blinky light on the bike the size of a 5p.   My other feeling is that, as a car-driver myself, I’m looking for hazzards at the point of impact with my car and that would be at bumper level.  When I’m driving I’m looking out for the constant beam of light from another vehicle and not the blinky strobe light favoured by so many cyclists.  If we want to be seen why don’t we all adopt the same strategy as our car-driving nemeses and use the same warning system and keep the light constant?  I just don’t get it.  But I’m sure you’ll enlighten me….in droves!

So, if I’m not going to wear neon,  I need to keep my bike lit up as much as possible, which means three or four rear lights, two or three front lights, all on constant, plus I have tyres with reflective side walls and reflective spokes covers.  I have a Hump backpack cover which I use to cover whichever bag I put on the rear rack.

At the moment, I have a variety of lights that I’m putting through their paces. I have about four different sorts of Knog lights, the old-style Frogs, the Gekko, Boomer and Skink and I have a Cat-Eye front and rear light set that I bought about 17 years ago.  The rear Cateye light is amazing.  I use it everyday and to my knowledge I’ve only had to change the battery once.  I don’t know how that can be but it just is.  I use it on constant mode as well, not flashing….in contrast it’s sister light the front one works for about 20 minutes before I have to put new batteries in.  The beam of this light is good for those rare times when I need to see the road ahead rather than just being seen myself which means that I only use it for short periods on certain journeys otherwise I’d be singlehandedly keeping Duracell afloat.  The Knogs Gekko and Boomer are my go-to lights for the front although I have to echo the thoughts of other users and say that sometimes they turn themselves on in my bag and the Boomer has a mind of it’s own.  Whenever I go over a bump in the road it turns itself on to strobe mode which is bloody annoying.

USB Rechargeable Boomers

I now have a set of USB rechargeable Boomers, both front and rear, and I have to say that they’re the best lights I’ve had so far.  The beam is very powerful and there’s no way you’d miss that.  It was too bright for a picture to develop.  I’ve only recharged it once and it’s still going strong.  The advantage of these lights is that you just pop them into the port at work and you’re ready to roll again in the evening.  No hassle at all.  I was out with my children last week and I gave one to my daughter to use.  I was cycling behind her and I couldn’t look at it, it was so bright. The front one is equally bright and unlike it’s battery operated cousin, it doesn’t have a mind of it’s own and the beam stays put on which ever mode it’s on.

For the rear, I have the USB Boomer on my pannier, the Cateye and a reflector fixed to my rear rack and a pair of Skinks attached to each of my rear seat stays.  Because I carry my bag on the rack, I can’t use the seat post for a light. I have a front and rear Frog that I carry when I need a little extra backup too.

I have to say that unlike other Knog users I haven’t found that they move around much and I haven’t lost one yet so I’m a real fan.  But I do have to take them all off my bike when I leave it at the railway station which creates a bit of extra weight to carry around, along with the Hump but I like them for the flexibility.  I have three bikes that I use all the time and I couldn’t be doing with permanent fixtures that go with a lot of other light brands.

Reflective spokes – Remembering side visibility

I chose Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres for my main commuter bike and the Marathon’s for my drop-handled Mixte because I’d read that they were both great puncture resistant tyres but primarily because they have a reflective strip on the side-wall which provides visibility from the side, which we tend to forget about.  The Marathon Plus rides a bit heavier than the regular Marathon, but then I’m not in a race and I don’t mind a bit of drag.  It’s character building.  A few weeks ago I was in Halfords (buying bike racks, more of which soon) and I saw some reflective covers for the spokes.  They cost about £8 for a pack of 36 so I put one on every other spoke on both wheels and I think that that about covers it.  There are a few things around that attach to the spokes to provide extra visibility from the side, like Hokey Spokes but these are the cheapest and I think they’re quite effective.

So that’s my night-time set up.  What do you do?

Don’t forget that our rides begin this Saturday 5 March at 11.30am.  Details here and here.

I’ll never forget the approach of my friend Godwyns. When he spots an aggressive driver, he will tend to pull up in front of the car at the next light and when the light goes green, he will wait there. This tends to make drivers very mad and I wouldn’t recommend it!

My approach varies. Some times I will claim the lane because if I fear that the aggressive driver is going to attempt a stupid overtaking then it’s worth me forcing them to stay back. Other times I’ll just move to the side and let them pass.

What do you do with an aggressive driver “on your six”?

Quick thanks to reader Iain for being the inspiration for this post

Also related:

• How to turn right on a multi-lane roundabout
• I’m scared to leave my bike…
• How to get the ultimate revenge on bad drivers
• Which roads do you avoid like the plague?

A good reader question and yes multi-lane roundabouts are not that fun!

My advice would be as follows: Think like a car! Something like 80% of cyclists are also drivers (or at least hold a driving licence). So you probably know what I’m talking about..

Therefore, you need to be filtering into the correct lane and remembering the 7 mistakes that all cyclists make. I.e. Taking a primary position in the middle of a lane so a car cannot overtake you.

To give further advice I looked at John Franklins much quoted book: Cyclecraft.

The right way to do it

You need to start gradually moving into the right lane (arm out, filter one lane at a time) usually more than 100 metres (330 feet) before the roundabout if you want to turn right.

Just before entering the roundabout you want to be in the middle of the right hand lane. When you enter the roundabout cycling at speed can be an advantage.

On the circulatory road you should be riding on the left of the centre of the right-hand lane. When you are opposite the lane of traffic entering the roundabout before the exit you want you need to start gradually turning towards the exit road.

The key is to not make any sudden turns that drivers can’t predict.

In terms of your signalling the most important is to signal left just before you start to make an exit. You should aim to combine signalling with a show of intention i.e. starting to turn your bike.

As always keeping all your senses awake and ready.

Finally, when exiting you should keep the primary position until you feel comfortable letting a driver overtake you.

For more advice like this I strongly recommend John Franklins book.

Also on the topic of safe cycling:

• 7 mistakes all cyclists make and how you can correct them
• Tips you need to keep you cycling safely this winter
• Steps to keep in mind if you are ever in an accident
• How to make your bike 57.5% less attractive to thieves