I’ve added one more reason to hate Easyjet. The recycled air from the cold air conditioning has made me ill and I haven’t been able to write anything!
Next week things should be back to normal but for now while I spend most of my day sleeping I wanted to open London Cyclist up to some comments. I know a lot of you guys who follow London Cyclist are working on some cool projects..
- Carlton Reid released the Bike Hub iPhone application – it allows you to plot a cycling route between two destination using quiet roads and finding a quicker way. It’s now the Number 3 free app in the Navigation category!
- Dave Escandell who kindly sponsors London Cyclist has been busy answering everyone’s legal queries in the Steps to keep in mind if you’re ever in an accident post.
- We’ve got new London cycling bloggers: The Strusty Steed and Random London Cyclist
- Ben Irvine has been working on creating a “tube-like” London Cycling map
- Ian Fuller who I’m working with to bring Bike Doctor to the Android has been making the London Cycle Hire Live application as amazing as it can be adding a host of features.
- I’ve discovered the Slicks bag by Chris which I’ll be reviewing here on London Cyclist
- The Bicycle Film festival is back in London in October as reported by Velorution
Share some cycling news/something of interest you’ve recently come across/a project your working on/tips to help me get over my man flu in the comments below..
Next week I’ll be back on form with some posts on getting ready for a winter of cycling as has been requested by a couple of people.
Erm – blame airbus – they make the planes!
Damn you Airbus! Joking apart I can’t really argue with Easyjet’s low prices
I have recently discovered my next I want one purchase. A Wingnut backpack. Diving around both on and off the road on bikes with a backpack often leaves me with a sweaty back. I have panniers but they aren’t always convenient, or required. I do have a meshed back rucksack but it has limited capacity and works by adding a hard curved back, which is not always good for odd shaped objects, plus it was bought before the advent of hydration bladders so there are no attachment points.
A Wingnut seems to be the answer to all these problems – but it is not cheap. I found a UK supplier spokeshirts.co.uk so when the readies are together then away we go. The reason for not having any readies is because I have been busy buying parts for a bike building project. A resurrected Specialized P3 frame is in the process of being restored to working glory and hopefully to some fun hours freeriding the local hills.
Best way to get over a cold…ignore it…that’s what I’ve been doing. While two of my colleagues are off work suffering…I am dragging my sorry ill ass into work and pretending all is good…I think it’s working (albeit I may pass on my cold to others…but hey ho…such is life)!
Get well soon.
Yours truly,
The inconsiderate fool.
Hey. I’ve been commuting to work by bike for about 4 months now, loving it and enjoying your blog. Today I saw a minor accident – two bikes, a car, scratches, nothing broken. It had already happened by the time I’d gone by. But it made me think: why don’t you set up a googlemap of London on your blog. When one of your readers sees an accident, they add a pin, with the date and time of day. After a while, you’ll have a accident hotspot map of London, which should help all of us think about our routes, and where we have to take particular care.
Perhaps this exists already somewhere – in which case, do let me know where!
Huw
CycleStreets IPhone app has been released too. Uses CycleStreets routing, as does bike hub, but some different features ,e.g. Photo upload for cycling infrastructure, photomap, and tap on map route selection
Ooh this already exists…can’t remember where though…try googling it though. :S
Yeah the CycleStreets app looks very good too! Been Beta testing it for a while. Will do a write up on the two apps soon..
Let me guess they will be at junctions!
Already exists.. think couple of people have done it.. Guardian bike blog linked to it at some point. Google search should find it
Thanks for the shout out Andreas!
Accident hotspot is a great idea. I found this map out there already based on Met Police stats, but I think it’s from 2009:
http://labs.timesonline.co.uk/2009/cycling_accidents/
While googling I also found these stats which should cycle thefts in London over the last couple of years or so , split by Borough.
http://data.london.gov.uk/datastore/package/pedal-cycle-theft-incidents-recorded-british-transport-police
Looks like Richmond upon Thames has the most reported thefts and Barking & Dagenham has the least with only 2. Stats taken between June 2008 and May 2010
You hate Easyjet? You must never have flown Ryanair, then …
Hah fortunately they rarely fly the routes I want!
Have to say we really like EasyJet here at Saddle Skedaddle. Under £20 for being able to guarantee your bike on a flight is pretty good value and we tend to recommend them.
Ryanair and it is a whopping £40.00 each way … a rite royal rip-off. So much so that for all our flights to Northern Spain and other destinations, we’ve altered the tour itineraries to include flights from EasyJet and not Ryanair.
£20 is pretty good! Thanks for the hat tip on that one
I don’t really have anything against Easyjet just was feeling ill and angry!
Not really my news, but there’s a new cycling-based Q&A site: http://bicycles.stackexchange.com/
It’s quite international, but there have been some good questions with some good answers, e.g. What do wish someone had told you before your first commute? http://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/1073/what-do-you-wish-someone-had-told-you-before-your-first-commute
(No disclaimer, it’s not my site but I have been a member of its parent site stackoverflow.com for several years and its helped me out of a hole many times.)
Chris cheers for the recommendation – looking through that site now. Very useful! Always wanted to add a Q&A to London Cyclist too..
Oh so sorry … hope you’ll get well soon.