London Cycling Diary

Back on the bike

It only took me five-and-a-bit months, but I finally clambered back on the bike today and trundled off to work under my own steam. Boy, it was hard work. My legs felt very strong and powerful, but my heart and lungs are a little out of condition, and I really huffed and puffed as I struggled up the Broad Walk this morning!

I don't think it helped that I had over-dressed. It might be late November but the temperatures are rather mild at the moment and the heavy fleece I was wearing under my windproof jacket was just too warm for the conditions. Tomorrow I'll swap it for a long-sleeved t-shirt, I think.

Of course, no one ever forgets how to ride a bike, even after such a long absence, but I did find my reactions a little rusty. I just wasn't reading the traffic far enough ahead, so got caught out at a couple of tricky junctions. Instead of sailing into the flow of traffic with ease and confidence, I'd stop and wait for a proper break before I braved the mêlée. I assume this will get better in line with my fitness.

If it wasn't enough that I had to grapple with the whole shebang of being back on the bike, I also found myself becoming increasingly distracted by changes along my route. London's a big city in constant flux, but you don't realise how quickly things change unless you've had a period of absence. Some of the things I noticed this morning included:

Buildings that have been shrouded in scaffolding for months and months, are now free from their shackles and standing newly exposed. There's even a couple of new buildings I've never seen before, including some massive round-looking thing on the southern exit of Westminster Bridge.

There are new traffic islands on Parliament Square, which means you can no longer sneakily slip into the lane heading towards Westminster Bridge, you have to "take" the whole lane or risk breaking a pedal (and an ankle or a foot?) on the concrete "blocks".

There's a lovely wide strip of tarmac (that looks a bit like a three-lane highway -- it's massive) that goes through Wellington Arch, for cyclists to use, which helps to alleviate the conflicts between pedestrians and cyclists in this area (now, if they'll only sort out the traffic lights at both ends!).

The horrendous roadworks behind Festival Hall have now gone (hooray!!) only to move further down the line, near the London Aquarium. 

I'm sure there's loads of other stuff I took in, I just can't recall it now.

I suspect I will sleep well tonight, from exhaustion, and wake up tomorrow with sore legs and tummy muscles. But despite that, it will have been worth it, because it's so much more interesting when you cycle to work by bike!

Why you need gloves, don't need flip flops and should wear high-viz clothing

I remembered why I normally make sure I'm on the road by 7.45am when I got stuck in never-ending bumper-to-bumper traffic at 8.45am today! Yes, I left the house very late this morning. I wasn't quite with it and left my sunglasses behind. I went back to get them, only to get out on the road to find I wasn't wearing my gloves! Well, too bad. I wasn't going to return for those as well or I'd be really late to work!

Mind you, I don't see that many cyclists wearing gloves. I don't know how people commute without them, to be honest. Perhaps they just think it's too hot to wear them?

I've said all this before, but gloves have multiple uses, even in summer. They make it easier to grip the handlebars, they help soak up the sweat and, if you have gel ones, they absorb some of the road shock. And, if you fall off, they might just save your hands from a nasty case of gravel rash.

Which reminds me, I think it's wonderful that so many people are out and about cycling, but some of them need to seriously re-think their footwear. I have seen countless people, men and women alike, cycling in flip flops and slides. How is that a good idea, particularly when you are cycling in heavy traffic? You only have to get your flip flop caught underneath the pedal and you're in trouble, and if you put your foot down too quickly, say to save yourself from an accident with a vehicle, you'll seriously stub a toe or shear off a layer of skin. Ewww.

(I know everyone in Copenhagen cycles with flip flops, as someone is bound to point out, but London isn't Copenhagen, and bikes here fight for road space with everything from double decker buses to motor scooters: I believe you need to dress appropriately for the conditions.)

On another note, I got told off by a fellow cyclist on my route home tonight. She was quite right, because as I merged into the traffic I did not see her and almost collided into her. The thing is, I had seen the chap in front of her and let him go by, but I did not see her at all even though I looked.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" I said, as I swerved to avoid her.

"You should look where you're going," she said in a very calm, posh voice, as she whizzed on by. I mean, if the situation was reversed I would have been effing and blinding, but she was so darn polite about it all, I kind of felt like I'd been told off by a school marm.

It was only later on as I tried to analyse what had happened that I realised I had not seen her because she was wearing dark clothing and cycling in the shade. I had seen the cyclist in front because he was wearing high-viz clothing, but I missed her completely. I know this doesn't alleviate me from responsibility, but it does prove my point that cyclists need to be highly visible on the road at all times and in all conditions.

It's cooler by bike

According to the advertising slogans, it's quicker by bike. What they forget to tell you is that it's cooler by bike, too. I'm talking cooler in the literal sense, because even though we're supposedly in the grips of a heatwave, I'd much rather ride my bike to work than get cooked in a tube carriage.

This morning was a slow start for me, mainly because I didn't get much sleep last night, so I headed out much later than normal. It was 8.15am before I was on the road -- and boy, were there a lot of cyclists out there, particularly the first half of my journey. I seemed to lose a lot of cyclists as I trundled up The Strand, which was relatively quiet, although I still had to fight for road space with taxis, buses and HGVs.

A pleasant breeze meant I didn't feel too hot during my cycle and it was pretty much the same on this evening's journey. In fact, this evening's ride was an enjoyable one. I think the heat must have scared a lot of pedestrians and tourists away, because the usual free-for-all at Hyde Park Corner was non-existent. Or maybe it was the rain?

Did you see the early evening downpour? Because I didn't. And yet when I got home I noticed there were puddles by my front door. Turns out there'd been a shower an hour earlier but I seemed to have missed the entire thing. I'm pretty sure it hadn't rained in South London when I left the office, so maybe it only happened in West London.

Either way, rain, hail or shine, it's still cooler by bike. 

Reasons why I don't miss the tube

It's been a week since my last post, but I've cycled to work three times since: last Friday (June 19); yesterday (June 24); and today (June 25).

Foolishly, I caught the tube on Monday and Tuesday, because I'd had two poor nights' sleep and was feeling too fatigued to cycle. Getting back on public transport after a two-week break was HORRIBLE. I did not miss:

• My short walk to the tube station which involves fighting my way through HOARDS of RUDE students heading to the local college
• Hanging around the tube station WAITING for what seems like FOREVER for my transportation to arrive
• Spending the entire 25-minute journey squished up against complete strangers in a HOT and OVERCROWDED carriage
• Fending off those pesky free paper vendors (en route to the tube station in the evening) who won't take NO for an answer
• Finding out that there's been an incident further up the line so all trains are stopping at Earl's Court, so you'll have to make your way home using alternative means of transport!!!
• Eventually getting home feeling HOT, BOTHERED, SWEATY and PISSED OFF!!

Cycling these past two days has felt like a real treat. For some reason, the roads seem quieter than normal (is it half-term?? Even after 10 years, I never understand how the English school holidays work) and there seems to be fewer cycles on the road.

My journeys, in both directions, have been pretty quick and incident free. And tonight I notched up a first: the traffic light on the pedestrian crossing near Buckingham Palace was green when I approached it. I'm pretty sure every single time I cycle along here, which is literally HUNDREDS of times, it is red and I have to stop. Sometimes you gotta count the small victories where you can!

Happy summer cycling everyone.

If I was to buy a new bike, I would choose this one

I'm not a fan of fold-up bikes, but I quite like the look of this one. It's a Dahon Cadenza 2009 model.

I noticed this particular model parked next to my bike at work, so I was able to take a good look at it. The disc brakes caught my eye first, but I love the Dahon handlebars; they look particularly ergonomic. And the detailing is lovely; minimalist but functional.

It's got a £742 price-tag, so I won't be rushing out to buy one. But it's nice to have something to aspire to... and drool over.

Tall cyclists

When I got my driver's license (in Australia way back in 1988) I was taught to not sit behind vehicles that block your view. If it was safe to pass, then you should overtake them, or if it wasn't, you should drop right back so that your ability to read the traffic ahead was not obscured.

I adopt pretty much the same approach when I am cycling. Usually, the vehicles blocking my view are London buses, but in recent days it has been tall cyclists.

Now, I don't know whether you've made the same observation, but there seems to be a lot of tall cyclists out there. I never used to notice them, so I'm not sure where they have all come from.

But then I'm not quite sure whether they are tall people or whether it's simply that they are sitting on high-mounted seats. But most of them look slightly awkward because they seem so far off the ground.

The worst bit is that if you are trundling along behind them they block your sight lines so it's impossible to see what's going on ahead -- are there traffic lights coming up, tricky junctions to negotiate, pedestrians you need to be watchful of, etc etc. And if they are wearing a bulky backpack, good luck in being able to take a sneak peek around them.

So, if you get stuck behind a tall cyclist, my advice is to treat them with the same respect as you would for a bus or a truck: overtake them if safe, or drop back so you can see the view ahead instead of getting an eye-full of some tall chap's sweaty back for the whole of your commute.

Bike Week

In case you missed it, this week is Bike Week, the biggest nationwide cycling event in the UK. It runs between Monday June 13 and Sunday June 21.

Unfortunately the website doesn't make it very easy to search for local events, but I did see free bike safety checks being offered at Hyde Park Corner the other night so I had a look on the Royal Parks website to see if they had organised anything. Lo and behold, they are hosting an event in Hyde Park (Rotten Row) tomorrow from 4.30pm to 7.30pm, where you can "find out about cycle training, commuter challenges and group rides around local cycling routes".

 Meanwhile, to coincide with Bike Week The Guardian has (finally!) launched a bike blog. And next week they will go one step further and launch a monthly bike podcast on Wednesday June 24. You can listen to a preview of the podcast here.

In a press release* emailed to me this afternoon, Peter Walker, who is editing the blog, said: “The new Bike Blog is part of the Guardian’s popular Ethical Living blog, and is for every cyclist -– commuters, beginners, families -– not just the Lycra brigade. As well as the new podcast, the blog will include a wide range of cycling features, analysis of cycling initiatives and -– as with all of our blogs -– loads of input and participation from our readers.”

I can imagine the comments are going to make quite interesting reading, because god knows the anti-cyclist brigade need an outlet to vent their fury.

* In the interests of full disclosure, the Guardian has offered the first 25 bloggers who write a post about the podcast and new blog an Evans' branded multi-tool. I won't be taking up the offer.

Cycling for energy

One of the best things about cycle-commuting is the way it energizes you at the start of the day, and gives you "breathing space" between work and home at the end of the day.

When I cycle to work in the morning I arrive at the office feeling like I can take on the world. It seems silly to think that expending all that energy getting to work under my own steam actually makes me feel more energetic, but it's true.

When I commute to work I feel brighter, less sluggish and more motivated to tackle the day's challenges.

And when it comes to cycling home, that time spent on the back of the bike means I'm no longer thinking about work. Instead, all my energy, all my mind-power is focused on the task ahead: which is to get home safely as quickly as I can.

I find that when I park the bike at the end of the day, I literally bounce in my front door and feel incredibly chirpy and upbeat. This is, I hasten to add, not my normal state of being, which tends towards the grumpy and introverted. Perhaps it's the adrenalin high kicking in. Whatever the case, cycling makes me a nicer person to be around. I feel happier and less inclined to shut myself off from the world.

I sleep better too. And, for someone who is definitely NOT a morning person, I tend to wake up feeling refreshed and ready to do it all over again.

For those reasons I am so glad to be back cycling on a more regular basis. Today marks my sixth work day commuting in a row -- my best effort since last October. Long may it continue.

Caught in a rainstorm

How's this for a sky? I took this about ten minutes after I had been caught in the most horrendous rain storm as I cycled home this evening. Typically, when I set off from work at about 5.15pm the sky did not look anything like this. Fortunately, I had a sneaking suspicion it might rain later, so I had my cycling jacket on. Just as well.

By the time I got to Kensington High Street, about a mile-and-a-half from home, I felt my first drops. Then the wind picked up, and I struggled to do up my zip before the heavens opened right up, dumping so much rain I could only laugh at the absurdity of cycling through it.

A half-mile from home and the rain was so heavy I could barely see the traffic right in front of me.

When I finally got home I was wet right through. And then, no sooner had I put my bike away, than it stopped raining and the sun came out! Ahhh, the trials and tribulations of being a cyclist, right?

For first-timers

My site stats seem to have exploded in the last couple of days, so if you have arrived here via the TFL cycling page, welcome.

I started commuting to work by bicycle in August 2005. You can read my first post here.

Initially, I was petrified. I had a real fear of being killed on the road. But within three weeks I had turned into an adrenalin junkie.

If you're a new cyclist or are thinking about trying it, here's some posts which may prove useful:

• The book every cyclist should buy.

• How to turn your office into a wardrobe.

• Some tips on sharing the road with buses

• Some tips on sharing the road with HGVs.

And if you're looking for ideas of where to ride in west London, I can recommend:

• A circuit ride: Hammersmith, Fulham, Putney & Barnes

• Richmond Park

• Hammersmith to Twickenham

And finally, back in early 2007 I interviewed a handful of commuter cyclists from London and beyond in a series called Cycling 10. These provide great insights into what made people decide to cycle in the first place. Those interviewed include:

• Richard Masoner, aka Fritz, from the US-based Cycle-Licious

• Jeremy Riggs of Jezzers Jaw Jabberings

• Warren of Limited Warren T

• Rodney Olsen of The Journey

• Adrian of Adrian Fitch's Random Ramblings

• Chris of Life Cycle

Enjoy! And please don't be afraid to leave a comment or ask a question. I really do encourage that sort of thing.