You lucky London cyclists

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
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james01
Posts: 2116
Joined: 6 Aug 2007, 4:48am

You lucky London cyclists

Post by james01 »

I've posted about this topic before, but just returned from a quick visit to London and am so very impressed with the way the cycling infrastructure keeps improving. We Boris-biked from Paddington to Lambeth, also from Westminster to Canary Wharf. We felt safe (my wife is quite a nervous cyclist), the traffic seemed fairly unaggressive, and the various 20mph areas seemed to be having an effect. We calmly crossed major junctions which were near-suicidal in the 1980s. Good to see the huge numbers of cyclists. If only some of our smaller provincial towns & cities would follow suit. :(
Johnocyprus
Posts: 159
Joined: 13 Jan 2008, 4:12am

Re: You lucky London cyclists

Post by Johnocyprus »

Yes I agree London is a great place to cycle, at least by British standards that is. There seems to be acceptance of cyclists by other road users and great awareness. By contrast last year I was cycling in Worthing, Sussex and I was scared half to death by the way other road users treated me, it was as if I was invisible. To cap it all, cycling up George V Avenue I was followed by a LA community bus who overtook me as I about to enter the roundabout at the junction with Marine Terrace, luckily I braked otherwise he’d have splattered me. I did complain to the LA who apparently fed back my comments to the driver…..
I’d prefer to cycle in France where they have an enlightened attitude to cyclists. I remember 10 years ago a dozen of us finishing our London-Paris cycle ride and we cycled to the Eiffel Tower through a snarled up Paris centre. The drivers treated us with utmost consideration and courtesy generally giving us precedence.
We in the UK have to put up with a pretty negative reaction from most motorists sadly.
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