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<html>
<meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport">
<head>
<title>
leontrolski - cycling in London
</title>
<style>
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</script>
</head>
<body>
<a href="index.html">
<img src="pic.png" style="height:2em">
⇦
</a>
<p><i>2022-07-28</i></p>
<h1>
Cycling in London for beginners
</h1>
<style>
.img-cycling-container{padding:4rem;}
.img-cycling{width:40vw;box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px 2px #00000045;}
@media screen and (max-width: 800px){.img-cycling{width:85vw;}}
@media screen and (max-width: 800px){.img-cycling-container{padding:0;}}
</style>
<em>
A compilation of tips for people considering/just starting cycling in London. If you want to make a friend and get advice from a real person, try London Cycle Campaign's <a href="https://lcc.org.uk/groups/cycle-buddies/">
free buddy scheme
</a>
.
</em>
<p>
This page is split into the following sections:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="#why">
Why
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#navigating">
Navigating
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#staying-safe">
Staying safe
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#getting-a-bike">
Getting a bike
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#locking-it-up">
Locking it up
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#being-nice">
Being nice
</a>
</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="why">
Why?
</h2>
<ul>
<li>
<b>
Quicker
</b>
- Door-to-door times will tend to be quicker than any other mode of transport. Think half an hour for most Zone 1 and 2 journeys.
</li>
<li>
<b>
Cheaper
</b>
- Obvious, but worth running the numbers on your regular tube/bus journeys vs the cost of bike ownership, you'll probably save a lot of money.
</li>
<li>
<b>
More pleasant
</b>
- Cramming yourself on a busy tube sucks, get out in the open! Also, there's far less heavy rain than you might expect - I probably don my rain jacket 5 times a year.
</li>
<li>
<b>
Get to know the city
</b>
- After a few months cycling, central London feels a lot smaller, it feels great to know little cut-throughs between places, notice new shops opening, see people you recognise etc.
</li>
<li>
<b>
Healthy
</b>
- It's a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2017/sep/17/the-miracle-pill-how-cycling-could-save-the-nhs">
'miracle pill'
</a>
.
</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="navigating">
Navigating
</h2>
<p>
If you're not in a mad hurry, there are many bits of cycle infrastructure in London that are far more pleasant and safe than the obvious roads. Let's use the example of a journey from Liverpool Street to Angel.
</p>
<p>
Here is Google maps - it will tend to send you direct on busy roads:
</p>
<p>
<p class="img-cycling-container">
<img class="img-cycling" src="images/cycling/google-maps.png">
<br>
<small>
<a href="https://www.google.com/maps">
source
</a>
</small>
</p>
</p>
<p>
In comparison, <a href="https://cycle.travel">
cycle.travel
</a>
sends you on nice cycle infrastructure, it will take a bit more brain power to navigate, but definitely worth it for a regular journey:
</p>
<p>
<p class="img-cycling-container">
<img class="img-cycling" src="images/cycling/cycle-travel.png">
<br>
<small>
<a href="https://cycle.travel/map?from=London%20Liverpool%20Street&to=Angel&fromLL=51.518043,-0.0817735&toLL=51.5318417,-0.1057137">
source
</a>
</small>
</p>
</p>
<p>
cycle.travel has a pretty rubbish UI, but you can treat this as an opportunity to learn the nice cycle lanes 🙂.
</p>
<p>
To give a flavour of the extent of London's bike paths, here's a section of a (now outdated) cyclist's tube map:
</p>
<p>
<p class="img-cycling-container">
<img class="img-cycling" src="images/cycling/cycle-tube-map.png">
<br>
<small>
<a href="https://londoncyclenetwork.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/london-cycle-map-e28093-revised-2017-v1-4-1.pdf">
source
</a>
</small>
</p>
</p>
<h2 id="staying-safe">
Staying safe
</h2>
<p>
Once you're off the main roads (see above), cycling in London is pretty safe, in fact it feels a lot safer than in most other UK cities. To reduce the likelihood of being involved in a crash, here are some tips on staying safe, take time to ingest them properly.
</p>
<ul>
<li>
Be super-duper careful around trucks - considering how few of them there are, a crazy high proportion of bad cycling accidents involve them. <ul>
<li>
Don't undertake them.
</li>
<li>
Don't plonk yourself right in front of them at the lights.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
Assume everyone else is going to do something dumb at any moment: <ul>
<li>
If a car is pulling out of a side road, until you've caught their eye, assume they haven't seen you and will pull out any second.
</li>
<li>
If you're cycling near parked cars, leave a door's width.
</li>
<li>
If it looks like someone's about to walk into the middle of the road without looking, they probably will.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
Consciously make yourself aware of your surroundings: <ul>
<li>
Don't wear headphones.
</li>
<li>
If you're overtaking and there's a gap in traffic, it's likely someone will pull out of a side street into said gap.
</li>
<li>
Look over your shoulder every few seconds to get a feel of what's around.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
Take your time - most near misses I see are bikes trying to squeeze through little gaps to shave 3 seconds off their commute.
</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="getting-a-bike">
Getting a bike
</h2>
<p>
I've heard great things about <a href="https://swapfiets.co.uk/london">
Swapfiets
</a>
. You pay monthly and it comes to about £200 a year. The bikes have lights, locks and mudguards built in. If it breaks, they come fix it. If it gets stolen, you pay a small fee for a new one. Simple!
</p>
<p>
After a year or so, you might realise you want to buy your own bike that's quicker/will carry more stuff/will handle <a href="/cycling.html">
longer trips
</a>
, you can cross that bridge when you get there.
</p>
<p>
My experience with Boris bikes (Kencycles?)/dockless schemes is that the bikes are cumbersome and the parking faffy. Just get the Swapfiets.
</p>
<h2 id="locking-it-up">
Locking it up
</h2>
<p>
Personal advice would be:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
Get a <a href="https://mobil.abus.com/int/on-road/Highlights/BORDO/Folding-Locks">
folding style
</a>
lock, these are fairly light, fit around most stuff and I've not had a bike knicked while using one for many years 🤞.
</li>
<li>
Lock inside where possible (if you work in an office, there will likely be a safe place).
</li>
<li>
Some councils have 'cycle hangars' if you don't have storage at home - <a href="https://hackney.gov.uk/cycle-safety-and-security">
Hackney
</a>
in particular seems good for this.
</li>
<li>
Simply don't have your regular bike be something flashy and expensive.
</li>
</ul>
<p>
My friend Cal did a nice writeup on <a href="https://calpaterson.com/bicycle-threat-model.html">
bicycle security
</a>
if you want a longer read.
</p>
<h2 id="being-nice">
Being nice
</h2>
<p>
Don't be that city-boy MAMIL boshing up Bishopsgate shouting at pedestrians. Take your time, give big thumbs up to nice drivers, give priority to pedestrians, whistle as you ride.
</p>
</body>
</html>