Go cycling by Cecilia S

GO CYCLING

CONTENTS #07

Introduction.

#11

About Cycling in London

#25

From East to West

#36

Extras

#37

References

INTRODUCTION

HEY! Ernest Hemingway once said that “it is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and cost down them”. Cycling is becoming more and more popular in cities around the globe by the second. It’s healthy, it’s fun, it’s cheaper, it’s good for the environment and it helps reduce the chaos created by cars and traffic. Nevertheless, it is not an easy job for a city to become bike-friendly. Every city has its own and particular plan to achieve this state, and London has been working on it for more than 5 years. The scheme of this city, that is definitely a long-term one, has different tools that help -and hopefully will continue helping- to create a safe and attractive atmosphere for cyclists. With the introduction of the Barclays Cycle Hire and Cycle Superhighways –among other elements- the streets are gradually gaining more space for cyclists, and these are gaining more presence. However, it can still be daunting for some to find their way to work zig-zagging through double decker buses and avoiding getting trapped between two black cabs. To these people I say: there is a solution. As every other city, London has a number of quiet back streets, parks and alleys that serve as wiggles to those who prefer a slower but more relaxed trip. In this book you will find the basics of London’s cycling scheme and a guide to get from the East of the city to the West through some lovely and quiet streets.

Enjoy!

INTRODUCTION

ABOUT CYCLING IN LONDON C YC L IN G IN LO N D O N

C YC L IN G IN LO N D O N

#00 TRANSPORT STRATEGY

was the number of cycle stages in London on an average day. Impressively, the number of stages being made by bicycle in London has very nearly doubled over the last 10 years, going from 0.29 million per day in 2000, to 0.57 million per day in 2011. But this rise needs to be placed in context – firstly, against the fact that nearly 30 million journey stages are made across London every day, by all modes of transport. Those 0.57 million bicycle journey stages don’t add up to much in the context of overall transport in London.

CYCLING IN NUMBERS

78,9 % is the increase in cycle stages from 2001 until 2011. However, the rise in the number of cycling stages has been more or less continuous. There doesn’t appear to have been any significant change in the rate of increase [...]. The Superhighways and hire bikes – Boris Johnson’s big initiatives – don’t appear to have had a significant effect on the rate of increase.

340 is the amount of years it would take -at this rate of progress- London to reach a 25% cycling modal share, the current level in Rotterdam, one of the Netherlands’ worst-performing cities for cycling.

571 is the number of cycling deaths and serious injuries in 2011, an enormous rise of 22% on 2010, and continuing the upward trend seen since 2009.

TOOLS FOR TRANSFORMATION

570,000

London, as many other cities in Europe, is trying to achieve the level of bike-friendly city. The Barclays Cycle Superhighways and the Barclays Hire Cycle Scheme are only part of what is known as The Mayor of London’s Transport Strategy, which aims to bring cycling in London to a whole new level. Key proposals include transforming the tube, enhancing rails and overgrounds, improving interchanges, smoothing traffic flow, making walking count, imporving London’s buses, new river crossing and the cycling revolution.

C YC L IN G IN LO N D O N

Thousand of short journeys are made across London’s outer boroughs every day, which makes cycling the perfect way to travel. With this in mind, Transport for London launched the Biking Boroughs initiative in 2010 to get more people on their bikes. Thirteen outer London boroughs were given 4 million pounds in funding to help raise the profile for cycling, improve facilities and highlight safety awareness locally. Now, all of the Biking Boroughs are finding and founding ways to encourage more people to take up cycling, whether to work, or in their leisure time. According to the Greater London Authority, there are 2,4 million cycleable journeys in outer London every day.

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#02 #03 BARCLAYS CYCLE BARCLAYS SUPERHIGHWAYS CYCLE HIRE

Barclays Cycle Superhighways are cycle routes running from outer London intro Central London. They are supposed to give cyclists a safer, faster and more direct journey into the city. The objective of the Barclays Cycle Superhighways is to improve cycling conditions for people who already commute by bike and to encourage new cyclists to do so. These Superhighways are at least 1.5 meters wide and continue through junctions. They also count with advanced stop lines at traffic lights that help you get ahead of the graffic and changed junction layouts that give you more space. The blue routes are clearly visible and easy to follow. There are also signs and road markings, as well as information stations along the routes with journey times and links to other cycle routes. The city has been and is working on improving road surfaces and minimized obstructions to provide more comfortable journeys. The Barclays Cycle Superhighways were introduced as part of The Mayor or London’s Transport Strategy. This strategy has as an objective –among others- to get cycling to represent five perfect of journeys made in London by 2026. Barclays Cycle Superhighways are targeted at people who want to cycle to work. They aim to get existing commuter cyclists to cycle more, encourage leisure cyclists to start cycling into work and give new cyclists the support and confidence they need to start.

#01 BIKING BOROUGHS

Barclays Cycle Hire is a public bicycle sharing shceme. The scheme’s bycicles are popularly known as “Boris Bikes” after Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London. BHC was launched in 2010 with 5,000 bikes and 315 docking stations distributed across the City of London and parts of eight London boroughs. In the last two years these numbers went up to 8,000 bycicles and 570 docking stations. The scheme works quite simply: take a cycle, ride it, and dock it when you’re done. The service is available 24 hours a day, all year round.

THE BICYCLE IS A CURIOUS VEHICLE

ITS PASSENGER IS ITS ENGINE

C YC L IN G IN LO N D O N

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FROM EAST TO WEST

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Pitfield Street - Public Footpath - Bevendeen Street - Nile Street - Shepherdess Walk - City Road - Mora Street - Nelson Passage Dingley Place - Dingley Road - Ironmonger Row - Lever Street - Percival - Street - Skinner Street - Rosoman Street - Tysoe Street

#1: PITFIELD STREET - TYSOE STREET

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Amwell Street – Magery Street – Calthorpe Street – Pakenham Street – Cubitt Street – Ampton Street – Sidmouth Street – Regent Square – Tavistock Place – Tavistock Square – Gordon Square – Byng Place – Torrington Place – Tottenham Court Road – Howland Street – New Cavendish Street

#2: AMWELL ST. - CAVENDISH ST.

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#3: MOXON ST. - BAYSWATER RD.

Moxon Street – Paddington Street – Crawford Street – Homer Street – Old Marylebone Road – Su Norfolk Place – Praed Street – Craven Road - Cravel Hill – Craven Hill Gardens – Pochester Terr

– Sussex Gardens – Southwik Street – errace – Bayswater Road

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TING HI T L O

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EXTRAS

UK CYCLING CALENDAR JAN - Southern Rough Ride, Essex.

JUL -Wight Ferry Sportive, Brockenhurst. - Wiggle Magnifical Sportive, Newbury. - Wiggle Stratford Tempest, Warwick.

FEB

AUG

- Hotchillee Sportive, Surrey.

- Northern Angel Sportive, Newcastle.

- Wiltshire Wildcat Sportive, Salisbury.

- Gentle South Downs Giant Charity Sportive, Sussex.

MAR

SEP

- Cycling Weekly Wiltshire, Salisbury.

- Malvern Mad-Hatter Sportive, Malvern.

- Wiggle Southern Rough Ride, Sussex.

- Exmouth Ex-terminator Sportive, Exeter. - Hell of Hexam Sportive, Hexam.

APR

OCT

- Wiggles Ups and Downs, Surrey.

- New Forest 100 Sportive, Brockenhurst.

- Cycling Weekly Surrey, Surrey.

- Box Hill Original Sportive, Surrey.

- Wiggle Spring Saddle Sporting, Suffolk.

MAY

NOV

-Dartmor Demon Sportive, Devon.

- Devils Punch Sportive, Surrey.

- South Downs Spring Sportive, Sussex.

- Hellfire Corner Sportive, Kent

-Jurassic Beast Sportive, Dorset

JUN - Sussex Surrey Scramble Sportive, Sussex. - Bournemouth Sportive, Bournemouth.

DEC - Wight Winter Sportive, Isle of Wight. - Hellfire Corner Sportive, Kent. - Fallen Leaves MTB Cyclocross, Brockenhurst.

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FINAL REFERENCES

The content from this book was taken from: Transport for London. TFL.GOV.UK Bike Bizz. BIKEBIZZ.COM Byrne, D. 2010, Bicycle Diaires, Mondadori Publisher, Spain. All the pictures in this book were taken by Cecilia Serafini The quote in pages 14-15 is by John Howard. This book is the product of a project for the Postgraduate Diploma in Design for Visual Communication at the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London. The whole of this book was printed at the London College of Communication during April and May of 2013. The fonts used throughout the book are Noble and Filosofia.

I hope you enjoyed it!

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