London Cyclist February-March 2008

www.lcc.org.uk

February/March 2008

£2/free to members

On the right track Riding at Herne Hill

Women on wheels Girls take to London’s streets

PLUS! Cleaning products for your bike Cycling in York, Rome and Auckland ■

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NEWS ■ JOSIE DEW ■ SOCIAL RIDES ■ EDWINA CURRIE ■

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Contents

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It's no secret that there are far more men than women cycling in London – you only have to glance around on your morning commute or your weekend ride to see that the girls are outnumbered at nearly every turn. But things are changing and more and more women are being converted to the joys of riding. LCC has long been champion of encouraging more women to cycle, and here at LC it's a source of considerable pride that so many of our team happen to be female cyclists. This issue, we have a special report on how to encourage more women to join our ranks. It may well be that a successful LCC campaign for 20mph speed limits would do just this. When you look – as Tom Bogdanowicz and Charlie Lloyd have on page 11 – at how much more serious incidents involving cars driving at 40mph are than those at 20mph, the argument seems like a no-brainer.

Also this issue, we have two historical features. The first is on Herne Hill Velodrome and its importance to cycling in London. Secondly, we trace the life of Annie Londonderry, the first female to cycle solo around the world. It's a sobering thought that so many years after she led the way for women cyclists, here in London we're still working to convince girls that bikes really are the best way to get around town. What Annie would have made of that, I can only imagine.

Lynette Eyb

Product reviews

Features COVER STORY

Efforts to get more girls on bikes

16 Annie Londonderry The first woman to ride around the world

33 Local group news COVER STORY

26 Cleaning products Make your bike sparkle

28 Racks, overshoes and rucksacks There's something for everyone

19 The numbers game COVER STORY

LC visits the legendary track

Technical 22 Roadworthy Using your mountain bike in town

24 How to... choose the right lights 25 Workshops Maintenance courses across the capital

london Cyclist

Reports from your part of town

36 Diary Rides and events for all cyclists 40 Books ’n’ things plus Josie Dew Reviews plus our Fine Lines extract

43 My Way

How are London's cyclists counted?

20 Herne Hill Velodrome

46

11

49

12 Women and cycling

Issue 109

Edwina Currie's favourite Surrey route

Regulars 4 News plus director's column St Pancras protest, community grants and Connect2 wins Lottery cash

8 Your letters plus Zoe Williams 11 Opinion Why we need 20mph zones

29 Members’ pages

44 Outward Bound

COVER STORY

Exploring York by bike

46 Outward Bound

COVER STORY

Rome's ancient way

49 Dispatches COVER 50 New Zealand's largest city STORY 50 My Bike & I WRVS head Lynne Berry

Make the most of your membership Cover photo: Mike Wells

Editor Lynette Eyb Product reviews Erin Gill, Mel Allwood Design Anita Razak Proof-reading Rosie Downes Marketing Ben Crowley Advertising Mongoose Media, Matt Styrka (020 7306 0300 ext 112, lcc@mongoosemedia.com) ■ London Cyclist welcomes voluntary contributions, including photographs. All work is accepted in good faith. Content may be edited and reproduced online – see www.lcc.org.uk/londoncyclist You can contact the editorial team via 2 Newhams Row, London, SE1 3UZ (020 7234 9310, londoncyclist@lcc.org.uk) All views expressed in London Cyclist are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the editor, nor do they necessarily reflect LCC policy. Editorial content is independent of advertising. All material is copyrighted and may not be reproduced without the written permission of the editor. London Cyclist is printed by Wyndeham Grange on paper made from 100% de-inked post consumer waste. See page 29 for more on London Cycling Campaign.

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News LCC NEWS

Director’s column

Photos: Michael Stenning, Sustrans

Koy Thomson I came back from the New Year break to a storm of protest over Matthew Parris’ column in The Times (December 27 2007), which bore the headline “What’s smug and deserves to be decapitated?”

In the column, Parris suggested that cyclists should be murdered and offered a list of reasons, including cyclists’ selfrighteousness, our “brutish disregard for all other road users”, and the fact that some cyclists have – allegedly – been throwing their empty energy drinks cans into Britain’s hedgerows (see p.7).

Why is it acceptable for journalists like Parris to promote the idea of cyclists as ‘the other’ needing control, punishment and exclusion? Why is it considered funny to suggest that cyclists, as a group, should be knocked over or killed because of perceived bad behaviour by some of us?

Cyclists seem to be fair game because so many people feel no one is harmed by anti-cyclist outbursts.

Anti-cyclist propaganda of this sort is harmful. It is harmful because it offers cultural reinforcement for existing legal presumptions that act against cyclists.

Unlike on the continent, drivers of motor vehicles in the UK are not presumed to be at fault in the case of a collision with a more vulnerable road user, such as a cyclist. The law and how judges interpret the law on liability following collisions needs to changed in order to remove this anti-cyclist prejudice that is built into the system. I know this from personal experience, since I have found myself in a magistrates court defending myself against accusations of being an ‘adrenaline junkie’- presumably for choosing to ride a ‘racing’ bike to work and for endangering myself when a minicab u-turned in front of me.

Diatribes against cyclists, of the sort found in Parris’ column, also do harm by creating a climate conducive to the introduction of new anti-cyclist legislation.

A law that would offer London local authorities new powers to remove cycles isn’t a distant possibility – this is what has been proposed in the London Local Authorities and Transport for London bill, which LCC is campaigning to have rewritten (see article this page).

The impact of anti-cyclist propaganda shouldn’t be underestimated. It discourages people from cycling and it discourages the investment and changes to policy that are needed to increase the number of people cycling in London.

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New powers for councils to remove locked bicycles London councils may be given new powers to remove bicycles locked to fences, lamp posts or railings. The proposals are included in the London Local Authorities and Transport for London Bill. The bill would give councils the right to remove even locked bicycles deemed to be causing a blockage.

LCC has written to London councils to object and to ask for the legislation to be rewritten, specifically exempting bicycles.

The new powers, as currently proposed, risk leading to the indiscriminate removal of bicycles from pavements, according to LCC campaigns manager Tom Bogdanowicz.

The bill appears to have been drafted so carelessly that any cycle could be removed by a local authority, after only a ‘cursory’ check to see if the owner of a bicycle is nearby. In addition, it would be permissable for councils to break cycle locks, without

remedy to owners.

Although LCC supports the removal of abandoned bicycles, even these should have a notice fixed to them giving owners 28 days to act.

LCC will be petitioning against the bill when it is presented in parliament.

To read the bill: www.publications. parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ ldprbill/006/006.htm

Cycling projects win £50m from Lottery

Plans for a cycle-friendly south Bermondsey Cyclists and walkers across the UK have been celebrating Sustrans’ success in the People’s £50 Million Lottery Giveaway.

Sustrans’ win means it can proceed with its nationwide Connect2 programme, which consists of 79 individual schemes, all designed to make getting about by bicycle and by foot easier, safer and more enjoyable.

Six Connect2 schemes are within Greater London.

Local LCC activists have been instrumental in developing London Connect2 schemes, not least in convincing local authorities to support the projects and to allocate matching funds. In order to win the £50m Lottery prize, Sustrans had to beat 32 other entries, including three other shortlisted entries. Among the shortlisted entries were schemes focussing on The Eden Project and Nottinghamshire’s Sherwood Forest.

The London schemes are located in: ■ Havering, where a cycling and walking ‘greenway’ along the Ingrebourne valley will be completed with improvements made to existing bridges in order to overcome major barriers, such as busy roads and railway lines.

■ Croydon, where routes will be created between densely populated parts of the borough, including Addiscombe and Woodside, to green spaces, such as South Norwood Country Park.

■ Paddington, where a new railway bridge and improvements to two existing bridges over the Grand Union canal will make cycle journeys through the Westbourne Green much quicker and easier.

■ Bethnal Green, where a new pedestrian and cycling bridge over Regents Canal in Mile End Park will act as the hub for a network of routes connecting Bethnal Green to Bow and the 2012 Olympic Park.

■ Islington, where a new route will be created through the north of the borough, creating a link between several green spaces, including Highbury Fields, Drayton Park and Gillespie Park. The route will also take in the new Emirates Stadium.

■ South Bermondsey, where a disused railway bridge and former track beds will be transformed into a largely motor trafficfree connection between Southwark and Lewisham. www.sustransconnect2.org.uk, www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

For more news, go to www.lcc.org.uk

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News Send items for the news pages to news@lcc.org.uk or write to the address on page 3

LCC NEWS

More funds for cycling projects Money available for community group schemes

The Freedom Bike Track at Burgess Park is open to children of all ages, who can bring their own bikes or use reclaimed bikes donated by the police

Missing cycle racks at Waterloo There is good news and bad news for cyclists wishing to lock up their bikes in the vicinity of Waterloo Station.

The bad news is that P&O, which owns land next to the station, is alleged to have removed cycle racks and the bicycles attached to them before Christmas without sufficient notice being given.

For more news, go to www.lcc.org.uk

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On a wet day in early December, LCC director Koy Thomson delivered a rallying speech to the thousands who braved the weather to express their fears about global climate change and their desire for the UK government to take stronger action. In his speech, Koy argued that years of effort by cycle campaigners had proven that cycling represents a “serious solution” to the environmental, congestion and health problems of 21st century London and beyond.

Today’s cyclists are the “vanguard of change” and cycling can shift from the fringes to the mainstream, he said. To read the speech: www.lcc.org.uk > news.

National campaign against climate change: www. campaigncc.org

Parking frustrations

LCC NEWS An unknown number of seized bikes are thought to be in storage. P&O argues that it posted notices two weeks in advance of the removal of the cycle racks and the bicycles attached to them. At least one cyclist disputes this, and Mustafa Arif, new coordinator of LCC’s public transport carriage working group would like to find out more.

Contact him on mustafa@arif.me.uk.

The good news is that Network Rail, which manages Waterloo, plans to increase the station’s cycle parking provision this spring and it also wants to improve its communication with all cyclists who use the station regularly. Send your email address to waterloocycleusers@ networkrail.co.uk and you will be notified of any changes being planned that might affect you and your P&O rips out cycle rack at Waterloo bike.

Climate change rally

A world-class station?

Efforts continue to coax, cajole and, indeed, shame the operators of St Pancras International station into taking the needs of cyclists seriously. Pictured above is a protest by cyclists on 14 November, the day the newly-refurbished St Pancras was unveiled to great fanfare. LCC activists argue that there is insufficient parking at the station, with a mere 100 parking stands rushed in at the last minute, following cyclists’ complaints. Meanwhile, Rotterdam’s new main railway station boasts 8,000 stands, while Cambridge station’s cycle parking provision is being expanded from 2,000 to 3,000. Beyond the issue of parking, there are concerns about the lack of safe access to and from St Pancras. Three cyclists have been killed within half a mile of the station within the last year.

If you’re tired of searching in vain for a safe and convenient place to lock up your bike, why not join the group devoted to improving parking provision for cyclists across London?

One of LCC’s campaign priorities is to challenge businesses, local authorities and other organisations to respond to the shortage of cycle parking in London, and we need more people to join in this work. If you’re interested in joining LCC’s cycle parking working group contact Ben Davies on 07714 691 654 or ben.davies@heartoflondonbid. co.uk

LCC grows again Thomas Moulton joined LCC in mid-January, as a new member of the community cycling team. Thomas’ work will focus on two projects, the Community Cycling Fund for London (see article this page) and Community Cycling Champions. The latter is LCC’s contribution to a £30m nationwide project known as the Active Travel Consortium (ATC). Also in January, Peter Ssekabira joined as LCC’s new finance officer.

Photo: Ralph Smyth , Tom Bogdanowicz, Sarah Slater

If your community group has an idea for a cycling project now is the time to apply for money from the Community Cycle Fund for London (CCFL). Under the latest round of CCFL funding, applications will be accepted until February 22 and decisions will be announced in the new financial year.

Successful applicants should receive funds in time for projects scheduled for the summer holidays.

Groups are eligible for funding of up to £5,000 and examples of projects that have received funding in the past are on LCC’s website (www.lcc.org.uk/community). If your group cannot submit an application by February 22 there will be another chance to apply for CCFL funds later this year.

For more information or to discuss what’s involved in submitting an application please contact Sarah Slater on 020 7234 9310 or sarah@lcc.org.uk

in brief

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News

Mayoral manifesto The London elections are just around the corner, on May 1, and LCC wants candidates standing for mayor and for the Greater London Assembly to respond to its election manifesto. LCC’s manifesto offers a ten-point plan to transform cycling in London and all LCC members are encouraged to raise the issue of cycling with candidates and their representatives. To read and download the manifesto: www.lcc.org.uk//index. asp?PageID=1060. Information on the London elections: www.londonelects.org.uk

Media savvy cyclists If you would like to help LCC produce materials for the media, including video and audio clips as well as still images, now is the perfect time to get in touch. A new “media materials” working group has been formed and co-ordinator Amanda Carter (tassoamanda@hotmail.com) is looking for media savvy cyclists to join. If you have skills and ideas that could help LCC make a bigger media impact please join in.

Paris wins top award The Vélib cycle hire scheme in Paris has won a prestigious award from the British Guild of Travel Writers. The Paris Vélib has been given BGTW’s Globe Award for best major tourism project worldwide. See www.bgtw.org/awards.asp.

More London cyclists There’s good news about cycling in the latest London Travel Report. The number of cyclists entering central London during the morning rush hour on an average working day was almost 6% higher in 2006 than in 2005.

Also welcoming to note is data indicating that the number of private cars entering central London during the morning rush declined substantially in 2006. Unfortunately, very few of those who ditched their cars appear to have got on their bikes.

Instead, they appear to have opted primarily for rail and/or the Underground. For a wealth of information on Londoners’ travel habits, see www.tfl.gov. uk/londontravelreport. For an explanation of how London’s cyclists are counted and what the statistics mean see p.19.

Cycle-friendly event for London’s women Expert panel to answer cycling urban questions Female cyclists from across London will once again be a visible presence at the annual Capitalwoman event, planned for 8 March, which is International Women’s Day. Group rides to the Westminster event are being organised and there will be cycle maintenance workshops in the forecourt of the conference venue. Inside, a panel of experienced female cyclists will answer attendees’ questions during a ‘cycle surgery’. Other Capitalwoman highlights include a talk by activist Angela Davis, comedy workshops, film screenings and fashion shows. Attendance is free.

To register: www.london.gov.uk/ capitalwoman. To participate in a ride to Capitalwoman email sarah@lcc.org.uk. For more on women and cycling see p.12.

Parris says sorry for murderous message

London cyclist wins pothole court case

Well-known Times columnist and former Conservative MP Matthew Parris has apologised after he suggested piano wire should be strung across “country lanes to decapitate cyclists”, adding that “the lynching of a cyclist by a mob of mothers with pushchairs would be a joy to witness”. These and other recommendations were included in a column by Parris published by The Times.

Following hundreds of complaints from LCC and other cycling organisations as well as many individual cyclists, Parris said sorry: “I offended many with my attack on cyclists. It was meant humorously but so many cyclists have taken it seriously that I plainly misjudged. I am sorry.”

Parris is far from the first media personality to lash out against cyclists recently. Although Top Gear TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson is well known for his anti-cyclist views, even historian Lisa Jardine has been known to devote column inches to attacks on “holier-than-thou” cyclists.

LCC director Koy Thomson argues that such aggressive anticyclist messages circulated by the media risk creating a climate that undermines the position of cyclists on London’s streets (see p.4) Read Parris’ December 27 2007 column: www.timesonline.co.uk/ tol/comment/columnists/matthew_ parris. For LCC’s response: www.lcc.org.uk/news

A cyclist from west London has won a legal case against Ealing over its failure to repair a pothole in Uxbridge Road, near Ealing Broadway.

Ealing resident Andrew Hillier pursued the council for £90 in damages when his bike suffered a buckled wheel after he rode over the pothole. The incident took place last June.

Although Ealing council agreed the pothole was of sufficient depth to require repair – it was 35mm deep – it nevertheless hired solicitors to defend the claim in court. In January, a district judge ruled in Hillier’s favour, stating that it was fortunate the pothole had not caused serious injury. Hillier was awarded £170 in damages.

Hillier told LC that he pursued the case because last June’s incident wasn’t the first time his bike had been damaged as a result of poorly-maintained roads within the borough. He is pleased by the outcome of the case and hopes it will encourage Ealing to take the maintenance of its roads more seriously. “Ealing council consistently talks about being a cycle-friendly council but the fact remains that many of the designated

For more news go to www.lcc.org.uk

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Free cycle maintenance workshops at Capital Woman 2008

Andy Hillier pleased with judge’s decision cycle routes within the borough are hazards,” he said.

Since the court ruling Ealing council has sent Hillier an apology and assured him that a formal investigation will take place to discover why the council refused his claim, forcing the issue to court.

Transport for London (TfL) and London’s boroughs have a duty to repair potholes. TfL manages London’s major ‘trunk’ roads and potholes can be reported by calling 0845 305 1234. Your local LCC group can advise on how to report potholes on more minor roads in your area, or go to www.fillthathole.org.uk

Photo: Melanie Cox

in brief

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Letters Have your say

Girls about town Owing to the limited selection of stylish women’s cycling wear, I have set up a group on Facebook

Praise for Berlin Anyone who cycles or uses public transport in London will be aware of how things have improved.

Mayor Ken Livingstone may not be a cyclist, but his determination to push through environmental improvements puts his Labour government colleagues to shame.

However, a visit to Berlin brought home to me how far we still have to go. Cycling is a perfectly normal way of getting around and I failed to see any Lycra throughout my stay.

Berlin benefits from being flat, and all main thoroughfares have a cycle lane or path. Pedestrians and cyclists enjoy priority, which means light-jumping doesn’t happen. All new apartment blocks appear to have cycle stands and even outside older buildings, bikes are just propped up on their stands, often without a lock.

Taking a bike on S-bahn (overground) trains is acceptable and no-one seems bothered

by bikes on the U-bahn (the underground) either. If you stand on the platform at stations in London, it can be hard to find the designated area for cycles, assuming there actually is one. No such problem in Berlin, where the cycle logo indicating the designated area for bikes is big enough for the most myopic to spot.

I found Berlin a great place to visit, and you can reach it in a day by train via Brussels and Cologne.

Peter Randall, by email Feature

Tickets to ride Public bike hire schemes are moving up the political agenda following the launch of Vélib in Paris. Dave Holladay, integrated transport specialist and CTC public transport officer, and LCC campaigns manager Tom Bogdanowicz compare schemes and ask whether London can rise to the challenge

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fter seeing the Paris Vélib system, London’s mayor Ken Livingstone announced his intention to see bike hire on the same scale in London.

Transport for London is examining systems, and their suitability for London.

Large scale bike hire has a chequered past with most schemes failing through the inability to deliver 24/7 convenience coupled with effective management of the bikes. Advances in electronics and the backing of media giants like Clear Channel Adshel and JC Decaux, which have linked bike hire with on-street advertising, have lifted hire schemes to the critical level where the user can be certain of finding a bike to hire without a long walk or complex search.

A high density of bikes in a core area is considered a crucial element of success, and is something the Paris scheme delivered on day one.

An alternative to advertising as the funding source for bike hire is to view the bikes as public transport infrastructure. Funded by government or public transport operators, bire hire method of getting passengers can be an efficient to and from trains, while relieving pressure on overcrowded buses and trains.

Successful hire systems make the user responsible for the return of the bike, while at the same time keeping the hire process simple and secure. Gone are free bike schemes and in come automated 24/7 systems using credit cards, smart cards or mobile phones for billing and registration, and fines for lost bikes and misuse. Companies can buy into schemes to provide staff pool bikes or use a public hire system as part of a travel plan scheme.

Here we compare schemes in the UK and across the Channel.

Tariff: Annual fee: €29; first 30 minutes free, then €1/€2/€4 per 30 minutes (rising rate to encourage quick return).

Non return/misuse deposit €150. One-day and seven-day passes available.

Bikes: Three-speed, 22kg, integral lighting, hub brakes, luggage carrier. Cost: £650 per bike.

Who pays? Media giant JC Decaux has exclusive use of revenue from on-street advertising across Paris.

It’s estimated that the capital cost could be recovered within a couple of years.

Is it working? Considered a success – 196 bikes per square kilometre expected by 2008 (9.6 bikes per 1000 population). Users prefer to go downhill (Montmartre) and then can’t find stands to leave the bikes at the bottom. Bikes locked unofficially to ‘reserve’ them.

The Vélib scheme is 10 times bigger than the existing Roue Libre (RATP) scheme.

What else? The official website is www.velib.paris. fr. There are also 14 other Decaux Cyclocity schemes in France, Belgium, Austria and Spain, some free to citizens. Lyon was the original model for Paris (see p.17).

>>

HAMMERSMITH AND FULHAM, UK Population: 170,000 (London 7.7 million) Overview: OYBike launched in July 2004 and covers an area of 16.4 km 2 ; 70 bikes in 20 locations.

The system operates by mobile phone technology – you call in for a release code.

Hire points are three-port units bolted to buildings/bike stands.

Tariff: Initial credit/subscription: £10. First 30 minutes free, £2 per hour thereafter (which is capped at a day rate of £8). Non return/misuse charged at cost (there is an insurance waiver offer of £10).

Bikes: Three-speed, shaft drive, integral lighting, luggage carrier. Cost: £300 per bike.

PARIS, FRANCE Population: 2.2 million Overview: Vélib, launched in July 2007 with 10,000 bikes stationed at 750 locations within an area covering 105km 2. Twenty bikes take up two car parking spaces. The system has a GPRS data link.

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Police operating within London’s Square Mile have cyclists and cycling on their agenda. Erin Gill meets members of City of London Police discuss the relationship to between City cops and urban cyclists arly on in

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my conversation with three City of London Police officers I hear something that pleases me. Inspector Dave Aspinall, head of the force’s road policing unit, says firmly: “Everyone is entitled to use the road, including cyclists.”

It’s a basic statement but an important one, given the way in which cyclists have often been made to feel like ‘unacceptable’ road users in the decades since the private car took over British streets.

It is important that a police officer in Inspector Aspinall’s position accepts the existence of cyclists on the roads he watches over. What’s more, Aspinall is aware that the number of cyclists moving within or travelling through the City is likely to increase further, having already doubled since 2000.

The two other officers I’m meeting spend a good deal of their work time on bikes, since both Sergeant Dave Prashner and Constable Rob Bliss are members of cycle patrol teams. They are clearly proud to be cops on bikes.

Casualties & collisions

I arrive at our meeting expecting to discuss ‘bad’ behaviour by cyclists at length, issues such as cyclists riding on pavements.

We do talk about these things, but the issue we return to time and again is road safety and cyclist casualties. Yes, the City of London Police receive a lot of complaints about cyclists’ behaviour, but what worries them most is serious injuries and fatalities.

Of the 770 collisions that occurred within the City in 2006/07 (published data for April 2006 March 2007) and that resulted in a reportable injury, 28% involved a cyclist.

2006/07 was the fourth consecutive year in which the total number of cyclist 12 December 2007/January

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casualties rose in the City. However, a figure of 28% of casualties can also be viewed in a positive light, as that number represented a reduction in the proportion of casualties involving cyclists. In the previous year cyclist casualties had been 35% of Recent road safety operations the total. conducted by City of London Police have included stopping cyclists who have “committed road traffic offences”.

Some of these cyclists have been given fixed penalty notices.

Sergeant Prashner tells me that most cyclists who are stopped respond positively: “A lot of them have said ‘thanks, I’ll take what you’ve said on board’.

When we give a cyclist a ticket we explain why we’ve done it and we also talk about positive cycle theft reduction initiatives.” things, such as our Not everyone approves wholeheartedly of the way City of London Police target cyclists. Ralph Smyth of City Cyclists notes that only 25% of collisions involving cyclists are the fault of cyclists, and he would like to see police focus on high-risk behaviour by motorists such as drivers cutting up cyclists at junctions.

Reducing cyclist casualties may require more from police than simply ticketing cyclists who jump red lights. City of London Police may be assuming that if fewer cyclists break the law, there will automatically be fewer cyclist casualties.

Another aspect of City of London Police’s current efforts to reduce cyclist casualties has been meetings with groups of cyclists to discuss road safety.

City of London Police recently addressed 80-odd cycling employees of Dresdner Bank meet with cyclists at Morgan and plans are afoot to Stanley Bank. Meanwhile, City Cyclists have proposed changes to the City of London Police website so that it includes a page about safer cycling.

2008 LONDON CYCLIST

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Feature MET POLICE PROMOTE GREEN TRANSPORT Sustainable travel is a phrase bandied about, but not always put into practice. However, the Metropolitan Police is taking sustainable travel seriously and is working on what is thought to be the world’s largest travel survey. The survey covers across Greater London, and 37 of its largest sites will examine modes of travel used by employees as well as barriers to greater sustainable travel at each location. Results early 2008 and will be used should be available in to develop modal shift targets and incentives to increase sustainable travel, including cycling. “The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is London’s largest employer and we have nearly 600 operational sites, so this survey should give us a much better understanding of travel patterns across the estate,” says Emma Devenish, MPS head of environment and sustainability.

Earlier research focusing on the Met’s five inner London headquarter sites, with a combined staff of 10,000, indicated that about 5% of employees cycle to work.

Many commuting journeys involve more than one method of transport, with 86% of employees using public transport and efforts to increase cycle commuting 23% using cars for part of their journeys. Recent have proved popular. When eight-week window during staff were given an which they could sign up to buy a bike tax free via the Ride2Work salary sacrifice scheme “demand was so high it almost outstripped ability to administer the scheme,” our says Devenish.

The Met has more than 1,200 bikes in its operational cycle fleet. Devenish’s team continually promotes operational use of cycles by producing case studies of instances when bikes have been used successfully in operational situations. A review last year demonstrated that utilisation of operational bikes is high and that units using bikes employ them for almost all of their patrolling.

Policing motorists All regular cyclists in London have witnessed dangerous driving by motorists, including behaviour that is illegal. Cyclists often fear that police are targeting anti-social and illegal behaviour by cyclists whilst opting for a lighter touch when it comes to motorists’ behaviour.

Inspector Aspinall insists this is not the case in the City: “I know cyclists feel targeted, but anyone who is caught tends to feel targeted.”

Inspector Aspinall tells me that as he walked from Barbic Station that very morning, a n he passed two advance stop lines (ASLs) completely empty of cars. He doesn’t know whether last year’s operation focusing on ASLs is part of the reason for this example of driver compliance, but he hopes so. During last year’s operation hundreds of motorists were given fixed penalty notices for occupying ASLs and about 300 ticketed motorists took the opportunity to have their penalty annulled in exchange for attending a driver education session. It’s a nice story, but I can’t be the only cyclist who wishes such operations took place on a regular basis.

When it comes to motorists ignoring the fact it is illegal to use mobile phones while driving unless they have a hands-free system, City of London Police insists it began enforcing the ban as soon as it became law and hasn’t stopped. They also emphasise that in all dealings with HGV drivers they reiterate to drivers that they should watch out for cyclists.

Read the Met Police’s sustainable travel plan and environmental police.uk/about/environment. strategy: www.met.

The Metropolitan Police Service is an LCC corporate affiliate. For information about LCC’s corporate affiliate programme 020 7234 9310 or shadia@lcc.org.uk. contact Shadia on

Bicycle thieves Cycle theft rates are now being compared on a national basis and this may prompt certain forces to focus more attention on what has often been perceived as a lowpriority crime. Sergeant Prashner is planning a cycle security campaign for 2008 and, recently, two professional cycle thieves were caught in the City, receiving prison sentences of six and three months.

However, a lot of cycle thieves operating in the City are young people who pass stolen bikes onto professional gangs. One technique is to steal a bike from a cycle bay and immediately re-secure it at another, nearby cycle bay. The bike is eventually retrieved, but only just before it is sold on. This limits the amount of time thieves have bikes in their possession and makes it difficult for police to catch them.

Constable Bliss is keen to discourage anyone from buying a secondhand bike in the Brick Lane area.

Metropolitan Police in Tower Hamlets currently have about a thousand stolen cycles they’ve recovered from Brick Lane but can’t restore to owners. This is a perfect example of why police forces across the country are encouraging cyclists to register their bikes – for free – with www.immobilise.com . This is the system police use to match recovered bikes with owners.

Clearly, there are areas of disagreement and unease between urban cyclists and the police. Not all police officers give cyclists the impression that they accept our presence on the roads. However, the three City of London Police officers I met know cyclists are a ‘constituency’ that matters – surely, that’s a heartening sign.

To read a longer version of this article, which includes a discussion about City of London Police’s cycle patrols please go to www.lcc.org.uk/londo ncyclist

Rosie Downes

Head protection Although I chose not to cycle into London on the day of the Freewheel event in September, my journey took me through Green Park, where many of the riders were assembled.

As I was crossing towards St James’s Park, a large steel sign blew over and hit me on the head, causing me not a little discomfort.

To everyone that has ever told me to wear a helmet, I would like to say my accident is consistent with the statistics, which show that pedestrians are more at risk than cyclists. Henceforth, I shall wear a helmet wherever I walk, and I will campaign for the introduction of helmets for pedestrians.

Damien Bove, Barnet

called ‘Women want funky cycling clothes too!’ so we can discuss and share good cyclist-friendly websites. We want to wear clothing that makes us look like women so that we aren’t called ‘mate’ if we are cycling at night.

Some companies sell women’s cycling clothes even though some do not fit us. For example, cycling jerseys can have very short backs and some of the leggings are lowwaisted leggings – not practical with drop handlebars. Also, there are few companies catering for the Muslim women cyclists, even though some companies cater for Muslim swimmers.

I hope we can get more members for this site and hopefully cyclewear for women will change and cater for the modern woman rather than one from the 1950s.

Eva Charrington, by email Ed: See page 12 for more on women cycling.

Photos: Jeremy Hughes,

Being a considerate cyclist Recently, my colleague witnessed a > cyclist speeding through a red light and knocking down a young person.

Dismounting, the cyclist helped her up, asked her whether she was alright, and then sped off, leaving her in the middle of the road. As cars started to move, my colleague helped the girl to the side of the road, where she burst into tears. It took some time for her to regain her composure and tend to her grazes, but the cyclist was gone.

As cyclists, most of us know how shaky we feel when a car hits or almost hits us and how the shock of an accident can take time to process, and how affronted we are if car drivers go off without paying attention to the damage they have caused. I would hate us to replicate such thoughtlessness with pedestrians. Perhaps we are so focused on our powerlessness visà-vis cars that we forget how much damage we can do ourselves.

Charlotte Burck, by email

LONDON CYCLIST December 2007/January

Ticket to ride in Paris Following reading your article ‘Tickets to Ride’ in December/ January, I would like to make some comments regarding the Velib scheme in Paris. Your feature includes an ‘is it working?’ section which I believe more positive comment should have been made.

The system has had more than 10 million users since mid-July (in 4.5 months there have been 10 million users) and if you compare that to any other scheme, it shows how popular this solution is. The scheme proved its reliability during nine days of strikes in France when the average use of a bike was 18 times a day. The issues mentioned in the article are extremely minor in comparison to the overall scheme.

Karen Rankin, Head of UK Development – Street Furniture, JCDecaux UK Bikes and police I read with interest the Dec/Jan letter about policing. Recently on Earls Court Road I was riding to work, cycling in an off-centre position in one of the two lanes. A driver beeped their horn when very close to my rear wheel. This led me to shout out an expletive. I was pulled over by the driver who turned out to be a uniformed Met police officer in an unmarked car. She told me I was riding inconsiderately by not allowing motor vehicles to

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8 February/March 2008 LONDON CYCLIST

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Letters

Letters can be sent to letters@lcc.org.uk or to the address on page 3. Letters may be edited for legal or space reasons (please keep them short and concise)

Advice much too basic LC is packed full of good cycling info, from the bike arts, product reviews, news, legal info and technical advice. It seems to be aimed at committed cyclists. I was shocked therefore to see advice on how to repair a puncture (LC, Oct/ Nov). I learnt how to do this when I was a child. It is a required skill but if you do have to publish such basic advice, then please stick in some courier street tips about getting your stranded bike home.

Paul Foskett, by email Ed: Point taken, Paul, but we do aim to cater for everyone who rides or who would like to ride, hence the puncture repair guide for cyclists who may not consider themselves technically proficient or who may lack the confidence to undertake their own repairs.

World Naked Bike Ride I’d love to take part in the World Naked Bike Ride, but I can’t seem to find anywhere to practise. Have members any suggestions? Also, if one eventually joins the Ride, does it count as Bare Miles?

David S Garfield Praise for Eurostar Following the advice of a recent edition of London Cyclist, three friends and I decided to indulge in

Bus lanes and ASLs A quick note on instances on the Euston Road of buses overtaking me and then closing the space off in front me because there really was no road to overtake into. I’ve had black cabs do the same. It’s as if the bus lane is not meant for cyclists.

Re your Dec/Jan editorial comment about the ASL, for the two and a half years I’ve cycled, motorcyclists have used the ASL as freely as cyclists. I never knew it was illegal.

Stuart Wright, Leyton Cheap lights disappoint I was delighted to find a pair of bike lights, front and rear, complete with brackets and batteries, for £4.99 from a local ‘cheap shop’. Made

by Rolson, they were compact, light, looked well made and, all in all, looked excellent value. I bought and fitted a pair, and they worked well for a few weeks, then, one cold day, I had occasion to padlock my bike to some railings. As I did so, the front light got knocked off, and fell on the ground. The casing split, the bracket was damaged and the battery carrier cracked. So, they weren’t such brilliant value after all.

Andy Pedley, by email Bikes on the buses The letter in LC, October/November about bike racks on buses reminded me of the special buses that ran through the Dartford Tunnel before it became part of the M25.

Some information on these can be found at http://kentbuses.fotopic. net/c283640.html John F Hitches, Kingston University

Zoe Williams I have rediscovered cycling since I had a baby, but abandoned the road bike. So many reasons – I’d lent it to my uncle, the acute reader might recall, and they’d become fond of one another.

You don’t want to wrench apart a relationship like that. Plus, I’d learnt, through eight years’ experience that I don’t look after nice things.

Most pressingly, there is the small matter of this baby, so the chances of my going on long beginners’ rides with a club, getting up at eight in the morning, whizzing off without a care or a helmet in the world, coming back knackered – well, I don’t want to put anyone off being a parent or anything, but that kind of plan will have to wait until I can at least guarantee I’m getting it together to brush my teeth every day.

Now, for all the obvious reasons, I want to be safe, safe, safe. Ideally, I’d like all the rest of the traffic off the roads. If I’m this annoying now, imagine how much worse I’ll get when I have a child seat for the child. It’s really a thin line between being safety conscious and being so self-righteously safety conscious that you make other people want to kill you. I no longer care about looking young – I want to look as though I could conceivably be a plain clothes copper, and arrest you for driving too close to me. I want mudguards and panniers. I am toying with a bell.

I no longer have any pretensions towards looking like a sports cyclist, which is probably a good thing, since I was never at all sporty.

So all I need now is an actual bike. It’s hard to know what to buy. I’ve already established that I won’t look after it and I’m not even going to show off with it, so it seems pointless getting a new one. But all the bikes on eBay have to be collected from Cheshire, and all the bikes in second-hand shops have been thieved by crack addicts (yes, I’m generalising wildly. I’m a parent, now, remember – I think everyone’s a crackhead).

It used to be my life’s ambition to get one made for me, but I think we can now file that under “completely unwarranted showing off”. I can’t bear that sturdy, unlovely-but-practical look that almost all urban bikes favour, with their meaty handlebars and their solid, unshockable tyres. It would amuse me to have a mountain bike with the squidgy, melodramatic suspension, but it would also be totally pointless. I could maybe get a BMX and learn to wheelie, but it never did anything for me in the ’80s. The only town bikes I have any affection for are those broken ones with leaky baskets, but they are offensive to ride, and I’d also have to steal one off a student.

I wouldn’t know where to start with a project like that. I guess I would have to find a very very slow student and stalk them to learn their movements.

I’m going to end up on a unicycle. Like an annoying hippy clown, only without the balance or the pink dreads.

Photos: Peter Dench

Eighteen months ago I was knocked off my bike by a motorist.

The police and ambulance arrived and the police took statements. I was concussed and had a ruptured shoulder and blurred vision. They handed me a piece of paper with the motorist’s name and number.

When my solicitor contacted the police, it transpired they hadn’t bothered to do an official report of the accident. The motorist decided he hadn’t opened his door at all and that I cycled into his car. The compensation was low because the police could not verify my story.

Carolyn Smith, N16

a French cycling holiday and we selected Eurostar to transport our bikes. However, upon arrival at Paris I was distraught to discover that my bike had gone ‘missing’.

The luggage people were unhelpful and ultimately I was left bikeless.

While many companies would have offered a half-hearted shrug and a £5 voucher, Eurostar went the extra mile. Their atonement included a letter of apology, a call from a manager, the cost of my new bike reimbursed, an offer of cash to compensate for any inconvenience and two first class tickets to Paris.

Oh, and a free bottle of champagne.

If only every company treated its cycling customers this well.

Nick Fulford, by email

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pass me quickly. I said the Highway Code directed that I adopt a position that I considered safest.

Nonetheless I apologised for using the expletive. I was warned I would be arrested for a public order offence. I wish to echo the previous writer’s concerns that this level of harsh treatment needs addressing.

Stephen Warwick, Notting Hill

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Letters Have your say

Letters can be sent to letters@lcc.org.uk or to the address on page 3. Letters may be edited for legal or space reasons

And more crap cycle lanes...

This example of a ghastly cycle lane (right) at the junction of Rectory Lane and Chillerton and Birchwood roads in the Wandsworth borough was highlighted

by Charlie Holland on the Wandsworth Cycling Campaign’s Yahoo e-group.

>

Cycle lanes that go nowhere I wonder how councils can be persuaded to make cycle lanes continuous? On my journeys into work I am constantly frustrated by cycle lanes that peter out whenever you get to a difficult (narrow or busy) part. It seems the planners just give up. This seems to me a bigger issue than that of whether cyclists should be forced to use cycle lanes. Here is my current favourite example. It’s on Bow Road (A11) going westbound, just west of Bow Church DLR station. It is under 20 metres long, then just stops again. It doesn’t resume again for several hundred yards. Ridiculous. There are many more examples like this. Can nothing be done?

Philip Carnelley, Wanstead Mapping out suggestions Plotting a safe cycling route through London in never easy. I’ve found that when green or brown routes are not an option, using bus lanes often feels safer and less stressful than sharing lanes on less busy feeder or residential roads.

Motorised traffic on bus lane routes seems to behave in a more predictable and thus accidentavoidable manner.

Would it be realistic to consider marking bus lanes on the London Cycle Guides? I’m thinking that a red line would be clear while not cluttering up the maps. Since bus lane restrictions themselves vary considerably in terms of hours and days of the week, it might be sensible to limit indication to those which operate at least 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday.

John Phillips, Catford Calling all inventors Just back from the January sales to get some new shoes. If you cycle to and from the office, you always have this dilemma of either getting your smart office shoes scratched and scuffed by your toe-clips or of having to cycle in trainers or cleats and keep your good shoes at the office, which isn’t ideal either. Maybe someone

LC columnist Ken Worpole sent in this shot (left) of Sustrans Route 1 at Northfleet in Kent.

“Some parts of the route were even more impenetrable than this,” he says.

If you encounter any poor cycle facilities, send a high resolution photo to letters@lcc.org.uk or to the address on page 3 and we will publish it when space permits.

could invent a toe-clip which that is kind to shoes, gives a good grip, but permits easy insertion and withdrawal.

Ken Cohen, by email Why is it so hard to find men’s Lycra cycling shorts with pockets?

We don’t all wear road racing tops with back pockets all the time, and just having somewhere conventional to hold a mobile, a credit card/work ID card, and my bike keys is so very handy. Shorts manufacturers have ignored reality for years: I’ve only managed to find two pairs in the last 15 years, but both pairs have worn out. If you could do a product review covering this category, it would be so useful.

Nigel Ford, by email Motorcycles and bicycles The anti-motorbike sentiments expressed by John Argent in LC Dec/Jan set me wondering with regard to his argument that cyclists cannot co-exist with motor bikes in bus lanes because of speed, size/weight and pollution. If this is the case, the logical thing is to ban buses from bus lanes. They are faster, heavier and more polluting.

How many cyclists have been injured/killed by motor bikes as against buses in the last five years?

As a reasonably fit septuagenarian with four push bikes, I also have two motorbikes and I drive a car and a van. All categories have their ‘cowboys’, but I would prefer to share lanes with a motorbike which risks as much as a bicycle in a collision than being forced into the gutter by the occasional bus driver with an attitude to cyclists.

If you can get to the tea hut at High Beach in Epping Forest, you will see good harmony between both sets of bikers. Talk to each other !

Fred Rolph, Enfield The logic of cycle lanes is bizarre.

Mixing buses and bicycles is the design of a confused person. So why not allow motorcycles if you allow buses? They don’t crowd cycles and they accelerate away so do not get in the way of buses or cycles. The benefit is putting space between other traffic and the motorcycle and reducing deaths.

James Birkin, SW4

Congratulations to our Dec/Jan prize-winners: ◆ Richard Symonds, Bexleyheath; ◆ Laura Kim, SE17; Donat Fatet, SE15; ◆ Carolyn Smith, N16.

They win either a Foska water bottle or a Vissi rucksack cover.

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Opinion

Twenty’s plenty With the 2008 London Mayoral race looming, LCC is urging candidates to back its campaign for 20mph speed limits. Tom Bogdanowicz and Charlie Lloyd of LCC’s campaigns team argue for the speed restrictions

where society could and should do more to prevent them. Every year, the inhabitants of a town the size of Nottingham or Belfast are killed or injured on our roads.”

Central London traffic speeds are about 10mph; even in Outer London they barely top 20mph off-peak and are significantly lower at peak times.

The problem in the capital is that vehicles can reach more than 60mph when travelling from one traffic queue to another, for example while crossing Waterloo Bridge outside the rush hour. Studies show a 20mph limit would make little difference to car journey times, but its enforcement would eliminate short bursts of high speed that can lead to fatal collisions or serious injuries.

Fatalities and injuries are not only personal tragedies but they have an economic impact: Brenda Puech of the victims’ charity RoadPeace and a campaigner for 20mph, says: “Road deaths and injuries already cost the NHS £470 million and the

LCC’S MAYORAL MANIFESTO LCC’s Mayoral election manifesto (see page 7) calls for a 20mph speed limit as its first point. At the last election, all the major mayoral candidates, including Ken Livingstone, accepted LCC’s manifesto point of 20mph in streets where Londoners work, live and shop.

LCC will be working with other organisations in the Safer Streets Coalition (which includes CTC, Sustrans, Living Streets, Campaign for Better Transport and RoadPeace) to promote 20mph urban speed limits. This will include production of materials on the benefits of 20mph and lobbying of politicians. If you want to get involved visit our 20mph campaign, see www.lcc.org.uk

The introduction of 20mph speed limits could make the roads safer for everyone

UK economy £18 billion every year – the personal cost of death and injury is incalculable.”

A 20mph speed limit also encourages the use of sustainable modes of transport like walking and cycling. “20mph would encourage more women to cycle,” says Sarah Slater, LCC’s community cycling officer. A Transport Research Laboratory study showed that in 20mph zones, child traffic incidents fell by 67%, cyclist incidents by 29% and motor traffic flows fell by 27%. A German study found that in 30kph (19mph) zones fuel consumption fell by 12% as drivers braked less and changed gears less frequently. With fewer cars on the road and more people walking and cycling cities can become cleaner and more enjoyable.

While imposing a new default speed requires national legislation, London’s Mayor and a coalition of willing boroughs could follow the Portsmouth example and create a large local area speed limit.

For the April/May issue of LC, we have asked each Mayoral candidate to respond to the LCC’s manifesto and comment on 20mph limits

THE DEBATE CONTINUES ONLINE In a special article online at www.lcc.org.uk/londoncyclist, the executive director of RoadPeace, Amy Aeron Thomas, has her say on 20mph zones. Share your thoughts on the subject by emailing us at letters@lcc.org.uk or writing to the address on page 3.

Photo: Mike Stenning

If a motor vehicle hits a pedestrian at 40mph, the risk of being killed is more than 30 times higher than at 20mph.

The prospect of halving the number of road deaths in the UK by reducing car speeds recently led the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) to recommend a 20mph default speed limit in built up areas. A growing number of politicians are coming to a similar conclusion.

Portsmouth City Council went all the way in 2007 and introduced a 20mph speed limit on all streets.

London’s Mayor Ken Livingstone has commissioned a study on the implementation of a 20mph limit. Jenny Jones, Green Party member of the London Assembly, sees 20mph as the route to a more liveable city: “London could have a very different feel to it in 10 years’ time, with safer streets where pedestrians and cyclists feel they are on more equal terms with the cars and lorries.”

Initial indications from Portsmouth are that the number of casualties has more than halved since the 20mph limit was introduced. Portsmouth Council took advantage of new British legislation (DfT Circular 01/2006) which permits the setting of 20mph speed limits (rather than zones) in wide areas without humps as long as average speeds in the area are already 24mph or less. Higher speed limits can be retained on specific roads, such as motorways.

Rob Gifford, author of the Beyond 2010 report for PACTS told LC “Improving road safety is not an academic exercise. Deaths on our roads are preventable occurrences

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Feature

Girls on BIKES Women still lag behind men when it comes to taking to two wheels. Susan Greenwood reports on moves to encourage more women to ride e are living in a golden age for women’s cycling, as far as cycle sport is concerned.

Nicole Cook is champion of the world, Victoria Pendleton is dominating track racing and mountain biker Rebecca Atherton has developed a nasty habit of leaving many a male rider in her dusty wake. Despite this abundance of sporting role models, there remain far fewer women cyclists on the roads than men. Since 2000, the number of cyclists in London has soared by 83%, yet the disparity between the number of women and the number of men on bikes hasn’t changed significantly. Men use their bikes almost three times more often than women, and they tend to ride further.

One explanation for this discrepancy is that women take the safety risks associated with cycling more seriously. Women are more aware of the dangers and so fewer of us cycle. Controversially, this argument has been extended recently. Not only are many women unwilling to ‘take the risk’ and cycle, when we do our risk-averse behaviour may being putting us in danger.

This is the sensationalist conclusion some media commentators jumped to last year, after seizing on data held by Transport for London’s road safety unit, which indicated that between 1999 and 2004 more women cyclists died following collisions with leftturning lorries than might be expected given the gender split on the roads.

They speculated that women cyclists – as a group – may be more likely to obey traffic signals. This might mean that we find ourselves waiting more often at a red light between a lorry and the kerb. Meanwhile, our less-obedient male counterparts are more likely to position themselves in front of the lorry or to its right. Or they may jump the light. In this scenario, when the lights change to green the obedient (female)

Photos: Jeremy Hughes, Rosie Collins, Tom Bogdanowicz, Adam Monaghan

W

cyclist is at risk if the lorry to her right decides to turn left without ensuring there isn’t a cyclist in its path.

LCC’s Charlie Lloyd is keen to put this argument into context. “Women cyclists have a far better safety record than men. They take fewer risks and suffer fewer casualties,” explains Lloyd, adding that “although women may be slightly more at risk from HGV lorries, these vehicles are indiscriminate killers.

All cyclists need to learn to keep well away from them, especially at junctions.”

The truth is that London’s roads are not as dangerous for cyclists as media reports tend to suggest. Jenny Jones, a cyclist and Green Party London Assembly member, believes things have got better: “While it can be scary on a bike, it is also safer on the roads for cyclists today than it has been for decades. There are proportionately fewer collisions and there are cycle routes that are comfortable and safe.”

Many cycle activists believe that training is the answer. Going out onto the roads with an instructor and learning how to cycle both safely and assertively is what many people – female and male – feel they need before they are ready to cycle regularly in traffic.

Research conducted in 2005 by London Analytics suggested adult women were far more likely to seek cycle training than men. Since 1999, Cycle Training UK (www.cycletraining.co.uk ) has been offering tailormade training for individuals and groups, with female instructors and mechanics available. LCC is happy to help individuals find suitable training in their area, and with many London boroughs offering free or low cost cycle training to residents there’s never been a better time to take a few lessons.

Making cycling cool Worries about the perceived dangers of cycling aren’t the only reason why fewer women cycle than men. For many women, especially teenage girls, cycling just isn’t cool. It’s something boys and men do. Teenage girls are the sector of the population least likely to take up cycling. Cycling is seen by many young women as a “manly” activity, to quote girls from a Brixton secondary school. No doubt, some of the reasons for this belief derive from family and cultural attitudes and these need to be tackled sensitively and imaginatively.

Another significant issue for teenage girls is fashion.

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Feature

Catwalk action at the Pret a Rouler fashion show organised by Velorution

GETTING STARTED

MORE INFORMATION LCC: At www.lcc.org.uk/info there is information on getting started, cycle training and other practical advice to help get Londoners cycling. LCC also publishes a leaflet called Getting Started: Your Guide To Cycling In London, and another called Cycle Sense: Skills And Confidence On The Road. Both are available from the LCC office (see page 3 for contact details).

Sustrans: The Sustrans website (www.sustrans.org.uk) also carries lots of useful advice for new cyclists.

Cycle Training UK: Unit 215, Building J, 100 Clements Rd, SE16 (020 7394 0624, www.cycletraining.co.uk) Velorution: 18 Great Titchfield St, W1 (020 7870 9800, www.velorution.biz) Online: Copenhagen is one of the most progressive cities when it comes to cycling, with women on bikes in the Danish capital the norm rather than the exception. Cycle Chic: Copenhagen Girls On Bikes is an excellent blog that offers an insight into this cycling culture. You can find it at http://copenhagengirlsonbikes.blogspot.com Your guide to cycling

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LCC’s cycling women It is never wise to underestimate the power of fashion in the lives of teenage girls and, thus, the perception amongst teenage girls that cycling and fashionable clothing are mutually exclusive represents a genuine barrier to coaxing more young women to get on their bikes.

Debbie Burton has set up www.minx-girl.com to tackle this very issue. “It sounds shallow, not participating in a sport because you look a bit funny doing it. But unlike most funny sports clothing, with cycling you’re seen in public wearing it” says Burton.

Last summer, a fashion show designed to demonstrate that fashion and cycling can go hand-in-hand took place. Called Pret a Rouler, and organised by bike shop Velorution, the fashion show featured designs that emerged from the Teenage Girl Cycling Project, which took place in four London schools in early 2007.

Andrea Cassalotti is the owner of Velorution. He argues that “no one, including women, has to look dorky when they ride a bicycle”.

As the number of cyclists in London continues to grow, it is inevitable that some of this increase will come from more women getting on their bikes, not just more men. This will, inevitably, encourage even more women to have a go. Eventually, a critical mass of girls and women, cycling on a daily basis, will emerge.

The challenge facing LCC and cycle activists across London is to make this happen as quickly as possible and to offer women of all ages and backgrounds more support as they become regular cyclists.

Women cyclists offer ideas about how to get more women onto London’s roads Shadia Hameed, corporate membership & marketing officer “We need to improve the way we promote the benefits of cycling to women, by demonstrating how how much freedom comes from cycling and how it allows you to incorporate exercise into your day. We also need to show women that cycling is both the greenest way to travel and a sociable activity.”

Julie Tublin, membership support assistant “As a fairly new cyclist in London I have gained confidence by cycling a route with a friend who lives and works in the same area as me. Women who are unsure about cycling on the roads of the capital would benefit from being shown how by women who already do it.”

Rosie Downes, information officer “We need more Vicky Pendletons! She’s a role model in competitive cycling, but she also helps counteract the misguided view that everyday cycling is a masculine activity.”

Sarah Slater, community cycling officer “We need safer roads, and a code of good conduct for all road users would help. This would be a code not just for cyclists, but for motorists, pedestrians, bus drivers and, most of all, HGV drivers.”

[CASE STUDY] JEWISH MUMS GET ON THEIR BIKES One of the dozens of community groups to benefit from the Community Cycle Fund for London (CCFL) is an Orthodox Jewish mother’s group called Jump. Members of the group wanted to improve their fitness through cycling, but as it is not appropriate for Orthodox Jewish women to attend mixed-gender cycle training sessions conducted in the street, the group applied for funds to arrange a bespoke, women-only training programme.

Last autumn, nine members of Jump received training from female cycle trainers in the playground of a primary school in Hackney. All but one of the nine had never cycled before, and by the end of the six-week training programme eight out of nine were confident cyclists.

The group has since acquired three bikes that members use for leisure rides. Response to the training has been overwhelmingly positive, according to Gitti Rottenberg, one of the participants. One member is taking her new-found love of cycling a step further and hopes to arrange after-school cycle training for Orthodox Jewish boys, whose curriculum includes no sports or games.

LCC is keen to support community groups whose members wish to learn to cycle or to improve their cycling skills. Religious and/or cultural requirements can usually be accommodated without difficulty, including requirements for women and girls to maintain modest dress or to learn to cycle in private, less visible locations. >> LONDON CYCLIST February/March 2008 13

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Cycling heroines Female cyclists offer ideas about how to get more women onto London’s roads

[PROFILE]

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Name: Janet Paske Occupation: Founder and co-ordinator of Wheels for Wellbeing (wheelsforwellbeing. org.uk), a cycling project for disabled people. Currently, we run Arena Cycling Projects in Croydon and a short-term, intensive project for people with severe mental illness.

How long have you been cycling? Since I was about 8. I learnt on the lawn. I started cycling regularly when I was about 25, when my uncle and aunt took me on a cycling holiday to Belgium.

What kind of cyclist are you? I use my bike to get around and am also a leisure cyclist, going out for rides on the weekends every now and again.

What would get more women cycling in London? Busy roads seem to be a barrier for many women, so an enforced 20mph speed limit would be a great help. More money for cycle training, plus lots of rides for people new to cycling so they can build confidence. More promotion of the free cycle maps produced by Transport for London would be good, too, since people who travel by Underground often have little knowledge of how to get from A to B. They often imagine cycling only on busy roads, but the maps show people how to avoid the very roads they fear!

Name: Jenny Jones Occupation: Green Party politician, member of the London Assembly, and borough councillor in Southwark.

How long have you been cycling? I’ve cycled since childhood. My dad cycled to work and back every day and was keen for me to have some freedom, which cycling gave me. I did things like cycle from Brighton to Eastbourne with a school friend when I was 14. I can’t imagine many parents allowing their children to do that sort of journey now.

What kind of cyclist are you? I’m quite aggressive, taking up as much road as my elbows allow. I don’t cycle every day, but am very committed. I love cycling to work as it’s so quick and easy, and I take my bike on holiday sometimes.

What would get more women cycling in London? Mostly, it’s the same things that all cyclists need. We need improved road safety and we have to spend lots more money on cycle training, for adults and children, which will get more cyclists on the roads. More cyclists will make us all safer, as drivers will have to look out for us. We also need the police to take cycle theft more seriously. If people have several bikes stolen it can put them off cycling completely. Yet, so many of us don’t bother to report a stolen bicycle to the police because they don’t seem to care.

Name: Therese Kilpatrick Occupation: Freelance bicycle mechanic and mechanics trainer. Founder of The Bike Project.

How long have you been cycling? 37 years What kind of cyclist are you? I cycle every day to get around and I do some mountain biking.

What would get more women cycling in London? We need to understand more fully why alternatives to cycling are preferred by so many women. We also need to have more ‘carrots’, such as more subsidised cycle training, a Londonwide speed limit of 20mph, increased congestion charging or road taxation to decrease private motor vehicle use, better access to good quality, second-hand bikes that haven’t been stolen. We also need a change to liability laws so that motor vehicle drivers are automatically responsible for a collision with a cyclist or pedestrian, unless it is proven otherwise.

[PROFILE] Name: Wendy Flicker Occuption: Product designer, personal trainer, cycling instructor and mechanic.

How long have you been cycling? 40 years.

What kind of cyclist are you? Progressive and defensive, with a healthy regard for my mortality.

What would get more women cycling in London? There are a lot of women cycling already, but I think the practicalities of cycling put some women off – the dishevelled, sweaty, windswept look doesn’t always appeal! But the biggest hurdle is state of mind. Young women need role models. Can we not get Amy Winehouse on a bicycle, or Lily Allen back on hers?

[PROFILE] Name: Liz Bowgett Occupation: Teacher and cycle instructor at New City primary school in Newham. I train up to 200 children a week. I run two evening clubs and a Saturday morning club with children and parents from all over the borough.

How long have you been cycling? 54 years.

What kind of cyclist are you? Commuter, leisure, pleasure, cycle trainer and promoter of cycling as a way of life.

What would get more women cycling?

A different attitude to motorists who hurt cyclists and, of course, loads more cycle training for women.

[PROFILE] Name: Sally Haywill Occupation: Mother, ESOL teacher and director of STA Bikes, which aims to improve the lives of children and their families through cycling and related activities.

How long have you been cycling? I learnt as a child, in the countryside, and I cycled in London in my 20s. Then I had my children and only got back into cycling regularly in London ten years ago.

What kind of cyclist are you? Excellent of course! I use my bike as my main means of transport. I cycle about a minimum of 80 miles a week.

What would get more women cycling in London? I would love funders and people in positions of influence to realise that not all of us aspire to be sporty yellow jerseys. I would like cycling for women of all ages to be promoted. And I would like

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American journalist Peter Zheutlin has filed this special report for LC on Annie Londonderry, the first woman to ride solo around the world historic – the first attempt by a woman to circle the world by bicycle.

A l s o p re s e n t w a s a re p re s e n t a t i v e o f t h e Londonderry Lithia Springs Water Company of New Hampshire, bottler of popular and heavily advertised spring water believed to have medicinal properties.

At an appointed time, the Londonderry representative stepped forward, handed the woman $100 and affixed a placard with the familiar “Londonderry” logo to the rear fender of her bicycle. With that simple act, Annie Cohen Kopchovksy, a 23-year-old working mother of three disappeared and a new woman, one destined for global celebrity, was born: Annie Londonderry, globetrotter.

The moment also appears to have been the birth of a new phenomenon: sports-related marketing for women. In the 15 months that followed, Londonderry made her way around the world, first on her women’s Columbia and later on a men’s Sterling bicycle, the manufacturers eager to reap the public relations benefits of Londonderry’s feat. To earn money as she travelled, Londonderry turned herself into a mobile billboard, renting space on her clothing and her bicycle to local merchants in the cities she visited and then pedaling through the streets, at times virtually covered from head to toe with advertisements for bicycles, tyres, milk, perfume and countless other products. So keen was her advertising sense that the cost of an advert depended on which part of her body you rented, her back being more expensive than, say, a patch on her thigh.

Above: This image was used in advertising by the Sterling Cycle Works of Chicago, which provided Annie with her second bike

n the mild, early summer morning of June 25, 1894, a young Jewish housewife and mother of three small children stood before a crowd of 500 people gathered at the Massachusetts State House in Boston. At her side was a 42-pound Columbia bicycle provided by one of the leading bicycle makers in the United States, the Pope Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut. Among the crowd were members of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, the largest women’s organisation in the country, local ‘wheelmen’, friends and curious onlookers, all there to witness the start of something unique and

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A symbol of the ‘modern’ woman Carrying advertisements was only one of many ways the resourceful Londonderry supported herself on the road. She clerked in stores as a ‘drawing card’ to lure customers, sold her autograph and photograph, bought and resold small souvenir pins and, later in her trip, lectured about her experiences – some real and others the product of a fertile imagination – to audiences in small towns thirsty for a taste of her global adventure.

Although she became a symbol of the so-called ‘New Woman’ of the 1890s – ‘modern’ women who were asserting themselves as the equals of men – Londonderry didn’t set out to score a victory for women’s rights. Her motivations were more personal and prosaic: she wanted out from under the burdens of domestic life and she sought fame and fortune.

She just happened to strike upon a brilliant scheme for achieving all of these goals – brilliant because her journey occurred at the intersection of three of the

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Above: Annie as depicted in an illustration that accompanied her first-person account of her trip published in the New York World on October 20, 1895

most powerful social trends of the 1890s: globalisation, the women’s movement and the cycling craze.

Americans and Europeans at the end of the 19th century were intensely interested in learning more about the world around them and the telegraph and ocean liners made that increasingly possible.

Newspaper readers followed the exploits of explorers and round the world travellers who were the equivalent of today’s reality TV stars.

The role of women in society was changing as well.

Women were asserting themselves in new ways by working outside the home, engaging in social causes

Above: This formal portrait, taken the day Annie officially began her trip, clearly shows the advertising placard of the Londonderry Lithia Springs Water Co on the rear wheel

This was no mere test of a woman’s physical endurance, but of her ability to fend for herself in the world and lobbying for equal rights. Indeed, a woman’s role in society, and her innate ability to compete with men was intensely debated.

The bicycle itself played a major role in this debate and profoundly changed the lives of late Victorianera women. The development of the so-called ‘safety bicycle’ – a bicycle with wheels of equal size and a chain to transfer pedal power to the rear wheel – in the late 1870 and 1880s opened the sport to women as never before and ushered in the bicycle craze that swept the United States and much of Europe in the 1890s. Not only did women enjoy unprecedented freedom of movement on a bicycle, cycling led to an evolution in the clothing they wore as they found attire more suited to the sport than long skirts and corsets.

Bloomers or divided skirts became popular, despite many objecting to them on the grounds of them being too masculine and an affront to morality. But the forces of social conservatism were no match for the popularity of the bicycle, and by 1896 the American suffragist and women’s rights pioneer Susan B Anthony could rightly declare that “bicycling has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world”.

It was Annie ‘Londonderry’ Kopchovsky’s genius to seize on all three of these social trends and to build her fame at their intersection.

Newspapers from Chicago to Shanghai reported that the impetus for her round the world ride was a friendly wager between two wealthy Boston merchants

to settle an argument about the capabilities of the ‘New Woman’. Thousands of dollars were at stake in a wager that required the circuit to be made in 15 months. Another condition was that the woman start penniless and earn $5,000 en route. This was no mere test of a woman’s physical endurance, but of her ability to fend for herself in the world.

T h e w a g e r, h o w e v e r, w a s a l m o s t c e r t a i n l y Londonderry’s invention, a clever device that would help build public interest in her venture. After all, no matter where one stood on the question of women’s equality, everyone would have a vested interest in the outcome. The wager also turned the trip into a race against time, adding immensely to the drama. Finally, the wager combined a wildly popular pastime – cycling – and international travel at a time when the public was enamored of round the world exploits by the likes of journalist Nellie Bly. Bly set out in 1889 to beat the fictional record of Jules Verne’s protagonist, Phileas Fogg, who circled the world in 80 days to settle a wager of his own. Bly, who made the trip in 72 days, returned to a hero’s welcome in New York and became an international celebrity. Londonderry was well aware of Bly’s feat and knew that replicating it on a bicycle was sure to be a sensation.

Though not an active feminist, Londonderry cleverly assumed the mantle of the women’s rights movement by making herself the centrepiece of an exploit that very publicly tested a woman’s ability to do what only a man, Thomas Stevens, had done before: circle the world by wheel.

Shortly after her 15-month odyssey by bicycle – with liberal use of steamers and trains – came to an end, Londonderry penned a first-person account of her trip for the New York World newspaper, the very same newspaper that sponsored Nellie Bly’s journey several years before. “I am a …‘new woman’,” Londonderry began, “if that term means that I believe I can do anything any man can do.” With an abundance of gumption and gall, she had indeed proved that she had few equals when it came to self-promotion and publicity for she had gone from anonymity in the tenements of Boston to a celebrity on the world stage. A novice cyclist at the start, she also transformed herself into one of the sport’s first female stars and a successful advertising medium, blazing a trail countless women would follow in the decades to come.

Peter Zheutlin is the author of Around the World on Two Wheels: Annie Londonderry’s Extraordinary Ride (Citadel Press, 2007). The book, in hard cover and on CD, is available from Amazon.co.uk and www.tantor. com. See also www.annielondonderry.com

Photos courtesy of Peter Zheutlin

Left: An advertisement for the Londonderry Lithia Springs Water Company that appeared in the Rocky Mountain News of Denver on August 12, 1895 and coincided with her arrival there

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25032 Feature

The numbers game

More people than ever are cycling in London, but exactly how many of us are there? Jonathan Ungoed Thomas analyses the official statistics

t’s no secret that cycling in London is on the rise, with the dramatic increase in recent years likely to count among Mayor Ken Livingstone’s most significant achievements. Even the paltry 2007 summer didn’t halt the upward trend. According to figures released by Transport for London (TfL) before Christmas, cycling increased by 10.5% from April to September, compared with the same period in 2006.

But how reliable are the figures? In the often opaque world of transport policy, cyclists are notoriously tricky to count. So where are we being counted and who’s doing the counting? And does it really matter whether we’re being counted at all?

Each year, TfL publishes the London Travel Report.

It is notable for the relative paucity of information concerning cycling, lacking detailed authoritative data on the numbers of people cycling across Greater London and each of the boroughs. According to the London Travel Report 2006, the latest edition available, there are 400,000 cycle trips – a there and back journey counts as two trips – in London each day.

The figure on the total number of cycle trips is reached using data from one of the most accurate sources of information in this area, the London Area Transport Survey (LATS), derived from diaries completed by 30,000 households within the M25. It’s a wonderful source of data, but it’s only compiled every 10 years and it only asks about the main mode of transport, so cycle journeys to the station don’t count.

In the last survey in 2001, there were about 300,000 trips each day, with an average length of two miles.

This was dutifully reported by the travel report in 2002 and 2003, but in 2004, the numbers suddenly jumped to 400,000 – about 1.7% of the 25 million trips made in London each day – even though the London Travel Report cited the same LATS 2001 survey as one of its sources. TfL has since issued a press release raising the number to 480,000.

So where did they find all those extra cyclists? The estimate was partly made using figures compiled by the Department of Transport (DfT), which uses manual and electronic counters on roads. The estimates are not robust because the DfT does not count every cyclist on every road – it relies on a small sample of cyclists.

automatic monitoring sites to count cyclists on the Transport for London Road Network (TLRN). These generate an electric current and can identify a bicycle as it passes. This count is used by transport officials as the gold standard, but it means that when we are told about increases in cycling, we are relying on the number of cyclists passing just 29 counters. So what do these figures show?

Mayor Livingstone’s claim in October 2005 to have doubled the numbers cycling was over-stating his case. He was comparing figures on the TLRN for the spring of 2000 when there were 59,000 cyclists counted with the summer of 2005 when there were 119,000 cyclists counted – not a proper comparison.

In fact, there was an 83% rise in the number of cyclists on the TLRN in 2006/07, compared to 2000/01.

Indeed, during some months in 2006/07, the numbers of cyclists were double the levels compared to the same months in 2000/01.

Rose Ades, head of TfL’s Cycling Centre of Excellence, said the TLRN count played a crucial role in the capital’s cycling strategy. “It’s so important that you can measure success and be able to say to people ‘look, here are the results’,” she said. “It means TfL can say London is the fastest growing cycling city in Europe.”

For LCC campaigners, the measures of cycling and targets for growth can be critical – it’s the only way to persuade transport planners to provide facilities for cycle users.

Transport 2025, Mayor Livingstone’s vision for transport, aims for a 400% increase in cycle trips over the next two decades, increasing the proportion of trips made by bike from less than 2% to more than 5%. It’s a target designed to tackle the transport needs of the population, but it doesn’t factor in the need to improve Londoners’ health or tackle climate change. If the target or a more ambitious one is to be achieved, full cycling figures should be made more readily available rather than just the headline-grabbing increases – and there needs to be more work done to find out exactly how many of us are really out there.

Additional reporting by Tom Bogdanowicz

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Cycling on the TLRN 250.0 Index (Mar 2000 =100)

How else are we being counted?

Until the advent of the congestion charge, one of the key counts was the Central Area Peak Count, which counts the number of passengers travelling into the zone 1 London Underground area during the morning peak on an average week day each autumn. These counts have shown a significant increase in the number of people cycling into central London, rising from 12,000 in 2000 to 17,000 in 2005. But these figures only tell the story of the increase in cycling in central London. What about the rest of the city?

Since 2000, TfL has used 29

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the right

TRACK In the run-up to the legendary Good Friday meet at Herne Hill Velodrome, Mark Mitchell visits the track to soak up its unique history

t’s a sunny Saturday morning and I’m waiting for the start signal. Perched on the bare bones of a skinny-tyred racing bike, I hold onto the trackside wall for balance. I’m about to experience Herne Hill Velodrome, a 450-metre cycle race track comprising two straights linked by two steeply banked curves.

But this is not a race. The instructor nods, I carefully pedal across the track and follow one of three painted lines. This is the black or sprinter’s line, the shortest distance around the circuit. For the 30 of us – boys, girls, men and women – this is our first time on a velodrome. A perfect surface, no vehicles, and all going one way. It feels safe and exhilarating.

I’ve paid just £3 to join an induction that includes the hire of a track bike (no street bikes are allowed on the circuit or ‘path’) and expert tuition. The course is run

by Velo Club Londres – VCL – a local sports cycle club that manages the circuit on a voluntary basis.

Held every Saturday morning from March to October – as long as the track is dry – the course starts at nine in the morning and lasts 90 perfect minutes. Many children turn up – cycles are available for 6-year-olds – and their parents often join in. The option of a more advanced session follows and there are weekday evening courses. Hilly and wooded, a 1.25-mile mountain bike circuit adds an off-road attraction.

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A long history Located in what is now the Southwark borough and opened in 1891, Herne Hill Velodrome has become one

of the country’s best and last remaining outdoor tracks.

Famous names raced here: Reg Harris in the early 1950s, the legendary Italian Fausto Coppi in ’58, Tom Simpson in the ’60s and now London’s own Olympic gold medallist, Bradley Wiggins, whose early career included much time at the circuit.

The 1948 London Olympic Games saw the venue host cycle racing track events. A painted and forlorn set of five interlinked rings plus the date still adorns one of the now unused stands. With a brand new, covered velodrome for the 2012 event being built in east London, what does the future hold for this illustrious, long-serving monument?

Despite its specialised appeal, the velodrome recently faced closure and its future still hangs in the balance.

The site is owned by the Dulwich Estate, the nearby charitable trust founded in the early 17th century by a contemporary of William Shakespeare, Edward Alleyn.

Since the popularity of cycling before and after WWII, the site has been through various ups and downs.

The track itself was substantially improved in 1992 and briefly managed by Southwark Council before the owners two years ago granted an interim operating licence to British Cycling, the national leisure and sports body. In August 2005, the organisation made VCL, chaired by management consultant Peter Cattermole, responsible for managing the site and

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cycling to continue. However, all cyclists using the club will be acutely aware that whilst the track is in good order, the ancillary facilities need substantial improvement. The Estate’s aim is to ensure the long-term viability of cycling at Herne Hill in conjunction with a sports

providing training courses. Thanks to the dedicated and unpaid efforts of VCL, the circuit itself is well-maintained, but the trackside amenities are basic.

The original covered grandstand is now boarded up and clearly needs restoration, or replacement.

Yet Herne Hill Velodrome has a compelling quality.

Go down the lane from semi-detached suburban Burbage Road and you enter a by-gone world. The grass, trees and white-painted wooden fencing seem more like a 1950s village sports ground. It has a park-like sense of open space and big sky. Great efforts have been made to provide ample stand-up viewing all around the circuit, and there is an open, tiered stand with seats. A ‘cosy caff’ (superb bacon butties and fruit cake) provides comfort, but it is the thrill of the track that attracts the attention of visitors and enthusiasts.

Matt Seaton, The Guardian cycling columnist, calls Herne Hill an oasis in the heart of the city. “Because of the nature of track racing there are a lot of short, intense events, but there’s also time to sit around and chat to people,” he says. “It’s family-friendly and a lot of kids go along – it’s a magical place.” He cites the Good Friday International event in particular.

The big Easter meet The Good Friday meeting is one of the major highlights of the year. First promoted in 1903, it has a spring fair feeling, emphasised by an assortment of bike jumble stands, sometimes the presence of a trade company or two, plus a growing number of cosmopolitan caterers.

MORE INFORMATION ◆ For an excellent history of the track, read John Watt’s Herne Hill Stadium To Herne Hill Velodrome. ◆ The traditional Good Friday meet is on March 21. ◆ Herne Hill Velodrome is in Burbage Road, London, SE24. The entrance lane is between house numbers 102 and 106 Burbage Road. It is close to both Herne Hill and North Dulwich railway stations and the A205 South Circular Road. For more on riding at Herne Hill Velodrome, contact the Velo Club Londres (VCL) via vclhernehill@hotmail.co.uk or see www.vcl.org.uk

complex which will complement cycling.

It is in discussions with Southwark Council to provide a secondary access to the site which is key to this development; British Cycling has provided details of the facilities it wishes to be incorporated in the development for cyclists.”

Herne Hill attracts cyclists of all abilities – Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins (main picture page 20) is a regular

For many years the event has been promoted for the Southern Counties Cycling Union by Graham Bristow, a keen supporter of track racing with a desire to keep the classic event alive.

Born in Camberwell, Bristow’s connection with Herne Hill began in the late 1940s. As a two-yearold he played in the long-jump sandpit of the athletics area within the cycle track’s perimeter. For the past 20 years he has organised track events up and down the country. One of the spectacular initiatives he introduced at Herne Hill is traditional, Continental-style motorcycle-paced track racing.

Here, a racer slipstreams either a lightweight motorcycle known as a derny, or a larger, specially adapted British machine.

To see several of these motorcycles and their riders circulating at speed – with the racers in hot pursuit – is impressive. “The Continental racers love coming over here for the Easter meeting because they say it attracts such a good crowd,” says Bristow. An ex-racer himself, he says Herne Hill is an easy track to ride: “It’s also great for youngsters, and VCL do a marvellous job for beginners and recreational riders alike.”

I push into the first curve, venturing a few laps later onto the upper reaches of the banking. It’s not as scary as I thought it would be and now I see what draws people here, young and old. It’s incredible value for money and an unforgettable experience: fitness, fun, the open air and that simple pleasure of fraternity.

WIN!

Ten lucky LC readers will win a free induction for themselves and a friend at Herne Hill during the 2008 season. The inductions take place at 9am on Saturdays, mid-March to the end of October. To enter our prize draw, send an email to londoncyclist@lcc.org.uk or a postcard to address on page 3. Please mark entries ‘Herne Hill’. Entries close February 29.

Photos: Tom Bogdanowicz, David Kitchen, www.britishcycling.org.uk

THE FUTURE OF HERNE HILL Herne Hill Velodrome’s fate rests largely with the Dulwich Estate. When this article was written in November 2007, the organisation’s chief executive, John Major, told LC: “The Dulwich Estate was delighted to give British Cycling a shortterm lease of the velodrome to enable

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Town and country It’s horses for courses when it comes to bikes, but Jon Marks says it’s not always necessary to buy a new bike if you want to try different terrain.

Here are his tips to help make your wheels just that little bit more versatile

You’ve been turning your mountain bike into a mudball in the park for six months when you realise you could save hundreds or even thousands of pounds a year by cycling to work.

On the other hand, perhaps you’ve had enough of watching the tarmac rolling by beneath the wheels of your racer, and fancy taking to towpaths or parks instead. How can you do it without buying a new bike?

Mountain bikes are built for off-road use. For most riders, a mountain bike is a bike which has fat, knobbly tyres and is relatively heavy, but has a very tough frame and wheels married to gears designed to make climbing steep gradients possible.

Racing bikes achieve maximum speed on-road with lighter frames and wheels, narrower, high-pressure tyres, close-ratio gears and a riding position where the rider is angled more steeply forwards for better aerodynamics.

Between these two extremes are hybrids, which bear a closer resemblance to a mountain bike than a racer, but are built as a compromise between the two so they can be used both on and off-road. It’s a similar story with touring bikes, though they contain more racing than mountain bike blood.

If your bike is a hybrid or tourer, you’re unlikely to need to make any major changes to it whether you want to ride the roads or towpaths and park routes, though you can still tweak it to get the best out of it.

Above: A mountain bike that has been converted for use on the road

Below: Slick tyres on a mountain bike frame make it more suitable for city riding

(smoother) tread. There’s a wide range of suitable tyres available, including special puncture-resistant types like Specialized’s Armadillo and Continental’s Gator Skin. Don’t be tempted to fit excessively narrow tyres, as they make rim damage from bumps more likely and can cause punctures where the inner tube is pinched between the inside of the tyre and the two edges of the rim.

2) Cycling shorts, gloves and a suspension seat post can make life a lot more comfortable on higher pressure tyres. If your saddle is already almost all the way down in the frame, bear in mind you can’t get a suspension post as low in the frame as a standard post because of the telescopic section.

3) Consider using mudguards. The sort that fix to the

MOUNTAIN BIKES IN THE CITY 1) Fit narrower, high-pressure tyres with a slicker

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Technical See www.lcc.org.uk/info for more on city and commuter cycling, as well as information and advice on maintenance

bike depends on things like relative frame size and what type of headset your bike has – speak to a good local bike shop if you’re uncertain.

Above: A road bike ratio block Above right: Slick tyres on a mountain bike Below: Bar ends on handlebars can make for more comfortable city riding

Caption

TAKING A RACER OFF-ROAD If you’d like to get well away from the beaten track, remember there’s only so far you can go with a racer – buy a mountain bike if you want to hit the mud big time. Otherwise, here are a few things you can do to make your racer cope better off-road.

1) Switch to fatter tyres if you currently have narrow tyres and your rims and mudguards are wide enough to take fatter ones (and your frame and brakes have sufficient clearance). Check with a bike shop or your wheel manufacturer’s website to find out what the maximum tyre width is that your wheel rims can accommodate, as the sidewalls of too fat a tyre can fail in use. The fewer the spokes on narrow road rims, the less likely they are to withstand even light off-road riding without going wonky.

Road hubs are also not as well sealed as those used on hybrids and MTBs, so will need more regular cleaning and servicing if used in dusty or wet/muddy conditions. Again, puncture-resistant tyres are a wise investment, even if they often cost around £20 each.

2) Fit mudguards if you don’t already have them, making sure there’s sufficient clearance between them, your brakes and your new, fatter tyres.

3) A better padded saddle or suspension seatpost, as well as proper cycling clothes, are good ways of soaking up some of the bumps off-road. Tough, easy to clean shoes are another good idea.

4) For flat towpaths (which are generally going to be ridden at low speeds compared to road commuting), your existing gears may be OK. If you find you need lower gearing for gradients, get a cassette with wider ratios, or smaller chainrings, having checked that the front and rear derailleurs are able to cope with the change in gear tooth capacity. As with mountain bikes, it pays to do a web search or talk to a bike shop if you have any doubts.

5) Go for a more upright riding position, which is a simple job if you have an old-style quill stem, or an adjustable modern stem. Extensions can be fitted to threadless steerer tubes too.

Jon Marks is a life-long bike anorak who teaches bike maintenance at The Bike School (www.the-bike-school.com).

Photos: Adam Monaghan

saddle or on the frame behind the forks are never as good for daily commuting as proper, wrap-around ones. On the other hand, wrap-arounds can clog with mud off-road due to reduced clearance between tyre and mudguard.

4) Buy a rack and affordable panniers if you’re going to be carrying stuff around with you. Never try to hang bags off the ends of your handlebars as you ride – along with riding at night without lights, this qualifies as one of the quickest ways to end up in a hospital.

5) Never underestimate how nickable your bike is. Buy a lock commensurate with the value of your bike (around 15% of the cost of the bike is a good rule of thumb). The tattier a bike looks, the less likely it is to get stolen. Insulation tape wrapped around the main frame tubes makes a bike look ropey, but can be removed and the adhesive cleaned off if you want to get your bike looking good again later.

6) While a change of gear ratios may be necessary, ride with your existing set-up on a couple of commutes first.

If you find your legs are a blur in top gear and you could still go faster, you might want to opt for larger chainrings and/or try a cassette with smaller sprockets and more closely spaced ratios. The majority of modern bikes are equipped with sprockets (cogs) on the rear wheel which can be removed as a set (cassette) and replaced with another set. Chainrings (the big cogs at the front) can be replaced individually. Do a web search by the manufacturer and the model name/ number of your gear system to see what cassettes and chainrings are available for your model.

There’s a number of variables which need to be considered if you’re going to make these gear changes.

If you’re not confident about making the right choices, you should definitely speak to a bike shop first.

7) Changing your riding position to get lower over the handlebars makes a considerable difference to aerodynamics. Whether this is easy or not on any given

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How to ...

See www.lcc.org.uk/info for advice on a range of issues related to cycling, including maintenance, training and cycling to work

Choose the right lights Motorists and pedestrians can’t hear you, so it’s important that you are seen if you can’t be heard.

HOW TO BE SEEN It’s advisable to wear light-coloured clothes or attach reflective material to your clothing or bike. Any bike used during darkness or poor visibility must, according to the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989, be fitted with lights and reflectors. Flashing lights are permitted, but a steady light is recommended at the front when cycling in areas without good street lighting.

WHAT LIGHTS TO CHOOSE Guidance on lighting from the Department of Transport: ◆ If either of your lights is capable of emitting a steady light, then it must conform to BS 6102-3 and be marked accordingly, even if used in flashing mode. ◆ Purely flashing lights are not required to conform to BS6102-3, but the flash rate must be between 60 and 240 equal flashes per minute (one to four per second) and the luminous intensity must be at least four candela (this should be advised by the manufacturer). ◆ The pedal reflectors and your rear reflector must conform to BS 6102-2.

◆ Lights and reflectors not conforming to the BS, but conforming to a corresponding standard of another EC country and marked accordingly, are considered to comply as long as that standard provides an equivalent level of safety. Note that not all lights carry a BS mark on them.

If you are using any lights additional to the above, they must be white at the front and red at the rear.

Bikes only used in good visibility during the day are exempt from regulations and are not required to be fitted with lights.

Further information on the laws concerning lights on bicycles can be found on the Department for Transport website at www.dft.gov.uk.

Being seen at night isn’t limited to the lights you choose or the clothing you wear. Good road positioning is vital if other road users are to see you at night (or indeed at any time of the day). See the advice pages at www.lcc.org.uk/info for more on road positioning.

CYCLE SENSE

Skills and confidence

on the road

MORE INFORMATION LCC ADVICE: For more advice on road safety and skills, see the LCC’s Cycle Sense leaflet, available by calling the LCC office (contact details page 29).

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Photos: Jeremy Hughes

The LC Bike Surgery Will I arrive at work drier if I cycle faster in the rain and does it depend on the type of rain?

Michael Stuart, Kilburn Sam Rae, outreach officer at the Institute of Physics writes: The answer is yes, but the amount of benefit depends on various factors such as the direction and speed of the wind, the heaviness of the rain and the surface area that your body presents to rain from different directions.

Increasing your speed has the obvious benefit of reducing the amount of time you are in the rain. When rain is coming straight down, you’ll receive less rain from the top. You will, however, increase the rate at which you meet rain from the

front, which will cancel out the benefit of being in the rain for less time. The overall effect is less wetness when you speed up.

When rain is being driven by the wind so that it’s coming towards you from the front, speeding up increases the overall rate at which rain droplets reach you. However it’s usually still worth speeding up, as the reduced time you spend in the rain will outweigh the relatively small increase that you make to the rate at which you meet the rain (this is dependent not just on your speed, but also on the speed at which the rain is travelling towards you and the ‘heaviness’ of the rain).

DC Physics has a calculator for figuring out if it’s worth running in the rain: www. dctech.com/physics/features/0600.php.

The results are surprising: sometimes speeding up has a benefit, but only up to a certain speed. I’ve assumed that the same principles apply to cycling, but I find I often get wettest from spray from my tyres. Getting to where you’re going as soon as possible is the obvious way to avoid this. Or maybe it’s time I got some mudguards?

HOW TO SEND US YOUR QUESTIONS If you have a question on any topic relating to cycling, routes, email londoncyclist@lcc.org.uk or write to the address on page 3.

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Technical

Workshops Want to know how to maintain your bike?

Try a course or workshop Bromley What: Hands-on session suitable for beginners. Bring your own bike.

Bookings essential. Two courses: The Basics (safety checks, punctures, cleaning and lubricating). Brakes and Gears (tuning gears, brakes, cables, brake pads). A session on disc brakes may be organised if there is demand Cost: £20 – includes a maintenance pack worth at least £9.

When: Call for details At: Hayes Old Church School Contact: Big Foot Bikes (020 8462 5004, roger@bigfootbikes.com) www.bigfootbikes.com Camden What: Camden Cyclists runs regular workshops that include puncture repair, brakes, chains, tuning gears, cleaning.

When: Contact Stefano for details At: Velorution, 18 Great Titchfield St, W1W 8BD Contact: Stefano Casalotti (stefano@lamsam-casalotti.org.uk, 020 7435 0196) Central London What: One day courses, basic and intermediate; one-to-one or small group sessions; puncture masterclass Cost: £60/one-day course; £27.50/ hour bespoke tuition; £20/puncture masterclass. Discounts: 5% for LCC members. Also, subsidised training available for those living or working in Ealing, Lambeth or the City of London could reduce the cost of the one day course to as little as £5. Phone for latest offers.

When: Phone or check website for course dates At: CTUK training room Contact: Call Araxi Djian at Cycle Training UK on 020 7232 4398 or check www.cycletraining.co.uk What: Work on your own bike – no knowledge is assumed. Includes cleaning and lubrication, bike inspection and safety checks, tyres, tubes and punctures, brakes/gears.

Cost: £58 (£52 for LCC members) When: Saturdays 10.30am-5pm At: Bikefix, 48 Lamb’s Conduit Street Contact: Patrick Field (020 7249 3779, www.londonschoolofcycling.co.uk) Ealing What: Ealing Cycling Campaign runs ad-hoc courses and drop-in maintenance classes throughout the year. See www.ealingcycling.org.uk or email info@ealingcycling.org.uk

Greenwich What: Year-round maintenance classes. Basic class covers removing tyres and wheels; intermediate class covers brakes and gears, plus requests. Bring your own bike, along with any parts you want to fit.

Cost: £5 per two-hour class. See www.greenwichcyclists.org.uk for payment details.

When: Tuesday or Wednesday, 7.15pm-9pm. Call to confirm At: Armada Centre, Armada Court, 21 McMillan St, SE8 Contact: Julian Dobson (07771 692 344, 020 8463 0801, julian@jadobson.demon.co.uk) or see www.greenwichcyclists.org.uk Hackney What: Twice monthly two-hour workshops sponsored by Hackney Cycling Campaign. Longest running workshop in London. Bike repair from punctures to major work. Work on your own bike with advice Cost: No charge – run by volunteers (donations to pay rent appreciated) When: 7pm-9pm on the first and third Tuesday of the month (February 5 and 19, March 4 and 18, April 1 and 15, May 6 and 20) At: The Kings Centre, Frampton Park Baptist Church, Frampton Park Rd, off Well St, E9 7PQ Contact: Hackney Cycling Campaign (www.hackney-cyclists.org.uk), Adam (07940 121 513), Ross (rosscorben@blueyonder.co.uk) or Paul (paul.standeven@virgin.net)

Visit www.lcc.org.uk/info for more on bike maintenance. To list a workshop on this page, please email londoncyclist@lcc.org.uk Maintenance training for community groups With demand for cycle maintenance for community groups high, LCC’s community cycling officer, Sarah Slater, has organised maintenance training for up to six people at a time.

The initiative is aimed at encouraging group members to maintain their own bikes, thus saving organisations money on external maintenance. The training is also designed to provide group members with new skills, with the classes having a practical, vocational aspect to them. For details on the next group session, please email sarah@lcc.org.uk or call the LCC office (details page 29).

Lambeth What: Maintenance classes with Lambeth Cyclists. Everything a cyclist needs to know about bike maintenance Cost: £55 (£5 if on income-related benefits) When: Two sets of five maintenance classes starting March 5 and April 30 At: Details when you book Contact: Janet Paske (07740 457 528, janet.paske@gmail.com) to book or to request future class dates Newham What: Workshop for Newham cyclists Cost: A donation to Cycle Club funds When: Every Saturday, 9.30am-noon during term time At: New City Primary School, New City Rd, Plaistow, E13 9PR Contact: Liz Bowgett (liz.bowgett@ btopenworld.com)

Islington What: 2.5-hour, self-help cycle maintenance workshop Cost: £1 (50p unwaged) When: Fourth Wednesday of month (not August/December); 7pm-9.30pm At: Sunnyside Gardens, at the cnr Sunnyside and Hazellville roads, N19 Contact: Adrian (07810 211 902)

Redbridge What: Three-week courses covering: punctures; brake blocks; gears; general check (pedals, spokes, bearings, brakes, headset, etc) Cost: £15 per course When: Wed, March 19-April 2.

At: Wanstead House, 21 The Green, Wanstead, E11 Contact: Terry (07795 981 529, terence.hughes@btinternet.com) or Chris (020 8989 9001, christopher.rigby1@ntlworld.com) www.redbridgelcc.org.uk

Kingston What: Maintenance and repairs to help keep bikes in good working order Cost: Six sessions are £46 or a Saturday one-day session is £26 When: 10am-4pm, Saturday, March 8; 7pm-9pm, Mondays from May 5 At: North Kingston Centre, Richmond Road Contact: Kingston Adult Education (adult.education@rbk.kingston.gov.uk, www.kingston.gov.uk/adulteducation, 020 8547 6700) or Rob (020 8546 8865, mail@kingstoncycling.org.uk).

See also www.kingstoncycling.org.uk

Southwark What: Four-evening course includes regular maintenance and cleaning, puncture prevention and repair, cables, brakes, truing wheels, how to get home regardless, when to get professional help, and when to replace what. Organised by Southwark Cyclists at On Your Bike using their professional mechanics as trainers in that massive workshop.

10% discount on purchases Cost: £48 per course. Pay online via Paypal after confirming place When: Tuesdays. 6.30pm-8.30pm.

Please see www.southwarkcyclists. org.uk for dates or email/phone At: On Your Bike, 52-54 Tooley Street, SE1 Contact: Barry (07905 889 005, info@southwarkcyclists.org.uk) Sutton What: Basic bicycle maintenance class plus free Dr Bike cycle check.

Own cycles may be brought Cost: £5 per head (family discounts) When: 9.45am-noon, Saturday, February, 23 At: Sutton West Centre, Robin Hood Lane, Sutton Contact: Chris Parry (020 8647 3584, cyclism@blueyonder.co.uk) or Shirley Quemby (020 8642 3720).

Tower Hamlets What: Hands-on workshops. Tools, demos; bring your own spares Cost: Free. Donations welcome!

When: Last Saturday of the month (except December); 11am-3pm At: The Boxing Club, Limehouse Town Hall, 646 Commercial Rd E14 Contact: Owen Pearson (07903 018 970, workshop@wheelers.org.uk) www.wheelers.org.uk/workshop

Waltham Forest What: Maintain or assemble a bike.

Bike donations welcome Cost: £3. Tea/coffee provided When: The workshop (when staff available) opens 11am-3pm on Saturdays. Open 9.30am-12.30pm the second Saturday of the month (LCC day). No maintenance the first Saturday of the month (recycled bikes for sale 1pm-3pm). Fridays and Saturdays (10am-3pm), volunteers welcome to recondition bikes.

At: Council Transport Depot, Low Hall Manor, South Access Road, Walthamstow, E17. Stop at security for directions Contact: Christopher Rigby (christopher.rigby1@ntlworld.com, 07910 235 149) or call 07948 060 473. Keen to hear from volunteers able to help keep this service running.

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Product reviews Get cleaning Keep your bike clean and you won’t need to replace expensive parts as often, plus you’ll ensure yourself a smoother ride. Mel Allwood tests products designed to help you remove the grease and grime TOP TIPS FOR

bike cleaning

Park Tool Chain Gang chain cleaning system CG2 £29.99, 020 8385 3444, www.madisoncycles.co.uk, www.parktool.com

■ You will save time, money and hassle if you keep your bike clean. Moving parts won’t wear out as quickly and your bike will move along much more smoothly.

■ Cleaning your bike means you have to look at it, which gives you the chance to spot potential problems before you end up stuck by the side of the road in the rain. A fraying cable or a bald tyre can be caught in time and fixed.

■ Start with the dirtiest bits, usually the gears. Get the worst off before you start on the cleaner parts of the bike, such as the frame.

■ Take extra care when you’re cleaning braking surfaces, and don’t use the same brushes or cloths as you use to clean your chain and other oily parts.

What you want to avoid is transferring oil/grease to braking surfaces. Oily rims aren’t a good idea!

■ Bike polish may seem ridiculous, but it protects paintwork and makes it more difficult for dirt to stick to the frame.

■ If you don’t have time for a full-on bike cleaning session, just do the chain and rims. Keeping your chain clean reduces wear.

Clean rims ensure better braking, since brakes work much much better on a clean surface than a dirty one. If you’re always wearing out brake blocks, dirty rims are probably the problem.

This is a nifty gadget that will help you keep your chain clean without too much drama. The big advantage offered by this and similar chain cleaners is that you don’t have to remove your chain in order to clean it. First step: split the Park Tool CG2 into its two halves. Second step: fill the bottom half of the box with the chain cleaning liquid supplied. Third step: refit the top of the box with a section of chain trapped between the two halves. Fourth step: Hold the

box still with one hand, and pedal backwards with the other. As you do this, the chain is dragged through a set of cleaning brushes in the box, which are constantly recharged with cleaning fluid. Rinse and repeat with fresh water, and the job’s done.

It takes a couple of goes to co-ordinate pedalling and holding the box still at the same time, but once you’ve got the hang of it you can clean your chain in no time at all, and with far less mess than a spray can or a brush. You’ll need a bit of newspaper underneath to catch drips but, even so, this is a very ‘clean’ way to clean a chain. After you’ve used the Park Tool chain cleaner it would be a good idea to go over the jockey wheels and chainrings with a brush dipped in chain cleaner.

Conclusion The Park Tool chain cleaning system is a lot more expensive than an old toothbrush, but it does a much better job, much more quickly. And it makes very efficient use of chain cleaning fluid.

Muc-off Pit Kit £29.99, 01202 307 790, www.muc-off.com The Muc-Off Pit Kit offers everything you need to keep your bike clean. Inside the box is a litre of pink Muc-Off cleaning liquid, a water dispersing spray to use afterwards, a set of brushes, and a sponge.

The best value item in the pack is the pink Muc-Off spray. It makes cleaning your bike much easier, by loosening muck and grime so it can be scrubbed off quickly. Your bike will need a rinse afterwards, followed by a spray with the water dispersant to stop rust forming where you’ve removed layers of grease.

Also in the pack is a set of brushes and a sponge. If you’re the type who diligently cleans your bike as a matter of course, you’ve probably got a fine collection of old toothbrushes, paint brushes, washingup clothes, an old bucket and, perhaps, a microfibre cloth for polishing your halo. If this is so, a set of bike-specific brushes will probably seem extravagant.

If, on the other hand, you’ve recently come away from one of those chastening visits to the bike shop, where they’ve told you yet again

that you’ve worn out a drivetrain because you haven’t kept it clean, then a ready-made kit like this could be a very wise investment.

Conclusion If you’ve promised yourself that you’ll stop abusing your bike and give it a regular clean, this kit may be just what you need to get going.

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Product reviews

Finish Line Easy Pro Brush Set £9.95, Madison Cycles 020 8385 3444, www.madisoncycles.co.uk, www.finishlineusa.com

This set of cleaning brushes from Finish Line offers everything from a small stiff brush for getting right into derailleurs to a big, soft, flat brush for cleaning large areas efficiently. I split the pack into two, keeping a couple of the brushes specifically for tackling the oily drivetrain (cassette, chain, chainrings and derailleurs). These brushes will inevitably retain some grease and dirt, so they shouldn’t be used on other bits of the bike.

It’s also worth reserving one of the brushes just for rims. Since rims represent your bike’s braking surface, it’s especially important to keep them clean. Clean rims will ensure that your brakes work more efficiently and your brake blocks won’t

wear excessively.

The most useful brush of the set turned out to be a long, thin, cylindrical brush with very stiff bristles. It’s ideal for getting in between the sprockets on cassettes, and for getting muck off the chain. The bristles on all the brushes kept their shape even after vigorous use, and they clean up well. All the brushes have sturdy plastic handles and loops for hanging them up to dry.

Conclusion If you’re putting together a cleaning kit, a set of brushes like this one is a great place to start. Good brushes make cleaning greasy and dirty parts so much easier.

Finish Line Citrus degreaser £7.99, Madison Cycles 020 8385 3444, www.madisoncycles.co.uk, www.finishlineusa.com Degreasers are solvents that make it easier to remove layers of grime that can accumulate on your bike over time, especially during winter. This Finish Line citrus degreaser is made from orange peel and needs to be sprayed on, then rinsed off.

As the name suggests, degreasers are designed to eat away at grease so make sure you apply a degreaser only where it’s really needed. It mustn’t be allowed to stray into rear wheel or bottom bracket bearings, so be careful when you’re cleaning your chain and gears. It’s strong smelling stuff, so use in a well-ventilated area and if you’ve got sensitive skin, wear gloves.

We tested the aerosol version, but Finish Line citrus degreaser is also available in a nonaerosol bottle, if you’re more of a jam-jar and brush type (like me).

Conclusion If your bike is relatively clean, a degreaser isn’t necessary, but if you’ve got a winter’s worth of built-up road dirt and oil to tackle careful use of a degreaser can be astonishingly effective. Layers of grime disappear in no time at all.

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Product reviews Testing, testing Is your rack the worse for wear? Are you tired of getting wet feet on the way to work? Mel Allwood reviews products that may offer you the solution you’re looking for, plus a ‘designer’ bag Tubus Vega rack £65.99, Lyon Equipment, 01539 625 493, www.lyon.co.uk/tubus-carrier-systems.html, www.tubus.com What is the point of reviewing a bicycle rack, some might ask. Well, if you’ve ever cycled behind someone whose rack is so flimsy it looks certain to fall off at the next pothole, you probably already understand that there are racks and then there are racks. Tubus make some of the best and most attractive racks on the market. Although some may question whether a bicycle rack can ever be described as ‘stylish’, our tester thought the Tubus Vega, with its minimalist design, was most definitely stylish.

The Tubus Vega is a rear rack designed to carry a pair of panniers loaded with up to 25kg. It’s made of tubular cro-moly steel and fits onto your bike on either side of the rear wheel and to each seat stay – in other words, a ‘four point fixing’. (Our test bike did not have eyelets on the seat stays, so separate p-clips were used.) The top fixings are adjustable, so the rack can

be mounted on most bikes with 26” (mountain bike) or 700C (touring/hybrid) wheels.

Installation is relatively simple. A little bit of fiddling is necessary to get the position right. Ideally, the top should be level, but if your feet are on the larger side, you may need to tip the rack backwards slightly to stop your heels hitting the panniers as you pedal.

It’s when you’re fully loaded that you notice the difference between a cheaper aluminium rack and a more robust model like the Tubus Vega. This rack is very stiff and your load, even if it’s heavy, won’t sway. Tubus makes two other racks with a similar design.

The ‘Fly’ is a streamlined version, with an elegant narrow platform, while the ‘Logo’ is an expedition version, which will take up to 40kg. All three models have brackets at the back for attaching lights or reflectors.

Photo: Rosie Downes

Reflect-Please large waistcoat with Velcro £28, Reflect-Please, www.reflect-please.com The Reflect-Please range of hiviz bags has been designed by a group of London designers and the bags are made in East London. They are constructed from a garment well-known to London cycle commuters: the high visibility waistcoat. We tested a fluorescent yellow bag, but many other colours are available.

The bags come in three sizes.

We tested the largest, which is big enough to hold what most people carry around in their rucksacks. It’s a little too large to carry over the shoulder, especially if you’re small, but it works well when worn as a rucksack. The version we tested also boasts the ability to double up as a hiviz jacket with Velcro closures along two sizes. Unfortunately, the sheer size of it when in ‘jacket mode’ means it suits only giants.

Our tester reports that as a hiviz rucksack the Reflect-Please bag works fine, provided you are carrying a relatively light load.

The fabric isn’t strong enough to

hold heavy loads and there is no padding around the shoulders, so the straps can cut into you. Also it isn’t waterproof, so this is a fair weather bag.

Conclusion A fun, ‘designer’ bag for cyclists who can’t get enough of hi-viz fabric. Can be used on and off the bike, but not to carry heavy loads and it’s no good in downpours.

Conclusion The Tubus Vega is more expensive than a standard aluminium rack, but if you tend to carry more than a sandwich and a spare tube around with you, the extra stability and durability offered will be well worth it. The high quality of construction means this rack will last many years.

PRO Endure H20 multi-fit overshoes £24.99, Madison Cycles, 020 8385 3444, www.madisoncycles.co.uk The benefits of overshoes are often overlooked by cycle commuters.

Many commuters adopt the practice of cycling in one pair of shoes and changing into another when they arrive at work, not least to avoid having to wander around in wettish shoes all day. If you’re tired of carting an extra pair of shoes around in your pannier and/or keeping a pair at the office, then overshoes may be the solution. The principle behind overshoes is simple: put them on if you think you’re in for a wet journey and take them off when you arrive at your destination.

Our tester found the PRO Endure H20 multi-fit overshoes light, compact and convenient to pack away. Although not classed as 100% waterproof – some water can get in through the bottom, where the Velcro fastenings are – the overshoes nevertheless proved “fairly waterproof and windproof”. The bamboo-charcoal fleece lining offers some warmth.

One gripe: the stretchy fabric made them difficult to get on.

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LCC members’ pages

LCC members’ pages

You can contact the membership team on 020 7234 9310 or email membership@lcc.org.uk

These pages provide all you need to know about how to get the most out of your LCC membership BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP LCC is a campaigning charity mainly funded by your membership. We work to improve conditions for cyclists and to promote cycling throughout London.

INSURANCE & LEGAL Third party insurance If you cause damage to a person or their property while cycling, they may make a claim against you. As a member of the LCC, you are covered for up to £5 million. If such an incident occurs, phone the LCC office for immediate advice and assistance.

Free legal advice Free legal advice is a member benefit. If you need any legal assistance on a cycling-related issues, please phone the LCC office and we will put you in touch with a cyclist-friendly solicitor.

Theft insurance LCC Cyclecover theft insurance also comes with free personal accident cover for LCC members.

Theft insurance costs about 10% of the value of your bike and is a ‘new for old’ policy. For an instant quote, please call 0870 873 0067 and have your LCC membership number to hand.

INFORMATION & CAMPAIGNING Local groups LCC has a local group in every borough, plus the City of London.

These groups campaign on local cycling issues, and also organise events, meetings, workshops and

LCC’S VISION LCC’s vision is to make London a world class cycling city STRATEGIC AIMS ■ To involve people from all communities in cycling ■ To improve the quality of life in London by increasing cycling ■ To bring about the best possible services for people who cycle or want to cycle in London ■ To be leaders in urban cycling

CONTACT LCC 2 Newhams Row London SE1 3UZ t: 020 7234 9310 f: 020 7234 9319 e: hello@lcc.org.uk w: www.lcc.org.uk Contact the LCC Board: chair@lcc.org.uk

to the LCC (address left). Ads from businesses are not accepted.

HOW TO HELP LCC GROW Ask a friend to join You can support our work by recruiting members to LCC. The more members we have, the greater our campaigning voice.

Simply ask your friend or colleague to visit www.lcc.org.uk/join to join online or to call 020 7234 9310 to join over the phone.

Tell your boss about us Registered charity number: 1115789

social rides. See page 36 to find out what your local group is up to.

Maps LCC, in partnership with Transport for London (TfL), has produced free cycle maps covering all of London.

These can be ordered via www.lcc.org.uk or by phoning TfL on 020 7222 1234.

London Cyclist magazine This magazine is sent to members every two months. It is packed with news, features, cycling tips, products news and the latest on our campaigns. It has been voted the number one member benefit.

Who needs eBay? Members who have bikes or accessories to sell can advertise in London Cyclist free of charge (see page 35). Send your short, concise ad to londoncyclist@lcc.org.uk or

LCC has several schemes to encourage employers to make riding to work easier. For details, see www.lcc.org.uk or call our office and ask for information on our corporate affiliates programme.

Volunteer your time Our small office in central London relies on volunteers for much of its membership, administration and campaigning. If you have some spare time, we could use your help!

Phone the office for details. London Cyclist also relies on voluntary contributions from members. See www.lcc.org.uk/londoncyclist

How to join LCC If you like what you see in London Cyclist but you are not yet a member, we encourage you to join the campaign to receive the magazine every two months.

Members also receive the other benefits listed on this page. You can join by calling 020 7234 9310 or via www.lcc.org.uk/join Please turn the page for a full list of members’ discounts

Have you been involved in an incident on your bike?

Contact our partners, Levenes Solicitors, for free legal advice:

020 8826 1329 www.cycleinjury.co.uk Kevin O’Sullivan, head of Levenes’ Cycle Injuries Department, regular London cyclist and LCC member says: “We have been successfully providing legal advice for LCC members for eight years and are proud to support their campaigning and provide this free cycling incident helpline for the members’ benefit.”

Levenes are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and your case will be dealt with on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis.

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LCC member discounts

Many of these shops have email and websites.

For details, see www.lcc.org.uk

Anyone who joins LCC can cash in on a range of ongoing benefits open only to members.

Maintenance Cycle Training UK (CTUK) offers LCC members a 5% discount on bike maintenance training. Call Araxi Djian on 020 7232 4398.

Breakdown cover LCC members get 50% off membership of the Environmental Transport Association (ETA), a breakdown service for transport users who care about the environment. For details, phone the ETA on 0800 212 810 or see www.eta.co.uk. You will need to quote your LCC membership number and reference 1061-9001.

Bike shops LCC members also get discounts on bikes, accessories and servicing at the following bike shops in the capital. Remember to show your membership card before you make a purchase or book your service.

MAIL ORDER / ONLINE 50Cycles Ltd Quote LCC + membership no. 5% bikes and accessories. Exceptions: not on second-hand or ex display; not in conjunction with other offers. ■ ➔ www.50cycles.com Cotswold Outdoor Quote ref 2115 at www.cotswoldoutdoor.com ♣ Loads Better Mail order only.

Suppliers of xtracycle and Kronan bikes (0845 8682459) ▲ ✔ Mon-Sat 9-5 Old Bicycle Trading Co Mail order only. Hub gears new and vintage parts (020 8306 0060) ● ✔ www.oldbiketrader.co.uk Outdoor Indoor Ltd Mail order clothing supplier. ● ✔ www.outdoorindoor.co.uk CENTRAL Action Bikes Dacre House 19 Dacre St SW1 (020 7799 2233) ✔ ▲ MonFri 8-8 Sat 9.30-5.30 Action Bikes 23-26 Embankment Place Northumberland Avenue WC2 (020 7930 2525) ✔ ▲ Mon-Fri 8-8 Bikefix 48 Lambs Conduit St WC1 (020 7405 1218) ● ➔ Mon-Fri 8.30-7 Sat 10-5 Condor Ltd 51 Grays Inn Rd WC1 (020 7269 6820) ● ✔ Mon-Tues Thurs-Fri 9-6 Weds 9-7.30 Sat 10-5 Cavendish Cycles 136 New Cavendish St W1 (020 7631 5060) ● ✔ Mon-Fri 9-6 Sat 10-5

Cotswold Outdoor 23/26 Piccadilly W1 (020 7437 7399) ♣ (quote L2115 and show card) Mon-Fri 10-8, Sat, 10-6 Sun 11-5 CycleSurgery 3 Procter St Holborn WC1 (020 7269 7070) ▲ ✔ Mon/ Weds/Fri 8.30-6 Tues/Thurs 8.30-7 Sat 10-5 Sun 11-5 Evans Cycles 51-52 Rathbone Pl W1 (020 7580 4107) ▲ ✔ Incl servicing Mon-Fri 8-8 (Closed Thurs 11-12) Sat 9-6 Sun 11-4 Evans Cycles 69 Grays Inn Rd WC1 (020 7430 1985) ▲ ✔ Incl servicing Mon-Fri 8-8 (Tues closed 11-12) Sat 9.30-6 Sun 12-5 Evans Cycles 178 High Holborn WC1 (020 7836 5585) ▲ ✔ Incl servicing Mon-Fri 8-8 (Tues closed 11-12) Sat 9.30-6 Sun 11-4 Fluid Cycles Mobile repairs and servicing in Underground zone 1 and the Docklands (020 7021 0742) ● ✔ (on servicing and repairs) Mon-Fri 8.30-6 Weekends by arrangement Velorution 18 Great Titchfield St W1 (020 7637 4004) ● ✔ Mon-Fri 918.45 Sat 10.30-18.30 Also sells secondhand bikes EAST Bicycle Magic 4-6 Greatorex St E1 (020 7375 2993) ■ ✔ Mon-Fri 9-6 Sat 10-5 Brick Lane Bikes 118 Bethnal Green Rd E2 (020 7033 9053) ■ ✔ Mon-Fri 9-7 Sat-Sun 11-6 Chainlink Cycle Centre 140 Hornchurch Rd Hornchurch RM11 (01708 470 007) ■ ✔ Mon-Sat 9-6 Cotswold Outdoor Ground floor, St Clements House, Leyden St E1 (020 7655 466) ♣ (quote ref L2115 and show card) Mon-Fri 10-7, Sat 10-5

CycleSurgery Brody House Strype St E1 (020 7375 3088) ▲ ✔ Mon/ Weds/Fri 8.30-6 Tues/Thurs 8.30-7 Sat 10-5 Sun 10-4 CycleSurgery 12-13 Bishops Sq, E1 (020 7392 8920) ▲ ✔ (excludes Marin bikes. Full SRP items only. Excludes Selfridges concession.)

Mon-Sat 10-6 Sun 12-6 Ditchfields 792/794 High Rd Leyton E10 (020 8539 2821) ▲ ✔ Not on promotional products. Mon-Sat 9.15-5.30 E A Cycles 783 Romford Rd, Manor Park, Newham E12 (020 8478 2540) 5% bikes; ■ ✔ 10% servicing MonSat 9-6 Sun 10-4 Discounts not on promotional or sale items Evans Cycles The Cavern 1 Market St (Off Brushfield St) E1 (020 7426 0391) ▲ ✔ Incl servicing Mon-Fri 8-8 (Closed Thurs 11-12) Sat 9.30-6 Sun 12-6 Evans Cycles 1 Farringdon St EC4 (020 7248 2349) ▲ ✔ Incl servicing Mon-Fri 18-8 (Closed Thurs 11-12) Sat 9.30-6 Sun 11-5 Evans Cycles Cullum St EC3 (020 7283 6750) ▲ ✔ Incl servicing MonFri 8-8 (Closed Mon 11-12) Sat 9.306 Sun 12-5 Evans Cycles Unit B, Reuters Building, 30 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf E14 (0870 164 4037) ▲ ✔ Incl servicing Mon-Fri 8-8 Sat 9.30-6 Sun 12-6 Fluid Cycles Docklands See ‘Central’ Heales Cycles 477 Hale End Rd Highams Park E4 (020 8527 1592) ■ ➔ Mon-Fri 9-6 Sat 9-5.30 London Fields Cycles 281 Mare St E8 (020 8525 0077) ● ✔ Mon-Fri 8-6 Sat 10-6 Top Rider 210 Baker Street, Enfield EN1 (020 83638618) ✔ Closed Wed

& Sun Mon-Sat 9-5.30 Wharf Cycles Unit B6, Lanterns Court, Millharbour E14 (020 7987 2255) ● ✔ Mon-Fri 8-7 Sat 10-5 Sun 11-4 NORTH Action Bikes 64 Ballards Lane N3 (020 8346 2046) ▲ ✔ Discount also on servicing Mon-Sat 9-6 Sun 10-4 Bike and Run 125 High Rd N2 (020 8815 1845) ● ✔ Mon-Fri 9-6 Sat 9.30-5.30 Bike Mech The Castle Climbing Centre Green Lanes N4 (07762 270 616) 10% discount on servicing only Mon-Fri 9-7, Sat 10-5 Bikes R Us Mobile cycle repairs throughout north London (020 8882 8288 – workshop, 07949 066 889 – van) ● ✔ on servicing and most repairs Mon-Sat 9.30-5.30 CycleSurgery 70 Holloway Rd N7 (020 7697 2848) ▲ ✔ Mon 9-6 Tues 9-7 Weds 8.30-6 Thurs 9-7 Sat 10-6 Sun 11-5 Cycle Store (The) 201 Woodhouse Rd Friern Barnet N12 (020 8368 3001) ▲ ✔ Mon-Fri 9-6 (Closed Weds) Sat 9-5 Sun 11-3 Holloway Cycles 290 Holloway Road, N7 (020 7700 6611) ■ ➔ 5% servicing/labour Mon-Fri 8.30-6.30 Sat 9-6 Sun 11-5 Mosquito Bikes 123 Essex Rd N1 (020 7226 8841/020 7226 8765) ● ✔ Mon-Fri 8.30-7 Sat 10-6 Sun (summer only) 11-4 S & S Cycles 29 Chapel Market N1 (020 7278 1631) ● ✔ Mon-Fri 10-6 Sat 10-5.30 Sun 10-2.30 Shorter Rochford 27 Barnet Rd Potters Bar EN6 (01707 662 332) ▲ ✔ on RRP Mon-Fri 9-6 (Closed Weds) Sat 9-5

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LCC members’ pages Many of these shops have email and websites.

For details, see www.lcc.org.uk Shorter Rochford 65-67 Woodhouse Rd N12 (020 8445 9182) ▲ ✔ Mon-Sat 9-6 (Weds 9-7) (Closed Thurs) Two Wheels Good 165 Stoke Newington Church St N16 (020 7249 2200) ● ➔ Mon-Sat 8.30-6 Sun 11-5 Two Wheels Good 143 Crouch Hill N8 (020 8340 4284) ● ➔ Mon-Sat 8.30-6 NORTH-WEST Broadway Bikes 250 West Hendon Bwy NW9 (020 8202 4671) ■ ✔ MonSat 9.30-5.30, Sun 11-1 Chamberlaines 75-77 Kentish Town Rd NW1 (020 7485 4488) ■ ✔ Includes shop discount Mon-Sat 8.30-6 Cycle King 451-455 Rayners Ln Pinner HA5 (020 8868 6262) ■ ♣ Mon-Sat 9-6 Sun 9-4.30 Cycle King 173 Hillside Stonebridge NW10 (020 8965 5544) ■ ♣ Mon-Sat 9-6 Sun 10-5 CycleSurgery 44 Chalk Farm Rd NW1 (020 7485 1000) ▲ (except Marins) ✔ Mon/Weds/Fri 9-6 Tues/ Thurs 9-7 Sat 10-6 Sun 11-5 CycleSurgery Hampstead 275 West End Lane NW6 (020 7431 4300) ▲ ✔ Mon/Weds/Fri 9-6 Tues/Thurs 9-7 Sat 10-6 Sun 11-5 Evans Cycles 250 Watford Way, NW4 (0870 142 0108) ● ✔ Mon-Fri 8-8, Sat 9.30-6, Sun 11-5 Simpson’s Cycles 114-116 Malden Rd NW5 (020 7485 1706) ▲ ✔ (Birdys ■) Mon-Fri 9-6 Sat 9-5.30 Sparks 5 Bank Buildings, High St NW10 (020 8838 5858) ● ✔ Mon-Sat 9.30-6 SOUTH Bikes Plus 429 Brighton Rd Croydon CR2 (020 8763 1988) ▲ ✔ Mon-Sat 9-6 Cycle King 26-40 Brighton Rd Croydon CR2 (020 8649 9002) ■ ♣ Mon-Sat 9-6 Sun 9-4.30 Evans Cycles 5 London Rd Croydon CR0 (020 8667 1423) ▲ ✔ Incl servicing Mon-Fri 9-6 Thurs 9-8 (Closed Thurs 11-12) Sat 9.30-6 Sun 11-5 SOUTH-EAST Bigfoot Bikes 50 Hayes St Bromley BR2 (020 8462 5004) ● ➔ Includes servicing; exc labour Tues-Sat 9-5.30 Bike Shop (The) 288-290 Lee High Rd SE13 (020 8852 6680) ▲ ✔ on items over £10 Mon-Fri 9-5.30 Sat 9-5 Blackfen Cycle Centre 23 Wellington Parade Blackfen Rd Sidcup DA15 (020 8303 3761) ▲ ✔ (Incl labour) Mon-Fri 9-6 Sat 9-5.30 Sun 10-3 Bromley Bike Company 27 Widmore Rd Bromley BR1 (020 8460

4852) ● ➔ Mon-Sat 9.30-5.30 Thurs 9-8 Comptoncycles.co.uk 23-25 Catford Hill Catford SE6 (020 8690 0141) ▲ ✔ Mon-Fri 9-6 Sat 9-5 Deens Garage 439 Croydon Rd BR3 3PP (020 8650 0630) Mon-Sat 8.30-5.30 ▲ ✔ Edwardes 221-225 Camberwell Rd SE5 (020 7703 3676) ▲ ✔ Mon-Sat 8.30-6 Evans Cycles 111-115 Waterloo Rd SE1 (020 7928 2208) ▲ ✔ Incl servicing Mon-Fri 10-8 (Closed Thurs 11-12) Sat 9.30-6 Sun 11-5 Evans Cycles 77-81 The Cut SE1 (020 7928 4785) ▲ ✔ Incl servicing Mon-Fri 8-8 (Closed Weds 11-12) Sat 9.30-6 Sun 11-5 Evans Cycles 6 Tooley St SE1 (020 7403 4610) ▲ ✔ Incl servicing. MonFri 8-8 (Closed Thurs 11-12) Sat 9.30-6 Sun 11-5 Herne Hill Bicycles 83 Norwood Rd SE24 (020 8671 6900) ● ➔ Tues-Fri 9-6 Sat 10-5 (Closed Sun & Mon) London Recumbents Rangers Yard Dulwich Park College SE21 (8299 6636) ● ✔ Variable discount on bike hire. Mon-Sun 10-6 On Your Bike 52-54 Tooley St SE1 (020 7378 6669) ▲ ✔ Sat 10-6, Sun 11-5 Also has bike hire Discounts don’t apply to sale items or cycle scheme bikes.

ReCycling (Only sells catalogue returns, renovated and second-hand bikes) 110 Elephant Rd SE17 (020 7703 7001) ▲ ✖ Robinsons Cycles 172 Jamaica Rd, SE16 (020 7237 4679) ■ ✔ Mon-Sat 9.30-6; Thur 9.30-2pm Sidcup Cycle Centre 142-146 Station Rd, Sidcup DA15 (020 8300 8113) ✔ Mon-Fri 9-5.30; Thurs 9-7; Sat 9-5 Witcomb Cycles 25 Tanners Hill, Deptford SE8 (020 8692 1734) ■ ✔ Mon closed; Tues, Wed, Fri 9.30-5; Thurs, Sat 9.30-4 Wilsons 32 Peckham Rd SE15 (0207 639 1338) ▲✔ Mon-Fri 10-6; Sat 10-5 Xadventure Bikes 25-29 Perry Hill, Forest Hill SE23 (020 8699 6768) ▲✔ Mon-Sat 9.30-5.30 No discount on servicing SOUTH-WEST Action Bikes Fairfield Ave Staines TW18 4AB (01784 440666) ▲ ✔ Mon-Sat 9-6; Sun 11-3.30 Action Bikes 221 The Broadway SW19 1SD (020 8540 0313) ▲ ✔ Action Bikes 437 Upper Richmond Rd, East Sheen SW14 ✔ (020 8876 5566) Mon-Sat 9-6 Sun 11-4 Bicycle Warehouse 214-216 Kingston Rd, Teddington TW11 (020 8977

2925) ▲ ✔ 10% servicing Mon-Sat 9-5.30 Sun 10-4 Brixton Cycles 145 Stockwell Rd SW9 (020 7733 6055) ● ✔ Mon-Wed & Fri-Sat 9-6 Thurs 9-7 Cowley Security Locksmiths (Locks and key cutting) 146 Colne Rd Twickenham TW2 (020 8894 1212) ● ✔ Mon-Fri 8-5 Cyclopedia 256 Fulham Rd SW10 (020 7351 5776) ● ✔ Mon-Fri 8-8 Sat 9.30-6 Sun 10.30-5 Dialabike 30 Strutton Ground SW1(020 7233 4224) ■ ✔ Mon-Fri 9.30-5.30 Evans Cycles 13-15 Jerdan Pl (off Fulham Bwy) SW6 (020 7384 5550) ▲ ✔ Incl servicing Mon-Fri 8am-8pm (Closed Mon 11-12) Sat 9.30am-6pm Sun 11am-5pm Evans Cycles Clapham Unit 2 65-79 Clapham High Street SW4 7TG ▲ ✔ Evans Cycles 320-320b Vauxhall Bridge Rd SW1 (020 7976 6298) ▲ ✔ Incl servicing Mon-Fri 8-8 (Closed Tues 11-12) Sat 9.30-6 Sun 11-5 Evans Cycles 48 Richmond Rd Kingston KT2 (020 8549 2559) ▲ ✔ Incl servicing Mon-Fri 9-6 Thurs 9-8 (Closed Thurs 11-12) Sat 9.30-6 Sun 10-4 Evans Cycles 167-173 Wandsworth High St SW18 (020 8877 1878) ▲ ✔ Incl servicing Mon-Fri 8-8 (Closed Thurs 11-12) Sat 9.30-6 Sun 10-4 London Recumbents Staff Yard Battersea Park SW11 (020 7498 6543) ● ✔ off hire only. Open weekends and school holidays Luciano Cycles 97-99 Battersea Rise SW11 (020 7228 4279) ■ ✔ Mon-Sat 9-5.30 Sun 10-3.30 Mike’s Bikes 27 Aberconway Rd Morden SM4 (020 8640 1088) ▲ ✔ Mon-Fri 8-5.30 Sat 9-4 Moore’s Cycles 61 London Rd Twickenham TW1 3SZ (020 8744 0175) Mon, Sat 9-5.30; Tue-Fri 9-6; Sun 10-4 ▲ ✔ Moose Cycles 48 High St Colliers Wood SW19 (020 8544 9166) ● ✔ Mon-Fri 9.30-7 Pitfield Cycles 137 Kingston Rd New Malden KT3 (020 8949 4632) ■ ➔ Mon-Sat 9-5.30 Prologue 232 Upper Richmond Road, East Sheen, SW14 (020 8878 6266) ▲ ✔ 15% servicing Mon closed Wed 8am-8pm Tue/Thur-Fri 9am-6pm Sun 12pm-5pm Discount BIKES

ACCESSORIES

0%

●

✖

5%

■

➔

10%

▲

✔

15%

❋

♣

applies to BH brand bikes only Psubliminal 17 Balham High St, SW12 (020 8772 0707) 5% discount on servicing. Tues-Fri 9-6.30 Thurs 9-7 Sat 9-5.30 Putney Cycles 337 Putney Bridge Rd, SW15 (020 8785 3147) ✔ MonFri 8-6.30 Sat 9-6 Sun 10-4 Siecle 789 Wandsworth Rd SW8 (020 7978 2345) ❋ ✖ (applies only to bikes) Mon-Fri 9.30-5.30 Sat 10-4 Smith Brothers 14 Church Rd SW19 (020 8946 2270) ▲ Also offers bike hire services Mon-Sat 9.30-5.30 South Bank Cycles 194 Wandsworth Rd SW8 (020 7622 3069) ● ➔ Mon-Sat 9-6 Stratton Cycles Ltd 101 East Hill SW18 (020 8874 1381) ● ✔ Mon-Sat 9-6 WEST Action Bikes 101 Uxbridge Rd W12 (020 8743 5265) ● ➔ Mon-Sat 9-6 Sun 10-4 Action Bikes 176 Chiswick High Rd W4 (020 8994 1485) ● ➔ Mon-Sat 9-6 Sun 10-4 Bikewise 61 Swakeleys Rd Ickenham Middx UB10 (01895 675376) ■ ✔ Mon-Sat 9-5.30 Sun 10-2 Bonthrone Bikes 917-919 Fulham Rd SW6 (020 7731 5005) ● ✔ MonFri 11-7 Thurs 11-8 Sat 10-6 Sun 12-5 Cyclopedia 262 Kensington High St W8 (020 7603 7626) ● ✔ Mon-Fri 8-8 Sat 9.30-6 Sun 10.30-5 Evans Cycles 548-550 Chiswick High Road, W4 (0870 060 5489) ▲ ✔ Mon-Fri 8-8, Sat 9.30-6, Sun 11-5 Mend-a-Bike 19 The Arches 33 Munster Rd Fulham SW6 (020 7371 5867) ● ✔ Mon-Fri 9-7 Sat 9-6 Moore’s Cycles 3-5 St. John’s Road Isleworth TW7 6NA (020 8560 7131) Mon, Sat 9-5.30; Tues-Fri 9-6; Sun 10-4 ▲ ✔ Paul’s Custom Cycles 38 Mount Pleasant WC1X (07960 987 887) ▲ 10-4 Mon-Sat 11-4 Sun

WIZZBIKE.com 113-114 High Street, Brentford, TW8 (020 8326 2819) ▲ ✖ Mon-Sat 9-6; Sun 11-5 Woolsey of Acton 281 Acton Lane W4 (020 8994 6893) ▲ ✔ Mon-Fri 9.30-6.30 Sat 9.30-6 (Closed Weds)

• Show your LCC card to claim your discount.

• The discounts vary and are not negotiable. ● ➔ means no discount on a bicycle and 5% discount on parts and/or accessories.

• Discounts don’t usually apply to special offers or sale items.

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Local groups

Local groups News BARNET

Yet again indomitable (deranged?) Barnet Cyclists ignored adverse weather and insisted on cycling in pouring rain for three to four hours prior to their Christmas lunch on December 9.

The lunch venue was only about two miles from the start but protocol requires that a proper ride be undertaken prior to feasting, which was attended by 25 members. The February evening meeting is the dreaded AGM. New faces on the committee are always welcome, so please consider putting yourself forward. Nominations should be submitted in writing at least one week prior to the meeting. The boring formal bit will be very short and will be followed by an exciting ‘bring and buy’ auction of bits and pieces to raise funds. Please bring ‘things’ with you to sell.

Meetings: last Thursday of the month, 8pm at Trinity Church Hall, Nether St, N12.

Contact: Jeremy Parker (020 8440 9080) Website: www.barnetlcc.org BRENT

Brent Cyclists, though a recently-formed group, now has an effective core of activists working on various fronts, such as responding to consultations, putting our own proposals to the council, organising rides and other events, mapping cycle routes in the borough, putting together an improved website, and publicising the work of LCC. Come along to a meeting if you would like to find out more. Or join our Yahoo group. Perhaps the most significant scheme currently under consideration is, as part of a London Cycle Network Plus route, the provision of shared pedestrian and cycle paths 2.5m wide on both sides of Watford Rd between Northwick Park Hospital and Sudbury Court Dr. This should be a useful facility for cyclists using this busy and fast road, but it will not immediately lead anywhere beyond the hospital. In the next phase, it will be necessary for the highly dangerous Northwick Park roundabout to be dealt with. In the longer term, progress toward improving cycling provision in Brent should be stepped up by the Sustrans Greenways for the Olympics and London project, which will aim to create routes for “active spectators” to travel to Wembley Stadium. We will need to work hard to ensure this worthy concept produces real and permanent results by 2012, only four years away.

Meetings: 7pm on Wednesday 6 February and Wednesday 6 March, Samaritans Centre, 1 Leopold Road, NW10.

Contact: Ben Tansley (07941 050161, coordinator@brentcyclists.org.uk).

Website: www.brentcyclists.org.uk EALING

Convincing teenagers that cycling is cool is a tall order but we are not easily deterred. We celebrated a successful year of campaigns at our last meeting of 2007 in convivial company with Christmas dinner, Polish style, and a raffle courtesy of the Bike Whisperer. If you would like to know more about our current campaigns, come along to our monthly campaign meetings and meet a bunch of friendly cyclists!

Meetings: first Wednesday of the month. Next meeting is 7:30pm, Wednesday 6 February, downstairs at Café Grove, 65 The Grove, W5.

Social rides on first Sunday of the month. 10am at Ealing Town Hall.

Contact: David Lomas (020 8579 0805, david_lomas28@hotmail.com) Website: www.ealingcycling.org.uk HAMMERSMITH AND FULHAM

Cycling design issues at Westfield / Shepherds Bush Green / Holland Park roundabout are coming to a head, with the Westfield White City London complex hoping to open in October of this year. The council is beginning to fear the impending traffic chaos on the roads and rail of west London and is calling for a transport summit. We have started planning for the Greenfest West London, to be held beside the river in Hammersmith on Sunday June 15. Mark has opened up a facebook page for our cycling group. Come and join the community. The days are getting longer - come with us on a ride or two.

Meetings: first Tuesday of the month.

Contact: John Griffiths (john@truefeelings.com, 020 7371 1290, 07789 095 745) Website: www.hfcyclists.org.uk

See the ‘local groups’ section at www.lcc.org.uk for more contact information and news from your area

We replied that a segregated path like the one beside St Agatha’s school would be a good idea.

But the council put up additional barriers and signs - even before the consultation period was over! Undaunted, we are working on the council in the hope that a cycle facility may yet be implemented. Bicycle theft remains a nagging worry. Can Kingston ever shake off its reputation for record numbers of thefts? Kingston police’s ‘Seek Your Cycle’ website initiative to reunite bikes with their owners was stillborn. The police are receiving around 15 bikes a week in various states of disrepair but are mostly unable to return the bikes to their rightful owners. Have you got a record of your bike’s serial number and a photo of your bike in case the worst happens? Are your locks adequate? A happier statistic is that record numbers of riders enjoyed the Bread Pudding rides this year. In December, John Dunn received, on behalf of the Kingston Cycling Campaign, a trophy from the council for providing ‘Best Community Support for Cycling’ (see photo).

Meetings: 8:30 on February 12, Wagon & Horses Pub, Surbiton Hill Rd and 7:30 on March 11 at Market House, Ancient Market Place, Kingston, Contact: Rob James: 020 8546 8865 Website: www.kingstoncycling.org.uk

ISLINGTON

We start 2008 with a new campaign that aims to raise awareness locally of the need for motorists to take more responsibility for their actions, especially around vulnerable road users such as cyclists and pedestrians. By highlighting different areas around the borough we hope to get the police and council to give higher priority to dangerous driving and ways of reducing it. The first site visit to identify irresponsible behaviour by motorists took place at a spot where there have been specific concerns about the dangers of speeding motorists. The Packington estate, around Packington Square, N1 and on LCN route 109, is being extensively redeveloped and the highways consultant working on the proposals attended our monthly meeting to explain the plans and receive our comments. If you cycle through this area please get in touch. If you’re interested in commenting on proposals for new road layouts and cycle facilities think no further than Islington LCC! Meetings: 7.30-9.30pm on second Wednesday of the month at Islington Town Hall, Upper Street, N1. Next meetings February 13, March 12 and April 9.

Contact: Alison Dines (020 7226 7012, alisondines@clara.co.uk) KINGSTON

Success! The bridge at the top of King Charles Road where it meets Villiers Avenue is to have a southbound, contra-flow cycle lane installed.

Initially, it will be an experimental measure. Our thanks to the unstinting efforts of Kingston’s cycling officer. Not all council officers are quite so interested in promoting cycling, it seems.

Having devised a travel plan for St Joseph’s School at the eastern end of the Fairfield, the council consulted on measures for the wide passageway that runs alongside the school.

Kingston Cycling Campaign has been given an award for providing the “Best Community Support for Cycling” by Kingston Borough Council.

Celebrating are KCC members (l-r): John Legate, Ruth Crumey, John Dunn, Hilary Gander.

MERTON

Once upon a time, in a lesser known episode of Gulliver’s Travels, the king of Lilliput became very fond of hedgehogs and got very upset when they were squashed on the roads. So he summoned all the hedgehog specialists in the land and got them to work for smart consultants and Traffic for Lilliput (TfL). They set to work devising ways to make a select network of roads better for hedgehogs, with crossings and quiet zones on the roads. The experts were so comfortable in their plush offices that having designed the system they started finding completely different ways of spending taxpayers’ money and when it came to the difficult and unpopular business of installing the hedgehog network they were unavailable. Some bright spark said “let’s at least paint hedgehog symbols on the roads so that other traffic remembers to look out for them”.

But no one could draw hedgehogs properly so they ended up looking squashed, which meant no one took any notice. In December Merton Council announced that TfL will provide less than half the 2008 money needed for the LCN+. Merton acknowledged, however, that it wouldn’t even be able to spend that amount, due to a scarcity of qualified personnel. On the plus side, Merton

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Local groups APRIL/MAY DEADLINE: 6pm Friday February 29 Please email news to boroughnews@lcc.org.uk – photos are welcome and will be published if space permits. Please keep contributions as concise as possible.

Cycling Campaign managed to halt the drunken 6 year-old who’s been painting cycle signs on the embryonic LCN+ roads (under edict from TfL). Merton Council now promises that from December 2007 all such signs will conform to Cycle Symbol 1057, Appendix C of the London Cycling Design Standards. Hurrah!

Meetings: usually 8 pm on first Thursday of the month.

Contact: Richard Evans (020 8946 0912, richard.m.evans@talktalk.net) Website: www.mertoncyclists.org.uk REDBRIDGE

Redbridge LCC AGM & Social is on Friday February 8. It’s an opportunity to meet other members, enjoy the buffet, and contribute to the Redbridge LCC’s activities. Epping Forest is holding its inaugural Cycle Forum Group meeting at 7pm on Thursday March 6, at their headquarters at the Warren in Epping New Road.

All who have an interest in cycling on or near Forest land, both off or on road, should come along. We are reinstating regular monthly group meetings in 2008, so please offer suggestions for topics and speakers. The next series of cycle maintenance workshops begins on March 19, details on p.25. Lots of spring rides and events are planned, notably the Easter youth hostel trip.

Meetings: AGM and Social on February 8.

Meetings at 8pm on Tuesday February 19 and Tuesday March 18 at Wanstead House, 21 The Green, E11.

Contact: Gill James (020 8989 4898, gilljames@ btinternet.com) or Chris Elliott (020 8989 6285, c.elliott@dsl.pipex.com) Website: kwww.redbridgelcc.org.uk RICHMOND

A Christmas networking ‘party’ gave us the opportunity to talk to some councillors and we managed to get them to agree to think about including us in a transport consultative meeting that takes place every month. This would mean we would have direct input into transport changes in Richmond at a consultative level, which would be a great advantage.

We are now organising two rides a month, a short and a long ride. Our shorter ride of around 10 miles is ideal for families, those who don’t want a taxing ride and those returning to cycling. They are about two hours long and include a tea break along the way. The longer rides are more ambitious, covering distances of 20 to 60 miles. We hope that some will be train assisted, allowing us to explore further afield.

Meetings: 8pm on second Monday of the month.

Members’ adverts ◆ FOR SALE: Dawes Discovery 701 2003 flat bar sports hybrid. Includes carbon forks; Shimano 105 grade components; SKS mudguards; pannier rack; Continental Top Contact tyres; upgraded 700x25 wheels and cables; Datatag security. £450 ono. Call James on 07914 871 650. ◆ FOR SALE: SKS Raceblade quick release mudguards for 26inch wheels, never used, £10. Call James on 07914 871 650.

Contact: info@rcc.myzen.co.uk Website: www.rcc.myzen.co.uk WALTHAM FOREST

Information about CRIM LCN+ routes 205/206 (route 205 links Hackney and Leytonstone via Ruckholt Rd and route 206 links Leytonstone and Stratford via Leytonstone High Rd) has been loaded onto our Yahoo group site. We have been consulted on the Selbourne Road bus priority scheme and have written to the council with comments. The group is working with Trevor Parsons from Hackney LCC to try to overcome any conflict between bus drivers and cyclists using the carriageway/ bus lane on Lea Bridge Rd. It appears that some bus drivers do not accept that cyclists can choose to use the bus lane as opposed to the cycle path on the pavement. We have heard that the council is working on a new design to get a cross junction at Whipps Cross roundabout (our preferred outcome). This would involve shaving off a bit of land in front of an adjacent block of flats. The New Year sees us losing a valued member of the group. Geoffrey Whittington stood down as co-ordinator in 2007 and is now moving to Hertfordshire. We will miss him – we hope to organise regular trips to Hertfordshire to visit him and Susan.

Meetings: 8pm on the second Wednesday of the month at The Hornbeam Centre, 458 Hoe St, Walthamstow, 8pm.

Contact: Robert Vaughan, (020 8520 8858, wfcycling@wfcycling.org.uk) Website: www.wfcycling.org.uk WESTMINSTER

As ever, cycle campaigning in Westminster is at least one step backwards for every two steps forwards. Having failed to persuade the council to allow cycling through the newly pedestrianised Lisle Street, we heard that a local ward member has vetoed the toucan crossing on Bayswater Road, just west of Marble Arch. But we think we may have persuaded the council not to move the cycle lane in Upper St Martin’s Lane from the centre to the left-hand side, where it would have been of little use to the majority of cyclists who go straight ahead.

Meetings: 19.00 on Wednesday February 6 at Heart of London Business Alliance, Broadmead House, 21-23 Panton Street, SW1Y. Please call 0771 4691654 to confirm you are coming.

Contact: Colin Wing (020 7828 1500 cyclist@ westminstercyclists.fsnet.co.uk) Website: www.westminstercyclists.fsnet.co.uk How to advertise Small, non-business ads are free to LCC members. Please email londoncyclist@lcc.org.uk or write to the address on page 3, including your short and concise advertisement, full name, postal address and LCC membership number. The April/May LC issue deadline is 6pm, Friday, February 29. Businesses or members interested in larger advertisements should contact Matt Styrka on 020 7306 0300 ext 112 or email lcc@mongoosemedia.com

OTHER LOCAL GROUP CONTACTS BARKING & DAGENHAM Contact: Colin Newman (07761 577 255, colin.newman@stibasa.org.uk) Website: www.stibasa.org.uk BEXLEY Contact: Frances Renton (01322 441 979, f.renton@gold.ac.uk) or Dave Reynolds (01322 525 481) BROMLEY Contact: Andrew Fergar (07717 693 701) CAMDEN Contact: Jean Dollimore (020 7485 5896, jean@dollimore.net) Website: www.camdencyclists.org.uk CITY Contact: Ralph Smyth (info@citycyclists.org.uk) Website: www.citycyclists.org.uk CROYDON Contact: info@croydon-lcc.org.uk Website: www.croydon-lcc.org.uk ENFIELD Contact: Richard Reeve (r.reeve@blueyonder. co.uk, 0870 321 3717) Website: www.lccenfield.fsnet.co.uk GREENWICH Contact: Julian Dobson (07771 692 344) Website: www.greenwichcyclists.org.uk) HACKNEY Contact: Trevor Parsons (020 7729 2273, info@hackney-cyclists.org.uk) Website: www.hackney-cyclists.org.uk HARINGEY Contact: Adam Coffman (adam@tao.org.uk) Website: www.lcc.org.uk > Local groups HAVERING Contact: Bernie Curtis (01708 347 226, CurtisBernieS@aol.com) HILLINGDON Contact: Sarah James (020 8868 2912) or Steve Ayres (01895 230 953) HOUNSLOW Contact: Liz Trayhorn (020 8751 5430, liz. trayhorn@googlemail.com) KENSINGTON & CHELSEA Contact: Philip Loy (07960 026 450, philip_loy@ yahoo.co.uk) Website: www.lcc.org.uk > Local groups LAMBETH Contact: Philip Loy (020 8677 8624, lambeth_ cyclists@hotmail.com) Website: www.lambethcyclists.org.uk LEWISHAM Contact: Ian or Paul (info@lewishamcyclists.net) Website: www.lewishamcyclists.net NEWHAM Contact: Bernard McDonnell (07947 236 965) SOUTHWARK Contact: Barry Mason (07905 889 005, barrymasonuk@googlemail.com) Website: www.southwarkcyclists.org.uk SUTTON Contact: Chris Parry (020 8647 3584, c.parry@ blueyonder.co.uk) Website: www.lcc.org.uk > Local groups TOWER HAMLETS Contact: Owen Pearson (020 7515 9905, wheelers@towerhamletwheelers.org.uk) Website: www.towerhamletwheelers.org.uk WANDSWORTH Contact: Simon Merrett (020 8789 6639, coordinator@wandsworthcyclists.org.uk) Website: www.wandsworthcyclists.org.uk LONDON CYCLIST February/March 2008 35

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Diary Rides & Events Your guide to events and rides that are open to all cyclists What you need to know about social rides Unless stated, train-assisted rides meet at the relevant ticket office. Lunch is at a pub or take sandwiches if you prefer.

Don’t forget: water, lights, a spare inner tube and tools.

Armchair riding

Organisers

To keep up with late changes and extra information on these events and more, subscribe to the LCC Riders email list.

Send a message to lccridersubscribe@yahoogroups.com

To publicise your ride or event, enter details onto the LCC database (www.lcc.org.uk). To get events into the April/May issue, please upload by noon, Thursday, February 28, or email londoncyclist@lcc.org.uk

Youth cycle tour

Home away from home in forestry park The Rosliston Forestry Centre in Derbyshire has accommodation for cyclists and walkers looking to get back to nature. Its four timber lodges can cater for up to 10 people, and give direct access to paths within the centre, as well as to routes around the perimeter. Adult and children’s bikes are available to hire. See www.roslistonforestrycentre.co.uk or call 01283 519 119 for details.

A new initiative aimed at cyclists aged 18 to 25 has launched in the UK. Otesha UK will run its first youth cycle tours this summer and is calling on young cyclists to join its ranks. Otesha, made up of passionate young people who are committed to sustainable living, uses cycle tours to promote its ethos.

Between May and September, two Otesha teams will meet up, cycle around the UK and share practical environmental actions. Each cycle tour is six weeks long, with each team showcasing an Otesha play, facilitate interactive workshops on issues like climate change and fair trade, and invite people to participate in handson sessions on bike repair, do-it-yourself media and more. For more information on Otesha or to get involved, see www.otesha.org.uk or email cycletour@otesha.org.uk

Riding in Oxford

Cyclists visiting Oxford can now enjoy a smoother trip along the National Cycle Network between Whitehouse Road and Osney Lock following the resurfacing of the Thames towpath late last year. The path goes from south to west Oxford and offers a route into the city centre free of motorised traffic.

For details of this and other routes around Oxford, see www.sustrans.org.uk

RIDES AND EVENTS Saturday, February 2 ◆ Dulwich Paragon Ride.

Every Saturday. Meet at Café St Germain on Crystal Palace Parade 9am for a two-hour ride at a steady pace. Contact: www.dulwichparagon.com Sunday, February 3 ◆ Weekly ride with Pollards Hill Cyclists. Depart 9.30am from Pollards Hill Library on South Lodge Avenue, Mitcham.

See www.pollardshillcyclists.org. uk or email mark@pollardshill cyclists.org.uk ◆ Surrey ride with Richmond Cycling Campaign. Depart 9.30am from Richmond Little Green for a 35-mile ride. Lunch and beer en route. Contact: John Goddard (07712 013 001) ◆ Bike Polo. Every Sunday from 1pm in the football court, corner Brick Lane and Shacklewell Road. All welcome. Details: http://myspace.com/ bricklanebikepolo ◆ Waterways ride with Ealing Cycling Campaign. Depart 10am Ealing Town Hall for the Thames. Contact: David Eales (rides@ealingcycling.org.uk, 07880 797 437) Until Sunday, February 3 ◆ Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show. Includes cycle exhibitors. Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre. Details: www.DestinationsShow.com Monday, February 4 ◆ Resonance 104.4FM Bike Show. Every Monday, 6.30pm-7pm Sunday, February 10 ◆ Bread Pudding Ride.

Depart 10.30am Kingston Market Place, Queen Anne’s Statue for an easy-paced ride in the Surrey countryside with the Kingston Cycling Campaign. Contact: John Dunn (johnedunn@blueyonder. co.uk, 020 8397 1875) ◆ Weekly ride with Pollards Hill Cyclists.

See February 3 Wednesday, February 13 ◆ LCC retention evening.

Join fellow volunteers to help LCC with its member mailouts.

A friendly evening spent with with like-minded cyclists.

Contact: Julie Tublin (020 7234 9310 ext 215, julie@lcc.org.uk) February 15-23 ◆ Fort William Mountain Festival 2008. Cycling is included in this celebration of mountain culture. Details: www.mountainfestival.co.uk

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Diary For last-minute rides, contact your local group (details page 33) or go to www.lcc.org.uk/rides

An introduction to cycle touring Summer is peak season for cycle touring, and one of the easiest ways newer cyclists can get a taste for touring is by joining a guided or organised tour. More and more tour operators – particularly those in the so-called ‘adventure’ and ‘eco-friendly’ markets – are now catering for cyclists. Here is a selection of operators offering cycling tours this year. ◆ Exodus (www.exodus. co.uk, 0845 863 9600) runs two-wheeled holidays to South and Central America, Asia, the Middle East and to destinations

Country Lanes offers self-guided tours of the New Forest

across Europe and Africa. ◆ The Chain Gang Cycle Tours (www.thechaingang.co.uk, 01392 662 262) runs escorted tours through the wine regions of Italy (Tuscany and Umbria) and France (Bordeaux, the Loire Valley, Provence, Burgundy and the Dordogne). ◆ Red Spokes Adventure Tours (www.redspokes.co.uk, 020 7502 7252) specialises in taking small groups of cyclists to the more remote regions of the world, including the Himalayas, the Andes, the Karakoram Highway and to the jungles of South-East Asia. They also operate in Scotland and Ireland. ◆ Country Lanes (www. countrylanes.co.uk, 01590 622627) offers self-guided day and weekend tours of the New Forest and the Lake District. ◆ Delpozo Cycling (07886 602 221, janetbirkmyre@btconnect. com) runs cycle training and trips to racing events in Europe. ◆ Freewheel Holidays (0845 3720 315, www. freewheelholidays.co.uk) runs trips to European destinations, departing May to September.

Racing and training for women Women keen to get involved in cycle racing are invited to attend one of the regular days at Hillingdon cycle circuit organised by John Leitch (john.leitch@rbi.co.uk, 07963 377 249) in conjunction with the Surrey League. The days are a combination of racing and training and help promote cycle racing in a friendly and accessible environment.

For more on women and cycling, see page 12 of this issue.

Take a poetic break on your bike Spoke’n’Word took place in spring 2006 and summer 2007 and involved gentle bike and walking trips punctuated by Martin Newell’s poetry readings and anecdotes pertaining to the countryside around the Colne Valley in Essex. The readings are now available on CD for anyone wanting to re-live the trips or take them for the first time on their own. The CD contains 17 pieces

The route from Thorrington Tide Mill that featured in Spoke’n’Word and is available by emailing james@jardinepress.co.uk

Kirklees green network perfect for car-free cycling Yorkshire’s car-free greenway network in Kirklees is officially the best greenway in Europe after winning first prize for mobility in the European Greenway Awards late last year. The Kirklees network is made up of four National Cycle Network routes: Birkby-Bradley Greenway, Spen Valley Greenway, Spen Ringway and Calder Valley Greenway, and stretches for 15 miles from Bradford to Huddersfield via Dewsbury. More than 200,000 people – including weekend recreational cyclists – use the Spen Valley Greenway every year.

For more on the route, including maps, see www.sustrans.org.uk

Conference Centre and Central Hall Westminster. Details: www. london.gov.uk/capitalwoman Tuesday, March 11 ◆ LCC retention evening.

See February 13 Sunday, March 16 ◆ Gentle 9-mile ride with Richmond Cycling Campaign Depart 10.30am from the lower part of Mortlake Green for Fulham. Contact: Jonathan Rowland (info@rcc.myzen.co.uk 07976 294 626) ◆ Thames ride to the Dome with Wandsworth Cycling Campaign Easy paced 20 miles.

Meet at Clapham Junction station foyer 10.30am. Contact: Martin (martinireland65@yahoo.co.uk, 07946 354 852) ◆ Bread Pudding Ride.

See February 10 Wednesday, March 19 ◆ LCC Social Evening.

See February 20 Friday, March 21 ◆ Good Friday meet at Herne Hill Velodrome See page 20.

Friday, March 28 ◆ Critical Mass.

See February 29 ◆ ICAG Feeder Ride to Critical Mass. See February 29 Sunday, March 30 ◆ Bread Pudding Ride.

See February 10 PLANNING AHEAD Wednesday, April 9 ◆ LCC retention evening.

See February 13 Thursday, May 1 ◆ London Mayoral Elections.

See page 7 for details of LCC’s Mayoral manifesto Tuesday, May 13 ◆ LCC retention evening.

See February 13 Sunday, May 18 ◆ Etape Caledonia. Britain’s only closed road cycle challenge takes place in Scotland. For details, see www.etapecaledonia.co.uk Wednesday, June 11 ◆ LCC retention evening.

See February 13 June 14-22 ◆ Bike Week. UK-wide celebration of cycling. Contact: 0845 612 0661 or see www.bikeweek.org.uk Sunday, June 15 ◆ London to Brighton Bike Ride. Registration opens March 1. Details at www.bhf.org.uk or call 020 7935 0185 June 20-July 20 ◆ London Biennial Festival of Architecture. Includes a rides programme. For details, see www.londonbiennale.org.uk

Photos: BritainOnView, Patricia Huertas

Saturday, February 16 ◆ Mortlake-Kew ride with Richmond Cycling Campaign. Depart 10.30am from lower part of Mortlake Green for a gentle nine-mile ride to Kew. Contact: Jonathan Rowland (info@ rcc.myzen.co.uk, 07976 294 626) Saturday, February 17 ◆ Little Green Ride. Depart 9.45am Finsbury Park mainline station ticket hall for the train to Hertfordshire for an easy paced 30-mile ride. Contact: Stephen Taylor (sltaylor001@yahoo.co.uk, 07977 235 735) ◆ Oddball artefacts at Horniman Museum & Crystal Palace with Wandsworth Cycling Campaign Easy paced 15 miles. Meet at Wandsworth station at 10.30am. Contact: Martin (martinireland65@yahoo.co.uk, 07946 354 852) Wednesday, February 20 ◆ LCC Social Evening. 6.30pm upstairs at the Leather Exchange, 15 Leathermarket Street, SE1 3HN. Learn more about the LCC’s work and meet activists and members at LCC’s monthly social nights.

There’s a speaker and discussions, but the emphasis is on having a good evening at the pub. Contact: Oliver Schick (oliver@hackneycyclists.org.uk) Sunday, February 20 ◆ Weekly ride with Pollards Hill Cyclists.

See February 3 Sunday, February 24 ◆ Weekly ride with Pollards Hill Cyclists. See February 3 ◆ Bread Pudding Ride.

See February 10 Friday, February 29 ◆ Critical Mass. London’s largest monthly cycle ride. Meets from 6pm by the National Film Theatre on South Bank. See www.criticalmasslondon.org.uk ◆ ICAG Feeder Ride to Critical Mass. 6.15pm from Islington Town Hall. Islington Cyclists’ Action Group ride to Critical Mass (above). Contact: Chris Ashby (020 7609 5093) Sunday, March 2 ◆ 25-mile ride with Richmond Cycling Campaign For details, see www.rcc.myzen.co.uk or blog: richmondcc.blogspot.com ◆ Weekly ride with Pollards Hill Cyclists.

See February 3 Saturday, March 8 ◆ Capitalwoman 2008.

An inspiring, entertaining and informative free event for London’s women. Includes rides and other cycling events. QEII

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The market place

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To advertise on this page, please phone 020 7306 0300 ext.112 or email lcc@mongoosemedia.com

14/1/08 15:08:36

The market place

is read by thousands of active cyclists to advertise, please call Matt Styrka on 020 7306 0300 ext 112

To advertise on this page, please phone 020 7306 0300 ext.112 or email lcc@mongoosemedia.com

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Books ’n’ things Fine lines extract from Two Wheels by Matt Seaton Forty four years on the road and a third of a million miles have given Heinz Stücke a philosophical cast of mind.

Within hours of getting off the ferry from France in Portsmouth, the bicycle that had been his constant companion since 1962 was stolen. But he’s not bitter.

“I trust everybody,” he says, “because if you didn’t, you just wouldn’t go around the world.

You take a calculated risk everywhere you go.”

His bike – a unique artefact that already has a place booked for it in a museum back in his native Germany – was returned to him little more than 36 hours after its theft. After the story was picked up by the national media, the thief probably realised that Heinz’s steed might be more trouble than it was worth.

This is not the first time his bike has been stolen. “Almost every 10 years it’s been stolen. That’s not bad in 150,000km.”

It all started in Hövelhof, Germany, in the 1950s, when he was apprenticed as a tool- and die-maker. Travel offered him an escape. But his experience in metallurgy has come in handy. His bike frame has been mended 16 times.

There have been the inevitable crashes, especially every cyclist’s nightmare – the car door opening. But with a bike weighing 25kg, loaded with another 40-50kg, Heinz says the car doors tend to come off worse.

He is constantly meeting people yet it’s a solitary road he travels. Is he ever lonely?

“You need female companionship sometimes, but this is another person.

And that’s too bad because you have to deal with another person.”

In any case, he’s not much of a catch these days, he says: “I’ve had many little affairs. Now it’s more complicated: I’m 66, and on a bicycle, and I sleep in a tent... ” The freedom of travel is something many people crave. But, he says, it takes special commitment. “That dream is for everybody all the time, but unfortunately it can’t be easily realised. You have to cut off all your relations, family, and be free. You have some money for a year or two, and then you have to find new money. Eventually, people wind up where they started from. Or they get a job somewhere else. And then the woman comes.

And then they buy a house and then children come. And then only the dream stays.”

And with that, he pedals away.

Two Wheels, Matt Seaton (£9.99, Guardian Books). To order a copy of Two Wheels, call 0870 836 0749 or visit www.guardianbooks.co.uk

Reviews The Beautiful Machine: A Life In Cycling, From Tour de France To Cinder Hill, Graeme Fife (£16.99, Mainstream Publishing) Less about carbon fibre and titanium and more about the author’s vivid and gutsy appetite for life, this book is spiced with many adventures on and off the beautiful machine. Graeme Fife has a first class classics degree (in Greek from Durham) and a career in writing plays and books, plus print and broadcast journalism. In The Beautiful Machine he combines his classics pedigree with a thoroughly entertaining, earthy style delivered at peloton pace. Besides cycling in England, he writes about the fascinating mountain stages of the Tour de France (the subject of other books he has written), a challenging trip to Timbuktu and, in contrast, the cyclefriendly east coast of the USA. Listed by the publishers as “autobiography/ cycling”, this is an excellent read, not only for cyclists, but for anyone looking for an inspiring perspective on life, love, travel, history and other spiritual and worldly things. Mark Mitchell Around Africa On My Bicycle, Riaan Manser (£12.70, Jonathan Ball Publishers, www.jonathanball.co.za) This is the compelling tale of Riaan Manser and his 2003 attempt to be the first cyclist to circumnavigate Africa. Manser writes with such an articulate style you almost feel as though you’ve been smuggled inside one of his volumous panniers for the journey.

While the sense of adventure and undercurrent of danger (street gangs, corrupt police, appalling roads, natural disasters, etc) are ever present, this is a journey of deep personal discovery. The people he meets are as inspirational as the continent itself. Aside from evoking emotions of mild envy and missed opportunity, this is one of the best written and most inspirational adventures I have read in many years and one that will enthrall anyone with an ounce of curiosity. Michael Stenning The Full English: Pedalling Through England, Mid-life Crisis and Truly Rampant Man-flu, Mike Carden (£8.99, Bike Ride Books) While hardly matching the epic proportions of a ride around Africa (above), this articulate and witty account of one fortysomething man’s quest to ride from one end of England to the other is an adventure nonetheless as he battles foul weather, raging man flu and a surly bicycle. Carden has a wonderful ability to convey a passion for English history of the sort likely to improve the grades of even the most disinterested pupils.

He meets triumph and adversity and treats them much the same, and finishes each leg of his journey with a Star Trek-esque captain’s log detailing mileage, speed and anything else worthy of note. There’s an underlying sense of irony and his casual observations are often amusing. This is a warm and engaging account not limited to cyclists, historians or middle-aged men. Michael Stenning Crap Cycle Lanes (£4.99, Eye Books) It’s a simple idea and one to which every cyclist can relate: cycle lanes that abruptly stop, lanes with rubbish bins placed in them, cycleways that run into bus stops or posts or car parking facilities.

Crap Cycle Lanes, a compilation of the most notorious of these, is inspired

by Warrington Cycle Campaign’s (www.warringtoncyclecampaign.co.uk) now infamous ‘Facilities of the month’ webpage that sought to highlight the poor planning and infrastructure that cyclists confront on the streets each day.

Witty and accessible, each listing includes photographs of the facility, as well as a danger rating and a temperature gauge highlighting just how difficult it is to negotiate. This is one for the cyclist who has managed to maintain a sense of humour on their daily commute. It’s worth noting that a percentage of sales of the book go to the Cyclists’ Defence Fund (www.cyclistsdefencefund.org. uk), which works to raise awareness of the laws relating to cycling.

See page 10 for more on poor cycle facilities and details of how to submit your favourite ‘crap cycle lane’.

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Book ’n’ things

London books The 1948 Olympics: How London rescued the Games, Bob Phillips (£16.99, SportsBooks Ltd) While the title is a little melodramatic – this reads more a history of the 1948 Games than a book about the role London played in securing the future of the post-war Olympic movement – Phillips’ meticulous work is a vivid account of the last time the capital hosted the sporting world. How the corresponding tome in the wake of the 2012 event will be read is anyone’s guess.

The Making of Modern London, Gavin Weightman and Steve Humphries (£20, Ebury Press) Originally accompanying the popular 1980s ITV series, this reissued tome combines oral history with conventional academic research in recounting the story of 200 years in the life of London. Above all, it captures the breathless rate of change the capital has embraced and, on occasion, endured, whether we’re talking the bloody rigours of the Blitz or the much exalted sexual revolution of the 1960s. From the depths of the Industrial Revolution to the threshold of the internet one, The Making Of Modern London weaves the past two centuries together with a rare skill that impresses and fascinates in equal measure. Tom Fulford-Jones London (£12.99, Insight Guides) Billed as the guidebook for visitors who want to “get to know the city like a local”, this 358-page guide to the capital reserves just half a column and one picture in its travel tips section for cycling. While it concedes that “a bike is often the quickest means of getting around the city” and goes on to list the Transport for London, London Cycle Network and LCC websites, it’s a shame the authors haven’t extrapolated on the joys of cycling in London or mentioned the excellent, choosing instead to concentrate on the negatives and describe it as “intimidating”.

Audiobooks Around The World On Two Wheels, Peter Zheutlin.

Read by Barrett Whitener (US$19.99, Tantor Audio) American journalist Peter Zheutlin’s faithful account of the life of his great aunt Annie Londonderry, the first woman to ride solo around the world, is as compelling as Londonderry’s life was remarkable. In 1894, she climbed aboard her 42 pound bicycle and turned every stereotype about women on its head when she took to the road with just a change of underwear, a revolver and more spirit and determination than could be stored in a set of modern-day panniers. This audiobook makes for a charming afternoon’s listening, coming in as it does at seven hours.

See page 16 for more on Annie Londonderry

Gift ideas The Cyclist’s Companion, George Theohari (£9.99, Think Books) A quaint and diverse collection of cycling-related miscellany for the cyclist who has everything. There is page after page of otherwise useless information to keep anyone having a love affair with their bike entertained. Extracts, riding riddles, quotes from Hemingway, children’s stories about cycling and an explanation as to why gardening is “riskier than cycling” – yep, there’s something for everyone here, folks.

Backpedalling Josie Dew Apart from the odd moment of injury or illness or birthing or being stuck with my bike in the air or on a ship in the East China Sea during the tail end of a typhoon (not to be recommended) or on a Russian rust bucket in the middle of the Atlantic (Force 10) or Tasman (Force 11) or Pacific (visibility good), I’ve cycled every day since I was 10. Yet I still don’t know what the proper etiquette is for overtaking another cyclist. Should you say hello, morning, afternoon, evening? Should you nod, doff your cap/helmet/hat? Should you lift a finger, a hand, give them the bird or a wave in cheery acknowledgement? Should you make polite conversation about the weather? Should you make a cheeky quip concerning a part of their anatomy (“Nice legs/gluteus maximus/ankles/elbows” – well, whatever does it for you, really)? Should you pass comment on their cadence (“Ah-ha! A good 91rpm I see you’ve got there – why some riders insist on pushing a heavy gear, heaven only knows!”)?

Should you give frank sartorial advice (“My word! Those Lycra shorts don’t leave a lot to the imagination!”)? Or should you just accelerate past as if you’re caught up in the final sprint of Le Tour?

The fear is that they might take unkindly to being overtaken (especially if you’re female and they’re not) and give chase. This is where wing mirrors come into their own because instead of having to keep glancing over your shoulder to check on their position (an act that in itself gives the game away if you’re concerned about being caught), you can simply monitor their progress with a quick check in the mirror and up the pace accordingly. In my experience, most men hate being overtaken by a girl – especially if they’re on a super-featherweight speed machine and you cruise past with fully loaded touring regalia with shopping strapped to the rear. The other day I overtook a Lycra-clad man on a mere breeze of a bike with four loaded panniers and a baby sitting on the stern. I wasn’t sure if I should apologise. But I didn’t. Instead I think I mumbled something about the weather.

What do you do though if as the overtaker, you can’t keep up the pace? Do you feign mechanical failure (frantic back-kicking of the chainset as if the chain’s leapt from its rings)? Or do you fall back on that old get out clause by taking a rapid turn down a side road hoping they won’t follow you? Or do you pull over gently to nonchalantly flick a piece of non-existent gravel or glass from your Top Touring 2000? Or do you stop to take an urgent mobile call (when it’s turned off): “Yes, speaking! What? No, I’m on the bike.” Or do you simply grind to a sudden halt and look up to the sky, pointing at an imagined object of immense rarity hoping the approaching rider falls off? Should you be feeling charitable, you could always invite them home for a cup of tea and a detailed comparison of bottom brackets.

Josie has written seven books on cycling around the world. For details, see www.josiedew.co.uk

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My way

Around South Nutfield, Surrey In an effort to be fit in time for a charity ride later this year, Edwina Currie takes to the roads of Surrey each day. Along the way, she encounters sparrows, old farm roads and a ‘stonking great hill’

magical. It’s a farm road, and must have been here for centuries.

I cross into Cogman’s Lane. On the left is Smallfield Place, which dates from 1610 and must be one of the most exquisite Jacobean houses in the land. It’s a private property, so I’ve never been able to do more than poke my nose through the gates, but in my dreams I live in a mansion like this.

Soon after, the real trial comes.

That stonking great hill ahead of me, Scott’s Hill, rises almost vertically upwards; I gear down and start pedalling and groaning.

Yes, I know I have to do it, and not dismount or give up. In Estonia and Russia, the route could take us over far worse, several times an hour. Huffing and puffing, an ugly sight, I get to the top, where a ‘Frogs crossing’ sign greets me.

The frogs cross in their thousands every spring into the Marl Pond on my right; as you would expect, it’s always populated by fat ducks.

The home stretch I’m using part of the route of the Surrey Cycleway and the road is now heading through Outwood village, with a splendid old windmill still in working order. In ancient times, these woods belonged to the church and provided venison for the Archbishop’s palace at Croydon. Now they are owned by the National Trust, but I’ve still had deer running out ahead of me, so I am watchful.

More hills to come (Brown’s Hill), but I’m attuned to them now and barely notice that the road is rising

Above left: Elegant Smallfield Place Above: The ‘frogs crossing’ sign on Scott’s Hill Above right: Outwood village’s windmill

YOUR WAY Is your regular commute interesting? Can you take a few photos along the way? Email us at londoncyclist@ lcc.org.uk or write to the address on page 3.

steadily. Past Brandsland Wood, and suddenly there’s a great view over corn meadows back towards Gatwick, now some 10 miles away.

A hare zigzags across the stubble, pheasants squawk and fly up.

The planes hardly disturb us here, though at night the sky is alive with their landing lights like giant fireflies.

The last bit is off-road, along a track with high bramble hedges alive with sparrows. In summer the air is crazy with skylarks and the urge to stop and watch them has to be resisted. This is a short cut, but can’t be used when the farmer has been out trimming the hedges as the thorns are lethal to tyres. More than once I’ve had to trudge home to start mending punctures.

I used to ride in London, from Clapham to Waterloo, where my publisher was based. Country biking couldn’t be more different.

Lorries thunder in the distance, leaving our lanes relatively motor traffic-free, except for the occasional tractor. The Baltic will be similar, I hope, but with horses and carts. Back in Surrey, I’m ready for a shower and my tea.

THE JOURNEY Distance: 12 miles Time: 1 hour Low point: That sodding hill! High point: The end!

ABOUT EDWINA CURRIE Edwina Currie was health minister in the Thatcher government.

Since leaving parliament, she has undertaken media and charity work. In August, she will join 300 other cyclists to help raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care. The challenge (www.bikethebaltic.co.uk) covers 2,000km from Warsaw to St Petersburg and sees riders take one of four routes each.

Edwina will ride the Tallinn-St Petersburg leg.

Photos: Edwina Currie

The winter is long but I need to keep up my cycling. The temptation to get in the car is strong, especially on wet, windy days, but if I am to be fit for this summer’s jaunt round the Baltic, when we will be riding some 500km in five days, then I have to keep at it.

My home is in South Nutfield near Gatwick, in a lovely area called the Surrey Hills, part of the North Downs. Unlike round Heathrow, this area is still mainly green belt. So I’ve put together a 12-mile training ride, easy to do from home, which keeps me in trim. It takes about an hour altogether – at least, when I’m making the effort. On a longdistance ride we should average 10 miles an hour for about eight hours a day, so I will have to step up the effort in the spring.

It’s all hills round here, but at first only undulating, with the sun coming through dappled leaves.

Coopers Hill Road becomes Prince of Wales Road, heading south.

Through the village of Smallfield, where Mr Harris the butcher is advertising “Southdown lamb” and “all kinds of game”, past the busy Post Office, then down Daysey’s Hill and Rookery Hill (a doddle, this bit, freewheeling) to Keeper’s Corner and the traffic lights on Effingham Road, the B2037.

I turn left past the Flightpath Garage. Overhead, jets rumble every few minutes. Then it’s a left turn again into Dowlands Lane and I start to head north. Half an hour has passed and I’m getting nicely warm.

Here the ride becomes almost

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Outward bound

The best of York It’s one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the UK. Andy Vose has this guide to great cycle routes in and around York ork is one of the UK’s premier cycling cities, with 19% of the population cycling to work.

The city has more than 100km of on- and offroad cycle routes which are tailored for both commuter and leisure cycling. Other facilities within the city include high quality cycle parking at popular visitor attractions, signalled crossings and an official ‘Bike and Ride’ scheme which runs alongside the city’s Park and

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Ride network. More than 1000 city centre cycle parking spaces are available, as well as additional spaces at shopping centres and leisure venues.

The cycle network passes through the heart of the city and along the River Ouse, giving access to some of the city’s most attractive landmarks and extending out into the surrounding countryside.

Travelling out of the city centre, the Millennium Bridge – a shared use bridge built for cyclists and pedestrians – links routes on both sides of the Ouse, while the popular Planets of the Solar System route – a model of the solar system along the York-Selby cycle track – runs south of the city.

York is also linked to several regional and national cycle networks, including the Trans Pennine Trail, Sustrans National Cycle Network routes 65 and 66 and the North Sea Cycle Route, a 6000km cycleway linking Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and The Netherlands to the UK. BEST THREE INNER CITY ROUTES 1. New Walk Length: 1.3 miles/2.2km Mostly riverside path running from Fulford village on the outskirts of York to the city centre. Runs from the end of a quiet road, across a section of open grassland, past the Millennium Bridge and onto the riverside (River Ouse) through an avenue of trees (former Victorian promenade) across the River Foss through Tower Gardens (adjacent to Clifford’s Tower and the York Museum) and into the city centre road network near Ouse Bridge.

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Outward bound

2. Foss Islands Path Length: 2.5 miles/4km An off-road path running from Wigginton Road (adjacent to the Nestle factory) to the village of Osbaldwick. Path runs along a section of the former Derwent Valley Light Railway line from just north of the District Hospital and links several residential areas with employment sites, education sites, leisure facilities and retail sites. There are no major tourist attractions along this route as it serves a more utilitarian purpose. The path links Clifton, The Groves, Heworth, Tang Hall and Osbaldwick and the eastern end forms part of NCN route 66.

2. Millennium East-West Route Length: 4.5 miles/7.5km This is a mostly off-road route linking areas to the east and west of the River Ouse via the Millennium Bridge.

The route links residential areas with schools and the university, open space, leisure facilities and some employment sites. The route starts in Foxwood and crosses the open space adjacent to Acorn RLFC ground, across Hob Moor and Little Hob Moor, runs parallel to York Knavesmire, across Little Knavesmire through South Bank and across the Millennium Bridge, past the Imphal Barracks, across Walmgate Stray, around the periphery of the University and through the Science Park.

The section east of the river forms part of NCN route 66.

CYCLE HIRE Bob Trotter Cycles: 13-15 Lord Mayors Walk (01904 622 868, www.bobtrottercycles.com) Purple Mountain Biking & Walking Holidays: Rosedale Abbey, Pickering (01751 417 856, info@purplemountain.co.uk) York Bike Rental: 9 Spring Lane (01904 430 166, www.yorkbikerental.co.uk) 2. York to Beningbrough Length: 9 miles/14.5km This is a route comprising off-road paths to the City of York boundary then on quiet roads to Beningbrough Hall, a National Trust property. The path forms part of NCN route 65 north of York City Centre. The path starts at Scarborough Bridge in the city centre adjacent to the station, heads north along the eastern bank of the River Ouse, across Clifton Ings and Rawcliffe Ings (open land used as a flood basin during floods), past the Rawcliffe Bar Park & Ride site, under the outer ring road and along a short section of riverbank to Stripe Lane in Skelton then along quiet roads through Overton, past Shipton and on to Beningbrough Hall (the route actually carries on northwards through Easingwold to Middlesbrough).

There are several sculptures and features along the route as per many Sustrans paths.

3. York to Market Weighton Length: 26 miles/42km Forming part of NCN route 66 and using lightly trafficked roads and some off-road sections, this uses the path described above in the Millennium EastWest Route then proceeds through the villages of Osbaldwick, Murton, Dunnington to Stamford Bridge where it crosses the River Derwent using the former railway viaduct then through Pocklington and Burnby to Market Weighton.

Andy Vose is a transport planner with York City Council

Photos: BritainOnView

BEST THREE ROUTES OUTSIDE THE CITY 1 York to Selby Path Length: 15 miles, 24km A mostly off-road path which forms the southern section of NCN route 65 and also part of the Trans Pennine Trail. It follows the former York to Selby rail line and was the first path built by Sustrans after they changed their name from Cyclebag. The path is 20 years old and going strong. It leaves York city centre along the western bank of the riverside using Terry Avenue, past Rowntree Park, the Millennium Bridge, past the Knavesmire (York Racecourse) and onto the path proper. There are scaled models of the Solar System along the path at scaled distances. The path passes through or adjacent to the villages of Bishopthorpe, Naburn, Riccall and Barlby then along the River Ouse again into Selby.

MORE INFORMATION General visitor information: 01904 550 099 or www.visityork.org York cycle route map: www.york.gov.uk/transport/Walking_and_cycling Trans Pennine Trail: www.transpenninetrail.org.uk Solar system sculptures: www.solar.york.ac.uk Sustrans: www.sustrans.org.uk

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Remains of the day The roads in Rome are paved with history. Elisabetta Povoledo cycled the Appian Way, one of the most significant of them all he Appian Way used to be known as the ‘regina viarum’, the queen of all roads. A recent bike ride along this ancient thoroughfare confirms that the title still holds. There is probably no other place in Rome that gives you such a strong sense of stepping back into the past. Even strolling through the Roman Forum, thoughts of mutinous senators or vainglorious emperors are constantly intruded upon by modern-day traffic.

Because the Appian Way is protected within a regional park, the only intrusions tend to be bird songs and other tourists, of which there are surprisingly few.

On Sundays and holidays, especially, all the roads inside the park are closed to motorised traffic, so the riding is particularly good. But that’s true most days once you get beyond the first tract of the road, which is paved through until the catacombs of San Sebastiano.

With San Callisto, it is one of the two major catacombs to line the Appia (there are others nearby, but they are not all open to the public).

It’s a 16km ride from the Porta San Sebastiano, once known as the Porta Appia in the city walls – it dates to

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the second half of the third century AD and now houses the Museo delle Mura, which lets you walk along the ancient Roman walls – to Frattocchie, the end of the line beyond Rome’s Ciampino airport.

Only a few tracts of the Appia are still lined with ‘basoli’, huge polygon-shaped stones of basalt rock that paved the ancient road that was originally 4.15m wide – enough for two carriages to cross – which is just as well. The basoli are very well worn with deep grooves and they are murder to ride on. To avoid the bumpy stretches at these points, it’s better to hoist your bike to the side of the road and ride along the dirt path that other cyclists have worn.

To explore the area, you can rent bikes (€10 for the day) at the Appia Antica Regional Park information office, at number 42, in the Cartiera Latina, an old paper mill built in the 19th century.

Two sepulchers – the tombs of Geta and of Priscilla – are just steps from the information office. The first, now reduced to its concrete core on which a small house has been built, is an immediate reminder of how

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Rome cannibalised itself through the centuries. There are plenty of other examples of this along the way.

Next to it is the small church of Santa Maria in Palmis, also called the church of Domine Quo Vadis, built on the place where St Peter had a vision of Christ who told him to go back to Rome to face his martyrdom. There’s a stone slab in the floor with footprints that are supposed to be the feet of Christ. This is a copy of the slab – the original is in a reliquary in the church of St Sebastian next to the catacombs of the same name.

If you take the road that leads to the catacombs of San Callisto, on the right, you’ll avoid traffic and pass through a pleasant field where there’s usually a breeze and, occasionally, grazing sheep.

Stop and visit the catacombs – there are frequent tours in various languages. Since the third century, the San Callisto catacombs have been the most important Christian burial place in Rome and even seeing a fraction of the hundreds of kilometres of underground graves that honeycomb the Appian Way gives an eerie sense of life as an early Christian in pagan Rome.

The road through the San Callisto catacombs emerges on the Appia near the catacombs of San Sebastiano, and this is where the going gets really historical.

Stepping back in time In recent years new sites have opened along the Appian Way as the park – which was founded in 1988 – has developed. You can now visit the fourth century AD Circus (for chariots, not bikes) and the imperial residence of Maxentius. The villa includes a mausoleum known as the Tomb of Romolus, named for Maxentius’ son who was buried here in AD309.

Next to it is the grandest tomb (11m high and 29.5m in diameter) on the Appian Way, dedicated to Cecilia Metella, and erected in 50BC. In the Middle Ages it was annexed to a fortified castle which expanded over the centuries; it too can be visited.

This tomb is a fitting start to more than 10km of

Pictured: Tombs line the bumpy Appian Way, which is paved with stones made of basalt rock

sepulchers and funerary monuments that come in all shapes and sizes. Most have been stripped of their marble exteriors, but you can still see the odd statue along the way.

Pick up a map at the information office and be prepared to detour down side roads that lead to ancient aqueducts and hidden nymphaeums (note you can’t ride your bike into some fields). The Villa dei Quintili, just beyond the sixth mile, was once the largest suburban villa of Rome, and the recent excavations there are well worth perusing (not on Mondays, though, when most of the sites on the Appia are closed). The Casal Rotondo, the largest tomb, dates from the time of Augustus, but later evolved into the farmhouse that gave it its name.

There may be no better way, either, to view the hills that surround Rome. The vista along the last stretch, with most of Rome behind you, is wonderful. There are several restaurants along the way, but I prefer stopping at the little ‘alimentari’ at the corner of via Cecilia Metella and asking them to make me a sandwich so I can picnic in the shade of a tomb.

The road leading away from the city is on a slight incline, but it’s never hard going. Coming back, on the other hand, is a breeze – you barely have to pedal at all.

This article was originally published as an International Herald Tribune Globespotters blog at http://blogs.iht.com/tribtalk and is reproduced here with permission

ABOUT THE APPIAN WAY ■ The Appian Way was built as a military highway in 312BC by Appius Claudius. It later stretched 350 miles from Rome through to what is now Brindisi, on the Adriatic coast.

■ Appia Antica Regional Park’s official website is at www.parcoappiaantica.it. It has comprehensive sections in English covering visiting the park, bike routes and other visitor information.

■ For more information on Rome, see www.romaturismo or visit the Italian State Tourist Board at 1 Princes Street, London, W1 (020 7408 1254).

Photos: Elisabetta Povoledo/International Herald Tribune, APT Roma

Outward bound

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Dispatches

Making tracks in Auckland More people ride bikes than play rugby in New Zealand, but few people choose to cycle to work in the country’s largest city. Joe Fagan reports from Auckland

Working for change The Cycling Advocates Network or CAN (www.can.org.nz) works with the government and local authorities to improve the cycling environment. CAN has branches throughout New Zealand, including Cycle Action Auckland or CAA (www.caa.org.nz).

During Bike Week 2007, a record

100,000 people across the country ditched their cars for bikes and 35 centres throughout New Zealand participated in a ‘Go By Bike Day’.

As part of Bike Week, CAA hosted the Great Auckland Commuter Challenge. At 7.35am on February 18, a number of public figures using bikes, buses and cars left from four locations around Greater Auckland and competed against each other to determine which mode of transport was the fastest way into the city. Cyclists won, proving that cycling is not only cleaner and healthier, but also faster. The cars, driven by professional race drivers, came second, while bus commuters arrived last but stress-free.

Public awareness concerning the benefits of cycling is high, and CAA’s bright yellow ‘One Less Car’ backpack covers are proudly worn by commuters. Auckland has over 20km of dedicated cycle lanes and over 30km of shared cycleways.

The council is establishing a citywide network (at 1km per year) to encourage more cyclists.

A number of projects have been completed, including part of the 10km north-western cycle route, a mainly off-road route through parks and forests. Other projects are underway, the most exciting of which is a proposal for a joint cycle-walkway across Auckland’s Harbour Bridge (this was dropped to cut costs when the bridge was built in 1959).

Leisure cycling Auckland has many opportunities for cycling; the most popular being Tamaki Drive. This 9km stretch of cycle lane follows the waterfront past four beaches and numerous cafés, where on the weekends, serious and ‘café’ cyclists alike whizz along the waterfront. There is also a 50km circuit around the Auckland Isthmus, while the area’s volcanic cones provide challenging climbs (there aren’t many places you can ride to the summit of seven volcanoes in a day!)

Further out of the city, areas such as the Waitakere Ranges, Clevedon and Miranda are popular.

Auckland’s ferries are bike-friendly, allowing cyclists to take their wheels across to the suburb of Devonport or out to Waiheke Island.

For mountain bikers, there are a host of excellent tracks close to the city – the best is the custom-built bike park at Woodhill forest.

Auckland’s suburbs are cycle-friendly and using back streets, alleys and parks, one can avoid the main roads, but the CBD is a different story. Its narrow streets and motor traffic provide an unwanted adrenaline fix.

Consequently, some perceive that cycling in Auckland is dangerous.

Statistics show that compared to cars, it remains safe. Where cycleways have been built there has been an increase in cyclist numbers.

For me the benefits of cycling outweigh the risks and, having left the morning queues of traffic behind, I arrive at work feeling refreshed, alert and involved in the city. Maybe tomorrow I will have a go at chasing down that peloton.

Above: Auckland has more than 20km of dedicated cycle lanes and 30km of shared cycleways

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Joe Fagan teaches geography and environmental science at the University of Auckland. He commutes to university on an old Giant and spends his weekends riding trails in the forest.

Photos: Joe Fagan

The hum of spinning cranks and racing tyres provide the first clue that the chasing bunch has caught me. One by one, wheels and pumping legs fly past. I’m tempted to grab a free ride on the back of the group, but it’s already too late. The peloton has disappeared around a bend.

Minutes later it’s my turn to start passing people – people in cars, that is. This is the best part of my commute along Auckland’s waterfront – the satisfaction of gliding past stationary vehicles caught up in the morning rush.

Cycling in New Zealand is big business. One million bikes have been imported into the country since 2001 – one bike for every four people. Over 22% of New Zealanders cycle regularly and there are now more than 750,000 cyclists in the country. Cycling is now one of the top five recreational activities, with more people cycling in New Zealand than playing rugby, our national sport.

In Auckland, the largest metropolitan area, over 15,000 people cycle, walk or run to work, and almost half of all children walk or ride to school. The number of people walking or running to work increased from 8,000 in 1996 to over 13,000 in 2006, but over the same period, the number of people cycling to work remained at around 2,600. This represents just over 1% of commuters in Auckland and is half the national average. While this partially reflects the infrastructure and perceived risk associated with cycling, the reality is that most people prefer to drive; 58% of commuters take their own car while another 4% are passengers. As a result, one of Auckland’s major problems is traffic congestion.

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Interview

My bike & I Lynne Berry The WRVS chief executive chats to LC about learning to ride, the joys of crossing the Thames on two wheels and how to encourage older people to cycle What’s the best thing about being a cyclist?

Knowing how long a journey is going to take – and the surprise on people’s faces when I turn up for meetings carrying my cycle kit.

Do you remember your very first time on a bike?

I was taught by my parents and my older brother, but I really got the hang of cycling when a friend just let me practise and practise on her bike until I suddenly got it.

I was about seven.

How long have you been riding in London?

I started when I first came to London about 30 years ago – it’s always been my main form of transport.

Tell us about your favourite route.

Any route that involves crossing the river – I just love seeing the Thames at all times of the day and night.

Where else do you enjoy riding in London?

Through the City, cycling seems to feel right – the right speed and the right scale.

What’s your idea of a perfect day on two wheels?

Getting to all my meetings on time, and finding a convenient post to lock the bike to outside every building.

Tell us about your bike.

I’ve just bought a Brompton because I’m spending a lot of time travelling around the country on trains. It’s an amazing bit of engineering and means that I can keep cycling wherever I am.

Do you think you are a good cyclist?

I’m not bad – I’m assertive but not stupid – and I don’t cut up pedestrians.

What’s your pet hate when it comes to cycling?

Car drivers who don’t indicate before turning or changing lanes, and who read when they’re driving.

Photo: Mike Wells

WRVS provides a wide array of services for elderly people, but it’s probably best-known for pioneering Meals On Wheels. Can you see a time when meals might be delivered on two wheels rather than four?

We have delivered them on electric scooters and did deliver them on bikes at one time. We’re keen to help older people get good nutrition – however we get it to them.

Cycling is a great way of increasing the mobility of older people. How do we ensure elderly people are supported if they choose to cycle for longer?

My mother cycled until she was nearly 80. It was really important to her sense of independence and wellbeing.

The main thing is to support people’s decision to keep cycling and not to deter them by asking whether it’s time to give up. Encouragement and support not molly coddling (is the key).

Is there anything cycling campaigners can do to support elderly people and their desire to cycle?

“My mother cycled until she was nearly 80.

It was really important to her sense of independence and wellbeing” Ensure roads are well lit, and that there are good facilities for bikes to be locked by shops, libraries and leisure facilities – the same as for the rest of us!

Do you prefer segregated cycleways or the road?

The road – I’d rather claim my space than get cross about cycle lanes being blocked, badly sited and sprinkled with glass.

Is there any Lycra in your wardrobe?

I prefer cycling in street clothes, but with a good, breathable reflective jacket on top.

If you could do one thing on two wheels, what would it be?

Join the WRVS fundraising cycle ride to Paris this spring – your readers should come with me!

ABOUT LYNNE BERRY Lynne Berry OBE joined WRVS as chief executive in October after six years at the General Social Care Council, where she was founding chief executive. She has received several national honours for her contribution to social care. WRVS is one of the UK’s largest volunteer-based charity organisations, providing practical services so that older people can get more out of life. For more on WRVS, including information on the spring fundraising ride to Paris, see www.wrvs.org.uk or call 01235 442 900.

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