London Cyclist Winter 2022

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ASHOK SINHA, OPINION, PAGE 9

REID,

If there was ever a time to think imaginatively and long term it’s now

There are bound to be battles ahead to protect an agency that is a force for good

EDITORIAL

Don’t believe the hype

GREENWASHING’ IS A curious new addition to our lexicon. Most commonly it refers to a corporate entity or a government that’s trying to make people believe that it’s doing more to protect the environment than it really is; a form of marketing misdirection. But don’t you feel the word is just too ‘nice’, too vague, and lacking the seriousness an existential global crisis demands? Can’t we call it by its name — denial or, quite simply, lying?

Whether we look at fossil fuel lobbyists trying desperately to rebrand oil and gas as ‘transitional’ imperatives at COP27, or the quick-fire parade of dithering domestic politicians changing their climate stance on a weekly basis, this deliberate obfuscation is rife. We see similar tools deployed at a local level too, as one columnist explains in this edition — and when coupled with wobbly leadership and tight pursestrings, it can make our campaigning that much harder.

With this in mind, LCC’s campaigns team — with feedback from the recent Cycling Summit — has created a four-step ‘pathway’ (see page 30) which can be used to help boroughs on their journey to becoming active travel converts. We also look at how some of London’s worst junctions can be redesigned to enable safer cycling and walking.

Finally, LCC now has a new home near Hatton Garden — do say hello if passing. Happy cycling!

John Kitchiner Editor

LCC MEMBERS’ LEGAL HELPLINE

Osbornes Law is the official legal partner of LCC, providing members with exclusive access to a legal helpline. If you’re involved in a collision or have a cycling-related legal issue, phone the Cycling Team at Osbornes for advice on 020 7681 8672.

Cover image: Alessandra Bucci Location: Urban Hill Climb, October 2022

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EDITORIAL

Editor: John Kitchiner (london.cyclist@lcc.org.uk) Design: Anita Razak

Contributors: Simon Munk, Tom Bogdanowicz, Melanie Etherton, Toby Zeidler, Rob Eves, Katy Rodda, Ashok Sinha, Carlton Reid

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AGM AND SUMMIT BACK WITH A BANG

ON 15 October, LCC held its Annual General Meeting and Community Skills Summit near the South Bank, with both events in-person for the first time since the start of the Covid pandemic.

Following the election of trustees — where 10 candidates were competing for just seven positions — and CEO Ashok Sinha’s presentation on our Climate Safe Streets and Dangerous Junctions campaigns, as well as events such as Urban Hill Climb, it was time for the summit.

Deputy Mayor Seb Dance and Feryal Clark MP, vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Walking & Cycling opened the event, speaking on the importance community campaigning plays in enabling active travel across London and beyond. Dance also spoke on the funding deal with central government and the opportunities and constraints it brings, while Clark spoke about her journey from BMW driver to cycling champion, aided by our borough group in Hackney.

The rest of the day was themed around our

new ‘pathways’ approach (see page 30). This aims to help both activists in our local groups and a broader range of people across communities who cycle, or want to cycle, to develop additional skills — specifically how to engage with those councils, or officers, dragging their heels on cycling, active travel and climate action.

Workshops were created to deliver skills tune-ups for those working to change their boroughs, including ‘campaigning for beginners’, ‘building trust with councils’, ‘dealing with opposition’, and ‘reaching (all) cycling communities’.

Feedback from attendees has been very positive so far. LCC is now working on an online resource base for campaigners, with lots of skills advice, plus we have an ongoing programme of skills sessions, the Local Groups Forum and other events to help. So if you want to get involved more, you don’t need to wait a year!

For more information and your local group’s details, head to lcc.org.uk/lcc-local-groups.

Our new campaigning ‘pathways’: discussed at October’s Skills Summit

After a three year gap, October’s AGM was in-person again — and a perfect place to present the new ‘pathways’ approach

JOIN TEAM LCC FOR RIDELONDON NEXT MAY

THE RIDELONDON event is an annual festival of cycling, set up as part of the legacy of the London 2012 Olympics.

LCC has multiple places available for the 2023 RideLondon-Essex 100, giving you the chance to take on an epic challenge while also raising vital funds to make cycling safer for everyone in London.

For the second year, RideLondon will head east into Essex, winding through stunning scenery including Epping Forest, Great Dunmow and Chelmsford, before an epic finish back on Tower Bridge.

This is an entirely closed road event. A truly unique chance to whizz through central London and Essex without a single car or traffic light to contest with, alongside thousands of fellow riders.

All riders will need to commit to raising £500 for LCC. In return you’ll receive tailored support and guidance, as well as a custom Bioracer jersey in Team LCC colours. n lcc.org.uk/ride-london

TfL FUNDING MEANS CYCLING SCHEMES CAN MOVE QUICKER

GOVERNMENT AGREEING funding with TfL means £80m will now be available yearly for TfL walking and cycling schemes, with £69m yearly for borough Local Implementation Plan (LIP) schemes that largely involve active travel. As a result, TfL and boroughs have been announcing a slew of schemes they’re improving, making permanent or kickstarting into action.

TfL extensions to schemes include completing Cycleway C9 in west London, as well as ‘sections’ of: C23 Lea Bridge to Dalston (already consulted); C34 North Acton to Shepherd’s Bush (a section of the Wood Lane to Notting Hill scheme Kensington & Chelsea council derailed); C37 Hackney to Westferry; and C50 from Finsbury Park to Camden. The latter appears to be held up by TfL’s bus department, despite a fatal bus-cycle collision recently just past where the scheme is set to finish. Also in design are C9 Brentford to Hounslow, C4 Greenwich to Charlton, and Wembley to Wood Lane.

These schemes and more are welcome, but what is notable is how piecemeal and cautious progress appears to be now. It has not been announced yet which sections are set for construction, but TfL and City Hall should just be clear — dangerous junctions where people are being killed will not be ignored; lives matter more than small delays to buses.

Some borough schemes using LIP funding have also been announced: ‘the missing section’ of C4 on Lower Road; C2 Stratford to Forest Gate; C6 Kentish Town to Hampstead; and protected cycle lanes on Loughborough Road. In addition several boroughs have already announced Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs), cycle parking and other projects enabled by LIP funding.

Overall, then, good news as funding is back for active travel, but bad news as schemes moving forward risk being overly cautious.

From grey to green

Can active travel increase biodiversity and resilience to climate change? It’s not so far fetched, says Ashok Sinha

JOINED UP. Coherent. Integrated. Whatever your adjective of choice, it’s what we all want from policymaking. Easier said than done, of course, and I have more than a little sympathy for policymakers fielding calls for more synergy, or co-benefits or [insert preferred jargon here]. They try to construct it, we say there isn’t enough of it, and the exchange all too often seems perfunctory. And, yes, me too: I plead guilty as charged for routinely reciting the litany of cycling’s wider environmental, health and economic benefits — albeit justifiably, as it’s all true.

But how do we genuinely fulfil these connections? I don’t have the full answer. But here’s a thought.

Low traffic neighbourhoods reduce motor vehicle usage. Access to shared e-cars and e-(cargo)bikes reduce the need to own a car. All of this hugely increases the roadspace available for other things, including parklets, green space or shrubs. That means even cleaner air, more shade and cooling for the heatwaves ahead, better drainage (less flooding), enhanced biodiversity (insects, birds, wildflowers), better space for recreation and improved wellbeing. Let’s be controversial

and extend the argument: all of this could accrue in spades from the big, difficult, but necessary application of a smart, fair road user charging system across London. Seen through this lens, LTNs and road charging reach beyond their initial purposes to become a thread that can hold together a patchwork of benefits that together help build London’s resilience to external threats and shocks. Who would have connected pay-perdrive with enhanced biodiversity or coping with pandemics? It can happen, but only if we act to capitalise on those connections.

Look at the numbers

If it all sounds far fetched, let’s look at some numbers. There are some 2.5 million private cars in London, which spend 95% of their time doing nothing, occupying the equivalent space of 10 Hyde Parks in on-street parking. London’s parking spaces add up to a whopping 5,000km of kerbside. Now, each shared EV

takes 20 private cars off the road; so promoting a switch to active travel and public transport, and replacing all the private cars with car club vehicles, would release 9.5 Hyde Parks’ worth of space. Think how much we could enhance our city’s natural environment with that?

Yes, London is already a relatively verdant city — 47% of its surface is green space — but how much of that is outside people’s front doors? And what about the millions of Londoners without gardens?

Maybe this is still a bit far fetched, but it’s certainly not utopian. I know there are potential problems (eg the cost and impact of digging up tarmac and avoiding utility infrastructure), but if there was ever a time to think imaginatively and long term it’s now.

I’ve written before that a pact must be struck between London’s political leaders and the public, to ensure that the journey to a net zero London in 2030 is accountable and equitable, a socalled ‘just transition’ (a subject that the London Sustainable Development Commission, which I chair, is currently focussing on). We can and must achieve this. And it just goes to show that, as soon as we start thinking about cycling, a whole new horizon of opportunities opens up.

Ashok Sinha Chief Executive of London Cycling Campaign

“If there was ever a time to think imaginatively and long term it’s now”

Grab the narrative

Advocating for cycling can be hard in some places says Sylvia Gauthereau, but quitting isn’t an

option

DID YOU ALL hear it?

The loud sigh of relief coming from northwest London, when in mid-October, Transport for London (TfL) listed its proposed cycle projects for the next few years. I refer specifically to the long overdue cycleway from Wembley in Brent to Wood Lane in Hammersmith & Fulham, one the 25 strategic routes identified by TfL in 2017 in its Strategic Cycling Analysis.

Every cheer for a new Camden, Hackney or Waltham Forest project is inevitably echoed by the sound of a heavy heart in a Brent, a Barnet or a Hillingdon. Don’t get me wrong, we’re happy with the progress elsewhere and the first to share with councillors and officers, hoping to inspire them, to bring them to that tipping point, from ‘committing’ to actually ‘doing’.

Campaigning for safe streets in a borough where hardly anything is happening is hard though. Where every suggestion to the council is met with blank looks. It is tiresome to try to decipher what this means. Is it ‘Oh! Interesting, please tell us more’ or feigned indifference? It’s a lonely quest with lots of feeling down times. On the other end, it is also a permanent state of hope and steady anticipation. It holds you like a warm hug.

Being a local LCC group in a borough where the political will is weak or non-existent is tough. The lack of funding is repeatedly used as an excuse to do nothing, likewise the bogus idea that local issues are somehow ‘unique’ and different to other parts of London where cycling is better served.

Two-tier city

The reality is that we have a twotier London with some boroughs moving fast in implementing cycle schemes that will keep people safe and enable a generation of newcomers to everyday cycling. And the other London where you can’t even cycle with your children to the local museum or playground.

Most of us do cycle across boroughs and we can appreciate the difference. Some of us will avoid cycling at all costs in our own neighbourhood, preferring a multi-mode approach, using public transport to then start cycling from Camden, Hackney or Islington.

Alternatively (as LCC often

says), this incentivises boroughs to get some cash: do something, you get funding. No cash for crap. Do nothing and driving remains high, road danger and pollution remain high and car dependency is locked in. And then you are left with the fearless — the problem is when you stop being scared you forget what scares other people.

There are thousands of Londoners sharing the same predicament, you are not alone! That’s nice to know but what’s next? Honestly, sometimes I think I know, other times I feel clueless. But all we can do is carry on advocating for change.

If, like us, you don’t have good examples locally, point to ‘easy’ cycle wins in nearby boroughs and put these under the noses of council leaders. A good place to start is School Streets or demanding safe cycle routes to schools; if a route’s safe for a child, it will be safe for everyone. Coalitions can help here, bringing the voices of parents and children to the fore. But grab the narrative and don’t let go. Try everything, and when something doesn’t work, try something else.

Remember to lean on your fellow campaigners when needed. Regroup, resource and have another go when ready. Our campaigning to see this through is our force.

Sylvia Gauthereau is an LCC Trustee & Brent Cycling Campaign coordinator

“It is a permanent state of hope and anticipation. It holds you like a warm hug”

Uncertain times

RISHI SUNAK took office warning of a “profound economic crisis” facing the country, signalling that austerity was back. Swingeing cuts to government departments probably won’t see spending on sacrosanct roads affected (give or take the cancellation of the odd high-profile scheme, such as the crazy idea to bury the A303 in a tunnel). But Active Travel England (ATE) is at real risk of being jettisoned completely, starved of long-term funding or hobbled.

The relatively new arms-length body, chaired by Chris Boardman, made the genius move of appointing England’s Chief Medical Officer, Sir Chris Whitty, to its advisory panel. Still, that appointment will likely not be enough to insulate it from Austerity 2.0.

PM Sunak isn’t ideologically committed to active travel like PM Johnson was. Sunak has no Andrew Gilligan at his side, championing cycling and walking across multiple ministries. Instead, Sunak will make stark political decisions to save money (and save face with the tabloid press) and those choices are unlikely to protect ATE from the cuts. Commuter cyclist — and Chancellor of the Exchequer — Jeremy Hunt said: “All departments will need to redouble their efforts

to find savings, and some areas of spending will need to be cut.”

Suggestions that government departments will have to find savings of 10-15%of their capital budgets, and 2% savings in revenue budgets, are probably underestimates, with some whole programmes likely to be chopped in a repeat of the wielding of the small-state scythe 12 years ago.

In 2010 the Tory-LibDem coalition government curbed public spending through the abolition of many quasi-autonomous nongovernmental organisations in the ‘bonfire of the quangos’. One of those abolished was Cycling England, a similar body to ATE.

Surviving the cuts

The later recreation of the body proves that this was a bone-headed move, but short-sightedness is a familiar political failing.

Active Travel England was primarily Gilligan’s doing, modelled on his earlier work when he was Mayor Johnson’s transport advisor.

The new organisation — led by former London-focussed cycle campaigner Danny Williams, author of the Cyclists in the City blog — has a budget of £2bn.

“I really do hope [active travel] survives the arrival of a new government,” Gilligan told a fringe meeting at the Tory party conference in October, “but I’m hearing slightly worrying things that it might not.” And that was before the arrival of a different Tory government, which now has to clean up the financial mess of the previous short-lived one.

Can ATE survive a budget bloodbath? Yes, but high-profile individuals such as Boardman won’t take any cuts lying down, and there are bound to be heated battles ahead to protect an agency that is a force for good, promoting jobs, health and wealth in a climate emergency which demands lower car use.

Critically, ATE isn’t just a commissioning body doling out funding to local authorities; it’s an inspectorate. It approves schemes and it also inspects them, guaranteeing quality. As currently formulated, it also inspects highway authorities and can approve or kill major planning applications. If, say, its inspectorate role goes, much of its power and influence goes with it.

Carlton Reid is a book author and leading transport journalist

If the government starts a new ‘bonfire of the quangos’, asks Carlton Reid, can Active Travel England survive?

“There are bound to be battles ahead to protect an agency that is a force for good”

DANGER POINTS

LCC LAUNCHED a ‘Dangerous Junctions’ campaign in August 2021 at the notorious Holborn one-way gyratory after paediatrician Dr Marta Krawiec was killed there. A tangle of notoriously lethal roads where LCC had protested already in 2013 and 2018. Horrifyingly, just over six months later, we were back at Holborn after young lawyer Shatha Ali was also killed there.

Despite having campaigned for many years around the dangers to cycling presented by the worstdesigned and busiest junctions, we recognised a need for a more coordinated and concerted approach on the issue. The pattern was that once the protest was over, politicians and stakeholders would publicly express remorse to the friends and family of the victims, promise change and then, behind closed doors, delay and weaken suggested schemes.

It is absolutely true and clear that junctions represent some of the knottiest places to fix for engineers, modellers and politicians. On one hand, these places will not only keep killing until fixed, they’re also inevitably points of severance to walking and cycling routes — often meaning miles of viable, safe and continuous tracks are ruined. On the other, these points are the costliest to fix — once you start digging up utilities boxes, guttering and

Happily, the health benefits of cycling in London far outweigh risks posed by even our worst junctions. But those junctions are still far too dangerous. Simon Munk reports

redoing traffic lights, you’re talking millions. And indeed any changes to lights likely means congestion and buses stuck in it. The end result is concerns over delays to traffic or delivery arrangements end up trumping lives lost and family and friendship circles ruined.

If the Mayor of London’s commitment to a Vision Zero — no serious injuries or fatalities on London’s roads by 2041 — are to mean anything though, it’s beyond time we worked out ways to ensure

every dangerous junction sees improvements, without years of deliberation and inch-by-inch progress. To play our part in changing this process, LCC has triggered two strands of work.

Each collision counts Perhaps most simply, and most importantly, we’ve committed to not leaving junctions as they are when they maim or kill; not running out of energy on these lethal locations and just giving

up. Instead, we’ve implemented processes to help ensure we keep up the pressure for improvements. Whenever a collision is serious and high profile enough to reach us, we’re tracking that location. And we’re making sure our staff and local groups keep following up, keep assessing, reacting and continue campaigning.

From infamous junctions such as Holborn, King’s Cross and the Wood Lane underpass, to lesserknown locations such as Marsh

No more: we want to see an end to white ‘ghost bikes’ and tribute bouquets at busy junctions

Way in Havering, Station Road in Harrow and Broad Lane in Haringey, all of which have seen fatalities in the last year or so, we are ensuring staff and local groups monitor regularly, escalating and demanding action — even where none is initially forthcoming, even where councils don’t seem to care.

An average of six people cycling, and around ten times that number walking or wheeling, are killed each year on London’s roads. And hundreds more are seriously injured with life-changing consequences — the vast majority of them at junctions. It’s so many pedestrians that we often don’t even find out their names. We cannot protest at every site, every fatality, but protest is one of the tools we are using to win change as a response to serious and fatal collisions.

At Holborn our protests have meant that following Dr Krawiec’s death, we won temporary changes within two months and further changes in the year following; after Shatha Ali’s death at the next Holborn junction along, we now have Camden council proposals at consultation stage for changes that could well have saved her life. It’s too late for Shatha, but our new approach means it hopefully won’t be too late for others.

As well as responding to and tracking junctions where we currently see collisions, we’re also working to improve how we identify and highlight the most dangerous junctions historically. Right now we’re working on mapping tools that identify the most dangerous cluster locations of collisions for pedestrians and

cyclists, together and separately, allowing us to shine a light on the places in each borough that require the highest priority action.

Looking forward…

As well as refusing to let any major collision just lie, we’re not sitting back and waiting for another fatality. So we’re also working proactively to remove the barriers to action and strengthen political will.

One of the key parts of this work has been us recognising that such barriers are multiple and systemic. This isn’t just about the cost of shifting traffic lights or the delays from modelling; there are many reasons why junctions known for decades to be dangerous, lethal even, see little to no action. But historic failure to act doesn’t mean in the future we should continue to fail. In March this year, LCC convened a summit of experts — planners, engineers, designers with experience of delivering junctions — to work out what needs to change.

The result of that summit was our Dangerous Junctions report, available on the LCC website

(lcc.org.uk). Here are the key recommendations from it: n PUT SAFETY FIRST: Politicians must be far clearer on their support for rapid safety gains and genuinely prioritise safety, active travel and public transport over private motor vehicles.

n ENSURE WE DESIGN RIGHT: Junction designs should match the funding requirements of the DfT’s LTN 1/20 — a Cycling Level of Service (CLoS) score of over 70, with no ‘critical fail’ items on the score and a Junction Assessment Tool (JAT) assessment that no turning movement is ‘red’, and be subject to a similar quality bar for walking.

n USE TEMPORARY WORKS AND TRIALS: Rather than waiting years for modelling and to move stats boxes, TfL and other highways authorities must embrace innovative approaches to provide temporary lights and other measures for trial schemes. Temporary materials can mean schemes delivered in weeks that would previously have taken years

n CONSULT USING EVIDENCE FIRST, NOT HEARSAY: Highways authorities must urgently reveal

discussions on, and representations from, institutional stakeholders across the board, and ensure such representations are considered alongside data and evidence.

n DATA SHOULD BE PUBLIC: Data underpinning complex decisions should be publicly available, including options and alternatives considered, economic impact cases, Equalities Impact Assessment, and modelled traffic impacts.

n PLAN FOR ALL JUNCTIONS, NOT ONE AT A TIME: Highways authorities must plan for long-term change to the network, considering local changes, such as at a junction, in that context. Currently, even if changes to one junction would lead long-term to mode shift away from cars (and hence less congestion) and major changes to safety, if those changes will have an impact on buses for a year or so, that’s enough to veto the scheme.

n COMPUTER MODELLING IS TO IMPROVE, NOT VETO: Computer modelling of junctions should only be done where really needed, and never as a default veto to schemes. Modelling should be used to mitigate impacts of schemes

and take into account a future modelled state of motor traffic based on longer-term policy goals for decarbonisation and road danger reduction.

n USE ‘BUS GATES’ TO SPEED UP SCHEMES: The rollout of bus gates has provided a way forward to enable people cycling and people on public transport to both get benefits, including safety (see Bishopsgate, Bank junction and Stoke Newington Church Street). Asking those cycling to share space on busy bus routes will not, of and by itself, broaden cycling’s appeal, but it could deliver rapid benefits for many who currently cycle.

n

AN INDEPENDENT DESIGN REVIEW

PANEL: Active Travel England, TfL or another body should convene a regional, or ideally national, junction design review panel aimed at independently assessing junction designs put forward by highways authorities.

n FUNDING IS VITAL: The current government’s approach to funding transport in London is still markedly out of step with other global cities like Paris, New York and Berlin. And this is clearly

JUNCTION FOCUS: HOLBORN

We protested at Holborn in 2013 following the deaths of Francis Golding and Alan Neve, and in 2018, 2021 and 2022 following the deaths of Dr Peter Fisher, Dr Marta Krawiec and Shatha Ali respectively. In total eight people have been killed cycling in the tangle of Holborn’s one-way gyratory since 2008.

In 2016, the Mayor of London gave Camden ‘Liveable Neighbourhood’ funding for Holborn, to remove the gyratory and provide improved walking and cycling links through it. But that scheme, like most other Liveable Neighbourhood schemes, had not moved forward significantly by 2020 when the pandemic hit and TfL’s finances collapsed.

Following the launch of our Dangerous Junctions campaign and a left-turning lorry driver killing Dr Marta Krawiec, who was riding ahead at the Southampton Row/Theobalds Road intersection in 2021, we won progress at that junction within six weeks. It has taken seven months to get action on the Proctor Street/High Holborn junction where lawyer Shatha Ali was killed in 2022, but our persistence and campaigning has again won progress.

Now we will keep the pressure on Camden council and the Mayor to deliver more change. The council has publicly stated its aim is still the removal of the gyratory and major upgrades to all junctions. But for now, most roads here retain significant risks to those cycling, walking and wheeling — and we will not rest until all safety issues are resolved.

Holborn protest, 2022: at the same gyratory that’s seen eight cyclist deaths since 2008

having a major negative impact on the ability for TfL and boroughs to deliver major projects such as junction redesigns.

n STOP PLANNING FOR MORE

CARS: The DfT’s ‘Economic case for highways schemes’ and TfL’s ‘Case for action on Healthy Streets’ are both out of date and only partially used. We urgently need reform of economic case-making and pathway planning to place roadbuilding and road capacity in the context of climate, road danger and health policy goals, rather than build cases on assumptions motor traffic will grow.

n DEMAND MANAGEMENT TO CUT

CARS: Private motor traffic demand must be decisively and rapidly brought down, using smart and fair road-user charging to free up roadspace — eg for protected cycle tracks and bus lanes — and therefore make safety gains.

n INNOVATION NEEDED: Regulatory changes from the government and DfT could rapidly deliver safety gains, speedier rollout of upgrades and indeed reduce the cost of schemes. Such changes could even ensure easier rollout of lots more cycle projects by making more of them neutral or even

positive for congestion levels. Most notably urgent are: zebra crossing markings at side roads, enabling rapid rollout of clear priority for those walking and cycling at side road junctions; ‘yield at turn’ legalisation to simplify junction designs (by allowing drivers to turn left across a green person signal cautiously, allowed in much of the world and means lights’ phasings are simpler, and people walking and cycling get much more green time; and, beyond those, ‘all green’ or ‘scramble’ junctions (which give a green signal to those walking and cycling simultaneously on all arms, enabling those walking and cycling to go in any direction any way they want, and used widely in the Netherlands).

We’re pushing our report recommendations to TfL, borough officers and politicians across the UK at the moment and we’ll keep promoting changes to ensure junction changes move forward faster. Let’s hasten the day when we don’t see any more white ‘ghost bikes’ on our streets.

n You can support LCC’s ongoing Dangerous Junctions work at lcc.org.uk/donate.

JUNCTION FOCUS: KING’S CROSS

Another large gyratory system of oneway roads and dangerous junctions rings King’s Cross station. Much of the area has been (and continues to be) redeveloped, with tech giants Google, Facebook and others moving into large blocks here. But away from the new public squares and cool eateries, staff arriving at these companies by bike still face significant risks from junctions on every side.

With HS2 works delaying progress on Euston Road, and TfL having removed a temporary scheme, we’re working with Camden council to push a case that all of the junctions around King’s Cross need significant change to reduce road danger. Otherwise, the new developments north of the station will remain severed from areas south and east of it, and people will continue to be killed and injured too.

We’re developing visions for what a better King’s Cross could be like and looking to work with major stakeholders, including the tech giants, as well as Camden council, to promote solutions for people — residents and employees alike. TfL is working on plans right now for several key junctions in the area, but we’re very concerned they’ll be nowhere near good enough. So we’re looking to build a coalition of business, resident and other voices to ensure the need for safe streets across the entire area is clearly heard.

n If you live, work or employ people in the King’s Cross area and want a better, safer area, please support our Kings Cross campaign at lcc.org.uk/ kings-cross.

How King’s Cross could look: with the York Way junction, viewed from Pentonville Road

Urban Hill Climb

THE CARGO DAD

Age: 42 Borough: Kingston

How was your Urban Hill Climb?

The thing with cargobikes in the UK is that you can’t take them on the train. I had to ride about 20 miles from Surbiton, fully loaded with two kids, into a massive headwind, just to get here. We did some sightseeing on the way — Richmond Park, Hyde Park, Regent’s Park, Big Ben — so the kids loved it.

I knew getting up the hill could be possible. When the kids were really young I did hill interval training with them on board out of desperation. They’d be snuggled up with a blanket,

gently rocking from side to side; you pedal for about 15 minutes and both of them are asleep.

Normally I’m quite competitive. But with this, I wasn’t racing to win. I wasn’t even racing. I just had to get up that hill.

I was stood up on the pedals, I had no gears left, and I just kept going. I was quite taken aback by the number of people who congratulated me after.

I’ve never been so empty at the end of a race. I spent five minutes slumped on the pavement at the finish line, and then my son just went: “Daddy, can we go and get ice cream now?”

Top tips for getting up hills Proper gearing. I’ve got really big mountain bike gears and I still ran out!

Where’s your fave place to cycle?

My wife has a Brompton and I bungee Henry’s little pedal bike to the cargobike, and we’ll all go out together to Bushy Park. It’s beautiful there.

What one thing would make your cycling life better?

The number one thing that spoils my cycling life — and it is a cycling life, as we cycle every day — is inconsiderate and dangerous driving. Some people don’t even seem to care there’s kids on board. I’ve tried everything: I’ve got a PassPixi speed camera sign on the back, I used to have a GoPro, I avoid busy roads, but all it takes is one person to cause an accident. The only way it’s going to change is legislation.

London’s premier hill climb event is back – and more fun than ever. Melanie Etherton spoke to riders and fans at the latest edition, organised by LCC and sponsored by Osbornes Law

Name: Neil Grunshaw

Name: Daniel

Age: 13

Borough: Waltham Forest

How was your Urban Hill Climb?

I’ve done others before but not Swain’s Lane. Going up and feeling my legs pumping and everybody cheering you was pretty great.

Top tips for getting up hills Swain’s is really steep, so you need to

save yourself for certain areas.

Where’s your fave place to cycle?

The Lee Valley VeloPark is my second home. I’ve been part of Cycling Club Hackney for 18 months, and I go to the Stratford velodrome or tracks most days of the week. Everybody’s really supportive, and you can get bikes from the club if you can’t afford one.

What one thing would make your

cycling life better?

Better drivers. I’ve nearly been knocked off trying to get to training sessions. A lot of people drive way too close to you, especially the massive Range Rovers. Also I feel like as a Black person, generally when I get to track sessions, mostly it’s just me there. I’m pretty fast, so I can bond with people through my speed and my love for cycling. But it’s down to the people of my age to role model for others.

Name: Eleanor

Age: 17

Borough: Newham

How was your Urban Hill Climb?

When the event was last held in 2019 I came to spectate and it was really entertaining to watch — everybody with their cowbells. But being a rider you go through the noise and it just sounds so amazing. It literally made you go faster. I also enjoyed that it’s short: you do the hill climb and then it’s over, and you can chill!

Top tips for getting up hills

I went a bit fast at the beginning, because you don’t want to look slow, then near the end of the hill I was so tired. But people were shouting ‘you’ve got the last bit, carry on, carry on’!

Where’s your fave place to cycle?

I like Ally Pally, because there’s one hill where you can look across and see the Olympic stadium. You’ve gone so far but you can still see where you live: it’s nice to know where you came from. In the last three years I’ve been cycling, I’ve

seen so many more new places.

What one thing would make your cycling life better?

It would be great to see more people like me. Generally cycling attracts people who can afford bikes and have more time. Obviously the people around you aren’t being purposefully closed up: kids don’t really have an idea of social issues so it’s not an individual thing that they’re doing, but you have to get over that barrier of differences. n cyclingclubhackney.co.uk

THE HILL QUEEN

Name: Leonie Harper

Age: 30

Borough: Lewisham

How was your Urban Hill Climb?

I’ve never raced before this year. I’ve been a regular club rider for the last couple of years, and they encouraged me — if you’re getting strong and you’re getting fit, why not give it a go?

So I borrowed a hill climb bike from a friend and today was my third race ever — and I won! I really enjoyed the community atmosphere. My friends

and the people on the course cheering motivated me: when you’ve got somebody shouting and running up the road next to you, you don’t want to stop.

One thing that I like about hill climbs is they feel really inclusive. Anybody can have a go, it doesn’t matter what age or what fitness you are, or what bike you ride: everybody’s welcome.

Top tips for getting up hills I was just trying to keep the pedals turning quickly. Spin to win!

Where’s your fave place to cycle?

Knatts Valley in Kent. For me that’s the best direction to go out of London as the hills are bigger. I ride a lot with my partner Freddie and our group of friends. It was a way for us to stay busy during lockdown, so I’ve spent the last couple of years trying to keep up with some very strong cyclists. I love going up the most horrible hills I can find.

What one thing would make your cycling life better?

Less traffic.

THE 100% VOLUNTEER

Name: Paul Wixon

Age: 49

Borough: Barnet

Have you done Urban Hill Climb before?

I’ve volunteered at Urban Hill Climb every year since it started. I haven’t missed a single one. I probably volunteer at five or six events a year, and this year I did the Commonwealth Games as well. I’ve acquired a collection of truly horrible uniforms.

I love the vibe of Urban Hill Climb so much. It’s over a small course, so as a volunteer you really know what’s going on. I’ve done all sorts of roles: the start, running up and down the hill, holding the racers before they start. This year I was at the finish, which is about four hours of continuous clapping. You have to clap every single person — I was getting quite emotional watching people get their best effort out.

Top tips for getting up hills

The hill stays the same. Only you change. When you’re younger you keep trying to beat your personal best, and when you’re older you’re just trying to hang onto it!

Where’s your fave place to cycle?

The National Trust caff on top of Dunstable Downs is a favourite — you can see forever.

What one thing would make your cycling life better?

More volunteers. One Olympics I did two weeks on a mountain biking course where I was literally stood on my own in a forest being eaten alive by mosquitoes. But without volunteers, these events can’t happen.

n Paul is from London Phoenix and their team is an essential part of Urban Hill Climb. You can get involved in volunteering today by contacting your local cycling club, or LCC.

Name:

Ages: 39, 30 & 49

Borough: Wandsworth, Tower Hamlets and Southwark

Have you done Urban Hill Climb before?

Shaz: Today Sam and me are here supporting Dennis, but normally we ride Swain’s Lane at the weekends on our Bromptons. It’s a pain, but it’s perfect.

Samantha: We’re Brompton fanatics!

I’ve done Swain’s Lane on nearly all my seven bikes: it’s brilliant. Today is Dennis’s first race ever on a Brompton. We wanted to be here for him and cheer him on. Everything is about enjoyment and fun and we want to bring that to our friend today.

How did you prepare?

Samantha: We know Dennis has been training up here for weeks on his day off.

Dennis: I cycle here from Battersea and do laps: ride up, walk down, ride up, walk down. The first lap is the fastest and the last one is a disaster. And I’ve done a few little tweaks on my Brompton to make it lighter for today’s event.

Top tips for getting up hills:

Shaz: Pace yourself. The first time I did it I came up to the cemetery and was like: “This is so easy”. And then you get past the cemetery and it all goes wrong…

Samantha: The key is to keep grinding and don’t look up. If you look up, all you gain is horror.

Where’s your fave place to cycle?

Samantha: At London Brompton Club we mostly do social rides to encourage people who’ve just started out, and sometimes longer trips like out to Kent, or Brighton, or the South Downs. But for me it’s less about the place and more about the wellbeing, the fitness, just being out on a bike.

What one thing would make your cycling life better?

Dennis: When everyone’s sharing the road, in cars or on bikes, chill, appreciate each other more, and be respectful.

Samantha: My cycling life is great now. I can’t imagine anything else. Actually, maybe just one more bike…

n Find LondonBromptonClub on Facebook for more info.

Dennis Pascual, Shaz Begum & Samantha Skye

THE PECKHAM JET

Name: Jet Hull

Age: 64

Borough: Southwark

How did you prepare for Urban Hill Climb?

In lockdown I was flicking through an old copy of London Cyclist magazine and read about a woman [Mourijn Bok] who was the only one in the older women’s category in 2019 and I thought that’s an opportunity…

This year I’ve retired from my job in adult social care and I don’t want to slow down. Being older I have to look after my heart a bit more and cycling up hills just makes me feel good. So when the email came around I thought I may as well.

Three days before the event, I read that I was the only one in the category again and thought I’d better check I can actually do this. I cycled from Peckham to north London on a Thursday lunchtime, got to the bottom of Swain’s Lane, and just carried on going!

Top tips for getting up hills Go for it. I don’t do competitions. I’ve never won a cycling event before in my life. The last prize I won was at school for collecting the most spoons from the bottom of swimming pool. I thought: I’m going to set the bar low and I’m just going to enjoy it. And I really did.

Where’s your fave place to cycle?

I was cycling over the North York Moors this summer, from Sheffield to Newcastle, to visit my grandson. It was a still day and I had pushed my bike up to the top of a hill, and at the top I could hear these curlews — birds with this amazing cry — and saw hares, and I thought: I’m in heaven.

What one thing would make your cycling life better?

I’d like to see more older women, more women of all sizes, more cyclists with disabilities, more Black cyclists. I’d encourage anybody to just have a go. Cycle up Swain’s Lane on your day off, have a swim in Hampstead ponds, visit Highgate Cemetery. It’s just a great adventure.

URBAN HILL CLIMB

Urban Hill Climb is held annually each autumn and is organised by LCC. This year it was sponsored by Osbornes Law.

To pre-register for next year’s event, head online to: lcc.org.uk/uhc.

FOUR STEPS TO

The journey from being a borough that doesn’t care about active travel to one that’s winning awards for climate action takes just four steps, says Simon Munk.

Additional reporting from LCC’s Cycling Summit by Melanie Etherton and Tom Bogdanowicz

WHY, IN THE teeth of a climate crisis that will reshape the entire world one way or another, is it still so hard to get a parking space removed from outside shops? Why is it so controversial to turn ratruns into spaces where kids can play? Why do politicians just accept

ACTIVE TRAVEL

that a majority of motor vehicle journeys in London could be done by other modes, but simply aren’t?

Over the last few years London has shifted dramatically on active travel. The delivery of cycling projects and so many other good things, while faltering, has been in the right direction and, at the start of the pandemic, at unprecedented speed. But the results are still far too patchy and for every jump

ahead there’s those still stepping backwards. So we’ve been thinking hard about how to get each and every borough moving faster on the same forward trajectory.

Building on the analysis of our local election Climate Safe Streets campaign, and work by Dr Megan Sharkey for the University of Westminster with three of our local groups, plus that of Chris Kenyon with Cycle Islington, we

have distilled down the journey boroughs tend to go on towards becoming a cycling borough into a ‘pathway’ of just four steps. Each one might well take time and a lot of effort — but is doable.

Of course, as ever, this approach isn’t perfect, nor designed to be; some groups may do step one and two simultaneously, others may leapfrog from one to three. But if we’ve got this right, if you

read this feature, and the advice from those attending the Cycling Summit, you should know roughly where your borough currently is and what we have to do next. And we’ll increasingly be tailoring our mentoring and information around these key steps...

Step 1: GET HELP

The first step to a successful local campaign is to ensure it’s not just you or a tiny band of lone voices in the wilderness. Of course, you

need a campaign (your Climate Safe Streets highest priority ask is the most obvious starting point) to rally people around. But you will likely need to focus first on new members, before you’re likely to fulfil that campaign successfully.

Where do you advertise your group meetings? What does your social media feed look and feel like? And why should people want to get involved? Make your campaign and meetings lively and welcoming. And reach out not just to cyclists, but to people who’ll agree with

your group aims, and build coalitions too.

Simon Saville from Southwark Cyclists said: “Working with local allies reminds us all active travel is important, and they bring their own skills and connections too.”

You’re missing a huge audience if you only speak to those who look like you. So talk to everyone and aim to enable anyone from any walk of life to attend meetings (as long as they’re keen on more cycling being a thing, rather than less). And make sure when someone walks in to a meeting, they’re greeted and gently try to make sure they walk out with someone to talk to or something to do that suits their interests and skills.

“When someone is just beginning their campaigning journey, help them reflect on their experiences and skill sets: what can they bring?”, explained Divya Sharma, Cycle Islington’s Climate Safe Streets Champion.

Step 2: ANY WIN AT ALL

So, you’ve the bones of a functional group — you’re warm, you’re welcoming, new people are joining and you’ve got a campaigning aim. Now you need to turn that into a win. You need to be able to point at something in the borough and say ‘we did this — and you can help us win the next thing’.

At this point the win won’t likely be miles of high quality cycle track or half the borough covered in Low

There is no path to trust and action if you treat politicians as an enemy

Chris Kenyon, Cycle Islington

Traffic Neighbourhoods. This isn’t the time for big visions and long delays on action from council or you. Start small and simple and ask for good (enough), now.

Try not to get too caught up in LTN 1/20 guidance and its high funding bar. What you’re looking for is a scheme that either gets lots more people cycling (and ideally a wider range), makes current people cycling far safer, is really good value for money, is a big leap for the council, or is just really cheap, okay-ish and doesn’t make putting in a better scheme later impossible.

Remember, you’re desperate for just about any win you can claim at this point; you’re also desperate for any forward momentum. So do not shoot down in flames low-level quick wins because they aren’t Dutch quality. Obviously, if a scheme won’t achieve any of the things above, you need to oppose it — but even that should be done to maximise your outcome, not just annoy a councillor enough to tune you out. ‘If only you could do X, Y or Z to improve this scheme we could support it’ is useful framing.

To get something happening, you’ll mostly need to target the council leader (the cabinet portfolio

holder for transport and officers are useful but far less important). The leader controls the purse strings, sets the agenda and largely says yes or no to schemes. Spend most campaigning time and effort on the leader. Try and get a meeting — even better, try and get them out for an hour-long, one-on-one bike ride of the best and worst of the borough.

Make sure you show some good the council has done: an old modal filter, parklet or a School Street. But, yes, also show them a road no one in their right mind would let a 12-year-old child ride on and why.

If the leader won’t come on a ride, go for a walk, or just keep trying stuff aligned to what appears to make them tick. What do they care about? Whether it’s social justice, fiscal responsibility, healthy kids or the climate, chances are cycling is a win for that. Again, as part of this process, pick your easiest-to-deliver Climate Safe Streets ask and push them on that.

A win on anything will make noise about your campaigning with the public, gee up your existing members to get more involved, and give politicians more confidence they can do this stuff and get good

results and praise. Which all makes the next step much easier for them.

Of course, any win — even if it’s a single modal filter, a parklet, or a School Street — comes with opposition and risks of wobbles or missteps of the politicians. That’s why going through the journey of a scheme or two will not only build confidence for politicians, it’ll also tend to build trust for them in your group, as you act as an expert on weak points in the scheme and champion for the schemes despite their weak points.

Step 3: CRITICAL FRIEND

This is one of the moments on the journey groups struggle with the most. You’ve got your first few wins under your belt, but they’re not miles of gleaming cycle tracks or giant LTNs. Now is the moment to get the council to step up — it is a climate crisis after all!

“Listen and understand. Try to be the adult in the room with councillors — those who oppose schemes can be abusive. Be people councillors can trust and be easy to deal with — establish that trust,” said Michael Robinson, Hounslow Cycling Campaign Coordinator.

You’ll need to be confidante, expert external voice, chief cajoler and cheerleader all in one role. If you really want to make change in your area, the moment a few half-decent schemes that will get pushback come along, even if they’re a bit ragged round the edges, that’s the moment you need to grab a pair of pom-poms and go crazy. Because councils even delivering so-so schemes tend to get noisy opposition.

Everyone will hate the council suddenly and politicians often buckle under this pressure. And the last thing they need at this moment is to be shot by both sides. In other words, you cannot get to great schemes without a few average ones.

Behind the scenes, yes, you may well need to say stuff like ‘this scheme is good, but…’ with a long list of caveats, but you must back it up by saying something like ‘we support this scheme overall because it will get lots more people cycling, but we urge you to consider X, Y, Z urgently’. In public, you’ll need to be even less nuanced and more effusive — because you can be sure those opposed to the scheme will be loud and numerous.

Of course, after the dust has settled, again, you can point out your expertise, fix the gaps and get the council to learn from mistakes, so it does the next

three schemes better, bolder, quicker. And each time you deliver with the council you’ll win over more councillors, more officers and more of the public.

Step 4: Fill in the gaps

Once the campaign to win political will at a cabinet level is over and borough officers are skilled and experienced at delivery, there will still be gaps to fill. Yes, that means gaps in the cycle route network where route A and route B still have 400m of link to be joined up. But importantly also in the representativeness of your group.

“Reaching our communities is not that difficult. But people can be suspicious of the council and may find it hard to trust you. That’s why LCC should make the most of local partnerships and support groups like ours who work with communities in their own language,” added Belgizar of Londra Bisiklet Kulübü.

If all your meetings are in the south of the borough, and

car ownership is higher in the north, chances are there’s entire swathes of roads yet to be tamed. And a whole bunch of potential campaigners out there that never hear from you, who don’t even feel they’re represented by you.

“During a session for children with disabilities, one of the little girls didn’t seem to have any issues at all. It was only at the end when we got off the bikes that it became clear she had cerebral palsy and could hardly walk at all. This is why I want safe streets, why we do what we do,” said Mariam Sayed, director of JoyRiders Britain.

Similarly, while we want all borough groups to always be doing outreach (see Step 1, above), it’s fairly clear that the arrival of really good infrastructure rolling out at pace is the point at which it gets a lot easier to diversify the kind of people who cycle.

So where are those new routes going and exactly who do they help (and, conversely, who are they not helping)? Are there new groups springing up in the area or that are actively wanting help on cycling and active travel?

After that? Well, we’ve yet to work it out — and it’ll be interesting to see which borough gets to that point first. But, as a likely example, the Dutch still have cycle campaigners there too!

When giving critical feedback always start with some praise

Charlie

Fernandes, Brent Cycling Campaign

JO RIGBY

Have you always used your bike for transport? Or when did you start?

When I lived in Manchester, I worked night shifts at a hospital and cycling was the only way for me to get there. I was about 22, didn’t have a car and there were no buses in the early hours so I didn’t think about it much, it was just my only reliable option.

Then, when I got elected in 2018 I was talking to my dad about how I’d get to the town hall and he suggested I cycled and we ended up in a bike shop that day. I wasn’t into cycle campaigning at that point — it’s not why I went into politics. It took me a long time to get on the bike though; once you start in London you realise what the issues are quite quickly.

What made you decide to start campaigning for people-friendly streets?

I had an epiphany. I went for a walk around Earlsfield with the Living Streets team, not really knowing what ‘living streets’ were. Once they started showing me things, I couldn’t unsee them. They’d point out space that was meant to be a cycle lane but was now parked cars, or a curb that wasn’t dropped, or clutter on pavements, and this opened my eyes. I suddenly started seeing it everywhere. I think we’ve all subconsciously learned to just suck it up, but there are so many solutions.

Can you tell us a little bit about Wandsworth’s Future Streets plans?

There’s nothing in the walking cycling strategy that is new or especially

innovative; it’s a document that is about playing catchup with some of the other London boroughs who have been doing this for some time. Wandsworth has been historically resistant to cycling: we’ve got half of London’s ‘no cycling’ signs, you can’t cycle across most of our parks and we only had 60 bike hangars at the start of our term.

There are some people who need a car and there’s others who need a car for some journeys, but over 50% of residents owning a car is a consequence of the car-centric streets we have here and is far higher than other inner London boroughs that are providing active travel alternatives.

Where’s your favourite place to cycle?

I don’t really enjoy cycling in Wandsworth. I like the Wandle Way with its distinctive arches, that’s a nice quiet road, but I typically find the residential streets in Wandsworth fairly terrifying. We have very narrow streets and 25% of Wandsworth vehicles are SUVs and they’re parked most of the time. There’s a lot of rage between drivers trying to get through. I like cycling back from the Town Hall at night when it’s really late at around 11.30pm because the roads are empty. I’ll go through Wandsworth Common, which at that time of night is completely empty.

I love CS7 but I feel like many of the wands have been compromised to the point where there are a considerable number of kilometres of ineffective space which is going to put people off.

Campaigners like yourself are often faced with loud (but minority) opposition. Do you feel it has increased in recent years?

It spiked over the LTN rollout and during the lead up to the election. I think that has largely burnt out as a campaign, but has left everyone feeling quite nervous about what would be accepted and I worry about that and whether the council leadership will be too nervous to do some of the more radical things we’re

Toby Zeidler talks to the well-known Wandsworth councillor about campaigning in a borough that has half the city’s ‘no cycling’ signs

asking for. I think we need to feel a bit more confidence from residents. They voted us in on the promise of safer, quieter streets so we have that mandate. It’s how far residents want to go because of the high car ownership; 50% is pretty high in Zone 3.

There have been some horrendous encounters, but they were definitely the minority. It just shows you how quickly anger can be whipped up and how genuinely nasty it can become. It can pit neighbour against neighbour. I think what people are starting to see when they leave Wandsworth is the future and actually thinking we could live like that as well.

You’ve faced some disgraceful vitriol, so what’s your main approaches to dealing with these opponents and staying motivated?

I’ve moved away from thinking that you can change people’s minds and I’ve moved away from getting involved in any of the online debates and arguments. I really look toward community engagement and in-person discussion.

But I have gone through the whole cycle of being massively optimistic and thinking ‘oh I can see something is happening’ to absolutely crashing and feeling despair. I’d love to be able to take it at a steadier pace, but I do feel those big crashes and burns and I tend to just take myself off social media. I think I probably cycle a bit less when I’m feeling low too.

At one point, there was a petition signed by almost 4,000 people against the LTNs in Wandsworth. But the

Champion for safer streets: Jo at the launch of LCC’s Dangerous Junctions campaign, with Stephen Alambritis

comments were very interesting because people were saying they did want quieter streets, less traffic. So I think change would be welcomed, just done in a very different way.

I’d like us to have connected cycle infrastructure, working with residents to find popular routes that we could focus on. I’d like to move away from the idea that we work street by street and start to think more in terms of journeys; where do people most like to go, or need to go, and start planning around that.

If we started with schools, we could identify a popular route that a few hundred pupils take every day, and then look to create cycle infrastructure just to enable that journey. I am very much about starting with the kids — they can’t drive and they’ve got to get to school.

There’s some demographics that will never want to not drive short journeys and I don’t think we should focus on those people because the habits are so ingrained. It’s about the future generations who understand global warming, who want to find solutions and who are much less interested in owning a private car.

We (at LCC) believe all major transport investment needs to be viewed through the lens of the climate crisis, hence the Climate Safe Streets campaign — are more people connecting the dots between climate action and cycling?

I think Wandsworth residents are massively worried about global warming and it’s

I think what people are starting to see when they leave Wandsworth is the future

What are the main problems you’d like to see addressed most urgently in Wandsworth? And across London?

becoming more obvious that EVs are not going to save the planet, they’re going to save the car industry. I think there’s a growing acknowledgement that cycling is a good climate-friendly way to get around, but it’s not being met by appetite to do it because the roads don’t look safe because there’s so many cars.

This of course becomes a self-defeating cycle which we need to break. More and more colleagues are now considering how cycling is going to help residents who are really struggling with the twin crises of global warming and the cost of living.

You’ve done some fantastic work in promoting cycling, specifically for women and people from ethnic minority backgrounds — do you feel as though the stigma of cycling as a male dominated sport pursuit is breaking down? Has this changed where you live?

You don’t see that many women cycling in Wandsworth. I set up the south-west division of Joyriders and the directors have found it very difficult in Wandsworth because we couldn’t actually find any beginners routes which are on 100% protected cycle lanes. This meant that the only beginner route was cycling around Battersea Park, but there are also very few safe routes to actually get there.

I think the male dominance of cycling in Wandsworth amplifies the sense of annoyance that drivers have with cyclists because this stereotype of white men in Lycra is genuinely all they’ll see. You go to other boroughs and it’s completely different. It’s a much more female vibe in places like Stoke Newington, for example. We’re all the same people in the same city, but we’ve got a postcode lottery; it should be equal across London.

What advice would you give to someone cycling in London for the first time?

I would really recommend doing a cycle training session. I’ve gained huge confidence going out with one of the cycling instructors just for an hour. It’s free and you can do it whenever you want. Cycling with a friend also really helps.

There were never many councillors that cycled, there were only one or two, and now it’s more than half. The other night, we finished the transport committee and I cycled

Free public transport: one way Jo believes people can be enticed out of cars

home with one of the other councillors who lives near me. It was just so nice to have somebody next to or behind me.

Do you feel that London is on the right track to being a world class cycling city?

It’s quite slow progress but it’s also very complex. And I don’t think TfL can do much more. They’ve done a lot of the routes, but these now need linking up with local authority cooperation. I think the impact of global warming is going to be so shocking over the next few years that it will very quickly hit as a much bigger priority for government and I think that is when we’ll see more. It’s unfortunate that we have to go to a worse place to get there.

If you were Mayor for a day, what three things would be your ‘triple lock’ priorities?

Make public transport free for everybody for my whole term to see if that would help entice people out of their cars. Every single child would have cycle training. And I’d also install better cycle storage outside homes, businesses and in public spaces.

Cycling is going to help people with the twin crises of global warming and the cost of living

a cycling incident, I contacted Osbornes Law. I was delighted with the care they showed, including their assistance with ancillary services such as physiotherapy.

recommend this firm.”

“Osbornes Law dealt with my cycling injury claim quickly, effectively and professionally. The support, contact and communication was excellent throughout. I would highly recommend.”

YOUR BIKE 7 WAYS TO WINTERISE

THERE’S NO escaping the fact that winter creates its own challenges for cyclists: it’s dark (usually for both morning and evening commutes), and it’s generally wetter and colder. But a few key bike checks will make your journeys far safer, more comfortable and hassle-free, as the Osbornes Law team explains...

1 | Cleaning

We cannot stress it enough, but regularly cleaning your bike solves a variety of woes. It will make the gears run smoother, make the brakes more reliable and save you a pretty penny on worn components. Use an eco-friendly bike cleaner and aim to do this at least weekly or fortnightly all winter.

2 | Chain

Once scrubbed and dry, apply a small amount of ‘wet’ lube to each chain link, then rub any excess off. Too much lube and the chain will just collect more dirt.

3 | Lights

An absolute must for safe cycling, we recommend a decent set of lights that illuminates the road ahead and offers both rear and side visibility (cheap ‘get you home’ lights are really for emergencies only). Look for lights with multiple modes that you can adjust for busy streets and unlit paths, and ones with USB rechargeable batteries.

4 | Winter tyres

Totally ‘slick’ road tyres don’t offer great grip on wet surfaces, so consider fitting tyres with a more

knobbly tread, especially on the edges for improved cornering.

5 | Tyre pressure

While hard tyres are ideal in dry summer conditions, reducing your tyre pressure in the wetter months is the simplest way to achieve more traction. Experiment by reducing pressure in both tyres by 5-10psi at a time. Check this regularly.

6 | Mudguards

Keeping rain splash, mud and road debris from flicking up into your eyes and onto your clothes is a good idea. No-one likes a soggy bottom! It’s also a courtesy to fellow riders on well-populated cycle routes too.

7 | Brakes

As with chain and tyres, brakes need to be checked on a regular basis to ensure pads aren’t worn and, if using rim brakes, that the braking surface is clean. Disc brakes offer superior performance, but rotors still needs cleaning.

Osbornes Law is LCC’s official legal partner and its specialist cycling injury lawyers are on hand to offer cycling-related legal advice to all LCC members.

For more details go to osborneslaw.com or call 020 4502 8855.

LCC’s legal partner, Osbornes Law, shares a few tips on how you can stay safe cycling in winter

NEW HARROW HUB PRIORITISES ACCESS

HARROW IS a classic ‘metroland’ borough, with a highly mobile population which takes frequent trips, unfortunately the majority by car, and this has created an unsustainable legacy. Despite the small miracle of Covid that brought quiet, clean, safer roads and subsequent Streetspace schemes that aimed to make these a more permanent feature, of all of London, longer term change in Harrow looked unlikely from such a brief window of opportunity.

“The culture just wasn’t there for people to make the switch,” says Veronica Chamberlain, Hub Chair and an LCC Climate Safe Streets champion. “Many people couldn’t ride a bike, so they didn’t see the point of safe space.” By mid to late 2020, Streetspace had all but vanished in Harrow, leaving only a vision.

It would have been hard to know where to start again, but what Harrow lacks in future-proof travel, it has abundantly in cultural diversity. And in the summer of 2020, Veronica met up with Iffat Tejani who was setting up Evolve

(evolvecyclingnetwork.com), a group aiming to enable local Muslim women to cycle. Thanks to the partnership with Evolve, Harrow Giving awarded the Hub £4,000 to teach those women.

Many local people, especially women, had never cycled as children. Hub trustee and Evolve treasurer, Soraya Janmohamed from Hatch End, explains: “I learnt to cycle later in life due to cultural reasons, and I feel I missed out so much. Lockdown gave me the confidence to ride on the road. I love cycling now and I want to support the Hub in promoting

How a hub in north-west London is focussing on access to cycling for women and disabled people, say Veronica Chamberlain and Katy Rodda

cycling for all, both as transport and a way of keeping fit.”

The Hub was immediately designed as a constantly growing model: the initial £4,000 was spent training eight women up as coaches and Harrow Council gave the Hub the use of its own civic centre car park for training, and a container for storage. The Hub has also acquired some adapted cycles through Wheels for All, though is still looking for further permanent secure storage in a good location.

“We are discussing with Harrow Council the development of a permanent base in the middle of the borough with repair workshop, meeting and training rooms, bike recycling, cycle coaching, led rides and more,” adds Veronica. They’ve since trained another nine coaches, seven of them women, and taught more than 150 people.

What’s involved?

People typically begin with four sessions learning to ride and practising basic cycling skills. Next comes a three-session ‘confidence course’, followed by a range of led rides from five to 20 miles. From that point, the new riders are encouraged to become members of the charity, join the mailing list and try other activities, such as puncture repair courses. HCH’s and Evolve’s diversity and gender priorities tie in with a strand at British Cycling supporting women gaining confidence in

clubs and coaching, so they’ve had opportunities come their way, including advanced coach training.

A year and a half later, the Hub is working with people of a wide range of nationalities and disabilities. They try to have enough volunteers for each session to work in small groups with riders at different levels; fees from courses go back into training more coaches, DBS checks and first aid courses. There are more women volunteers than men, and the board of trustees is also more than 50% from BAME communities, which mirrors the borough’s ethnic balance.

“What we’re really seeing,” says Veronica, “is that younger generations want to change. Women want to cycle with their children. They’ve done it at Center Parcs and they want to do it where they live too.”

And going forward?

Apart from the immediate issue of storage, it’s clearly prompting interest and aspiration wherever it touches lives. While it’s hoped the council will begin to support its residents more in their own local environments, the Hub will continue to show that people from groups less often associated with using cycles are just as keen for the opportunity for cycling, and the benefits it brings, as anyone else.

David Poole, Head of Hujjat Primary School, which lent a playground for training, says:

Ketan Mistry, Cycle Fleet Officer, adds: “The HCH community is going to contribute to making something special in years to come. I can’t wait to see how this journey progresses.” n harrowcyclehub.org

Teaching assistant Saba Khan could not cycle three years ago. She’s now a Hub cycling coach and ride leader. Saba, who lives with chronic medical conditions, said: “During lockdown, my mental health was out of control. I watched my kids on their bikes and wanted to feel that freedom, so I learned to ride. I’m enjoying exploring new places, even seeing parts of Harrow I never knew.”

She cycles to places to which she formerly drove: hospital appointments (“It reduces my anxiety about finding a parking space”), work and shopping. Saba loves coaching too. “Some women are so quiet and scared when they come. We get them to take a deep breath and put a foot on the pedal. After a few sessions they can really ride. Their smiles are the greatest gift. I want to empower other Muslim women and people from any colour, background or culture.”

Photos: Harrow Cycle Hub

CYCLINGCOACH SABA KHAN

“We need a planned approach on cycling to school; I want the Hub to campaign for safer routes.”

WINTER GEAR GUIDE

Stuck for gift ideas for the cyclist(s) in your life? Then here’s a mix of must-haves and nice-to-haves that we know will be much appreciated

NOVELTY XMAS

GIFTS are all well and good, but if you’re anything like us we always prefer to give and receive something that’s genuinely useful, something that will last longer than the festive holidays themselves.

However buying gifts for cyclists can be tricky if you don’t know where to start. Of course new socks are often the default option (and we’d have been remiss to not have included at least one pair here!), but tools, locks, helmets and other accessories are well worth considering. So here’s LC’s 2022 round-up of fun (and useful) kit that we’re sure will hit the mark.

By the way, don’t forget an LCC membership either, you’ll even get a free Cateye lightset (lcc.org.uk/membership).

#1 CUBE ACID RACE

FLEX HV PUMP

Winter is the season when tyres need extra attention to cope with changeable conditions, and a good pump makes this a doddle. The CNC-lathed Race Flex HV is not only compact enough to stash in a back pocket, but it shifts air fast (up to a maximum pressure of 80psi) thanks to a retractable hose and dual head. n cube.eu; £39.95

#2 OXFORD AQUA EVO SEATPACK

Part of Oxford’s brand new bikepacking line-up, the Aqua Evo seatpack is equipped with a variety of features to cope with the most trying of weather. With a 10-litre capacity and waterproof construction, it’s ideal for weekend getaways or longer multiday adventures. n oxfordluggage.com; £54.99

#3 CYCLECHIC ‘DECO’ WOMEN’S HELMET

The perfect bike helmet to combine safety and style! The Deco comes in three on-trend colours (Mint Green, French Grey or Navy) and is both comfy and flattering. It’s so cool it will get reluctant winter cyclists on their bike! n cyclechic.co.uk; £39.99

#4 ABUS GRANIT 460

The 12mm parabolic shackle combined with a housing and mechanism made from specially-hardened steel means the Granit 460 resists bending and freezing attacks. Available in two lengths (230mm and 300mm), it’s Sold Secure Silver rated, and one tough nut to crack. n extrauk.co.uk; £59.99-£64.99

#5 CUBE AFTER RACE HIGH CUT SOCKS

No cyclist’s Christmas stocking would be complete without new socks and Cube’s high-cut After Races will ensure you’ll have the best dressed feet on and off the bike. Five great colours and three sizes to choose from. n cube.eu; £12.95

#6 WERA TOOLS SET 15

This compact and lightweight 86g bike tool includes two 4-in-1 bits, plus three tyre levers. There’s eight different hex and Torx tools across both bits. It’s the only multi-tool you’ll ever need! Lifetime guarantee. n chickencyclekit.co.uk; £36.99

#7 REHOOK TYRE GLIDER & REHOOK MINI BUNDLE

A pair of light and pocket-sized tools to get you back on your bike if you’ve suffered a mechanical. Ideal for installing and removing tight-fitting tyres, dropped or jammed chains, general maintenance and making all manner of roadside adjustments. Made in the UK. n rehook.bike; £29.99

#8 TOPEAK FLASHFENDER DUO FIXER

Thanks to the new Duo Fixer mount you can now combine two accessories together on one easy-to-use bracket. Here the brand’s Taillux 25 rear light sits neatly above the Flashfender mudguard to create an effective solution for staying seen and dry. n extra.co.uk; £10.99-£34.99

#9 GREEN OIL WET CHAIN LUBE

Slide your way into Christmas with eco pioneer Green Oil’s standout Wet Chain Lube, which lasts more than 125 miles per application. What’s more you can get money back on every bottle returned. Part of an award-winning range, it’s a must for care-free cycling! n green-oil.net; £7.99

N 1977 Martin Nelson designed London’s first cycle route and has followed this up with the London Cycle Orbital — 850 miles of recreational cycling that explores beyond TfL’s Oyster zone with rail-assisted rides. Cycle Orbital’s 12 ‘arcs’ ring London like a wonky clockface, with 12 ‘spokes’ and ‘spinoffs’ feeding and dispersing along the way. Here we’re following a 51km anti-clockwise circuit to and from the ‘one o’clock’ point: Hertford Castle.

The orbital’s guiding priciple is to use off-road cycle paths where possible, suitable for all bikes, otherwise quiet roads and byways. This ride is 75% off-road and largely flat, thanks to the Lee Navigation towpath, but there are also woodland climbs in the hilly Herts section.

For further info and maps on the London Cycle Orbital go to london-cycle-orbital.org.uk. Also check out Martin’s comprehensive blog at martinnelson.co.uk/trailblazer.

HILLY HERTS RIVER LEE

FACTFILE

DISTANCE: 51km (31.5 miles)

&

TOTAL ASCENT: 240m BIKE TYPES: suitable for all bikes, 75% off-road START POINTS: Crews Hill, Hertford

NB: Komoot shows parts of this route as ‘not permitted’ for cycling, but these are shared use paths on the ground.

We have partnered with mapping specialist Komoot to bring you free downloadable route maps. Simply scan the QR code here to access the relevant page on your smartphone or tablet.

Route pioneer Martin Nelson guides us on a beautiful section of his London Cycle Orbital project, linking riverside trails and easy woodland climbs

HILLY HERTS & RIVER LEE

Ride Guide

S/F: CREWS HILL is on the Moorgate to Hertford rail line and marks the zone 6 boundary start point for this ride, taking the due east ‘spoke 1E’ to Enfield Lock. It sets off on a short uphill climb due west and after Crews Hill golf course a shallow stile warns of a dismounted descent to cross the railway; it’s an adventurous start. But then NCN12 joins from the west and a cycle path takes you down Turkey Brook parkland to Forty Hall estate.

2 FORTY HALL is now a lovely Jacobean manor house owned and maintained by Enfield council, but beneath and around lie evidence of the enormous Elsyng Palace, which the Tudor monarchs used as their base when hunting in Enfield Chase.

NCN12 and the London Loop Path continue on Turkey Brook at Bulls Cross Lane, but ‘spoke 1E’ turns left to take in Myddelton House and gardens, the home of botanist EA Bowles. It is now part of the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority and you are about to enter its northern heartland.

First, a brief suburban section takes you to Enfield Lock. This is a Cycle Orbital ‘hub’ (there’s options to head south on ‘arc 2’ for the Olympic Park or east on ‘spinoff 2’ for Epping Forest). But we turn north to Hertford on the Lee Navigation towpath.

3 After passing under the M25 and the A121 at Waltham, we enter the LEE VALLEY REGIONAL PARK. One of the great legacies of the 2012 Olympics, this green space extends from the stadium at Stratford up to Broxbourne. It’s a necklace of parks, wildlife and wetland habitat, sports and leisure activity on and beside water.

Waltham Abbey and the Royal

RIVER LEE & HILLY HERTS

Gunpowder Mills are both worth a visit here, where the route leaves the towpath in favour of NCN1 (Dover to Shetland) alongside the flood relief channel, through wetland bird reserve lakes, and then by cycleway up and over a hill in graded zigzags — a Box Hill climb in miniature. With views over the valley, this is a lovely spot to linger.

Descending to Dobbs Weir, the towpath will take you uninterrupted into Hertford town centre, passing on the way the next London Cycle Orbital junction at Feildes Lock, another terrific bird reserve at Amwell, pleasing waterfronts at Stanstead St Margarets and Ware, and finally the gauge house source of the New River. This is neither new nor a river, but rather the early 17th-century conduit to supply fresh water to London from springs in the area, running a contour above the Lee via Enfield and Stoke Newington to Sadler’s Wells. The gauge house is currently undergoing works to help preserve the European eel population.

4 HERTFORD has a fine, traffic-free town centre, and just beyond the Norman castle ruins are incorporated into a town park.

‘Spoke 1N’ back to Crews Hill is largely on quiet roads, first to Brickendon, later through Goffs Oak, but a smooth surface may come as a relief after so much towpath riding. Between those sections lies Broxbourne Woods.

5 At BROXBOURNE WOODS

NATIONAL NATURE RESERVE it will be slow going for a mile — you have to

FIND, PLAN AND SHARE YOUR ADVENTURES WITH KOMOOT

Turn your next ride into an adventure with Komoot. Get inspired by tapping into shared community knowledge and recommendations, then bring your own adventures to life with the easy route planner.

New users can receive a Komoot Region Bundle of offline maps (worth £8.99). Visit komoot.com/g and enter the code ‘LCC’ to choose your free Region Bundle.’ [Valid for new Komoot users only, redeemable until 31/12/2022].

descend sharply to cross Wormleybury Brook — but it is a lovely wood. Follow the blue bridleway markers with a butterfly symbol above. You will also pass a Corporation of London coal post, boundary markers for a 19thcentury coal tax 12-18 miles from the city. They crop up regularly on London Cycle Orbital routes.

Goffs Oak is a brief suburban interlude, then the journey ends on gated Burnt Farm Ride, at first metalled, then unsurfaced as you duck under the M25 once more. At the junction, turn right on Cattlegate Road for the final pull back to Crews Hill station past a cluster of market gardening centres.

There is no typical London Cycle Orbital ride, as the landscape and topography of the capital’s margins are so varied.

Whatever route you take, expect the unexpected, though maybe this part of south-east Hertfordshire is particularly under-explored. n london-cycle-orbital.org.uk

Photos: Martin Nelson

RIVER LEE & HILLY HERTS

Simply scan the QR code here to access the relevant ride guide and map on a smartphone or tablet.

In the second part of our new series, we explain the key things to consider when buying a gravel or adventure bike. While much of the same advice can also apply to buying secondhand, there’s often other factors at play there too, so we’re concentrating on buying from a reputable dealer. Find hundreds of great retailers in LCC’s bike shop network (lcc.org.uk/membership).

Flares are back in fashion: gravel bikes tend to run wider bars with added ‘flare’ on the drops for improved control

One ring or two? A double chainring (as pictured) offers a big spread of gears, coupled with a wide-range cassette. But many gravel bikes are copying the mountain bike single chainring (1x) set-up for simplicity.

John Kitchiner is editor of London Cyclist and a confirmed bikeaholic

1. FRAME

Mixing the versatility of hardtail mountain bikes, with the speed of endurance road bikes, it’s no surprise that a gravel bike frame borrows ideas from both camps.

For added stability off-road frames are longer than a comparable road frame

(look for longer ‘reach’ figures on size charts) and come matched with a shorter stem. Head angles are also more relaxed, by a degree or so, for improved control. While toptubes are sloped for improved standover clearance, particularly useful when shifting your body around on bumpier trails.

While we’re starting to see some brands experiment with rear ‘suspension’, that’s limited to top-end race bikes. But look for slim or ‘dropped’ seatstays (1b) which bring a touch more compliance and forgiveness to the ride.

And if your bike is doubling up as a commuter, maybe opt for aluminium rather than more expensive carbon; it’s as robust and a lot cheaper.

2. MOUNTS/BOSSES

To complement the latest bikepacking bags, gravel bikes have multiple mounting points on the frame (2b) and fork (2c). Look for at least two bottle mounts (there’s sometimes a third under the downtube), pannier rack mounts and a variety of additional accessory mounts.

3. TYRES

One big distinction from road bikes is the extra clearance for fatter tyres — these will provide better grip on mixed terrain and greater comfort on longer tours. It’s not unusual for gravel bikes to accept 42mm tyres (on 700c wheels), or 50mm (on 650b). We’d go wide for general use, and only consider swapping to narrower treads for a roadspecific sportive challenge.

4. RIMS

To match the wider tyres, rims are wider as well, and stronger. Tubeless tyre/rim combos are increasingly common too.

5. CASSETTE

Go-anywhere bikes need go-anywhere gears, so expect to find wide range cassettes, up to 11-42t if using a single chainring up front.

6. HANDLEBAR

Narrow road bars don’t offer great steering control, especially off-road, so gravel bars tend to be wider overall and have more flare (6b). An added bonus is that this also makes fitting larger-capacity bar bags easier.

7. FORK

While cheaper models may use an aluminium fork to match an alloy frame, a carbon fork does make a noticeable difference on long rides. It helps reduce jarring from constantly ‘chattery’ trails and absorbs lumpier terrain better, which means your arms and shoulders should feel less fatigue (tyre choice and pressure is also a factor here).

8. DISC BRAKES

Unless you’ve converted an old rim brake bike into a graveller, it goes without saying that disc brakes are by far the best choice. Greater stopping power (ideal when fully laden with bags), better all-round performance in all conditions and far less maintenance. You’ll find smaller rotors (compared to mtbs), usually 140-160mm.

9. SEATPOST

As with suspension, a few brands are now speccing ‘dropper’ seatposts on their flagship models. Extremely useful if you’re pushing a bike to its absolute limits off-road, it’s just overkill for most riders. A rigid post is fine and actually preferable when using a bulky seatpack.

NEW E-BIKES HOT TECH

RALEIGH TRACE n £2,199 n raleigh.co.uk

THE RALEIGH Trace uses the Ebikemotion X35 system, comprising a hub motor that’s barely visible behind the cassette, a frame-concealed, non-removable 250Wh battery, and a thumb-sized control button on the toptube. All this makes it extremely ‘stealth’ in appearance and light on the scales at only 16.5kg. That weight is particularly impressive given the Trace also comes with a rear rack, powerful LED lights and mudguards as standard.

The drive system isn’t the most powerful on the market and it isn’t meant to be; it’s aimed at riders who want a ‘bike-like’ e-bike that feels fast and has little motor resistance when the system is

switched off or your speed exceeds 16mph. If you enjoy riding for exercise, but sometimes feel the need for a little extra assistance the Trace is worth considering. If you want an e-bike to do as much of the work of getting around as possible (within the legally-allowed power limits) look elsewhere.

Our overall riding experience was very positive and the Trace did pretty much everything it promised to: the motor proved highly responsive regardless of cadence, whether spinning away from a traffic light, or cranking up the pedal speed on a group ride. And even though the battery’s relatively small, being frugal with the three power levels meant we found 30-mile rides were possible over hilly country roads and hard packed off-road trails.

The Shimano hydraulic disc brakes and 9-speed Alivio derailleur performed flawlessly and added to the overall crisp ride impression. The 40c WTB tyres likewise coped easily with towpaths, forest tracks and

Review: Richard Peace

Raleigh’s lightest e-bike yet shows that a small battery can take you a pretty long way, pretty quickly...

smooth grass. Our only real gripe was the toptube button: not only do you have to remove a hand from the bars to change power modes, but you can only change up the levels in a cycle, meaning a lot of faffy pressing. Ebikemotion does make a handlebar controller but this can’t be retrofitted to the Trace. Nor does the Trace appear to be compatible with the Ebikemotion app, unlike other e-bikes we’ve tested using the same system.

That aside, this is a lovely bike for recreational riding or speedy commuting, with a solid spec. It’s also one of most competitivelypriced models available featuring the Ebikemotion system, for which we predict Raleigh’s onto a winner.

FACTFILE

n Lightweight Ebikemotion rear hub motor system mean this fully-equipped e-bike weighs only 16.5kg!

n Four frame sizes mean all riders are catered for, which is especially good news for smaller riders who can struggle to find suitable e-bikes.

n One button control, but no handlebar display.

n Battery cannot be removed for charging away from the bike.

n Powerful hardwired front and rear lights come as standard.

n Easy off-road ‘gravel’ trails are possible with 700x40c WTB Byway tyres.

VERDICT

+ Smooth pedal-assist, without the raw power of bigger mid-drive motors, gave us more than 30 miles in range over hilly terrain.

+ Toptube-mounted power/mode button is super minimalist, but can be fiddly to use.

+ Effectively spans everything from commuting to bikepacking use.

+ Quality finishing touches include front thru-axle, carbon fork and flatmount hydraulic disc brakes.

+ If you like riding sporty, fast bikes you will love the Trace.

FRONT BIKE LIGHTS

Thankfully cycle light design has moved on from a lumens-based arms race and now smart functions are key. Here’s seven of the best 2023 models...

HILE WE CAN be pretty confident that our readers are the sensible types who wouldn’t dream of cycling at night without a decent lightset, the industry moves on at pace and today’s tech now offers all manner of ‘smart’ functions that will optimise your chosen mode with special sensors, preserve battery usage and even prevent overheating. There’s plenty to consider whether you’re upgrading or buying for the first time.

Also, remember that if you join or refer a friend to LCC today you will receive a set of Cateye bike lights worth £49.99. For more information go to lcc.org.uk/lights.

#1 BBB SIGNAL DUO

n Run time (claimed): 100hr (low) n Charge time (claimed): 2hr30 n Max lumens (main beam): 1200 Two extremely bright LEDs emit 1200 lumens in full beam mode, bright enough for unlit roads; though ‘city’ mode is the best setting for commutes. A tough aluminium body, offering good side visibility, resists knocks and scrapes and the rubber strap attaches to any bar diameter. n bbbcycling.com; £79.95

W#2

SIGMA BUSTER 1100

n Run time (claimed): 2hr (high) to 50hr n Charge time (claimed): 3hr n Max lumens (main beam): 100 An innovative double lens generates a powerful lighting pattern and long (150m+) range. Of the six modes, either low (400 lumens) or eco (150 lumens) is most optimal around town, and a 5-stage indicator shows battery wear. Useful memory function too. Comes with tool-free, screw-on bracket. n oxfordproducts.com; £79.99

#3

CATEYE AMPP 200

n Run time (claimed): 1.5hr (high) to 30hr n Charge time (claimed): 2.5hr n Max lumens (main beam): 200 With just two steady modes and one flashing, this is very much a dedicated, no-frills city light, but the cutouts on the water-resistant body offer excellent side illumination. A memory function reverts to the last used mode once switched on again, while the power button indicates current battery level. n cateye.com; £24.99

#4 KRYPTONITE INCITE X6

n Run time (claimed): 3hr (high) to 30hr n Charge time (claimed): 4hr n Main beam: 60 lux While Kryptonite provides lux figures for its range (1 lux = 1 lumen/m2), it’s fair to say that the X6 offers low to moderate brightness and is best suited to well-lit streets. It’s got several smart features though, including a sensor to measure ambient light and adjust modes accordingly, plus a display that counts down remaining battery level. n freewheel.co.uk; £69.99

#5 BOOKMAN CURVE

n Run time (claimed): 1hr (high) to 70hr n Charge time (claimed): 2hr n Max lumens (main beam): 220 The unique curved design of these lights (there’s a matching rear option) throws a wide, near 180-degree beam in front of and to the side of your bike. It attaches with a silicone band, the clasp of which doubles as the ‘on’ button and battery indicator. Seven fun colours available. n bookmanvisibility.com; £35

#6 EXPOSURE BOOST DAYBRIGHT

n Run time (claimed): 2hr (high) to 24hr n Charge time (claimed): 3hr n Max lumens (main beam): 350 Brand new for 2023 is this super compact, super light (45g), yet powerful ‘be seen’ light. The ‘daybright’ pulse pattern helps cut through the distractions on busy streets, and the boost setting can be seen from all angles thanks to the lens design. n exposure-use.com; £70

#7 LEZYNE HELMET HECTO DRIVE 500XL

n Run time (claimed): 1hr (high) to 20hr n Charge time (claimed): 2.5hr n Max lumens (main beam): 500 A helmet-specific version of one of our fave mid-range lights comes complete with a GoPro-style, angle adjustable, strap-on mount that’s perfect for road and off-road riding; at only 85g you won’t know you’re wearing it. Four steady modes and four flash/pulse modes have every base covered. n upgradebikes.co.uk; £50

REAR BIKE LIGHTS

If you think it’s only the big front lights that get all the clever tech, then think again — this new breed of mini rear reds just gets better and better

NOT LONG ago rear lights were considered something of an after-thought by product designers: flimsy plastic units, with even flimsier mounts and a general lack of, well, light. But all that’s changed and our little red friends now shine very brightly. Here’s our selection of seven of the newest and updated rear lights for 2023.

#1 LUMOS FIREFLY

n Run time (claimed): 5-32hr n Charge time (claimed): 5hr n Max lumens (main beam): 40 The team behind the award-winning, Bluetooth-enabled helmet with integrated lights returns, this time with a new magnetic-mounting lighting ‘system’. Each mini cube contains red, white and orange LEDs, so it can function as a front or rear light, or turning signal, and even as a brake warning. You can sync multiple Fireflys, including those of your mates for added visibility. Head to Kickstarter for the early bird deals. n uklumoshelmet.co; from £25

#2 CATEYE ViZ 300

n Run time (claimed): 5-45hr

n Charge time (claimed): 3hr n Max lumens (main beam): 30

Proving that small packages can pack a hefty punch, the ViZ weighs in with a super bright 300 lumens in daytime ‘hyperflash’ mode and 30 lumens in

constant mode. Beam projection is excellent, there’s great side visibility, plus a memory function and battery indicator. We’re also pleased to finally see a new, sturdier seatpost bracket. n cateye.com; £39.99

#3

KNOG BLINDER R-150

n Run time (claimed): up to 60hr n Charge time (claimed): 4hr n Max lumens (main beam): 35 The R-150 incorporates two neat design elements to make you more visible from distance: a strobe LED and dedicated angleset LED. The former creates a visual pattern that’s impossible to miss, while the latter optimises its effect when mounted on a seatpost (many rear lights effectively point downwards rather than rearwards). An integral USB connector means no additional cables are required. n silverfish-uk.com; £62.99

#4 KRYPTONITE INCITE XBR

n Run time (claimed): 10-36hr n Charge time (claimed): 3hr n Main beam: 0.2 lux While 10hr run time on constant mode is more than many rear lights offer, the big deal here is the XBR’s acceleration sensor which detects when speed drops by more than 1.6m per second and an additional LED is switched on. The brake light is also three times brighter than normal output in steady mode. A flexible bracket allows the beam to be angled rearwards. n freewheel.co.uk; £34.99

#5 LEZYNE KTV PRO ALERT DRIVE

n Run time (claimed): 4hr30-14hr

n Charge time (claimed): 2hr n Max lumens (main beam): 25 There’s a lot going on under the hood here: a wide angle lens offering 270-degree visibility, a bright 75-lumen daytime flash mode, plus some clever ‘alert’ tech. As you slow down the light’s beam turns constant (like a car’s) and then gives out a distinct flash pattern to warn riders/drivers behind; it reverts to its previous setting once you set off again. You get the famous Lezyne USB cover too. n upgradebikes.co.uk; £34

#6 TOPEAK 40 DUO FIXER

n Run time (claimed): 3.5-40hr n Charge time (claimed): 2.5hr n Max lumens (main beam): 10

The ‘Duo Fixer’ in the name hints at the light’s multi-purpose role with other Topeak accessories, including its Quick Click seatpacks, Tubi tools, CO2 inflators and mudguards. The bracket mounts onto your saddle rails and each item can be clicked on and off in seconds. Cable-free USB charging as well. n extrauk.co.uk; £34.99

#7 OXFORD ULTRATORCH

R75 REAR

n Run time (claimed): 2-6hr n Charge time (claimed): up to 3hr n Max lumens (flashing): 75 Another deceptively simple yet effective light from distributor Oxford’s in-house collection, the R75 provides 270-degree visibility and enough run time on flashing mode for a week’s worth of short commutes. There’s a low battery indicator and a basic, foolproof silicone strap. n oxfordproducts.com; £29.99

John K

CYCLING READS

BRITAIN’S BEST BIKE

RIDE John Walsh & HannahReynolds adventurebooks.com; £20

From the same authors as the excellent France en Velo — a 1,000-mile journey from the English Channel to the Mediterranean — comes another epic ride, this time 1,000 miles on home soil. It’s a new take on the classic LEJOG (Land’s End to John o’ Groats), which diverges from the most direct routes chosen by record-breaking attempts and seeks out “the most peaceful experience possible”, especially through the most densely populated areas. It’s the kind of two to three-week tour that’s achieveable for most levels of cyclist.

As the emphasis isn’t solely on speed, there’s suggestions for the best stages for views, food, drink, wild swimming and suchlike, as well as climbs. Maps are given the space they need to be useful and the images do a great job of selling the terrain you can expect to find. This really is our sort of ‘end to end’!

THE CYCLING REVOLUTION

Patrick Field mombooks.com; £9.99

In the intro, Field — founder of the London School of Cycling and the Dunwich Dynamo — explains that his aim is not to tell people what to do but “give them the knowledge and skills that will help them establish styles of riding that suit their needs”. And this beautifullyillustrated hardback (hats off Harry Goldhawk for an incredible series — one for each single page ‘chapter’) explains all manner of principles and concepts, exploding various received wisdom along the way.

Lesser-known historical facts and research are shared, likewise anecdotes from old racers and other cycling figures (author Josie Dew, Pedal Power’s Jo Roach, and more). From challenging stereotypes and knowing which way the wind blows, to setting goals and celebrating diversity, it’s a fun read that even non-cyclists can enjoy.

CHASED BY PANDAS

Dan Martin

quercusbooks.co.uk; £20

If you’ve followed pro road racing over the last 15 years you’ll know the name Dan Martin. Regarded as one of the nice guys of the peloton, he’s widely seen as one of the best climbers of his generation and for racing on instinct rather than in-depth analytic data like many of his peers. The sort of rider who prepared for Grand Tours by heading off cycle touring with his wife instead of doing laps up Mount Teide in Tenerife. Having retired last year, the Irishman describes the ups and downs of his career, the successes, the pain, the crashes and bad luck, in what comes across as a very honest account. We liked the cheeky subtitles of each chapter based on a typical cyclist’s fears and how he claims there’s no such thing as a small climb, while comparing the ‘Tamworth Pass’ (65m) of his youth and Alpe d-Huez (1850m). The pandas of the title? Now that’s a long story...

TRAFFIC-FREE

CYCLE

SOUTH-EAST ENGLAND Nick Cotton &KathyRogers adventurebooks.com; £20

TRAILS:

While Cotton’s best-selling Traffic-freeCycleTrails detailed 400 routes around Great Britain, here the focus is purely on the south-east and its mix of bridleways, byways and dedicated trails. Featured routes include converted railway paths like Centurion Way, the Downs Link and Cuckoo Trail, sections of the South Downs Way, various seafront paths, and a couple of dozen off-road foresty centres, including Bedgebury, Friston and Thetford.

Rides are broken down into five areas — southern counties, western counties, Greater London, north of London, and eastern counties — with 20-30 options in each. As all these are well signposted on the ground, navigational details and factfile info are brief, and maps nonexistent. So it’s a book best suited to recreational riders looking to plan days out just beyond their local area.

REVIEWS:

Strider balance bike

MOST OF US of a last millennium vintage will likely have had a very similar introduction to cycling: parents happily accept a hand-medown child’s bike from a well-meaning friend; family heads to local park or open space for child to practice riding in safety; seconds after being seated on bike child careers off path and falls over; child either cries or shrugs it off and goes again, or both. And so began a lifetime’s journey on two wheels for millions of kids worldwide.

Many of us ‘got it’, but plenty didn’t, and the blame for that lies squarely at the feet of one awful accessory: stabilisers. This pair of extra mini wheels, bolted to the rear axle, was designed to keep a bike ‘stable’ and upright, but all too often failed in its sole function. They could be fitted perfectly to allow some lean and it made little difference; as soon as the training arena was less than optimal — the slightest camber, pothole or grass verge — and a VHS cassette of your aerial dismount was winging its way to You’ve Been Framed

The bikes too have to share a portion of the responsibility, or rather their relative complication for little learners.

Expecting a nursery-aged nipper to simultaneously get a grip on steering, pedalling and braking was always a tall order. Thank the heavens then for the bright sparks who took a 200-year-old idea, shrank it down and ran with it, quite literally.

The first balance bike was the ‘dandy horse’ invented by Karl Drais at the start of the 19th century. This velocipede inspired another German, Rolf Mertens, to develop his own ‘running bike’ in 1997, called the LIKEaBIKE, and that brand’s still going today, producing a handful of lovely wooden designs with adjustable saddles to suit under-fives.

However it’s Ryan McFarland, who stripped, chopped, sanded and welded a 12in child’s bike to make it manageable for his toddler son, who really refined the concept and popularised it globally. He recognised that children learn to ride faster when they learn to balance and countersteer first and then to pedal later. In 2007 McFarland founded Strider Bikes and it’s now sold more than five million models. Rather brilliantly, this success spawned a whole series of Strider events and races, including a unique world championship — we urge you to check out the action on Strider’s youtube channel.

Kids these days never had it so good, in cycling terms at least. John Kitchiner looks at how a very old idea led to a modern revolution

Illustration David Sparshott