Tom Bogdanowicz - London Cycling Guide, Updated Edition

30 GREAT ROUTES FOR EXPLORING THE CAPITAL

Tom Bogdanowicz

In association with the London Cycling Campaign

This edition published in 2011 by New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd

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Text copyright 2010, 2011 Tom Bogdanowicz

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One of the many attractive aspects of cycling is that you can do as little or as much as you like. You can choose where and when to ride and you can pick and choose who you ride with. You dont depend on gym opening times, bus timetables or petrol stations.

As a cyclist you can also take your pick from an enormous range of easy or challenging activities. Many people are unaware that there are active groups that play unicycle hockey, bicycle polo and off-road jumping. For the more relaxed, there are historical bike rides, architecture bike rides, visits to stately homes, repair workshops and night rides to watch the summer solstice. Youll find that there are free guided rides organized regularly by the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) and CTC groups along many of the routes described in this book. To join in, all you need is a bike.

Another wonderful resource in London is the set of 14 free cycle route guides that have been produced by the LCC in partnership with Transport for London (TfL). They show you all the streets in London that are recommended by cyclists as having less traffic or being more convenient. Youll find that there are hundreds of little-known cycle cut-throughs that enable you to reach your destination more quickly and with less traffic.

If you already own a bike and it hasnt been out of the shed in a while, its worth taking it in for a service to make sure its roadworthy the 30 to 60 a service costs is money well spent. Remember that a poor quality bike can be hard work, so if you are planning to keep up your resolve to cycle more, consider buying the best you can afford. The alternative is to hire a bike. This is easier in central London than elsewhere, but many bike shops offer cycle rental so its worth asking (see ).

If you havent ridden a bike in a while, or even if you have, its worth investing in some cycle training in some boroughs you may find that classes are subsidized. The section on cycling technique (see ) provides an introduction to confident riding in cities but there is no substitute for a one-on-one lesson. Even experienced riders can discover that instructors spot errors in their road riding.

This book will help you with buying decisions, but dont forget that your local cycle group will be pleased to help, whether you are a novice looking for a bike, a triathlete looking for people to train with, or a mountain biker looking for good trails. And if they dont know, they will know someone who does.

The freedom of riding a bicycle is a unique experience. When small children learn to ride they feel a taste of independence, the pleasure of the wind on their faces, and that extraordinary sensation of moving the pedals, gathering speed and overtaking mere mortals on foot. Its a pleasure that many adults rediscover when they take up cycling for health or for convenience. Some psychologists identify a sensation called free motion play that can be used to explain both the childs delight on a swing and an adults pleasure at riding a bike downhill or skiing.

Most cyclists ride bikes for the sheer enjoyment of it, but of course there are many more concrete benefits of getting on a cycle and pedalling for half an hour every day. For most of us it saves time and money as well as improving our fitness and contributing to our longevity. If someone were to invent a device that used no fuel, propelled you at 20 mph, improved your health, helped you lose weight, made you live longer, saved you money and got you to work faster they would surely be a celebrity, a Nobel Prize winner and a multimillionaire. Such an invention would cost thousands of pounds and fly out of showrooms. Yet, extraordinarily, the humble bicycle is the cheapest form of transport you can buy and highly accessible to all. Indeed, the bicycle remains the worlds most popular form of transport. Unfortunately, in Britain it declined in popularity as the country was redesigned for the motor car.

Fast, enjoyable and healthy cycling is good for you and good for London. It is also an inexpensive and reliable mode of transport.

One of cyclings great assets, affordability, is also its weakness. Without the multi-million-pound advertising budgets from which car sales benefit, there is little to make people aware that the cheaper though less profitable bicycle is a realistic and convenient mode of transport. The fact that cycling has survived and, in London, grown sharply, is a tribute to a brilliant and highly efficient invention that is primarily promoted by word of mouth. If it wasnt for the fact that urban design has been focused on motor vehicles for several decades, cycling, thanks to its obvious benefits, might well be the choice of many more people in Britain. Some experts say that as climate change becomes a more pressing problem and urban congestion increases, governments will have to consider not only road pricing but curbs on motor car promotion, as they did with the tobacco industry, in order to enable people to make transport choices based on convenience and common sense rather than the temptations of TV ads. Until then, many people will be missing out on cyclings undoubted benefits.

The wind, the speed and human propulsion involved in cycling make it a delight for most people who try it. Some may dislike busy traffic, others may dislike rough tracks, but almost anyone will agree that pedalling through Hyde Park as the sun is setting has to be one of Londons best attractions.