A colleague of mine has recently posted on the state of cycling in London. I wrote about my frustration at the lack of integration between the rail networks and the city when it comes to the transportation and storage of bicycles, but Stephen highlights a very good point.
Riding a bike in London canbe exhillerating fun (!) but the authorities do little to encourage us out of cars and onto greener forms of transport.
I spoke with a colleague yesterday who tiold me that it takes the same amount of time to ride a bike in as it does to ride a motorbike!
I mostly ride through Holborn or Blackfriars on my way to Clerkenwell where the office is. Either route I take is strewn with potholes and uneven drain covers.
I have a rather nice folding bike that has thin wheels so I try to avoid riding through these hazards as a way of saving my wheels.
Swerving from buses and eager taxi drivers who just love pulling out in front of me is enough fun as it is, I don’t need the crappy roads. They are horriffic.
Recent visits to Amsterdam and Cologne show what it should be like.. Incidentally here is an interesting statistic from a Dutch cab driver; there are 1.5 million people in Amsterdam, 1.6 million bikes and 700,000 bike thefts a year!!
So everyone has a bike, but half of them steal them! Brilliant.
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