Discipline of the week: Cycling
The Majority of London
Where do I start? Boris bikes, cycle super slipways, crowded roads. If you ever cycled to work around London you’d know for yourself that there are 7 million of us. And somehow we’re all squeezing through the same tight roads. But what if you need to leave your beloved velo somewhere?
We all own two locks. My bike is electronically tagged. I didn’t wash mine, on purpose. The lights are detachable as a matter of course. Quick release fasteners replaced with nuts and bolts and the fancy paintwork covered up with shabby bits of inner tube so it’s less shiny and attractive than next bike. You need to keep you head down, not be noticed or prepared to be your bike dealership’s best friend. Hopefully they’ll steal the one next to you. Not that I wish anyone’s bike to be stolen, good gracious, no. But we all know that a bike will be stolen from this rack today, that much is certain.
Cycling Highways? Boris you should learn how to walk before you can cycle. London’s streets are in a state of disrepair that won’t go away by merely talking about “excellence”, “militant about cycling”and “world class” alone. Get the shovel out and keep the drivel to yourself.
Somehow I don’t think this kind of damage is going away by glueing down some coloured resin bonded gravel. It’s going take a fair bit of more work than that to turn London into a cycle friendly city. You can probably guess that I’m writing this because I’m angry somehow. And you’re absolutely right. A couple of weeks ago I was nearly thrown off my bike when I hit a severe pothole that broke my front rim in the instant of impact. My anger over the almost £100 I spend on a new front rim, tire and tube isn’t eased when these dirt tracks that London’s Mayor Boris Johnson wants to turn into “cycle highways” rattle the fillings out of my teeth. At times you can not avoid going over these crevices because of the traffic situation. Neither does appear safe to slow down when there’s a hoard of cyclists following close behind – so you’re left with no option but to brave it through these assault courses.
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