It’s Not Just Cyclists Who Are In Danger

This article in the Standard tonight, says that the police and other government agencies are working together to deal with the problems of HGVs and the cyclists they hit. Here’s the introduction.

A crackdown on unsafe lorries and rogue drivers was launched in London today in a bid to halt the number of cyclists being killed and seriously injured.

Police began conducting “stop and search” patrols after the Government and Transport for London agreed that action was needed to halt the death toll.

But it’s not just cyclists, who are in danger from some of these trucks and their drivers.

As I walked back from the bus stop round the corner tonight, a skip lorry turned left in front of me and crossed my path very closely.  The driver had taken the corner very much in a hurry, but at least he’d used his turn indicators, otherwise I might have not been able to ascertain his intentions.

I am always very careful at the junction, as since I have moved here, there have been a couple of serious accidents, one of which resulted in the death of a young girl.

Are Cyclists Becoming The New Vegetarians?

I’ve nothing against either group, but although I hope one day to be part of the first, I doubt I’ll ever be vegetarian. I couldn’t be that today, as I’ve just had some delicious meat pate.

But in my view, there are a lot of vegetarians, who are overly touchy. I remember once being served a meal in a five-star boutique hotel with organic wholemeal bread and the vegetarian owner couldn’t get it, that wheat was bad for me. As it was organic, surely that wouldn’t cause me any harm, as animals were the problem. So C gave her both barrels as only a barrister could and we never ate in the hotel again.

Change a recipe for a chocolate bar and the veggies will get you, as Mars found out a couple of years ago.

it now appears that cyclists in London can get just as touchy about changing road layouts, as this story shows. The article even has a go at Crossrail, saying that it will bring lots of shoppers into Central London.

I regularly go to that area and it is a nightmare for everybody and especially pedestrians and cyclists. I found this out a few days ago and posted this.

The question i asked in that post is probably the correct one and the sooner we get New Buses for London in those routes around Piccadilly Circus and down the Haymarket the better, as I’m certain they would  get a lot of the pedestrians out of the way. Some pedestrians might even say they’d had enough and see an open platform on a bus and go for it!

What’s the betting though, that in a few months as more and more New Buses for London appear, we will read an article about cyclists complaining about them?

Perhaps to create more road-space in Central London, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to put restrictions on taxis. Now taxi-drivers are another group, who act like vegetarians and get touchy at the least provocation.

How about banning rickshaws too?

But the main thing that is needed is some good British design, followed up with a good helping of compromise!

Unusual Bike Storage

This bike storage rack has been introduced at the other end of my road outside the Job Centre.

Unusual Bike Storage

It is another innovative idea from Cyclehoop.

As a pedestrian, I like it, as anything that gets bikes out of the way and off the pavement is to be welcomed.  I do wish that they had one at my end of the road, so that as I pass the pub, it would make it less of an obstacle to get to the bus stop, as at busy times, the road is the only safe place, with smoking drinkers and bikes chained to every conceivable street pole.

As to whether the loss of a vehicle space would matter, I don’t think any of my visitors ever find it difficult to find a place to park!

I think we also need a nearer Boris bike station, but that is another matter!

Italy Goes To Ireland

Next year, the Giro d’Italia will start on the island of Ireland with three stages.  It’s all here on the BBC.

Knowing the Irish as I do, I think that they’ll have a good party.

Hackney Is London’s Cycling Capital

That is the strapline on this report in today’s Standard. Here’s the first few paragraphs.

Hackney has been declared the cycling capital of London after research showed that more residents commute to work by bike than by car.

The figures, drawn from the 2011 Census by the Office of National Statistics, reveal that 14.6 per cent – or one in seven – of Hackney residents use a bike as their main method of getting to work.

This is the highest bike ridership in London – neighbouring Islington is second on 9.6 per cent – and is three-and-a-half times higher than the city-wide average of four per cent.

Obviously, Hackney is near to the City and it’s an easy cycle to work. But perhaps a bigger factor, is that Hackney must be one of the flattest boroughs in London.

Is This The Best Way To Get To London Zoo?

I went to the London Zoo today, and noticed they have a Boris bike station, by the main entrance.

Is This The Best Way To Get To London Zoo?

Surely this must be one of the best ways to get to the Zoo from Marylebone Road or the area just north of the West End.  It will be a nice cycle through and around Regent’s Park.

Note that if you type “Boris bikes” into Google, you get the official site at Transport for london.

The Telegraph Attacks Two Targets In One Article

Toby Young in Her Majesty’s Daily Telegraph has attacked both Lance Armstrong and Alistair Campbell in this article.

It is getting that Lance Armstrong is becoming a non-laurel wreath to hang around anybody you don’t like’s neck.

Manly Library Classifies Armstrong’s Books As Fiction

This story is a classic Australian put-down for sports worst cheat.

So it’s only a hoax, but everybody got the joke.

Hugh McIlvanney Calls Lance Armstrong A Conman

In a well-reasoned piece in The Sunday Times, Hugh McIlvanney  states his view on Armstrong.  Conman came from the title.

I wonder if Armstrong will be suing McIlvanney!

I think he won’t, as The Sunday Times already has a lot of legal issues, it needs to discuss with Armstrong. Probably in a Court of Law!

Lance Armstrong Questions His Punishment

Lance Armstrong has questioned his punishment for proven doping offences on the Oprah Winfrey show.

He actually wants to compete again.

Do they have cycling or triathlon events in prisons?

I suspect that this odious cheat, won’t give up and he’ll go to Court to get what he wants.  Let’s hope the judge who tries his case is an honest man or woman.