Does anyone have advice?

Jeremy Parker

On Jun 2, 5:54*pm, "Jeremy Parker"
wrote:
Does anyone have advice?

Jeremy Parker

Er... you might need to be a bit more specific in order to elicit some
information useful to you!

It's possible. You need a bicycle. You may well be able to plot a
route that largely avoids cycling on main roads, which would be a
recommended course of action for novice cyclists.

TfL produce 14 cycle guides for London which show recommended routes -
these are a helpful guide when planning a cycle route, though you need
not rigidly stick to the recommended routes shown. They can be found
at some Tube and bus stations, at the TfL Travel Information Centres
and at some local libraries - you can order a selection of them online
via the TfL website he
https://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/roadusers...s-request.aspx

The TfL Journey Planner can offer cycle routes as well, though some of
the results can be a bit odd and don't necessarily tally with the
cycle routes as shown in the cycle guides.

If you're cycling in the dark do use lights, really do! You might
think you're visible, what with all the street lights, but to
motorists you're not half as visible as you may think you are.
Likewise a high-vis vest or belt isn't a bad idea at all either. The
dark is less of an issue at the moment.

Be careful of lorries and buses, especially lorries - be very careful
about going up on the inside of them, or indeed the outside - I
haven't got the stats to hand but the majority of cycle deaths in
London are the result of cyclists getting stuck under turning lorries.
The simplest way to deal with lorries is to give them a wide berth and
hang back, especially at junctions.

On a connected point, I'd recommend novice or inexperienced cyclists
generally take it a bit easy anyway - there's no need to copy the guy
in front of you or who's just overtaken you - they may well be more
experienced, or more foolish, or a combination of the two! In other
words there's no need to pull risky manoeuvres for the sake of a
little time. Different cyclists move at different paces.

But do be aware of the road. If you haven't been on a bike in a while
go out for a practice cycle somewhere at the weekend. This would also
be a good opportunity to check your bike over - are the gears changing
properly, is the seat at the right height, are the brakes up to
scratch. But give it a once over before you even get on it - in
particular check the brakes!

By all means go for it though. Given the potential for hot weather,
wearing shorts and t-shirt and changing at work would of course be
advisable, unless you're one of those folk who don't perspire!

On 3 June, 18:17, Mizter T wrote:
On Jun 2, 5:54*pm, "Jeremy Parker"
wrote:

Does anyone have advice?

Jeremy Parker

Er... you might need to be a bit more specific in order to elicit some
information useful to you!

It's possible. You need a bicycle.

Now I realise where I've been going wrong all this time. And it
explains the funny looks I get.

On Jun 3, 6:56*pm, MIG wrote:

On 3 June, 18:17, Mizter T wrote:

On Jun 2, 5:54*pm, "Jeremy Parker"
wrote:

Does anyone have advice?

Jeremy Parker

Er... you might need to be a bit more specific in order to elicit some
information useful to you!

It's possible. You need a bicycle.

Now I realise where I've been going wrong all this time. *And it
explains the funny looks I get.

I started off writing a somewhat flippant response, but then thought I
might as well say some marginally helpful stuff.

Mizter T wrote:
On Jun 3, 6:56 pm, MIG wrote:

On 3 June, 18:17, Mizter T wrote:

On Jun 2, 5:54 pm, "Jeremy Parker"
wrote:
Does anyone have advice?
Jeremy Parker
Er... you might need to be a bit more specific in order to elicit some
information useful to you!
It's possible. You need a bicycle.
Now I realise where I've been going wrong all this time. And it
explains the funny looks I get.

I started off writing a somewhat flippant response, but then thought I
might as well say some marginally helpful stuff.

It doesn't have to be a *bi*cycle...

(and remember not to take an "ordinary bicycle" on Southern trains!)

--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

On Tue, 2 Jun 2009, Jeremy Parker wrote:

Does anyone have advice?

Continue as you usually do when there isn't a tube strike!

tom

--
Few technologies will ever stand up to the will of adolescents trying
to do things they're told they're not allowed to do. -- Scott Berkun

"Mizter T" wrote

[snip]

Does anyone have advice?

Jeremy Parker

Er... you might need to be a bit more specific in order to elicit
some
information useful to you!

[snip]

To tell you the truth, I was just trolling really. When there is an
excellent, but somewhat unknown, alternative to the tube, and its
strikes etc., it ought to be publicised on this newsgroup when a
strike or other disaster looms up.

I'm glad I stirred up Mizter T, all of whose advice is excellent, and
spot on.

Cycling isn't rocket science, but there are a few bits that are
counterintuitive, and of course, you wouldn't know what your "unknown
unknowns", as Donald Rumsfeld would call them, are. With the rise in
cycling, too many fluffy novices - more than you can count on your
fingers now - are getting killed, which is silly when London has the
best advice and training in the world available right now.

Jeremy Parker