#59: THE LCN IS FOR CONNECTING ON, NOT JUST CYCLING ON. Why is it important to incorporate as many London Cycle Network (LCN) routes as possible into a London Cycle Map?
The reason is that the LCN’s routes are not just good for cycling on, they’re good for connecting on; they have been developed over the last quarter century because of their usefulness for transportation purposes, for making logistically meaningful cycle journeys from one part of the capital to another.
In comparison, some of London’s other cycle routes are either more scenic (like a steam railway you’d ride on for the pleasure of it, rather than to go anywhere) or indirect (like a drunkard staggering all over the place). The less efficient a route is for connecting on, the less important it is to include it into a London Cycle Map.
The irony is, the main thing the LCN lacks (as anyone who has ridden on it will tell you) is a decent map and system of signage showing how its routes connect together!
This is where the London Cycle Map Campaign comes in. The LCN is like the ‘raw material’ for the London Cycle Map: a set of routes that already exists in a useful pattern of connections, but which is crying out for a decent map and system of signage.
The LCN is just like the underground network was in 1931 before Harry Beck came up with his iconic Tube map.
