Cycle Lifestyle

A while ago, Cycle Lifestyle created a really cool giant poster showing the London Cycle Map and explaining why a single, Tube-style map and network of signed cycle routes is so important for the capital.

The excellent chaps at PleaseCycle (Ry and Ronan, pictured below) were generous (and gung-ho) enough to put the poster up in their offices near Oxford Street. 

Thanks so much, guys! Cycle Lifestyle and PleaseCycle are kindred spirits - both are social enterprises seeking to promote the psychological, social, health and economic benefits of cycling. Whereas we send magazines into workplaces, PleaseCycle provides a fantastic online platform which enables employees to share information and encouragement when it comes to getting cycling. Find out more here.

To read the poster, click here or on the image below.

Many thanks to Geoffrey Hunter for the latest guest blog on cyclelifestyle.co.uk. Geoffrey is a lapsed cyclist, heritage enthusiast and occasional writer. His day job is Head of Parish Property Support for the Diocese of London and he is also on the board of the Heritage of London Trust.

Margaret Thatcher is apocryphally quoted as saying, ‘A man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure’. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say I have found myself in the eight years since I was 26, I think it is true to say that if I were forced to travel by bus simply because I couldn’t afford to travel on the Tube, then I would feel a bit let down by two degrees and a lot of hard work.

And so I thought it was with bikes – the transport of last resort for the impecunious. At university I had an annual bike-mileage well into the thousands, with a daily commute from Kilburn to the Strand. My bike was part of my character, something my friends and family immediately associated with me, together with the accompanying anecdotes of idiot drivers and suicidal pedestrians. Then came my first job with a car attached and it all went to pot. 

I’m now trying to work out why. Traffic conditions aren’t so much different now to how they were ten years ago. For cyclists there are more dedicated lanes and crossings than ever before; bendy buses are just a bad dream from a different time. And yet there is something that stops me from getting a bike and riding around town just like I used to. 

The hassle of finding somewhere to lock it up, the sweaty shirts and aroma of effort imposed on colleagues, the circuitous search for the safety of quiet backstreets, the getting lost down deserted dead ends, the unexpected stumbling upon London’s hidden past, the thrill of learning my way round our capital city in a way more surprising and rewarding than any other... actually, I just remembered:  I REALLY like cycling! So this year I have resolved to bury my fears and prejudices and be a bit more proactive in seeking opportunities to get on a bike and explore.

Being one of the sickening minority of Londoners privileged to walk to work, I have to find my opportunities where I can. I can say with honesty that, thinking back through my cycling years, my finest moments on a bike were not the obvious: Edgware Road to Parsons Green in 17 minutes; creaming past an overweight, over-equipped executive cyclist in Regents Park on my rusty upright while smoking a cigarette (to give him credit, he did laugh and say “fair cop Gov”, or words to that effect). These achievements are as nothing compared with the best memories of being on a bike in London.

The moments that stick in the mind are moments affected by the thrill (and I choose that word carefully) of discoveries that you would never make on a bus. The oasis of Shepherd Market, the narrow medieval lanes to the south of St Paul’s, the eerily quiet yuppie-infused  backstreets of Wapping, the time-warp Victorian terraces of Bermondsey.

That is why I’m taking my call to arms from an event planned for 14 September this year. The Heritage of London trust is joining up with a wide range of churches in London to put on Ride+Stride. The event aims to raise the profile of churches as a part of our shared London heritage.

The idea is you plan a route round as many churches as you can (or other places of worship, such as temples and mosques; this is not a partisan event) and get your friends to sponsor you. You can nominate half the money raised for your favourite Ride+Stride building, and the other half goes to the Heritage of London Trust to go into a special grant fund dedicated to supporting all historic places of worship in London. 

Many of these buildings are hidden in backstreets and rarely open to the public; yet they are all the ultimate expression of the architectural ambition of the communities that built them. From chapels, to cathedrals, to concrete blocks, many are listed buildings and none of them gets any direct state support to help with the cost of maintaining them for future generations.

The aim I have on 14 September, and the aim that I think should be cajoling all London cyclists into action, is the opportunity for serendipity to lead us into the unexplored backwaters of our City, or into a building you know well from the outside, but have never entered; seeing the everyday from the other side. That’s what weekends are for, right?

So how do I break the bad habit of recent years and get back in the saddle? Middle management largesse gives me the wherewithal to buy a brand new Bianchi and the Assos outfit and clip-ons to match. It also gives me some extra inches round the waist. I see the vision of that lumbering, park-bound executive looming up on my inside. No thanks! 

It’s to the back of my mum’s garage for me, armed with spanners, inner tubes and a can of 3-in-1, to resurrect that rusty steed of all those years ago, together with the thrill of discovery that went with it. See you there.

http://www.heritageoflondon.com/

http://www.london.anglican.org/mission/ride-and-stride 

https://www.facebook.com/LondonRideStride

There has been a lot of negative reporting about cycling in London recently, due to some tragic road accidents involving cyclists. Inevitably, campaign groups have seized upon the incidents, demanding safer street layouts for bikes.

I’ve got nothing against safer streets, but I’m not sure about the helpfulness of either the reports or the campaigners’ (some being highly paid professional marketers) outraged responses.

If every road casualty – involving drivers, passengers or pedestrians – were remarked upon similarly in the media, there would be no space for any other news or views. It seems to me that exceptionalism when it comes cycling accidents is simply sensationalism, pandering to Joe Public’s neurotic fear of riding a bicycle.

Needless to say, such provocation is especially counterproductive when it comes from cycling campaigners themselves. I am reminded of this every time I see one of those white ‘ghost bikes’ chained to railings beside the road where a cycling fatality has occurred. Surely these protests backfire, by reinforcing the majority’s spurious view that cycling is too dangerous. In any case, why not create a shrine for every other road casualty?

And why stop there? What about a shrine on every spot where a heart attack or stroke victim fell? This, indeed, would presumably be more helpful to the cycling cause, since it would remind people about the importance of having a healthy lifestyle and getting plenty of exercise.  

Studies have shown that cycling protects against heart disease, stroke, obesity, dementia, diabetes, high blood pressure and some cancers, and supports healthy bones, muscles, joints and even sleep patterns. If only facts like these were drummed into the public consciousness, day in, day out, rather than the depressing inevitability of a tiny handful of devastating cycling accidents.

This week I came across a wonderful new organization which is seeking to promote cycling’s health benefits. Bike 4 Cancer was set up by a group of keen cyclists who have all lost a family member or close friend to cancer.  In addition to supporting research into the positive effects of exercise on health, this charity also provides days out and respite breaks for British families living with cancer (some of which are cycling related) and makes grants to palliative care centres.

All in all, inspiring and essential work. So I was more than happy to help promote a special event being run by Bike 4 Cancer. They are calling for people from all over London and the South-East to join them on Sunday the 8th of September 2013 for a London to Brighton bike ride.

The 56 mile ride starts in Clapham Common and travels through Mitcham, Carshalton, Chipstead, Banstead and Haywards Heath before finishing opposite Brighton Pier. Over 5,000 cyclists are expected to take part.

The route has been specifically designed to take cyclists through some of the most beautiful countryside in the South of England. Before reaching Brighton, riders will tackle the infamous Ditchling Beacon – the highest point in the County of East Sussex at 814 feet above sea level!

Andy Nicholson, Director of Services at Bike 4 Cancer said “The London to Brighton bike ride is one of the classic charity challenges in the UK. This ride is open to all riders over the age of 16 and is perfect for aspiring cyclists or even hardened racers”.

He continued, “We’re encouraging people from all over London and the South-East to get on their bikes 4 cancer.  So why not get a group of friends or work colleagues together and join in the fun. We can even help with bike hire and transport back from Brighton after the ride”.

Andy concluded, “Given the emerging evidence that exercise can help us to reduce our chances of contracting some of the most common forms of cancer, this charity bike ride is a great opportunity to get active.  You’ll also be helping people who are living with cancer in the UK now”.

A £35 registration fee applies which includes a buffet lunch and breakdown assistance. Everyone who completes the ride will receive a medal. In addition to the entry fee, riders are asked to raise a minimum sponsorship fund of £100.

To enter Bike 4 Cancer’s London to Brighton bike ride, simply visit: http://www.bike4cancer.org/london-to-brighton-bike-ride-2013

Interesting and important press release from the boys and girls in blue... 

Bike thefts are on the increase in the City of London – don’t make it easy for thieves to get away with your bike.

Take a look at our short YouTube clips to see just how easy it can be to steal a bike, and find out what you can do to give cycle thieves a rough ride.

Our resident cycling expert, PCSO Scott Green, talks you through the best bike security options and how you can secure your bike to make it as hard as possible for someone to lift your pride and joy.

Watch our cycle security awareness videos now and visit our website for further cycle security information.