London Cycle Hire

Do they play you a series of adverts while you wait?

I would have thought that Camden- being a large tourist hub would attract a few more bike stands, although I suppose they are scared of drunken friday night vandals.

I would have thought that Camden- being a hub of scumbags, is the last place you'd want to leave a load of expensive bikes!

I would have thought that Camden- being a large tourist hub would attract a few more bike stands,

I would have thought that Camden - being outside the congestion charging zone - is already getting special treatment by having any stations at all.

where did you hear about the congestion charging zone/bike hire scheme overlap? I'm assuming it's buried in some tfl document.

where did you hear about the congestion charging zone/bike hire scheme overlap? I'm assuming it's buried in some tfl document.

from comparing the cycle scheme map to the congestion charge map I see a number of stands which are outside the congestion charge

i just wanted to know the official line...i.e. was the original plan that the bike hire would fall within the congestion charging zone, or was there some other criteria. Clearly it isn't the congestion zone. I must have read about it somewhere but for the life of me i cannot remember where.

where did you hear about the congestion charging zone/bike hire scheme overlap?

It's an observation rather than any knowledge of an official plan - clearly the mapping on the cycle zone onto the CC zone is not a precise one.

Piper (my dog) was an immediate fan of the cycle hire scheme key

what is inside that thing...a chip or something?

RFID, it's miniature... the plastic is just a housing for it. It's smaller than the chip on your credit card.

Kinda like the one in Oyster card?

Precisely.

Smaller than the one that tracks your every move?

eeek

I thought the Cycle Hire bikes were consigned more or less to Zone 1? Not the CC zone.

Haha!

There's a fairly close correlation between Zone 1 and the CC Zone anyway. Somebody with skillz needs to overlay the 3 maps for us.

Smaller than the one that tracks your every move?

That's Nectar cards.

Unless your ex girlfriend works on the Oyster helpline and works out that you must be living in south east London now and gets back in touch to see if you want to "maybe go out for a drink "if you ever find yourself in the area..."

The Princess tried the bikes yesterday. She says they're built to try to fit everyone so at 5'11 she found them a bit small. She also confirms that the gearing is very, very spinny. No other copmplaints from her first ride though.

She's a short-hop cyclist, so she doesn't ride all the way from A to B, she tends to train-and-bike. Her plan is to use BorisBikes for any short hops across town and keep her bike here at home, rather than one bike at work and a spare one at home. She reckons it'll give her more flexibility.

And it's definitely encouraging some newbies to cycle in town. She's taking a friend out next week to show her a quiet-ish route from Green Park to Tower. And that's someone who's never ridden in London before, who's decided to start because of the BorisBikes. So if that "official seal of approval" thing is happening for a lot of people, my view is it will break the ice for people previously worried about the roads who'll then be happier to hit the streets on their own bike once they're used to it.

With a key - very easy to use.

As noted above, check to see if the back brake isn't too tight before removing but apart from that a lovely system.

There aren't enough spots near London Bridge and the only bike near Marylebone was super tight this morning - it was easier to walk to another spot - I'm sure that will change.

There is something quite satisfying about getting the little print out when you finish that says "7m 58s"

There is something quite satisfying about getting the little print out when you finish that says "7m 58s"

More reasons to have an Alleycat

I've been waiting for the first LFGSS cycle hire alley cat.

We were in the pub the other night when our friend turned up with a couple of keys, so being a bit tipsy decided to take them for a test ride.

Alas it seems short skirts and the hire bikes are not a great mix (or the best ever mix depending on how you look at it), 30 seconds up the road and I nearly crashed from literally crying with laughter:

3 G&T's + Bicycle hire =

Short skirt?

More like what skirt?!

Bet that turned a few heads

It was quite some spectacle.

We started off fine, but about 30 second up the road her dress started riding up, a minute later and it was all 'Hello boys!"

I think the warm summer and gin was kicking in though, plus I was demanding to be able to take a picture, for posterity's sake, whilst trying not to crash.

I was demanding to be able to take a picture, for posterity's sake, whilst trying not to crash.

posterior's sake?

badoom tish!