Almost bottled in Elephant & Castle

This does bring up a serious consideration for the inner city cyclist though. Do you arm yourself with more than a clumsy D-Lock that you might be able to lay your hand on. A baseball bat may be a bit big for your everyday cycle bag but something with a bit of reach and some weight could do.

No, it's not a serious consideration. Shit happens, to cyclists, to pedestrians, to motorists, to people in pubs, in their homes, everywhere. It happens but it is very, very rare. It's not something to get worried about; avoid the most obvious dodgy areas as much as you can and the rest you can do very little about. The idea that we have to start arming ourselves in order to ride in London is crazy talk.