First time riding in central

A bit of a random post but I want to share my experiences riding through central london yesterday, it was my first time riding as I normally take the tube. I really enjoyed the ride from Roehampton to Victoria, its a nice route. I did find that trying to see where I was going was much harder than driving as you don't really ever stop apart from lights so i kept missing signs telling me where to go, I could have done with a bike satnav!

I was using a lot of those new blue cycle lanes, do other people feel that they are quite a slidey surface? I noticed quite a few roads that had blue squares with a bike in it and CS8 underneath, what does that mean? They were in the middle of the road down pretty quite routes.

I encountered a few idiots on the road, one being an Addison Lee taxi who seem to pop up a lot for being arse's on the road. The other was a guy in a mercedes who signalled me to move over when I was in the same position in the road when there was a separated cycle lane on the road that ended as the road got quieter. There was nowhere for me to move over too :s. There were some very polite motorists though, I'm not car hating!

All in all though it was good fun especially flying past all the mugs revving it up trying to gain 5"s all the time. It was incredibly hot on the roads, must be all the pollution etc. I had black nostrils when I got back to the countryside, was still good though and I enjoyed it.

Probably no interest to anyone but I thought I would share my experiences of a rider used to country roads and towns than big city riding.

Addison Lee taxis are always the worst.

Good to hear your overall experience was good.

As far as a know, the blue squares indicate which Cycle Superhighway you are on. The quieter roads don't need the blue lanes but are still part of the scheme.

Don't get put off by the twats, just keep your wits about you, they're having a bad day, no need to let them ruin yours.

The blue boxes with CS8 on them are probably the markers designating the road you're on as part of the Cycle Superhighway #8 - on quiet roads there's no real point in putting a cycle lane in, but the route is still marked out.

I have yet to ride properly in central london - cycled through London Bridge for the first time last Tuesday, though. Had The Fear then and no mistake. Too many big vehicles for my liking. Plus I'm a big pussy. There, I said it. My name is bothwell and I am a big pussy!

Addison Lee taxis are always the worst.

They one I encountered was weaving around all over the place making it impossible for me to pass without fear of getting knocked off. Most private taxi's are arse's on the roads, they are the same where I live. I found the black cabs quite friendly and polite though!

Nice experience report Chris_tim. You think you'll keep up the town riding? It gets better and better the more you do it. You'll learn to love the Black cabbies and addison lee guys and get respect from from the bus drivers. May be worth getting some skills tips to make your town riding EVEN more fun with some free skills training

i was wondering about the blue stuff the other day, it was just like paint on the chelsea embankment, bit further up it was like they mixed sand in it for grip, maybe it's not finished yet

was a bit of a pain really, it was wet and i had to go pretty slow, given that the dedicated cycle lane was almost as wide as a car lane it would have been rude to use the car lane I think

Good to hear your overall experience was good.

As far as a know, the blue squares indicate which Cycle Superhighway you are on. The quieter roads don't need the blue lanes but are still part of the scheme.

Don't get put off by the twats, just keep your wits about you, they're having a bad day, no need to let them ruin yours.

I found it easier than riding where I live as motorists are far move used to seeing cyclists on the road. Where I live people just dont think and try over taking on blind corners almost causing accidents then get angry at me for inhibiting their "Progress". I will be doing it more in future as I plan on moving to London next year so I want to brush up my knowledge of the routes before hand.

The blue boxes with CS8 on them are probably the markers designating the road you're on as part of the Cycle Superhighway #8 - on quiet roads there's no real point in putting a cycle lane in, but the route is still marked out.

I have yet to ride properly in central london - cycled through London Bridge for the first time last Tuesday, though. Had The Fear then and no mistake. Too many big vehicles for my liking. Plus I'm a big pussy. There, I said it. My name is bothwell and I am a big pussy!

Thanks for clearing that up for me, I wasn't sure what I was meant to do in terms of road positions or wether I should be doing something differently. Traffic is all part of the fun, I like tussling with busses and such :).

Nice experience report Chris_tim. You think you'll keep up the town riding? It gets better and better the more you do it. You'll learn to love the Black cabbies and addison lee guys and get respect from from the bus drivers. May be worth getting some skills tips to make your town riding EVEN more fun with some free skills training

Definately, I prefer riding in towns as I feel safer because people are less eager to try and overtake you at every opportunity that isn't there. I will check out that link later, just heading out :).

Cheers for the positive comments and help folks!

i was wondering about the blue stuff the other day, it was just like paint on the chelsea embankment, bit further up it was like they mixed sand in it for grip, maybe it's not finished yet

I get the feeling they've forgotten about certain bits. There's a bit in Kennington that's still just paint with no grip coating applied and it's been like that for at least six months. It can be a little slippery in the wet but not as bad as it may look, seems like the paint is a bit rubberised. Certainly nothing in comparison to the joys of a wet manhole cover haha.

I feel like the biggest threat in central London are pedestrians...taxis too but people just walk on the road without looking and everyone is always in a rush.

I don't get up to town much these days, but yesterday (on a brilliant forum coffee ride) noticed these areas of v-smooth blue tracks. Thought they would be slippery in the wet, but they are a great, really fast surface in the dry! V-low rolling resistance.

^^ defo ped warning. Bee- cycling for 40 years and only knocked over twice, both times by peds stepping out without looking.

When I first started riding in city centres I found it near impossible to keep an eye on road signs to navigate...was too preoccupied with looking out for twats and traffic lights.

It is second nature now though, I think its an experience thing that gets better the more you do it.

Noticed the same thing when I started driving, it's just an acclimatisation to doing something new where there's a lot of Things all clamouring for your attention at once.

Since cycling I have at least got better at spotting the 'no entry' signs on one way roads, thank god.

You will be swearing like a cunt within a week

I've taken to yelling at pedestrians who step out with their eyes closed / talking on mobile / fumbling with purse / staring in the opposite direction to oncoming traffic. I genuinely felt bad about the woman I scared half to death near shepherds bush market but goddamn it was her or me and I'm not going to hospital for someone else's negligence.

Nice thread and all that but please, one point of pedantry.

It is Central London as you say in your post and not "Central" as you say in the title. "Central" is a part of Hong Kong. Central London is divided between the West End and The City. Collectively they are known as Central London and never Central.

Hope this is clear.

[/pedantry]

But this is London FGSS

(I know many people who post here aren't in London, but I think it's totally fine to just say 'central'...)

No it's not.

Believe me.

^^^

I was on Lillie Road and I knew this woman was going to cross at the zebra without looking as she stepped onto it I shouted "look first" I think she did a wee. Five seconds later two men stepped out and began crossing while chatting without a glance causing a fuck and a cunt from me.

[/CSB]

When people step out without looking I amuse myself by rding just behind then and saying "whoosh". Oh how they jump and oh how I laugh. Except of course when the chap decided to step backwards....

Ha I will definitely do that from now on.

It took me 6 months to master the no handed double bird flipping manouver. It all comes with time.

6 months?

There are short cuts to learning the secrets of the road