Cycle campaigning

Please take a moment to sign this petition to stop heavy lorries on the Brook Drive section of Cycle Superhighway 7 (Elephant and Castle):

http://www.change.org/petitions/southwark-council-and-transport-for-london-stop-heavy-lorries-on-the-brook-drive-section-of-cycle-superhighway-7?utm_campaign=friend_inviter_modal&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition

So annoyed by this. It's the one bit of my commute along stinking CS7 that I actually like because it's got trees and that and is calm and pleasant. Gonna be ruined now. The fuckers.

CS7 is HGV heaven.

I know HGV account for 2-5% of the traffic in London, but on CS7, it doesn't felt like it.

Dear Reader
Over the past few months you have helped us highlight more than 10,000 cycling blackspots as part of our Cities fit for Cycling campaign.
Today, Norman Baker, the Transport Minister, announced that your findings will be used to help allocate £15 million of funding to improve dangerous road junctions outside of London. We couldn't have done this without your contributions.
As part of our commitment to bring about real change, we have presented those hazards to the worst affected cities and boroughs across the country, including Westminster, Lambeth, Bristol, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Leeds, Cambridge, Sheffield, Newcastle, Manchester and Cardiff.
Now we need your help to pressurise local councillors into taking action.
Wherever you live, please take a minute to go to this page thetim.es/cyclesafe-local, type your postcode into the envelope and email one of your local representatives, asking them to bid for funding to improve key junctions in your area.
Thank you once again for your support.

that's about £50k per authority if spread evenly I think? won't buy much more than a tin of paint really (after consultants have been engaged for feasibility studies etc).

The recent release of TfL stastic turn out to he terrifying.

http://cyclelondoncity.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/33-more-pedestrians-60-more-cyclists.html?m=1

Please take a moment to sign this petition to stop heavy lorries on the Brook Drive section of Cycle Superhighway 7 (Elephant and Castle):

http://www.change.org/petitions/southwark-council-and-transport-for-london-stop-heavy-lorries-on-the-brook-drive-section-of-cycle-superhighway-7?utm_campaign=friend_inviter_modal&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition

Duly Signed work in Southwark and happy to add my bit to make our roads safer
L

From : http://openourtowpath.wordpress.com/

Open Our Towpath Demo

The Lea towpath from Homerton to Bow has been closed from now (ie 23 days before the Opening Ceremony!) until September as a so-called “security” measure for the Olympics. This is a heavily-used green lane through East London and there can be no rational reason for it to be closed this far ahead of the games, or even during them.
LOCOG and the police claim, despite 6m high electric fences and cameras, that the path is closed for security reasons. This is forcing cyclists onto busy roads, denying local residents access to recreational space and sending out a hypocritical Olympic message.
We are holding a peaceful demonstration/picnic THIS SUNDAY 8TH JULY at midday on the towpath under the bridge. We really need as many people there as possible to help show how many of us are affected by this – local residents, cyclists, walkers, families, commuters ….
Bring a picnic to share, placards, and as many like-minded folk as you can muster to show our displeasure at this unnecessary and unfair closure
Map of where to meet https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=213567817490052377780.0004c419fce4296f99503&msa=0
We hope to see you there!
@OpenOurTowpath
http://www.facebook.com/events/438043909563546/

How did this go Zebs?

MM

Is there a nightmare street or junction near you?

On 27 April Boris Johnson committed to delivering three flagship Go Dutch
walking and cycling projects during his next mayoralty.
Recently the Mayor proposed Vauxhall Cross and Greenwich as two of his
favoured locations to Go Dutch.

Now we want YOU to tell us the places you think are most in need of a Go
Dutch makeover...
Perhaps its an iconic central London place like Oxford Street or Kings
Cross, or an outer London location such as Streatham High Road or Croydon
town centre?

Either way, please take 30 seconds to give us your suggestions, which
we'll present to the London Assembly transport committee cycling scrutiny
on 11 July so the Mayor knows exactly where Londoners want to Go Dutch.
SHOW US YOUR LOCATION
http://lcc.org.uk/pages/go-dutch-locations

After I read this Time Out article, I wrote this:

Dear Time Out Magazine

I write with considerable concern about an article on commuter cycling in your current issue.

On pages 18 and 19 a new cyclist, Michael Hodges, describes in mostly negative terms, his commute by bicycle from Sydenham to Tottenham Court Road. He describes this experience so negatively, anyone who reads this piece who may have been considering cycling would be totally put off doing so. Indeed if I wasn't a seasoned cyclist, I would have serious doubts myself.

My group, Southwark Cyclists, together with other local groups, has been working hard with the Council to develop quiet routes across the borough and up in to central London so that no matter how inexperienced Mr. Hodges is, with a small amount of research (and I might add, some basic bicycle maintenance), he could easily have followed a more pleasant, quieter route, thus avoiding the gyratories and buses the introductory paragraph cites so emotively, which would have taken him far less than two hours. With a proper fitting saddle he could also have avoided the discomfort that created. Some certified cycle training with CycleInstructor.com or CTUK would also be a tremendous investment of his time.

Given that as a group and as individuals we invest so much time in to debunking the myths and showing people the many benefits of cycling which is by far the fastest, cheapest, healthiest, most reliable mode of transport in London, and statistically safer than driving or even walking, it is a real shame this article presents such a needlessly negative picture, particularly at a time when our roads are being pushed to their absolute capacity by the Olympics Games Lanes plus all the extra visitors to the city.

Furthermore, your tips for finding a cycling buddy are probably not the best tips for someone just starting out on their bike who is keen to develop enough stamina for a sub 10 mile commute. Dunwich Dynamo, Friday Night Ride to the Coast and even Critical Mass are superb in their own right, but would not be where I would recommend a complete newbie to head to first. Maybe a Southwark Cyclists Healthy Ride, a CTC one star/easier ride, an LCC borough group ride, some of the London Fixed Gear Single Speed forum rides, or even a local Skyride (except I think they make people wear helmets) would be far better options for a beginner.

I hope you read this email in the helpful spirit in which it is intended. I would be more than happy to discuss this matter further with you or even take Mr. Hodges on a ride myself to show him how magnificent cycling through London can be.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Crawford

Coordinator, Southwark Cyclists

Hodges has form.

2007: "Two-wheeled fascism: the trouble with London's cyclists"

2009: Don't Pity the Cyclist

^ I'm actually speechless, for a change.

Oh, it's that same guy again. Ignore him. Like all attention-seekers, he'll go away if you can't be bothered.

Alex,

Good letter

Zebs

You get a response?

No yet, just an acknowledgement.

I'm taken aback by this Hodges fellow. I'm going on a one man boycott of Time Out after reading those articles, as I don't want to pay money towards any publication who prints such bizarre and inflammatory opinions as these.

This quote displays my reasoning pretty well I think.

"Cycling is alien to the culture of London and always has been. London is a place for thinking, not for working out; the worship of the body rather than the brain, which is fundamental to cycling, is essentially at odds with what being a Londoner is all about. London is also a city for nipping across the road and between cars."

What a clown.

As Oliver says :

Ignore him. Like all attention-seekers, he'll go away if you can't be bothered.

Sadly, he's a fairly typical columnist: Knowingly smug yet self-effacing, privileged but faux-ignorant.

It's not surprising that he's won several awards including Columnist of the Year 2010.

Columnists are paid to generate controversies that will sell copies. To that end, they're often disingenuous, emotionally crass, or wilfully stupid. Ignore them.

Is everyone on LFGSS a wannabe columnist, often disingenuous, emotionally crass, or wilfully stupid?

If it took him 2 hours to go 6 miles, he's doing it wrong...

I came here for cycle camping ;(

The link to the original article isn't working for me. I'd like to read it, but I definitely don't want to buy Time Out ever, even more so after hearing about this. Anyone have an updated link? Or just want to copy and paste the text? ;)

I came here for*** camp cycling*** ;(

You mean for stuff like this?