London Urban Cycling

Free servicing of bicycles for London business

Thursday 8 Apr 2010 by admin | 1 Comment
Filed under: Bicycle maintenence, Cycle Routes Tags: bike mechanic London, bike repair london, boris johnson, city of london cycling, cycle lanes, cycle lanes london, cycle london, cycle safety london, cycle superhighway, cycle training, cycling london, great cycle route, london cycle repairs, london cycle superhighway, london dr bike, london urban cycling, safe cycle route london, Safer route, TfL, Transport for London, urban cycling, woman cycling london

Thank you Boris Johnson! As part of the new cycle superhighway initiative in London, TfL (Transport For London) is giving away a bonanza of freebies to local businesses. London bicycle repair man

So what can you get as a business? You could get 485 bicycles serviced (that’s right a staggering 485 bicycles!) or 77 new bicycle stands or one on one training for up to 55 members of staff. Too good to be true? Cycling Workplace Package info.

I happen to know from personal experience that the cycle servicing is happening as Cycle2Job has won a contract to do it. S0, to sign up for all your freebies go to https://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/roadusers/cycling/superhighways/default.aspx or email cyclingworkplaces@tfl.gov.uk.

Is my business eligible for the Cycling Workplace Package?

As a business within 1.5km of the new cycle superhighway and you have more than 50 employees on one site that you will be eligible.

The first cycle superhighways go between Tower Hill in the City of London across to Docklands and then on to Barking.

The other one goes from the City of London, down to London Bridge, past Elephant and Castle, down to Kennington, Stockwell, Clapham, Balham, Tooting and finally to South Wimbledon.

kennington-park-cycle-superhighway

Call to action business owners

Yes, you and I mean you! Sign up to this scheme now before the funds run out. Get a fitter, healthier workforce by encouraging them to commute to work on a bicycle. Not only that, employees will be more attracted to work for you and you could get some great PR stories by encouraging your staff to cycle to work.

Reduce your CO2 emissions by cutting down the amount of journeys carried out by your staff using cars, taxis and public transport.

Don’t forget, that Cycle2Job is here to help you get your staff cycling to work. Why not book a Dr Bike session?

Till next time…

Iain Clark, Founder and Director, Cycle2Job

Crap Cycle Lane – April 2010 – Thinnest cycle lane ever?

Wednesday 7 Apr 2010 by admin | 1 Comment
Filed under: Crap Cycle Lane, Safety Tags: bike safety, bike safety london, crap cycle lanes, crap cycle route, cycle facility of the month, cycle safety london, cycling london, Dr Bike, Dr Bike London, good cycle route, great cycle route, london dr bike, london urban cycling, urban cycling

crap-cycle-lane-april-2010 This wonderful cycle lane is made for very thin people. I particularly like the uneven road service. Ideal for getting punctures and forcing you off your bike. Turn a cyclist into a car driver any day!

This particular example can be found on the A161 in Goole.

crap-cycle-lane-april-2010-map

What do you think? Do you have any amazing cycle lanes (really, I do feature good cycle lanes) then please submit them here. Otherwise, just send in your your normal crap cycle lanes!

via Cycle Facility of the Month.

Please support our friends at Warrington Cycle Club by buying their book Crap Cycle Lanes.

If you are a London business, why not encourage your staff to cycle to work through a Dr Bike session from Cycle2Job?

Safe cycling, Iain Clark.

Top ten tips to live without a car – tip 1

Tuesday 30 Mar 2010 by admin | 2 Comments
Filed under: Life without a car Tags: bicycle money saving, bicycle parking, bicycle shop, Brompton, car free living, Cycle Parking, cycle shop, cycle to work, cycling london, cycling tip, Homebase, Life without a car, shopping on a bicycle, urban cycle living, Waitrose

Yes, I am an activist in the London cycling world, but I have a dirty secret that not many know. I am now prepared to share this secret with the world and tell all.

For the last three years, I have been driving a petrol, gas guzzling monster of a car; a BMW 728i Sports Edition. I loved my car, it drove smoothly, like a dream. The stereo was fantastic and you would arrive at your destination relaxed and not stressed. However, to fill the tank of my car cost around £100 and is usually a managed an impressive 23 miles to a gallon! BMW

Well, the car has gone, and every month I will feature a blog of how I am living without a car with top tips. This week is the supermarket shop – how can you get all that stuff on your bicycle and back home? Well, I did remember that my favourite shop Waitrose offer free trailers to their shoppers. I duly checked and from January 2010 they do offer them. I checked on their website and could not work out if they offered this service in Milton Keynes (where I happen to live). They had never heard of it! I then phoned Waitrose customer services and they said they we unsure of when the trailers would be available in my area. Come on Waitrose, have at least one trailer at every branch! By the way, you can buy your own trailer at BikeHod.

So, it was off to Waitrose on my trusty Brompton. To their credit, I have carried serious weight in the Brompton T Bag Set. So Brompti and I set off to Waitrose. The journey there was OK, but why is Milton Keynes Council not providing good cycle paths in the town centre. If you are not aware but Milton Keynes was built with a completely seperate road system for cyclists and pedestrians called red ways. However, in the centre, they are gradually destroying these cycle paths and putting hotels and supermarkets in the way. Cycle parking Waitrose

Outside Waitrose there is plenty of cycle parking. Parked up the bike and took a trolley around the shop. Did my shopping and had a lovely chat with the customer service desk. I asked why they had no bicycle trailers and she said that they may be on the way soon.

Packed up my bag at the checkout and trolleyed my now very heavy bag to the bicycle. In fact, it was a bit heavy to carry, but luckily nothing broke. I’m always surprised that a Brompton rides better with lots of weight. It cruises along with the extra weight of my weekly shop. On the way home I suddenly remembered that I had been ordered to buy a new mop by my cleaner (I know it’s lazy). I had second thoughts about adding more weight to the bicycle, buy hey ho – in for a penny in for a pound.

Went to Homebase and incredibly they also had some bicycle parking. However, it was quite a distance from the store it still worked. Got my mop and went home.

Look at all the stuff that I fitted into my bag – next time it is going to be a trailer.

Shopping in bag

What are your experiences of cycling to the shops? Please share your thoughts?

Below is the movie

Cycle to East Festival

Thursday 4 Mar 2010 by admin | No Comments
Filed under: Events Tags: cycle event london, East 2010, london, london event

If you are in London what are you up to this Friday/Saturday/Sunday/Monday/Tuesday? If you would like to cycle around London and hear some great music check out the Cycle to East Festival and see the official site here and even more details here.

Part of Cycle East, offering you the chance to catch three free gigs across three different venues, providing the perfect tonic for a lazy Sunday afternoon. Grab your bicycle, don your walking shoes or hop on a bus and move from venue to venue to also catch exuberant Eastern European sounds from the London Gypsy Orchestra at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, and austere art-pop indie exemplars Sweet Billy Pilgrim at Toynbee Studios.

Events are free and you can’t book – just get there early if you want to see anything!

Crap Cycle Lane – March 2010

Wednesday 3 Mar 2010 by admin | No Comments
Filed under: Crap Cycle Lane Tags: crap cycle lanes, crap cycle route, cycle facility of the month, cycle lanes, cycle lanes london, cycle london, cycling london, good cycle route, great cycle route, london urban cycling

crap-cycle-lane-march-2010 V6HSTDS3YKU6 Why don’t our cycle lanes in the UK offer the conveniences that are available to our fellow cyclists in Belgium. I have often been ‘caught short’ on my bike rides around London. This facility also boasts bike racks next to it so that you can lock up your bicycle when you are doing your business.

As a special treat I have just seen this cycle path in Vauxhall London. It is about 8 feet long and perfect for mowing some pedestrians down. Perfect for doing a U Turn via the traffic light.

crap_cycle-lane-march-2010-2

The lane can be found on Kennington Lane in Vauxhall, London.

Please feel free to send in your own photo’s here.

What do you think?

via Cycle Facility of the Month.

Please support our friends at Warrington Cycle Club by buying their book Crap Cycle Lanes.

Don’t forget to get you bicycle serviced for the cycle facilities.

Till next time….