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Topic: Cycling London (and thereabouts)  (Read 2290 times)

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Cycling London (and thereabouts)
« on: September 02, 2011, 05:56:01 PM »
Years ago when I lived in London I started cycling to work. My commute was pretty easy - about 6 miles each way from Richmond to Kensington. I had a mountain bike so I could have fun along the tow path and get a bit muddy on my way home -- so cathartic!

Since living back in LA I've branched out to road bikes. I haven't in a while, but we'd take our bikes out of town, pop them on the car, and go cycling through Santa Barbara wine country. I really look forward to putting the bike on a train and doing the same! And since my fairly expensive road bike couldn't be shifted on Craigslist for an amount that made it worth selling, I am boxing it up and shipping it to London with me so I am going to make the most of it since I won't be working right away.

So I am going to be putting my little road bike Gia (the Giant) through its paces and found this really great link in one of the blogs I follow regularly to 25-40 mile bike rides easily reached by train from London. So I thought I'd share in case there are any cyclists out there:

http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/routes/road-cycling-routes-london/

Anyone else have any great suggestions for bike rides? Maybe any cycling clubs? Or even just experiences you want to share with cycling in London? 


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Re: Cycling London (and thereabouts)
« Reply #1 on: September 07, 2011, 04:16:29 PM »
I guess nobody replied? I am an avid about biking myself....I attend the monthly critical mass events here in Detroit as often as I can. I try to ride my bike often, going on nightly rides through the streets. One of the things that saddens me about my potential move to England is how unsafe it seems to be riding a bike in England (well at least my boyfriend's town). I would love to be able to bike while I am there but I'll be an hour train ride from London.  :(


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Re: Cycling London (and thereabouts)
« Reply #2 on: September 07, 2011, 04:20:45 PM »
Oh and if you didn't know about Critical Mass, they are monthly mass bike rides throughout major cities in the world, usually the last Friday of every month. I'm pretty sure London has one or at least something similar.


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Re: Cycling London (and thereabouts)
« Reply #3 on: September 08, 2011, 06:05:45 AM »
I suppose there are no cyclists here but us!

I will be honest, i've never been a fan of the critical mass, midnight ridazz types of rides/groups. Here in LA cyclists are looked down upon because of the actions some of these groups once took before the LAPD finally decided not to crack down on them and instead started escorting them. I much prefer the groups that are after long rides and fitness rather than the social aspect. But I am getting old.  ;D

One of the things that saddens me about my potential move to England is how unsafe it seems to be riding a bike in England (well at least my boyfriend's town). I would love to be able to bike while I am there but I'll be an hour train ride from London.  :(

I actually feel quite safe cycling in London. Maybe it's because of the volume of cyclists on the road, but I always felt super confident there. In LA I feel far less safe, even though my commute is on a wide tree lined street with lots of room for the bike lane, I feel like people here don't "get" sharing the road. Cyclists too; the ones that don't follow the rules make it harder for the rest of us. There are more road rage type accidents here than i care to count.

Anyway, point is I hope you give cycling a try. I can't imagine why your BFs town would be any more unsafe than London - although the winding country roads scare the crap out of me. I've seen how fast my FIL drives on them!

If you don't want to ride there, think of how easy it would be to put the bike on a train and go somewhere else!



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Re: Cycling London (and thereabouts)
« Reply #4 on: October 03, 2011, 03:25:06 AM »
I'm not moving close to London but I cant wait to cycle thru the countryside! I ride my commuter/fixie about 15mi to work and back...kinda disappointed in the few people interested in real cycling here in the states. Fun and a bit addicting!!!
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Re: Cycling London (and thereabouts)
« Reply #5 on: October 03, 2011, 07:44:20 PM »
kinda disappointed in the few people interested in real cycling here in the states. Fun and a bit addicting!!!

Completely agree. Though there are pockets, depending on where you live, I guess. Los Angeles is getting better - but it's taken a lot of activism (not on my part though) in order to get more bike lanes etc.

I've shipped my road bike over and have already decided that I am just going to have to get a cheap runaround as well - as I'm not locking up my Giant outside! Definitely a bit too fancy for everyday use. What a bummer.  ;D


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