Here's a riddle for you. It glows in the dark and rolls around the city in a funny hat and shorts. What is it? For anyone living in London this will be a no-brainer. For most dutch people , however, this may sound a bit mysterious. Well, let me solve the mystery for you guys: the correct answer is 'a London cyclist'. Every day on my way to College I get to enjoy the amazing spectacle of watching these borderline suicidal people working their way through traffic. By far most of them wear some sort of fluorescent yellow clothing of the kind that in the Netherlands only police men or road workers would dare to be seen in. The outfit is generally complemented with a sturdy biking helmet. The worst of them all though are the ones who, despite the fact that it is only February, go around treating the whole city to a glimpse of their milky white legs. Trust me, it isn't a pretty sight!
Cycling in London is on the rise and more and more people are abandoning the tube to pedal their way to work instead. One of the reasons that is frequently quoted for this is the London bombings of 7/7/2005. Ironically, people have traded in the very slim chance of getting blown to smithereens in the underground for the far more realistic chance of getting squashed above ground on the tremendously congested roads of London. Let me illustrate my point... In total the London bombings, which hit 3 tube trains and 1 bus, took the lives of 52 people. Two weeks later another 4 bombs were set off on the underground but this time the explosives did not fully detonate and nobody was seriously injured. Since then it has been quiet in those tunnels down below. So to sum it up: in the last 19 months 52 people have been killed by terrorist actions in public transport. The number of fatalities amongst cyclists, however, is far more alarming. According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents here in the UK, in 2004 alone 134 cyclists were killed in traffic and many more were injured. As the number of cyclists has increased dramatically since then, it seems only fair to assume that so has the number of casualties. Mmm, you do the maths on that one and tell me what you would put your money on.
Getting run down by road raged bus drivers or cabbies is not the only danger faced by London cyclists. This morning I read in the Economist that apparently London has the most polluted air in all of Europe and that yearly about 1,000 people die from inhaling this toxic atmosphere. Small wonder so many cyclists around here wear these odd looking face masks that give me the creepy feeling I'm in Hong Kong during a SARS outbreak.
As a dutch girl who for years has braved the elements cycling to school, work or wherever, I have seriously considered getting a bike here too but with the odds so heavily stacked against me I have decided not to do it. The bus and the tube get me where I want to go just fine and my college is close by enough for me to walk, the British weather permitting. Fair enough, the public transport doesn't come cheap but what does in this town? I'd rather be poor but alive than sprawled out on the city pavement with a few extra pounds in my pocket...
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6 comments:
Oh dear, cycling in London is so much fun and really low risk especially if you know what you're doing. Get some cycle training, check ouy www.cycletraining.co.uk a great company that teaches people in a such a cool way. They don't insist on any special gear apart from a roadworthy bike.
Hi skydancer (do we know each other?!), nice to find out somebody is actually reading this.
I'm not too worried about my own cycling abilities having lived and cycled in Amsterdam for 8 years, dodging tram tracks, tourists and all kinds of weather conditions. It's the OTHER people out there on the road I'm worried about here in London. At least in Holland drivers are so completely used to cyclists that your risk of being run off the road is not very high. Here in London on the other hand cyclists appear to be nothing but a moving target. I've lived in London for about 4 months now and in that time I have already seen 3 of these roadside memorials appear on my daily commute... I think I'll stick to sitting all the way up in the front of those nice big red double decker busses for now! :)
Hi there,thyra.
You're right there is nothing we can do about other people, apart from ensure they see us and understand what we are and where we are going. We can do this by communicating well and making eye conact and good road positioning, it's using cycling body language... and it can be learnt. Bike risk can be minimised by 2 hours of training. I challenge you to try it. shame to lose all the health/financial/psycological,benefits of cycling coz of fear of something you can control ....and what about the sheer enjoyment?..?
Wow, you really do take this cycling thing very seriously! Let me guess: you actually offer these trainings? :) Like I said before though, I'm quite used to cycling around cities but I just don't see much added value in it here. It would perhaps be different if I didn't have easy access to public transport but I do. The financial gains would also not be so big for me. The bicycles people have around here are of a distinctly different, or in your words: more roadworthy, quality than the ones I've been cycling around with for years. In Amsterdam the strategy is to get a bike worth about 15 euros and put a lock on worth 70 euros or it'll be gone in a heartbeat. Over here people put on 5 pound locks on 400 euro bikes! I suspect there is a big gap in the market for bike thiefs in London. The bike I left behind in A'dam might very well collapse at any moment so I would have to buy a new bike just for here and as I'm a poor student these days I don't have that kind of money to churn out. As for the health benefits... well, there's always the gym if I could make the effort to go. But who knows, maybe one day! If that day ever comes, I'll make sure to put it up here on my blog, promise. One final, off-topic thing: I'm still very curious: do we actually know each other or did you just stumble on my blog randomly?
You're right i work for cycle training uk, a not-for-profit worker's co-operative. CTUK exists to promote sutainable transport, specifically...you guessed it, cycling.
You are making some sweeping generalisations about london cyclists and their bicycles. Some wear helmets, some don't. Some wear cycling gear others wear normal clothes. Some ride £2000 racing bikes and others £50 argos bikes or steel dutch bikes...the beauty is there is room for anyone who wants to get around on 2 wheels for whatever reason on London roads.
Well I fear that I sound like a bike obssesive...cycling is the way i move around, earn money (and incidentally keep fit-the idea of running on a treadmill in a gym is inimaginative and so tedious).
I do have many other interests though... really(-;
...so do we know each other? well we have never met. Came accross your Blog by chance, however we know a little about each other from this exchange, i know a little more about you through reading your blog.
(I live in LB of Hackney -the borough with the highest number of cyclists).
Hi there again!
haha, that sure explains a lot! Already thought you were being oddly touchy on the subject.
Of course I make some generalisations, otherwise this wouldn't be fun to read, now would it? But trust me, go to Amsterdam once and you'll see the difference for yourself. Help me out here my dear Dutch and Dutch-by-proxy friends: Has ANY of you ever even considered cycling around the city with a helmet on (well, except for the one of you who tried to take on a tram maybe...)?! I'm not anti-cycling at all. In fact, I love cycling around Amsterdam and I do wish more people would ride bicyles rather than sit in their toxic cars. However, I do still think London is a very bike-unfriendly place.
Can't promise you I'll write many more entries on cycling but if I ever do change my mind and want to get myself a bicycle, I'll know who to turn to now! Maybe see you around on this site?
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