Cycle Confident

New Barclays Cycle Hire safety video

cycleconfident — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 10:54:36 +0000

Have a look at the below video if you would like to know a little more information about keeping safe on the Barclays hire bikes.

Remember, the City of Westminster offers free cycle training to anyone who would like to feel more confident cycling in the borough.

Watch out!

cycleconfident — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 09:30:56 +0000

Some think that cycling in London is dangerous, check out the below link….
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15265569

Cycling out of recession

cycleconfident — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 09:10:43 +0000

In the words of one of our instructors

“Looks like it might be down to us cyclists to pull the world out of the double dip…..”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14610857

Blue Print for Boris

cycleconfident — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 11:14:21 +0000

Perhaps our London Mayor, Boris Johnston, could take a leaf out of Mayor Arturas Zuokas book!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14380367

An amusing Video

cycleconfident — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 18:01:35 +0000

It seems Manhattan has the same problems as London with blocking up cycle lanes. I’ve never heard of someone being fined though!

The below video is amusing…

My First Time Trial

daveshannon — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:22:01 +0000

I’d read about the Hardriders 25 in Tim Hilton’s One More Kilometre and We’re in the Showers. The race is 25 miles over roads in south Hertfordshire that I often ride at the weekends. So I thought I’d have a go. You need to be a member of a cycling club to enter a TT, but that is easy enough. After an enjoyable club run to West Wycombe, I joined the Gregarios Superclub Ciclista (£15) and entered.

The Hardriders 25 is pretty hard. The first five miles or so takes you over three steep inclines. And it’s kind of up and down from there on. Rarely flat. No worries, I did a few practice runs. However, on the day, owing to some roadworks, the early part of the course was excluded, making it a Hardriders 19 – or Almost-as-Hardriders 19.

A time trial feels like a very British happening. A kindly lady gives you your race number, old gents put the times on a big board and you get a free cup of tea at the end. You have to pay if you want cake (I did). Just to complete the eccentricity, there is this thing called Standard Vets Time – the time you are expected to do for your age. From start to finish this race was superbly organised by the North Road Riders Cycling Club.

You queue to get the start line in single file, race number order. Super carbon TT bikes are all around. “Welcome to the arms race,” says one racer to a newcomer. I creep forward on my steel road bike to the line and decline the marshal’s offer to hold me up – as track riders are.

No drafting is allowed in a time trial, you have to do it on your own. They even separate club mates in the starting order in case you’re tempted. TTs are sometimes called the race of truth. The truth is it’s a mad dash, but for 25 miles I thought I could bear it. Well, when the results went up on the big board, I found out I didn’t win the Lantern Rouge, a £5 booby prize for coming last. In fact I came 66th out of the 69 entrants. For me the truth was a 1:04:26 time and a fair bit of fun.

I don’t think I’ll get an aero bike and enter the arms race, but I would like to make this local time trial part of my annual fixture list.

– David Shannon

Nightrider Event- Saturday 11th June 2011

cycleconfident — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:42:22 +0000

The London Nightride is on the 11th June and takes you on a 100km route past over fifty of London’s most famous landmarks including Tower Bridge, a deserted City of London, Canary Wharf, The London Eye, Hampstead Heath, Piccadilly Circus, the House of Parliament and Buckingham Palace.

Places are full, however, one of our recent trainees has two spare places available if you are willing to support and ride for the charity Vital for Children. Entry has to be confirmed by 29th April so act fast!

For more information visit their website or contact Yvonne directly at yvonne.neuman@vitalforchildren.org

Have a great ride!

Help save cyclists’ lives

cycleconfident — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 18:57:00 +0000

Tomorrow, cyclists will gather petition signatures at nine London locations to protest against preventable deaths caused by HGVs.

Sites in Westminster are Hyde Park Corner and Wellington Street.

7.30-10am and 4-7pm on Wed 30 March

Come along and help support this worthwhile initiative.

The Next generation bicycle

cycleconfident — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 17:02:25 +0000

Technology has changed many things but the commodities and processes required for bicycle production over the years has remained fairly consistent. Metal (or some derivative of) and rubber combined with a skillful hand and we are pretty much there. Who would have thought Nylon and lasers could be the new way to manufacture bicycles?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12664422

The goal posts are always changing, who knows what we’ll be riding in the next decade!

Where are we cycling?

cycleconfident — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 10:18:07 +0000

Boris’s bikes have now provided keen cyclists with over 1million journeys in the capital, but where are they all going?

TfL commissioned this map which shows the first 1 million flows by the London Cycle Hire scheme. If nothing else it looks pretty!

Happy new Year to all!