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I think most kids would love it. You see a few families on CM always. Join them!

Only thing: most tubes don't allow bikes. Overland ftw.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/tube-map-bicycles1b.pdf

..... Haven't looked at all the data but I know .........
Proof enough that helmet debates belong somewhere else.

CM is one of the great bike experiences. It happens in cities all over the world on the last friday of the month. You get to see what it will be like when there are no more cars and everyone rides a bike. It can be very slow, but sociable. Great for practising your track stands. It usually ends in beers.

I read in the LCC magazine last night that traffic wardens will now be able to get the police to remove bikes looked up to street furnitre. Is this correct?
No, it's not going to happen. We had a great victory in the House of Lords committee. They threw out 20% of the whole bill thanks to the work of some volunteer legal experts. Story here:
http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=1299
Picture shows Lucy's new Veloheld from Velorution.

Nothing to do with Amy's hard work developing her own brand, then?
It's everything to do with Amy's work. It was Tom who made the connection.

Does anyone know which part of the RTRA or RTA (or even Highway Code) refers to giving way / priority to pedestrians?

Specifically, is there anything that relates to giving way on a piece of road that has no crossing, and is not a turning?

Pedestrians have priority at zebra crossings, at light controlled crossings if they began crossing during a green phase and at road junctions when they are going in the direction of the major road.
If you hit or almost hit a pedestrian while cycling on a road you could be prosecuted for dangerous or reckless cycling, or manslaughter. Under common law pedestrians have the right to use the queen's highway except where there is a prohibition (Motorways, tunnels etc). It is always a good idea not to run into pedestrians, especially the deaf/blind ones who are texting while plugged into an ipod while crossing the road.

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In the Royal Parks the 20mph speed limits apply to cyclists, soon they will have the power to issue fixed penalty notices, that means you are more likely to be done but you will have a lower fine and will not have to pay court costs.

The deal with Topshop came about due to work by Tom at London Cycling Campaign. He is a fashionista and worked on several of the clothing retailers last year raising interest in fashionable cycling gear. With the help of a volunteer he chased them up and they gave a presentation to Top Man. Top Shop had initially not been interested but after getting the ideas from Top Man they came on side.

The insurance company will do everything they can to pay as little as possible and pay as late as possible. (Hey, they have to keep the shareholders happy). You may have to get two or three quotes, all from bike shops who you trust to do good work on the repair, and can do it relatively quickly.
You should be telling the insurance company that you will be charging them for other expesenses, eg. taxi fare to take your bike around to the bike shops, public transport fares until you get your bike back, time spent ringing and writing to them, stress, beer for stress, etc. You should keep a record of all your phone calls, perhaps confirming the details in writing. Send them copies of the photos every time you write - and charge them for it. If they think the value of the claims is going up the longer they delay then they might act quickly.

Haha, no, I won't be getting rid of my geared hack bike. I've had it for nineteen years and it's a bit of a treasure. :)
...

You could always FIX that old hack, cut off the gears, shorten the chain, jam up the freewheel and fly away.

I'm off to the Bishopsgate event on Thursday, it looks more serious and less fun than the event tonight at Cafe Otto.
Sinclair is much more a walker than cyclist, but in the first section he tells of injuring his leg and having to dig out his bike to get around. A fine counterpoint to the experience of Ken Worpole, another Hackney writer of the Centerprise generation, who cycled so much the physio told him to walk more or risk losing the power of his walking muscles.

Like many of us Sinclair first got to understand London through cycling to work. Few people understand London better.

I think it was Dancing J wasn't it ?
+1 to the above - its something you aquire through the experience of cycling for a while .

... oops.. apologies to both of them, that's what happens when reading 4 threads at once ....

.....
Yes, you have the right to be angry, but I don't think it's helpful for cyclists more generally when you scream cunt. We're always at risk of horrible accidents, so if it's a near miss, deal with it in a way that the driver goes away shaken, but less likely to make that same mistake again or with a hatred for potty mouthed cyclists. ....

If I get a micro-second to think before letting out the obscene blasphemies I try to scream something like "AAAARRRGH! you really scared the shit out of me, stepping/driving out like that!!"
The target then knows that you are both frightened and angry and that it may have been their fault. Sometimes they break down immediately and apologise, very rarely do I get an angry response. If I react without thinking, like Crazy J, then i'm more likely to get a wild response.

Who is in charge of junctions like Dalston Road and Balls Pond Road?

Dalston Lane and the first bit of Balls Pond Road is run by Hackney. Kingsland Road, the High Street and the junction at Dalston is run by Transport for London.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/finesandregulations/953.aspx

The actual Sunday Times article is here:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/article5945315.ece

The unofficial numbers for last year are that 15 cyclists died in London, 9 as a result of collisions with HGVs. The press release Bill quoted was written before two people died in separate crashes with cars on christmas eve. The 50% of deaths being HGV related was noticed a long time ago. Bill and some others have been trying to get things improved but progress is far to slow. The new London Cyclist magazine has a cover story on Lambeth Council lorry drivers getting cycle training, so that they understand what its like down here and take more care.

Why don't we give lorry-drivers handouts when we're stopped at traffic lights or something?

Spoke cards can't be read by lorry drivers, not anyone else when they're spinning in the wheel.

If we do friendly handouts, maybe even more than one per driver, they'll hand them out at truck-stops, and discuss our predicament. A possibly positive raising of awareness amongst the group that may be least informed, but the most concerned.

What does anyone think of this?

Transport for London have just re-printed a small leaflet we worked on about 5 years ago. If you read it from one side it starts "Ignorant lorry drivers" ... but if you pick it up the other way it starts "Ignorant cyclists!" I'll see if I can find the pdf and post it up here .. but not tonight. We don't have any in the office but I'm sure TfL will send some out.

Most truck drivers are much better than most drivers/riders on the road, cyclists included.

We don't know the facts so don't go blaming the rider or the driver for anything just yet.

It is the few lorry drivers who are not so good we have to worry about. Far too many of them are the drivers of large tipper lorries (as this morning) or other construction industry people who are under financial pressure to rush around and get as many trips in a day as they possibly can.
They do have a duty of care to other road users, even those who are not paying attention or breaking the law. We hope that new health and safety laws will be used to bring the dodgy drivers and their employers up to a decent standard.

Glad she's ok. I think the lesson here is not to undertake lorries unless you're 100% confident that you're going to make it

If a lorry overtakes you and then begins to slow, even if they are in the outside lane, watch out! That's a sure sign they are about to do something stupid, like a rapid left turn across your path. The driver will claim you were coming up on the left, even if you keep a steady speed. The same is true for cars and motorbikes, but the lorries will do it from a lot further out in the road, and will hurt you much more.
About half the cyclist/lorry mashes happen this way, the other half are where they move off from being stopped at lights or junctions.

More of a hit than a close call - remember Google Street View is watching!!
http://bit.ly/Cl19i

We've got no info on this one. Which side of the road and whereabouts was it? I hope they're ok.

I have just spoken with Hackney Police - Queensbridge neighbourhood team ..

And this is the team.

Team members

[]Sgt Christopher Scott
[]PC John McDonald
[]PC Joel Edwards
[]PCSO John Foley
[]PCSO Dillon John
[]PCSO Afshane Hassan
[*]PCSO Salim Jama

........

**Come and meet us**

A chance for you to have your say about local policing issues

[*]18/03/2009 - 17:00 - 18:00 - Community Event - Cycle Maintenance Surgery, London Fields Lido, E8

Yes - it's on tonight.
You can go along, get your bike registered - which might help get it back if it
is nicked - have your tyres pumped up etc.

It is also a chance to have a "chit chat" about crime in the area, including bike theft. Especially if you have been a victim or witness. I think that includes all of us.

If your final target is south of Guy's hospital you could try Waterloo br, upper ground, cornwall road, the cut, union street, mermaid court ....

You are talking of (at least) two types of insurance here. Medical insurance is pretty much a con because the national health gives us free (ish) cover anyway. There are lots of variants of Personal Accident Cover, often this is a free add on to other things, it may be in your household insurance, it may come as part of your overpriced credit card, it comes free if you insure your bike through LCC Cyclecover (for a limited list of injuries).

The other insurance is third party liability, in case someone sues you for damage or injury. This is included free with membership of many cycling organisations, London Cycling Campaign( £5mil. cover), CTC, British Cycling etc. you can also buy this individually for between £26-£30 per year from people like Cycleguard (£2mil. cover)

can't help thinking that the forum making use of it would help the cause.

The cause is whether or not it is a good idea to allow motorcycles to share bus lanes. Our fear is that large numbers of them will crowd out cyclists and tend to intimidate less confident cyclists from riding. I don't hate motorbikes, just the smell and the noise.

Personally I think the biggest risk is to pedestrians who aren't expecting fast bikes in the left lane.

LCC's "Bus Lane Watch" really wants to know about any incidents that happen, either crashes or frightening close calls http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=1250

The TfL survey is open until July 2010 but what they don't tell you is that to formally object you must write to them before July THIS YEAR to:
Transport for London,
RNM/STOT/TRO, Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road London, SE1 8NJ quoting
reference GLA/2008/671.

see: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/motorcycles-in-bus-lanes-notice-161208.pdf

So sad, Velcro all our thoughts are with you.

We have heard that this crash happened at a pedestrian crossing and it was a big tipper lorry, yet again. Watch out for those buggers.

Oliver, is there any way you can get more information through the LCC?

Hi - for immediate information we rely on guys on the street like you. In the worst cases we get a brief description a week or so after the crash.

• charlie