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before you use them you may want to swap them for some mtb shoes, as road shoe cleats are always exposed, making walking rather difficult, but mtb shoes have recessed cleats making it easier to walk.

Too late! I have been using them with my toe-slips - and they are great for getting in and out as trainers tend to get stuck with their rubbery soles ...
Mind you, have also cycled locally with clogs which do present a toe clip challenge as they are quite bulky ...

Sorry about the pot, Hippy.

Thanks for the spd recommendation - really helpful.

I love nothing more than to try and help and then receive sarcasm for my trouble.
That's the quickest way to go about getting me really fucked off.

Sorry that came across as sarcastic: it totally wasn't (but see how it can be read as sarcastic )

I am really grateful for your kind reply, as I was really confused and now am not.

Please be un-fucked off and accept a big and honest THANK YOU.

Thanks for the replies

I now understand enough to go to LBS and face the patronising bloke.

pedals will come with the cleats that fit them if you get them new

Oh I see ...

The shoes will usually be 2 or 3 bolt.

2 are SPD and Time ATAC. 3 are for road shoes and SPD-SL, LOOK, etc

That's really helpful. Though I am lost in shoe confusion, I can still count up to two or three

you'll have to get road cleats and pedals

Thanks - I get that. But do the pedals and cleats have to be the same make? and how do I know they then fit the shoes?

Hey ladies

I am about to switch from pedals with toe-clips to clipless pedals. So, I got some diadora road shoes this week.

But the shoes came without cleats on the outside - just the fixings inside the sole.

My questions are:

• do all types of cleats work with all pedals - or do you need to buy ones that are designed for each other?
  
• And, will all cleats fit all types of shoes?
  
• Or, do you have to find a shoe-cleat-pedal combo that all fits together?
  
  

I could go to the LBS and ask ... but That Bloke is always there - who was is always a teency bit too patronising and asked rather too many questions about how well the lycra shorts fitted when I tried them on ... eeuww.

So any answers from non-patronising ladies (or gents) much appreciated.

What cool photos. I love the bandages on his legs.

I love his legs

shared use area.

Ooph. Top idea Camden. A pioneering concept in cycle lanes.

^ You might be better off asking in this thread http://www.lfgss.com/thread31997.html where all the mums and dads gather

thank you - but it's not like mumsnet, is it ....

Good point. Despite all of the cycle training I do in schools there will be very few children taking it up: Biggest reason?
Mums and Dads ( and to a lesser degree, teachers) do not take cycle training seriously themselves and will be the biggest bar to kids riding, citing things like, 'it's too dangerous'.

I'm looking to start some schemes that will focus specifically on the parents and teachers getting back on bikes and riding to school to show that it is not inherently dangerous.

Interesting pattern. I ride Hackney-South Ken every day, so my seven year old has (hopefully) a idea that cycling in traffic is safe if you do it properly.
However, I still don't let him cycle on the road (Hackney driving is pretty special) and we have a well-practised drill for stopping and waiting until I yell the all clear before he cycles across a road.
And we are also VERY polite to pedestrians, of course, and say "tahnk you" if they have to step aside. (I stick to the road even if he is on the pavement.)

I also am a fan of cycle training and am even thinking of having a session myself - despite having cycled in traffic for 33 years (yikes) and getting 98% in my cycle proficiency in 1978.

BUT at what point will I feel confident that my child is ready for the roads (or the roads are ready for him)?

Any hints from other parents out there (and I am not trying to turn this into mumsnet, which brings me out in a rash).

[QUOTE=Pastasauce;1684885]Sustrans were stopping cyclists the other week and asking for donations.
QUOTE]

The Sustrans presence really helped improve safety that week, by getting people to suddenly and randomly stop in the lane with no warning and nowehere to pull over.

Good work.

[QUOTE=chameleon;1684089]that cycle lane is a joke.

QUOTE]
A load more joke lanes in this flickr group
http://tinyurl.com/2eat2tb

Some of them are so ludicrous they will make you laugh your socks off.

One fatality!

Crikey. This cycle lane really is the Lane of Death.

Last week there was a Camden Council bike awareness event a bit further along (outside the church next to Gordon Sq). I mentioned to the nice ladies that teh lane was dangerous and they seemed really surprised. A couple of cycle coppers, who were standing nearby, agreed - as they frequently cycle along them.

Wonder if LCC has lobbied for their improvement or, better still, removal?

I have just put in an FOI request to Camden Council to ask for accident statistics on this stretch of road - before and after the cycle lane was installed. I'll post 'em on LFGSS as soon as I have them!

Won't it be blinkin' hilarious if the accidents have increased since they put in the lane...

The multiple junctions and intersections along this bit of cycle lane make it a complete nightmare! It's a lethal mix of cyclists, Boris bikes, students, vehicles, bins parked across the lane, bin lorries, parked delivery trucks. Oh and major road works.

I had a crash with a white van on Halloween when he did an illegal right over the lane. He didn't realise he had to look both ways and then both ways again as the cycle lane is paralell to the road. "Poor fella".

But - this morning's crash was on a stretch with no intersections, and has curbs to prevent vehicles cutting across.

Perhaps a car actually mounted the kerb to make sure they didn't miss the cyclist?

Looked like a nasty crash on the effing Bloomsbury cycle tracks on Tavistock Place, just by Snappy Snaps.

I was riding through at about 09.40 and there was an ambulance, cycle paramedic, copper.

It was on a stretch of track with a kerb, not in one of the obvious danger areas where vehicles can cross - so presumably it must have been a collision between bikes or with pedestrians.

No casualties to be seen - but a big pool of blood and a swab in the middle of the track.

**I think he suspects I love my bike more than him... **

Talk like that, [swap she for he and her for him], in our house hold could cost lives!

I have to pretend my bike-love is under control ...

Reasons for ladies to get into bikes:
1 It's safe. Riding home late at night is far safer than riding a night bus or hanging about on a train platform

2 It's fun!!

3 Freedom. Our blue-stocking sisters in the 1880s freed themselves and got mobile

3 You can wear normal clothes, if you don't like lycra. Put leggings or shorts under your frock if you are worried about decency (or leers from van drivers)

4 It's not all about gear ratios and oily nuts. But, it can be if you want.

5 Make sure you know a little bit about bikes before going into a shop so the assistants don't patronise, sneer or sell you a Pashley. Just learn a few words about gears and frames ... and that shoudl do the trick to pull them up short

6 Ride your own race. If you want to drift along on a Pashley - that's great. If you want to go faster on something racy - that's great too.

7 Remember the rules about lorries and buses. They want to kill you so stay well clear.

8 It gets you fit and gives you fantastic legs, and you can still eat cake. I am 42 and have no cellulite and can wear Primark size 8 skinny jeans (scary thought for all you youngsters on this forum - but you will hit 40 before you know it)

9 It saves you money on tube and fares (don't tell her that you have/want to spend twice as much in bike shops on new components and maintenance..)

10 Don't get a hefty clonker. Go straight to something lighter and better as it is much more fun and easier to ride.

11 You can chat to nice looking blokes at lights and cycle racks. However - if you admire a bloke's frame ("nice lugs") beware! He will think yoyu are admiring him.

Most of these posts do refer to men getting women into riding.

Yeah: what about women trying to convince boyfriends and husbands that cycling is not only good, but worthy of total obsession.

I have managed to get my seven year old son hooked (poster of Lance and Bradley on the bedroom wall, watching the fixie guys doing tricks in the park, trip to what he calls the Turd of Britain, cap from lookmumnohands...) Only problem is that he now wants four bikes ... n+1 ... I am saving up ...

My husband likes cycling and we have happy family trips. But, he just isn't going to ever love it, like burning love, like you pat your bike every time you pass it in the hallway.

**I think he suspects I love my bike more than him... **

Anyone lost a dark blue TJ Quick?

Saw a bloke in London Fields Cycles this morning with a dark blue TJ Quick - with gears - and blue (bit tatty) handlebar tape.

Looks a bit like this one http://tinyurl.com/32abgqt

And, dunno, but it sort of felt like it maybe wasn't his bike but someone else's baby...

He was doing that holding-my-mobile-flat-to-talk-into-it-cos-I-am-a-tough-guy thing.

But he was buying new inner tubes so at least it is being looked after.

Saw a bloke in London Fields Cycles this morning with a dark blue TJ Quick - with gears - and blue (bit tatty) handlebar tape.

Looks a bit like this one http://tinyurl.com/32abgqt

And, dunno, but it sort of felt like it maybe wasn't his bike but someone else's baby...

He was doing that holding-my-mobile-flat-to-talk-into-it-cos-I-am-a-tough-guy thing.

But he was buying new inner tubes so at least it is being looked after.

Cheapest and eaiset solution: use a clothes peg to peg the skirt up out of the way. If teh rider is worried about flashing too much leg or her bloomers, she can pull on a pair of leggings or some shorts underneath.

A peg means you can ride any type of frame at any speed you like!

Does anyone on here know anything about the bike cafe that has opened recently on Regents Canal not far down for Lock 7? It looks like they're doing repairs as well now. It's an interesting use of space as it's sort of garage type space under new build flats. They seem to get lots of passing trade from people using the canal path and you can see it from the road bridges as well.

The bike shop on Regents Canal is a separate outfit from teh cafe. But as they are next door to each other, it's a pretty great location as you can relax and eat cake while your bike is fixed.
I stoped the other day to talk to the guy who runs it. He was sooooo nice and did not dismiss me as a lady-cyclist but talked me through my options for building the bike of my dreams.
Big thumbs up to him!
And fantastic contrast to the day before when the bloke in Tokyo fixed gear couldn't get me out of the shop quick enough - female, over 28 and carrying a bike helmet. Won't be spending my bike punds there, then!

nice one.

inspirational cyclist

Beryl Burton totally rocks. My grandad read her autobiography every Christmas (he was a keen amateur competetive cyclist) and apparantly one my first sentences was "Beryl Buron" hee hee hee.
My parents now live, coincidentally, in her home town of Moreley where there is the wondrous "Beryl Burton Memorial Garden" - paving stones and a couple of moth eaten shrubs.
She beat the blokes! And worked in the rhubarb fields. Awesome.

[QUOTE=Bra Jesters;1165913]I love my bicycle!

My boyfriend thinks I missed my bike more than him, and is jealous.

QUOTE]

When I get my new bike, I am going to keep it in the bedroom so it's the first thing I see each morning. Then I will roll over and say mornin' to my husband.