Fortunately for me I’m completely nuts!
So I’ve been in London (yes the actual City of London) for the past week and a half for work, and part of my adventure was to bring my bicycle with in order to try to ride around London and not get run over by any buses. The weather finally held (and I got my courage up) so I went for a ride. Needless to say, I didn’t die (else this bit of writing would be quite magical, no?)
It’s a bit different riding here. Shit, I’d take downtown Chicago at rush hour any day for a leisurely ride compared to here! Here I am, riding on the opposite sided of the road (which means that right turns are the difficult ones, not left turns!), none of the roads run in a straight line and always seem to be taking me away from the direction I’d like to be going, the roads are narrow and all under some sort of construction, the cabs are equally as crazy as Chicago cabs, and oh yeah — the cyclists here are completely insane as well…it makes for one heck of a ride!
However most importantly, I didn’t get eaten by a big red London bus. Hooray!
I took a few pictures off Blackfriar’s bridge before the sun went down. Mostly just to prove that I was here. Hopefully I’ll be able to get out more now that the weather isn’t total crap.
Cycling in London == scary. However I did find some interesting resources on TFL for cyclists, and I’ve sent off for some maps. We’ll see how good they are!
If you’re a driver in London and were out today, thank you for not hitting me :)
Thanks for visiting! Glad you didn’t die and sorry about the weather.
Hi,
I was born ‘n’ raised in London and I have to say congratulations for not hitting anything!
I used to ride a bike in London *many* years ago and depending where you go London can be a beautiful place to ride. I actually moved to Scotaland (just outside Edinburgh) and believe me riding a bike up here is even worse!
Well Done!
You hear of plenty of people who won’t ride (bicycle or motorbike) in London traffic, because they’re too scared. Even on a motorbike, the first few times through the rush-hour was less than enjoyable.
Eventually you get used to it… then I’d presume that most other locations would seem tame by comparison…
… and look out for the crazy pedestrians, who all seem to have a death-wish …
Hi,
Good on you for cycling. It can be dangerous and you have to pay attention. The cycle lanes through parks, bus lanes and the traffic being grid locked help making it not as bad as it appears. Cycling beats taking the tube/bus hands down. Even with all the crazy taxi drivers, weather and pedestrians I still prefer it to being pack like sardines on the tube any day! Cycling is one of the fastest ways to get anywhere in London :)
Oisin