So I got out on Sunday this weekend as well, and rode from High Wycombe to Aylesbury.  It was a good ride!  Proper English weather (rained like piss all day.)

Took a few pictures as well.

Quite nice that most of the National Rail lines here don’t care at all if you bring a bike aboard.  It makes it so easy to get out of London and enjoy!

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 :)

I was just recently made aware that the CBF has been working hard at an amendment for some city ordinances on cycling which will help define some legal lines that drivers & cyclists can count on.  I think it’s quite reasonable from a purely safety perspective; I do not view this as a way for cyclists to get back at drivers or anything sly, but as a way to help guarantee everyone’s safety by outlining reasonable bits of understanding for cyclists and drivers.  If this is passed, this will be a good way to inform drivers of reasonable expectations so they can be better educated on how to interact with cyclists on the road.  This is a win for both drivers and cyclists in my book!  This amendment if passed, will mandate (snipped from CBF email verbatim):

• Requiring a minimum of three feet of clearance while passing bicyclists
• Prohibiting a motorist from opening a door into moving traffic, reducing the danger of “dooring”
• Raising the fines for vehicles parked in bike lanes or marked shared lanes
• Requiring motorists to yield to oncoming bicyclists when turning left, which prevents a “left hook” crash
• Prohibiting motorists from turning right in front of a bicyclist, which prevents a “right hook” crash
• Requiring motorists to exercise due care for bicyclists in addition to pedestrians

It also outlines some fines for doing bad things as outlined here, but I think that’s just to motivate drivers and I’m not concerned with the money values.  This amendment will help with some of the usual concerns that both myself and several others I’ve ridden with have had in Chicago; it can be quite worrysome cycling in the city and this is a good thing!

So, if you’re living in the city, please voice your two cents to your alderman!  From my understanding, not all of them sit on the Traffic Control & Safety Committee who votes on this, but it’s still good to voice your opinion.  The next meeting of the committee is quite soon - Wednesday March 5th at 9 AM.  If you support this amendment, please make yourself heard to make cycling in the city a safer place!

Feel free to check out a copy of the email going around about this.

The actual legislation is online as well.

So I’m in Orange County, CA visiting my sister this weekend, and have gone to some length to get my bike out here. So what happens? I demolished my chain within 60 seconds of our first ride. In all my years, I’ve never twisted a chain. Gah!

The wreckage:

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The attempted repair, using nothing but pliers and a standard screwdriver:

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’twas unsuccessful, stupid chain won’t rail around the smaller gears. D’oh!

Off to the bike shop in the morning for parts and supplies. In the mean time, we’re off to the local pub to sample the local Guinness :)