Bikes in London

Gags said:

Was in London for the last week or so for work (body is still running on UK
time I think) and my impressions of cycling in London (mainly around the
West End) are:

Folding bikes are everywhere.....saw more in a day than I have ever seen in
Aust.

Black framed hybrids seem to be almost the norm.

Helmet usage was probably around 30% or less.

Did see some couriers riding fixies with no brakes and of course no helmets.
Quite a few had spoke cards of some description as well.

Plenty of old-style roadies with downtube shifters.

Most of the bikes were what I would consider a pub bike......not much bling
on show.

Majority of riders were in street or work clothes and most bikes had flat
pedals on them and riders in normal shoes.

Mudguards were pretty well par for the course as it drizzled rain pretty
regularly.

Plenty of riders had whistle in their mouth and would blow it at
pedestrians. Understandable given that the pedestrians seem to adopt a
group mentality where if one starts to walk, they all start to walk
regardless of the lights or traffic.

Saw lots of bikes chained to posts, railings, etc that had wheels or
seatposts missing.....also plenty that had the wheel with the lock through
it buckled because it couldn't be stolen.

Better try to get some sleep......have to get up and ride to work in three
hours!!!

Gags

And you have to get ready for that big race this weekend!

Tam

Tamyka Bell of 'Flashers of Brilliance said:

Gags said:

Was in London for the last week or so for work (body is still running on UK
time I think)

<snip>

Quoted message said:

And you have to get ready for that big race this weekend!

Sounds perfect. When you're tired & had enough Gags will be wide awake
and ready to ride through the night

Parbs

Parbs said:

Tamyka Bell of 'Flashers of Brilliance said:

Gags said:

Was in London for the last week or so for work (body is still running on UK
time I think)

<snip>

Quoted message said:

And you have to get ready for that big race this weekend!

Sounds perfect. When you're tired & had enough Gags will be wide awake
and ready to ride through the night

Parbs

I've got my skin-coloured singlet ready to go for the
flashes... hmmm, classy.

There's a lot of fire trail in that course, 52% I think I
read - is that normal? BTW Gags is gonna get plenty of rest
between my laps. I'm a firm believer in slow and steady wins
the race (despite the fact that I have only ever experienced
evidence to the contrary).

T

Tamyka Bell said:

There's a lot of fire trail in that course, 52% I think I
read - is that normal?

The published track & the actual track are going to be different.
There's a lot on that map that doesn't really make sense. I think there
will be about 55% singletrack, 45% fire road which is pretty normal for
the event. The amount of ST has been increasing over the years

Quoted message said:

BTW Gags is gonna get plenty of rest
between my laps. I'm a firm believer in slow and steady wins
the race (despite the fact that I have only ever experienced
evidence to the contrary).

If you can keep churning the laps out during the night you never know.
There is some tough competition in your class but in 24hrs a lot can happen.

Parbs

Parbs said:

Tamyka Bell said:

There's a lot of fire trail in that course, 52% I think I
read - is that normal?

The published track & the actual track are going to be different.
There's a lot on that map that doesn't really make sense. I think there
will be about 55% singletrack, 45% fire road which is pretty normal for
the event. The amount of ST has been increasing over the years

Quoted message said:

BTW Gags is gonna get plenty of rest
between my laps. I'm a firm believer in slow and steady wins
the race (despite the fact that I have only ever experienced
evidence to the contrary).

If you can keep churning the laps out during the night you never know.
There is some tough competition in your class but in 24hrs a lot can happen.

And this time, I'm bringing a chain tool!

Tam

Gags said:

Plenty of riders had whistle in their mouth and would blow it at
pedestrians. Understandable given that the pedestrians seem to adopt a
group mentality where if one starts to walk, they all start to walk
regardless of the lights or traffic.

Maybe they learned this from groups of roadies :-)

--
Home page: http://members.westnet.com.au/mvw

Gags said:

Was in London for the last week or so for work (body is still running on UK
time I think) and my impressions of cycling in London (mainly around the
West End) are:

Folding bikes are everywhere.....saw more in a day than I have ever seen in
Aust.

You can take a folder on public transport in peak hour, you're not allowed to take on a normal bike. Given that many workers in London commute by train at least an hour each way it's easy to understand the attraction of folders.