y o u b i k e l o n d o n - Shayna from East Finchley

Name?
Shayna
Age?
31
Where do you live / ride?
I live in East Finchley and ride all over.
What do you ride?
It's a Ridgeback.
How often do you ride?
It depends, once or twice a week.
Helmet or no helmet?
Helmet
What's your primary reason for cycling?
To get to work, for leisure - I don't drive, plus it's cheaper and faster by bike.
Least favourite aspect of cycling?
Taxi drivers.


Most favourite aspect of cycling?
The speed of it, and, the speed of it(!)
What advice would you give to an aspiring cyclist thinking of cycling in London for the first time?
Take up your free lessons from your local council (all inner London Borough Councils offer free cycle training to local residents).  They're excellent, and free and I can't reccomend them enough.
What could be done to improve the lot of the London cyclist?
Better education for cyclists and drivers alike.

5 comments:

Andreas said...

I gotta admit I'm the same on the speed thing. Especially recently as my fitness levels have gone up found myself going faster and faster. I think my least favourite aspect of cycling is not taxi drivers, on the whole I find them courteous (Especially black cab drivers but not so much idiots with the TfL sign in the back window in the people carrier cars). I would probably say buses and BMW drivers (Why is it whenever they overtake you they like to rev the engine as much as possible as if to say "this is what I think of your eco friendliness") hehe

ibikelondon said...

Andreas, thanks for stopping by. I too tend to find black cab drivers courteous, with the odd exception (indeed the most severe 'altercation' I've had on London's roads was with a black cab driver) I do try and stay as clear as I can of minicab drivers and those big black South London people carriers (no names mentioned) as I know they word ridiculously long shifts and are probably not as alert as they could be.

I find bus drivers are really courteous in general, and bus lanes are the best cycling infrastructure London has got!

I hate it when people roar past as well, so unnecessary, and you probably end up catching up with them at the next set of lights anyway. But drivers in general don't seem to 'get' this, and always try to pass anyway. It's pretty comical!

Freedom Cyclist said...

hey mark! - i can't get into your latest post??? - which of course is really sad for me!!!!! - is it my end or your end??

i b i k e l o n d o n
Copenhagen February Traffic 2

ibikelondon said...

Hi Sue, my end! I've been updating the website's layout (as you can see) and playing with the HTML, which has been doing funny things. Copenhagen February traffic 2 was a test post that I deleted - sorry about that! There'll be more along soon, but in the meantime sorry for the inconveniance!

Freedom Cyclist said...

no worries!