Happy birthday i b i k e l o n d o n!

i b i k e l o n d o n is one this week, happy birthday to us! 

I'm amazed that a little blog which I started for personal reasons one year ago has grown into something so big in my life, and astonished that the year has gone by so quickly!  I started out because all the cycling websites I found seemed hell bent on selling me 'stuff' that I didn't consider necessary to cycle, and I didn't think there was enough focus on the everyday and ordinary potential of bikes in the city, or enough attention being focused on how our streetscape can be planned and designed to help bring about the realisation of that potential.  Since those humble beginnings of scribbled thoughts and bad photo posts with just a few hits a week, the blog has grown and grown, undergoing a makeover to make it easier on the eye and picking up a loyal following of readers, contributors and friends along the way.  I'm very humbled that people from 111 countries around the world (Hello Palestine! Hi there, um, Isle of Man!)  have found the time to check in with my ramblings, and am even more excited when they take the time to join in the debate..  The comments and conversations that take place here between readers are the most gratifying aspect of the whole writing process for me. So a big thanks for visiting over the year, and don't be afraid to pitch in with your ideas!

I have great plans for the website; we'll be keeping perennial favourite our weekly interview with London's cyclists "youbikelondon", but introducing new features too as time moves on; more videos, more photographs of London's fabulous cyclists and more features on cool bikes and cool schemes designed to make our passage through the city easier.  And of course I'll be keeping up with the political shenanigans going on at Westminster and City Hall for you and making sure our leaders give cycling the priority it deserves, and calling them out when they don't.  And I really must get back to finding out what the other 76 reasons are of '101 reasons to love cycling in London'.  If you've got an idea that you'd like to see on the blog let me know.

Most Popular Posts in Year One

It can, sometimes, be a wearisome task keeping abreast of all the latest cycling developments here in London: another cyclist death at the hands of an HGV, another poorly designed cycle lane, another bike stolen...

So it gives me great pleasure to share the year's most popular blog post and to know that it was one born out of pure unadulterated fun.  If you weren't there, you missed out on a spectacular day; it's the Tweed Run 2010!

Coming up a close second and proving that the old debates are always the most contentious is 'The Myth of the red light jumping cyclist'.  Read the stats and decide for yourself on that one!

My little film made on International Women's Day last year asking "What's stopping women from cycling?" comes third, whilst the case for segregated cycling provided some of the most fantastic debate here and rolls in fourth.

Learning how to ride around HGVs in our built up city has clearly been at the forefront of many cyclist's minds as 'Know your enemies; know your limits - riding with HGVs' is in the 'popular blogs' list, whilst more positively, and just scraping in, "Love London's Cyclists" my film on why we're all fabulous and London can't do without us rounds the year's hits nicely!

Here's to another year and hopes for continued growth and success and I hope you'll all come along for the ride!

Thank you,

Mark

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