London is great for many things. However, if you ask people what annoys them most about the city, a top three list may include: Bad weather, Expensive & overcrowded public transport and Traffic (In no particular order)
So as a potential solution to these problems I propose that Londoners trade in their comfortable car seats and excessive tolerance of public transport and start cycling! Perhaps I will be able to generate some enthusiasm with the aid of a lovely list…
- It’s a free way to travel - you could be saving over £1,000 a year, based on an annual travel card; zones 1-2
- It’s a great form of exercise – you can burn anything from around 400-1400 calories per hour, depending on weight and speed
- It’s astonishingly quick – you can cover 4 miles in an average of 22 minutes in central London on a bike, which would usually take 40 minutes by car
- Free cycle maps are available from the Transport for London website
If the content of this post (and my use of smiley faced bullets points!) has captured your momentary interest, a good bike shop that doesn’t exploit its monopolistic power (cough, cough…Evans Cycles and Cycle Surgery) would be Camden Cycles.
This is a secondhand bike shop whose closest tube station is ironically not Camden but Mornington Crescent. Here you can get quality brands at very good prices. What’s more, you can take in your old bike and trade it against the cost of a new one, or simply take your old rusty bike for a reasonably-priced service (£35 vs. £50 when I took my bike to Cycle Surgery).
I paid a total of £200 and gave in my old bike for an almost brand new Pinnacle unisex hybrid. It rides like a dream, which if new would have cost me £500. (Bicycle prices can be anything from £30 upwards so there’s something for everyone!)
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