Appears some London-ers aren't too happy about their cycling boom

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/hell-on-wheels/...

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Naomi Ruth Jackson on July 7, 2012 at 5:08am

I was in London about three months ago and I can see exactly where the author is coming from. While it's great that so many people are using bikes to commute, the fact is London is a fast, twisty, maze of streets. The streets are quite narrow and don't forget this is the land of double decker buses. As a tourist, unaccustomed to the pace of London (let alone riding on the left side of the road) I skipped the bike and just walked, and took the tube in and out of the city. By the time I made it to Nottingham a week or so later I was willing to ride a bike around the city since it was slower and more spread out than London.

Many of the Londoners I talked too were not excited about upcoming events such as The Queen's Jubilee [last month] or the upcoming Olympic games, simply because their already crowded city would become even more so. One of the biggest concerns I gathered, was tourists on the tube. It could be that bikes are being encouraged in order to compensate for the expected overcrowding on trains and buses.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David P. on July 7, 2012 at 6:18am

Good to know. I'll be in London in September and have looked forward to the idea of using the Boris Bikes - at least if I can avoid getting hopelessly lost.

David