Moved to London, sold the car

A few months ago I took on a new job and relocated to London. I lived
in London once before and knew that I wouldn't use my car more than
once every few weeks, and the rather novel idea of not actually owning
a car at all rather appealed. It also made a good exscuse for splashing
out on a shiny Brompton (SON hub included, and highly recommended!).

I've had the Brompton for several months now and have done many miles
round the back streets of London. On hearing of my plans to
cycle-commute in London many people have said "oooh, that's a bit
risky" (some Londoners, some not, none of them London cyclists). I
admit to being nervous about it myself at first, but Google lead me to
the London Cycling Campaign site, which convinced me it would be fine.

http://www.lcc.org.uk/

They're right, it's perfectly safe and easy to cycle through London if
you put in a little bit of preparation before hand. It's especially
pleasant if you don't need to rely on road signs to find your way
around (they obviously lead you down main roads), and can stick to
little back streets. The special cycling maps provided by Transport For
London are perfect for finding these routes, and they're free (enter
your name address on the web site and they'll post them off to you):

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/cycles/routes/...e-guides.shtml

I'm enjoying the journeys to and from work and, even though it's only
30 minutes of light cycling each way, I'm in much better shape than I
was a few weeks ago.

I got rid of the car this morning. I got £10 for it at a breaker's
yard. So far, so good...

"Roger Burton West" wrote in message
. ..
Graham Ashton wrote:

The special cycling maps provided by Transport For
London are perfect for finding these routes, and they're free (enter
your name address on the web site and they'll post them off to you):

Some addresses seem to slip through the cracks and the maps never
arrive. I picked up mine in person at my LBS; several places keep them
in stock, including On Your Bike near London Bridge.

Note that they're somewhat out of date, not only for the actual mapping
but for the cycle lanes too. LT is supposedly compiling new ones at the
moment.

If you're fond of small roads, try their Journey Planner
(http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/) ("more options", "cycle", "I want a
cycle only route"). The routes it gives avoid main roads wherever
possible - even relatively small ones - and are therefore rather more
complex than they need to be; they also favour canal towpaths, which
isn't much help if you're riding after dark. It's still a useful
starting point.

I've only covered a few of the maps, but any feedback appreciated!

http://cycle.elyob.com/

The great thing is that this could cover any area easily. It's also really
simple to add in new routes.

Graham Ashton wrote on 02/01/2007 13:46 +0100:

I got rid of the car this morning. I got £10 for it at a breaker's yard.
So far, so good...


If you ever find yourself needing a car for an odd trip,
http://www.streetcar.co.uk works very well for me and usually works out
cheaper than a cab.

--
Tony

"...has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least
wildly inaccurate..."
Douglas Adams; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

On 2007-01-02 15:37:02 +0000, Tony Raven said:

If you ever find yourself needing a car for an odd trip,
http://www.streetcar.co.uk works very well for me and usually works out
cheaper than a cab.

Cracking, thanks. Looks like it could be handy on those odd occasions
when you need to pick something chunky up.

--
Graham

"Graham Ashton" wrote in message
...
On 2007-01-02 15:37:02 +0000, Tony Raven said:

If you ever find yourself needing a car for an odd trip,
http://www.streetcar.co.uk works very well for me and usually works out
cheaper than a cab.

Cracking, thanks. Looks like it could be handy on those odd occasions when
you need to pick something chunky up.

Whoops, sorry, I read that as picking 'someone chunky' up!

Alan



--
Graham

Graham Ashton writes:

I'm enjoying the journeys to and from work and, even though it's
only 30 minutes of light cycling each way, I'm in much better shape
than I was a few weeks ago.

I got rid of the car this morning. I got £10 for it at a breaker's
yard. So far, so good...

Cool!!

Chris
--
Chris Eilbeck

On 2007-01-02 16:55:19 +0000, "Alan Holmes" said:

"Graham Ashton" wrote in message news:
Cracking, thanks. Looks like it could be handy on those odd occasions
when you need to pick something chunky up.

Whoops, sorry, I read that as picking 'someone chunky' up!

That conjurs up a far more amusing image...

--
Graham

Roger Burton West wrote:

Note that they're somewhat out of date, not only for the actual mapping
but for the cycle lanes too. LT is supposedly compiling new ones at the
moment.

Local bike groups have been asked to submit amendments and corrections
for the new edition.
If you know any, you could do worse than email them to LCC.

I got rid of the car this morning. I got £10 for it at a breaker's yard.
So far, so good...

You sold your car for a tenner????????? What was it??

Vivian
-------
"We learned more from a three minute record than we ever learned in school".
No Surrender

elyob wrote:
I've only covered a few of the maps, but any feedback appreciated!

http://cycle.elyob.com/

The great thing is that this could cover any area easily. It's also really
simple to add in new routes.

I like the look of the interface - cycle map data on google maps is
definitely the UI I'd choose. However, the site's currently not showing
any cycle routes for me? I'm using Firefox 2.0.

An alternative with a fairly clunky, sluggish interface (but extensive
route data, as well as proper routing):

http://www.cyclemaps.net/gps/londonD/gaz.asp

These guys have a rather proprietary approach, but anything that puts
cycle route data out there has got to be a good thing I guess. I tried
signing up to their LETS scheme to get a free subscription, but got no
reply. Still a useful site, even in 'free' mode.

Roberto