Scary London Commute

colinsmith123

I bought a bike last Saturday and committed to my first commute in over 15 years by riding from North Acton to Dartford yesterday evening. (I cheated in the morning by getting the train to Victoria)

En-route home, I had a BMW do a U-turn on a zebra crossing in front of me near Earls Court, a car turn left in front of me by Waterloo and a driver in a parked car open their door as I passed, in Welling. All had expletives and the potential to have been nasty.

So is it worth it? As I'm not sure I want to do it again. Maybe its more quiet on the morning commute?

Apparently I'll get more 'street wise' with experience. But will I live long enough to become that wise? Or, are 'near misses' an every day occurrence that after a while you just pay no attention to.

jeremyrundle

I wouldn't visit London let alone cycle there, however, when I began as people said here YES you will get better at seeing morons before they appear, and at avoiding situations.

However do not let them get away with it as they will do it to others too. Obviously it depends, I would not hesitate to call a moron a moron but wouldn't do it to a car full of yobs.

clarkey cat

check out the TFL cycle planner for quieter routes - and yes, it gets much easier, you will have zen-like vision of events unfolding ahead of you (thats the theory anyway). keep your head up, ride in the primary position and stay cool. if you dont feel comfortable on some busier elements just get off your bike and push it until the roads clear up.

StefanP

Have you a TFL cycle map that covers your area to where you work? ALternatively, check out what clarkey said. You get a lot more savvy once you have been doing it a while.
Theres also here:

http://www.cyclestreets.net/

armymankin

i commute in london for last 3 years, just about that. well, ofcoz on the first go it was scary. but as you ride more you just become aware of things, like when to slow down and stay away from parking cars. yes i got hit by an opening door before, luckly it was not anything vital. i heard stories of turning cars, it contacted with my mate, never happen to me (bless my disc brakes) but again, the contact was not serious one.
I am not sure if i consider myself being lucky at this time. but the bad experiences have not put me off riding yet. saying that again, as you got more experience then you will become more aware of things. you have to picture yourself as one of the vehicles on the road, make your appearance, stand your needed ground, dont let them push you off to the curb side.

to be honest, cycling in London is actually safer than many other cities, as there are many cyclists and drivers generally aware of that.

jonny_trousers

Great advice from Armymankin. Do stick with it and in no time you will be addicted. There is definitely a large amount of learning on the job and you have to make a few mistakes in order to learn, but it gets easier in time and will be well worth the effort. There is a crazy amount of useful information here to help you on your way. Just go explore the forums. If I could offer you any advice it would be:

Always anticipate, but don't ride tentatively as a result.

Make yourself as visible as possible - clothing, lighting, hand signals and the line you ride.

Give yourself enough time and space to react - make sure you can easily reach the brakes when you need them and always have a burst of energy ready for when necessary.

Enjoy it! Cycling is bloody marvelous! Just think, you need never sit in a traffic jam again.

Oh, and be way of anything Jeremy says: he's a rather angry gentleman.

Blandiblub

I'm yet to commute but that's a good distance to cover! Gotta be nearing 20 miles hasn't it?

dilemna

Join the London Cycling Campaign asap for 3rd party insurance and discounts on bikes and accessories. Also buy an Airzound or attach an airhorn to your handle bars and get a head cam; then sit back and enjoy your ride.

iPete

Stick with it, you'll learn to spot idiots & see those near misses coming. Ride as if nobody can see you & as you get more confident you'll find yourself being more assertive, maybe getting faster, which helps personally.

Ride with a bit of Zen, no need to be impatient, don't follow all the other riders up the inside of busses and HGVs unless 100% safe etc. A few tips from TFL.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/11645.aspx

I quite enjoy the challenge of toying with London traffic, am I weird?

dilemna wrote:

Join the London Cycling Campaign asap for 3rd party insurance and discounts on bikes and accessories. Also buy an Airzound or attach an airhorn to your handle bars and get a head cam; then sit back and enjoy your ride.

To the OP, you don't need surveillance or a stupidly loud horn to survive in the city.

nwallace

Doesn't matter where you are or what you are operating, one of the best things you can ever do on the road is learn to read what someone's doing from their road position.

Especially BMW's and Audi's with deficient indicator usage at Roundabouts.

kurako

Remember that just because there is a gap you don't need to go through it. It's about risk vs reward. I'll quite often stop behind buses and trucks and amazed at people who trundle through gaps only to be overtaken seconds later.

The same goes for vehicles at junctions. Be wary at left turns. Don't ride up the inside if you're close to the junction. Drivers don't always indicate. Conversely, some cyclists don't always seem to notice even if they do.

EKE_38BPM

dilemna wrote:

...buy an Airzound or attach an airhorn to your handle bars and get a head cam...

I have both and currently use neither.
The Airzound is a handy bit of kit and I may start using it again.
The helmet cam is a bit of a nuisance but in a collision it could prove invaluable.

One of the most valuable things I've learnt about cycling in traffic is not to try to hide from the cars by riding in the gutter. Thats where the P*ncture Fairy lives and (according to some academic's research) drivers passing cyclists leave the same amount of room between the car and the cyclist as the cyclist leaves between the bike and the kerb. In my experience, I can see some validity in that hypothesis.
Ride about 1 metre out from the kerb. Keeps you out of the Fairy's territory and gives you room to manoeuvre if someone overtakes too close.

Never ride in the door zone. Getting hit by a car door hurts a lot, so ride at least 1 metre out from parked cars (maybe more from vans/HGVs as their doors open further out into the road).

On narrow roads, riding 1 metre out puts you in the traffic, so ride like a car.
Be predictable (when you see a pothole, adjust your path early, don't swerve around it at the last minute), perform regular shoulder checks (also known as 'Life Savers', they remind drivers that you are a human and let them know that you are aware of your surroundings), try to keep up with the speed of the traffic (don't dawdle).
Keep your eyes and ears open for iPeds (pedestrians listening to mp3 players stepping into the road without looking), kids (they do stupid things as they don't know any better), dogs (they do stupid things as their owners are stupid).
Try to ride the way you would want a cyclist you are about to pass (when driving) to ride.

Remember what it was like when you were learning to drive (making an assumption that you can drive). There are so many things to look out for, learn and remember, but you get used to it and it becomes second nature.
Cycling is the same. You never turn off (mentally) but don't even notice that your levels of vigilance are so high.
An experienced driver will spot potential trouble and react to avoid it before it becomes a major issue, resulting in a smooth drive. A novice driver won't spot the danger and then have to brake/swerve to avoid it. Sounds like you're still at the novice stage!

It becomes less stressful. Then desireable. Then addictive!

Rep of Seaburn

agree with the OP, just started commuting in London, not far but I have seen stuff already to scare the sh*t out of me. Helmets (hats) off to anyone who commutes regulary in London, I only do 10 miles a day but as someone else says, its very addictive.

Conjoy

My two cents:
Cycle conservatively - that means minimal overtaking unless you have very good vision, and certainly never on the outside of traffic or through on-coming traffic. Keep good distances around you and take as much of a lane as you can without causing a traffic jam.
Don't get road rage and yell at cars - if some nobless loon decides he doesn't like your attitude his car won't feel it anywgere

Skippy2309

just a bad day, i have done loads of commutes, had some really bad trips and really good trips. one even involved a full blow out on the front didnt go over the top just skidded it slashed the inner tube (no spare) and even slashed the tire making the wire stick out :evil: walked pretty much from marble arch back to shepherds bush carrying the bike..... had a few riders offer help but not much you can do with the rubber trashed... small things like that make it me much happier to commute that people are willing to go out of their way to help another.


just take it as a crap day, go out and do it again, may be a bad week but you will find you love it very soon

Drysuitdiver

I second what Eke says.

it gets "easier" and after a few months you will look baxk and think " why was i so worried" .

and Mr Rundle is a very angry person with little nice to say about most things

EKE_38BPM

Conjoy wrote:

My two cents:
Cycle conservatively - that means minimal overtaking unless you have very good vision, and certainly never on the outside of traffic or through on-coming traffic. Keep good distances around you and take as much of a lane as you can without causing a traffic jam.
Don't get road rage and yell at cars - if some nobless loon decides he doesn't like your attitude his car won't feel it anywgere

Most of what Conjoy said is good advice, but ignore the bit in bold as it is absolute rubbish. Overtake where it is safest, inside or outside. Motorists are more used to being overtaken so pay attention to their offside a little more.

dustbuddy

All I would add is that cycling in London is much safer than in other UK cities. I spent 3 years dodging cars in Nottingham, in circumstances where there are far fewer cyclists on the road. In London, particularly during prime commuting hours it sometimes feels as if the chief hazard is other cyclists! Certainly, I think that the number of cyclists in London is a great help as car drivers are, generally, more cycle aware.

_Brun_

If you need a boost in confidence, look into whether your council offers cycle training (many do, free of charge). Lots of good advice on here, but having some one-to-one tuition would be much more rewarding.

Mr Tom

I remember when I learned to drive (I never really took to driving) they said you should check your mirrors every few seconds. Obviously it's harder on a bike although I'm trying out a bar end mirror at the moment! I think the main thing though is to be really aware of where you are in the road and where all the other people are in relation to you, as much as you possibly can. Keep checking this and updating it. If you're pulling out from a kerb or changing lane do a clear signal and check behind you. Also, when overtaking check to see you're well clear of the other person before you pull back in in front of them. Those things seem to work for me anyway.

The shoulder thing really saved me when trying to turn right at a cross road. The sign was no right turn but this excluded bikes and buses. The 4x4 behind me went straight across because I guess in the drivers mind it was no right turn for anyone. If I hadn't checked I would have been right in their path and they were going pretty fast!!