No mention of 55,000 cyclists in london yesterday?

paulus69

I'm a bit surprised not to hear anything about the london skyride on bike radar.

I spent the entire day yesterday riding around traffic free streets in london on a road bike (which I've never used before) rented for a tenner from a london bike firm.

I would definitely recommend any keen cyclists going next year, twelve quid for the megabus from south wales and a tenner for a roadbike for the day.

Anyone else go?

Anonymous

I went with my two young daughters. We were some of the annoying parents with young children wobbling about and getting in the way. LOL

Only did one lap as that's as many miles as the 5 year old could manage.

Got back to the car just as the heavens opened.

The children loved it.

DonDaddyD

Went to the one last year and the one before that.

The first one was the best as there was less cyclists so the course was hugely fun right until I wiped out a pack of kids.

The second one was alright but insanely busy, plus the course had this bottle neck that was worse than the hairpin at the first one.

I suppose this one would be bigger and better!

Good on you for going!

bails87

DonDaddyD wrote:

The first one was the best as there was less cyclists so the course was hugely fun right until I wiped out a pack of kids.

:shock:
Dude.....

Eyon

I was there. I thought i'd leave it to the last 20 minutes to get around before the roads open, so I could have the chance to get some good speed up without worrying about people so much. Here is my endomondo of the rotue if anyone is interested in what way it all went http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/21564121

Going past the houses of parliament I hit a few potholes and had my pump drop out of my back pocket. I was in the left left of the road out of everyones way so I could keep my pace up, but typically got some jobsworth (with a Giro Prolite on?) have a go saying its "not the tour de France" :roll:

Enjoyed it though, not every day you can treat central london as a but of a TT circuit!

deptfordmarmoset

I did a very enjoyable circuit after the rain when the crowds had thinned out - so while I'm all in favour of making cycling accessible to everyone, and even helped marshal in from somewhere up a hill in Lewisham, it was good to get up to a cruise on the circuit without having to worry about taking an errant child out.

It's very strange ignoring traffic lights - a couple of times I found myself forgetting that I didn't have to stop on red.

Pufftmw

I agree about the lights and going on both sides of the road.

I went with the g/f and our 2 daughters. Drove up to Aldgate, parked at the office and off we went. We had a very slow first half following a bloke with a ghetto blaster on a trailler playing blondie and other 80s music Then back to Tower Hill arriving just as the heavens opened, so nipped back to the office and home. All the girls enjoyed it, a very pleasant way to spend a Sunday morning

londonlivvy

I went two years ago and it was unbelievably crowded and whilst I enjoyed the sense of occasion and no traffic lights, the crowds meant I averaged only 3.5mph and it was just too claustrophic and frustrating for me to ever want to do again. I can walk quicker than that!!!

notsoblue

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

It's very strange ignoring traffic lights - a couple of times I found myself forgetting that I didn't have to stop on red.

Yeah, I found this. Though near the end the marshalls were stopping people at some of the lights to try and get people used to stopping for red.

I went for a pootle round with my sister, aunt and 10yr old cousin who really enjoyed it. Wasn't too busy, and unlike last year there weren't any sections where you had to get off and walk because of congestion. The weather wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. When it started raining we stopped for lunch until it passed and then finished the circuit.

I'm in awe of parents who take their young children onto the road though, it was pretty nerve wracking cycling on even quiet roads with my cousin!