That London - don't go there!

t4tomo

Nice Trolling attempt, it made me laugh in places.

The problem with cycling in london is the twerps who come in from out of town and can't find their way around without a GPS to help them, causing the peleton to slow down and then not even having the decency to apologise for their lack of knowledge of "the knowledge". Whippett hugging bumpkins.

Rolf F wrote:

Too much rudeness too. I offended a couple of cyclists - my GPS was slow waking up so I coasted from the 5mph I was dawdling along to nothing (on a quietish bit of road). All of a sudden I hear a voice behind me "He stopped dead right in front of me!" And behind him a girl "I know!". And yes - I would have apologised if you hadn't been such a tragically indignant rude little twerp but if you had any competency at all you wouldn't have been on my back wheel anyway I was that slow. Except that my slow seemingly isn't that slow in London!

One a serious note, you and others need to remember its a commute and not a race, most people are happy just not to be on the tube, getting into a sweaty mess to be there 5 minutes earlier or ahving to overtake everything in front of them on a narrow cyclelane isn't a necessity for everyone, especially if they don't have the luxury of showers at work.

Koncordski

I'm another one that would have left London and worked somewhere far away if I hadn't discovered cycle commuting. It's made getting to and from work the best part of my day (regardless of weather) rather than the worst. Once you learn to go Zen after the first few months it just gets better. I almost got taken out by a left turning taxi that didn't indicate last night, just happy not to have been flattened, made a 'huh?' gesture to the driver and carried on. Zooming along embankment past the iconic Battersea Power Station in the sunshine always makes me smile. Plus we have the best pubs!

rolf_f

Koncordski wrote:

Plus we have the best pubs!

The pubs are good but the beer in them isn't necessarily the best

t4tomo wrote:

One a serious note, you and others need to remember its a commute and not a race, most people are happy just not to be on the tube, getting into a sweaty mess to be there 5 minutes earlier or ahving to overtake everything in front of them on a narrow cyclelane isn't a necessity for everyone, especially if they don't have the luxury of showers at work.

True - but 12mph or less cruising speed on a lightweight road bike?? :shock: There is a balance!

MaxwellBygraves

I quite like London. I think the PT in any big city can be grim, the Metro in Newcastle can be a bit miserable too. I've never understood the 'friendliness' argument either - it's not like people are walking around waving to everyone they see! People just going about their business, same in London...

tgotb

On the tube thing...

I spend most of my day having to use my brain quite extensively, sort out problems even if I didn't cause them, be nice to people even if they're annoying, and generally behave professionally. When I get home, I have to be nice to the kids even if they're tired, help them with their homework even if they're being stupid, admire SWMBO's shopping even if I'm not interested, fix things even if I didn't break them, and generally behave like a good dad/husband.

When I'm on the tube (which isn't very often these days) I like to zone out, daydream, read the paper etc. It's the only time of the day I get to myself. I am not especially keen to spend that precious time making polite smalltalk with some stranger who wants to tell me how exciting London is, how miserable London is, how miserable the people are, how their job interview went etc. Picking up things people have dropped, helping old ladies up the stairs, fine. But if the only thing we have in common is that we're travelling on the same tube, please spare me the smalltalk...

lost_in_thought

Rolf F wrote:

t4tomo wrote:

One a serious note, you and others need to remember its a commute and not a race, most people are happy just not to be on the tube, getting into a sweaty mess to be there 5 minutes earlier or ahving to overtake everything in front of them on a narrow cyclelane isn't a necessity for everyone, especially if they don't have the luxury of showers at work.

True - but 12mph or less cruising speed on a lightweight road bike?? :shock: There is a balance!

You've got to remember that, with the advent of CTW, and the increasing acceptance of cycling as a reasonable form of transport, and the artificially high wages in London, there are a lot of people with fancy bikes that haven't ridden a bike since they were 13. They think 12 mph is pretty good going. Also, as someone else said, lots of folk don't have showers at work, so hooning around at 25mph is not practical.

Also, you're contradicting yourself a little, good sir! First you complain about cyclists being too slow, then about them being unsympathetic when you are too slow!

I love cycling around the countryside. I also love cycling around London. The two are completely different.

notsoblue

lost_in_thought wrote:

I love cycling around the countryside. I also love cycling around London. The two are completely different.

Thats not how this works, you need to choose one and trash the other...

Bassjunkieuk

Commuting and leisure riding can't be compared IMHO, although with the family my commute is pretty much ALL the riding I can fit in!
As others have said I think it takes a while to acclimatize to cycling in London, I recognized most of the moans you mentioned in your OP but then realized they are things I have come to expect - yes I expect probably half of the riders who approach a RL with me to carry on through and the ones who do stop will push in front of me and set of at a glacial pace. Those who do chose to wait alongside me will invariably be drawn to the gutter within 10 pedal revolutions completely oblivious to the fact they nearly took out my front wheel :-)

I personally love the cut and thrust and the excitement of commuting in town, to the point where when I was commuting to an office heading out of town I used to get bored, despite the much nicer scenery I saw! It's also rather pleasing to be riding past many landmarks that thousands of tourists fly many thousands of miles to see without thinking twice about it, most of Embankment Peloton will pass the Palace of Westminster and Big Ben each day and not give it a second thought - probably more concerned with hitting the mythical "green wave" around PS :-)

rjsterry

Hardened northerner finds The South not quite as soft as expected.

I have to admit that on the rare occasions that I get to ride out into the Downs, my mind tends to wander due to the quiet roads. I think I've come to need the buzz of urban cycling.

rick_chasey

I only started actually commuting in London quite recently, and to be honest, I began to wonder what the fuss was about.

I figured that since 95% of my journey was on embankment it must just be that.

Never had a ride in London that was anything like my commutes through Cambridge...

It's all out war over there.

rolf_f

lost_in_thought wrote:

Also, you're contradicting yourself a little, good sir! First you complain about cyclists being too slow, then about them being unsympathetic when you are too slow!

I never claim to be consistent!

However - it isn't that everyone is going too slow - just that virtually no one isn't going too slow. And I wasn't really being inconsistent re me being a rolling road block - the point there was that if they had had any pace at all they'd not have got stuck behind me. You don't ride up to a parked car and wonder why it isn't moving - similarly a car moving at a glacially slow speed.

And, as I said, a majority weren't RLJ'ing and some people were overtaking me - just depressingly few!

andyb78

Rick Chasey wrote:

I only started actually commuting in London quite recently, and to be honest, I began to wonder what the fuss was about.

I figured that since 95% of my journey was on embankment it must just be that.

Never had a ride in London that was anything like my commutes through Cambridge...

It's all out war over there.

Know what you're saying Rick. However, as a Cambridge commuter I find it to be quite an easy city to get round in - there's (general) consideration from motorised vehicles. The war comes from the huge amount of absolute idiots who have decided that a bike is the best way to get around, yet have not the remotest idea how to actually ride one safely. Not trying to spark a helmet/lights/RLJ debate, but 3 (seperate) cyclists going the wrong way down a cycle lane @7pm with no consideration for any other traffic (motorised or not) last night with no lights worried me slightly...

Not cycled in London for over 10 years, but when I did, didn't really have any problems..

cjcp

rjsterry wrote:

Hardened northerner finds The South not quite as soft as expected.

Indeed. I think these provincial types are easily dazzled by the Bright Lights, too. Tell me, do you folks out there also wave at the aeroplanes?

Actually, it's like the story I read my kids: The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse.

MonkeyMonster

cjcp wrote:

Actually, it's like the story I read my kids: The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse.

One of my all time favs

notsoblue

MonkeyMonster wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Actually, it's like the story I read my kids: The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse.

One of my all time favs

I hear Michael Bay bought the rights to that one.

bdave262000

Do you want salt & vinegar with that chip on your shoulder?

deptfordmarmoset

I was up in Leeds a few weeks ago burying my father. As it's been a good while since I was up there, it was quite a shock to see quite how much the motor car had tyrannised the city centre - masses of concrete flyovers, ring roads, and large areas of brownfield wasteland suspended in permanent dereliction from being dedicated to car parking. Unsurprisingly, there didn't seem to be many casual cyclists and I really doubt that it would be bike-friendly for anyone who didn't know the city well. Positively unfriendly, I would have thought.

I was struck by how many of the cyclists I did see had all the gear, flat bars and seemed to be pedalling far faster than their bikes were actually going. But that was admittedly a small sample of the local biking population.

The thing that stuck in my mind the most, though, was a pint of ale for £1.65 at the Horse and Strumpet (can't remember the real name) somewhere near Briggate. It was least half the price of a decent London Pride. But, on the other hand, it wasn't half as good.

rolf_f

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

I was up in Leeds a few weeks ago burying my father. As it's been a good while since I was up there, it was quite a shock to see quite how much the motor car had tyrannised the city centre - masses of concrete flyovers, ring roads, and large areas of brownfield wasteland suspended in permanent dereliction from being dedicated to car parking. Unsurprisingly, there didn't seem to be many casual cyclists and I really doubt that it would be bike-friendly for anyone who didn't know the city well. Positively unfriendly, I would have thought.

I was struck by how many of the cyclists I did see had all the gear, flat bars and seemed to be pedalling far faster than their bikes were actually going. But that was admittedly a small sample of the local biking population.

The thing that stuck in my mind the most, though, was a pint of ale for £1.65 at the Horse and Strumpet (can't remember the real name) somewhere near Briggate. It was least half the price of a decent London Pride. But, on the other hand, it wasn't half as good.

Actually, Leeds is pretty well preserved for a Victorian City (not that that means it hasn't been vandalised in parts) - but certainly, it isn't really dominated by flyovers and you must be pretty old if you remember it before the ones that are there now! The central Leeds bit was mostly constructed in the 1960s. Infact now the city centre is either mostly traffic free or heavily restricted.

I've been here for 15 years (I am from just North of London originally and know it well) - since I've been here it has been heavily regenerated though obviously a fair few of the recent projects have stalled in the recession. Personally, I don't like the shiny new blocks but at least there aren't so many of them that they haven't spoiled the place like they did in Manchester.

Cycling in Leeds can be a bit tricky but it doesn't seem to kill many! There are quite a few cycle lanes and they are a decent width but probably most get put off by the hills! I see very few on my routes and they are usually no quicker than the London lot (I was really just winding up the whole SCR thing in the original post!).

As for the Horse and Trumpet - well, I'm not surprised you weren't impressed. I've been in there once and that was enough. Virtually any of the other (non Headrow) city centre pubs would have been better! Whitelocks, The Ship, Mr Foleys - even the Weatherspoons! The beer is cheap and every bit a match for London Pride. Hmmm, York Constantine at Mr Foleys - fabulous!

bdave262000 wrote:

Do you want salt & vinegar with that chip on your shoulder?

Yep, I'll have the salt and vinegar if you promise to get a sense of humour (I don't think you understood the original post - it isn't a 'Leeds is great, London is crap thread (both are great!) - it is just about how I found, on first impression, the experience of being a London cycle commuter.).

clarkey cat

I was in Leeds recently on a stag-do. We were booked in at the Etap but I took one look at my room and went off and got a room at another hotel on my own.

That probably says more about me and Etaps than it does about Leeds but there you go.

lost_in_thought

The main problem with Leeds is that it's chock-full of northern folk.

/runs away giggling

Kieran_Burns

lost_in_thought wrote:

The main problem with Leeds is that it's chock-full of northern folk.

/runs away giggling

I always thought the problem with Leeds folk is that they think they're part of Yorkshire...

(now permanently in hiding)

Headhuunter

Bassjunkieuk wrote:

I personally love the cut and thrust and the excitement of commuting in town

Yeah I agree, I quite like the frisson of danger hammering through heavy traffic past slower cyclists, racing faster ones... I think I'd get bored commuting along open roads...

itboffin

Yeh London everyone of those cyclists is an utter mother fucking bastard sex pest hipster fakenger

hmmm seems the swear filter allows some of the "lighter" words.

rolf_f

lost_in_thought wrote:

The main problem with Leeds is that it's chock-full of northern folk.

/runs away giggling

I wouldn't try it - I don't reckon your legs are long enough to make it stick!

Actually, Kieran is sort of right. When I first came up here, all the incomers lived in Leeds and all the younger locals were out in Wakefield or Huddersfield probably because they didn't think the Leeds premium was worth it. Now it's fairer as no-one can afford to live anywhere

Jay dubbleU

cjcp wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Hardened northerner finds The South not quite as soft as expected.

Indeed. I think these provincial types are easily dazzled by the Bright Lights, too. Tell me, do you folks out there also wave at the aeroplanes?

Why would we do that ? We got shotguns round here you know

rick_chasey

Jay dubbleU wrote:

cjcp wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Hardened northerner finds The South not quite as soft as expected.

Indeed. I think these provincial types are easily dazzled by the Bright Lights, too. Tell me, do you folks out there also wave at the aeroplanes?

Why would we do that ? We got shotguns round here you know

Ever been to Hackney?

clarkey cat

Hackney is full of middle-class kids living out an 'alternative' lifestyle until they can afford to move to Surrey or Kent.

Ben6899

Just for the record, any pub on the Headrow (like the Horse & Trumpet) is not representative of the average pub in Leeds. In fact there's a strict "dress code"* which makes me surprised that our friend managed to get in.








* one eye, ACAB tattooed on your knuckles, a giro, token NHS walking stick, swallows tattooed at the base of your thumbs.

dodgerdog

phy2sll2 wrote:

So, if I might summarise:

3) Croydon is not as nice as some places, but not as bad as some people think.

I worked there for two years and would seriously disagree with this. :roll:

We had our office block (just up from Croydon East Stn) twice used as a observation location for the police. Generally an unpleasent area which gets worse going into London before getting better - I offer you all the idyll otherwise known as Thornton Heath! :shock:

Kieran_Burns

Rolf F wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

The main problem with Leeds is that it's chock-full of northern folk.

/runs away giggling

I wouldn't try it - I don't reckon your legs are long enough to make it stick!

Actually, Kieran is sort of right. When I first came up here, all the incomers lived in Leeds and all the younger locals were out in Wakefield or Huddersfield probably because they didn't think the Leeds premium was worth it. Now it's fairer as no-one can afford to live anywhere

I must admit I was stunned at the prices in the Golden Triangle... bleeding things are almost comparable to being in the South.