Thursday morning my wife and i had to take my little boy up london (london dental clinic harley street) for 10 teeth to be removed (thanks to an old nursery injury and an incompetent dentist) Any way ’ any of you that actually ride through london , really do need huge respect . and you all get it especially from me. I have ventured up on my bike in the past but i find it amazing how you all manage to survive , i cant belive how many bikers i saw (all types) managing to dodge all the idiot , car drivers,bus drivers, taxi drivers , van drivers , lorry drivers , pedestrians,and cyclists , with out getting clipped or taken off, Its a totally different risk to riding in the suburbs , so you all get huge respect from me. , i was in my car but it made me cringe the amount of times i saw some very dodgy moves from people on that list above . be lucky stay safe
not all bus drivers are idiots m8 sum of US actually ride bikes and are aware of their surroundings. thanks for the respect though it is hard when you have to deal with idiot drivers not paying attenion to the road and wats happerning around them
I love riding my bike in central London, it’s like a game of chess or doing a Rubik’s cube, it’s all about planning ahead, predicting what other people are going to do, being predictable yourself, being considerate, and communicating. I find bus drivers to be pretty good, especially when they stick their arm out their side window to warn you they’re letting someone in from a side road who is turning right. London riding is actually a lot safer than riding in the country. Whilst there is more chance of a prang in our capital, it’s far less likely to be serious or lethal than on a country road or motorway.
My big hate at the moment is the drivers of the new “Caring for You” ambulances that seem to have sprung up all of a sudden. Don’t know where they dug them up from but they are positively the worst drivers on the road :crazy:
I hope your son makes a speedy recovery from having his 10 teeth out.
Central London is something else when it comes to traffic. It takes a while to get used to it, missed it sometimes but then I remember one of the reason why I decided to train rather the bike it when a guy got taken out by White Van Man doing a U Turn on Knightsbridge the other day.
Helped out and gave him a cuppa and moved the bike from the middle of the road. Biker OK, van driver facing a charge of driving without due care and attention. Silly sod did it in front of two coppers and CCTV.
Be careful out there folks.
Hope you little is recovering ok, and remember jelly and ice cream IS a treatment!
I find riding in the city keeps me sharp and alert. You get to work awake and well before the public trainsport can manage it. Also you have a 1st class seat the whole way, get to enjoy seeing the world go by, other nice bikes and generally just get on with life at your pace. You get used to riding in traffic, the trick is not to be come innured to riding in traffic, but to keep the sharp sense of “it will hurt if you **** up!”
I love my commute into town - like someone else said, it keeps you sharp. Yes there are hairy moments, but if you can brave the crazy cages first thing - you can do anything.
Had to get the train today whilst the bike is being fixed/serviced. I HATE the train.
Dirty, smelly people. I mean, how the f*ck can you stink first thing in the morning.
+1 agreed, I just wish that my fingers could cope with the cold, anything below 12 degrees, and even with heated grips and good gloves, I have white fingers within 10 minutes.
I love riding in London - it’s like playing an x-box or being in your own personal action film (e.g. world class city as a backdrop and an international audience for your motorcycling antics ) - and you can round the excitement off with an espresso down the bar Italia in soho - proper cafe racer style!
Seriously though - I’ve only had a couple of incidents in a decade of dogfighting London traffic - walked away from both without a scratch - HOWEVER - my biggest accident ever (compound fracture broken lower limb after cage drove into me) happened three weeks ago in a supermarket car park in a leafy suburb at under 10 m.p.h. !
Give me London any day!
Oh the irony. . .
p.s. hope the young lad is doing ok after the dental op.
+1 agreed !! I start my ride from out of town in the sticks, so first I get the nice twisty country roads, followed by a hearty plem down the m4 and finish up with the mental streets of london town. It really is like a computer game - gotta stay focused all the time. Normally arrive at you desk still buzzing - wakes you up for sure in the morning. Granted…the only bummer is that you don’t get 3 lives in this game ! Stay safe everyone !
, i was in my car but it made me cringe the amount of times i saw some very dodgy moves from people on that list above . be lucky stay safe
