4 ms·

> people make a lot of excuses when confronted with something that they do not want to do I am a cyclist who would want to do it a LOT more. And the main reaso

by bostik 4y ago

> people make a lot of excuses when confronted with something that they do not want to do I am a cyclist who would want to do it a LOT more. And the main reason is two-fold. One: cycling in London is scary, dangerous and extremely stressful. The cycling lanes, where they exist, are poorly maintained, tend to hop between the sides of the road at a rapid pace, and far too often cross with bus stops. On a bike you are forced to mix with car traffic more than if you simply _walked_ on the side of the road! Two: I live at the bottom of a valley. Going anywhere starts by cycling a minimum of 2.5km uphill. Going anywhere interesting requires to take on a 5-7km uphill drive. Combined with the dangerous environment, being exhausted all the time adds to the risk. (FYI: on flat terrain I can do 25km on one go with little effort.) Back in Finland I used to cycle ~170km a week during summers. In London, not a chance.

prennert 4y ago
In London it is worth trying to optimize where you live so you can get by bicycle where you need to go. Some parts are terribly connected for cyclists others much better. You can use citymapper to find and check for cycling routes (do not use Google to find cycling routes). I found that North (Islington) and East are better for cycling than South or West.
- bostik 4y ago
  (Snark incoming!) Entitled much? Try having a family, and getting a place with a garden. Around Islington decent places like that go for around £2M. With the most lenient lenders you can get a mortgage for 5.5x your annual income, so in order to afford one, I would have to make about £365k a year. Which would likely put me in the 99.99th percentile in terms of income. Yeah. Sure.
  - prennert 4y ago
    I always think London is only good for students or rich people. Since I am neither, I moved away. Islington is massive with expensive and cheaper areas, but all of it is fairly cycleble. But if you want to go further away, I did cycle from Lea bridge road close to Walhamstrow every day for years to around Euston. That's North East and used to be cheap the live back then. I tried Tottenham, too. That's harder to cycle to and from.
yrro 4y ago
An electric bicycle will make a huge difference in getting you out of the valley. But unfortunately you can't do anything about the atrocious non-design of London streets and the endless traffic gumming them up.

by bostik 4y ago

prennert 4y ago

In London it is worth trying to optimize where you live so you can get by bicycle where you need to go. Some parts are terribly connected for cyclists others much better. You can use citymapper to find and check for cycling routes (do not use Google to find cycling routes). I found that North (Islington) and East are better for cycling than South or West.

bostik 4y ago
(Snark incoming!) Entitled much? Try having a family, and getting a place with a garden. Around Islington decent places like that go for around £2M. With the most lenient lenders you can get a mortgage for 5.5x your annual income, so in order to afford one, I would have to make about £365k a year. Which would likely put me in the 99.99th percentile in terms of income. Yeah. Sure.
- prennert 4y ago
  I always think London is only good for students or rich people. Since I am neither, I moved away. Islington is massive with expensive and cheaper areas, but all of it is fairly cycleble. But if you want to go further away, I did cycle from Lea bridge road close to Walhamstrow every day for years to around Euston. That's North East and used to be cheap the live back then. I tried Tottenham, too. That's harder to cycle to and from.

yrro 4y ago

An electric bicycle will make a huge difference in getting you out of the valley. But unfortunately you can't do anything about the atrocious non-design of London streets and the endless traffic gumming them up.