Simon's Blog (the personal one)

What's it like to cycle in London?

I was coming down in the lift at CLG (Department of Communities and local Government) this atfernoon with my folding bike and a woman asked what it was like cycling in London, so I thought I'd show her.

These videos were taken with a Nokia n95 and streamed straight to Qik over a 3G connection over the internet. The comments I received from anonymous viewers as I rode along included: "Shut! Stop talking" (gee thanks) and "You're riding on the wrong side of the road" and "You've just gone passed where I used to work".

Don't be put off by the quality of the audio in the first one. The other two are better.

Video 1 of 3: Victoria to Parliament Square

Video 2 of 3: Parliament Square to Tottenham Court Road

Video 3 of 3: Tottenham Court Road to Euston

There. Fun!

I could of course do this bit of the journey by public transport but it's deadly compared to this! Also I live 3 miles from the station so need the bike when I get to the other end.

Just because you can doesn't mean you should (fly)

Did you see this? European railways are taking on the low-cost airlines. On 5 February Alstom unvieled its new AGV train. This is the successor to the TGV which is 25 years old and already holds the world rail speed record (360mph). The new train will run at up to 360kph, 60kph faster than the TGV. Apparently it uses 15% less energy too.

The rich diversity of European culture and languages is already only a train ride away this will make more people realise this.

Read the Alstom press release here.
Read David Gow's Guardian article here.

A suggestion for Transport For London

When you're cycling for work and you have to get toa meeting, or whatever, for a particular time and you're on unfamiliar territory, things can get a little stressful.

This is why the Route Planner on the Transport for London website is so good. You put in your starting point and destination, say you're on a bike, and it gives you a cycle-friendly route, including a map. The Map's in PDF format and will usually span several pages. My route from Euston to London Bridge spans 5 pages I think.

The problem is that this is a bit of a cumbersome format for a cyclist. All I need is a list of street names and decision points which I can print on a single sheet and pop in my pocket where my mini A to Z lives.

This turn by turn information is already provided on the TFL maps but it is split up and each bit put on the relevant page. This is fine but can we have it brought together on a single page please (see image)? So we can just print one sheet?

Rugby station back in action

Rugby has been in the news already this year because the over run  of the rail engineering works. In the last year a new platform has been built (pictured) and engineering works take place quite often. However, as a rail traveller you are rarely aware of any changes as a result. But not this week. I pitched up for my bike-train-bike commute to London yesterday and it was all change. That's the 08:51 to Euston coming into the picture on a completely different track. This was a northbound track at the end of 2007. There was a change on the way home too. Trains from London are are now arriving on the new platform. Progress.

Land's End to John o' Groats on the National Cycle Network – the challenge

This article was written for 'The Ranger', the Sustrans Volunteer Rangers Newsletter, and an edited version was published in the Autumn 2007 edition.

I first cycled from Land's End to John o' Groats in May/June 2006. I was pleased I'd done it but left the saddle vowing never to do it again. But then all sorts of forces began to work on me:

I met and was inspired by John Grimshaw when he gave the keynote speech at the ruralnet|uk conference. We talked about many things including the signage on the NCN.

This got me thinking. In 2006, I'd taken a GPS unit with me: it recorded the route and gave me lots of data to play with when I got back. All this data was published for other would-be end-to-enders on the trip's blog: ruralnet.typepad.com/endtoend  I was also aware that this gadget could be used to plan routes in advance.

Soon after, on signing up as a Sustrans supporter I heard about  Sustrans' 30th anniversary – what an opportunity for celebration: before I knew it I was planning a turn by turn route from Land's End to John o' Groats on the National Cycle Network.

This little project kept me busy on many a dark winter evening! The 48 stages are published here: www.gpscycle.com. for anyone to view, download and use.

I wrote about the planning process at: blog.gpscycle.com and the site turned into a 'saddlelog' as I blogged the ride live from the saddle, using a fancy mobile phone.

So how did I get on? Did I stick to the network? Could I have done it without the GPS? Well, the NCN route planned was 1,235 miles. Sadly, I managed to cover only 647 of these on the network.

Working to a tight timetable, using major roads for half the route was unavoidable: we were committed to doing 100 miles a day and on some stretches of the network a sustained average speed of 10mph isn't possible. Without exception they are routes to savour, not so good for chewing up the miles in a hurry.

I couldn't have done it without the GPS: the signage was generally not good enough to guide the unfamiliar traveller. Even the best-signed routes generally had a crucial sign missing. An exception was route 3 over Bodmin: brilliant, with on-road markings at every decision point. I dream of the day when on-road NCN signage is integral to every 'Give way' triangle on every minor road in the country.

After all the investment in time and resources to set up a route adequate signage is essential. Cheltenham was an example of where the balance is wrong. The cycle path from the station to Waitrose is superb but when you approach the superstore there are routes going off in various directions and absolutely no signage. If you do happen to chose the right path you are dropped onto a minor road with a superb sign, pointing back telling you where you come from but no indication of where to go next. Information is crucial to the successful use of any transport system. Good NCN signage is as important as the NCN itself.

Thanks go to all the Sustrans Rangers who are working hard to achieve this and to the Local Authorities who are investing in good signage. The National Cycle Network is undoubtedly one of the jewels in the crown of national UK infrastructure – a huge achievement in both development and upkeep. The challenge of riding from one tip of the country on the network is still there! Anyone up for it, should plan to take several weeks and enjoy the views and watering holes. Meanwhile, I'm up for joining a Rangers' Relay.

The Participation Ride 2007

From 27 August to 7 September I was blogging by way from Land's End to John o' Groats on a bicycle. The blog is over here.

The 12-day, 1250-mile challenge started from Land's End on 27 August and finished at midday on 7 September 2007.

We wre raising money for ruralnet|uk's Participation Fund and other charities. We attempted to use the National Cycle Network exclusively but met various challenges trying to do this and these are documented on the blog.

The day-by-day route plan can be read here and complete maps, Google Earth files and GPS routes have been placed here: www.gpscycle.com.

The Participation 2006

From 29 May to 7 June 2006 I was blogging my way from Land's End to John o' Groats on a bicycle. The blog is over here.

I covered 980 miles in 10 days and raised £1,090 for ruralnet|uk's Participation Fund.

I led another group in 2007 and attempted a route from Land's End to John o' Groats on the National Cycle Network. The full story is here.

From 29 May to 7 June 2006 I was blogging my way from Land's End to John o' Groats on a bicycle. The blog is over here.

I covered 980 miles in 10 days and raised £1,090 for ruralnet|uk's Participation Fund.

I led another group in 2007 and attempted a route from Land's End to John o' Groats on the National Cycle Network. The full story is here.