On the cyclist protests at Blackfriars Bridge. "Ben Plowden, TfL's director of better routes and places, said the changes were designed to cope with a huge increase in pedestrians using the pavements around Blackfriars station, as a result of extra trains and the closure of pedestrian subways." As a student of (the often threatened) highwalks, their subterranean counterparts seem to be equally (and admittedly for good reason) out of fashion, but that does lead to the surface being even more contested.

Another article from Design magazine on cycling, with a guinea pig trying to get from once side of the central area to the other on a folding bike.

I'm amazed that I haven't bookmarked this before: a 1973 article in Design magazine, from the London College of Communication. "In their blind devotion to the interests of private cars and goods vehicles, Britain's traffic planners have forgotten the pedal cyclist."

"Originally designed to haul lumber and freight, and then later passengers, it was sealed shut in 1978 after a series of fires and structural collapses. Today it carries bicyclists and pedestrians between Larkspur and San Rafael. It is a key component in the North-South Greenway and is also part of the future SMART corridor with a planned station"

"I decided to try what are referred to here as Boris Bikes—a bike hire system that was recently installed. It is modeled after the French Velib system. Barclays Bank is a sponsor." "Would a US bank do the same? One Goldman Sachs exec’s bonus would probably cover a whole city’s worth of these things." David Byrne on London's bike hire. Unlike Sinclair, he hits fewer troubles and seems fairly happy with it.

"Londoners who use Boris Johnson’s cycle hire scheme are 9 to 6 commuters, midday errand runners and fair-weather cyclists who take the tube or bus when it’s a bit cold and wet. How do I know? I’ve seen the data." Although: "I dont think it's a huge stretch of the imagination to say that rain and cold days means less cycling. That's an anecdote and not statistically significant, but this is a blog post based on five day's data, not a scientific paper."

"I’m sure we’re all very grateful to the shareholders of Barclays for spending some of their marketing budget on slapping their logo all over the bikes and uniforms of staff but frankly this new roundel brings crass commercialism crashing down to whole new levels of bad and for that we have to blame Team Boris."

"The Cycle Challenge is a competition to see which team can cycle the most miles in a month. Teams that come top win great prizes."

The woes of a cyclist in London in 1973. Generally, I think things have improved, but then, the early 1970s was probably the nadir for cycling in the West, so i'm not sure that's high praise.

"Greenwich Foot Tunnel, which links south of the Thames with the Isle of Dogs, is likely to close for renovation in the autumn for up to 10 months. With Woolwich Foot Tunnel also due to shut it leaves the nearest viable crossing an awkward detour to Tower Bridge." "One of the options is for the DLR to relinquish its ban on bicycles [but] DLR and Transport for London both say it is against health and safety procedures for bikes to be allowed on board."

"Travel at a slow pace, wear normal clothes and dress about 10 degrees colder than you would if you were driving and you'll be just fine. If you ride slowly, you'll sweat less, meaning that you'll save valuable time at the end of your journey when the proto-racers are getting changed." And lots more quotable stuff besides.

"Why is it that British teen-agers (especially girls) reject cycling, even though most have had positive experiences when they were younger? Could it be that the unfriendly roads turn them off and paint riding a bike as ‘not cool’?" Interesting to compare this to the RAC report.

"From 5 January 2009, an 18-month trial will allow motorcycles, mopeds, scooters and tricycles - but not those with sidecars - to travel in most red route bus lanes." I blame Boris.

I didn't realise TfL had launched shiny new bicycle maps (based on Google Maps) for London. Useful. There's also a good graphical comparison of walking route planning from Google and Walkit; the latter are still way better, for this city anyway.

A really good post noting that "there is nothing unique about the frequency with which cyclists as a class break the law when compared with drivers" which goes on to explain what drivers also do and why cyclists make the decisions they often do.

"* One day ahead of the actual race, aided by his mum and fuelled by jam butties and Coca-Cola" What a sweet tale this is. Somehow feels very British.

"[Bendy buses] are involved in 2.62 collisions with cyclists per million miles, compared with 0.97 for other buses. And they have 153 accidents per million miles, compared with only 87 per million on non-bendy routes."