To the man who yelled "that's child abuse" at my family today: no, what's child abuse is you sitting in a stationary vehicle (stuck behind a delivery lorry) with your engine on, pumping out toxic fumes.
Just cycled with 3 kids from Liverpool Street to Victoria, in Friday rush hour, virtually all on safe, protected cycle tracks. THIS is what we campaigned for guys โค๏ธ๐ฒ๐ง
You guys, I can't believe I'm having to do this but our bike has just been fucking nicked, from our front garden, with the wheel lock on, while I was putting the kids to bed. PLEASE SHARE! Very distinctive bike, we are lost without it. E5.
I changed jobs at the beginning of the month. I'm cycling almost an identical distance in pretty much the opposite direction. The difference though is huge. My current commute is 100% motor vehicle free and it makes me SO DAMN HAPPY.
Cycled across London in the sun almost all on protected cycle routes that didn't exist 10 years ago and then watched a brilliant show and cycled home on almost all filtered roads. I just have to say how grateful I am to all of you who have worked to change our city for the better
Can a family of 5, only used to cycling the school run and commutes, cycle 151km from Hackney to the Kent coast in 3 days with no training and very little preparation? Yes we can! ๐คฃ๐๐๐๐ฒ
I'll support free parking for staff at hospitals when we also get free public transport and free secure cycle storage. The NHS shouldn't be adding to the financial incentivising of driving over other methods.
It's a very long story, and best not for social media, but thanks to a lot of lovely people, some gumption and a little luck, we have retrieved the e-cargobike that our family had stolen 11 months ago ๐ฒ๐๐ฅฐ๐
Apologies to the cycle commuters of London for my extremely raucous children singing "WE ALL LIVE IN A YELLOW TANGERINE" all the way home from the South Bank. On the upside, at least we weren't sitting next to you on the tube ๐
Thanks to a combination of existing road filters and a new school street, my 9 year old is now cycling the mile to school, on the roads, by himself. The independence has had a huge positive impact on his mental health. Thank you
@hackneycouncil
!
Realised it's just over 10 years since we went car-free. In that time we've brought up 3 kids, including with additional needs, and I've worked a crazy rota of shifts (including nights and weekends) at five different hospitals.
It's easy to forget how transformative these tracks have been. My 9yo can cycle herself totally independently to the riding centre and ice rink (when it re-opens) and I've got no concerns about her having to mix with traffic.
Today marks 6 months since I was hit from behind and run over by a sub-contracted patient transport ambulance outside my workplace, whilst waiting to enter a dual carriageway roundabout.
I was waiting where the white van was, the driver came from behind.
There is "insufficient evidence" because the police did not collect ANY details of ANY witnesses.
The dude literally drove over me. From behind. While I was stopped at a give away waiting to enter the roundabout.
And admitted full liability via his insurers.
Lea Bridge Road cycle tracks; enabling kids to cycle to their friends' birthday parties (and tired princesses to have a snooze). That's what proper cycling infrastructure does.
Always so grateful to live just a few hundred yards from a Borough whose Council really understand the importance of main road cycle infrastructure. Thanks to
@wfcouncil
my kids can cycle themselves to their hobbies safely ๐
Hang on, we still have people arguing against the existence of protected cycle infrastructure? Not the detail, or the implementation, the actual concept?
Can people really, genuinely, believe that we'd be better off without these?
Just got called a "fucking fat bitch" and tailgated by a person with their hand held down on the horn, by someone who wanted to speed down our (short, residential) road.
Guess the gender and mode of transport? ๐
Addendum: obviously if we had SAFE, PROTECTED DUTCH QUALITY CYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE, I wouldn't have needed to be anywhere near the vehicle in the first place.
Whenever I spend time away from London I'm always reminded of how crazy expensive it is to use public transport. ยฃ10 for 2 adults and 2 children to get the bus 15 minutes down the road? No wonder everyone drives.
Schroedinger's roads:
Simultaneously so dangerous that you need to be reported to social services for letting your children cycle on them
Whilst also being already so safe that the LTNs are totally unnecessary.
When your train is cancelled but your 12yo is a massive
#transportgeek
and lists all the alternative routes, along with wait times and train length, plus handy map (drawn from memory)
The 4yo insisted on cycling the 8 mile round trip to his Grandma's, partly along the canal, and partly on quiet roads, on a sunny Easter Sunday. The good news is, nobody went for a swim. The bad news is I think I've aged several decades ๐คฃ
After it happened a few well meaning people said, surely you will stop cycling now?!
I did nothing wrong.
I was not the person behaving dangerously.
Please, just LOOK WHERE YOU ARE DRIVING. Especially if you are driving a 3500kg vehicle.
Over & out.
Why is safe cycling infrastructure a feminist issue?
Evidence shows women make more, shorter journeys than men.
They are more likely to be accompanied by children or carrying loads, eg shopping.
Public transport is not time or ยฃ efficient for these type of trips.
1/2
Discovered, thanks to
@CyclingLawLDN
that the driver who drove over me admitted to leaving the scene of an accident, (didn't give details) and the police just accepted a paragraph written statement submitted from him ?!!
While I was interviewed under caution in A&E resus ๐คฏ
My daughter, a competent cyclist, is going to a new after school activity, which is 0.2 miles from our house. Unfortunately the roads are so hostile the only options are walk (taking twice as long each way) or cycle on the pavement.
Hey
@hackneycouncil
if it's ยฃ10 a year (!) for a parking permit for a "zero local emissions vehicle" how comes it's ยฃ42 a year to park a bike (1/12th of the space) with a 6000 person waiting list? How does that fit with the Council's transport hierarchy?
@jonburkeUK
Today's challenge, keeping the 4yo in a straight line, when he wants to cycle over all the "power ups" (painted bikes). Fine when the path is empty... Not so much when it's full of pedestrians and other cyclists ๐คฆ๐คฃ
Brompton+kid seat+train; enabling me to get to work on time 12 miles away, via breakfast club drop off. No traffic jams. No unreliable buses. Journey times predictable to the minute.
For various reasons I had to buy an on the day train ticket - something I rarely do. 1 hour journey. The price from the ticket machine was ยฃ78 single, ยฃ133 return. Online ยฃ70 single. Split ticketing website: ยฃ41.
The absolute state of train travel in this country.
Six up on the bike today (room for one more on the back if I lost my basket!). One nearly 8yo, one 7.5yo, two 5yo's and a nearly-2yo. Glad of the e-assist for the hills!
@TigerZindaHay
@KidKarbon
@SadiqKhan
So here's the thing. I am an obstetrician - a doctor specialising in the care of pregnant women. And I've had three babies. Please don't tell me what's "not normal".
Wow, this is new levels of grim.
Targeting a mum doing the school run in a sustainable way? Using an empty pedestrian crossing, slowly and considerately, because our roads are so hostile. You are a disgusting piece of work.
Leading London Cycling campaigner photographed illegally cycling a cargo bike on the pavement and then riding it across a pedestrian crossing in Cricklewood today.
Do you or your child need help improving your cycling skills? We have you covered! ๐ด
Weโre working with
@BikeabilityUK
to offer children and families cycle training to provide them with the skills they need to cycle safely ๐
#GetPedalling
#TravelSafely
Celebrating
#CarFreeDay2022
in A&E with two fractures of my hand and wrist having been hit by a high speed e scooter rider on the towpath on my way to work.
Our road has has permit parking for two weeks now and I can't believe the difference it has made. Not just to parking, as you'd expect (about 50% fewer cars parked) but also to motor traffic on our road full stop. We often go several hours with no cars at all passing now.
All hail the mighty boxbike! Three kids, two sledges, two blankets, eight pairs of gloves, numerous snacks, all the
#worldbookday
stuff PLUS a lift home from the spot where you've been sledging when you're exhausted and freezing
NB I don't want this to cause a pile on against scooters. Imagine if it is was a car. Inconsiderate people who speed are inconsiderate people who speed, regardless of mode
Cycling up to Whipps Cross from my house today on almost 100% protected cycle tracks, on my Dutch bike, in my dress and heels, in the warm sun, was a truly enjoyable experience. I never thought I could say that about Lea Bridge Road.
@springfall2008
@David_on_a_bike
Hi. You're talking to a doctor who works 12 hour (well, 12.5hr actually) shifts. In fact I worked one last night, then cycled home, as I always do.
Lea Bridge Road cycle lanes are the gift that keeps on giving. Today; enabling a bunch of 6-8 year olds to safely get to the train station to head out for a day in the country while adult roadies use them for their club rides.
I've had to change my route to work as I can't bring myself to cycle the roundabout any more. It's slower and crapper and frankly quite annoying. It's also less safe in the dark. The old female chestnut of weighing up road safety v personal safety.
Anyway. I'm grateful to be here, I'm grateful his lapse in concentration didn't lead to him being 30cm further left.
I'm grateful to everyone who has supported me and my family and to my lovely lawyer who is on here but I won't tag and bombard his mentions ๐
@hackneycouncil
what on earth is going on? Not just cargobikes, you are now ticketing 'standard' cycles locked outside people's houses (with PLENTY of space left on the pavement). We have two cycle hangers for over 100 houses/flats!
@metecoban92
can you please stop this nonsense?
I can't stand cycling in front of any large vehicles, including double decker buses. It brings out total terror.
This is slightly inconvenient when you live and cycle in London.
A few well meaning people have said to me in the last 9 days, "NOW will you stop cycling?"
As my friend
@janeguidon
has pointed out, we don't say to drivers who were hit from behind, "NOW will you stop driving"?!
In happier news, I've just realised that the
@familycyclinguk
Facebook group has just passed its NINTH birthday and now has almost 18,000 members!
Having a little proud moment โบ๏ธ
If I ever find Twitter negativity about cycling getting me down, I just spend a few minutes in the Family Cycling Facebook group and it cheers me right up. Another 500+ members just this month!
Yesterday I had my first real life helmet "concern troll".
Really baffling that someone can convince themselves that shouting at a family so aggressively that my toddler burst into tears is in any way a helpful or constructive thing to do.