Cycling highs and lows

Well done Cllr Paul Braithwaite for organising an excellent All Around Camden event today. About 75 residents, escorted by police on bicycles, cycled around the boundary of the borough and through all 18 wards. All good fun. I hope this will now become an annual event. See below for an exhausted cycling cop!

For more pictures see the Camden Cycling Campaign website.

Cycling up the Kilburn High Road escorted by six police officers on bikes I was once again struck by how dangerous normal cycling (ie without police protection) is on roads like that. And once again I came to the conclusion that unless we put in properly separated cycle lanes we will never encourage more people to cycle.

Meanwhile Mayor Boris is busy making cycling even less safe. He wants to allow motorbikes to use London's bus lanes, making them even more dangerous for cyclists. Walking and cycling are what the Mayor should encourage, not dispensations for motorbikes. It sends out entirely the wrong signal, as does dropping the proposed £25 congestion charge for large cars and not wearing a bike helmet which he won't do because it might ruin his hairdo.