26 January 2009: Cycling the Northumberland Coast

Posted on January 27, 2009 by Jack Thurston

Riding the Northumberland coast from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Newcastle-upon-Tyne with Daniel Start, author of the best-selling Wild Swimming, a guide to natural swimming spots in Britain. Wild Swimming Coast (the salt-water version) will be published in the late spring. To enter the competition to win a signed copy, send an email detailing your favourite wild swimming spot to bikeshow@resonancefm.com.

Andrew Stevenson’s account of his Ed Ruscha-inspired 12 Bakeries ride from London to Paris is available to download (PDF).

Some excellent photographs of the LFGSS’s Tweed Run available here and here. For more information about the Tweed Cycling Club, there is a website.

Play or download MP3 on links below. Other file formats (e.g. Ogg Vorbis) over here.

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Return of The Bike Show: Monday 26 January 2009

Posted on January 20, 2009 by Jack Thurston

After a restorative break, the show returns to the airwaves for the 2009 season at 6.30pm on Monday, 26 January. Tune in live at 104.4fm in central London or Resonance FM’s web stream. Or via the podcast. To subscribe via iTunes, click here.

The show will feature a Northumberland coastal ride with Daniel Start, author of 2008 best-seller Wild Swimming.

Update: Owing to technical ineptitude the podcast edition of the show will not be online until the early evening of Tuesday 27 January.

City of London: Cyclist traffic casualty statistics

Posted on November 1, 2008 by Jack Thurston

I previously wrote about last months’ City of London Police’s recent Road Safety Forum. I mentioned some statistics that were presented by Sergeant Alan Rickwood. Sergeant Ringwood was kind enough to send me his slides afterwards, and I can share them here. Continue reading →

20 October 2008: Inventing the perfect folding bicycle

Posted on October 20, 2008 by Jack Thurston

The latest on moves by the London Assembly to reduce the dangers posed by lorries to cyclists. Plus an extended talk by Andrew Ritchey, inventor of the Brompton, the folding miracle that is the toast of London’s bicycle-train commuters. The talk was given over the summer at the iFest 08 in Barcelona. It tells the story of how an idea became a commercial success, largely through the vision and determination of one man. This is the last in the current season. The Bike Show will return in early 2009.

Play on links below. Other file formats (Ogg Vorbis, 64kb MP3 over here).

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13 October 2008: Emergency – Lorries Killing Cyclists

Posted on October 14, 2008 by Jack Thurston

After a summer of fun on two wheels, we turn to more serious matters. The entire show this week is devoted to the problem of lorries killing cyclists in London. With Barry Mason of Southwark Cyclists and Cynthia Barlow, chairwoman of RoadPeace, the national campaign against deaths on Britain’s roads. We also hear from London Assembly Member Val Shawcross who is tabling a motion this week urging more action to make the roads safer for London’s cyclists.

To write to your elected representatives about this issue, visit WriteToThem.com. It takes a matter of minutes and works. You’ll find excellent coverage of the lorry/cyclist issue over at Moving Target, including some very good sample letters for inspiration. Barry Mason’s full notes of last week’s inquest into the killing of Nga Diep are available here.

Play on links below. Other file formats (Ogg Vorbis, 64kb MP3) over here.

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City of London Police: Road Safety Forum

Posted on October 14, 2008 by Jack Thurston

This morning I attended the Road Safety Forum organised by the City of London police, at their Snow Hill police station, near Smithfield Market. It was a good meeting, well attended by a range of officers, including at a senior level, plus those responsible for implementation on the streets. There were also representation from Corporation of London and Transport for London. Among the most interesting things I learned was that during a single day of random spot checks of lorries (HGVs) by City of London Police on 30 September this year, every lorry stopped was found to be breaking at least one road safety law. Continue reading →

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Posted on October 7, 2008 by Jack Thurston

Nice to see the police setting an example. Today at 2.20pm on Webber Street, corner of Blackfriars Road, SE1.

For those who don’t know, this is an Advance Stop Line, a ‘safe place’ for cyclists to wait at junctions. If it wasn’t filled with two tonnes of Plod, that is.

The license number of the van is LX54 JBE.

‘Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?’ roughly translates as ‘Who watches the watchmen?’