For reasons too complicated to explain I have recently moved from Hackney to Hampstead. Traumas this has induced include guilt over committing a crime against borough fidelity and the need to master a new route for cycling to work. The latter has been the more demanding.
I am in a love/hate relationship with Lime bikes, which have taken some getting used to – I spent what seemed like hours trying to understand the pricing structure. I also learned from experience that, despite being a very active Londoner, there are pockets of the city that are completely alien to me, meaning I took some wrong turns before finding the best way to Shoreditch.
But by the end of my first week, I’d figured it all out and, coincidentally, attended a presentation by Sadiq Khan’s cycling and walking commissioner, Will Norman. Articulate and industrious, Will is a leader among the many thousands who have campaigned, protested, developed, implemented and funded the radical cycling transformation that London has undergone.
My first cycle commute in 2001 was a relatively short, but I felt I was taking my life into my hands. What a contrast with my new, much longer daily trip, 80 per cent of which is in protected lanes. An impressive number of new cycling routes have been introduced since Will started his job in 2016. Congratulations to all involved for getting us this far.
But some issues still trouble Will and his colleagues, notably convincing more women and ethnic minority Londoners to take up cycling […]
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