The idea was to cycle the length of the Cycle Superhighway around my #hyperlocal patch of South London, and then write a cynical, sneering blog post about how Boris’ bicycling solution is little more than lip service to the cycling lobby.
But for all the faults of CS7 [PDF], I would rather be given the opportunity to freewheel along the big blue bicycle lane, than to be left at the mercy of the free for all that is the traditional car haven that is the Clap’ham Road.
Yes – parked cars tend to clog up CS7; busses are no better. The stop / start random nature of the big blue experiment seems slightly confusing as well. Plus the paint is already starting to peel off around my #hyperlocal patch, less than a month since it was first put down, and before the official opening as well.
But never mind the length – feel the thickness. There is a certain feeling of elevated safety gained from cycling in a dedicated blue lane that warns away any non-pedal power modes of transport. There is also the safety in numbers element, as the pelaton hurtles down my #hyperlocal patch each morning and early evening.
The visual element of the Cycle Superhighway will be what defines it as a success. You simply can’t miss the great big blue swathes currently cutting through the main routes of the city. Cyclists are attracted towards it, creating a genuine critical mass of cyclists.
It is difficult to imagine just how dire cycling was in London less than a decade ago. Anyone seen around town on two wheels was viewed even lower down the social scale than a Bus Stop Johnny. Cycling wasn’t cool – it was the form of transport for the have nots, the losers, the weirdoes.
I’m pleased that I’ve stuck with cycling, and although I may not have fully escaped from this demographic, cycling down the Cycle Superhighway with the Bright Young Things of SW8, now no longer means having insults, or even objects, thrown at you.
Another evening, another local political hustings to attend.
Blimey.
The Lambeth Cyclists political call to arms wasn’t quite the Red Flag revolutionary radical hotbed of the Stop the War hustings from the night before. But bicyclists are passionate, and they tend to talk a lot of sense.
But anyway. It was good to see @LambethLabour representation from the very decent Councillor Haselden, a fine local politician, and a passionate cyclist. Councillor Heather was representing @LambethLibDems, Councillor Whelan (female variety) the Tories and John Hare was speaking for Lambeth Greens.
As is the format with most hustings, each candidate was first given an opportunity to introduce their policies. Councillor Whelan proudly declared: “half of the Lambeth Conservative group are passionate cyclists.” I think she meant herself and the good husband.
Much was made of the Tory enthusiasm for bicycling, as promoted by Boris and Dave. I’ve actually got a bit of a *shhh* soft spot for the wet, ineffectual Lambeth Tories; but it was when Councillor Whelan brought the Bullingdon boys into the conversation that my love of the blue rinse receded.
Councillor Whelan explored the idea of building bicycle lanes on disused railway lines. A fine principle, but there ‘aint that many of these around Lambeth. The Lambeth Tory record of supporting an increase in bike racks and an increase in cycling routes was also mentioned.
The Tories locally are also on the record for calling for increased cycle training. Councillor Whelan raised the stakes further by calling for all car drivers to also undertake cycle training course.
Cripes.
So yeah, the Conservatives in Lambeth have genuine green credentials, albeit little political power. A fine opening.
Councillor Heather of the @LambethLibDems was then allowed his ten minutes to explain the opposition policy towards cycling.
“I am not a cyclist myself, but I do recognise that the Council has appointed an extremely good Cycle Programme Manager in Richard Ambler.”
With the @LambethLibDems pledging in their manifesto to cut down on council bureaucracy, I think our man Richard can rest easy at night, come May 7th.
Councillor Heather put forward the policy of introducing a 20mph speed limit around Lambeth. Given that central Brixton and Streatham High Road already operate a non law enforced go slow policy, this shouldn’t make too much of a difference if rolled out borough wide.
In a rare moment of a @LambethLibDems love in with @LambethLabour, Councillor Heather also praised the specialist training that Lambeth HGV drivers have to undertake. This is a crucial issue when you consider the increase in deaths of London bicyclists at the hands of HGV’s this year.
“It forces cyclists on to routes that quite frankly, are rather undesirable.”
The Cycle Super Highway goes past my front door.
Yikes.
The political hot potato of potholes then surfaced. Or even re-surfaced, if you see what I mean. Councillor Heather was heavily critical of Labour’s record in reducing potholes.
As I keep saying – potholes: they are an election winner…
The right old mess of the bodged Herne Hill junction at Brockwell Park was next up on Councillor Heather’s radar. Quite right too. To give up green space with the aim of improving the traffic flow, only to find that a great big pavement has been plonked down instead, is one of the major environmental failures of @LambethLabour.
Councillor Heather continued this theme, pledging that @LambethLibDems would not build on any other green land in the borough, and in particular (and of great political significance) Streatham Common and the proposed temporary ice rink.
To defend @LambethLabour’s cycling and green credentials was Councillor Haselden – a very affable chap who is fantastic on the detail and finer points of town planning:
“We have a very good pedigree when it comes to cycling. Lambeth is the only borough in London that has two dedicated cycling officers. We want to raise the profile of cycling, and we have introduced a road reduction scheme.”
Councillor Haselden spoke of “addressing the dangers at source,” and “making cycling and walking more attractive.” This #hyperlocal approach is well used by Councillor Haselden. He understands the specific problems that various junctions around the borough present to bicyclists. The trick is of how best to solve them…
Green candidate John Hare then had his ten minutes to address the floor:
“Being the Green candidate, I have the easy gig. I have read the Lambeth Cyclists manifesto. I endorse it fully, although I don’t think it goes far enough.”
John confirmed his support for a borough wide 20mph speed limit, noting in particular how South Lambeth Road is now empty during the day. The congestion charge has seen to this, but it now gives boy racers the opportunity to put their foot down. As a former resident, I can confirm this to be the case.
“Political will makes things happen – not town planners or engineers.”
The second half of the hustings was put over to questions from the floor. With the council naming and shaming drug dealers in the borough, the idea was suggested that we should do the same with bad drivers. The consensus was no, demonstrating what the priorities and perceived threat is from a political point of view.
All candidates were then asked to commit to a policy of offering cycle training to 100% of primary school children in the borough. With cuts and books to balance for the next administration, this was a put up or shut up moment.
Yes was the Tory response, yes in theory from Labour (“although my hands aren’t on the purse strings.“) An “achievable aim” was the answer from the LibDems, adding: “staff are in posts that are not producing much.”
John Hare of the Greens was decent (and honest enough) to admit:
“We’re not going to be in power and so it’s not a decision we will have to make.”
A further question asked the candidates to rank the balance of power between car drivers and cyclists. In particular the example of the hellish crossover by Kennington Park into Brixton Road was cited, as well as the new junction heading up to Brixton Hill, right outside Lambeth Town Hall.
All panel members came up with anecdotes about Brixton Road, but Councillor Haselden was alone in his endorsement of the “improved” traffic flow around Windrush Square. The Brockwell Park Herne Junction then made a return, thanks to a hit and miss question posed by a young (ish) local blogger / bicyclist.
This was a detailed, and very lengthy meeting. Bicyclists are rather picky on the finer points of trying to find a safe and enjoyable way around town on two wheels.
Cheap political points weren’t there to be scored, and it was refreshing to see cross party support for cycling, and a more sustained form of transport in general throughout the borough.
Transport probably won’t play a key role in the local elections. All four main parties in Lambeth are broadly in agreement for the way ahead, come May 7th. Our role as the electorate is to ensure that this consensus is built upon and the next administration aims to keep cycling in Lambeth high up on the agenda.
It’s such a shame that the UK track season opener is always subject to the weather. There has been a (scheduled) Good Friday meet at Herne Hill for over one hundred years now. The time slot is traditional – to shift it forward a few months just wouldn’t feel right.
It was a sorry sight though, when with the prelims completed on schedule, and then suddenly the South London skies burst open just ahead of the main race roll outs.
The cycling crowd knew what was coming. This perhaps explains the low turnout ahead of the main races.
Herne Hill is an outdoor track, something that we need to celebrate. Racing with the wind in your hair is an SE24 rites of passage. So is the call to clear the track, as soon as the first drops of rain start to fall.
No worries. There was the usual eccentric mix of bicycling entertainment happening elsewhere. The bonkers bicycle jumble sale was in full flow, and the very fine folk from Rollapaluza were doing their roller races under cover.
We sheltered in the beer tent for an early liquid lunch, looked around at the bruising skies stretching all across South London and then buggered off to @TheLidoCafe for our entertainment.
The food was excellent, although it couldn’t quite compare with the spectacle of penny farthings and tandems racing around Herne Hill.
There’s still seven months or so of cycling at SE24 to go this summer. The slight early season blip isn’t going to get in the way of me spinning around the track before the Great Escape.
And so after the working party last weekend in SE24, early Saturday morning and we were ready to roll out for another season of outdoor track cycling at Herne Hill Velo.
Chapeau!
I’ve got big plans for this season: to try and finish it. It’s a hell of a long stretch from the Ides of March, all the way through until the autumnal days of October.
In-between there will no doubt be days when the weather gets the better of us, and with larger plans looming elsewhere come the end of summer, best to make hay ‘n all that.
If you have told the fine folk at VCL three weeks ago that we would be rolling out in rotation on Saturday morning, you would have been suspected of having taken a particularly bad knock to the head without wearing a bicycle helmet.
But woh – where did that cold snap go? Bright blue South London skies awaited my arrival at Herne Hill. The track looked splendid following the spring clean last week.
I really think the new racing schedule is going to work well this season. 9-10 am for the juniors removes the novices from bunching with the kids, as well as keeping the track clear for the intermediates only at 10am.
Ah yes, the intermediates. This is the banding of which I’m supposed to belong in. Technically a veteran, but still hanging on to hopes of Herne Hill glory.
Shortly after 10am, I cleated my ride, and rolled out nervously around the first bank. It was like I had never been away. The first breakaway group got my heart rate up. By the second and I could feel the blood pumping through every vein in my body. This is what it’s all about. It’s got to be better than the weekly supermarket shop on a Saturday morning.
Holding back the novice riders until after the intermediates, also allows VCL to experiment with the schedule. Bumps and Lumps was a new discipline for me, and one which I found rather hairy.
You follow the lead rider in a single string, as a route up and down is weaved all the way around the historic Herne Hill track. The thinking is to improve your awareness and handling abilities. The reality for me was that I almost ended up with a bump and a lump.
Rotation finished the first session of the season – a ride of stamina as the pace picks up with each lap. This was more like it, although I bonked as the pelaton broke away for a sprint finish.
But it’s early days down in SE24. I’ve got seven months in which to refine my track riding skills. There is much work to do.
It’s surprising how smooth the transition from road racing to the track is. You soon remember the small things, such as the idiosyncratic track hand signals, or the need to stick with the pack, else suffer the fate of bonking alone on the banks.
Come midday, and I de-cleated and hit the shakes. From my shoulders down to my fingernails, my arm and hands were in freefall. The cycle back to Sunny Stockwell on the Moulton had a fair share of bumps and lumps along the way.
A decent day of work down at Herne Hill velodrome on Saturday. With the new track season optimistically scheduled to role out of SE24 next weekend, there was no shortage of tasks for the VCL working party to complete this weekend.
The main focus of course was upon the track. An outdoor velo is essentially a very large garden, with a rather steep concrete path running around it. Nature doesn’t respect track etiquette, and so our first job was to trim the overgrowing grass around the inner track.
Teamwork was the key here. We completed a circuit of the velo in probably about the same time my aching frame will manage once bike bound next weekend.
A quick tea break, and next up was the clearing of the Herne Hill leaves. The wonderful autumnal Ride of the Falling Leaves rolls out at Herne Hill, and it seems that the leaves from five months ago have remained all around the track.
I cleared three wheelbarrow loads, and started off our very own Herne Hill compost patch. Cycling and green fingers – it’s got a future.
But it wasn’t all about having a track ready to ride ahead of le grand roll out – you need bikes to ride as well. My mechanical skills probably weren’t quite up to scratch, but it was good to see a dedicated team of grease monkeys servicing the fleet of VCL owned track bikes.
Sadly there has been a break in at Herne Hill over the winter months. Sixteen club owned track bikes were stolen. Four of these were later recovered in a front garden at Burbage Road, suggesting that the bike thief scum took off with more than they could transport.
The wonderful people of VCL have invested in a new fleet of Fuji’s. These look pristine, and rather tempting to take out for a spin next weekend. Each bike had to be fully serviced, and then pumped up to 160 PSI max for that feel of complete track control.
And so shortly after lunchtime on Saturday, the VCL working party was complete. I’m very excited about the news season. It will probably be our last summer in South London before the Great Escape, and so I’m hopeful of making the most of Herne Hill.
A question mark hangs over the running of the track. The mysterious Dulwich Estate is now operating a yearly rolling lease with British Cycling, which in turn, leases out le velo to VCL.
With no long term control of the facility, British Cycling and VCL are unable to raise funds and invest in the much needed improvement of the infrastructure.
The fear is that the Dulwich Estate is happy to see Herne Hill deteriorate to such an extent that it becomes unsafe. Cycling is then moved out, and the leafy suburbs of Dulwich are prime for further property development.
Never underestimate the passion of a cyclist though. The working party on Saturday demonstrated the collective spirit within the South London cycling community. We will work together and promote cycling in South London, irrespective of the opposition.
The new VCL track calendar has seen some slight tweaks for this season. The early Saturday morning 9am – 10am session has been put aside for the kids; adults roll out at the slightly earlier time of 10am, and then novices can be inducted at midday.
Do come down to SE24 and experience track racing. It’s the purest form of cycling, and VCL is an incredibly friendly, welcoming and supportive club. Plus don’t forget the highlight of the Herne Hill calendar – the Good Friday meet on April 2nd.
The first cyclo cross of the new decade down at Herne Hill proved to be the perfect head clearer. Not that I was in need of a head clearer.
An early start some eighteen hours earlier meant that my personal high spirits had peaked sometime in the early hours of 2010. Which is why I didn’t race (plus the fact that I am a total girl when it comes to getting my bikes dirty.)
It’s truly wonderful that cyclo cross seems to have found a natural home down in SE24. Being an outdoor track, le velo is only available to race for eight months of the year. With the a sizable grass banked perimeter bordering Burbage Road, plus a little creativity cutting through the centre of the track, a first class cyclo cross course is now in operation for the winter months.
The New Year’s Day roll out was more of a social event than a serious fixture in the season. The big boys are racing around like mucky pups next week, and so Friday was the ideal warm up event ahead of the serious racing.
We arrived in time to see the start of the Madison. It’s an event that I don’t understand, the riders probably don’t understand, the race officials perhaps don’t understand and no doubt Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish still don’t entirely understand understand either.
The basic premise is for teams of two riders to take it in turns at putting the laps in. This partnership was perfect for father and sons, couples, and even brothers and sisters, to all get a dirty backside on the New Year Bank Holiday.
Ah yes, the mud: I’m told that it’s all part of the attraction of the discipline. I was reduced to putting a scented hankie over my nose when a cyclo cross kid wheeled his mud machine past my freshly polished Moulton.
The Herne Hill course soon started to cut up. With little mudguard action in place, the laundry bill looked expensive. No worries – riders could pick up a lycra bargain at the bonkers bicycling jumble sale, being staged at le velo car park. These too are also becoming firm favourites in the Herne Hill calendar.
As tradition dictates, the dawn of a New Year is a time to look ahead. The cyclo cross was a great place to catch up on all the VCL gossip, as the track enters the new year, still fenced in by the pathetic political manoeuvrings of both Southwark Council and the mysterious Dulwich Estate.
Tessa Jowell? She said that? Blimey. Kate Tally Hoey did what? Seriously? And as for Boris? Cripes (although we all knew that, anyway.)
With an athletic pairing taking the chequered flag in a time just under an hour, I was somewhat tempted to take part in cyclo cross. Twenty-four hours later, and following a rather muddy road race with the lovely Dulwich Paragon, and I felt that I wasn’t really missing out much on the brown pants lycra action.
Cyclo cross it seems is the new triathlon, which we all know is the new marathon. It’s the boom discipline within cycling, and it’s not hard to see why. Athletic ability doesn’t give you much advantage; nerves and technical handling are all important.
