(Longish) Thread: I took my son to London for the weekend to go sightseeing. Usually, we’d take the tube or get taxis but as we now have a cargo bike I wanted to use that.

Here are some cycling infrastructure observations I gathered along the way.

The start of our journey was to Coventry station. There’s a shared usage path for most of the way - new LTN 1/20 guidance suggests priority over side roads; it’s incredible how much speed and energy you lose braking and giving way at each turning.

Since lockdown, I have noticed an improvement in driver behaviour around cyclists. I believe this is because more now understand what it is like to cycle.

This driver gave me the widest berth in history. So much so they nearly had a head on collision.

When cycle routes meet major road junctions, careful consideration is required and a direct route is favourable. When cyclists (including me) opt to use the road instead, it tells you what’s wrong (I did this to avoid narrow two stage crossing which can take ages).

Finally for Coventry, today’s cycle lanes are clearly not fit for purpose and start to become unstuck when more than just a few people use them. Again, I went on the road, this time so that two cyclists could pass each other safely.

Thanks to great Twitter customer support from @AvantiWestCoast, I was able to book a bike reservation out of hours (phone line was closed). But, the system is still suboptimal and travelling with a bike is not convenient. Station staff were brilliant though.

Now in London, I ask, why is the Tottenham Court Road cycle lane still not open? This turn onto TCR is really not pleasant.

Note to Westminster, paint is not protection. 3/10 - much improvement required.

It’s been a while since I’ve been to Regents Park. There are SO many people out cycling, walking and running. Why is it that we give car storage and through traffic such priority? What value does it add to a green space?

More positively, London Zoo were great in that their signage offered a more secure place to store bikes. I asked staff and they directed me to the security controlled staff entrance, so I parked up there.

I then gathered more evidence that a) cars shouldn’t be allowed in Regents Park and b) Electric vehicles will not save the world.

Another great bit of service - this time from Park Plaza whose concierge took my bike and securely stored it inside. Didn’t have to pay the £50 parking charge for 24 hours either. Everyone very interested and intrigued about the cargo bike.

The next day we visited the Tower of London. I was able to cycle from Westminster to Tower Hill on fully separated cycle infrastructure. I would have let my 6 year old use it if we’d had his bike with us.

This is by far the easiest way to get to this part of London.

After some lunch at St Katherine Dock, a regular reminder that it’s not cycling infrastructure that causes congestion; too many space inefficient cars cause congestion.

Tower Bridge is now a traffic sewer again. This ambulance was blocked by a driver on his phone.

It was lovely to see measures on Bermondsey Street to help traders have more space. A quiet street that you’d want to stop and relax on. London needs more of these.

The City of London deserves a huge amount of credit for their ambitious measures to enable cycling and walking. As well as this, they’ve worked hard to keep cycling access open through road works. Thanks!

Finally for London, on the way back to Euston I went via the Mecklenburgh Street low traffic neighbourhood. There were no protests taking place at this decades-old points closure.

And on the cycle back home from Coventry station, I navigated this horrible bell mouth junction installed by HS2. It doesn’t follow good design practice and would be difficult for people on non-standard cycles. Today, I received an email from HS2 to say they are re-designing it!

So, that’s all folks. I have no idea if this thread is interesting or not but it’s been quite a while since I’ve ridden this much in London. And I’m stuck on a delayed train with nothing else to do, so this has at least passed the time.