Like any good Londoner in the sunshine this weekend FMF headed to anywhere with a hint of open space. Firstly the beach at Brighton, where we experienced the almost-like-Venice-Beach delights of the seafront, with its dedicated cyclepath allowing bikes to cruise alone next to the pebble beach with pedestrians. What was amazing was the extent to which people walking paid attention to the cyclepath, and kept it clear for cyclists, despite the crowds on the hottest day of the year so far. Having a Green Party MP must already be good for people on bikes in Brighton.
It may have actually been faster to have ridden to the coast instead of driving as we got caught in the massive amount of traffic heading out of London and rushing to the seaside. Bikes were definitely winning out here in all ways.
We continued to be mainstream by going to Hampstead Heath where, once again, bikes were far more in evidence than I’ve seen before. All it takes is a bit of sunshine and everyone’s turning to bikes to get around. If you ask me there’s not much that can beat a leisurely ride somewhere to sit in the sun with friends.
With people doing everything on bikes perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised to see a race apparently named after lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret, and featuring a “bike exhibitionist". If the weather stays hot we should probably expect more of that here as well. That amazed me (although I may have found it a real let down if I’d rushed to the event), but not as much as the thought of someone blind doing bike trials. Trials is hard enough when you can use all your senses, and far beyond most riders, myself very much included, so do be able to do it without being able to see is simply incredible.
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