Cycling Safety etc:

I must say, I really do think that everyone should learn a bit about basic Basic Bike Maintenance. It is very important and a few basic safety checks could actually save your life if your bike is or has become unsafe.

That will get me on to my next topic that I will cover a little later and that is Safety on the Roads. This is probably even more important now that we have the cycle hire scheme here in London. I personally think this may be a recipe for disaster. My concerns below:

London is not a very Cycle Friendly city and it is not geared up towards cyclists.
We have very few cycle lanes and extremely heavy traffic.

The above mix with an inexperienced cyclist = DISASTER. Plain and simple,

I do hope that I am wrong on this but I fear that this may be a reality.

I will cover more on cycle proficiency training on my next post, which incidentally I think should be compulsory before anyone is allowed onto the roads, in the same way as Motorcyclists have to pass the CBT Test. If you do not have the basic skills and knowledge you can be a danger to yourself and other road users.

Okay to finalise this post, and I will come back to the Cycling Proficiency later. I would like to recommend a BRILLIANT Book on cycle maintenance. I purchased this before I attended the course but I am so pleased that I did. Lots of information, easy to understand with excellent diagrams and pictures. Easy to follow. I call it my Bicycle Bible.

The Haynes Bike Book
Complete Bicycle Maintenance 5th Edition.
Link to Amazon below