29 December 2009

Review of 2009 - 4: Jul, Aug


The summer started as it meant to go on on 1 Jul, with a ski-slope descent down the spiral lanes of a Peckham multistorey car park disguised as a hip art happening. And a special bicycle cocktail called 'byceclete'.

It must have been a lazy sort of summer, because on 3 Jul I was amusing myself with lists of bicycle-related films, such as Reservoir Cogs, on 8 Jul I was eating bicycle-shaped chocolate, and on 9 Jul enjoying more bicycle wine and bicycle coffee. And, on 13 July, I was visiting some of London's most bike-friendly coffee shops.

A Photoshop joke showing a bike lane on the moon blocked by bad parking came on 19 Jul, but deadly serious was the proposal by come academics on 24 Jul that closing off Blackfriars Bridge would actually increase traffic flow.

Bike Polo enjoyed a media splash in August, partly because of the European Champs held in Southwark, reviewed on 3 Aug, partly because of the potential for silly headlines (suck it and see, making a mint, hole story, etc).

A nostalgic look back to the moment my father explained the facts of life - showing me how to repair a puncture - came on 4 Aug. Two days later, on 6 Aug, came a roundup of bike-related Turner Prize winners and candidates, based round a trip to Roger Hiorns' crystal cave in Southwark. (He didn't win.)

The Hounslow Skyride on 10 Aug was one of the most exciting things that had ever happened there, which may say more about Hounslow than about Sky - and London's quirkiest cycle parking, on a barge by Tower Bridge, was revealed on 11 Aug.

The Beaufort Scale of Cyclist Anger came on 20 Aug. TfL's grand guided-commuter-ride scheme, Cycle Fridays, was reviewed on 22 Aug, which has since encouraged literally several commuters to cycle to work.

Finally, on 30 Aug, it was water-bikes in Hamburg (picture) - machines that would have come in very useful over the next few months in London, when it rained incessantly.

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