I was tempted to go and join the Blackfriars flashride this morning, but in the end decided against it as I was trying out a new route, and also wanted to try a spot of commuter racing (more on this another time).
Here's some video of the flashride. But why was everyone blocking the bridge at rush hour? Quite simple, really; it's all down to Transport for London's planned 'improvements' to the route, which squeeze out cyclists and pedestrians in favour of the old enemy, the automobile.
At this point, TfL wants to up the speed limit to 30, create a third lane for cars and take space away from pedestrians to create a new lane for bikes, which does our public image no favours (and while we're about it how come nobody ever moans about pedestrians not paying road tax?)
Seriously, though, when you consider that at peak hours bikes account for a good third to half of all traffic on Blackfriars Bridge, and cars in this part of London rarely get over 10 or 15 miles per hour anyway, TfL's plans seem, well, somewhat lunatic.
And what of Boris Johnson's repeated blathering about wanting to make London a cycle friendly city? This seems like a case of City Hall being unable to exert any influence over the bodies that it is meant to control.
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