Cycling in London is becoming more and more common and to some extent I would say fashionable in an attempt to be healthier and also collaborate for less Co2 emissions on the environment. Cyclists have as many rights as automobiles around the city, but also duties like stopping at traffic lights, signalling when they are turning right or left and they are not allowed to ride their bike on the pavement. One day, I was riding my bike around the Southbank, although I knew that doing so was against the law, I thought that it would not be a big problem as the police would not really bother with me. I was totally mistaken. In that day two policemen stopped me and asked me if knew that I was not meant to ride the bike, I started panicking and I answered that yes, I did. Well, they spent some time with me checking my details and sent me a fine of 30 pounds. I was very upset, but after that day I have never done the same anymore. I learnt the lesson.

 There are so many advantages of being a cyclist in London; you are actually protected by law to have your space on the streets but not on the sidewalks. According to a recent research on average, approximately 450,000 cycle journeys are made across London every day, the number of cyclists seriously injured in London has fallen 42% in the last year, 51% of Londoners own at least one bike and 41% said that they never ride on the pavement. Nevertheless, there are still so May accidents every day, between January and September last year, 67.8% were injured by cars, 3.3% by taxis, 9.2% by buses or coaches, 9% by mopeds or motorbikes – and 1.2% by bicycles. 82% of people in our poll believe that there are not enough cycle lanes in the capital. In order to raise more tolerance and awareness, every year there is naked cycling in London, it is one way to show people that bikes are a good alternative transport and everybody should respect it more.

That’s a bit more of London, when are you coming for a ride?

Take care!!!

David Vieira/Brazil

I think that all the people in the world know about London, the famous Big ben, the traditional double Decker buses and the red telephone boxes, things that are utterly fantastic and make us dream about visiting one of the biggest cities in the world.

there are people who think travelling is a waste of time, but it’s time to wake up, open your eyes and realize that there are wonderful places beyond your borders. What I’m enjoying about this expirience is the fact that I’m learning the value of life, nowadays I realize how beautiful the world is and how many beautiful things it can show me. In my opinion to have a nice room in a luxury house is in second place because I have my dreams as the most important goal in my life.

(more…)