News: The Pedal Club Lunch (November)

The club’s speaker for November was Oliver Schick, a cycle campaigner whilst the meeting included the presentation of the club badge to newly enrolled member Bob Downs

News: The Pedal Club Lunch (November)

The club’s speaker for November was Oliver Schick, a cycle campaigner who was an activist with the London Cycling Campaign between 1998 and 2016. It should be mentioned that Oliver stepped in at the very last moment, so his talk was impromptu.

Although no one could say that cycle campaigners have made London into a cycling paradise, Oliver claimed that they have had some successes. A prime example is the reform of the Shoreditch triangle (Shoreditch High Street, Old Street, Great Eastern Street). Here the former one way system was partly turned to two way operation as part of the introduction of the Congestion Charging Zone in 2003. Although it may not be immediately obvious, there is no doubt that one way systems are intimidating and dangerous for cyclists.

The Shoreditch reform is an example of an intervention which made a positive difference for cycling in the area. Most cycling commuters from Hackney are heading to the City or to Westminster, so this change makes it possible to go straight across the junction from Hackney Road into Old Street to go towards the west, whereas previously riders had to turn left down Shoreditch High Street, which was then a four lane ‘race track’. This simple change, which allowed better conditions for cyclists riding in other traffic rather than creating costly infrastructure for them, brought about a significant increase in cycle commuting from Hackney, and an increase in cycling generally in the borough of Hackney. It is notable that this success has not been matched in other areas near to the inner ring road where the problem of one way systems was not addressed.

While most Pedal Club members have themselves been riding in motor traffic for decades and have often complained about the dangers of badly designed cycle paths, it was not until the speaker got onto the problems of electric hire bikes that his audience really responded; many feel threatened by these and at least one person present had been seriously injured in an incident with a hire bike. These are relatively heavy machines, put into the hands of riders whose only cycling skill is the ability to balance. There appears to be very little regulation – in theory the minimum age for users is eighteen, but this is clearly a dead letter. Also in theory, the maximum wattage permissible is 250W, but it seems likely that the hire bikes are 350W, which gives them better acceleration – hardly a good thing in the hands of inexperienced teenagers. It is difficult to establish the true power output, but the fact that the hire companies have not responded to questions on the subject certainly seems suspicious.

Whatever the problems of the hire bikes may be, the unregulated and often dangerously modified privately owned electric bikes, many of which have much more than 250w, pose an even greater threat. Recent action by the police seems to be little more than a token effort and does not appear to have had much impact. This is clearly an area where effective campaigning would be very welcome to Pedal Club members.

This meeting included the presentation of the club badge to newly enrolled member Bob Downs. The club is proud to have another member with such an illustrious racing career behind him.

The lunch again took place at the Civil Service Club in Whitehall, it was attended by 49 members and guests.

Chris Lovibond, November 2024.