Cycling in London is an accident waiting to happen

First off, I'm amazed there aren't tons more news stories floating about regarding commuters, or in fact just regular cyclists, involved in accidents in central London. The sheer amount of traffic on London roads means that often most of the time in the saddle is spent at red lights, in a traffic jam, or spent manouvering around parked buses and taxis it makes the whole journey so much slower than a care-free country adventure.

When I first jumped on my saddle at Liverpool Street, my first failure on a bike was met as fast as my first narrow escape. After realising I needed to turn right in two junctions time, I looked over my shoulder countless times wondering when the best time would be to cut inside the traffic and jostle for a better position to make the turn. Only thing was, with busses constantly engulfing most of the road, it's nigh impossible to go anywhere but left. Seconds later, I found myself having to chuck a left down a nearby side road, turn around when the traffic ceased, wait by a set of lights before joining the traffic on the other side of the road, so when I approached the junction I needed to turn down I could turn left without the fear of death.

Eventually, I did get my head around the whole cycling/death fiasco and did get a good few solid miles under my belt. The constant missed turnings (these were more accidentally though) meant I also enjoyed a cycle down the embankment too - much fresher than the tight, London streets in Bank and whatnot anyway.

I actually researched tips to cycle in London safely - something I never usually do due to being a stubborn 20-something - and some of these proved invaluable. There were ample times when I was cycling next to a bus or lorry that I would, on any other day, try and over-take to get ahead of the traffic, but knew that these buggers often turn left without warning. Every time I hung back just in case, before seconds later the bus/lorry would chuck a left with no signal at all - lucky escapes aplenty.

The funny thing is, I travelled generally well around junctions, roundabouts (including Trafalgar Sq, which is manic to say the least, and makes me scared knowing in a few months I'll be tackling the famously-dangerous roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris). The main thing that really, really got me annoyed however are the pedestrians. You'd think in such a busy city that most people would cross a road with a few wits about them, but the amount of people that just walk into a road without looking is astonishing. I must have brushed a good few suit jackets today trying to avoid these idiots... I can see why stories of cyclists dying after veering into traffic exist now.

All in all though, albeit stressful, cycling in London can actually be a really enjoyable activity. When you find a good stretch of road void of people, taxis, busses, lorries, traffic lights, foreign drivers ignoring cycle lanes, or slower cyclists, it's actually good fun. For now though, I think I'll stick to my countryside escapades cheers - a 60mph country road has never seemed so... safe.