Updates 2008

14th December 2008: Another new bike shop in Hackney
After months of preparation, Tour de Ville opened its doors to the public yesterday at its new location just off London Fields -- 50 Lamb Lane, London E8 3PS. They say: "You can expect the best in classic road, track, touring and leisure bikes. Next to our range of bikes, parts, frames, clothing and accessories we also have a coffee bar. Coffee served will be the Magnus Maximus brand by Swedish pro cyclist Magnus Backstedt. All of the proceeds from this coffee go towards helping young riders. The coffee foundation directly funds the continental professional Team Cyclesport.se. Next to all of this we are organising monthly film nights starting in the new year." Appropriately, given Tour de Ville's origins in cycle messenger culture, the opening was celebrated with an alleycat.

Our full and ever-growing list of Hackney's bike shops and repair services has been duly updated.

12th December 2008: Burns Night 2009 tickets on sale
Our annual Burns Night fund-raising supper and dance will be on Saturday 24th January 2009. The traditional fare of haggis, neeps, tatties and whisky will be served, followed by three hours of frenetic dancing, led as ever by six-piece ceilidh band The Muckers. Tickets on sale now!

20th November: Hackney cycling projects top the London Cycling Awards again!
For the second year running, the judges of the London Cycling Awards have given their 'Best Cycle Facility' award to a project in Hackney. The award was given jointly to Frampton Park Estate Tenants and Residents Association, Hackney Homes and Hackney Council's Streetscene department for this year's rollout of more than 50 individual secure cycle parking lockers on Frampton Park Estate.

As if that wasn't enough, a second award, for 'Best Cycling Initiative for Young People or Children', was won by STA Bikes and Hackney Streetscene for STA's fantastic Family Cycling Club. The club spent the whole of the summer training non-riding mums, dads and kids from diverse communities into proficient cyclists. A crowd of enthusiastic youngsters attended the award ceremony, which was held at City Hall during the annual general meeting of the London Cycling Campaign, which is currently celebrating its 30th birthday.

Tom Bogdanowicz, LCC Campaigns Manager, said: "Hackney has the highest level of cycling in London, and the outstanding quality of the two winners from the borough shows exactly why." Couldn't have put it better. Congratulations to all the winners!

18th November: Parking in parks
Hackney's Parks Service is planning to install 200 new cycle parking stands in our parks and green spaces, and they would like LCC members and others to provide them with suggested locations. Do you know of places where there is high demand for cycle parking on nice days? Let us know how many stands you think might be required. Do you come across inconsiderately parked bikes around parks where well-installed stands might improve the situation? Let us know. Which major destinations in parks should have more stands (e.g., Clissold Park café, which is already on our list)? Please email your suggestions to oliver at hackney-cyclists.org.uk

26th September: Cycling in Hackney News for Autumn 2008 (1.3MB PDF)
This edition of our occasional newsletter leads with the ongoing threat to cycling from serious and fatal HGV collisions. It's just a double-sided A4 in PDF format, so feel free to print some copies and distribute.

9th September: Eastway User Group calls Olympic Velopark legacy meeting
Tomorrow, the Eastway Users Group is convening a meeting about plans for the area of Hackney Wick, Stratford and Leyton that is currently being redeveloped for the 2012 Olympic Games. The focus will be on what will be provided for cycle sport after the games, as recompense for the loss of the Eastway Cycle Circuit. The latest legacy plans for the velopark will be presented by the Olympic Delivery Agency, prior to going on general release.
Location: Hackney Wick Community Centre, The Old Baths, 80 Eastway, E9 5JH
Time/date: 6:30pm - 8.30pm, Wednesday 10th September 2008

8th September: yoga for people who cycle
Hackney cyclist and yoga teacher Rebecca Bogue is starting up yoga classes for people who cycle, specifically addressing a cyclist's typical physical tendencies as a result of the imbalance created by repeated overexertion of some muscle groups and underutilisation of others. Classes run as a five-week series on Fridays at 6pm, starting this week (12 Sept to 10 Oct, 17 Oct to 14 Nov, 21 Nov to 19 Dec -- £44/28 per course and £11/8 drop-in) and take place at Bodywise, just down the road in Bethnal Green. Further classes are planned to take place in newly refurbished arches in Shoreditch. For further info and to booking call Bodywise on 020 8981 6938 or see their website.

1st September: Bike maintenance courses at Hackney City Farm
If you'd like to learn all about puncture repair, brakes, gears and bearings, you can do so in just four Thursday evenings at Hackney City Farm. £60 waged/£30 unwaged. Details here.

21st August: Minutes of our August meeting online
Topics discussed include Tour de Hackney, Lucinda Ferrier and other HGV collisions, a variety of proposed street schemes, London Freewheel and a Tesco planning application.

11th August: Hackney LCC comments on Tesco Morning Lane planning application
Tesco is applying for planning permission to increase the queuing capacity for motors exiting its Morning Lane supermarket forecourt. It is also proposing to provide a few cycle parking stands. We have sent comments expressing our concern that increasing exit capacity may result in increased overall car traffic to the supermarket, and that the proposed cycle parking is inadequate to the demand. Read our full comments in PDF.

2nd August: LCC opposes blanket cycle restrictions on North London Line
The North London Line has for years been a handy way for people in Hackney to make combined bike+rail journeys to destinations in north and west London. Increased passenger numbers have raised concerns about bikes causing obstructions at peak times and longer 'dwell times' at stations, so the operator London Overground is proposing blanket peak-time restrictions banning bikes in the periods 7am to 10am and 4pm to 7pm. LCC has submitted comments calling for:

• reducing the hours of the proposed ban
• restricting the ban only to services where there is actually a crowding problem
• increased capacity and longer trains, with more capacity for bikes
• better carriage design and on-platform indication of where to board with a bike

25th July: The Bike Show on last weekend's Dunwich Dynamo
In the latest edition of the Resonance FM Bike Show, Jack Thurston gives a great flavour of last weekend's Dunwich Dynamo, which went from London Fields up to the beach in Suffolk. Listen to the show on the Internet Archive. It was indeed a sublime night.

14th July: Hackney LCC calls for task force to tackle the HGV/cyclist crisis
On 23rd June Lucinda Ferrier was killed by a lorry on Stamford Hill, at the junction with Manor Road. She was the fifth cyclist to die following a collision with a truck in our borough in the past two years. We were stunned by news of this terrible event. Our sympathies go to Lucinda's relatives and friends. Any death on the streets is one too many, but the frequency of these lorry/cyclist collisions is now such that it can fairly be described as a crisis. We are approaching senior figures with a view to setting up a task force which could bring together all of the interested agencies and organisations locally to work together to tackle it.

26th June: Hackney Council backs LCC on motorbikes in bus lanes
Yesterday we brought a deputation to Hackney council requesting it to maintain the current regulations for bus lanes on borough-controlled streets, and to oppose any moves by Transport for London to permit motorbikes to use bus lanes on Hackney streets under its control. Charlie Lloyd spoke convincingly on our behalf and provided well researched answers to councillors' questions. Our deputation was followed by a motion, proposed by Councillor Vincent Stops and approved by a large majority, which confirmed the council's opposition to the use of bus lanes by motorcycles, and instructed officers to bring forward a report setting out the council's options for opposing changes to bus lane regulations. Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors voted as one in favour of the motion, many of them declaring their membership of LCC as an interest in the issue, and speaking from personal experience of cycling. In sympathy with their new London mayor, the Conservatives on the council spoke and voted against the motion, a few with evident relish, it has to be said, and others with less conviction, or so it seemed to us in the public gallery. We await the options report with interest.

20th May: progress on two-way in Paul Street EC2
Those of us who use the quiet streets south of Old Street to get down into the City and beyond will be pleased to hear that there's now some movement on turning the southern section of Paul Street back to two-way working, at least for bikes. A meeting is being called next month to decide on a way forward. Hackney council is taking the lead but, since the street falls on the borough boundary, Islington officers will be taking part as well, along with ourselves and, I hope, comrades in the Islington Cyclists Action Group.

Restoring this northbound permeability will go a long way towards completing the back-street link between Hackney's main north-south London Cycle Network route (LCN+ 10) and Southwark Bridge. (The other major missing link is the Moorfields - London Wall crossing - Basinghall Avenue/Street section down in the City itself).

One of the main challenges is going to be removing vehicle parking completely from one side of Paul Street. This is unlikely to happen without some, shall we say, grumbles. When it comes to the crunch, LCC members should be ready to stiffen the resolve of councillors, who may end up being under quite some pressure to reject the scheme.

28th April: appeal for witnesses
Police are appealing for witnesses and information following the fatal collision on Middleton Rd, at the junction with Kingsland Rd E8: "Police were alerted at 0844 on 21.4.08 to reports of a male cyclist in collision with a tipper lorry. Police officers, London Fire Brigade and the London Ambulance Service attended but the 36-year-old local man was pronounced dead at the scene. A post-mortem and inquest will take place shortly. The CIU at Euston Traffic Garage is investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident. Any witnesses or anyone with any information should call the CIU on 020 7388 6806."

21st April: man killed by lorry on Kingsland Road
It is with great regret that we note another killing by a lorry in our borough. Reports are that a man was dragged from his bike under the wheels of a lorry at about 8:50 this morning at the junction of Middleton Road and Kingsland Road. We know no more about what happened as yet. This is one of a sad and, we believe, avoidable series of fatal HGV/bike collisions in our borough and the rest of the capital, including that which killed Ninian Donald a little further down Kingsland Road last year.
Read about LCC's HGV mirrors campaign

18th April: advance notice of enforcement on the A10 Kingsland Road
We have received the following notice of police enforcement against infrigements by cyclists on the Kingsland Road this coming Monday morning:

"On Monday 21st April 2008 in the morning, Queensbridge and De Beauvoir Safer Neighbourhood Teams will be carrying out enforcement action on Kingsland Road (the A10), for any traffic offences. This will include any cyclist who jumps red lights, or cycles on the footway, or any other cycle-related offence." Fixed penalty notices will be issued to offenders, resulting in a £45 fine (£30 if paid within 28 days) and the possibility of arrest and an appearance in court.

Opinions differ on the gravity of the hazard posed by cyclists passing through signals at red -- and indeed about whether there are circumstances in which the practice actually reduces risk. However, enforcement against vehicular footway cycling by able-bodied adults can certainly be worthwhile. The inquest into the death of Ninian Donald on Kingsland Road last year revealed that his decision to mount the footway to avoid queueing vehicles was a contributing factor to his tragic killing by a left-turning HGV. Vehicular cycling on the footway is also rightly a leading cause of complaint by pedestrians, particularly those with restricted mobility, balance problems, visual impairments and the like.

We are asking the safer neighbourhoods teams whether they will consider referring some offenders for a safety lecture and/or cycle training as an alternative in future enforcement events. The City force has done this with some success. Also, given that the safety outcome is paramount, we are suggesting that the police might consider stopping and advising those whom they spot doing stupid but not necessarily illegal things, especially going down the left hand side of HGVs queueing at traffic lights.

We will also be asking the borough commander how cycle-specific enforcement activity fits into the more general traffic policing programme, and whether the resources devoted to enforcing against different types of illegal road user behaviour are being applied in proportion to the hazard posed.

The Kingsland Road is the most popular cycling route in the borough, with some 2000 cycle journeys on it per weekday at the last count. The street is wide, straight and direct, and speeds of motor traffic during peak hours are generally not too bad, with the glaring exception of powered two-wheelers which openly flout the speed limit, not to mention noise regulations -- except for two brief stretches where safety cameras have been installed.

14th April: council backs 20mph for all its streets
In a historic vote at a full council meeting on 9th April, Hackney Council resolved to adopt a plan of action to make 20mph the standard speed limit on all borough roads, and to pressure TfL to consider introducing 20mph limits on those of our streets which are under their control. Many councillors spoke with great personal conviction on the subject during the debate, and we are very grateful that the majority took a courageous decision which promises to make our streets safer and more pleasant in the years to come. We and Hackney Living Streets have issued a joint press release.

7th April: motion to council for default 20mph speed limit
This Wednesday's full session of Hackney council will be debating a motion calling on the executive to establish a plan of action to make 20mph the default speed limit on all of Hackney's borough streets, and to exert its influence on Transport for London to do the same for the streets until its control, starting with our town centres. We resolved to support the motion at our meeting last week, and we are writing to councillors to request that they work together to make a clear and bold statement on Wednesday in favour of 20mph as the default speed limit for our borough.

24th March: minutes of our March meeting
Thanks to Marian Farrugia for writing up the minutes of our March meeting. Topics discussed include the relaunch of Hackney Living Streets; the Olympic walking and cycling route; the Victoria Park masterplan consultation; Stamford Hill Estate bike maintenance events; and Millfields Park.

16th February: presentation on green spaces to Hackney council's scrutiny commission
We were recently invited to give a presentation to Hackney's scrutiny commission, which is currently reviewing the use of green spaces. The presentation went well, and the councillors seemed happy to accept our recommendations, which broadly were in favour of shared use with pedestrian priority. The key points we made are included on our presentation slides (772KB PDF -- opens in full screen)

13th February: good news on Frampton Park estate cycle lockers
Arrangements for installing and allocating the long delayed bike parking lockers are now in place, and they should be up and running for a launch in June during Bike Week. More details

31st January: Wheels and Heels cycle fashion show
Hackney and Tower Hamets councils are collaborating on Wheels & Heels, a Valentine's Day cycle fashion show in Columbia Road. It's going to be an exciting, high-profile event that aims to show that cycling and style are by no means mutually exclusive.

28th January: Burns Night photos
Thanks to everybody who came along to last Saturday's Hackney Cyclists Burns Night fundraiser, and especially to all our volunteers who worked so hard to make it happen. It was a wonderful evening. Hackney LCC member and pro photographer Chas took lots and lots of great photos.