Re: What did he do that for!?

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Tom Crispin wrote:
> I have heard from a friend that Boris Johnson walked into On Your Bike
> in Tooley Street today and bought a h*lm*t.
>
> Why?

Probably saw a picture of all your school children wearing MFHs, and
thought "One of them will protect me next time I jump a red light."

I noticed that the majority of cyclists in Bristol City centre about
rush hour time are now wearing MFHs, this is up from 50%ish mid winter.
(A lot of people have probably gotten one with their new spring bike).


> The owner of OYB has invited Boris to open his new bike garage in late
> June. The new Mayor of London has agreed.

On Wed, 14 May 2008 19:35:01 +0100, Martin <martin.dann@virgin.net>
wrote:

>
>Tom Crispin wrote:
>> I have heard from a friend that Boris Johnson walked into On Your Bike
>> in Tooley Street today and bought a h*lm*t.
> >
>> Why?
>
>Probably saw a picture of all your school children wearing MFHs, and
>thought "One of them will protect me next time I jump a red light."

Yes. The Daily Mirror's cameras won't be able to pick out the
distinctive Boris mop.

>I noticed that the majority of cyclists in Bristol City centre about
>rush hour time are now wearing MFHs, this is up from 50%ish mid winter.
>(A lot of people have probably gotten one with their new spring bike).

I have noticed that most London commuters seem to be wearing h*lm*ts
now.

>> The owner of OYB has invited Boris to open his new bike garage in late
>> June. The new Mayor of London has agreed.

On 14 May, 21:28, Tom Crispin <kije.rem...@this.bit.freeuk.com.munge>
wrote:

> I have noticed that most London commuters seem to be wearing h*lm*ts
> now.

You reckon?

If I'd been forced to hazard a guess, I'd have gone for much closer to
20%.

Might try to keep a mental tally over the next couple of days.

John

On Wed, 14 May 2008 16:17:02 -0700 (PDT), john.sabine@gmail.com wrote:

>On 14 May, 21:28, Tom Crispin <kije.rem...@this.bit.freeuk.com.munge>
>wrote:
>
>> I have noticed that most London commuters seem to be wearing h*lm*ts
>> now.
>
>You reckon?
>
>If I'd been forced to hazard a guess, I'd have gone for much closer to
>20%.
>
>Might try to keep a mental tally over the next couple of days.

Hmmm. For three consecutive weeks I have cycled with children along
the A200 to Tower Bridge and back, leaving at 3.30, arriving TB at
4.30, then back to Blackheath at 5.30 - or thereabouts.

I would estimate that 80% of cyclists we see, and a lot use the A200,
wear helmets. 3.30 - 5.30 is prime commuter time. I'm doing the ride
again with another group today. I will try counting.

I'm doing the ride once again on Friday afternoon to go to a Cycling
England training session at London Bridge. I will try counting then
too.

On 15 May, 06:21, Tom Crispin <kije.rem...@this.bit.freeuk.com.munge>
wrote:
> On Wed, 14 May 2008 16:17:02 -0700 (PDT), john.sab...@gmail.com wrote:
> >On 14 May, 21:28, Tom Crispin <kije.rem...@this.bit.freeuk.com.munge>
> >wrote:
>
> >> I have noticed that most London commuters seem to be wearing h*lm*ts
> >> now.

> >If I'd been forced to hazard a guess, I'd have gone for much closer to
> >20%.

> I would estimate that 80% of cyclists we see, and a lot use the A200,
> wear helmets.

I reckon it's a lot lower than that, though well above the 20% I came
up with last night.

My utterly unscientific 'observations' at commuter o'clock this
morning
consisted of counting a couple of small groups as we were bunched
at lights: the first was 5:2 unhelmeted:helmeted, the second was 3:3.

On the way home I forgot to keep any sort of tally at all, but I
reckon
40-50% isn't out of line. (Both journeys along the A200.)

More anecdotal data includes large quantities of hi-vis, and it would
appear that summer commuters pay more attention to red lights
than their winter brethren.

On a totally different note, I saw my first ever Segway today, on the
pavement just up the road from Condor. Its rider? driver? pilot?
obviously took himself *way* too seriously, checking his lights were
on at 4 in the afternoon.

John

john.sabine@gmail.com writes:
> On a totally different note, I saw my first ever Segway today, on the
> pavement just up the road from Condor. Its rider? driver? pilot?
> obviously took himself *way* too seriously, checking his lights were
> on at 4 in the afternoon.

There was a segway rider making a tit of himself on one of the london
streetskates a few years ago. How we laughed when his battery went
flat halfway around.


-dan

On 16 May, 00:12, john.sab...@gmail.com wrote:
> > >On 14 May, 21:28, Tom Crispin <kije.rem...@this.bit.freeuk.com.munge>

> > >> I have noticed that most London commuters seem to be wearing h*lm*ts
> > >> now.
> > I would estimate that 80% of cyclists we see, and a lot use the A200,
> > wear helmets.
> I reckon 40-50% isn't out of line.

This evening's count was 30:24 in favour of bare heads for
bicycle users between Tower Bridge and Charlton. Strip
out the 8 unhelmeted pavement-cycling yoofs and the
balance switches to a bare majority of helmet wearers.

Helmet wearing does not, on this sample, seem to act as
a predictor of cycling behaviour. However, pavement
cycling on the one hand, and timorous gutter-hugging
on the other, do seem to offer an accurate prediction
for helmet wearing.

John

On Fri, 16 May 2008 16:35:31 -0700 (PDT), john.sabine@gmail.com wrote:

>On 16 May, 00:12, john.sab...@gmail.com wrote:
>> > >On 14 May, 21:28, Tom Crispin <kije.rem...@this.bit.freeuk.com.munge>
>
>> > >> I have noticed that most London commuters seem to be wearing h*lm*ts
>> > >> now.
>> > I would estimate that 80% of cyclists we see, and a lot use the A200,
>> > wear helmets.
>> I reckon 40-50% isn't out of line.
>
>This evening's count was 30:24 in favour of bare heads for
>bicycle users between Tower Bridge and Charlton. Strip
>out the 8 unhelmeted pavement-cycling yoofs and the
>balance switches to a bare majority of helmet wearers.

Interesting.

I cycled from Tooley Street (London Bridge) to Lee at 5pm (I live a
few doors down, and on the same road, as the infamous "butchery in the
bakery" murder of last Saturday).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7394025.stm

The route I chose was on the north side of the Thames, crossing the
river at Tower Bridge, then through St Katherine's Dock, Limehouse
Basin, and Docklands, and crossing the Thames again at the Greenwich
Foot Tunnel, through Greenwich Park then across Blackheath 'til I
arrived home.

Helmeted cyclists: 48
Unhelmeted cyclists: 21

I am confident that this is a fairly accurate count, and includes all
cyclists whether on the pavement or not.

I forgot to count cyclists on my journey to London Bridge.

>Helmet wearing does not, on this sample, seem to act as
>a predictor of cycling behaviour. However, pavement
>cycling on the one hand, and timorous gutter-hugging
>on the other, do seem to offer an accurate prediction
>for helmet wearing.

On 17 May, 04:56, Tom Crispin <kije.rem...@this.bit.freeuk.com.munge>
wrote:

> >This evening's count was 30:24 in favour of bare heads for
> >bicycle users between Tower Bridge and Charlton.

> The route I chose was on the north side of the Thames, crossing the
> river at Tower Bridge, then through St Katherine's Dock, Limehouse
> Basin, and Docklands, and crossing the Thames again at the Greenwich
> Foot Tunnel, through Greenwich Park then across Blackheath 'til I
> arrived home.
>
> Helmeted cyclists: 48
> Unhelmeted cyclists: 21

Curious disparity: I wonder if it's to do with different sorts
of roads?

If your route was predominantly along the riverside or through
Wapping, maybe cyclists using less trafficed routes are more
likely to be helmeted? (Likely to be that helmeted riders choose
less traffic, I guess.) Of course,if your route was along the
Highway then this speculation falls.

John