Forum Topic

Operation Choke-Chis continues unabated

With the High Road now semi-blocked nearly 24/7, our vital work to clamp down on freedom of movement in W4 continues! The District Line is on its knees, Burlington Lane is blocked for who knows how long, while the footbridge at Chiswick Station will be out of order until well into 2026, maybe even 2027. And as for the Mildmay Line, the frequent delays and cancellations are also encouraging. Plenty of other road works going on too, with admirably little visible work being done. Victory is within our grasp comrades!!

Davey Harris ● 14d25 Comments

A few bike locks on the market now are quite effective against angle grinders. One I see chewed through 2 discs and still only managed to get halfway through the lock.Want to park a nice bike in public, get a lock that is heavier than your standard lock, but keep your bike.Its a no brainer, but some people still park a bike using the front wheel with a lock my teethe could maybe break through.

Julian Pavey ● 9d

I found a really good strong lock to be a "hiplock" a strong D lock that is light enough to clip on to a belt.

David Burke ● 9d

Yes, I spent 20 years in a village in West Sussex. I miss the lack of planes flying overhead.

Simon Pedley ● 9d

I agree that bike theft is a huge pain, but it seems that you can reduce the risk quite a bit by buying a boring looking middle aged person style of bike that wouldn't have much resale value. And you can mount a really good lock on the frame.

Simon Pedley ● 9d

That’s hilarious.Why would the council pay for insurance for your bike? There’s no parking for anything that’s covered by the provider. Always at the owners risk.And surely a big, strong, fit bike rider can carry a couple of locks.

Simon Hayes ● 13d

That’s my issue too tbh. I don’t want to be carrying around heavy locks and I want to ride a decent enough bike so it’s comfortable. I don’t want to to have the hassle of claiming off insurance if it’s gets stolen so until the council provide fully insured (at their expense and liability) bike parking I can’t see I’ll ever take it up. Whilst cars, of course, can be stolen it is relatively rarer then and less easy than a bike where a person can just pull out an angle grinder in public and no one bats an eyelid.

Alex Brown ● 13d

>The biggest drawback of having your own bike for me would be the security of the bike when I left it somewhere.Councils, tfl and businesses need to do much more to help people that want to park a bike, but insurance is also an option, with full cover ranging from 10 to 30 quid.Two good locks are important too.https://www.met.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/keeping-vehicles-safe/how-safe-is-your-bike/That said, cars seem to go missing quite regulary too, I don't think insurance companies will touch some models.

Paul James ● 13d

Thanks Simon,you gave me the laugh of the day.Have you ever lived in a village?

Keith Iddon ● 13d

The biggest drawback of having your own bike for me would be the security of the bike when I left it somewhere.With cars, when I park mine somewhere, I don’t tend to fret about its security, but I would worry if I had a bike.

Andrew Jones ● 13d

Unrelatedly, we just did a lovely cycle to the cinema and back from grove park. It's like living in a village, but with cinema and great restaurants. Awesome.

Simon Pedley ● 13d

I’ve previously used AI to try and give me a clue as to whether a couple of posts had different authors.Haven’t compared Paul and Dave’s styles however from what I remember about ‘Dave Manissa’ ‘s posts they covered a wider range of topics, though I reckon ‘Dave’ wouldn’t massively disagree with many of Paul’s(James) posts.Not sure whether the converse would be true though.

Andrew Jones ● 13d

>Strangely, David Manissa and Paul James have identical postings in stylePosting under a name that's not yours is against the rules in here. Report it to admin.

Paul James ● 13d

First, we had Paul, then he left, vowing not to return after Christmas. And straight away, David Minissa turned up and then as he disappeared off the face of the earth, straight away up pops a very old account under Paul James. Strangely, David Manissa and Paul James have identical postings in style. Fishy season

Julian Pavey ● 13d

Researchers at King’s College London used five MPs from the Government's Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) as guinea pigs in a study of London air pollution.The MPs were set up with devices that measured airborne pollution and used GPS to record the location.“Travelling in vehicles gave the greatest average exposure,” said Dr Ben Barratt, a senior air quality scientist at King’s who oversaw the research. “Among the worst was when the MPs got a taxi across London.”

Paul James ● 13d

>Hope he enjoys breathing all the fumes as he navigates the cars whose drivers and passengers enjoy filtered clean air in comfort!Pollution for occupants of vehicles is worse. Unless your car has its own air supply, but you'd need carbon scrubbers etc...

Paul James ● 13d

I did say 'when it gets really congested and all the cars are stuck in traffic jams.'A car base pub crawl round the SCLN - why didn't I think of that before! You'd never get up to 19mph before it was time to park again.;)

Andrew Jones ● 14d

Well he's probably going to be riding a bike anyway - he's made that choice.True, it would be healthier to ride a bike in a pollution free London, but there are health benefits acruing from regular exercise, and who knows maybe he'll be one of those lucky ones where the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.I see significant numbers of people smoking while they drive round in their vehicles, something that I don't see too often being done by cyclists so they get the worst of both worlds, polluted atmosphere and extended journey times when instead they might be doing something enjoyable.Let's face it, it might be comfortable in car, but if you were driving from Barnes to Chiswick, would you choose to sit in your car for an extra 30 minutes once you'd got to your destination just for the pure enjoyment?Unlikely, unless you've got a particularly flash motor and like receiving admiring and jealous glances.

Andrew Jones ● 14d

"all the cars are stuck in traffic jams."Not all, being in the middle of an LTN offers endless opportunities for micro-journeys. A quick trip to Busby's is a busby-bee-line, a scoot to nEverlast gym is a tiny stretch, even a quickie to Budgens is an 'orange label day', every day. Not to mention a car based pub crawl, I'll have a zero Guinness please and set the auto to 19mph all the way!

Davy Jones ● 14d

“ but equally maybe he's got better things to do with the 30-35 minutes he saves when it gets really congested ”Yes I suppose it’s comforting to know you’re saving 30 to 35 minutes now when you’re aware that riding a bike in polluted London is taking years off your life as you breathe the toxic air.

Steve Taylor ● 14d

If he doesn't enjoy breathing fumes when on the road he could  always wheel his bike along the pavement or ride it on a less congested longer route that isn't an option for the cars stuck in the traffic.True, he might not avail himself of 45 minutes of filtered clean air in comfort, but equally maybe he's got better things to do with the 30-35 minutes he saves when it gets really congested and all the cars are stuck in traffic jams.If the weather is nice, I know what I'd rather do if I had use of both a car and bike at my disposal.

Andrew Jones ● 14d

What was the point ?

David Burke ● 14d

James shows himself to be a moron yet again. Hope he enjoys breathing all the fumes as he navigates the cars whose drivers and passengers enjoy filtered clean air in comfort!

Steve Taylor ● 14d

Totally agree Simon

Jayne Thorburn ● 14d

You are correct Paul, that does sound smug. Most normal people are well aware of the options, including cycling. But you miss the point, as usual.

Simon Hayes ● 14d

For those that can or do... I ride into out of or through Chiswick most days, I've never been delayed.Roadworks (which have always been a feature of london) are a breeze on a bike (Save for sometimes having to navigate all the stuck drivers).Sorry that sounds smug, and I know there are people that can't use a bike for whatever reason, but if more that could, did, things would be less of a problem for those that really have to drive.

Paul James ● 14d