Do you wake up in the morning, eyes half-closed with sleep and shudder with the thought of an hour's commute just a few miles into the city? Hate the prospect of sitting in the same traffic jam day after day on your way to work? Loath the same mix of lunatics and reprobates joining you on the bus to college? What you really need is to commute by bicycle. The adrenalin fuelled by the thrill of just avoiding being swiped by a careless trucker will get your brain working quicker that any chain bought coffee will. Give yourself a work out better than most gyms, yet after the initial cost of joining the two wheeled community, there is no monthly subscription. Welcome to the quick, clean, dangerous world of cycling in a city.

Cycling in a city or large town, especially in the rush hour, is a totally different experience to cycling in the countryside. While this entry is aimed at the UK, many of the ideas are applicable elsewhere.

The Benefits of Cycling

First and foremost, in a busy city, there is almost nothing on the road as quick as a bike from point to point. Bikes can filter through traffic, use bus and dedicated cycle lanes. A combined foot and bus journey that takes up to an hour can be easily cycled in less than 20 minutes.

Secondly, once you have bought your bike, it costs almost nothing to run. The initial outlay is small compared with the savings made over a bus pass or petrol.

Everybody should be well aware that there is concern that the nation is getting fatter. People are recommended to partake in thirty minutes of exercise a day. By commuting by bike you can do your thirty minutes when you would normally be sat still in a car, train or bus. By exercising on your way to work or collage you wake yourself up and your brain is ready to work as soon as you arrive.

Before you set out on the road

Know where you are going

Before you even think of commuting by bike, make sure that you know the demands of your route. You have to cycle there and, more importantly, cycle back. Make sure you are fit enough to be able to do this. Riding a bicycle will make you aware of all the gradients in your city. Hills that are barely noticeable by car can turn into long slow drags on a bike. Remember that any hill you go down, you will have to come up again when you cycle back.

Choose your Bike

First things first, don't buy a new bike unless you also buy a lot of locks. If you are going to leave your bike on the street during the day many people will say that you should not buy a bike that is worth more than your bike locks! Okay, this may be a bit harsh, but if you are just commuting on it, a cheap, replaceable, second-hand bike is more than adequate. Vandalism is also a problem. If you want confirmation about this; plan a trip around Cambridge where every bike rack contains at least one bike where the front wheel is badly bent.

There are a large range of bikes available, but a lot really are not suitable for inner city cycling. The two best types of bikes are basic 'mountain bikes' and Roadsters¹. There are bikes where you sit upright and allow you a good view of the road ahead. Lots of mountain bikes are aimed at the off-road market with rear suspension, dozens of low ratio gears and disc brakes. These are all overkill. The suspension and brakes add weight and are of little use on the road, while many of the gears are just too low to be of any use except on muddy paths. Many mountain bikes come with chunky tyres, if you are not planning to head off road, it is better to replace them with smoother road oriented tyres, they are quieter and have lower rolling resistance.

Collapsible bikes are great if you have to ride from the station to somewhere, but their small wheels do not lend themselves for longer commutes. Collapsibles mean you do not have to muck about with parking your bike at the end of your journey.

Racing bikes are not really at home on city roads. If your route consists of cycle paths and deserted back roads then their low rolling resistance makes them the easiest bike to travel quickly on. They are also light and easy to take upstairs to your flat or your office; however they also have quite a few disadvantages. Racing bikes are easier to ride when you are tucked down holding onto the dropped handlebars. While you are aerodynamic, you have a limited view and the bike is less manoeuvrable. Most racing bikes have very poor brakes, and are especially difficult to stop if you are not in the 'tuck' position². With narrow, almost slick tyres and weak brakes, many racing bikes do not tend to stop in the wet. Also the high gearing of a racing bike makes it harder than other bikes to get going at traffic lights.

Recumbent bikes are not really suitable for a novice city commuter. These are bikes where you ride lying back with your feet forward. There main downfall is their height. Since these bikes are rare, very few people expect them or look out for them. They are very difficult to spot from buses and lorries as they are below the line of most side windows. Even sticking a flag on a poll will only make you a little bit more visible to drivers. You also have very poor forward vision and your face is level with exhaust pipes.

BMXs are totally not suitable. Having only one gear makes it very tiring; their small size makes it uncomfortable and hazardous. Besides, everybody who sees you will think you are having some sort of life crisis³!

Electric bikes are very handy for longer commutes. Some provide extra power to help you cycle, others can take over moving the bike completly. They are a bit more bulky than normal bikes, but since they have a moter to help you up the hills, they should not be too much of a problem.

If you plan to ride at night, make sure you have lights on your bike. At night you should have white lights at the front and red at the back. You should also have visible reflectors on the front, back, wheels and pedals. Many riders are now using flashing red LED lights at the back. While these easily obviously identify you as a bike, these are in-fact illegal if used on their own. There are very few reported cases of people being prosecuted for using them!

Many racing bikes and mountain bikes do not come with rear mudguards. You would be well advised to purchase one of them as riding in the wet will produce a spray of muddy water from your rear tyre up your back.

Always carry protection

First and foremost, always wear a helmet. Find one that fits and make sure you are comfortable in it. You may think you look silly, but you will look a lot sillier if you crash without one. Don't think that because you are wearing a helmet you cannot recieve head injuries, and can therefore ride how you like. The best protection from accidents is not getting into them in the first place, however if you do get into one, a helmet may save your life.

Loose clothing should be avoided, it causes drag. Flappy things like cords, frayed trouser ends and laces can get caught in the pedals and wheels and care should be taken to avoid that happening. Wear high visibility clothing where possible. Gloves are often handy, especially on cold wet days.

Aways carry a bike lock (if your are going to park on the street) and make sure that it fits around your bike. Having two locks can seriously deter a thief. You should carry around a bike pump as well, it is not unknown for a kind passer buy to deflate your tyres.

On the Road

Cyclists are not exempt from the rules of the road

Cities and towns in the United Kingdom are plagued with cyclists who jump red lights, jump on and off pavements, don't signal and generally cause havoc. These are idiots, don't follow their example. Don't get angry with them and try and catch them up and knock them off. Sooner or later a car will do it for you.

The rules for cycling on the road are clearly laid out in the highway code, you should know all of them before setting out. The vulnerability of cycling means that even when you stick to all the rules, the actions of other road users can cause nasty accidents. Always be alert to everything happening around you. Being alert to your surrounds are key, so don't think of wearing headphones or using a mobile phone. Riding while speaking on a mobile is not only dangerous, it encourages people to throw foodstuffs at you⁴.

If you plan to stop in for a couple of drinks before you head home, do not take your bike. Cycling under the influence is a crime and can land you with a severe fine. While you have to really push it to break a 30mph speed limit, 20 mph speed limits can be broken without realising it, especially in quiet estates. The laws on speeding still apply to bikes, so watch out. Even if you aren't breaking speed limits, there is a charge of Aggressive Cycling which grumpy policemen can slap on you if they feel like it.

Where to cycle

The routes to use are ones that don't involve any other traffic such as dedicated cycle routes. Most cyclists prefer quieter back roads to busy main roads. They generally have less traffic lights but you are more likely to have to give way to traffic crossing your route. Cyclists are banned from Motorways and many tunnels. It is normally best to avoid fast moving dual carriageways.

It really should not need to be mentioned that unless there is a cycle lane marked on them, you should not ride on pavements. It also should not need to be mentioned that riding through a crowd of people on one wheel or with no hands on the handlebar will lead to accidents, no matter how good your bike control is. Well, you think it doesn't need to be mentioned, but yet there are lots of idiots out there who still do.

Cyclists are allowed to use most bus lanes which separates the rider from most traffic but brings them closer to the cyclists arch enemy, the bus. Other roads have cycle lanes painted onto road by the curb. These let the councils pretend they are doing something for the environment while they are actually just painting the metre of road around drains, manhole covers and potholes green so that cars know to avoid it. What out for the traffic signals on some dedicated cycle lanes. Occasionally you will find that green lights will send you straight into oncoming traffic.

Hazards

Because of the antics of these idiot cyclists, most drivers and pedestrians will look down on cyclists as the lowest of the low. In turn an experienced cyclist, wise to the unpredictable and stupid manoeuvres other road users make, will think pretty much the same of drivers and pedestrians.

Other Cyclists

There are a few situations when other cyclists pose a danger. The first is at traffic lights. It is not uncommon for idiot cyclists to assume that everybody is a stupid as they are and are not going to stop for a red light and run high speed into the back of you. It is equally likely that they will jump a red light when you are crossing on green and for them to T-bone you⁵. Sadly, it is considered illegal to exact your revenge on these idiots with a well placed smack with a bike lock.

Cyclists don't normally expect to be overtaken by other cyclists so be carefully if you are overtaking them. Watch out especially for the BMX riders who are so engrossed with hoping on and off curbs they jump straight into your path without noticing you.

A further danger is the reaction of other road users to cyclists doing silly things such as turning right without warning or jumping a red light. With no rear view mirrors many cyclists do not even know the chaos they leave behind them.

In large cities like London you also have Cycle Couriers to watch out for. Lacking in sence, fear and any thoughts of self preservation their living depends on them getting from client to client as quick as possible. They can normally be idenified by the smell of red-bull that surronds them. Apparently the more harderned of them ride without brakes and have big swirly red eyes behind their sunglasses. Stay out of their way!

Other road users

The most common example of accidents caused by other road users is when a driver overtakes a bike then suddenly turns left. For some reason car drivers think that once they are a metre in front they have the right to cut people up. Drivers turning out of side roads without looking also cause a lot of accidents.

People leaving cars are a huge hazard to cyclists. Drivers leaving parked cars often don't see cyclists in the mirrors and swipe them off when opening a door straight in front of them. It is wise to keep a car doors width away from parked cars. More difficult to predict is when a passenger in a car decides to get out in the middle of a traffic jam just as you are cycling past. While kicking them underneath the wheels of the car is both pleasing and surprisingly easy to get away with, it is also against the law so you shouldn't even think about doing it. If a driver almost kills you then doesn't stop, make a note of the number plate and contact the police, you are doing society a favour by trying to get bad drivers off the road!

Buses

More than any other road user, the bus is the cyclist's main danger. They have many similarities; they are the green alternative to cars and buses are the only things that jump almost as many red lights as cyclists. However these similarities do not bring the bus driver and the cyclist closer together, they make the war even bloodier. BBC Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson, a man who is no fan of cycling called bus drivers a bunch of little Hitlers, and to many cyclists this is letting them off lightly. Some cyclists are convinced that bus drivers deliberately try to knock them off. In Manchester there is an urban legend that one major bus company pays bonuses to drivers to take out cyclists.

The bus drivers common trick is to overtake then pull in to stop, they will often not indicate, leaving the cyclist stuck between the pavement and the 20 ton bus. While carrying on along the side of the bus and hoping that the passenger who rang the bell will be more injured that you when you hit them is often tempting, it is best to wait. Due to the contempt in which most bus drivers view cyclists you are unlikely to get anywhere if you demand an apology. The best bet is to take the number of the bus and report it to the company or the police. Standing in front of the bus is only likely to draw anger from the passengers, unaware that their driver just tried to kill you.

Bus passengers often decide to cross the road just in front of the bus and straight in front of an overtaking cyclist.

Pedestrians

It is a strange phenomenon that most pedestrians cannot actually see a cycle lane when it is marked on a pedestrianised area. Instead of treating it like a mini road with traffic going both ways on it at relatively high speed, they treat it as a different coloured bit of pavement and are totally bemused when a cyclist comes whizzing past. In fact it is generally best when a pedestrian is wandering along a cycle path not to warn that you are approaching from behind them just to zoom past as soon as possible. Experience tells you that if a pedestrian knows that a cyclist is coming they will panic and often try and step out of the way, often straight into your path.

Because cyclists are silent and not made out of a ton of metal, pedestrians will often step out in front of them when crossing. The first two terms of the old mantra of 'Stop, Look and Listen' are obviously ignored. With the rise of hybrid and electric cars, this attitude really should change.

End of the Journey

If you work somewhere that will allow you to take your bike into the office, then great, you have saved yourself a great deal of hassle. If you don't, you have to find a parking space. Inner city universities are great since they tend to have hundreds of spaces. As well as dedicated bike parks (which are often rather limited in number), cyclists tend to use other street furniture like railings, lampposts and trees. Others use motorcycle parks. If you are using these, make sure you are not obstructing anybody. Westminster Council announced in summer 2006 that they would remove any bike that was not in a dedicated bike park. This policy flies in the face of London Mayor Livingstone's huge efforts to promote cycling.

Parking your bike can be a ritual that takes 5 to 10 minutes. You do not want to leave any part of your bike stealable. The front wheel of most bikes is easily removable and should be taken off and either locked to the rear wheel and the frame or be taken with you. Many people remove the saddle to stop the bike being ridden away.