Hyde and seek

[Just zis Guy, you know?]

Yesterday I went to St Mary Axe. Since HM the Queer was changing her
guard or some such the tube was (a) packed and (b) suffocating, so I
was glad I had the option of open air transport with a 15mph full-body
fan

I went via Hyde Park, the Embankment and, I think, Exeter. It
certainly felt as if I'd ridden many times the actual distance door to
door.

How the hell do you do it? My dad can navigate in London, and I can
navigate everywhere else, but I simply cannot get the hang of cycling
in the smoke.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

 

[Dave Larrington]

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:

> HM the Queer

ToBAGO?

> How the hell do you do it? My dad can navigate in London, and I can
> navigate everywhere else, but I simply cannot get the hang of cycling
> in the smoke.

Cheer up, little loonie lad. The first twenty years are the worst...

--
Dave Larrington - <http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/>
Although the hippopotamus hath no sting in its tail, the wise man would
rather be seated upon the back of a bee.

 

[David Hansen]

On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 12:56:35 +0100 someone who may be "Just zis Guy,
you know?" <[email protected]> wrote this:-

>How the hell do you do it? My dad can navigate in London, and I can
>navigate everywhere else, but I simply cannot get the hang of cycling
>in the smoke.

Do you not have satellite navigation on your Brompton?


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh | PGP email preferred-key number F566DA0E
I will always explain revoked keys, unless the UK government
prevents me by using the RIP Act 2000.

 

[daren]

7 years as a student help I used to drive the college soup run
around London. There are only a few places worthy of crossing the river
(if that helps).

Now that you have a Brompton, I suggest heading into London for a
pleasant Sunday morning cycle. The roads are deserted and you can find
your way around the key routes without too much hassle.

I normally ride the major roads rather than back streets, although a
pigeon-sense of direction helps.

Paddington to Hyde Park, out at Hyde Park Corner, through Victoria,
along the Embankment, along to the city past St Pauls, up towards
Livepool St, back towards Euston Road, Marylebone and back into
Paddington. Try a pop-up London Map.

Coffee and buns all round, take the new tandem

regards,
daren
--
remove outer garment for reply

 

[Mark McNeill]

Response to Just zis Guy, you know?:
> I went via Hyde Park, the Embankment and, I think, Exeter. It
> certainly felt as if I'd ridden many times the actual distance door to
> door.
>
> How the hell do you do it? My dad can navigate in London, and I can
> navigate everywhere else, but I simply cannot get the hang of cycling
> in the smoke.

<g> - In phrenology terms, I have not so much a bump of direction, rather
a slight dent; I've got lost in London (even the central, recognisable
bits) more often than I can remember.

I've even got myself totally disorientated in central Manhattan, which -
considering it's laid out on a grid with [mostly] rationally numbered
streets - is pretty good going. (Wasn't cycling in Manhattan, though,
which is probably just as well.)

--
Mark, UK

"What arouses the indignation of the honest satirist is not, unless the
man is a prig, the fact that people in positions of power or influence
behave idiotically, or even that they behave wickedly. It is that they
conspire successfully to impose upon the public a picture of themselves
as so very sagacious, honest and well-intentioned."

 

[Bryan]

Yesterday I went to St Mary Axe. Since HM the Queer was changing her
guard or some such the tube was (a) packed and (b) suffocating, so I
was glad I had the option of open air transport with a 15mph full-body
fan

I went via Hyde Park, the Embankment and, I think, Exeter. It
certainly felt as if I'd ridden many times the actual distance door to
door.

How the hell do you do it? My dad can navigate in London, and I can
navigate everywhere else, but I simply cannot get the hang of cycling
in the smoke.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

How can you not find St Mary Axe, there's a bloody gert gherkin in it!

Bryan

 

[Just zis Guy, you know?]

On 24 Jun 2005 05:30:00 -0700, "daren"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Now that you have a Brompton, I suggest heading into London for a
>pleasant Sunday morning cycle. The roads are deserted and you can find
>your way around the key routes without too much hassle.

Good plan. Maybe next time there's a family concert at the Festival
Hall.

>Paddington to Hyde Park, out at Hyde Park Corner, through Victoria,
>along the Embankment, along to the city past St Pauls, up towards
>Livepool St, back towards Euston Road, Marylebone and back into
>Paddington.

That was what I was trying to do

>Try a pop-up London Map.

? I got a TfL map, but it didn't help a lot.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

 

[Nick Kew]

Bryan wrote:

> How can you not find St Mary Axe, there's a bloody gert gherkin in it!

It's a move that requires Humph's second oblique approach rule.
But that's always been disallowed in months beginning with a J.

--
Not me guv

 

[Helen Deborah Vecht]

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email protected]>typed


> >Try a pop-up London Map.

> ?

Cunningly folded maps, about the size of a credit crad (when folded) you
can buy from some vending machines. Contain a surprising amount of
detail.

--
Helen D. Vecht: [email protected]
Edgware.

 

[Just zis Guy, you know?]

On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 22:39:11 +1000, Bryan
<[email protected]> wrote:

>How can you not find St Mary Axe, there's a bloody gert gherkin in it!

Well, yes, and the office is right opposite said excrescence, but it's
not actually that easy to see from the streets round about. The old
NatWest tower is easier to spot. And then you have all the poxy
one-way streets to contend with...

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

 

[Jeremy Collins]

On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 15:51:55 +0100, Just zis Guy, you know?
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Well, yes, and the office is right opposite said excrescence, but it's
> not actually that easy to see from the streets round about. The old
> NatWest tower is easier to spot. And then you have all the poxy
> one-way streets to contend with...

Shirley if you're cycling in London you're *required* to
cycle the wrong way up one-way streets... <g, d, r>

Crossposted to uk.rec.driving for extra Friday fun. [1]

[1] Not really. I'll get me coat.

--
jc

 

[Tony Raven]

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
> Yesterday I went to St Mary Axe. Since HM the Queer was changing her
> guard or some such the tube was (a) packed and (b) suffocating, so I
> was glad I had the option of open air transport with a 15mph full-body
> fan
>
> I went via Hyde Park, the Embankment and, I think, Exeter. It
> certainly felt as if I'd ridden many times the actual distance door to
> door.
>
> How the hell do you do it? My dad can navigate in London, and I can
> navigate everywhere else, but I simply cannot get the hang of cycling
> in the smoke.

http://www.cyclemaps.com Choice of quieter or direct routes. Use it
all the time and owner is very appreciative and responsive if you find
any errors.

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

 

[Naqerj]

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:

> How the hell do you do it? My dad can navigate in London, and I can
> navigate everywhere else, but I simply cannot get the hang of cycling
> in the smoke.
>

I very, very rarely cycle or drive in London, but when I have (and also
whenever I've been walking) I adopt the plan of just heading in what
seems to be the general direction of my destination. So far, it's
always worked and I ended up where I wanted to be. How it works, I
don't know and it's probably best not to probe too deeply - that might
stop it working.

--
Andrew

 

[Colin McKenzie]

Naqerj wrote:
> Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
>> How the hell do you do it? My dad can navigate in London, and I can
>> navigate everywhere else, but I simply cannot get the hang of cycling
>> in the smoke.
>
> I very, very rarely cycle or drive in London, but when I have (and also
> whenever I've been walking) I adopt the plan of just heading in what
> seems to be the general direction of my destination. So far, it's
> always worked and I ended up where I wanted to be.

Lucky you. I've lived here for 8 years, cycling everywhere, and rode
around a lot in buses before that, and I still find it hard to follow
a straightish line unless I'm on a main road. One-ways are the biggest
bugbear.

But it does get better with practice, especially if you can identify
the main roads when you hit them AND know which way round they are.

Colin McKenzie

 

[congokid]

In message <[email protected]>, "Just zis Guy,
you know?" <[email protected]> writes

>How the hell do you do it? My dad can navigate in London, and I can
>navigate everywhere else, but I simply cannot get the hang of cycling
>in the smoke.

My first London commute was from Maida Vale to Cleveland Street, next
door to Telecom Tower. At first I followed Edgware Road to Marble Arch,
but later I'm sure I used to detour through Regent's Park. Until I
realised the park police didn't take kindly to that.

By that stage I'd already lived in London for about nine months, with a
couple of summer holidays before that, so I had a rough idea of where
places were, at least in the centre.

Later when I lived in Marylebone and worked in Soho, it didn't seem
worth getting the bike out - it hadn't been used for almost two years
and lived in a cupboard. Anyway, by then I'd learned to drive, got a
licence and a car in quick succession, and half my job was in Greenford
or Stockley Park - both easier to drive to than cycle.

Then I moved to Fulham. The bike was overhauled for renewed service. My
commute was up the King's Road to Soho - nice route that avoids Hyde
Park Corner but includes Buck House, Mall, Pall Mall, Piccadilly Circus.

These days I go a bit further to Chancery Lane.

The secret is to have lots of local knowledge and check the A-Z well in
advance for the best route, avoiding areas you'd prefer not to drive
round (assuming you've been there and driven round them).

--
congokid
Good restaurants in London? Number one on Google
http://congokid.com

 

[LSMike]

"Dave Larrington" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
>
>> HM the Queer
>
> ToBAGO?
>
>> How the hell do you do it? My dad can navigate in London, and I can
>> navigate everywhere else, but I simply cannot get the hang of cycling
>> in the smoke.
>
> Cheer up, little loonie lad. The first twenty years are the worst...

Thanks for your Ortlieb document holder recommendation Dave. Came in useful
on Tuesday when I cycled 30km, roughly from the south of the south circular
across Tower Bridge and to the North Circular, I took autoroute directions
since I didn't know the way too well. Total cycle 1 hour 15 minutes. My
friend drove almost exactly the same distance in 2 hours 30 minutes.
Hehehehehehe!

 

[audrey]

On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 14:48:09 +0100, Helen Deborah Vecht
<[email protected]> wrote:

>"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email protected]>typed
>
>
>> >Try a pop-up London Map.

>
>Cunningly folded maps, about the size of a credit crad (when folded) you
>can buy from some vending machines. Contain a surprising amount of
>detail.

and are marvellous for giving one a sense of the over-ground jograffy
of central London. I use a combination of pop-up [1] map, TfL cycle
map and asking passersby to get me around London and usually manage to
only cycle twice as far as necessary.


[1] actually called pop-out maps (tm) and available from all good
booksellers
http://www.mapgroup.net/Popout/

 

[Jeremy Parker]

[snip]
>
> and are marvellous for giving one a sense of the over-ground
jograffy
> of central London. I use a combination of pop-up [1] map, TfL
cycle
> map and asking passersby to get me around London and usually manage
to
> only cycle twice as far as necessary.

[snip]

For central London the TfL cycle maps do show one way streets, on the
enlarged panel on the back. For the rest of London the map only
shows one way streets for roads "recommended"on the map

Jeremy Parker

 

[Jeremy Parker]

[snip]

>
> I've even got myself totally disorientated in central Manhattan,
which -
> considering it's laid out on a grid with [mostly] rationally
numbered
> streets - is pretty good going. (Wasn't cycling in Manhattan,
though,
> which is probably just as well.)
>
> --
> Mark, UK

You should try Boston, Mass., built round Boston Common, which has
five right angled corners. I think there's some kind of heavy
equipment at MIT, which distorts the space-time continuum, or
something.

They also have a book "The Boston Drivers' Handbook", a humorous (I
hope) guide to newcomers on how to drive as badly as locals. The
section on dealing with cyclists is interesting.

Jeremy Parker

 

[Tony Raven]

Jeremy Parker wrote:
>
>
> You should try Boston, Mass., built round Boston Common, which has
> five right angled corners. I think there's some kind of heavy
> equipment at MIT, which distorts the space-time continuum, or
> something.
>

We have our own space-time discontinuity in Bristol. Going to the
University, at the top of Park Street you can either turn right past
Browns and do the steep climb up University Road to the University or
you can carry on on the flat all the way round Whiteladies Road,
Tyndall's Park Road and Woodland Road to get to the same end point


--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon