How to keep cool on your bike in this London heatwave

30 degrees, they say. I've just come from a meeting and had ten minutes outside. I nearly fainted with heat and I'm not doing any excercise. On your bike, you're generally a bit cooler because the wind is like a fan. But what else can the cyclist do?

1. Carry a bucket of ice around on your bike and plunge your head into it at every traffic lights:

2. The bucket might not be practical. You have to find a balance between stripping off (ooooh, sunburn horror) and wearing too many clothes (ooooh, way too hot). I find loose clothing best

3. Have a rest more often. Preferably under a tree.

4. Consider carrying an extra water bottle of some kind. I get through my normal one before I get half way home in heat like today's

5. Cool down the pace

6. It's a good opportunity, if you don't normally wear one, to put on your helmet. It protects you from the sun as well as the roads

7. Consider a hankerchief or something to put on the back of your neck - if you wet it, it will keep you nice and cool, and stop the sunburn

Has anyone else tried anything?

New canal-side cafe opens ... will it be used?

Very excited to see a new cafe on the Regent's Canal between Victoria Park and Islington. It seemed to be called "The Towpath". I'm guessing you buy a coffee or croissant and then ... cycle off? Or maybe stop for a few minutes. Perhaps not great if you're commuting, but you could see that if you're taking a leisurely stroll or cycle, it could be very nice.

Needless to say, I took some video as I went past.



Has anyone else spotted this, or indeed used it?

Never, ever take the tube ...

I made a vow to myself yesterday. "I'll never take the tube again." I needed to go by tube for complex reasons, and found myself trying to get on to the Central Line. I waited for train after train after train, all packed. I could feel the stress taking over my body. I found myself muttering out loud. I wanted to scream with frustration. Other people waiting by other doors seemed to be getting on far quicker than me. Mine was the worst place to wait on the whole platform. Is this just what everyone goes through every day? How could anyone not cyle???

Needless to say, because of odd timings and work committments, I had to take the tube again today, so I broke that vow (not good for Lent, I know).

But I'm longing to be back on the bike tomorrow.

Should you dismount when told to do so?

I had two moments on my ride this morning when I was told by a sign to dismount. The first was on the Regent's Canal, just West of the Zoo, where there's some work going on and you have to go on to a jetty thing to get round it. I made a judgement: the dismount sign was probably for my own safety - in case it was slippery on the jetty - or because if there are lots of people it could be a hazard. I looked carefully - there was no-one in sight - so I biked carefully over the jetty. No harm done.

Then I went through a residential area just above the canal. I would normally dismount as there's a bit of a blind corner. But this time I decided I wouldn't, as every time I had dismounted before, I'd literally never seen a single pedestrian coming my way. But this time, of course, there was a pedestrian and although I was creeping along slowly, she was clearly angry (I got the impression this was quite a regular local issue) and told me off, said there could be elderly people coming through, etc etc. I tried to explain that this was the first time I hadn't dismounted but she was clearly angry and didn't want to enter into a conversation.

I left feeling guilty and angry. I got to thinking about the hundred times I had dismounted, but no-one had noticed my good work (!), and how you can ruin cyclists' reputation by one moment like that.

I sort of think I should write a little note and leave it by the bike sign explaining my point of view and apologising if she was shocked when I appeared, and that perhaps I should shout loudly whenever next go through and do dismount, alerting everyone to the fact that cyclists do dismount ... but there's another part of me which says - just forget it, and next time you go through, dismount.

Anyone out there got on any views on whether we should always dismount when we see the sign?

Are you the mysterious whistling cyclist of the East?

I heard him before I saw him. The distinctive sound of someone whistling the Pink Panther theme song. He stopped at the same lights as me. He seemed to be quite passive-aggressive. I took a very big dislike to him (this has happened before - see blogs passim). It was the loud way he was doing it, kind of pretending he hadn't noticed any of us other cyclists, and kind of trying to look totally "relaxed" while in fact pedalling as hard as possible to be at the front of the pack.

I wanted to get away from the whistling. A few minutes later, there he was again, at Old Street roundabout. Thank the Lord it wasn't the Pink Panther any more. He'd switched to some jazz number. This guy clearly thinks he's one of the all-time best jazz whistlers. And he's loud. He somehow managed to cycle right through a red light while whistling and only avoided being overwhelmed by the mass of motorbikes, other cylces and cars coming the other way by some very polite driving from the pack.

On reflection, I realised (yet again) that my instant reaction was silly. Perhaps the guy really is a musician - the kind who'd we'd all pay good money to watch in a club. And whistling is cool, isn't it? And it makes a lovely change from the silence you often get when a big pack of cyclists are waiting competitively at the lights.

Perhaps you're the mysterious whistling cyclist of the East and you're reading this. Let us all know. Or perhaps you've seen him. Or just heard him.

Is this lazy or a clever way of using social media tools? Discuss

I'm really busy at work ("Thank the Lord, he won't be blogging so much about stupid things like airing cupboards" is your relieved cry) so haven't had any head space (don't you hate that expression?) to think about blogs.

So - what do you think is important on our roads? I've got quite a few things swirling around my head that I'd like to blog about - how to say sorry, how to spot a celeb, the art of seeing old friends as you cyle, new ideas for lighting on bikes, how to cope with the cold, motorbikes in bike lanes ... and a host of other things. But perhaps these are not the things which bother/interest you.

Tell me your worries, moans, moments of joy ... or I'll get back to my agenda.

Competition: the most confusing cycle lane?

Does anyone know what you're supposed to do on this cycle lane at Shepherd's Bush roundabout? You kind of make your way along the pavement on a nice green lane. Then ... well, if you look at the video, the green bit just ends, and goes into ... nothing ... and then you start contending with pedestrians ... and then, well, you stop. No doubt those planning it had some idea, but I can't figure it out. Anyone know of any more confusing than this?

I didn't know I was a hippy until a taxi driver started swearing at me

I guess it wasn't an atypical situation. Location: the very difficult junction at Gray's Inn Road and Theobald's Road. Loads of cyclists, loads of cars. Somehow, a taxi swerves outwards slightly and nearly touches a Volvo. Volvo owner goes beserk and the two cars go side by side down Thebald's Road shouting at the top of their lungs at each other.

Muggins here (for it is he) then calmly passes the taxi after he's finished venting ... only to suffer a volley of abuse from the taxi driver: "it was you - you were the reason I had to swerve in the first place you ****$%@***" and more in that vein. Some of me felt it then should have been my turn to find another cyclist and start shouting "and you - you were the reason I had to swerve" but for some inexplicable reason, all I could think of to say back to the taxi driver was "Don't spread the hate." I've never used that expression in my life, nor do I really know what it means. But every time the taxi driver said something else, I repeated this mantra.

Very odd to discover that deep in your psyche you're a hippy.