The rules of cycling ...

Never turn on metal, even when it's dry

When approaching a roundabout, junction, any difficult situation:

1) check for normal things - cars, other cycles, pedestrians, pets
2) check again - this time for very bad drivers
3) check a third time - for complete loony drivers

For all the rest, I might need a bit of help!

Speaking Freely "I am just about to start my..."

"I am just about to start my bicycle ride into work. I'm standing above the Regents Canal on a bridge watching the other cyclist go by. Feeling a little bit achy in my legs. Having psychod(?) (err... editor's note - this should have been "cycled" but Spinvox couldn't quite cope with that word!) so much in the last 2 days but looking forward to the ride. Catch you later."

spoken through SpinVox

Test

I'm trying a service which allegedly lets me blog straight off email and my mobile … let's try it!

I've got pretty fond of this monkey ...

Odd sight - a seagull catching a fish

You don't see it that often at sea - but today I saw a seagull catch a pretty decent sized fish in the Regent's Canal, and swoop up to a nearby roof garden to try to eat it. A couple of other people stopped to wonder at ... well perhaps that there actually are any fish in the canal in the first place - and perhaps also how a seagul managed to spot it. But then I guess that's what seagulls do ...

The Karma worked!

Yes, I had two cyclists say very nice "thank yous" when I stopped at the front of a tunnel on the canal to let them through. It irritates me beyond endurance when you wait patiently to let someone through, and you don't even get a nod. I regret to say that I'm one of those self-righteous gits who says a sarcastic "don't mention it" if they don't ... but today was different.

It's good to be back ...

Fantastic to be back on the bike after a week of enforced quarantine at home (something which may have been the dread swine flu but which might just as easily have been anything else which causes a bit of a tummy ache and a bit of a temperature). You see things with new eyes and this morning's sunshine added to feeling that London is a great place to cycle.

But I saw a terrible piece of riding ...

I would have thought the message has got out to most people - don't go to the left of big trucks. I saw a cyclist creep to the left of a huge truck waiting at traffic lights, with his indicator out showing everyone exactly what he intended to do ... but the cyclist didn't seem to have registered it. Luckily she had time to slow right down and stop as he carried out his manoeuvre - but boy, did it make me scared. Irony - she looked a bit indignant.