Another reason to cycle

Selborne Road, E17

Selborne Road today around 5:30pm. Solid traffic from one end to the other, and it is a long road.

Of course, on a cycle, one only has the discomfort of trying to filter safely.

The road has advisory cycle lanes which are so narrow that it is unsettling to use, even for a cyclist who knows this road well. And it is frequently blocked by buses and cars straying into it as they crawl forward. So I tend to filter on the right where there are more escape options if someone does something unexpected.

The upside of cycling is that conditions like the above have very little impact on journey time. One of the reasons I like cycling is that the time it takes for a particular journey is pretty static - traffic doesn't affect it to any great extent.

The downside is that I doubt anyone new to cycling wouldn't enjoy these conditions at all. And so modal share remains pitiful, even though the alternatives - using the car or bus - are horrible in this traffic.

Oh, and the road-working signs are still blocking the narrow cycle lane. So there is a cycle friendly local authority in action, folks.