'Green'

i don't talk much about green issues, mainly because being more environmentally friendly is a by product of my cycling rather than the initial goal.

and i'm a bit crap at saving all those little bottles.

anyway, i read an article about sustainable commuting in ottawa. with it's 170km of bike paths, you can cycle pretty much the whole river without crossing a road. they even close the one that runs alongside in the summer! it sounds like somekind of bike mecca... although the article didn't mention how far you had to ride without hitting someone meandering in the lane, some broken glass or dog shit...

if you don't wish to bike, you can canoe, rollerblade or ice skate (in the winter of course...)
ice skating vid

now i'm not suggesting you canoe to work in london (the canal rats would have you) but it does make you think that there is a hell of a lot more ken could be doing to make our commute a lot easier and a shitload more environmentally friendly.

currently i see little evidence of any kind of commitment to make life better for the very cyclists he encourages with his shitty poster campaigns. 'You're better off by bike' more to be written off by one of TFLs buses, but better off...

obviously i still enjoy riding anywhere i can, but it fucks me off when someone gets self righteous, then demonstrates very little commitment to practicing what they preach. it brings to mind an 'heated debate' i had with a girl regarding tattoos, she stated that if you get one it should be somewhere prominent, i pointed out that sadly society still makes the connection between criminality and ink (or atleast chav and ink) so i can understand why some people choose to have them somewhere personal (mine's a half sleeve BTW, so i'm sat on the fence so to speak). this went on for sometime, until i asked her if she actually had a tattoo, she didn't...

now i'm not saying you're not entitled to an opinion, i'm just asking you formulate said opinion based on perhaps some experience and/or facts... i.e. ride a bike in london before you tell me and thousands of others how to do it. perhaps even ask some of us cyclists what we need? maybe?

and no, it's not a free reflective yellow vest.