The Mayor of London's Skyride...

I and 64,999 other people decided to go for a bit of a cycle around London on Saturday! Going by numbers alone, the Skyride seemed to be a success. The roads were indeed carless, priority was given to cyclists and the weather was good; all important factors when enjoying a ride. The only downside that I encountered was the amount of cyclists! There are a lot of people that should not cycle on the roads unless there are no cars and it is heavily marshalled; maybe these people would be good road racers?! There were some seriously unroadworthy offerings. One gentleman I saw had a rear wheel so heavily pringled that it was barely going through the frame. I felt most sorry for the bike doctor, that chap could not have imagined what was going to happen! In fairness he did seem to repairing approximately 14 different Apollo bikes at any one time; and I went past him a few times!
There was a good Brompton turnout, plenty of 2009 models. I'd not seen that many of the available colours in the 2009 matt finish, so it was nice to see some of the rarer colours (purple haze, cornflower blue, turkish blue, orange, baby pink and desert sand). I think the fact people are willing to spend an extra £25 or £50 just to make their Brompton individual speaks volumes about Brompton owners. Some people are not that fussed about what colour their bike is (or how useful it is: see Apollo), but Bromptoning is a way of life! I'm still yet to see a raw laquer Brompton up close; from the photos I think it may be my favourite finish along with cornflower blue. Maybe my next Brompton will be one of these colours. Seriously considering another Brompton, no I don't need one, but I really really want one!
Anyway back to Skyride, I would definitely do it again. I think it shows the amount of people that would be willing to cycle if the roads/cycle paths were safer. I also wonder if there are a finite number of people who should cycle in order to keep the number of road incidents down...