Tyne Cycle Tunnel

Slightly off the c2c trail came something I’ve wanted to visit for literally, weeks. Oh yes, the internet is a wonderful place! Joining the north and south banks of the Tyne is a genuine piece of proper cycling infrastructure – the Tyne pedestrian & cycle tunnel.

Going down... or up!

Traffic is segregated allowing a safe passage for both walkers and cyclists, as well as allowing cyclists a short burst of speed.

Segreation

It’s only a few hundred metres long below ground, but it is nice!

At speed

The escalators at either end are able to cope with both bikes and people.

Escalating

With London now home to a tunnelling academy, any chance they could build a ‘practice tunnel’ for pedestrians and cyclists?

 

BorisBikes in the snow

With the recent snow across London and the South East I think it will be interesting to see the impact on the cycle hire scheme. Certainly the bank of bikes at Euston Underpass on Sunday (19 Dec) was full and most bikes bearing some snowy evidence of not having moved anywhere for a while! – Personally I’ve avoided cycling too, though after Christmas with luck the snow will recede and I’ll be back on the saddle… For now, here’s a few pictures of bikes in the snow!

Boris Bikes sleeping by the Euston Underpass

Frozen controls

Cold seat

Unlike my last evening sojourn onto the streets with the camera I found just one brave soul cycling along.

Brave soul

Speeding cyclists

Speeding cyclists, originally uploaded by Alan Perryman.

I’ve wanted to try taking panning shots for a while – the idea of inverting the speed and freezing the moving object really appeals for some reason.

I reckon this photo might be better cropped – the tour bus and pedestrian are slightly ugly intrusions into the image.

For the camera geeks, this was taken in Av mode – with the aparture opened as wide as it will go on my kit lens, the standard 18-55mm canon.

Maybe I just need to lie in way on a busy cycling thoroughfare with the 50mm fixed and see what I can do. Might have to learn a bit of patience though

Cycle reservation

Cycle reservation, originally uploaded by Alan Perryman.

We never managed to get a cycle reservation in the end, despite National Express’s website promising we could – this one was attached to a bike we shared the cycle space with between Norwich and Sheringham.

I was expecting taking the bikes on the train to be much more of a palaver than it was (aside the last journey, see: cycle rage!). I will get around to explaining the various facilities we found a little later…for now I have more work to attend to.

Lame.

Are electric bikes cheating?

Are electric bikes cheating?, originally uploaded by Alan Perryman.

Spotted in the centre of Holt, given the topography of Norfolk, is electric assistance really necessary?

It was ridden away by a more mature rider like, but surely half the point of riding a bike is keeping fit? (As well as being able to go anywhere whenever…)