At first, it looked like a big chunk of metal in the tyre, but when I pry it out with pliers, it’s a fucking NOS canister dumped by some kids after a cheap high! Grrrr… I managed to plug the hole with a whole bunch of sticky strands and some help from Bike Shed staff to get it reinflated. As a seasoned London commuter, I’m regrettable quite experienced in plugging punctures.

Unfortunately, the strands didn’t get me home and I had to call a mate out to help. He had some thicker sticky stands and a portable electric pump – the hero! Three strands managed to plug the hole, get me home and to the garage the following day, albeit with a top-up of air after leaving it overnight. The excess strands sticking out, nicely squish down to form a good seal over the whole area (see pic left).

The next day Two Tyres gave their verdict, too big a hole to repair, new tyre time – Bah! I opted for another Metzeler Roadtec01 SE, as I’ve been getting on really well with these and they’ve given me the grip I need in all kinds of crappy conditions. Of course, I’m now stuck in the loop of having one tyre half worn and one new and will keep missing deals on buying tyres in pairs…

Don’t forget you can bag yourself a discount at Two Tyres with this code:

Discount code: BBA

This will blag you £10 off any order of motorcycle tyres online over £100; or quote the code in the shop to get £20 off motorcycle tyres fitted.

In the past, we used to rely on the old ParkingForBikes.com website, but sadly this is now defunct. Two newcomers to the scene are mobiles apps Byke Parking and London Bike Bays. I gave both a test run and below is my verdict.

Byke Parking

A relative newcomer to the scene, Byke Parking app is available on the Apple App and Google Play stores. It’s a completely free app and requires no sign-up faff. Although app stores warn there are in-app ads, I have only seen discreet logos from some sponsors in the motorcycle industry (mostly biker magazines).

The map is driven by Google maps and is presented in a ‘dark’ view, which may or may not be to your liking (I couldn’t find any option to change this). There’s a standard search bar to type in a location to find nearby motorcycle bays, however, sometimes the auto-suggestion locations were a little slow to return and I couldn’t search by postcode, only street name. A bit annoying, but OK to workaround once you realise.

Update: Bike Parking have informed me the postcode search issue only affects the Android version of the app and they expect to resolve this very soon.

Coverage of bays appears good, but very little outside of central London. Byke Parking database of bays has been mapped out by their own team of moped riders. Longer-term they hope to additionally draw upon community feedback within the app to keep the database up to date.

Update: Byke Parking inform me they are increasing London coverage and expanding into Brighton too!

A very handy feature of Byke Parking is it will present details about each bay, whether it’s free or paid (e.g. Westminster bays), whether it has security features (e.g. ground anchors), the rough size of the bay and even has photos of some bays. You can also filter your search on these fields too, e.g. to only show bays with security measures.

The app will present a rough route to the bay in-app or it can open up directions to the bay in Google Maps. I couldn’t find any option to open up directions in other apps (e.g. Waze, TomTom).

Pros

1. Free, no sign-up, discreet ads
2. Details of each bay (size, security, cost)

Cons

1. No location search by postcode on Android (to be fixed soon)
2. Can only open directions in the Google Maps app
3. No coverage outside of inner London (but expansion is planned)

London Bike Bays

Also available on both Apple App and Google Play stores is London Bike Bays, which has been around a little longer the Byke Parking. The first thing you notice is this app requires you to register yourself (why?) which involves a bit of email verification faff. Also, you are presented with a particularly intrusive full-screen advert whenever you first load the app, grrr!

The search bar will let you type any snippet of an address – borough, town, street, postcode etc and will provide auto-suggested/completed options promptly. After which the app will zoom in on the area and show any motorcycle bays as pins on a Google map.

Clicking a bay doesn’t provide you with much information, however, just its address and grid coordinates, though handily you can copy this info to the clipboard by clicking it. You then have the option to open navigation to the London motorcycle parking bay in any suitable app you have on your phone.

The map of London motorcycle parking bays is extensive and covers the greater London area within the M25. Definitely more bays further out in the suburbs in the database than Byke Parking and there is the option to submit updates (for review) via their website. Additionally, you can browse the London Bike Bays map on their webpage here.

The ads in London Bike Bays apps are quite annoying, especially the fullscreen ad on each startup. When viewing each parking bay, a smaller banner ad is shown. There is, however, the option to pay £2.99 / year to remove all the ads – less than a pint in a London boozer and probably worth doing if you use the app a lot.

Pros

1. Extensive database of parking bays covering greater London
2. Option to copy coordinates and open directions in any navigation app
3. Map of bays viewable from webpage

Cons

1. Sign-up faff on first use
2. Lots of intrusive ads in the free version
3. No details about each parking bay

Conclusion

Both Byke Parking and London Bike Bays are useful apps to have each with different pros and cons. If you ride predominantly in central London, Byke Parking is a great choice with really useful info about each bay. If you ride further out in the surrounding boroughs London Bike Parking has advantages with its more extensive database, but you need to put up with ads or pay a few quid each year.

Nonetheless, it’s early days for the Byke Parking app and I’m curious to see how it progresses. It’s also good to see healthy competition between these apps, it can only be good for us London bikers!

Yep, I seemed to have become a weekend fair weather rider…

I used to be one to ride all the time, an all weather biker, commuting to into London rain or shine, but now I’m desk bound at home Monday-Friday. If anything, I’m putting in more hours now than I used to as I work the time I would have previously spent commuting. Weekends are now my only chance to get out on the bike, where I’m choosing to ride for enjoyment and thus I want to ride out into the sunny countryside. A weekend blast in the rain just ain’t quite as much fun.

It’s anybody’s guess when we’ll all return to normality and start commuting back into the office. Somehow, I don’t think normality will be quite what it used to be though. Like many forward thinking tech companies, my employer always had options for flexible and remote working. However, like many companies they are now planning for many of its staff to work remote far more, using shared ‘hot’ desks and reducing office space in central London. After the success of remote working these last few months, there’s no argument for not continuing to offer such an option.

So what does this mean for biking? With less emphasis on commuting, I’m seriously questioning my current choice of Yamaha FZ6 as a pure commuter hack. Why am I putting my priorities into a basic commuter bike? Why don’t I get a fun weekend bike than can commute upon occasion? Longer term, I also can’t help but question even living in the London suburbs. If I can work remote, why not live remote?! Once the advantage of a short commute is eroded, what else does the East London suburbia have to offer? Why not live rural, escape the crowds, find nicer roads, beautiful scenery and cheaper motorcycle insurance?

These last few months have definitely been a time of questioning, challenging prior assumptions, re-evaluating life choices and priorities. We maybe getting closer to normality, but it’s clear it won’t be the normal we’ve been used to in years past.

How has the Covid19 crisis affected your biking?

We’ve had many biking adventures over the past year, trail riding, track day, trips to Australia, California and the French Ardennes; plenty to takes one’s mind off the current political climate… One of the years last jolly’s was the annual Ace Cafe Toy Run, a charity event to deliver toys and gifts to sick children in London hospitals. A fun day with dressed up and decked out bikes.

I hope your 2019 has been filled with adventure and fun riding. What has been your biking highlights this year?

Last weekend I volunteered to help our with the Prudential Ride London cycle endurance race, scheduled to have around 40k Lycra warriors tackling a 100, 46 or 19 mile route. My job was to carrier a cycle mechanic pillion with a tonne of tools and supplies and sweep up those stopped with bike or medical trouble. I feared I’d be dealing with loads of heat exhaustion and dehydration cases, but no, we were dealing with countless punctures and freezing wet cyclists instead. I lost count of how many inner tubes we got through, with many cyclists hit by repeated punctures.

The weather was terrible and after several hours stuck in the rain my Alpinestars Goretex Jet Road gloves and SMX-6 WP boots both gave in and were sodden. My old Rukka gear held up better, but was still damp on the inside. I can’t wait to get my new Hideout Hi-Pro laminate gear… Still, I was far more comfortable than those doing 100 miles in saturated Lycra!

Well done everyone who took part, it was a tough event and a lot of cash was raised for charity. Sadly, two did not complete the day, my best wishes to their family and friends. RIP.

Pollution is pretty bad in London, but motorcycles should definitely be considered as part of the solution. Bikes rarely, if ever sit still in traffic jams and have much shorter journey times and thus pollute less. Recent TFL consultations even concluded bikes contribute less than 1% of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. So read on to learn how to avoid the charges and keep biking.

Congestion Charge

This one has been around for a few years, but all motorcycle are exempt (except some larger 3-wheelers over 2m long). It covers the zone shown in the map below. Not new news, but many new charges cover the same area.
T-Charge / ES-Charge

The Emission Surcharge (ES-Charge) or as previously labelled the Toxicity Charge, has just been approved by Sadiq Khan and will come into force on the 23rd October 2017. The key details:

• Covers congestion charge zone (above)
• Operates Mon-Fri 7am-6pm
• £10 a day (in addition to £11.50 congestion charge)
• Affects any car, van not euro 4 compliant

Thankfully all motorcycles are exempt from this charge.

London ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone)

The London ULEZ  does affect motorcycles. Past consultations are now over and a two-phased rollout has been confirmed, the first phase of which is now in place.

Now confirmed

• From 8th April 2019: charge area covers congestion charge zone (above)
• From 25th October 2021: charge area extended to cover the area within North/South Circulars.
• Operates 24-7
• £12.50 per day
• Affects any non-Euro 3 motorcycles registered before 1st July 2007

Note: electric and historic tax class bikes are exempt from the London ULEZ charge. If your bike is Euro 3 compliant and registered before July 2007 you can register an exemption with TFL.

TFL have a vehicle checker tool to allow you to confirm if your vehicle is affected based on its registration plate. However, there have been reports of its data not being 100% accurate, and having many updates over past months. So, I would not take this as gospel and do keep checking.

Watch this space for news and developments on the London ULEZ, as this affects bikers most directly and could potentially many more if things change. Especially those with cheap old commuter hacks.

Finally

So there you have it, for the short term you can keep on biking unaffected. But by 8th April 2019, you’ll need a ride newer than 2007. Of course, such a forced upgrade will devalue any pre-2007 significantly.

Update: some recent developments: It now seems any bike with sufficiently low NOx emissions (below 0.15g/km) will be exempt. However, this needs to be proved to TFL on a per bike basis. You can find this info either from your V5c doc, by acquiring a certificate of compliance from your bike manufacturer (albeit at an admin cost) or booking a London ULEZ check for your bike, specifically measured at www.nationalemissionstestcentre.com who are the only certified testers.

Here we are at Tower Bridge, waiting for this large Cruise ship to undock from HMS Belfast and make its way down the Thames. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t quite filter past this one. Still, it was a nice day to take stock of the fact I ride past some great icons of British architecture every day.

What iconic landmarks do you commute past on your way to/from work?

Our ride started at Oval Motorcycle Centre, then on out across Battersea Bridge into Chelsea and Knightbridge, before whizzing past Wellington Arch, Buckingham Palace before a quick pit stop on the Mall overlook St James Park. Then on past Trafalgar Square and looping up round into Soho via Frith Street, before heading down past Downing Street, the Cenotaph, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey and across the river for a second stop by Waterloo and the London Eye. Back in the saddle we went North of the river again, zoomed past Aldwych and Royal Courts or Justice, down Fleet Street and our third stop outside St. Pauls cathedral, for a perfect photo opportunity. Off again, hanging a right by the Bank of England and South over London Bridge, past Southwalk cathedral, Borough Market, the Shard and then crossing the river again over Tower Bridge, lit up beautifully.

… a stop at the wonderful 24 hour Beigel shops for some much needed sustenance and a mix with Shoreditch hipsters leaving their night clubs and bars.

We continued North weaving through the streets and up to Brick Lane and a stop at the wonderful 24 hour Beigel shops for some much needed sustenance and a mix with Shoreditch hipsters leaving their night clubs and bars. To finish off, we continued East onto the Isle of Dogs and took a tour through the ghostly skyscrapers of Canary Wharf all lit up and towering overhead. The original plan was to continue on to Greenwich, but alas the Blackwall tunnel was shut for maintenance.

All in all, it was a wicked night, it was great to get out and great to see all of London’s landmarks lit up. Everything went swimmingly, even if group of us sometimes got separated momentarily.

Thankfully, the weather was top notch and the view stunning. Could pinpoint landmarks for miles around. Tickets aren’t cheap at £25 a pop, but you won’t get a view like this anywhere else. Definitely worth checking out if you’re in town.

A little quiet on attendance (bah! you other fair-weather bikers!), but we all had a good chin wag and tucked into some tasty pudding. But what culinary delights can others bring next week?