Applespider

They went for the fancy dress shop to get masks. Again, it suggests non-locals since a colleague who lives nearby tells me that shop donates part of its profits to local kids' charities. Equally telling was that the Waterstones wasn't touched. Now, if it had truly been a protest against the rich and government, surely burning books would have been a more potent symbol than brandishing a pair of trainers.

I smile and wave at them so that they can see how pointless their rant was - if it's about you holding them up for example. It's particularly fun if they then get stuck in a traffic jam and you can zoom off up a bus lane and gave them a cheery wave on the way past.

Can I also urge you if you're out in the 'regular lane' and going to turn left, that you indicate well in advance and double check for cyclist/motor cyclists using the bus lane before you turn across it? On a hill, it's likely you'll have passed the cyclist, spotted them and they're unlikely to put on a burst of speed but motorcyclists may just belt by particularly if you've slowed to prepare for the turn.

I'm not disagreeing with Damian in terms of having a group to try to turn around trouble but equally, it's harder to respond if everyone is sat at home watching their non-looted TV set and having to run around to look for their paid-for trainers. If there is a good cross-section out using the pubs and sitting outside, then there is a on-the-scene deterrent rather than leaving our high streets deserted. Yes, it means that if we're out and about, we're doing so on the understanding that we'd try to stand up to yobs rather than rushing home but I think that's what most here are suggesting rather than just going out for a pint.

Apparently there are no water cannon on the UK mainland

Is all the 24-hour coverage on the news helping or hindering? Is it encouraging others to go out and create havoc and get their 15 minutes of fame? Is it giving them ideas on what to do to cause maximum damage - I know I've been educated on the best way to set a car on fire after watching the news.

I usually cycle home via Brixton and thought I'd go home via Peckham and pick up a few bits of Rye Lane. Got to Camberwell, saw 3 police vans with guys in riot gear screaming past towards Peckham and decided just to head home..

Just last week, a survey of doctors by the BMJ showed that more than 2/3rds of them believed helmets for cyclists shouldn't be compulsory. They pointed out that in places where helmets had become compulsory there was no reduction in the proportion of cyclists hurt and in fact that the number of cyclists tended to be reduced since it made cycling feel more dangerous. They concluded that the risk of serious head injury was outweighed by the other health benefits of cycling. Now I am off to cycle to Victoria... with helmet ;-)

My pal has a skiing helmet. It seems a lot more robust than my cycling helmet. Snowboard/ski helmets tend to have solid outers whereas my cycle helmet (same price) is basically coated polystyrene. It's also a heck of a lot lighter than the ski one. It may well help if I end up getting shunted by a car door or have a tyre blow out - it's going to do very little if I get left-hooked by a car or van. But I've been effectively indoctrinated to feel 'naked' going out on the bike without it. You might be surprised what your head can stand up to. I watched a skiing friend this year stack while on a steep red in Italy onto quite hard packed snow. He bounced on his helmetless head and like you, he was a little dazed, had a bit of whiplash for a day or two (not enough to stop him skiing) and a headache. Another friend on the trip did have a helmet, had taken it off while we were having a drink and then was walking towards where we'd left our skis when we were leaving. The helmet was hung off his arm - he slipped and fell with the helmet taking some of the blow. From the size of the dent in it, you'd have thought he'd driven headfirst into a brick wall with it on. Your skull is made of tougher stuff than the average helmet; it's the danger of the brain whacking into it and swelling that is most serious at the type of speed impacts we're talking about and helmets don't take all that danger away. If I could only have one item of snowboarding safety equipment, I'd go for wristguards where there's far more risk of doing yourself an injury - there was a poor girl in our hotel who had broken both wrists while boarding and looked a little like Rio Jesus as a result.

Sorry to hear about your accident DJKQ but glad that you're on the road to recovery. Don't let it put you off getting back on your bike in the future. Thankfully I've not yet needed to use Kings services but it is reassuring to hear positive stories. And congrats dulwichbeekeeper too!

Sounds fabulous... I was in Wales last weekend too doing coasteering (climbing around cliffs and leaping into the sea) which was fabulous. It is very beautiful and has some great local beers :)-D

I wear a helmet while I'm out on my bike but it's more to stop road rash should I come off than any serious injury. Cycle helmets are designed for low-speed (<10mph) impacts which by the time you include the velocity of the fall means a fast walk - far slower than most cyclists go along the road. Also the shape of many helmets increases the likelihood of neck injury depending on the angle of fall. And there is some research (admittedly limited) where drivers actually give cyclists without helmets more space when passing than those with helmets. So... while yes, I do wear a helmet most of the time on my bike, I'm not entirely convinced how useful it will ever be. Murderous though... hmm, will go work out a way to hang my axe off my bike frame then.

Thoroughly second the Brixton Cycles advice; they are great people. They gave me a pair of shims for my second-hand racer brifters since they had them lying in the workshop.

I believe if you buy it from Evans, you can try it out for 28 days to see if you like it. And get some good miles in on it before your 45 mile excursion - and it might be worth trying padded shorts. They don't work for me personally - I find they make me go a little numb at the front - but I have friends who swear my them. Squashy saddles aren't a good thing. I've got a second-hand Selle Italia SLK on mine which looks pretty flat but I've done 40 miles on it without aching. The most important thing is getting one that's the right width for your seatbones. If it's too wide/narrow, then you won't get the right support.

Yes - I now cover my brakes and take that bit quite slowly since cars coming down don't often seem ready to stop which is alarming given they have no visibility of the road on the immediate right. I have also had a couple coming out of Burbahe to go back to the park with drivers continuing along Village which zi have slightly more sympathy with given that the street furniture on the little island doesn't help line of sight and there aren't that many road users taking that route

Get in touch with the LCC - London Cycling Campaign. They have a few recommended solicitors who are experienced in dealing with cyclist claims. Glad that your wife isn't too badly injured although anything broken is always a bit of a nightmare. Where in the Village was it? I've had a few close calls at the roundabout where Village, Gallery and Burbage meet.

Note to self: breathe through nose and keep mouth shut while cycling to work tomorrow

I'm lazy and like having the extra 30 minutes in bed but then I offset my laziness by cycling to work since it's quicker so I can leave the house later.

"challenging him" or were they perhaps just having some fun and it got taken out of context Last week, I was sitting on my bike at the traffic lights at the Harvester when a group of yoofs started shouting at me asking if I could take on the car that was slowly encroaching into the ASL. I could have been grossly offended and over-reacted but instead I just played along. Amusingly the car then stalled so I easily beat it round the corner and got a round of applause and some cheers from the 'gang'. Sometimes we can assume that groups of kids have to be potential dangers when they're not

Yeah - I went a couple of times too but now it seems to be a much bigger affair. My 20-year old cousin has gone the last few years - doing the occasional shift working but then getting a free ticket/camping for the rest of the festival. He said that weather aside, it was brilliant this year.

Can depend on the scale of the redundancies. Above a certain number, there are two stages to consultation - business consulation done as a group and the personal consultation. I believe you can request someone to attend with you which can be useful since such news can be a shock and not easy to think of pertinent questions etc.

But we'll lose that fun game that they like to play on commuters at Denmark Hill when they change the platform from 1 to 3 and only announce it as the train starts to pull into the platform so that there's a scrum trying to get up one set of stairs and down the other rather rapidly. They're particularly good at pulling that stunt just after another train has arrived on 2 so that those trying to run from 1 to 3 get caught up in those trying to leave from 2 and 3.

Can't wait to tell my personal trainer... do you think they could add lunges to the offences too? ;-)

Love a man in a kilt... I have very fond memories of stripping the willow with the University XV :)) Had a mini-kilt of my own but sadly the ED moths appreciated the tartan too and now it's full of holes...

I don't believe it went to Victoria - Blackfriars or London Bridge if it was going out via Nunhead. There's more information on this page about Lordship Lane station which suggests that so few locals used it (unless there was an event at Crystal Palace) that it wasn't cost effective to run it.