Bic Basher

Stop E outside Mark & Son.

Due to the continual industrial action, Royal Mail have changed their dates for last post before Christmas. 2nd Class is Monday 12th December, 1st Class Friday 16th December.

First delivery in 9 days today, two parcels, but no letters or Private Eye.

The video posted above is basically my experience of cycling in Dulwich and Peckham, especially the Dulwich Library crossroads where jumping the lights and riding on pavements is all too common while I wait at the lights.

Only just seen this, but Dulwich Library has photocopiers.

That's what currently happens. Finish ride, tap "end" on the app and it requires you to take a photo. There are geofenced areas too - Brockwell Park is one although Dulwich Park is not. I'm not sure if it actually stops you parking there or you can park but just get fined. The app does say not to park in the red zones and also tells users to park responsibly although I have no idea if the photos are reviewed. There's a few places up in town that have designated spots now - a big parking bay saying "rental bikes/scooters only" which is a decent way of keeping them relatively neat and tidy. Dulwich Park you can ride and park with Lime, nor is there the 8mph speed restriction seen in Forest Hill. HumanForest doesn't allow you to ride in the park. The Lime app notification when riding in the Sainsbury's car park at DKH as a no ride zone, but users don't see their speed capped and users are allowed to park there. Again Human Forest has Sainsbury's greyed out.

The pedestrianised section of Rye Lane which has a cycle lane is awful. I navigated it in the week at a crawl because of pedestrians who depart the buses at the bus stop opposite who then cross the road and also not in any rush either. As for the main part of Rye Lane, the current two way bus set-up works fine, luckily there didn't seem to be any delivery vans/trucks blocking the road for once and all I had to do was overtake a bus by the station.

Last night I nearly crashed into a Lime Bike dumped on Melbourne Grove at the junction of Grove Vale. It appeared the battery had run out, so the user just dumped it in the street rather than on the pavement.

If you buy from eBay, there are numerous drop-off points you can select instead of using the Royal Mail. I use Sainsbury's in Forest Hill to collect eBay packages from while the post is still a mess.

In Camden, City of London, Hackney, Ealing and Hammersmith & Fulham, Lime Bikes have to be parked in bike bays allocated by the respective councils.

I suspect the deal with the DfT which wasn't forthcoming when the consultation started helped, but I think TfL went for the worst case scenario to get the public to campaign to save the bus routes. In the case of the 12 where Peckham would've lost it's West End bus link and the 78 where Nunhead would lose capacity (The P12 wouldn't cope with extra peak passenger usage) along with a direct bus into the City of London, it was a non-starter from the start.

Last week's Private Eye has arrived a week late this afternoon.

TfL have decided not to go ahead with their proposal to axe the 12 and replace it with the 148, the 78 bus has also been saved. https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/busreview?intcmp=70213&fbclid=IwAR1KcNHfNdInEECnTyZ58URggT65NvbB6-5wuMU_nsT2sz2w_XeTQpLu7TQ

So I decided to cycle through the village and East Dulwich Road at lunchtime. The queue to get into EDG from Dulwich Village was long and as mentioned by our EDG residents, the road is very busy in both directions which gets worse the closer you get to LL. Yet the main part of the village where the shops are has a bus gate in operation during the peaks and a very quiet Court Lane/Calton Avenue which is supposed to be bike heaven.

Half the problem is the P13 (and P4) lose a lot of time being stuck in the traffic going at a crawl up to The Grove, so some drivers try to make up the time belting it along Underhill Road, especially when the road is quiet.

LL is managed by Southwark Council between Goose Green and Melford Road. TfL manage it between Melford and Wood Vale where the speed limit is still 30mph.

Considering the revenue gained from the LTN, some of that money could be used to repair the potholes on LL?

No post on Friday or today, so still waiting for the current Private Eye which will probably turn up in two weeks time!

On BBC London's news programme tonight, they had someone from Lime on who claims that they do fine riders for not parking properly after looking at photos provided by customers when they park. If they receive five warnings/fines, they're banned. This was after they went down to Wandsworth where they're removing bikes, one which was parked outside the front door of a bakery.

Next Tuesday will see Abellio London bus drivers strike over a pay dispute. In SE22, Routes 63 and P13 won't be operating, along with Route 3 in West Dulwich on November 22nd, 25th and 26th. The strikes will continue throughout December on 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 16 and 17 December. Route 363 which is operated by another bus company will continue to operate along Forest Hill Road and Peckham Rye while residents especially on Underhill Road will have no bus service on those days.

The section of Underhill between LL and Melford Road is atrocious, especially during the peaks. But even further along Underhill it's certainly busier than pre LTN.

And that's the issue again, they can't see the reality for those who are unable to cycle that obstructions aren't very helpful. I'm also a regular e-bike renter/user and while I enjoy using bikes, I don't leave them lying in the middle of pavements where it could be an issue for those with disabilities, it's called consideration which the e-bike companies need to be more proactive in discipling riders who don't park them appropriately, either with large penalty costs and temporary/permanent bans from using them.

You're Claus from the Forest HIll Society and I claim my £50. A proflic cycle campaigner who attempted to implement a mini LTN at Forest Hill station which was soon reversed when it was unworkable.

It's going to be an awful December for post with strikes on 1, 9, 11, 14, 15, 23 and 24th which makes the last day for posting gifts for Christmas much earlier than normal. Strikes continue this month on 24, 25 and 30th November.

I had two deliveries in the end, packages from the normal postie and then this afternoon another one drove up in a rental van with letters, which included my appointment which is for Tuesday so only just arrived in time. Still no current Private Eye though.