Guerilla Marketing hits the Boris-Bike

Posted Aug 18th, 2010 1 Comment

One criticism levied at the mayor re: the launch of the London bicycle hire scheme is that it has been sponsored by Big Business.  Namely a really Big Bank Beginning with the letter ‘B’.  It’s arguable that the scheme wouldn’t have happened had it not been for corporate sponsorship…but it is quite annoying that despite the taxpayer having paid for the majority of the scheme (£115 million), Barclay’s coughed up a correspondingly measly £25 million and got to have the entire scheme branded in their logo and named after them.  As others have said, ‘Barclay’s Cycle Hire Scheme’ is unlikely to catch on as it doesn’t quite drop off the tongue as easily as ‘Bixi’ (Montreal) or ‘Velib’ (Paris).

So, it was with a smile that I noticed a Boris Bike docked in Curlew Street this afternoon which had been the victim of guerilla marketing.  Cheeky Camden club Barfly (barflyclub.com) seems to have ‘doctored’ the Barclay’s logo and name with the aid of cleaver(ish) blue stickers.

Ha ha!  Love it.  I wonder how long it will be for others to do the same?

Hairy Goat Photography Walking Tours

Posted Aug 18th, 2010 1 Comment

Whilst I usually prefer exploring London on two wheels, I am also very partial to joining the occasional walking tour of our great metropolis. When covering a small area in detail, being on foot rather than a bicycle is arguably better to soak in minute details of what you are passing. Walks.com is probably one of the best-established walking tour companies in the world.  Every week, they offer hundreds of different guided walking tours of London.  I’ve done most of them over the last 15 years I’ve lived in this city and they are excellent.

However, I’d noticed a relatively new addition to the plethora of guided walk companies in London which has been getting rave reviews on tripadvisor.com.  The Hairy Goat London Photography Mystery Tour (www.hairygoat.net) is  a walking tour with a twist…it’s emphasis is on photographing the hidden gems of the Square Mile.  I decided to try this tour yesterday and thought it was absolutely brilliant.  The guide, Corrina, has successfully merged two very different things into one tour which makes it quite unique; meticulously researched history and a sound understanding of photography and what makes a good photograph.

Although this walking tour is not an advanced photography lesson, I learned more about my new(ish) Fujifil Finepix S2000 camera in the first half hour of the tour than I had in the previous 5 months I’d owned it.  Corinna showed me how to actually use the camera rather than just pointing and shooting.  However, whilst having a camera certainly added to my own experience, the tour would be a great stand alone event even without the photography element.  We were shown the fascinating little details on buildings and the street scape that the drones of office workers milling around us were oblivious to…and then told what they all meant.  Look up above eye level and there is a wealth of cool stuff all around you.

Corinna delivered the tour in a competent and entertaining manner in a guiding style I really liked (open, friendly and able to impart her obvious enthusiasm for her subject to the lay-person).  I was amazed at the diversity we encountered within the Square Mile.  Narrow alleys, modern skyscrapers and dozens of grasshoppers (I won’t spoil that one…find out for yourself).  But the best bit for me by far was Corrina’s eye for a good shot and her infinite patience as I fiddled with the settings on my camera.  I’ve been on dozens of brilliant guided walking tours in my life, but this time I’ve also walked away with some cracker photographs to remember it by.

Being a guide myself, I’m picky and pernickety when reviewing other guides.  I’d give Corrina a well-deserved 10 out of 10, and recommend Hairy Goat Tours to Londoners as well as visitors.

Policing London….by bicycle!

Posted Aug 14th, 2010 No Comments

It wasn’t so many years ago that you were statistically more likely to see a London police officer on a horse rather than a bicycle.  That’s now starting to change, with increasingly more officers being seen riding their bikes on the beat.  This, of course, makes perfect sense especially when considering the grid-locked streets in the capital and the increased maneuverability of a bike.

I recently met some officers from the Metropolitan Police Service’sTraffic OCU team at a bike event on Clapham Common.  They told me there were 11 of them in their team and their remit included addressing cyclists jumping red lights and motorists who infringe on Advance Stop Lines (the painted boxes on the road reserved for cyclists at traffic lights so they are clearly visible to drivers and get a few seconds ‘head start’ when the lights change).  This is good news, because I hate it when cyclists jump reds and I really hate it when motor vehicles encroach into ASLs when waiting at a red.  I consider both to be the height of anti-social selfishness.

Some of the worst offenders I see for ASL encroachment are London buses and black cabbies…people who drive professionally for a living and who should know better.  The purpose of ASLs is to keep some of the most potentially vulnerable road users (cyclists) that little bit safer when negotiating junctions.  Personally, I’d like to see penalty points added to licenses and a minimum £100 fine for ignorant motorists and their selfish disregard for the rules of the road.  I’d fine cyclists who shoot through red lights the same amount.  Controversial perhaps, but a lot better than getting killed when shooting across a junction.  Cyclists who disagree with this can’t have it both ways, unfortunately.  We keep stating that we are traffic and have as much right to be on the road as any other vehicle…but that means stopping at traffic lights the way engined vehicles have to.

We’d need a lot more than the 11 officers from the Met’s OCU team to police this, though.  But I reckon their salaries would be easily covered by the fines issued, with plenty left over.

I really wanted to try out one of these souped-up police mountain bikes with a quick spin, but they wouldn’t let me.  Did they think I’d steal it?  ‘No’, they laughed. ‘Health & Safety regulations’.

Druid Cycles – for all your bike needs.

Posted Aug 12th, 2010 No Comments

Thor Burkard - Owner of Druid Cycles

When you walk into Druid Cycles‘ workshop you immediately get the feeling that it is not your average cycle repair shop. You are instantly faced with several different types of machinery, from sewing machines to woodworking machines, not to mention the other weird and wonderful knick-knacks, artwork and spare parts (not always for bikes) that decorate the walls and floor. No, druid Cycles is not your average cycle repair shop, it is so much more!

Thor Burkard and his team come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and although they have all trained as bicycle repair specialists, most of them started their careers doing something else. They have a car mechanic, a motorcycle mechanic a welder and even an artist working there. This means they have a wide skills pool to draw from, allowing them to offer many services that your average bike shop doesn’t offer. Of course they will fix punctures, services bikes, maintain gears etc, but they can also offer skills such as Airbrush design and custom made leather saddles and handle grips, made to your specifications.

That’s not all because they also have 2 mobile mechanics which run a breakdown service, so whether it is just a flat tyre or something more serious, help is at hand. They can even offer a courtesy bike whilst your bike is in the workshop. And if that is not enough, Thor and the guys at Druid Cycles have even found some time to do a spot of fundraising recently, to raise money for Parmod Singh, a former Indian national mountain bike cross country champion, to come to the UK to train and compete. In order to do this they sold off some beautiful vintage bikes which had been fully restored by the Druid Cycles team.

The great thing about this workshop is that it will always try to fix something which can be fixed, unlike many other bike repair shops in London which will throw the old part away and replace it with a new and expensive one. The idea here is to get the cheapest and best solution for the customer, which in this day and age is a rarity. ”Druid Cycles can fix anything”, Thor said with a grin, and having seen some of the work they have been asked to do in the past, I have to say I think he is probably right. So next time you a cycle repair shop in London, I suggest you pay them a visit.

Druid Cycles, 18 Druid Street, London SE1 2AH

druidcycleslondon@gmail.com, (0044) 7551016380

Skype call workshop – druidcycles

Skype call SOS mobile mechanic – druidcycles1

Custom made leather saddlesWoodwork for the leather handle gripsAirbrush design

Cycling tours in Budapest

Posted Aug 6th, 2010 No Comments

Budapest is a vibrant city with lovely green parks, an inspiring range of museums and great nightlife, so it is not surprising that it gets a huge number of visitors each year. For anyone looking for great things to do in the Hungarian capital city, I’d highly recommend that you check out the following website http://www.budabike.com/

As always, here at Spoke ‘n Motion Bike Tours we believe the best way to see any city is by bicycle and Christian and the gang at Budabike are on hand to help. Budabike was established by a group of people who came to visit the capital and fell in love with the city, so ended up staying. They are extremely passionate about what they do and if you decide to see Budapest from the saddle then you couldn’t be in better hands. Whether you want to feel the spirit of revolutions and riots or you just want to admire the breath taking views, Budabike are pretty confident that their tour will easily be a highlight of your trip to Budapest.

Like all good tour companies, Budabike are keen to give their customers what they want, which is why Christian starts each tour by asking what people have already seen in the capital. This leaves more time for the Budabike gang to show you new, quirky and exciting parts of the city. Perhaps unusually, these tours are not restricted to a specific route and Christian says he is happy to customise his tours so that the customer gets the most from the experience.

As a keen cyclist, a history nut and a wanderlust traveller, I love to see the world of cycling and tourism merging. Across Europe we can see many tourist hotspots becoming more cycle friendly and Budapest is no different.  So I say do your bit for environmental tourism, forget getting on a dirty polluting tour bus, get your butt in the saddle and do a bike tour with Budabike.

London’s Cycle Revolution Rolls On

Posted Aug 5th, 2010 No Comments

As I stated in a previous post, I’ve been a bit anxious for a while now as to the effect that the new Barclay’s Cycle Hire Scheme will have on our little bicycle tour business. Would visitors still want to explore the capital with us? Using our funky Brompton bikes? Listening to our great stories? Or might they instead just decide to wobble off on their own on one of the mayor’s new bikes?

I’ve reached the conclusion that the Cycle Hire Scheme will be great for London, and presents an opportunity rather a threat to our bike tour business. It will increase the profile and visibility of cycling in the capital and will show visitors that cycling is a popular and accessible way to get about town. At the same time, it must be remembered that the cycle hire scheme is designed to be used mainly for short journeys and that the bikes become extremely expensive to rent if you hold onto them for longer periods. For example, renting a Barclay’s hire bike for 5 or 6 hours costs £35.00. That’s a whopping £11.00 more than the cost of our Hidden London or Royal Greenwich bike tours (which includes the cost of hiring one of our own bikes for the same period of time, plus helmet, plus superb guide, plus great commentary and, most importantly, plus the free beer at the end!). Hardly a threat, then!

So, I’m extremely positive about the part the mayor’s scheme will play in London’s cycling revolution.

As there is a docking station just behind my flat, I decided to try and be the first person in London to officially try the new scheme. I set my alarm and got up early so that I was standing by a row of shiny new bikes at exactly 6am last Friday, when the scheme started. I inserted my new plastic key, heard a click, pulled out the bike and off I went.

First impressions? The bikes are rather under-geared. I’m not a particularly fast rider, but riding one of these was a bit like driving a Challenger tank. Slow, but solid and dependable. You would be hard-pressed to exceed 7 or 8 mph on one of these beasties, although I suspect that may have been an intended design feature. Getting anywhere in a hurry might be a bit difficult. As well as being considerably less agile than our Bromptons (which I suspected), the ride is nowhere near as comfortable as on our bikes (which surprised me). I’m not a big fan of the saddles…maybe it’s just a personal preference. Nevertheless, the Barclay’s Cycle Hire Scheme (what an awful name, I wonder when it will be abbreviated into something better) is still great, and is a very welcome addition to the London cycling scene and a refreshing addition to the city’s public transport system.

Arrival of the Cycle Superhighways

Posted Aug 5th, 2010 1 Comment

With the recent launch of the mayor’s two new Cycle Superhighway pilot schemes, guests on our ‘Hidden London’ bicycle tour will get to check out Boris Johnson’s vision of a city with improved, direct and safe cycle routes in the capital.  The strip of bright blue segregated bike path running for several miles along Cable Street, forming part of Cycle Superhighway 3, does look quite nice and is probably as close as we get in London to the excellent dedicated, segregated cycle paths found in cities like Copenhagen or Amsterdam.  There are also lots of new signs, banners  and some very nice information plinths along the route as well. However, the Cable Street cycle path is not exactly new.  It’s been in place for years. What the contractors have done is to resurface the path and paint it in Mayor Johnson’s trademark ‘Barclays’ blue (previously it was a tired, grubby green colour).

Nevertheless, we like the new facelift given to the Cable Street bike path.  And it has been well received by many customers on our ‘Hidden London’ bike tour. Americans and Canadians tend to nod in impressed approval as such paths are less common in large cities across The Pond.  Dutch customers scratch their heads wondering why we don’t have every cycle path in London built to this standard, as they do back home.  We would like the mayor to consider lots more segregated routes for the future Superhighways he plans to build, as opposed to meaningless blue cycle lanes painted onto the main roads with cars parked in them.  Cable Street should be a template for Transport for London to copy on future additions to the Cycle Superhighways scheme

Special Launch Offer – Introducing London’s CHEAPEST Bike Tour

Posted Aug 3rd, 2010 No Comments

The Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich

To celebrate the launch of our brand new Royal Greenwich tour, Spoke ‘n Motion Bike Tours are running a fantastic special offer for the month of September.  Instead of paying the normal price of £24.00, you can now enjoy this 6-hour tour for only £14.00. That makes it the cheapest bike tour in London….and as with all our tours, it still comes with a money back guarantee and free beer at the end.

So for just £14.00 you get a full day tour including bike, helmet (if you wish), a super guide to entertain you and a beer (or soft drink) at our favourite pub.  You get to see a fantastic part of the city which often gets overlooked by many tourists, and you even have free time to shop, check out the great free museums in the area or just wile away time enjoying London’s best view from it’s oldest Royal Park.  We’ll even take photos for you if you forgot to bring your camera.  You can download these for free when you get home.

And if you’re still not satisfied after all if that, we’ll even refund your money if you don’t agree it was worth every penny.

How’s that for an offer?

For more information about our Royal Greenwich tour, click here.

Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme: the end of commercial bike tours in London?

Posted Jul 26th, 2010 No Comments

Last winter, I met with the guys who own Bikebout Tours in Paris.  They had come to London for a bit of Christmas shopping and we hooked up for a few beers to share notes and tips on the trials and tribulations of running an urban bicycle tour company.  We got chatting about the Velibe bike hire scheme in Paris, as I was a bit anxious about the forthcoming London Bicycle Hire Scheme. How had the Velibre scheme affected Bikeabout Tours?  They told me how despondent they were on launch day of the bike hire scheme in the French capital.  They had worked so hard at building up a great business and feared this revolutionary scheme might well put them out of business overnight.

They needn’t have worried, of course.  They are still very much there.  In fact, they’re the No. 1 listed attraction in Tripadvisor for Paris.  The ‘Velibre’ effect simply boosted their business.  People came to Paris and saw bikes and docking stations everywhere.  Must be a great place to cycle in, then? But people always want guides to help them get the most of their visit to a place.

I’m really excited about the imminent launch of the London bicycle hire scheme.  I love the new docking stations.  I love the new cycle roundel logo, similar to the tube logo. I’ve tried the new bikes.  They’re not bad…but nowhere near as nifty as our own Brompton bikes.  I don’t even mind the Barclay’s corporate sponsorship plastered all over the scheme.  It wouldn’t have happened otherwise.  The scheme will be a very visual sign of just how far that cycling in London has come on in the last 10 years.  We’re a long way from Copenhagen or Amsterdam, but London is nevertheless evolving into a GREAT European cycling city.

So will tourists still be willing to fork out for a guided bicycle tour of London when they can just wobble off on their own on one of the city’s new hire bikes? Bikeabout’s experience in Paris suggests they will.  People have always had two feet.  It hasn’t stopped them going on walking tours in London.  What makes a great tour guide is their ability to entertain and be a story teller.  What makes a great bicycle tour guide is the ability to do these things in areas which are also great to cycle in.  Roll on the launch of the Barclay’s Cycle Hire Scheme.  We can’t wait to see the knock-on effect.

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