Day 5: Living on a Pound a Day - On your bike

http://www.flickr.com/photos/errolyucel/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

As a new cyclist to the City of London, i thought i would touch my earlier experiences in making the commute around this bustling city.
London has an extensive cycle network to support and encourage commuters in taking to the bicycle as mode of transport. The Transport for London (TFL) estimated 545,000 daily bicycle journeys occur throughout London. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is known be a cycle enthusiast himself and even made media waves in flouting road rules.

With dedicated cycleways and greenways, one can cycle with relative ease and without the thundering lorries and buses on the major roads. The TFL provides a journey planner in addition to other guides to assist commuter in identifying ideal routes to reach their destination. The London Cycling Campaign(LCC) are another organisation that advocate for cyclists and present various policies/news that affect cyclists.

As an additional incentive, employers can sign on to the Green Transport plan, where employees can salary sacrifice a new bicycle purchase for work commuting, effectively saving a large percentage of the cost of the bicycle. Should all go well, money saved from this challenge could very well be directed to the purchase of a shiny set of wheels. I'm hoping fellow cyclists might throw me some recommendations.

So what about the ride? Apart from the lack of bike fitness, the rides to work have been relatively smooth so far. Traffic is quite ridiculous at times and I admit there is a certain nervousness when tackling roundabouts. To some comfort, there is quite a cycle populous on the roads, so strength in numbers will hopefully ensure that cars and motorcyclist are more attentive of their surroundings. Speaking on that topic, how well does this TV ad convey the need for awareness?



Day 5

Daily Spend: 0.00
Budget Spent: 5.08

Breakfast: Porridge
Lunch: Porridge
Dinner: Tomato, Cabbage and Potato Soup