Scooter Bore

My scooter and I are definitely still in our honeymoon period, and I’m conscious that if I’m not careful the blog will start to look like a scooter fan-boy site and bore most of you to death.

I promise I’ll try to have a second and maybe even a third topic to talk about very soon, but for now I’m afraid it’s biking all the way.

I went out this morning on my most ambitious route yet. I needed to buy a gift for someone of an electronic nature (the gift, not the someone), and where is the best location in London for electronics?… that’s right — Tottenham Court Rd. I actually used to work in Tottenham Court Rd a couple of lifetimes ago — managing the Tandy store in the late ’80s — so I knew the kind of stores there would have just what I was looking for. Plus it would give me some great experience of riding in the hustle and bustle of Central London, and if I took a round-about route it would help to put some miles on the bike. I can’t open up the throttle to full performance until after its 600 mile service, so I want to get the engine run-in asap.

The early morning rain had stopped but it was still grey and windy as I set off. I went there the long way — North Circular Rd to Hanger Lane, then A40 to Edgware Rd, then South to Marble Arch and all the way along Oxford St to Centrepoint before finally turning left onto Tottenham Court Rd. That was about 20 miles and took an hour because of the heavy traffic. When you’re in a traffic jam on a bike, you’re supposed to ride through the gap between the lanes of larger vehicles, hence jumping the queue. I went ahead rather gingerly, not wanting to incur White Van Man’s wrath by clipping his wing mirror. But of course soon I had a snaking line of more seasoned bikers behind me, revving their engines impatiently. Whenever I could I pulled in to let the “pros” zoom ahead, then resumed my careful creeping forward.

Once there I found a parking space pretty quickly. I parked for free and of course motorcycles are exempt from the Congestion Charge too. After a well-deserved coffee I went shopping, and soon found what I was looking for.

My shopping safely stowed in the space under the seat, it was time to go home. This time I took the most direct route, directly North up Tottenham Court Rd, through Camden, Kentish Town, Tufnell Park, and then Archway before heading up Highgate Hill.

My flat is precisely 4.6 miles, and 20 minutes away from London’s premier gadget shops. Yay!

I will try to talk about something else from now on. Promise.

Scoot!

London and cars don’t mix very well. The amount of traffic on London’s roads has led to numerous ideas and schemes to encourage people to seek alternative forms of transport. If you park legally you face a difficult hunt for a space, and then pay through the nose when you find one. If you park illegally you will almost certainly be caught, on CCTV camera if not by a warden or a police officer, and if your car is clamped you face a long wait and a large bill. I’m not sure how much it costs these days but I think it’s around £100, to either get a clamp removed or to get your car back if it’s towed away. Add to that Red Routes and the Congestion Charge, and the message is clear: the car should be your last choice if you’re travelling to London.

In the last week then, Karen and I have been introduced to the wonders of the Oyster Card: a credit-card-sized plastic card that you can use again and again on trains, tube, and buses, and which you can top up with credit when it gets low. I’ve known of its existence for a couple of years but have never owned one until now. It’s a great idea in many ways: it’s best price guarantee gives you confidence and frees you up from worrying if you bought the best ticket for your journey, it speeds up transit through the ticket barriers, and it’s good for the environment too — London Transport prints 1 million fewer paper tickets per day than before the Oyster Card’s introduction. When a bus passes me as I walk down the street now I no longer ignore it but look at the number and the destination, and make a mental note of where it could take me for future reference.

To adjust to our new environment we’re downsizing our own transport too. Readers of Neal of Arabia will know that we’ve gone from a Land Cruiser Prado (in Riyadh) to a tiny Volkswagen Polo 1.4. It’s a much smaller, cheaper car, but even that will remain garaged most of the time. My new daily runabout trasport, from tomorrow, will be my new scooter!

The Mean Machine

Yes, tomorrow I take delivery of a brand new Yamaha X-MAX 125 and I’m very excited about it. In my youth I was quite the biker, and had the long greasy hair and leather jacket to prove it. My earlier bikes were bigger than this and I was stupider, and I proved this by having accidents: nothing life-threatening but I did knock a pedestrian down in the East End of London, and on another occasion allowed a lorry to run over my foot while waiting between lanes at a red light. My biking days came to an end before I met Karen, and to say that motorcycles aren’t her favourite thing is putting it mildly. But, I still have a full bike licence from “the old days”, I’m older and wiser(!) and — the death-trap argument aside — going on two wheels makes sense on every level. Scooters are cheap to run, fun to ride, easy to park, and are exempt from the Congestion Charge.

So, by leaving the car in the garage and jumping on my new scooter instead I’ll be helping to keep London moving. Let’s hope I can get to the end of the week without crashing into anything.