Wednesday 24 November 2010

Saturday afternoon on the South Bank

Outside the former Aquarium and the Eye, clearly too congested at this time to cycle, so people with bikes will get off and push them. Pass under Westminster Bridge so you're opposite Parliament and the situation at the same time on a Saturday afternoon is entirely different
Plenty of room for people to pootle on their Boris Bikes - a perfect Londoner and tourist use of the Thames Path that local politicians and employers aim to ban. (Catch up on Thames Path blog posts here)
The powers don't talk of providing an alternative traffic-free cycle route along the Thames with views of Parliament, yet this road in St Thomas' Hospital grounds is clearly perfect for that role. You can follow it around to the entrance of St Thomas' and then straight across the Toucan to Belvedere Road.
The joy about pootling along the Thames on a bike is that a few quiet minutes later you're halfway to Battersea, able to look back where you came from.
Finally, an iconic view of Westminster Bridge and Parliament, with the obligatory two ice cream vans trading while parked on the red route, bus lane and cycle lane. (Catch up on the Ice Cream war here)