This article is a collection of pictures and videos of London, like you have never seen it before. It contains footage of people cycling safely through London, in what would otherwise be a hostile environment for cyclists.

This was my first year attending RideLondon. It is a fantastic event and if you haven’t been I highly recommend going.

RideLondon 2017 Compilation Video

Cycling along The Mall with no cars was excellent.

Cycling under Admiralty Arch was wonderful, as you can see there are many children on the ride.

Chancery Lane is one of my favourite streets in London. Listen to all the noises you can hear with no cars.

Lincoln’s Inn Fields is one of  my favourite parks in London, it was great to see it so car free and quiet.

A scene in Blackfriars, shot during a cafe stop.

What you need to know

RideLondon is a fantastic event, which does a lot to promote cycling within London. A few things impressed me. The number of children and families was higher than I expected. The number of clearly novice cyclists was also higher than I expected as was the number of attendees.

What I was most struck by was how quite it was. In central London, it makes you realise that cars and buses make an extremely large amount of noise, which makes life in cities unpleasant. Cycling on the other hand is an extremely quiet mode of transport.

I have for a long time been convinced that the private car has no place in city centers. How you go about removing it is a tricky question.

A first step could be to ban all but electric vehicles from the city center. That deals with an air pollution problem, but not a street architecture, cycling safety or congestion problem.

You could also play around with the congestion charge, with surge pricing during commutes or road pricing. These could work, but those with money and a willingness to pay would still be able to enter the city center.

Would would be a more equitable solution would be to remove the car from city centers entirely. It would be a solution that would work for people, the planet and help businesses become more profitable. Urban areas without cars are wonderful places. In order to create an urban renaissance and to make sure that scenes like the ones in RideLondon happen more frequently, London needs to stand up to the private car.

Thank you for reading,

By Barnaby Nash

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