For the true adventurer...

Walking around London can be a true adventure. It can involve finding great little alleys, interesting things and people, walking through a park, or going on the tube on your own. There is so much to explore in this city that it can literally take you lifetimes to discover it all.

The real true adventurers are those who decide to explore this city by... wait for it... bicycles. Yes, I did say bikes. Right across from where I am staying, there is a row of bikes all waiting to be rented and ridden. When I took this picture, it was around 1:00 pm. This was right after a fantastic lunch in Wagamama. It was absolutely yummy, but I digress. The picture below shows the full row of bikes which are sponsored by Barclays Bank.

London traffic is- to put it mildly- insane. There are constant buses and taxis, not to mention othere drivers, rushing along London streets at a mad dash to get to where they need to be. This evening as I was walking around the neighborhood after leaving the pub, I began taking pictures and getting to know the area where I will be staying for the next 20 days. The picture below is what I found, at around 8:00 pm in the evening.

Almost all the bikes are gone. At 8:00 pm in the evening the traffic has abated by a lot. There is considerably less traffic after 6:00 pm than in any other big city I have ever been in. So where have the bikes gone? Maybe everyone who worked around this area took them to their "home" after work? Or maybe it was the local residents who wanted to take a ride in the evening before the sun comes down. These are interesting questions. Just in case anyone of you ever wants to ride a bike here in London here are a few tips:

Courtesy of Transport for London and Barclays Bank