The London to Brighton bike ride used to be a fantastic example of bike-train integrated transport until the train companies decided to withdraw their services in 2004. This year Southern and Thameslink banned all bikes on trains in the whole of their region south of the river Thames on the day of the London to Brighton (L2B) bike ride, 19 June. This was also the hottest day of the year with temperatures above 28 degrees. After being refused entry to Brighton Station, cyclists made their way to Hove Lawns to look for the chartered coaches and lorries. Even the following morning, cyclists were not allowed through the ticket barriers till 9 am. Coverage in the Argus indicates that perversely, this bike event is being used as a justification for developing unpopular Park and Ride sites in places like Patcham where residents do not want massive new car parks and increased traffic. How about congestion charging instead? How about people simply not going out in their cars? The London to Brighton bike ride is the largest bike ride in Europe, but it never even got a mention on the BBC TV's local news at 6.30 pm. Bricycles will complain to the train companies and local MPs about the rail ban policy as we did last year. We hope you will too.
Frankly, modern trains are not designed to cope with cycles. Southern trains have some cycle facilities on some of their units, but even that is minimal. The days of the old guard's van where you could stack bikes are long gone. Which is a pity, I had it in mind to take my bike down to Devon to see my sister and ride the Tarka trail...
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