Brompton Dock – offer for readers of this blog

I’ve received details of an offer from the guys at Brompton Dock – a ‘pick up, unfold, ride off, fold up and return’ bike hire service based on Brompton folding bikes. If you register with Brompton Dock by the end of June 2014 for £1 you can get two days of free cycle hire with this promotion code - Free2Ride. The bikes are available in many UK locations (although not yet in Brighton & Hove), and can even be picked up at one Dock and dropped off at another.

Why does this service deserve a puff? Speaking as a Brompton-ian, folding bikes make it even easier to be carfree – folding bikes can be taken on all public transport, even during peak times. More details here.

Folders On The Front: Folding Bikes in Brighton

Mark Strong sends details of a Brighton & Hove ride for folding bikes & their owners (?) during Samsung National Bike Week, on Friday 22 June. Meet at the south (front) of Brighton Station at 18.45 for a short ride down to the seafront and along the cycle track, ending at a pub or cafe. Mark says that “it’s a ride to celebrate the joys of combining cycling & public transport and is particularly aimed at the hardy souls who commute to London & elsewhere with their Bromptons, not to mention Dahons, Bike Fridays, Mezzos, Birdys, Terns, Giant Halfway's and even Bickertons!”
Mark would like a vague idea of numbers, so do let him know if you plan to attend. And please pass on details to anyone you think who might be interested!

Carfree: Peter Mandelson

Peter Mandelson was a quarter of the Gang of Four (no, not the Chinese one, the British one, with Alistair Cambell, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, who together turned The Project into New Labour). He was also a Sultan of Spin, a Member of Parliament, occupant of several Ministerial posts, a European Commissioner in Brussels and now rejoices in the title ‘Baron Mandelson, of Foy in the County of Herefordshire and of Hartlepool in the County of Durham.’ 

In last weekend’s Financial Times magazine, Mandelson noted, “I haven’t owned or driven a car since 1999. I drove into the House of Commons; an hour and a half later I was secretary of state for Northern Ireland and I never drove again. I use my bicycle in London. You just have to have confidence and wear a helmet.”  

Sadly, he blew it with his answer to the question “What would you like to own that you don’t currently possess?” to which he replied, “A rural bolt-hole. And a car that I can fold my Brompton bike into.”