London's cycle hire scheme

I must admit that with the various goings on, this has slipped under the radar of late. I saw one of the bikes at the Earl's Court Bike Show eons ago and was impressed. Sturdy and attractive I knew I'd be happy to ride one. They're a bit feminine but, obviously, that's not a problem for me.

The scheme popped back into my consciousness because of my various work troubles. If the changes go ahead I'll be expected to commute to Herne Hill, near Brixton. From where I live that's a bit tricky. There's no tube near me and I'd have to go in to go out, as it were. The train near me goes to Paddington, not terribly helpful... or so I thought.

Mr Weenie was screwed over by an Oyster machine on Saturday and while I waited for him to shout at managers I picked up a leaflet about the cycle hire scheme and looked at the map of the docking stations. I had a revelation.

For £45 a year I could pick up a bike at Paddington and cycle it to Vauxhall every day as well as using one whenever I wanted. Herne Hill's just a couple of stops from Vauxhall. The combined journey time will still be far longer than my current one and it's less than ideal, but it solves my problem of bringing a bike into London at peak times, I won't have to. Plus it means I can still cycle part of the way and not have interchange as much.

If the scheme is well run it could be marvellous, fingers crossed that management get it going well.