Meet Tyla: she lives & works in London and is an enthusiastic and rather chic cyclist, which is exactly what we like to see :) Today was Tyla's first time using the Scheme. She tells Vélo-City about her initial experience using the Cycle Hire Scheme in London...
The nature of my journey was leisure & to commute back home. I hate changing at Green Park as it's very crowded and stuffy and I nearly passed out the night before at that station! I chose to cycle to Holborn instead - a lot more comfortable way to move around :)
*Was this your 1st time on one of the bikes?
Yes, the very first time. I was Boris bike virgin till this evening.
*Where did you start and end your Cycle Hire Journey?
Southwark to Holborn.
*How long did your journey take?
About 10 minutes plus about 15 minutes messing around with a certain Jools before I got on the bike (!) and 5 minutes of double checking and panicking afterwards if I docked it correctly.
* Did you find it easy to use (from taking the bike to docking it at the end)?
It was fairly easy. The bit with docking it and trying to pick a different bike was slightly confusing but I am guessing there is a couple of minutes block between returning and picking a new bike. When I dropped off the bike, I used a docking station that was labeled as 'coming soon' but all the lights were working so I am hoping that I won't get overcharged. The downside is that the web service is not working at the moment hence I cannot even check if it all worked alright.
* The bike itself - what did you make of it?
I liked it. It was bit heavy compared to mine but I guess it added stability. Adapting the seat and changing gears was easy and I like the bag holder at the front!
*Did you get any interesting reactions from people while you were on it?
People starring, pointing and gesturing in a kinda 'Oh look it's the new bikes' way! Drivers were polite and stayed out of my way unlike when I am on my bike. I won't mention certain Jools who had to document every step of the way and including nicking the bike to have a ride of her own...
*Did you see many people on Barclays Bikes on your Journey?
Nope. I saw one person earlier in the evening but no one on my journey.
*What was your reason for joining the Scheme?
Because I love cycling and I prefer to bike between places in Central London than get on the Underground. Plus it's dead cheap.
*Would you recommend the scheme to other cyclists... and if so, why?
Yessss! Because it is a fun way to commute and well, it's so much cheaper and greener than any other mode of transport in Zone One.
Today I am wearing...
"Baxter" black skinny jeans: Topshop
Shoes: Hush Puppies
Jacket: Diesel
Black top: H&M
Jewellery: Kizmet Jewellery
Coral-Red handbag: Topshop
Many thanks to Tyla for this interview! You can catch more of Tyla over on her Flickr Stream.
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