Info on bike training and bike maintenance classes in London
TfL sponsors cycle training and maintenance programmes in all boroughs, see: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/cycling/cycling-in-london/cycle-skills?cid=cycle-skills
For Southwark link is to training company Cycle Confident at  http://www.cycleconfident.com/sponsors/southwark/
3 levels of training, 1:1, free, are offered
Basic cycle skills; Urban cycle skills; Advanced cycle skills
This last one is interesting   Says it will: “Perfect your cycling techniques with a free one-to-one session from a fully qualified trainer. Improve your performance when dealing with complex junctions, heavy traffic or cycling at night and receive assurance that you are cycling efficiently and effectively.”
I had not realized anything other than basic training was offered free.  Such a course might be excellent for some of the Bike Train riders and some of the Healthy Riders.
There are also subsidised cycle maintenance classes.  In Southwark these are also run by Cycle Confident at their Kennington base, cost is £18 for a 4-4.5 hour Saturday class.  Basic and advanced sessions, approx. monthly.
It would be very interesting to hear comments from anyone who has tried any of the training or has gone on a maintenance course.

The importance of shared pedestrian and cycle space  

Draft LCGS, Guiding Principles, p4
3. Bicycles must be treated as vehicles, not as pedestrians
Cyclists and pedestrians should not be forced together where there is space to keep them apart, creating unnecessary conflict which can only increase as the number of cyclists rises.
We have a strong preference against schemes requiring cyclists and pedestrians to share the same highway space, wherever they can be avoided. It will be necessary to use some shared areas in our cycle routes, particularly where the space is wide, but we will prefer to create delineated cycle tracks across it, perhaps with sloping, pedestrian-friendly kerbs or different surfacing.
Cyclists and pedestrians should not share the same space at crossings and junctions. Clearly-delineated separate and/or parallel routes should be provided for cyclists and pedestrians. Typical bad cycle design deals with junctions by making cyclists pretend to be pedestrians, bringing them on to the pavement and having them cross the road, often in several stages, on toucan crossings.

What madness is this?  Of course bicycles are vehicles by dictionary definition.  But they are not MOTOR VEHICLES.  Bicycles are light and powered only by huff and puff.  Vehicles (meaning motor vehicles) are heavy and highly powered and DANGEROUS.  Cycling has much more in common with walking than with driving.

In contrast:

From the Mayor’s Foreword to THE MAYOR’S VISION FOR CYCLING IN LONDON – An Olympic Legacy for all Londoners
I want more women cycling, more older people cycling, more black and minority ethnic Londoners cycling, more cyclists of all social backgrounds – without which truly mass participation can never come.
As well as the admirable Lycra-wearers, and the enviable east Londoners on their fixed-gear bikes, I want more of the kind of cyclists you see in Holland, going at a leisurely pace on often clunky steeds. I will do all this by creating a variety of routes for the variety of cyclists I seek.
There will be greatly-improved fast routes on busy roads for cyclists in a hurry. And there will be direct, continuous, quieter routes on side streets for new cyclists, cautious cyclists and all sorts of other people who would rather take it more slowly.

LCDS 1.3.4
They (Quietways) are not principally aimed at existing fast, confident cyclists. They are aimed at new cyclists who want a safe, unthreatening experience.
1.3.5
The vast majority will be on more lightly trafficked back streets, with some on canal towpaths or paths across parks and open spaces.

There is a major disconnect here.  The sort of cyclists who we are encouraging to start riding do not think of themselves as “vehicles”.  They have much more affinity with themselves – i.e. with their other mode of transport, walking.  Children, many women, many Southwark residents, do not have access to a car – but they are all pedestrians.

On the Healthy Rides, which help lots of less confident cyclists gain experience, here is a typical route.  In fact the start of last week’s ride.

We started at Canada Water, on the small square beside the library.  Down the ramp and over the little bridge to a broad path past the Decathlon store.  Then right along the path past the side of the Surrey Quays Shopping Centre.  Turn left along the road into the parking, then right on to the tree-lined path across the car park.  Across the crossing of Deal Porters Way and down the zig-zag to the quiet cul-de sac (Hothfield Pl).  At busy Lower Rd (A200) join the shared use pavement and cross at the Toucan crossing.  More shared use pavement then into another quiet cul-de-sac (Gomm Rd) leading to Southwark Park.  Follow the path round the east end of the park and exit to Hawkstone Rd. Across Hawkstone Rd, along the path past Rotherhithe Primary School, then across the pedestrian crossing of busy Rotherhithe New Rd.  Along Warndon Rd and through a path between blocks to Marley St, right along Island Rd, across Oldfield Grove and over the pedestrian bridge to cross the railway.
Over this first 1.5 miles we have been on shared path most of the time.  And so it continues.  Through Folkstone Gardens, along Woodpecker Rd (pedestrianised) along the super shared paths through Fordham Park.  Eventually use the shared pavement and toucan crossing at Deptford Bridge to cross the A2 trunk road.  Then paths along the River Ravensbourne through Brookmill Park, over the pedestrian bridge at Elverson Rd DLR station, eventually into Greenwich Park, down to the river, back along National Cycle Route NR4 following the Thames.  Finally along shared paths through Russia Woodland back to Canada Water.
The majority of the 10 mile ride uses shared space with pedestrians.  It all works perfectly and allows new cyclists to find safe routes around the area.

Summary
These sorts of shared, safe paths are great for getting to school, getting to the shops, even often as part of a commute. They are the sort of excellent infrastructure that encourages new cyclists.
Are we really now saying the marvellous routes through much of Rotherhithe, those through Deptford, the paths along the river, were all a mistake?  Is this sort of planning now to be forbidden.  This is madness on a significant scale!

Elephant and Castle Northern junction is now out to consultation.  What an opportunity missed!  The scheme going to consultation is exactly the last scheme sent in confidence to LCC by TfL last December.  We were extremely critical.  Perhaps the most serious problem is the fast junction between the Link Rd and St Georges Road.  Counted again in morning rush recently.  One cyclists every 4 sec going straight on with 1 motor vehicle every 12 sec crossing their path going left.  Attached below is the Powerpoint I made to illustrate the problem.  There is other material in an earlier post below.  I will put more information up here when I have the energy, but would welcome comments.

Grids, Quietways, Superhighways

The terminology is very seductive.  It makes wonderful copy.

But every ride is different.  There are an infinite number of destinations – shops, schools, libraries, museums, cinemas, places of work and so on.  We do not want to have to check the map every time before setting out.  And if a destination is not on the grid or a super/quietway what do we advise – leave the bike at home and take the bus?  And beware the lobby that wants to sideline us into a cheap ghetto.  Only allowed on a few streets for our own safety.

So the Grid etc needs to be viewed as just a beginning.  Will these proposals be the first stage of a policy that leads eventually to ALL roads being good for cycling?  We cannot know.  But the Grid etc are on offer, so the pragmatic response is to work for these and hope.  So that is what we will do.

But we must not lose sight of the real requirement – to have the total road network suitable for cycling.
Info on Central Grid here
On the Southwark part here