Boris Bike for charity

[AyBee]

I'm riding from London to Paris at the end of this month - the ride is formatted to take 3 days and the plan averages 10mph. I didn't know this at the time and since I cycle regularly averaging speeds of almost double that on the road bike, I'm considering doing it on a Boris Bike in the hope of making it a bit more difficult and raising more money for charity (I haven't actually ridden one ever ). How would I go about getting one for 3 days without getting a massive fine? Pictures would be taken in London and Paris so I'd be happy for it to be used as part of their publicity if they wanted. Thoughts?

[princeperch]

you cant, iirc the cycle hire company will still fine you irrespective of whether you are doing it for a good cause..

[AyBee]

Surely there must be a way of getting it pre-approved, i.e. not taking it from a docking station.

[Pickled]

AyBee said:

Surely there must be a way of getting it pre-approved, i.e. not taking it from a docking station.

Write to Boris, tell him your planning on invading France and have chosen one of his bikes as your means of transport, he'll probably send you one outfitted with a .50cal and a couple of stinger missiles.

[S10GTA]

Pickled said:

Write to Boris, tell him your planning on invading France and have chosen one of his bikes as your means of transport, he'll probably send you one outfitted with a .50cal and a couple of stinger missiles.

In all seriousness, I reckon Boris would love the idea. I'd write to him.

[louiebaby]

Barclay's sponsor the bikes, they might be a good gang to call too...?

[AyBee]

Pickled said:

Write to Boris, tell him your planning on invading France and have chosen one of his bikes as your means of transport, he'll probably send you one outfitted with a .50cal and a couple of stinger missiles.

S10GTA said:

In all seriousness, I reckon Boris would love the idea. I'd write to him.

Unfortunately I now only have about 3 weeks to organise this, oops

[S10GTA]

AyBee said:

Unfortunately I now only have about 3 weeks to organise this, oops

Email. It's quicker

[TonyHetherington]

E-mail Boris and/or Barclays. I'm sure either would be well up for it.

[S10GTA]

He has a genuine BookFace page too

http://www.facebook.com/borisjohnson

[AyBee]

TonyHetherington said:

E-mail Boris and/or Barclays. I'm sure either would be well up for it.

Has anybody got these emails? The most direct one I can find, I've emailed before and got a response 3 weeks later...

[daz3210]

You can contact the Mayor as follows:

By email: [e-mail]

Postal Address:

Boris Johnson
Mayor of London
Greater London Authority
City Hall
The Queen's Walk
More London
London SE1 2AA

Telephone: [phone]
Minicom: 020 7983 4458
Fax: [phone]

May be worth a phone call.

[Gizmoish]

I'd seriously suggest you ride one before you really commit to this. I do, often, and I think they're great, but they weigh about 20kg, have the aerodynamics of a parachute and are ridiculously low-geared (top is 38x23).

Would be great though - someone did the Dunwich Dynamo on one and I'm sure L2B also.

[AyBee]

Gizmoish said:

I'd seriously suggest you ride one before you really commit to this. I do, often, and I think they're great, but they weigh about 20kg, have the aerodynamics of a parachute and are ridiculously low-geared (top is 38x23).

Would be great though - someone did the Dunwich Dynamo on one and I'm sure L2B also.

I've heard all about their downsides, but at the end of the day, it's 70 miles per day. I do that in a morning for fun (as I'm sure many people here do) normally. I did the equivalent of the whole distance in a day (ok, a 14 hour day including stops) about 2 weeks ago. I will of course ride one before committing though, just want to work out how possible it may be. Unfortunately the guy who did Dunwich Dynamo just put up with the £50 fine for 24 hours, over that, it's about £300 from what I can find out.

[AyBee]

daz3210 said:

You can contact the Mayor as follows:

By email: [e-mail]

Postal Address:

Boris Johnson
Mayor of London
Greater London Authority
City Hall
The Queen's Walk
More London
London SE1 2AA

Telephone: [phone]
Minicom: 020 7983 4458
Fax: [phone]

May be worth a phone call.

Thanks, will give that a go.

[daz3210]

AyBee said:

daz3210 said:

You can contact the Mayor as follows:

By email: [e-mail]

Postal Address:

Boris Johnson
Mayor of London
Greater London Authority
City Hall
The Queen's Walk
More London
London SE1 2AA

Telephone: [phone]
Minicom: 020 7983 4458
Fax: [phone]

May be worth a phone call.

Thanks, will give that a go.

Or maybe fax a letter, then ring.

[nammynake]

How easy are they to repair? Can you even remove wheels to fit a puncture for instance?

[Slaav]

They are bl00dy tanks! Seriously.... ride one first!

And why dont you email your local news etc and then mention that there is coverage planned when you contact Boris. And try the same when you contact Barclays marketing dept.

Huge heavy tanks - think WW1 tank vs modern armoured car!

Did I mention how heavy they are?

[AyBee]

nammynake said:

How easy are they to repair? Can you even remove wheels to fit a puncture for instance?

I would imagine so, or you'd be scrapping a bike every time it got a puncture... I don't think there's much to go wrong really.

[AyBee]

Slaav said:

They are bl00dy tanks! Seriously.... ride one first!

And why dont you email your local news etc and then mention that there is coverage planned when you contact Boris. And try the same when you contact Barclays marketing dept.

Huge heavy tanks - think WW1 tank vs modern armoured car!

Did I mention how heavy they are?

Where's the fun and challenge in riding a carbon road bike to Paris in 3 days? Nobody is going to sponsor me since I cycle more than that for fun. It's all part of the adventure There's about 40 of us doing it, the fastest will have to stop every 15 miles for everyone else to catch up, I might aswell be at the back getting fit on a Boris Bike