My cycle hire adventures (part 4)

I've been writing about my cycle hire adventures all week. For the earlier installments click here.

Last night I picked up a bike close to work again and headed off towards King's Cross.

What is striking is how many of the bikes are being used.

Making my way through Bloomsbury there were hire bikes every few seconds and most people looked like they were enjoying it.

Around the station though I hit problems. I couldn't find a docking point at all.

I tried four but they were all full. A number of times I saw teenagers sitting on them enjoying the comfy seats. I think that is going to be a feature...

I ended up opposite King's Cross where there were three of us trying to find a docking point.

I successfully managed to add an extra 15 minutes at the terminal so I could find a slot somewhere.

There was much griping amongst us as you can imagine. But then a just before I set off a revelation!

What looked like an Astra towing a trailer turned up and started loading the bikes so I could quickly get rid of mine. These are the guys who redistribute the bikes.

More docking stations in some areas are definitely needed or more cars towing trailers...

But it was nicer than the Circle line so a positive result there (just)...

I visited the control centre this morning to see how they are coping. You can watch my video report at the top of this post.

Below, you can watch an extended interview I did with Alan Stannard of Serco, the contractor who are operating the bike hire scheme.

Keep your experiences coming or let me know if you've got any questions.

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