Cycling in London

phreak

I've recently got a new job in London and will be moving up there from the south coast. I'd love to take my bike with me but whenever I've been in London the traffic has given me the heebyjeebies.

I have however seen a number of quite excellent bike shops in London so presume there must be somewhere for roadies to do their stuff. Any Londoners here?

il_principe

I live in Central-ish London (Victoria) and cycle everywhere. I've had one accident in 5/6 years or so. Cycling in London is fine really and not half as bad as it looks. I'm a committed roadie as well and commute on a single speed. Where in London will you be moving to? If in the South West then Richmond Park is excellent and always full of roadies at the weekend. The Surrey Hills are also great and easily accessible by bike. If you're in the South East then the Kent countryside is not far away, basically wherever you are in London the open countryside is really not that hard to get to. There are also some excellent bike shops in London that cater to roadies Condor and Sigma Sport are 2 of the best.

phreak

Not sure exactly where yet. The new job is in central London (Holborn) and I'm looking for a flatshare to last the probationary period. Canary Wharf seems possible after my initial flat hunt.

squired

Personally speaking I would suggest living somewhere a little further out, with a manageable commute, but also closer to country lanes. Then you get the best of both worlds - decent commute to work, but good roads for riding on.

phreak

squired wrote:

Personally speaking I would suggest living somewhere a little further out, with a manageable commute, but also closer to country lanes. Then you get the best of both worlds - decent commute to work, but good roads for riding on.

I suspect after my 6 months has passed I will do. I just wanted somewhere reasonably close to work to help get to know everyone etc.

il_principe

Mmm Canary is a bit souless and full of city [email protected]! The Borough Southwark area is quite nice these days - up and coming and only a short hop to Holborn. Plus you can head south to Kent pretty easily from there. I'd disagree with Squired about moving too far out; if you are quite young still then living fairly centrally is great. I can head out to the West End in the evening and walk home if I've had a few drinks, so much better than having to worry about trains etc etc.

dombo6

jashburnham wrote:

Mmm Canary is a bit souless and full of city [email protected]! The Borough Southwark area is quite nice these days .

Bit of a prejudiced generalisation there. I agree an office complex is a soulless place to live, but then some might say Southwark was knee deep in dog mess and crawling with hoodrats and muggers.

Felix-da-house-mouse

as a fellow outsider from the country i done last years London to Paris which started at blackheath near greenwich and i totally and utterly hated it. I was [email protected]@t feert (as we say in scotland) i was pretty scared, too many cars,buses,trucks,motorbikes, planes trains and automobiles not to mention the kamikaze pedestrians and other cyclists. Think i'll stick to rolling hills, trees, birds in the sky and the wind in my hair instead of exhaust fumes.

fidbod

Hi, cycling to work in london is fine as long as you are sensible and don't play silly buggers with the buses. I have been commuting on bike from stockwell to regent street for 9 months now without a problem.

On the living front definitely have a look at zone two, it will be much nicer than living in Canary Wharf. There are lots of nice places, South london is the best though!!

Nuggs

dombo6 wrote:

jashburnham wrote:

Mmm Canary is a bit souless and full of city [email protected]! The Borough Southwark area is quite nice these days .

Bit of a prejudiced generalisation there. I agree an office complex is a soulless place to live, but then some might say Southwark was knee deep in dog mess and crawling with hoodrats and muggers.

I think you're both right...

Bassjunkieuk

Whilst London may look scary at first the main thing you need to remember is that all those cars you see on the road rarely move that fast :-D Or at least if they are (generally from the lights) they only have to stop a few yards up the road and the back of the next traffic jam!!

As some of the other posters have said as long as you don't play silly buggers and try undertaking buses and lorries you should be fine - just watch out for the black taxi's, their a law unto themselves sometimes :-D

I'm sure you'll soon get used to it and if your like me, even miss it when your on the quieter roads as it's just not as exciting!