Route suggestions - Tooting Bec to St Thomas' Hospital

speedstersimon

Hello all,

I need some advice on getting from Tooting Bec SW17 to St Thomas' Hospital in Waterloo SE1 for a university placement. Running the route through googlemaps etc... it seems that I will have to cycle through Vauxhall Cross, which I don't really fancy doing. Does anyone cycle through here regularly during rush hour? Or can anyone suggest an alternative route?

Cheers
Simon

BentMikey

Vauxhall Cross isn't so bad for cycling. I just take the lane and go for it. If you search on youtube for Vauxhall Bridge cycling, you should find my video.

Totalnewbie

And if you search for it on here, you will find my post on deciding between the cycle route round and the road on VC - another poster gave me good advice about which lane to take etc and I take the road now (or did until I broke my elbow last week falling off all by myself - not in VC - though I did end up in St Thomas' hospital )

afelstead

Hey you're not a fellow med student are you? I was at Tommys last rotation and cycle commuted from Hammersmith. If you are coming from the SE (ie. Tooting) then the road should be fairly straight through Vauxhall Cross past the tube and bus stations and then past MI6, all the way up to Lambeth Bridge then the hospital. Nothing to be worried about at all.

One tip: bring a strong short D-lock and chain to Tommy's and insure your bike. Mine was nicked from there in October, and a rather nice bike it was too (I had two big D-locks on).

There is secure cage parking for bikes at the hospital, but only for staff, not students. Try and park it where it can be seen by passers by somewhere in the grounds.

Brains

Here is your route

I picked a random place in tooting bec

http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/user/F ... 9315F3.pdf

Click on each of the squares to open up that section

For experience it will take you two weeks to fine tune the route so that you know section by section the best variations

speedstersimon

Thanks for the replies eveyone. I'm going to try going through Vauxhall Cross I think, although googlemaps did throw up another route via Kennington Road/A23 rather than South Lambeth Road/A203.

Thanks for the advice about the locks and insurance, afelstead. I'm getting insurance before I start the placement and I've got 2 Abus Granit X Plus 54 locks so hopefully my bike won't go walkies. Might as well ask about the cycle cage parking too, guess there's no harm in giving it a try. Oh and I'm studying physio at George's - final year!

Cheers
Simon

Totalnewbie

I locked my bike up outside St Thomas' for a good few hours until midnight while I was in A&E, with a D-lock and a thick cable lock (most thieves hopefully won't have tools for both!), and it was ok despite being fairly shiny and new.

Then there wasn't room for my boyf's bike too in the taxi home so he locked his up with my locks (cos they are better than his) and didn't bother going back to get it for about four days because he is lazy like that (mad I know). And it's a very nice old Puch tourer that he's always getting compliments on from couriers etc, but maybe it just looked unfashionable to any thieves!

I guess it's just the luck of the draw.