Silly commuting racing

keef66

^ Why did I bother reading all that? I neither live nor ride anywhere near London...

tgotb

keef66 wrote:

^ Why did I bother reading all that? I neither live nor ride anywhere near London...

Even if you did, the route it's describing is probably half a mile long, so would almost certainly still be useless to you...

kingstonian

keef66 wrote:

^ Why did I bother reading all that? I neither live nor ride anywhere near London...

asprilla

TGOTB wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

OK folks, new job time. This time I'm going to be at the western end of London Wall. What's the best way to get there from Blackfriars? (Assuming Embankment is still be best way into The City and Blackfriars is the best place to turn north).

In the morning:
Usual route to Embankment, turn left at Blackfriars
North up Bouverie St, turn right onto Fleet St
Straight over Ludgate Circus onto Ludgate Hill, heading East
Left onto Old Bailey. Earlier left onto Limeburner Lane is tempting, but it's one way (in the opposite direction) for motor vehicles, a lot of which don't expect to encounter cyclists coming the other way.
Right onto Newgate St/A40, follow one-way system (King Edward St) to Museum of London Roundabout.
Straight over roundabout onto London Wall (adjust final part of route to suit precise destination)

In the evening:
St Martin's Le Grand, Newgate St, Left onto Old Bailey. At this point it gets a bit different
Straight over Ludgate Hill, heading for Black Friars Lane
Right onto Queen Victoria St, stay in right hand lane
Straight over Faringdon St/Blackfriars Bridge to join down ramp to Embankment.

I've found that following the cycle superhighway between Embankment and Ludgate Hill is very slow because of the traffic light sequencing; above routes avoid most of the stops. Assuming they go back to the old road layout when the super-sewer works finish, the evening route works well in both directions.

Awesome, cheers.

cjcp

Moving to Canary Wharf next month.

Looks like it's the segregated bike lane all the way, because the Wapping motorway looks like a non-starter.

kingdav

Since a career break kinda thing starting in April I've not been commuting. Now I have a new job and resume cycle commute today (Purley to the East End). Going to be a mile longer each way than I did previously and the long break won't have done much for my fitness, but still looking forward to the regular exercise.
Having ditched boring financial services IT... I now work in a bike workshop, though I'm rather poorer in some ways, at least a little lunch-time fettle will be easier!

monkimark

Bit chilly this morning and it seems that the 2 flashing lights on the front of my bike have sequenced to flash morse code for 'please pull out on me' - the drivers of south west London were happy to oblige, although I'm surprised some of them could see it through their misted windows.

asprilla

kingdav wrote:

Since a career break kinda thing starting in April I've not been commuting. Now I have a new job and resume cycle commute today (Purley to the East End). Going to be a mile longer each way than I did previously and the long break won't have done much for my fitness, but still looking forward to the regular exercise.
Having ditched boring financial services IT... I now work in a bike workshop, though I'm rather poorer in some ways, at least a little lunch-time fettle will be easier!

Yay!

cjcp wrote:

Moving to Canary Wharf next month.

Looks like it's the segregated bike lane all the way, because the Wapping motorway looks like a non-starter.

Boo!

asprilla

Forum issue dupe.

Gallywomack

HamishD wrote:

Better route to Sydenham HIll from Eden Park is Clock House Road from EE roundabout, Crystal Palace Park Road. Anerley Hill in traffic is just horrid.

Once through Dulwich Village you can do Red Post Hill/Herne Hill Road and then Loughbourough (SIC) Road/Akermans/Foxley to get to Oval if you fancy a change and can't be bothered with Elephant or the Camberwell New Road.

Have been doing this since then, and it is a lot nicer and quicker (although further), so thanks very much. This route plus an earlier start today resulted in a 17mph (27kmh for those that insist) cheaty Strava average, which while no great shakes in the scheme of things is a lot better than I've been managing since the move.

Embrace the slowness; there is no escaping it.

I did escape it this morning but only thanks to a very risky bit of filtering into oncoming traffic round the Oval - won't be doing that again! But the reward for the risk was very high - with a bit of judicious colourblindness turning right onto Albert Embankment it earned me a pretty much uninterrupted run from the Oval to Westminster Bridge. Ah well, on the whole probably better to accept a bit of frustration and stay alive.

tgotb

cjcp wrote:

Looks like it's the segregated bike lane all the way, because the Wapping motorway looks like a non-starter.

Try it; I thought it was fine (whereas the bike lane was shoot). Although the tunnel works very well Eastbound (apparently), Narrow St is the next best alternative.

martinc

Misty in RP then sunny and quiet due to half term for the posh kids = PBs and pleasantness.
Passed by a Paceline Racing Club guy but on my knobblies knew I had no chance.
8)

parmos

monkimark wrote:

Bit chilly this morning and it seems that the 2 flashing lights on the front of my bike have sequenced to flash morse code for 'please pull out on me' - the drivers of south west London were happy to oblige, although I'm surprised some of them could see it through their misted windows.

i had something Similar this morning riding through the housing estate at 6:30am with my cateye 1200 beaming out in front a car pulled out of a side junction then realised and stopped then a few minutes later give me all the space in the world when he overtook me

cjcp

martinc wrote:

Misty in RP then sunny and quiet due to half term for the posh kids = PBs and pleasantness.
Passed by a Paceline Racing Club guy but on my knobblies knew I had no chance.
8)

Mine are off, too. But, as you know, they are feral, not posh.

cjcp

TGOTB wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Looks like it's the segregated bike lane all the way, because the Wapping motorway looks like a non-starter.

Try it; I thought it was fine (whereas the bike lane was shoot). Although the tunnel works very well Eastbound (apparently), Narrow St is the next best alternative.

I dunno; those articulated lorries and HGVs don't half thunder past Commodty Quay.

martinc

cjcp wrote:

martinc wrote:

Misty in RP then sunny and quiet due to half term for the posh kids = PBs and pleasantness.
Passed by a Paceline Racing Club guy but on my knobblies knew I had no chance.
8)

Mine are off, too. But, as you know, they are feral, not posh.

Ha, likewise but it's the Range Rover Rugrats of Roehampton and Knightsbridge that clog the lanes. Nice RP pics this morning sir.

kingstonian

Got chatting with a guy yesterday evening with an ebike, he was saying it will put out 1000 watts at full throttle!!!!! I'm not too surprised, seeing how I almost dislocated my hips keeping up with him on Chelsea Embankment. I'm all for people getting ebikes, but when this one was easily cruising at 27-28mph surely it is crossing into moped territory.

dekant

Kingstonian wrote:

Got chatting with a guy yesterday evening with an ebike, he was saying it will put out 1000 watts at full throttle!!!!! I'm not too surprised, seeing how I almost dislocated my hips keeping up with him on Chelsea Embankment. I'm all for people getting ebikes, but when this one was easily cruising at 27-28mph surely it is crossing into moped territory.

Sounds like one of those chinese hub motor conversion kits you can get off eBay. And yes, not an ebike at all but a moped as defined in law. The guy is a liability and if he every is involved in a collision, even if not his fault, he will be crucified.

On that note, I think I saw a headline just yesterday about the first person to be involved in killing a pedestrian while riding an ebike. It's a DM article so I'm not going searching for it but it was a derestricted one. Expect many headlines, ranting and ravings and for this guy to get a book thrown at him.

mtb-idle

keef66 wrote:

^ Why did I bother reading all that? I neither live nor ride anywhere near London...

Cos the road names are wonderful and conjure up bygone times?

kingstonian

dekant wrote:

Kingstonian wrote:

Got chatting with a guy yesterday evening with an ebike, he was saying it will put out 1000 watts at full throttle!!!!! I'm not too surprised, seeing how I almost dislocated my hips keeping up with him on Chelsea Embankment. I'm all for people getting ebikes, but when this one was easily cruising at 27-28mph surely it is crossing into moped territory.

Sounds like one of those chinese hub motor conversion kits you can get off eBay. And yes, not an ebike at all but a moped as defined in law. The guy is a liability and if he every is involved in a collision, even if not his fault, he will be crucified.

On that note, I think I saw a headline just yesterday about the first person to be involved in killing a pedestrian while riding an ebike. It's a DM article so I'm not going searching for it but it was a derestricted one. Expect many headlines, ranting and ravings and for this guy to get a book thrown at him.

I've seen him a few times, rides from Parliament all the way through RP (no idea where he goes from there). Big white box on the down tube, small blue LED screen under the saddle facing backwards. Agree that it is almost certainly the wrong side of the law and I don't want to be anywhere near him when he comes a cropper.

Longshot

dekant wrote:

Kingstonian wrote:

Expect many headlines, ranting and ravings and for all cyclists to get a book thrown at them.

FTFY

Gallywomack

Longshot wrote:

dekant wrote:

Kingstonian wrote:

Expect many headlines, ranting and ravings and for all cyclists to get a book thrown at them.

FTFY

Was just going to post - he was still referred to as a 'Cyclist' in the DM headline, despite being charged with causing death by dangerous driving and causing death while uninsured and unlicensed.

mtb-idle

cjcp wrote:

Moving to Canary Wharf next month.

Looks like it's the segregated bike lane all the way, because the Wapping motorway looks like a non-starter.

I wrote a long response to this but lost it somehow. I've done this commute for the last ten years.

1. Segregated bike path (Cable St onto Narrow St) . My preferred route. Can get narrow and very busy and also some places where cars can pull out but undoubtedly the safest approach

2. The Wapping motorway a.k.a. The Highway. I rode it for years but it can be terrifying with skip lorries and other HGV's flying past at 40mph+. I'm not a nervous rider but it felt like i was taking my life in my hands a few too many times for comfort. Also difficult to exit at the eastern end onto the wharf and bikes not allowed under the Limehouse link tunnel

3. Commercial road. Nice and wide with bus lanes most of the way. Can tend to have lots of broken glass on the road but painful to get onto this from Embankment. It's a better alternative for the evening return

tgotb

Real pea-souper in Richmond Park yesterday evening; plenty of irresponsible whatnots hooning around at 20+mph, but with almost no visibility 15mph was right at the limit for me.

The fog normally forms in hollows, so I was a bit surprised to find it just as bad (possibly even worse) at the top of Ballet School hill. That's when the penny dropped. Glasses off, and suddenly I could see for miles.....

mtb-idle

I know you've deceived me, now here's a surprise...

rower63

TGOTB wrote:

Real pea-souper in Richmond Park yesterday evening; plenty of irresponsible whatnots hooning around at 20+mph, but with almost no visibility 15mph was right at the limit for me.

... Glasses off, and suddenly I could see for miles.....

I missed the fog, but there were lots of very scary-looking HUUUGE antlers closer to the road's edge in the gloom than I was entirely comfortable with.

rick_chasey

cjcp wrote:

Moving to Canary Wharf next month.

Condolences.

veronese68

rower63 wrote:

I missed the fog, but there were lots of very scary-looking HUUUGE antlers closer to the road's edge in the gloom than I was entirely comfortable with.

Big stag in the bracken right on the edge of the path in Bushy Park this morning, made sure I gave him as wide a berth as possible. Would have been invisible in the dark.
I use my Lezyne helmet light thing from that offer a couple of years ago so I can look side to side when riding through the park. I find it helps so I no longer get those moments when I can smell them but not see them. Speed is a lot lower when it's dark in there as well.
Rather fewer cyclists out my way with the cold mornings, had to dig out a buff this morning.

mpdouglas

Kingstonian wrote:

Got chatting with a guy yesterday evening with an ebike, he was saying it will put out 1000 watts at full throttle!!!!! I'm not too surprised, seeing how I almost dislocated my hips keeping up with him on Chelsea Embankment. I'm all for people getting ebikes, but when this one was easily cruising at 27-28mph surely it is crossing into moped territory.

He'd better hope he has zero accidents of any sort - if the cops get involved it will categorically be treated as a motorised vehicle and he'll get the book thrown at him for no tax, no MOT, no insurance, no type approval, inappropriate lighting etc etc. I hope he enjoys the 1000W enough to offset the consequences!

kingstongraham

mpdouglas wrote:

Kingstonian wrote:

Got chatting with a guy yesterday evening with an ebike, he was saying it will put out 1000 watts at full throttle!!!!! I'm not too surprised, seeing how I almost dislocated my hips keeping up with him on Chelsea Embankment. I'm all for people getting ebikes, but when this one was easily cruising at 27-28mph surely it is crossing into moped territory.

He'd better hope he has zero accidents of any sort - if the cops get involved it will categorically be treated as a motorised vehicle and he'll get the book thrown at him for no tax, no MOT, no insurance, no type approval, inappropriate lighting etc etc. I hope he enjoys the 1000W enough to offset the consequences!

I think ebikes are great, but those mopeds need to get off the road - they're the kind of thing that will be used as another excuse by the usual suspects to press for numberplates on all bikes.