safe commuting route from Bromley South to Victoria

ram038

I am planning to commute from Bromley south rail station to victoria rail station. Can anyone recommend a relatively safe route, rough distance and length of time. I am not too familiar with these areas so would probably have to stay on main roads. thanks in advance

shaef

I'd recommend using the TFL website to find a route, go to www.tfl.gov.uk hit advanced options on the journey planner and check the option that you want a cycle only route.

Look at the PDF for your route and then copy it into a free online mapping tool (I use www.bikeroutetoaster.com) and you'll get a pretty accurate view of the distance and elevation of your route.

Take a print out of the PDF along with you so you don't get lost the first time you try it.

Worked for me. I've been using the route from the tfl website for the last 5 weeks on a commute from South Norwood to Westminster and it was helpful to know what I'd be facing.

ram038

shaef wrote:

I'd recommend using the TFL website to find a route, go to www.tfl.gov.uk hit advanced options on the journey planner and check the option that you want a cycle only route.

Look at the PDF for your route and then copy it into a free online mapping tool (I use www.bikeroutetoaster.com) and you'll get a pretty accurate view of the distance and elevation of your route.

Take a print out of the PDF along with you so you don't get lost the first time you try it.

Worked for me. I've been using the route from the tfl website for the last 5 weeks on a commute from South Norwood to Westminster and it was helpful to know what I'd be facing.

Thanks for the info much appreciated.

greg66_tri_v2.0

The flatest way is probably out the north side of Bromley and up through Catford, heading (I think) for the Old Kent Road, then head along the river to Vauxhall Bridge.

The more direct way is down Westmoreland Road, second right to Shortlands Stn, up the hill and along Albemarle to Beck Jcn, then head up and over Crystal Palace. Down the other wide through Dulwich Village and head for the Walworth Road; at the Elephant head for Vauxhall Br. That's quite a hilly route though - maybe 55 mins to 75 mins, depending on your base fitness.

Clever Pun

Greg66 wrote:

The flatest way is probably out the north side of Bromley and up through Catford, heading (I think) for the Old Kent Road, then head along the river to Vauxhall Bridge.

The more direct way is down Westmoreland Road, second right to Shortlands Stn, up the hill and along Albemarle to Beck Jcn, then head up and over Crystal Palace. Down the other wide through Dulwich Village and head for the Walworth Road; at the Elephant head for Vauxhall Br. That's quite a hilly route though - maybe 55 mins to 75 mins, depending on your base fitness.

the catford way has good bus lanes too, but the hilly journey is quieter as a rule

Bassjunkieuk

Whilst the TFL website has a bike route planner it can be rather ar5e about t1t.
If your heading over to that website I'd recommend ordering the relevant cycle maps that cover your route and having a look on them. They have all the cycle network routes highlighted plus recommended roads from other cyclist and all the contra-flow systems etc.

Use one of them to plan a route out and then try riding it over a weekend so your not rushing and it should be a bit quieter on the roads traffic wise. In general you won't really be effected by the traffic during the rush hour so it should give you a good basis for your journey time. Once you get used to the route you can tweak it to suite your own riding preferences.

G66 routes sound good, although the latter one is certainly much hillier! I regularly do the Dulwich Village -> Crystal Palace run and there aren't many ways to avoid some hills! Your options are short n sharp or shallower and long really, but it's all good training :-)
As I live in South Norwood I've never tried the Catford route into town but from what CP has told me it's quite a good alternative!