Routes and roads inLondon?

suziesaysso

Hi! new to all this biking business!!

im thinking of cycling from my home in ealing to the west end every day - at 6 miles the distance is ok but what about the route!! im new to london as well so not sure about the roads etc. does any one else do a similar journey?

prj45

suziesaysso wrote:

Hi! new to all this biking business!!

im thinking of cycling from my home in ealing to the west end every day - at 6 miles the distance is ok but what about the route!! im new to london as well so not sure about the roads etc. does any one else do a similar journey?

I used to do west London to Soho (these days it's west london to the City)

You could stick to the Uxbridge road, Notting hill, Hyde Park and Oxford Street, it's practically a straight line.

If you're more south Ealing you could go in via Chiswick, Shep bush etc..

Enjoy it, it's brilliant fun, best part of my day often, and I really enjoy my job.

Snodgrass

Public libraries used to stock free local maps with details of recommended cycle routes. I improved my route in several places after studying the maps which covered my local area.
I don't know if they still do them but it might be worth a look

Clever Pun

Here you go.. send off for some of these (also useful for weekend riding so order more)

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/roadusers/cycling/cycleroutes/default.asp

biondino

I do Chiswick to Soho quite a lot and you have two obvious options:

1. Chiswick High Road - Goldhawk Road - Shepherd's Bush - Notting Hill - Bayswater Road - Oxford Street

Disadvantages - the road surface is pretty poor on Goldhawk Road; Shepherd's Bush Green and roundabout can be quite scary and tricky with multiple lanes; the hill on Holland Park

2. Chiswick High Road - King Street - Hammersmith - High Street Ken - Hyde Park - Piccadilly

Disadvantages: Hammersmith Road busy and potholed, High Street Ken very busy, Picadilly very busy

Of course, you could research a back road way. The two above are very doable but you need to be a fairly confident cyclist with good road skills to stay safe.

il_principe

Can't advise on actual route, but decide on several, try them all and pick your fave. Also best to do a dry run one sunday when traffic is calmer, get used to the route, junctions etc without rush hour traffic and time pressure of a commute.

Go for it though, taking up cycle commuting was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

Oh and get a SingleSpeed bike, no need for anything else in London!

Enjoy.

lost_in_thought

Hey there! I do pretty much exactly that every day - if you would like a friendly cycling guide to show you some of the routes drop me a PM/tell me on here!

I start from very near the Walpole park in the morning and go to High Street ken, but would be very happy to guide you to the West End and then spin back through the park.

It's a nice easy ride, the traffic can be heavy but it's usually very slow if it is.

suziesaysso

thanks everyone for your advice! btw, what is a singlespeed bike? one without gears? apologies for my lack of biking knowledge - i just about know how to ride one!!

prj45

suziesaysso wrote:

thanks everyone for your advice! btw, what is a singlespeed bike? one without gears? apologies for my lack of biking knowledge - i just about know how to ride one!!

Yup.

You've got single speed, or fixed. Single speed genrally means you'll be able to freewheel, fixed is for your hardcore types, no freewheeling, and sometimes no brakes.

lost_in_thought

prj45 wrote:

suziesaysso wrote:

thanks everyone for your advice! btw, what is a singlespeed bike? one without gears? apologies for my lack of biking knowledge - i just about know how to ride one!!

Yup.

You've got single speed, or fixed. Single speed genrally means you'll be able to freewheel, fixed is for your hardcore types, no freewheeling, and sometimes no brakes.

Very rarely no brakes. I ride a fixed everywhere in London, and have 2 brakes. I would recommend 2 brakes to anyone on a fixed.

prj45

There is a guy at work with a fixy with no brakes.

He locks it up and I suggested the other morning he shouldn't so we could watch a CCTV replay of a very confused bike thief jumping on, wobbling around, frantically grabbing for non existant brake levers, rear wheel skipping, and then crashing face first into the nearest wall/car.