Cycling around London at midnight

moonio

Cycling around london in the middle of the night is such fun, on Sunday me and a mate raced from a music (Noise) event in Peckham to London Bridge on almost empty roads.

Does anyone else do the night-rider thing?

hells

If I am on a late shift il be commuting home anytime between midnight and 2am. Sometimes it's abit freaky becuase sometimes a usually jam packed road is completely empty and that just aint london!

lost_in_thought

Yes, and I absolutely love it! If I could be bothered to sift through thousands of posts I'd find others where I'm raving about how brilliant it is.

I'm SO looking forward to being back in London full-time.

itchieritchie

lost_in_thought you have some hot bikes, esp the Viner.

Not sure about the rack on the Bowery though. Take it that's the one your ride most days? Either that or the Tifosi.

I love night riding. The journey seems half as long. It's more cruise control than stop start and you can even build up a rhythm if you jump lights (carefully of course) here and there.

London Bridge is a great place to start or finish.

stuaff

Night riding? In London? Surely not. Nope, never done that...lol. Once a month with this lot.... http://fnrttc.blogspot.com/ Doing London-Southend this Friday (well, technically Saturday morning....).

Stevo_666

Night riding off road is even more fun 8)

prj45

Not often, but I always enjoy it when I do it.

Rode back to West London from the end of critical mass recently (it finished past Viccy park) at about 10pm, loved every minute of it.

Clever Pun

It's great, the deserted roads are real fun to ride on

rjsterry

I've done it once when leaving the office stupidly late (about 2.30am I think) after working on a competition entry. Unfortunately I was so knackered, I just wanted to get home, but it was nice not having any traffic

lost_in_thought

itchieritchie wrote:

lost_in_thought you have some hot bikes, esp the Viner.

Not sure about the rack on the Bowery though. Take it that's the one your ride most days? Either that or the Tifosi.

I love night riding. The journey seems half as long. It's more cruise control than stop start and you can even build up a rhythm if you jump lights (carefully of course) here and there.

London Bridge is a great place to start or finish.

Thanks!

The Bowery is the hack commuter, I am a big fan of my spine and also like shopping for wine, so panniers are the solution. That one's not meant to look pretty to be honest.

The Tifosi's my regular rider in Essex, and I've used it for touring and would like to again! It also has a pannier rack.... :oops:

always_tyred

lost_in_thought wrote:

itchieritchie wrote:

lost_in_thought you have some hot bikes, esp the Viner.

Not sure about the rack on the Bowery though. Take it that's the one your ride most days? Either that or the Tifosi.

I love night riding. The journey seems half as long. It's more cruise control than stop start and you can even build up a rhythm if you jump lights (carefully of course) here and there.

London Bridge is a great place to start or finish.

Thanks!

The Bowery is the hack commuter, I am a big fan of my spine and also like shopping for wine, so panniers are the solution. That one's not meant to look pretty to be honest.

The Tifosi's my regular rider in Essex, and I've used it for touring and would like to again! It also has a pannier rack.... :oops:

You should have your driver (in the black Merc) follow you with all your stuff.

Salsamander

cycling at night is brilliant, esp in london as it is such a change from how it usually is

bluefoam

. wrong thread....

jonny_trousers

Never done midnight, but my ride home begins at 10:30 each night. That's probably the worst time to ride as there is still plenty of traffic around and many of the drivers will be tired/pissed/stoned. Thank god for my florescent, lime green Endura jacket eh?

I remember driving an ex-in-law to Liverpool Street station at about 5:30 am a few years back and London looked stunning. I bet that would be a fantastic time to go for a ride. Must try it.

MadammeMarie

Some 10 years ago I used to do the late shift at work, which finished at midnight. My journey was Fulham - Cheapside.- Fulham. In the summer, in the first half of the week, it was lovely to cycle along the embankment after midnight. One night, it was one of those lovely summer evenings, full moon, the works, so I stopped just opposite Cheyne Walk, sat on one of the benches there and lit up a ciggie. The only thing missing was music and a glass of whisky!

lost_in_thought

Always Tyred wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

itchieritchie wrote:

lost_in_thought you have some hot bikes, esp the Viner.

Not sure about the rack on the Bowery though. Take it that's the one your ride most days? Either that or the Tifosi.

I love night riding. The journey seems half as long. It's more cruise control than stop start and you can even build up a rhythm if you jump lights (carefully of course) here and there.

London Bridge is a great place to start or finish.

Thanks!

The Bowery is the hack commuter, I am a big fan of my spine and also like shopping for wine, so panniers are the solution. That one's not meant to look pretty to be honest.

The Tifosi's my regular rider in Essex, and I've used it for touring and would like to again! It also has a pannier rack.... :oops:

You should have your driver (in the black Merc) follow you with all your stuff.

He's in a smart car now. Credit Crunch, y'know... :P

biondino

I did a lap of Richmond Park at 10pm last night. It was breathtaking, with a full moon (which still didn't provide *quite* enough light) and only a fox and a bunny on the roads - the deer, for a change, kept themselves to the grass. It's quite something knowing with certainty that there are no cars up your 4rse.

And then, as I left the park, a cute posh lady with a tennis racket exchanged banter with me about the wisdom of riding at night. I was very wise.

Greg T

biondino wrote:

I did a lap of Richmond Park at 10pm last night. It was breathtaking, with a full moon (which still didn't provide *quite* enough light) and only a fox and a bunny on the roads - the deer, for a change, kept themselves to the grass. It's quite something knowing with certainty that there are no cars up your 4rse.

And then, as I left the park, a cute posh lady with a tennis racket exchanged banter with me about the wisdom of riding at night. I was very wise.

Stoopid question

Do you enter and leave by the pedestrian gates? Do they ever lock?

biondino

Yes, the pedestrian gates are open. I don't think they ever lock, no, certainly not any of the half a dozen times I've done it (though I once, um, forgot they were open and scratched up my bike trying to lift it over the very tall gate).

jonny_trousers

biondino wrote:

And then, as I left the park, a cute posh lady with a tennis racket exchanged banter with me about the wisdom of riding at night. I was very wise.

Result!

In a related unrelated kind of a way, my very first commute into work after years out of the saddle involved following a young lady cyclist with an exceptionally peachy bum for a good mile or so. If I'd only been told of such bonuses to cycling I might have dusted off my old chopper years ago!

Greg T

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

Il capo di tutti capi

lost_in_thought

Greg T wrote:

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

Il capo di tutti capi