London Sky Ride - getting there
tgotb
Posts: 4,714
Anyone who did the Sky Ride last year have any tips on getting there?
Parking - looks like being a nightmare, with lots of demand and so many roads closed
Trains - likely to be very high demand for a limited number of bike spaces, and we're a family of four
Cycling - even if my kids were competent to ride in London traffic, I think they'd struggle with the 28 mile round trip...
Looks like a fun event, but if we can't get there with our bikes it's a non-starter...
Parking - looks like being a nightmare, with lots of demand and so many roads closed
Trains - likely to be very high demand for a limited number of bike spaces, and we're a family of four
Cycling - even if my kids were competent to ride in London traffic, I think they'd struggle with the 28 mile round trip...
Looks like a fun event, but if we can't get there with our bikes it's a non-starter...
Pannier, 120rpm.
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I'd suggest the train and being prepard to wait for the next one if full.--
Chris
Genesis Equilibrium - FCN 3/4/50 -
River Boat/ Taxi? Not sure if they allow bikes or wether they are working on Sunday. Maybe drive as near to the start as you can, and to a point that the children are able to ride from.0
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Going to drive up to my office in Aldgate with the bikes on the back & cycle from there. No way could I get the girls to cycle 7 miles into Tower Bridge, then up & down Embankment/Mall etc and then 7 miles back again!1997 Gary Fisher Big Sur
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You should be able to find a feeder ride here - http://www.goskyride.com/Search/Index?a ... oductid=17
So if you can find one nearer town where you can park you should be able to join up and do the journey in convoy (they are child-friendly, leisurely-paced with marshalls.) I marshalled on a SE London feeder route last year and we took a fair number of youngsters with us. There were return rides but, in our case, they all bailed out before they got to the uphill bits.0 -
Can you not drive as close as poss to the event and dump the family there to make their own way to a pre-arranged meet point, then you park up anywhere and ride in yourself. Repeat in reverse afterwards. Mobile telephones will be particularly useful here.0
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CiB wrote:Can you not drive as close as poss to the event and dump the family there to make their own way to a pre-arranged meet point, then you park up anywhere and ride in yourself. Repeat in reverse afterwards. Mobile telephones will be particularly useful here.
That's a particularly cunning strategy, thank you!Pannier, 120rpm.0 -
I'm going to try my luck in a car park nearby, leave early and hopefully beat the "rush" there are a few NCP's and a Q-Park right by H.o.P - I used to do field engineering in London so became rather familiar/reliant on car parks :-) Me + 3 kids (4 bikes in total) is going to be a complete ballache on the train, getting there may not be so bad but last year they where operating a ticket/queue system to get back OUT of London. Consequently I cut our stay up there short. Should only be £18 or so for 4-6 hours parking (IIRC) and the family van will swallow all of us and bikes easily.
Just a quick heads up!
Another hint for parents taking little ones, try and get some alternative coloured clothing or not bother with the Skyride high-vis bibs, trying to find your little ones amongst the sea of yellow is rather tricky :-) Need to dig out the Ikea pink bibs tomorrow.....0 -
Guys do you need to register for this year's? The website is confusing...0
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Can I make a plea for those taking smaller children - tho I dont think (I hope) it really applies to anyone on here...
traffic flow is ALONG the road not at right angles to it... there were a number of near misses last year when kids decided to randomly ride across the flow... there were too many parents not keeping their children under control and treating it as a park... ITS STILL A ROAD!Invacare Spectra Plus electric wheelchair, max speed 4mph
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notsoblue wrote:Guys do you need to register for this year's? The website is confusing...
I don't think you have to register, there is certainly no designated entrance/exit checks! I think the registering part is so they can start sending you mails etc. and get an idea of the level of interest.
As for the kids cycling around randomly part I think that is a bit un-avoidable, especially if it's little Johnnie or Janes first time out in such a large crowd! It'll be my eldest 3rd year attending, no.2's 2nd year and it's no.3's first time! I spent quite a bit of last year yelling but as long as your not trying to treat it like a race track and remember it is a FAMILY event then you'll be OK! If you want a "flying lap" on car free routes either get there very early or try later in the afternoon - on the 2 times I've been sans-kiddies with friends around mid-day was chocka and an ideal point to break for food before getting back out for a final quick circuit ;-)0 -
As someone said earlier, best to park outside of C London and get on a feeder ride into the centre of London0
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From people who have done it before, what's a good time to ride around. It's a sunday so there is no way I'm going to get there for 9:30 but I do want to get a sense of the atmosphere, will it still be relatively busy at 1-2pm?
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I'm going to do my normal Sunday morning ride, then drop down into Central London, a couple of circuits of the Skyride then home, maybe via the Morpeth. Should make a good 90miles odd...Invacare Spectra Plus electric wheelchair, max speed 4mph0
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Koncordski wrote:From people who have done it before, what's a good time to ride around. It's a sunday so there is no way I'm going to get there for 9:30 but I do want to get a sense of the atmosphere, will it still be relatively busy at 1-2pm?
Yeah! The course route itself should still be reasonably full of "atmosphere" and there is normally a good lot of entertainment in St James Park to let little legs recover!0 -
Yes, thats peak time! The 'quiet family time' is 9:30 - 12:00 apparently, and roads are closed 9:30 - 4:30. to quote the websiteKoncordski wrote:From people who have done it before, what's a good time to ride around. It's a sunday so there is no way I'm going to get there for 9:30 but I do want to get a sense of the atmosphere, will it still be relatively busy at 1-2pm?"If you've taken part before, you’ll know it’s an extremely popular day and the route does get busy. We'll do all we can to avoid any congestion but please bear in mind the busiest times are between 12 noon and 3.00pm. So come early to beat the crowds!"Invacare Spectra Plus electric wheelchair, max speed 4mph0 -
OptimisticBiker wrote:Can I make a plea for those taking smaller children - tho I dont think (I hope) it really applies to anyone on here...
traffic flow is ALONG the road not at right angles to it... there were a number of near misses last year when kids decided to randomly ride across the flow... there were too many parents not keeping their children under control and treating it as a park... ITS STILL A ROAD!
Just accept that it may be a road for 364.5 day of the year, but for those hours kids on bikes will pop out at you like mini Addison Lee drivers.
It isn't a time trial, and you have to forgive the children on the cycle path (that was a road) you're big enough to look out for them and cycle down those roads for the rest of the year. Sunday will be the only day in the year a child can cycle down what was a road at 2 mph.
Failing that do a DDD* and just run them over....that'll learn them :twisted:
*he didn't run the children over on purpose, and he was racked with guilt afterwards0 -
snooks wrote:OptimisticBiker wrote:Can I make a plea for those taking smaller children - tho I dont think (I hope) it really applies to anyone on here...
traffic flow is ALONG the road not at right angles to it... there were a number of near misses last year when kids decided to randomly ride across the flow... there were too many parents not keeping their children under control and treating it as a park... ITS STILL A ROAD!
Just accept that it may be a road for 364.5 day of the year, but for those hours kids on bikes will pop out at you like mini Addison Lee drivers.
It isn't a time trial, and you have to forgive the children on the cycle path (that was a road) you're big enough to look out for them and cycle down those roads for the rest of the year. Sunday will be the only day in the year a child can cycle down what was a road at 2 mph.
Failing that do a DDD* and just run them over....that'll learn them :twisted:
*he didn't run the children over on purpose, and he was racked with guilt afterwards
As long as the parents show some control as yes it's not a time trial but it doesn't take much speed to end up going over handle bars if some little treasure just decides to go off at a tangent right in front of you.
I will get the speed out of my system on the 10 miles or so before hitting the closed off roads0 -
As will I, about 60miles beforehand...Paul E wrote:snooks wrote:OptimisticBiker wrote:Can I make a plea for those taking smaller children - tho I dont think (I hope) it really applies to anyone on here...
traffic flow is ALONG the road not at right angles to it... there were a number of near misses last year when kids decided to randomly ride across the flow... there were too many parents not keeping their children under control and treating it as a park... ITS STILL A ROAD!
Just accept that it may be a road for 364.5 day of the year, but for those hours kids on bikes will pop out at you like mini Addison Lee drivers.
It isn't a time trial, and you have to forgive the children on the cycle path (that was a road) you're big enough to look out for them and cycle down those roads for the rest of the year. Sunday will be the only day in the year a child can cycle down what was a road at 2 mph.
Failing that do a DDD* and just run them over....that'll learn them :twisted:
*he didn't run the children over on purpose, and he was racked with guilt afterwards
As long as the parents show some control as yes it's not a time trial but it doesn't take much speed to end up going over handle bars if some little treasure just decides to go off at a tangent right in front of you.
I will get the speed out of my system on the 10 miles or so before hitting the closed off roads
My point wasnt that the kids shouldnt do it, I know how difficult kids can be to control (I have 3, all grown up now), but my experience of a few of these (Last years LMS, Hillingdon, MK) is that there is a contingent of parents who simply dont exercise ANY control at all.. On last years LMS there were some very close near misses that could have been avoided completely if the parents had exercised some common sense... like keeping to the left, riding on the outside of their kids. The marshalls do try to advise that slower riders keep to the left but there were a surprising number of adults with kids that simply didnt understand the basic rules of the road... quite worrying really....Invacare Spectra Plus electric wheelchair, max speed 4mph0 -
I wish I could do 60 before hand at the moment, I have had an enforced time off the bike commuting wise anyway plus it was only built up last monday.
If anyone spots me I will have a red and white spesh s-works helmet on and probably a red and white craft jersey on and black shorts.0 -
We went today. Drove to Hyde Park Corner and dumped the car on a side street.
Boy was on the back of the wife's bike, girl on the trailgator on mine.
Kids are not the main issue. It is people who have never ridden in a pack or near another bike, swerving across everywhere. Saw a few offs, including a boris bike knocking a guy off his posh Pinarello.0
