Waltham Abbey (EN9) to the City communting route

Ricicle86

Hi all

I have been cycling for about a year now and commute into work from South Woodford (E18) to Holborn. I am (if all goes "well") moving house in the New Year and want to keep up the cycling commute.

I am moving to Waltham Abbey (EN9).

Does anyone else cycle from here? Or can anyone recommend a route?

I've tried Google Maps and TfL. It's about 15 miles each way. I am used to the cycle superhighway so any straight, safe(ish) roads like that would be preferable.

Thanks in advance

Brad

EKE_38BPM

Welcome to the forum.

I don't know if I would do this route every day, but how about the path next to the River Lea down to Ferry Lane/Tottenham Hale and then join the A10 and follow it south. Something like this.
I say I don't know if I would do it every day as it may be slow on the path because of peds (pedestrians), but you will will encounter zero motorised traffic for the first two thirds of your commute, then from Tottenham to Stoke Newington it is mainly bus lanes. After that things get more sporty, but you'll be faster than cars/vans/trucks/buses so ride in primary and assert yourself.

This has got to be one of the flattest commutes anyone on here has. I can only think of Stamford Hill and that is hardly worthy of the name 'hill'.

Good luck with the move and all that.

spasypaddy

i did this route a few weeks ago, this was a pretty good route
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/247956150

jds_1981

The canal path sounds nice. I've been meaning to try it for a while.
Alternatively you have the options of the a1010 and the a1055. I can imagine both of them would be offputting to someone relatively new to commuting
If you've only been commuting for a while you'd probably prefer the a1010 of those two. It is more London street style. Does get a bit congested. Lots of traffic lights.
If you're a hardened road warrior you'll find the a1055 much better. It can be a fast road and is dual carriageway in place but with a good sprint for when the traffic gets moving I think it's actually safer. Fewer junctions. It too gets congested in places but you can just cycle down the hatched centre.

When you hit the A10 everything is quite relaxed

http://app.strava.com/activities/13204017
http://app.strava.com/activities/11395260

jds_1981

EKE_38BPM wrote:

I can only think of Stamford Hill and that is hardly worthy of the name 'hill'.

Oi, Stamford Hill is a big climb for me!


Edit: WooHooo!! 1000!!

spasypaddy

just ride my route theres a surprise hill in there :P

clarkey cat

Hello Ricicle welcome to the forum.

ah666

Hi I cycle in along the River Lea Towpath from Broxbourne into Limehouse, I then turn right onto the Superhighway to Tower of London and then on road to Tate Modern. Its a good route very quite until you get into Limehouse.

The tow path however is now a bit muddy and slippery up to the Olympic Statium area

EKE_38BPM

ah666 wrote:

The tow path however is now a bit muddy and slippery up to the Olympic Statium area

CX n+1?

Ricicle86

Thanks everyone. I think I'm going to have to move in and then get on the bike and go exploring using the routes suggested on here.

The towpath along the river does not sound suitable for a road bike - would that be right? I have a (cheap) hybrid too, might have to revert to that and pedal (much) harder!

How safe is it riding back about 8 - 9 pm along that route? (Safe as in people, rather than vehicles!)

EKE_38BPM

I've ridden the tow path many times. The dust/mud/grit will mean that you'll have to clean your bike (especially the drivetrain) more often than if you were exclusively riding on tarmac, but its not going to structurally destroy your road bike.

For dark commutes I'd go the bright light and noise maker (bell, Airzound, shouting) route to make sure peds can see and hear you coming.
Remember that peds have priority so don't speed past them and thank them when they move over for you.

Aidy

Used to do pretty much that commute daily.

Canal path's fine on a road bike, but isn't as fast as either of the road options. Doubt you'd see too many people in the evening at that time, but I could be wrong - roads will be pretty clear at that time of night anyway.

I'd normally stick to the A1055 - it's a little futher than the A1010, but less stopping is involved. You probably do want to be comfortable sharing the road with cars, though (although there is a separate shared-use path by the side, as a certain class of motorists love to point out).

A1010 isn't awful though - but it's much better if you're not trying to be on it at the same time as school traffic.

whitebait01

I did A1010/A10 from Hunsdon, down to Old St for a couple of weeks. This was my route:

http://app.strava.com/activities/19275086

I found it fine on the way in, like others have said there's rather a lot of lights but it all flowed pretty well.

The way home was different though, Tottenham, Bruce Grove, Edmonton etc was really busy every single time. Not a bad route but a bit boring...