Balham to the Wharf - any roads to avoid?

keyser__soze

So it looks like farewell to the racetrack from the end of August as we're moving from Richmond to Balham. The commute to Canary Wharf looks to be pretty straightforward, down CS7 to Ele & Castle, New Kent Road (hopefully less of a deathtrap than New Kings Road), Tower Bridge Road. Sound about right? Bricklayers' Arms Roundabout looks a bit hairy on the way home with the slip road, and from what I've seen CS7 isn't so much a cycle superhighway as a bit of blue paint to highlight where to park cars and buses. Anywhere I should be particularly wary of or try to avoid? Is it any better taking a different bridge or even cutting up to the Embankment via Queenstown Road if I fancy a slightly-extended ride?

dhope

If you can make it up Balham Hill...

Then the nicer route is to go north at Clapham South tube and along Embankment. Nicer commute than CS7. See my sig

keyser__soze

Thanks, do you go over Battersea Bridge just for the extra miles or is Queenstown Road particularly crappy, and can you cycle across Clapham Common or is it best to go round?

dhope

Keyser__Soze wrote:

Thanks, do you go over Battersea Bridge just for the extra miles or is Queenstown Road particularly crappy, and can you cycle across Clapham Common or is it best to go round?

If I was going over Embankment then I just went over Battersea for the extra mile or so. You can cycle through the common but it's a shared path so tends to be a pootle, so probably doesn't work out much quicker than Battersea.
On early commutes then CS7 is fine, but gets a bit busy at rush hour, lots of lights and less fun Embankment

kurako

Tower Bridge Road can be pretty congested in the morning. Filtering becomes a pain. Also you're not really 'supposed' to turn right onto The Highway and there is Cable St bike path but I hate it. It's often easier just to cross at London Bridge then nip down Eastcheap and join with Lower Thames. Mind you, the approach to London Bridge can be shoot too!

At Stockwell you can take Lambeth Road down to Vauxhall which is bus lane all the way so a good chance to get the legs going as long as the lights play nice.

tetm

Keyser__Soze wrote:

Thanks, do you go over Battersea Bridge just for the extra miles or is Queenstown Road particularly crappy, and can you cycle across Clapham Common or is it best to go round?

Both Queenstown Road and Latchmere Road can be bad for traffic at rush hour, but I prefer Queenstown -> Chelsea Bridge as it cuts out the annoying squeeze of traffic that always happens by Albert Bridge Gardens and allows for spontaneous laps of Battersea Park.

sketchley

Kurako wrote:

Tower Bridge Road can be pretty congested in the morning. Filtering becomes a pain. Also you're not really 'supposed' to turn right onto The Highway and there is Cable St bike path but I hate it. It's often easier just to cross at London Bridge then nip down Eastcheap and join with Lower Thames. Mind you, the approach to London Bridge can be shoot too!

At Stockwell you can take Lambeth Road down to Vauxhall which is bus lane all the way so a good chance to get the legs going as long as the lights play nice.

I've started taking the London Bridge variation recently too. It much better even though south London Bridge is pain, it's nothing compared to Tower Bridge and you no longer have that right turn on to the highway. Cable street and most of the CS3 is to be avoided at all costs. It's just an accident waiting to happen. Just man up and blast down the highway with the tipper trucks.

At the end f the highway before limehouse tunnel try to time things to get over the right in a gap of traffic and down Narrow Lane. the alternatvie is the CS3 path through the park, be warned though half way along you swap sides so on coming bikes are on your left and you are on now the right, then it joins a road where most car users don't realise this and then the lanes swap back again as you turn left to join narrow lane. utter luncacy whoever came up with it should be shot, avoid it.

keyser__soze

Thanks for the advice, will try each of the routes when I move to see how they are. Got the last bit of the commute (north side of Tower Bridge to the Wharf) down to a tee having done it for the last three years and agree CS3 is to be avoided!

rjsterry

The bit I'd watch out for is Balham Hill; not because of the gradient :roll: but because the bike lane is narrow and there is frequently a queue of traffic down the hill, which hides people turning right through gaps into the side streets. I've had a minor shunt there and been right behind who put a dent in the side of a van with his head.