New route: A23 or CS7

buccal

Hi Chaps,

After almost 4 years my daily Greenwich-Bermondsey-London Bridge-Kings cross commute is coming to an end.

We are about to exchange on a property near Streatham Common.

So,

Most direct way into Kings cross would be A23, Streatham-Brixton-Kennington, but its not a road i enjoy driving on let alone commuting in deepest darkest december.

Alternative would be to cut down to Tooting and join the CS7.

Any recommendations?

(Even thought about right down Trinity road to pick up CS8 but if i remember correctly Trinity road becomes a dual carriageway part way down?)

rjsterry

I'm not a fan of CS7: too many side turnings and parking bays set into the blue paint. Also, it is absolutely stacked with riders of variable quality in the summer. In contrast A23 to E&C is fine on a bike as there is a bus lane along most of the length. E&C is not as bad as its reputation once you get the hang of it. Trinity Road is a car park in the morning rush hour, the dual carriageway is the good bit, but if you head up Garratt Lane, you can pick up CS8 at Wandsworth - bit of a long way round though.

bobinski

A23 would be my recommendation too. You could miss out E&c by going down Kennington road, then baylis road and on through waterloo and up to Kings x or carry along the river to southwark bridge and go north there, the advantage being bus lanes not a thin blue lane, for more of the ride.

kelsen

A23 is a nightmare for cars as it's an arterial road into London from the south, but for bikes it's no better or worse than any other A road. I normally follow the A23 to the City but occasionally detour via CS7. I agree with rjsterry, the CS7 is full of obstacles whereas the A23 is way less hassle in comparison.

buccal

Thanks for the replies, some really useful info there.

Looks like A23 all the way in, Kennington road/Baylis sounds like a great idea (not an area i'm that familiar with).

Will try and get a few practice runs in over the next few weeks.

rjsterry

The good thing is that you have a few options, so if there's some big hold up on one route, you can use another, or just alternate for a bit of variety.

cornerblock

Alternatively, Streatham High Road, Sternhold Avenue, Kings Avenue, Bedford Road, Clapham Road, Jeffrey's Road, Priory Grove, Wandsworth Road, Albert Embankment, Waterloo Bridge ...etc......