London commute route advice

bernardmcdonald

I am planning on commuting from Camberley direction into London a couple of times per week. I have the following two routes in mind:

http://goo.gl/maps/f07SY

http://goo.gl/maps/4wskA

Distance won't be a problem, but I am looking for suggestions and feedback on my route options. Any suggestions for safer, quicker or more pleasant sections of the route would be gratefully received.

Cheers

bockers

Very similar to routes I have used.

The first one is close to what I used. In the end I found heading into Hampton, Fulwell then Twickenham, through Richmond, the upper Richmond road and then Mortlake, Barnes and over the river at Hamersmith then Fulham Palace road, then left onto Lille Road and this them merges with your route again. This seemed to me to be the least congested and quickest route on a road bike. There is a cycle track in front of the Hammersmith Odeon so you don’t have to negotiate the terrible one way system. Your route takes in more green space, and hills

The second option is awful, I still use these roads on my current commute and they are dull dull dull. The A30 coming into Staines is not much fun either. The Ashford Bedfont Brentford Section on the A4 is terrible. Better to go though Hounslow, Iselworth and along the River to Kew. I did this route a handful of times and hated it. A more industrial area and traffic was busier and faster. Chiswick was no fun for a cyclist either.

In summary I like your first route and think you should stick to that with a few variations in orfer to keep it fresh. Try the Brentford Chiswick ride though and you will appreciate the more southerly route i am sure

bernardmcdonald

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. Much appreciated

I suspected the first route would be better. Is this the alteration you suggested?:
http://goo.gl/maps/muRmy

Also, do you mind me asking - what time of day did you ride this into London? I'm planning to leave home about 6, so would expect to be in crossing the river about 7-30 to 8am.

bockers

bernardmcdonald wrote:

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. Much appreciated

I suspected the first route would be better. Is this the alteration you suggested?:
http://goo.gl/maps/muRmy

Yep, that's the route

bernardmcdonald wrote:

Also, do you mind me asking - what time of day did you ride this into London? I'm planning to leave home about 6, so would expect to be in crossing the river about 7-30 to 8am.

Starting at Chertsey I left at 6:45 and reckoned on getting to work about 8:30, ready for shower etc and in the office before 9. Roads did not get busy till Richmond and the crossing at Hammersmith was fine. Twice a week was my limit and on a coupel of occasions i took the train part way on the way home. Mainly from Mortlake to Fulwell or Shepperton. it's nice to have places on route you can ditch if you feel like it.

I also tried driving to Hampton in the morning, parking up then cycling the rest of the way, this took the journey time and distance down when i did not feel like a 50 mile day.

I love riding in Central London especially the blast home on a Summer evening blasting down Fleet street the Strand and then the Mall. I did a few variations on the way home to take in the Kings road and other areas especially on hot summer days and would look for a nice pub to replenish with a swift half. The freedom to go anywhere without worrying about traffic is great.

Worst part was rain on the street after a long dry period as the roads are slippy with the oil dropped over the dry days. Other things to watch are pedestrians and passengers opening car doors as you are riding up the inside, this nearly did for me 3 times all in the same area near Harrods.

Writing this has really brought back some great memories.

redhanded

From Hammersmith, you could also look at going Hammersmith Rd / High St Kensington / Hyde Park as I think this route is a bit more direct than the one going through Fulham.

High St Kensington can be a bit crap and snarled up with traffic but the stretch from Hyde Park / Constitution Hill / the Mall is usually great.

asprilla

Personally I'd continuer from Hampton Court into Kingston and then go up through Richmond Park and over the river at Putney. Follow New Kings Road and then onto Embankment at Edith Grove. It's the easiest and fastest moving route into London by far.

bernardmcdonald

Thanks for this feedback and the suggestions.

I haven't tried this yet, but I will in the coming weeks. I am hoping to try some variations on the route as discussed above, and I will report back for anyone who is interested.