Cycle Superhighway CS7 – Just too Busy!!!

Levi_501

I have now been commuting to and from work for ten years. When I started, there were a handful of others and no cycle lanes. Come winter, there were even less cyclists.

As we all know, since the Cycle Superhighways opened, money has been become tighter and obviously cycling has become more fashionable the number of commuters has gone up tenfold, if not more!

This morning, I was coming in on the CS7 I counted over 50 commuters at several sets of traffic lights. Twice, I nearly did not get through the green light and nearly had to had to wait for the next change!

I must confess, I have been looking at alternative routes and avoiding the CS7 altogether.

Dare I ask what others think and if other Cycle Superhighways are suffering the same problems?

One of the biggest problems is the differing skill sets and mentality levels; from all out blasters with no respect for anyone/thing including themselves to the slow wobblers.

If the sheer number of cyclists is so great that they cannot get through green lights, I think ‘You're gonna need a bigger boat’ Boris!

MonkeyMonster

Self awareness appears to be the biggest issue tbh. know yourself and your capabilities plus how much space you take up etc. The blocking pile ups I've seen would likely be resolved by those who "think" they are faster not clogging up the works by muscling in, in front.
That and just accepting that actually - like a car, you won't *always* get through a busy junction on the first light change in your favour.

Kieran_Burns

and who ever thought someone would be making THAT post?

Move up here. We're still so rare we point at each other.

monkimark

Look on the bright side - travelling in a peleton of 50 should mean no SMIDSYs.

If everybody just stayed in line at lights it would be fine, the faster riders naturally mover through the pack between the lights. People repeatedly pushing up to the front at the lights, only to hold everyone up as they wobble off again drive me mad.

Just imagine the alternatives - squeezed onto a packed tube, sitting in a stationary etc. Being held up at a junction occasionally isn't that bad, and there are alternative routes if you want to keep the speed up (although being less direct, probably no quicker)

Levi_501

MonkeyMonster wrote:

The blocking pile ups I've seen would likely be resolved by those who "think" they are faster not clogging up the works by muscling in, in front.

Oh yes!

Gets me the ones that do not realise how long it takes to stop; then crash into the back of you at the red fairy light and 'sorry mate'

UndercoverElephant

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Move up here. We're still so rare we point at each other.

If they're laughing at the same time, it may not just be that you're another cyclist.

Kieran_Burns

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Move up here. We're still so rare we point at each other.

If they're laughing at the same time, it may not just be that you're another cyclist.

You try to be nice to some people.....

elbowloh

I use the CS7, however, I join it at 7am in the morning and am at work by 8, so miss a lot of the cycle "congestion"!

Yeah, there is a big range of skillsets, but the poor/new riders will only improve by cycling more and by learning from the more experienced riders. Rarely will any of these cyclists actually be taught/trained in cycling "etiquette" or the rules of the road. So, on that note, it is down to the experienced riders to lead by example and not cycle like idiots. However, as we all know, this doesn't always happen.

It's a cliché, but I guess "its a good problem to have".

mtb-idle

I'm a long term commuter too. Commuted from Ewell to Cannon Street in 2003/2004 before a break of a few years and have been commuting from Ewell to Canary Wharf since 2009. Yes, I too have seen lots of changes, mostly for the good. I used to be the only cyclist who ever went beyond South wimbledon tube station now there's dozens of us.

I thought of a number of answers to this as I read it but I see that most of them have already been answered. My thoughts in no particular order are:

• leave earlier
• chillax; you are on your bike which you presumably ride because you enjoy it. the alternative is sweating in a train or cursing in a car
• more cyclists is cool
• more cyclists does get noticed by the authorities (note the number of old people sitting at the side of the road in yellow jackets doing a body count) and tings should change for the better i.e. more Cycle Superhighways/cycling infrastructure
• we are human beings who rose above the animals due to our ability to create communities/converse rationally with each other. You can try to educate others who you perceive as having less cycle skills as yourself
• doubtless there are other things I have forgotten to add here
• don't I repeat don't move up North; it's a hell-hole

anonymousblackfg

I agree entirely, these days I head in earlier to avoid the chaos. Though I agree with MTB Idles comments of being relaxed, at the same time a gentle comment or screaming at is needed with our fellow riders, why should the first time they learn of the dangers of sitting in the blind spot of a left turning HVG be when coming out of a coma?

The numbers of us do keep growing, just look at the cycle flow data from TFL. However the notion of less SMIDSY's just does not stack up on CS7, the resident population of DT are just too sh*t a drivers to stop this by sheer numbers of us pushing them off the road.

http://data.london.gov.uk/datastore/pac ... ad-network

Levi_501

Interesting comments, especially as some of us may have met each other already without realising!

Apart from today, I have also taken to leaving earlier. I am very often well on the CS7 by 7, if not coming to the end of it.

However this morning I left later but cycling along it to arrive in the City for about 8:45 was a good reminder why I leave earlier!

BTW and for clarity, I am very relaxed when cycling in; it is not worth getting all stressed. I did see the other day (IIRC, tube strike day) a woman and a man having a full blown argument along the CS7 between fairy lights.

cookeeemonster

The CS3 is the same on cable street (and to a lesser extent, narrow st/popular/limehouse) and you really need to just relax, chillout and not get wound up by the idiots among us...else you'll be permanently stressed and peed off (in the summer, that is).

Theres even been an upsurge on the A13 stretch - I saw 4 cyclists bunched together heading under the north circular the other week - I honestly thought 'are they friends or something' but as I approached it turned out they weren't

alansd1980

Another cs7 long haul/long time commuter
The last 6 months has been noticebly busier to me. Its not so much the people wobbling along in the gutter that worry me but the people flying along on sections of road that are dangerous without any awareness of others.

Just cause someone can get to 25 or 26 mph doesnt mean they should.

I try to accept its taking a few minutes longer than it used to and try to just enjoy it.

if you want to avoid cs7, there are quieter back roads from Clapham north down to the bottom of tooting that cross the commons that I used to take.

vimfuego

Have to agree - I ride in from Epsom to Tower Hill every day & usually hit Colliers Wood at the bottom of CS7 for about 6.30 or so - makes a massive difference. Even so, now the sun is back out there's way more riders than there were during the winter (yes I'm claiming the moral high ground on that one - you need some perks for slogging on through the rain and 70mph gusting headwinds :- ) - the journey home at 5 is an altogether different experience though.... As has been said, you just chillax, anticipate that the nodder in front probably won't shoulder check before moving out, adapt accordingly and get on with your ride - all the while trying your best to set a good example and not let the red mist get involved. We all started somewhere and we all make mistakes from time to time. Does annoy the funk out me when the plodder you passed 100m back manouevres in front of you at the lights though :evil: - deep breaths Vim, deep breaths....... and relax.

Fact is though, it's a good thing that more people are riding (by-product of the Olympics & Wiggins, Froome and Cavendish etc) and the more of us there are the more likely we'll get noticed and the more likely more of those bad drivers (not all drivers are bad) will know someone who rides and so will maybe change their mindset - if its just one at least it helps. There's also some great lycra clad "scenery" out there too.

mtb-idle

despite my earlier comments re chillaxing i couldn't help myself this morning.

Chopper on a black hybrid, tall bloke overdressed for the weather, all in black but with a hi-viz bib, presumably for safety porpoises but the way he was riding negated any benefits he was getting from the bib.

First noticed him on CS7 on the Clapham to Stockwell section, riding aggressively and blasting through red lights which I thought was a bit stoopid particularly as everyone, cars and riders alike had just had to manoeuvre around an ambulance and paramedic attending to a pedestrian who was flat on her back and covered in a blanket half way down Clapham High Street (think she had been hit by a motorbike but I could be wrong).

He wasn't fast and he's not the only RLJ'er so I ignored him. He continued to do this up to the E&C and even blasted in front of a pedestrian using a crossing then hopped up onto the pavement, cut up a young couple walking and abused them which was out of order and then hops back onto the road but I still retained my calm.

Over the first roundabout and onto the second. He approaches the set of lights near the tube entrance and the lights were clearly red. The traffic had started pulling out of the road which enters from the left. He speeds up, jumping the red light and cuts out behind a motorbike and in front of a coach that is pulling out onto the roundabout.

"you faaarkin aaaarrr***e-hole" I shout, more out of surprise at the stupidity of the manoeuvre than anger. Made a couple of riders who were sitting at the lights laugh and had a short bit of banter with them.

Will check out Strava activity playback this evening to see if i can cyber-identify him but watch out for him; he's a menace.

markhewitt1978

You know what usually happens if a route is congested - it need widening, or otherwise upgrading.

DIG UP THE ROAD!

kurako

After 8am there aren't that many cyclists but Oh My God! the amount of traffic was horrendous. Cars everywhere, loads of lorries and vans blocking sightlines, buses blocking filter lines. Was a real battle just to get down the road. South Wimbledon, Collier's Wood, Tooting, Balham, Clapham it's all just one big clusterf*ck of metal and fumes. Horrible, horrible, horrible. Never again at least not for a long long time...

mtb-idle

I'm usually in Canary Wharf by 8 am but yes you are right, it does get very busy at that time but hey ho, so does everywhere else.

vimfuego

Saw another cyclist down this morning - on the run between Stockwell & Oval. Seemed OK - rozzers were there and she seemed just a bit shocked, rather than badly injured.

The buses jumping the lights and blocking the junctions at Tooting Bec, Oval, LB (insert name of junction here) drive me up the wall. And if you follow the CS7 route southbound from Southwark Bridge avoiding E&C - must be at least twice a week there's a bus parked over the crossing by the college when the lights eventually change. A bit off topic but GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR nonetheless

anonymousblackfg

MTB-Idle wrote:

cars and riders alike had just had to manoeuvre around an ambulance and paramedic attending to a pedestrian who was flat on her back and covered in a blanket half way down Clapham High Street (think she had been hit by a motorbike but I could be wrong).

I headed past this but I think the girl was the motorcyclist as she was on her back with helmet and gloves placed next to her and what looked like black waterproof trousers on, no sign of any other obvious motorcyclist at the scene though.

I think i've seen your guy before, jumps absolutely everything, but not that aggressively. Thinking about CS7 business I realise i've been one of the additions in th4e last 6 months but only due to a house move.

I was having to deal with some chopper RLJ'ing on a half decent road bike with Shimano deep sections and clip on mudguards (surely not allowed). Sadly I lost him after he blasted through one set in Balham.

Levi_501

I think I know who you mean, he has very high handle bars and rides in a very upright position, plus wears full winter gear even in the summer.

The bit I hate most on the CS7 is homeward bound, between Tooting Bec tube station until just after the Sainsbury's at Tooting Broadway. The amount of people who walk out on to the road without looking is mind blowing and obviously the heroic skills of some drivers along there. Not to mention the Polundland lorry!

That bit of road seems a lot worse going home on that bit.

vimfuego

You're not wrong there. Heading South through Tooting in the evening is a nightmare - must be 4 pedestrian crossings? but pedestrians don't seem to use any of them - just step out any time a car seems like it might stop and don't bother looking for bikes. You've got to be switched on down there & assume that every car/bus/truck is piloted by a moron who's out to kill you and all pedestrians have a death wish. Coupel of weeks ago I was nearly taken out by a tipper truck that left hooked into the cycle lane to undertake something/one - luckily I could see it coming & have a habit of giving those bad boys as wide a berth as possible.

Still - could be worse.......

il_principe

What a lovely problem to have. Surprised it bothers you.

If you want to go fast how about getting in a pre-commute ride? Then just bimble in and enjoy the fact that more and more people are actually riding bikes.

anonymousblackfg

I've not had too many problems with peds...

In the morning it's people in cars being let through slow moving traffic just to rat run across CS7, in the evening its people coming out of side roads just deciding they will and you'll just have to deal with it!

I had a call back from the Met over a driving complaint in Tooting and was told though sweet FA would happen, they monitor the number of complaints and send more rozzers to police those areas. I told him it didn't take a genious to realise that DT is a death trap for cyclists!

menthel

CS7 is busy at the moment, both with bikes and motor vehicles. No point getting angy and excitable on it or trying to race, just take it easy and maintain a good pace where possible. You will be surprised that it actually doesn't slow you down that much.

Tooting is "interesting" to say the least but having lived there for 5 years I just know that you have to take it easy and expect cars and peds to do the stupidest, most unexpected thing at any time. It adds to the spice of life!

raymondo60

CS7 regular here, Epsom to Holborn,though I jump off at Clapham Common on the way in, go through Clapham Old Town, then up the Wandsworth Road, sprint through the Vauxhall one-way, then along to Waterloo Bridge (which is better now they have re-opened the Kingsway Underpass).

Yes its busy, but when the weather is benign, as it has been recently, that's going to happen. The first sign of autumn and the numbers usually drop. Weirdly though, I've never seen as many cyclists as menthel claims; I leave Epsom between 7:30-8:00am; on some days I'll not see another cyclist until Colliers Wood, although obviously more and more as I get nearer town. I guess we are victims of our own success, but we're faced with 'congestion' whatever our choice of transport; bike, car, train, tube.....

Tooting High Street? In the evenings (especially Thursdays and Fridays) I call it the 'Tunnel of Death'!! Gotta have eyes in the back of your head there, at all times!!

Safe journeys peeps.

menthel

Raymondo60 wrote:

CS7 regular here, Epsom to Holborn,though I jump off at Clapham Common on the way in, go through Clapham Old Town, then up the Wandsworth Road, sprint through the Vauxhall one-way, then along to Waterloo Bridge (which is better now they have re-opened the Kingsway Underpass).

Yes its busy, but when the weather is benign, as it has been recently, that's going to happen. The first sign of autumn and the numbers usually drop. Weirdly though, I've never seen as many cyclists as menthel claims; I leave Epsom between 7:30-8:00am; on some days I'll not see another cyclist until Colliers Wood, although obviously more and more as I get nearer town. I guess we are victims of our own success, but we're faced with 'congestion' whatever our choice of transport; bike, car, train, tube.....

Tooting High Street? In the evenings (especially Thursdays and Fridays) I call it the 'Tunnel of Death'!! Gotta have eyes in the back of your head there, at all times!!

Safe journeys peeps.

I think Levi did the claiming. I have never seen 50+ before perosnally but by Tooting Bec there are often 10+ and by Clapham South there are often 20+ when I go through.

raymondo60

quote] I think Levi did the claiming. I have never seen 50+ before perosnally but by Tooting Bec there are often 10+ and by Clapham South there are often 20+ when I go through.[/quote]

I'm still waiting to meet you though menthel!! I bet we've met already but just don't realise it! I'm currently riding my bright orange Trek District - please say hi if you spot me!

menthel

Raymondo60 wrote:

quote] I think Levi did the claiming. I have never seen 50+ before perosnally but by Tooting Bec there are often 10+ and by Clapham South there are often 20+ when I go through.

I'm still waiting to meet you though menthel!! I bet we've met already but just don't realise it! I'm currently riding my bright orange Trek District - please say hi if you spot me![/quote]

Will do! I am going to be on my Italia on the way home as I found my 00 with a visit from the fairy when I went out to the bike this morning.