New to the Forum

Welcome.
I would really advise posting this in Chat. General is a bit empty. Good place for newbies to find their feet though.

I'm a NLondoner so someone with better local knowledge (Deptford Marmoset, HatBeard, DHope, CyclopsBiker amongst many others) may be able to suggest a better route, but when I ride to the dirty South (Bromley and Beckenham mainly) I go past Hither Green.
Based on that, I would go A21 into Lewisham, left at the roundabout and up the hill (Loampit Vale/Lewisham Way), down into New Cross (A20), around the one way system and onto New Cross Road/Old Kent Road (A2), across the roundabout and up Great Dover Street into Borough. Turn right at the lights (onto the A3) when you see Borough Tube Station and follow the A3 up the slope (hill is too grand a word for it) and across London Bridge. Not too hilly (apart from Loampit Vale which may look daunting at first, but you'll be fine) and there should be lots of other bikes (potential scalps) around.
Job done.
I kind of envy you as I hear there is lots of SCR* action on the OKR**.

Considering that I ride from Bromley to Blackfriars Bridge in about 45 minutes, I would allow about 30-40 minutes for the commute, but thats just me, YMMV.


I've always liked the look of Airnimals. How does it ride?

*Silly Commuter Racing. You may have to ask for ajudication for your FCN on an Airnimal. You could be a scalping machine!
** OKR = Old Kent Road

Enjoy!

Edit: Check out Deptford Marmoset's Cycling Buddies thread. I think it is EXACTLY what you want.

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Welcome.
I would really advise posting this in Chat. General is a bit empty. Good place for newbies to find their feet though.

I'm a NLondoner so someone with better local knowledge (Deptford Marmoset, HatBeard, DHope, CyclopsBiker amongst many others) may be able to suggest a better route, but when I ride to the dirty South (Bromley and Beckenham mainly) I go past Hither Green.
Based on that, I would go A21 into Lewisham, left at the roundabout and up the hill (Loampit Vale/Lewisham Way), down into New Cross (A20), around the one way system and onto New Cross Road/Old Kent Road (A2), across the roundabout and up Great Dover Street into Borough. Turn right at the lights (onto the A3) when you see Borough Tube Station and follow the A3 up the slope (hill is too grand a word for it) and across London Bridge. Not too hilly (apart from Loampit Vale which may look daunting at first, but you'll be fine) and there should be lots of other bikes (potential scalps) around.
Job done.
I kind of envy you as I hear there is lots of SCR* action on the OKR**.
Enjoy!

Do a search for the Catford Gyratory thread on commuting chat. There is some route advice in that, and others who travel in from Hither Green.

EKE has some good advice, particularly to pop to 'Cycling Chat'. The route is fine (and this is my route between Lewisham and the Dun Cow), but I think OKR is a little overrated at present. The surface is poor in too many places; the motor traffic can be a little awkward and pushy, particularly past the buses at the Dun Cow/Tescos; and the Great Dover St roundabout can be a little fast and daunting to cross towards London (not so bad coming out). Also, currently there is some nasty water main work going on. It boils down to a matter of confidence.

Blackheath and Greenwich? Hmm, not much in the way of hills in SE London, but that is possibly the hilliest route you could choose without going out of your way.

An alternative, and possibly flatter route (not that Lewisham Way is much of a hill), would be to get to Loampit Vale (I think the Catford Gyratory thread mentions some cycle paths from Hither Green-ish to Lewisham), then take Thurston Rd/Brookmill Rd, Deptford Church Street (very nasty surface), then Evelyn St and then follow the bikes. It gets less nice near London Bridge, though. Others may give some comment about the suitability of that route.

Nice to have some route variation available, though. Blackheath/Greenwich would be lovely (but knackering) on a balmy summer's evening.

Welcome to the forum and to cycle commuting in London.

FCN 12. Possible secret scalper!

I see you lurking in Chat. You gonna post or what?!

Join usssssssssssssssssssss.

fj - i've had a joey sport for a few years and really like it. it's great for using with the train, handles well and can take longer rides fairly well. i still use it a couple of times a month and while it feels a bit more upright than a road bike it can certainly shift when you stick some effort in.

i hope you enjoy the bike as much as i have - it was the starting point that got me back cycling regularly and resulted in my garage being filled with bikes.

you hopefully won't need them, but i'd recommend finding some clip-on mudguards (sks raceblades do a 24" size suitable for the airnimal). they're not perfect, and can be a fiddle to fit, but for preventing you and bike getting manky they at least pretend to be helpful. the other thing (if you don't already have one on the bike) is the airnimal commuting strap - it fits to the handlebars and gives you a way of attaching the bars to the downtube.