Good cycle route into town

[busymum]

Hi, I'm thinking of cycling into work. Can anyone suggest a good cycle route, I'm going from East Dulwich to Tottenham Court Road.

[Ladymuck]

busymum Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi, I'm thinking of cycling into work. Can anyone

> suggest a good cycle route, I'm going from East

> Dulwich to Tottenham Court Road.

Hello busymum,

There are many a route you can take...dependent on personal preference. My advice would be to get yourself the relevant TFL cycle maps. They are free. You can do this by phone (or even possibly on-line) by contacting Transport for London.

Enjoy your commute.

[TonyQuinn]

Best route by far.....cycle down to Peckham Pulse, cycle along the Surrey Canal, go towards Bermondsey, cross at London Bridge, go up towards Old Street and then head along towards Farringdon etc. This route may be longer but it has the advantage of missing out horrid and dangerous junctions like Elephant & Castle...in fact once you learn the backstreets, you won't hit a main road until London Bridge.

[c_m_h]

Route link

[TonyQuinn]

Not a good link for me......too many main roads.

[Weegee]

TonyQuinn Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Best route by far.....cycle down to Peckham Pulse,

> cycle along the Surrey Canal, go towards

> Bermondsey, cross at London Bridge, go up towards

> Old Street and then head along towards Farringdon

> etc. This route may be longer but it has the

> advantage of missing out horrid and dangerous

> junctions like Elephant & Castle...in fact once

> you learn the backstreets, you won't hit a main

> road until London Bridge.

That sounds good. I work near Tate Modern so I could ride that way.

Do you have a map for this route?

[Sandperson]

If you don't mind dodging the dog turds, broken glass, slippery leaves, not-to concerned pedestrians and the lack of lighting the canal route is very good. If you are averse to those things, as I was, I'd say c_m_h's route is as good as any.

[TonyQuinn]

Mmmmm....I don't have a map, I just worked it out. Basically wherever you are in Dulwich, go down to Peckham Pulse. I would go down Fenwich Road off East Dulwich Road and take the roads parallel to Rye Lane; turn right at Blenheim Grove to join Rye Lane; go down Rye Lane, cross to Peckham Pulse, and then cycle along Surrey Canal all the way to the end; turn right at the end and go down Glengall Avenue; at lights cross Old or is it New Kent Road along Mawbrey Road, turn right and right again until you hit Lynton Road; cross Lynton Road onto Willow Walk, all the way to the end, turn right, then left onto Grange Road, and then follow road round until you hit Bermondsey Street, go all the way down until you hit Tooley Street, follow that and you're at London Bridge. There are short cuts even within this route, best if you work out what you're comfortable with!

[James Barber]

Southwark Council provides free cycle tuition and route planning. We all think we know how to cycle but the trainers opened my eyes to a couple of bad cycle habits and suggested some route alternatives.

[nunhead_man]

And do join the London Cycling Campaign who will be pleased to help

See www.lcc.org.uk

[Ladymuck]

nunhead_man Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> And do join the London Cycling Campaign who will

> be pleased to help

>

> See www.lcc.org.uk

And one of the benefits of this is free third party insurance should you be involved in an accident. Well worth it.

[eater81]

that peckham pulse route will take ages, the main problem with getting from ED to that part of town is Elephant and castle, a complete death trap. The roads from there onwards arent much better either, esp between E+C and Wm bridge.

This city really needs to do something about making things better for cylists. I've just been in Amsterdam and the way they do things there is infinitely superior.

[James Barber]

Membership of London Cycling Campaign is CTC both bring cycel shop discounts on acessories and bike bits. Membership of these usually pays for itself every year in discounts.

[busymum]

thanks for all this. how long does it usually take along the canal? I have to admit I would be really worried about cycling through elephant and castle

[bawdy-nan]

you don't need to go round E&c there's a brilliant cycle bypass. I go from ED to Oxford Circus via Peckham, Elephant, Waterloo and Soho and here is my route if that link doesn't work you can also see it here

Its great and there's nothing too scary. I don't do the canal path

I take it quite easy, stop for red lights and don't filter unless its very safe to do so and it takes me about 45 minutes to do the 7.75 miles.

This is another version that goes via Dulwich Village and avoids big roads, you cut across them and there are good lights, a wiggle round Kennington Park, over Lambeth Bridge, by Green Park up the Mall cycle path then wiggle through Mayfair to Oxford Street.

[c_m_h]

'Busy' roads don't suit everyone, but in my experience of commuting almost that exact route everyday, they're much safer than constantly darting down side roads, dodging speeding rat run drivers and kids with footballs etc. A good number of the larger roads I use aren't even busy at peak times - Kennington Road for instance is fine in morning, I often have the bus lane to myself for over a mile.

To echo the above though, the best thing that any new cyclist can do is get road training, it wouldn't be overstating it to say that it saves lives (be very aware of the current issue of filtering alongside heavy goods vehicles).

[c_m_h]

Its worth pointing out on the second bawdy-nan route that there's no legal right turn from Half Moon Lane to Milkwood Road, you'd have to jump the lights and time a break in traffic to cross (or get off the bike and use two ped crossings).

[tomchance]

Two more handy web sites for choosing cycling routes...

A cycle map of the area - http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=51.4665&lon=-0.0731&zoom=14&layers=00B0FTF (actually covers loads of bits of the whole world, but I doubt you'll commute to Cape Town!)

A really excellent cycle route planner - http://london.cyclestreets.net

[cmck83]

Don't cycle down Surrey Canal! It's not the safest place to be cycling, seriously. There is no proper lighting, and lots of incidents happen along there according to the bike forums my boyfriend goes on (ditto Burgess Park).

[tomchance]

cmck83 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Don't cycle down Surrey Canal! It's not the safest

> place to be cycling, seriously. There is no proper

> lighting, and lots of incidents happen along there

> according to the bike forums my boyfriend goes on

> (ditto Burgess Park).

Really? I cycle down it twice a day and have never noticed anything untoward.

If it gets dark you can just follow the on-road section of cycle route 22 down Sumner Road or even go onto Willowbrook Road / Peckham Hill Street if you prefer main roads... http://osm.org/go/euuvHkgm?layers=00B0FTF

During the day the only problem I've ever encountered is irresponsible fellow cyclists going too fast.

[bawdy-nan]

ah yes - the milkwood road issue. I have to confess that I sometimes do take a right there but you can wiggle it by going round onto railton and then down a joining side street

[ImpetuousVrouw]

I use the cycle paths round the back of Elephant & Castle because the roundabouts are a death trap for cyclists. If you come through the Aylsebury Esate out onto New Kent road and cross at the light into Meadow Row, turn left into Rockingham Street you come out at a little bike traffic lights which let's you cross the busy Newington Causeway and go round the back of the roundabout.

Only problem is there is no way to get to Waterloo Bridge road easily without going on the pavement.

[bawdy-nan]

you can use the cycle bypass the other way and it brings you to waterloo bridge quite easily - if you come up portland street (turns into brandon street) and then take the cycle path to come out onto Rodney road 0- follow it round onto Heygate street (ie take the Elephant and castle bypass the opposite way) follow it round cross at the cycl;e crossing onto churchyard row then up brrok drive, kennington road, bayliss road

[pascalo]

Whatever you do, don't cycle down the nearside of HGVs or busses, even if they appear stationary.

They might turn left without indicating, and then you're stuck in the railings.

This is not to scare you off cycling, but to give you the one crucial advice I think everyone should keep in mind. If you stay behind then you're gonna be alright.

As for the routes, I think the canal path is fine in daylight, but risky at night. I would stick to well lit main roads after nightfall.

[TonyQuinn]

I brought up the canal route above, and concur with others.....no need to cycle there during the dark, take the parallel streets, either side. And wear bright clothing and never stick your finger up at a driver.....I did once and he skated in and out of traffic to kill me. I eventually got away and went to the police.

PC: "Can I help you?"

Me: "Yes, I'd like to report an attempted murder...."

PC: "Who's sir?"

Me: "Mine...."

Even though there were CCTV cameras all about, they weren't working that day....otherwise they would have had evidence of the ordeal this maniac put me through.

All good bits of advice.

TQ