North London - thoughts on a route?

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lucazzo
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North London - thoughts on a route?

Post by lucazzo »

Hello everyone,

New member, and this is my first post (apologies for any faux pas!)

I'm looking into a daily commute to work on my bike, and have started plotting possible routes. In essence, I need to get from the Colindale Asda to right around the Tate Modern

The trip would be 2 main sections: the first straight down Edgware Road, and the second through central London.

Image

Image

I have a couple of questions:
1) A part of the trip that concerns me would be the Staples Corner section of Edgware Road (see second image, upper section) I've only been around this area on foot, and to call it "hectic" would be an understatement. It looks poor for cyclists, so I was wondering if anyone might have any insight on biking through this awful intersection. If you could avoid that area altogether, how would you re-route?

2) Any sections of the central London part of my itinerary that you would change? Any heads up, or roads to absolutely avoid? (I'm keen to avoid Bayswater if possible).

Any other comments or suggestions on this the route would be incredibly helpful. Huge thanks in advance!
mercalia
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Re: North London - thoughts on a route?

Post by mercalia »

have you actually tried it? seems a long commute
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mjr
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Re: North London - thoughts on a route?

Post by mjr »

lucazzo wrote:1) A part of the trip that concerns me would be the Staples Corner section of Edgware Road (see second image, upper section) I've only been around this area on foot, and to call it "hectic" would be an understatement. It looks poor for cyclists, so I was wondering if anyone might have any insight on biking through this awful intersection. If you could avoid that area altogether, how would you re-route?

It's been years since I've been there but I think decent cycling crossings are limited. I'd travel the mile extra to cross the North Circular near Golders Green and skirt Hampstead Heath, as shown at http://cycle.travel/map/journey/41870
lucazzo wrote:2) Any sections of the central London part of my itinerary that you would change? Any heads up, or roads to absolutely avoid? (I'm keen to avoid Bayswater if possible).

Any other comments or suggestions on this the route would be incredibly helpful. Huge thanks in advance!

Why Bayswater? Fairly wide boulevards there and some handy little cycle-only cut throughs and one-way exceptions which make it fairly easy, plus CS3 is expanding into the area. Personally, I avoid Euston Road these days by using the streets parallel to the south and that seems to be on your route.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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bohrsatom
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Re: North London - thoughts on a route?

Post by bohrsatom »

I don't know N London that well so can't comment on that, but your current route takes you through Regent's Park and I'd follow this route to get you to the tate: http://cycle.travel/map/journey/41882

Image

Takes in a large chunk of quiet roads and two long segregated sections from the BT Tower to Gray's Inn Road, and CS6 from Farringdon down to Blackfriars.

In my experience cycling in Westminster is crap due to the 1 way streets, too much car parking and no segregation so my target would be to spend as little time there as possible :)
Norman H
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Re: North London - thoughts on a route?

Post by Norman H »

mjr wrote:

It's been years since I've been there but I think decent cycling crossings are limited. I'd travel the mile extra to cross the North Circular near Golders Green and skirt Hampstead Heath


Good advice.

There's a route down Colindale Avenue past Colindale Station and along Aerodrome road. Cross the A41 at the lights controlled crossing and up Greyhound Hill/Church End. Turn left at the T Junction and right at the lights (A502) Continue straight through to cross the N Circular and on through Golders Green and up to the Heath (Whitestone Pond). From here you have various options. Haverstock Hill is the direct route but there are plenty of roads running roughly parallel. I would suggest doing some reconnaissance on the bike at the week end
lucazzo
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Re: North London - thoughts on a route?

Post by lucazzo »

Hello everyone!

Thanks for all your replies. I finally attempted the trip today, which took more or less the following routes:

1) Down Edgware Road until it intersected St. John's Wood.
2) Followed the southern boundary of Regent's Park
3) Down Regent Street to Trafalgar Square
4) Northumberland Road until hitting Embankment superhighway
5) Across Blackfriars bridge.

Some thoughts:

1) The Edgware Road section was by far the calmest and easiest, despite the size of the road and the fast traffic. This was what made me most apprehensive, and it turned out to be a breeze. Also very nice to run into a number of other cyclists and travel in a bit of a group.
2) Regent Street section made me a bit murderous. One doesn't consider all the traffic lights when walking it but, damn, couldn't go 30 seconds without stopping.
3) Mad Max Fury Road might be more tranquil than the cycle superhighway.

Overall a good trip, made in good time (1:20hr). Will try the "scenic" variation down Hyde Park in the coming days and avoid Regent Street.
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mjr
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Re: North London - thoughts on a route?

Post by mjr »

lucazzo wrote:1) The Edgware Road section was by far the calmest and easiest, despite the size of the road and the fast traffic. This was what made me most apprehensive, and it turned out to be a breeze. Also very nice to run into a number of other cyclists and travel in a bit of a group.

Yeah, availability of groups cycling the same route is a big factor in places like London and not something that we can see easily from maps or route planners (I wonder whether cycle.travel includes cycling traffic data in its consideration, like it avoids routes with lots of motor traffic). On some routes (CS7, for example), it means it's easier to ride on bigger roads at certain times.

Well done!
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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Richard Fairhurst
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Re: North London - thoughts on a route?

Post by Richard Fairhurst »

mjr wrote:Yeah, availability of groups cycling the same route is a big factor in places like London and not something that we can see easily from maps or route planners (I wonder whether cycle.travel includes cycling traffic data in its consideration, like it avoids routes with lots of motor traffic).


Yes, it does a little - a road with lots of cars and lots of bikes will be rated better than one with lots of cars and not many bikes. (But if there are lots of HGVs it'll be downrated regardless.)
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