East Anglia to London - Know a Good Route?

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Rickenbacker_Al
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East Anglia to London - Know a Good Route?

Post by Rickenbacker_Al »

Planning a trip into central London (we're not that bothered exactly where in central London) from near Norwich; can get ourselves to Bury St Edmunds along cycle-friendly lanes but it's unknown territory after that. Anyone have any favourite or recommended routes for getting into the capital from there?
raaab
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Re: East Anglia to London - Know a Good Route?

Post by raaab »

Hi,

I have cycled between Cambridge and London a bit, having lived in Royston, Herts for a while. There are some nice quite enough routes between Cambridge and London

From Cambridge to London via, Barrington, Sheprith, Fowlmere, Barley, Barkway, Hare Street, Thundridge, Ware and onto the Canal from Ware into East London. Canal path is a bit bumpy so suitability depends on your bike and if you prefer towpaths to urban roads
drossall
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Re: East Anglia to London - Know a Good Route?

Post by drossall »

raab's route is good, but if you're going via Bury then Cambridge means curving a bit north. The benefit of this is that it's flatter if you keep west of a line between roughly Newmarket and Royston. On the other hand, this is East Anglia, not mid Wales. As long as you keep off A roads, pretty-much any route in that area is going to be good, and even some A roads aren't that bad.
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Tigerbiten
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Re: East Anglia to London - Know a Good Route?

Post by Tigerbiten »

If you're coming to London from the north near Cambridge, you could always check out/ join up to the LEL route as that runs near to where your going.
Plus the Lee Valley can then get you further in.
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Re: East Anglia to London - Know a Good Route?

Post by Norman H »

+1 for theLee Valley
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robgul
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Re: East Anglia to London - Know a Good Route?

Post by robgul »

From Bury you could follow the Dun Run route the other way?

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Sweep
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Re: East Anglia to London - Know a Good Route?

Post by Sweep »

If you wanted to be a bit cheeky/not cycle all the way and have an oyster card you could work out a nice route on cycletravel to Upminster. With an oyster card off peak you can then get to Whitechapel for a mere £1.50. District line tube all the way, or, to speed things up, the train a while then change. It is actually possible to travel further for this bargain £1.50 fare, into south London for instance, as long as you avoid the central area.
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mercalia
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Re: East Anglia to London - Know a Good Route?

Post by mercalia »

Norman H wrote:+1 for theLee Valley



trouble is you will end up along the lee valley ( lee & stort canal path ) later on in the day - maybe not a good idea as previous post has pointed out muggers have been known to hang around certain parts in London
simonhill
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Re: East Anglia to London - Know a Good Route?

Post by simonhill »

It might help if you say: what bikes; rough speed (a day or two?); what sort of roads; how you want to navigate; happy to use trains or tube; etc

I've ridden much of that area on day rides, but it's been slow progress as I use 1:50,00 OS maps and lots of stopping to check. The less stopping normally means bigger roads, which are the most direct route.

You can borrow OS maps from your local library to save buying.
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mjr
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Re: East Anglia to London - Know a Good Route?

Post by mjr »

robgul wrote:From Bury you could follow the Dun Run route the other way?

You could, but the London end of that might not be much fun at a busier time of day and without the company of dozens of other riders.

If I was trying to avoid the Lea Valley, I'd head for Clare, then Takeley near Stansted airport, then south to Toot Hill, Loughton, Woodford, Leytonstone, Stratford but I've not ridden it except CS2 from Stratford.
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Richard Fairhurst
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Re: East Anglia to London - Know a Good Route?

Post by Richard Fairhurst »

mercalia wrote:trouble is you will end up along the lee valley ( lee & stort canal path ) later on in the day - maybe not a good idea as previous post has pointed out muggers have been known to hang around certain parts in London


I've cycled and boated much dodgier waterways than the River Lee and never had any problems. The real problem is when a few incidents give a waterway a reputation as a no-go area (as happened with the Ashton Canal in the 80s/90s), at which point it becomes self-perpetuating.

We did have to chase some stone-throwing scally kids away in Chester once, but that's why you carry a freshly sharpened billhook on board and make sure one of your crew has a big black coat that makes him look like the Grim Reaper.
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drossall
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Re: East Anglia to London - Know a Good Route?

Post by drossall »

Sweep wrote:If you wanted to be a bit cheeky/not cycle all the way and have an oyster card you could work out a nice route on cycletravel to Upminster. With an oyster card off peak you can then get to Whitechapel for a mere £1.50. District line tube all the way, or, to speed things up, the train a while then change. It is actually possible to travel further for this bargain £1.50 fare, into south London for instance, as long as you avoid the central area.

You'd have to be careful about cycle carriage rules. Are non-folders allowed even off peak? Not on the line sections that are actually underground, surely? And whilst you are allowed a folder, I'd imagine it's not easy to get one on and off in peak hours.
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Sweep
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Re: East Anglia to London - Know a Good Route?

Post by Sweep »

Richard Fairhurst wrote:
mercalia wrote:trouble is you will end up along the lee valley ( lee & stort canal path ) later on in the day - maybe not a good idea as previous post has pointed out muggers have been known to hang around certain parts in London


I've cycled and boated much dodgier waterways than the River Lee and never had any problems. The real problem is when a few incidents give a waterway a reputation as a no-go area (as happened with the Ashton Canal in the 80s/90s), at which point it becomes self-perpetuating.

We did have to chase some stone-throwing scally kids away in Chester once, but that's why you carry a freshly sharpened billhook on board and make sure one of your crew has a big black coat that makes him look like the Grim Reaper.


mm richard, I'd second mercalia's advice about not being on the urban bits of the Lee/Lea after dusk. It's true of all traffic free routes, so I'm not saying the Lee/Lea is the wild west. I know someone who was mugged twice* on the pretty pretty Waterlink Way in Sydenham. And as for a billhook, I think you might well end up on a charge.

* He's a twonk so if I bumped into him there after dark I could let him claim a hat trick, but that's another matter :twisted:
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Sweep
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Re: East Anglia to London - Know a Good Route?

Post by Sweep »

drossall wrote:
Sweep wrote:If you wanted to be a bit cheeky/not cycle all the way and have an oyster card you could work out a nice route on cycletravel to Upminster. With an oyster card off peak you can then get to Whitechapel for a mere £1.50. District line tube all the way, or, to speed things up, the train a while then change. It is actually possible to travel further for this bargain £1.50 fare, into south London for instance, as long as you avoid the central area.

You'd have to be careful about cycle carriage rules. Are non-folders allowed even off peak? Not on the line sections that are actually underground, surely? And whilst you are allowed a folder, I'd imagine it's not easy to get one on and off in peak hours.

No problem off peak on that bit of the district line - more of the Underground than many people think (including some ticket office staff - one at my local south London station said I couldn't take a bike from Chalfont to Farringdon on the Underground) is OK for bikes off peak - there's a map buried away on the TFL web site. The basic rule I think is that all is OK as long as you are not on the "deep tube" - and a lot of the network is not deep tube.
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Re: East Anglia to London - Know a Good Route?

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