Commute time Surrey (Epsom) to central London

[erasrupe]

Hi - I'm thinking of cycle commuting from Epsom in Surrey to central London each morning. Would anyone have any idea how long this takes? I am conscious that traffic lights and other traffic could slow things down so any estimates appreciated. Or commuting times from South London such as Morden to central London would also be very useful. Thanks!

[Jupestar]

Google reckons 1hr 45 from the racecourse to St Paul’s Cathedral .

[erasrupe]

Many thanks. I am wondering how rush hour traffic 7:30am will slow me down. I will have to try it!

[Pete Owens]

The main factor will be how fast you can ride 15 miles. Unless there are particularly constricted sections of the A24 where you cannot filter past queuing traffic other things will be of secondary importance.

[Sweep]

The main factor will be how fast you can ride 15 miles. Unless there are particularly constricted sections of the A24 where you cannot filter past queuing traffic other things will be of secondary importance.

Exactly - I don't think rush hour traffic will make much difference - that's the beauty of the bicycle of course.
On time, I tend to find google gives a fair estimate, though I would never use it for the actual detailed routeing.
I would advise a trial run for the OP before the commute has to be done in earnest.
For urban routeing I use cyclestreets - slow response compared to cycletravel's lightning processing but better for urban areas I think and gives three clear alternative routes depending on preferences/ability to tolerate busy roads.
https://www.cyclestreets.net/

[erasrupe]

Thank you, that's helpful.

[Boring_Username]

I find the main thing the slows me down is not traffic, but traffic lights. Where possible, I pick a route with fewer lights, even if it is slightly longer.

[Sweep]

I find the main thing the slows me down is not traffic, but traffic lights. Where possible, I pick a route with fewer lights, even if it is slightly longer.

Cyclestreets as above tells you how many traffic lights there are on a route.
Do they really slow up that much unless the junction is a major busy one or those temporary road work ones which usually use inefficient switching for safety reasons?
I often find that for a fair amount of the time lights are on red I am often filtering up the traffic queues.
Must admit I have never done any mathematical analysis of this.

[Boring_Username]

Do they really slow up that much unless the junction is a major busy one or those temporary road work ones which usually use inefficient switching for safety reasons?

Fair enough. Most don't, all that much. Some do, a lot. The system between Birdcage Walk and Victoria Embankment, for example, is awful.

[[XAP]Bob]

I find the main thing the slows me down is not traffic, but traffic lights. Where possible, I pick a route with fewer lights, even if it is slightly longer.

On a decent length journey like that you will probably find that the lights are fairly consistent (you'll hit about the same proportion of them each day) and not actually that significant (assuming you are taking a fairly direct route such that you're not going through a road with twenty in a row

[Jupestar]

Decent length commute is going to be fairly consistent, I would benchmark from Google, its mainly urban London, and relatively flat, traffic does make a difference, but unless your leaving at 5am, your not going to get much benefit from beating it. My personal benchmark for example, would probably be +10% for the first time, then down to to -10/15% once i had familiarised myself and optimised the route a bit. but it depends on your typical speed. 1hr 45 is quite a slog through London roads. Bike choice would be interesting... I feel like pothole fixing has been abandoned since lockdown...

[Pete Owens]

For urban routeing I use cyclestreets - slow response compared to cycletravel's lightning processing but better for urban areas I think and gives three clear alternative routes depending on preferences/ability to tolerate busy roads.
https://www.cyclestreets.net/

I find cycletravels routing more sensible.

Cyclestreets goes to extreme lengths to avoid any classified road whatsoever. Anything from a busway carrying one bus every 10 minutes or a local high street with a 20mph speed limit - to a motorway standard dual carriageway is labelled a "fast and busy road" to be avoide equally. Any off road possibility where cycling is not actually prohibited is deemed equally preferable - whether that is a wide smoth dutch standard cycleway or axle deep mud and assumed to be just as fast as the road.

[xjs]

Generally I find I can't get much faster than a 12mph average commuting through London. I used to do a 16-mile commute which took me 1h15 at first, but got it down to 1 hour on a good day with favourable winds etc. The last half-mile through the heart of town can be very slow indeed....

[Sweep]

For urban routeing I use cyclestreets - slow response compared to cycletravel's lightning processing but better for urban areas I think and gives three clear alternative routes depending on preferences/ability to tolerate busy roads.
https://www.cyclestreets.net/

I find cycletravels routing more sensible.

Cyclestreets goes to extreme lengths to avoid any classified road whatsoever. Anything from a busway carrying one bus every 10 minutes or a local high street with a 20mph speed limit - to a motorway standard dual carriageway is labelled a "fast and busy road" to be avoide equally. Any off road possibility where cycling is not actually prohibited is deemed equally preferable - whether that is a wide smoth dutch standard cycleway or axle deep mud and assumed to be just as fast as the road.

"Cyclestreets goes to extreme lengths ..."
You referring to cyclestreets there or a typo/mindslip?

[ebor62]

I cycle up from Sussex to Kings Cross to catch the train up North quite often. As I have pre booked train tickets I have to be careful with the time. I come into Epsom on the A24 and allow 2 hours from there to Kings Cross, so about 1 hour 40 mins to central London. Using A24 to South Wimbeldon then right for Merton and super highway via Clapham or alternative Earlsfield, Wandsworth and south of the river till Chelsea Bridge. I try different routes on the way back, via Sutton for example. I tend to follow my nose a lot to try different routes, but generally know where I am having lived and worked in London and Surrey for Several years. Even though I commuted 20 miles each way to Brighton for over 20 years I find the ride through London quite a challenge.