Paddington to Kings Cross

[Chuck Glider]

Does anyone know a good route for this? With Regents Park in the vicinity could it even be pleasant?!

[Redvee]

Are we taking station to station? I had some time to kill when the train I wanted to catch went without me, aka I missed it. Being the last train of the day back to Bristol I was a little upset. To kill time I went exploring as I had my bike with me and saw a sign for Kings Cross being 2.5 miles away.

Praed Street --> Chapel Street --> Old Marylebone Rd --> Marylebone Rd.

There is an underpass along Marylebone Road but I bypassed it by going up the slip road and over the top of it. I did ride it at 2am and still busy with traffic but with bus lanes available and confidence on a bike you should be OK on the road.

[theenglishman]

It's central London. It'll never be 'pleasant' I'd get it over with ASAP without trying flash detours.

[Chuck Glider]

I beg to differ on that, Englishman. Over the last 10 years I've had various commute routes in London and some of them were pleasant!
The other reason is to develop a "safe route". Marylebone road, even with bus lanes is to be avoided.

[R_nger]

Not quite King's Cross...but I did Euston to Paddington like this...

http://goo.gl/maps/TZmU

For King's Cross, I think you'd want to get onto Tavistock Place further east.

Reasonably quiet back streets (a relative term in London, I know !), with an unusual cycle lane.

[iviehoff]

With Regents Park in the vicinity could it even be pleasant?!

Unfortunately due to the park gate at teh SW corner of Regents Park being a 1-way exit, and a confluence of very large 1-way roads in that area, it is difficult not practical for the eastbound cyclist to enter the park at its SW corner as an avoidance for the A501. Nor is there a practical exit at the SE corner that keeps you N of the A 501.

I recently was woring on client site near the NE corner of Regent's Park, commuting from Marylebone, and thus did a lot of investigative riding around the park to find the best routes, and I failed to find any useful way of entering the park into its SW corner area. The best I could do in the end was to cycle up to the Mosque about half way up on the west side, which unavoidably involved a short stretch of cycling on the A41.

As a previous poster indicated, the best cycle routes from Paddington to Kings Cross keep south of the A501.

But if you want to prolong your ride by a couple of miles to go around the park, then from the NE end of Old Marylebone Rd, turn right at the lights into Marylebone Rd (this brief encounter with the aid of lights is OK) and take second left into Harewood Ave (immediately before the splendid redbrick victorian Midland Hotel), then R at the T into Rossmore Rd and left at the end into Park Rd (A41) to the Mosque (first set of proper lights) where R to enter the park there. Cycle around the N of the park (where you will be pleasantly delighted byt he infrequency of traffic lights in comparison to the rest of central London), and exit southbound via Park Crescent into Portland Place, where left at the second lights into Weymouth St will put you back onto the route to Kings X.

[Redvee]

We were riding slowly through Regents Park and got told not to by the Police, I did the gallant Englishman thing and sent my female NZ companion over to speak with them which resulted in words only.

[RickH]

We were riding slowly through Regents Park and got told not to by the Police, I did the gallant Englishman thing and sent my female NZ companion over to speak with them which resulted in words only.

A quick look round the Outer Circle in Google Streetview shows "no cycling no skating" painted on the ground at all the entry points I looked at - so I'm guessing they don't want people cycling (or skating)!

[Chuck Glider]

Great info. Thanks!

[TonyR]

It's central London. It'll never be 'pleasant' I'd get it over with ASAP without trying flash detours.

I disagree. Riding in central London can be very pleasant indeed.

[TonyR]

Are we taking station to station? I had some time to kill when the train I wanted to catch went without me, aka I missed it. Being the last train of the day back to Bristol I was a little upset. To kill time I went exploring as I had my bike with me and saw a sign for Kings Cross being 2.5 miles away.

Praed Street --> Chapel Street --> Old Marylebone Rd --> Marylebone Rd.

There is an underpass along Marylebone Road but I bypassed it by going up the slip road and over the top of it. I did ride it at 2am and still busy with traffic but with bus lanes available and confidence on a bike you should be OK on the road.

That's what I do. Quick and simple. The alternative of threading through the back streets just takes to long and you need a map to navigate it the first few times.

[hexhome]

I've used this route before and found it OK.
http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?url=http:/ ... ietest.gpx
I hate Euston Road!

[wakou222]

The canal passes close to both stations, towpath is fine for bikes.

[Malaconotus]

Avoid Euston Road. It is really horrible.

It has its critics I know, but I quite like the Tavistock Place route. It is, if nothing else, an interesting piece of cycle infrastructure.

So I'd use the 'Balanced' route here, and had no problem following it the first time, though I do know London fairly well... http://www.cyclestreets.net/journey/2405512/

[RickH]

Avoid Euston Road. It is really horrible.

It has its critics I know, but I quite like the Tavistock Place route. It is, if nothing else, an interesting piece of cycle infrastructure.

So I'd use the 'Balanced' route here, and had no problem following it the first time, though I do know London fairly well... http://www.lfgss.com/post2914316-19.html

Your link appears to be a post on another forum about damaged headtubes!

Rick