FNRttC - new London startpoint?

[thom]

interesting. I know Upper Ground and not thought of it as a problem. Then again...I zip along Clink Street.

I'm looking at Upper Ground until just before Blackfriars Bridge Road, then south, then east along Southwark Street (the traffic lights across Blackfriars Bridge Road being set up in a safe way) then Sumner Street, Park Street (sorry mmmmartin) and along Clink Street to Tooley Street. If it's wet we might go down Marshalsea Road, Long Lane and Abbey Street.

Certainly it is a good idea to avoid the sets of traffic lights on Borough High St. going from Southwark St. to Tooley St.

 

[AKA Bob]

Another idea maybe the Duke of York steps? Lots of space and won't get in peoples way and easy escape without too much grief.

 

[User10571]

Another idea maybe the Duke of York steps? Lots of space and won't get in peoples way and easy escape without too much grief.

And there's a bar in the adjacent ICA

 

[dellzeqq]

Certainly it is a good idea to avoid the sets of traffic lights on Borough High St. going from Southwark St. to Tooley St.

absolutely - there's a lot of traffic going south, even at a quarter past midnight

 

[srw]

You really ought to get a mobile phone. They are brilliant for such eventualites.

But they make it difficult to find escort services - don't you usually have to find a phone box for those?

 

[dellzeqq]

Oh no, it's taken me a year to learn the route from Victoria to HPC, and now I'm going to have to start all over again!

not at all. Get off at Clapham Junction, take the lift, go to platform 10, take the first train to Waterloo - and it's a walk to the NFT

 

[thom]

absolutely - there's a lot of traffic going south, even at a quarter past midnight

Out of curiousity, I just pootled around there (left leg peddling only for now). That way also means you avoid about 8 sets of lights, so although it winds a bit it likely would be quicker.
Going east you pass the back of Tate Modern, you can spot St Pauls, the Rose Theatre, the FT, the Clink, the remains of the Bishop of Winchester's palace, the Golden Hinde Replica and Southwark Cathedral. The BFI area is pretty good too. Early arrivals can practice stunts on the bmx/skateboard ramps when the bars stop serving.

 

[hatler]

HPC for preference, still. As (usually) I'm the one coming from furthest south of the river, I certainly wouldn't mind somewhere nearer Waterloo, and anything that avoids navigating the lunacy of the HPC roundabout is a good thing.

I overcome this (coming from Waterloo) by crossing Westminster Bridge, round Parliament Sq, then along Birdcage Walk, across the front of Buck House then down Constitution Hill. All you have to do then is get in the RH lane as you approach HPC and when the lights go green you push effortlessly onto the centre of HPC.

Aside from anything else, this way you get a magical view of the river from Westminster Bridge, cycle past the mother of all Parliaments and the clock tower, then amble along relatively quiet gas lit streets until you get to HPC. Mrs and small hatler were both struck by the magnificence of this route when we joined the start of the recent Felpham ride.

 

[marinyork]

I don't mind where it starts although there is some land next to King's Cross and St Pancras stations these days up Pancras Road and there is also King's Cross Boulevard. Although why you'd want to start it that far north I'm not sure.

 

[hatler]

I like HPC for its iconicness too.

Iconicity ?

 

[hatler]

Changing (or varying) the starting point will doubtless result in a significant increase in e-mail/text traffic. Is that something you really want ?

Ref the excitement/buzz/fear when setting off from HPC, as a participant I rather enjoy it.
On the one occasion when I arrived at midnight plus 30 seconds it seemed a natural thing to do to join DZ as a joint Moses parting the traffic waves. The traffic hold up thing is quite a feat for a single bod, but could be eased if three or four did this as a team. If the masses were organised beforehand I reckon we could get 300 cyclists onto the roundabout in one traffic light phase. Rank them up five deep and 60 abreast.

 

[Flying Dodo]

Kings Cross/St. Pancras is pretty fancy, but I suppose I have to take in to account that the biggest wodge of riders comes from the south, southeast and west, and (I may have got this wrong) there's no obvious space for the signing in and the safety talk.

There's a massive area in front of the new entrance at Kings Cross, which would easily accommodate 100+ cyclists. Handy for me, as I can just walk across from St. Pancras.

Alternatively, now that the last protestors have been evicted, how about Parliament Square, or St Paul's Cathedral?

 

[ianmac62]

Edging off topic, I know, but the Eleanor Cross we passed on Saturday morning within a couple of miles of the start of Adam's training ride was the one referred to in the quoted BBC article as "Hardingstone" (Edward and Eleanor's stopping point was Delapre Abbey, now the Northamptonshire Record Office). The roundabout which we went under on a bike path is known as The Queen Eleanor Roundabout.

 

[User10571]

But they make it difficult to find escort services - don't you usually have to find a phone box for those?

My number is in most of the boxes of which you speak.

 

[mcshroom]

I'd personally prefer HPC, although Kings Cross would be a lot easier for me. As long as it's not too difficult to get to from Euston I wouldn't mind anywhere though.