What is it like cycling through London

[Tin Pot]

I would say, worse time for commuting is during school run. Selfish, inattentive, bad parking mums in their 4x4's* make passing any school these days a real hazard.

*Sorry for the stereotyping, but after 13 years of commuting through SE London, my observations stand quite true.

Agreed in the periphery but I thought we were talking central London proper, Z1.

Cycling along the embankment can be a mare after work, but fine on lunchtimes for example.

 

[ianrauk]

Agreed in the periphery but I thought we were talking central London proper, Z1.

Cycling along the embankment can be a mare after work, but fine on lunchtimes for example.

Nope. Can't see anything in the opening post about central London or Z1. Some parts of London you really couldn't tell any difference between Z1 through to Z6 traffic wise.

 

[Tin Pot]

Nope. Can't see anything in the opening post about central London or Z1. Some parts of London you really couldn't tell any difference between Z1 through to Z6 traffic wise.

I was quoting Paulus talking about central London but I get your point.

 

[RedRider]

It's great at the weekend too. This afternoon I headed into town for a bit of an aimless ride around. Before I stopped counting I passed eight bike shops along the way.
Near the British Library I started to follow a group of around 70 inline skaters who were hands in the air dancing to house music, taking over the road, being greeted with cheers and camera flashes, all the way along into Soho where I left them.
I took a turn down regent street to see the lights and came home.
I love cycling in London even during the busiest time. You keep your antenna on and its satisfying to ride well in the melee.

 

[Pale Rider]

It's great at the weekend too. This afternoon I headed into town for a bit of an aimless ride around. Before I stopped counting I passed eight bike shops along the way.
Near the British Library I started to follow a group of around 70 inline skaters who were hands in the air dancing to house music, taking over the road, being greeted with cheers and camera flashes, all the way along into Soho where I left them.
I took a turn down regent street to see the lights and came home.
I love cycling in London even during the busiest time. You keep your antenna on and its satisfying to ride well in the melee.

That's the sort of ride I liked to do when I lived in London.

As most posters have said, cycling in London has it's challenges but is great fun.

I'm thinking about a cycling mini-break in London next year.

No big plans, but doing the sort of rides you can do any weekend would be a real treat for me.

 

[Markymark]

That's the sort of ride I liked to do when I lived in London.

As most posters have said, cycling in London has it's challenges but is great fun.

I'm thinking about a cycling mini-break in London next year.

No big plans, but doing the sort of rides you can do any weekend would be a real treat for me.

If you get the chance/will a 5am summer ride in London is amazing.

 

[snorri]

On a regular route you get used to the traffic patterns, the way it flows. You still have the odd numpty in a car or on bike but you just get in with it.
For new routes it's more tedious. For example I once went to Heathrow on bike during rush hour and it wasn't enjoyable.

Yes indeed.
I once rolled up to Liverpool Street station to catch a train to Harwich for the ferry. Unfortunately there were no trains from L'pool St. due to Olympic preparations,and I was told to go to Stratford. I had no map, but just thought there are plenty of people to ask for directions in London. Anyway, I made it to Stratford Station where I was told there would be no trains from there either, but I would get a train at Ingatestone. I still didn't have a map although I had a compass, and Ingatestone wasn't so far away so I set off roughly eastwards. I found it impossible to buy a map without going into a shopping centre and that would have meant leaving the bike with full touring load unprotected for 30 minutes or so. I was assured by several locals who I'd asked for directions that it was physically impossible to cycle as far as Ingatestone. Another warned me that my tyres would wear out over such a distance and I'd have to be prepared to buy replacements. One guy assured me I was on the right track but failed to instruct me which way to turn at the t junction just a couple of hundred metres down the road.
Anyway, IME it's the lack of local knowledge that is the worst part of cycling in London, it is difficult to be concentrating on the actual cycling when struggling with navigation, and you'll be very lucky indeed to find any locals capable of assisting with directions.

 

[Pale Rider]

If you get the chance/will a 5am summer ride in London is amazing.

Hadn't thought about departure time, but I'm liking this idea already particularly as I might be driving in to the centre and parking.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Hadn't thought about departure time, but I'm liking this idea already particularly as I might be driving in to the centre and parking.

Arranging summer might be a bit of a problem though!

Just about opposite to a 5am summer ride, I had a rather magic ride around Westminster and west of there one frosty Monday morning at 1am after Christmas. Deserted, crisp still air, silence. It was one of my ''ride every road'' outings so lots of poorly lit back streets and U-turns and stuff were on the menu.

 

[Ajax Bay]

A square route
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/monopoly-board-ride.210673/

 

[SteveF]

Not quite what the OP asked but, I love cycling in London on a Sunday (esp in the spring), in my humble opinion, it's a fantastic city...

 

[jonny jeez]

If you get the chance/will a 5am summer ride in London is amazing.

Was about to say the same. 5-6am on a sunny summer Sunday is awesome in London. It looks like a majestic film set, even the cobbles backstreets of Soho take on a cultural appeal all of their own.

 

[jonny jeez]

Hi. I'm curious more than anything else ,but what is it like cycling through London in rush hour. When I see You tube clips it honestly looks pretty dam scary stuff. I personally don't think I would ever enjoy running the gauntlet day in day out of avoiding trucks / buses turning left or weaving through tail backs of cars waiting at the lights. You guys who do it every day, really must have your wits about you with all that traffic flying around you. Does it ever stress you out trying to get from A to B in such a congested area. Another question is do you ever feel vulnerable riding through the big city at the mercy of heavy traffic.
Thanks for any replies. It will be interesting to read them .
Johnny :-))

I am biased so probably cant offer an objective view.

For me, riding in London is awesome, any time of the day, any day of the week. Certain days are even better for certain reasons. Riding through Hyde park in the dark, with a silent mist enveloping you, cruising along the embankment in the sun with a strong tailwind (heading east mostly) . Hoping off at cafes and coffee shops, or just pushing in to get to the office and still feeling like you are making more progress than anybody else on the road.

You must try it. For ne its nothing to do with adrenaline or speed, its about smooth progress, freedom to stop and the warm buzz I get all day from having done some exercise.

I've never found it frightening or even god forbid dangerous. I really enjoy London and consider myself hugely privileged to be able to ride through and around it

 

[Twizit]

Going back to the OP, the only stress I get is when I have to take public transport rather than travel under my own steam.

Been commuting in and out of London for years on two wheels, both motor and leg powered. You just get used to the flow of traffic and how to make your own way through it. Absolutely you need your wits about you, but in over 25,000 miles of cycle commuting I've only had three very minor "offs" and they were all due to stupid other cyclists rather than motor traffic (two of them ran into the back of me and one cut through stationary cars in front of me).

As someone noted way back in the thread, it's like a game of chess, and I take delight in working through traffic as efficiently as possible, anticipating where to move and when - I don't hang around, but even so it's amazing how many "quicker" cyclists you can (legally!) beat on a route by learning how to read the traffic and each situation. All great fun

 

[jonny jeez]

Wow I imagine that's quite a lot of cyclists looking for a limited amount of bike parking. If you were to ,say commute 5 miles each way through the centre of London on a bike how long would it take you as opposed to doing the same journey in a car. I would imagine it could be done easily in half the time by bike. Sorry for all the questions but it's interesting to know how the other half live compared to a country bumpkin like my self lol

12 mile ride into town from the burbs (fast bit) through south London and across the river takes me 35-40 minutes. My Garmin/strava suggests an average pace of 14moh across a year so that's probably right. However I need to allow about 30 minutes to store the bike, shower and change.

On a train its about 70 mins door to door

In a car that's anything from 1-3 hours at the same time of day. A scooter is quickest and cuts down on showering/changing time too but makes me fat and lazy