What is it like cycling through London

[Red17]

The lack of local knowledge from people one might ask for help in the street is surprising and leads, for me, to a rather uncomfortable sense of isolation. .

Its not that surprising in Central London - I suspect few of the people in the street actually live in the area and tend to know the direction to and from the nearest station / tube station only.

 

[nickyboy]

I think one gets used to the risks (perceived or otherwise). I probably would feel a bit nervous cycling through central London as I encounter very little traffic on my rides. Equally a London commuter may well feel a bit nervous bombing down a hill at 50mph, something I do regularly

Maybe those risks are comparable but the key is you get used to the risk and you make decisions accordingly. First time you encounter the risk it's a bit frightening

 

[vickster]

Its not that surprising in Central London - I suspect few of the people in the street actually live in the area and tend to know the direction to and from the nearest station / tube station only.

Indeed...I'm from London (albeit more the Burbs), used to work in the City (behind the BoE) and used to get lost going out for lunch!!

 

[Dogtrousers]

I think one gets used to the risks (perceived or otherwise). I probably would feel a bit nervous cycling through central London as I encounter very little traffic on my rides. Equally a London commuter may well feel a bit nervous bombing down a hill at 50mph, something I do regularly

Maybe those risks are comparable but the key is you get used to the risk and you make decisions accordingly. First time you encounter the risk it's a bit frightening

True. There are lots of different skills in different areas.

The key thing I find about (central) London is that there are relatively few roundabouts (apart from monsters like Marble Arch). This means that to get your navigation right you have to get in the correct lane repeatedly, or risk being filtered off to where you don't want to be. This is fine if you've done a route before, but not for terra incognita.

Out in the burbs, your roundabout-negotiation skills come to the fore.

Further out, and in smaller towns and cities elsewhere there are more dual carriageways, of which there are relatively few in London. I find riding through Rochester (the fnrttc Whitstable route) a bit hairy because I don't much like the dual carriageway (and I like the crappy bike path next to it even less). But a native of the Medway towns may find that a piece of cake compared to, say, getting through the big junction at Vauxhall, which is actually not so bad if you get in the right lane to begin with.

 

[RedRider]

Its not that surprising in Central London - I suspect few of the people in the street actually live in the area and tend to know the direction to and from the nearest station / tube station only.

This its true. The best thing to do is ask a cyclist cos we have 'the knowledge'
A couple of years ago I led a guy from Whitehall to St Pancras where his train was due in half an hour, down some tricky shortcuts. I think he made it.
Like anywhere, one of the pleasures of cycling in London over a number of years is discovering the routes from a to b. I've only lived here 17 years but going by bike accelerates the knowledge.

 

[mustang1]

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.

Who the heck was thinking what when they design London's streets?

Yeah you're right, navigation is dumb in London. If I have plenty of time then I don't mind getting lost and figuring my way around but I'm extremely time poor.