Don't know if there is mate - I 'made it up' last year when looking to practise on some hills - loads of bikes out and about tho - no idea if it appears in any 'cycling guides' etc...
For me, start Greenwich, cycle down through Kidbrooke, then Mottingham (going the 'long way' up the hill past Eltham college), past Warrs and up into and through Chislehurst... I'm not sure what the name of places are after that, but essentially you keeping going straight, following signs for Sevenoaks... You come out of 'town', down a dirty big hill, over the M25 and at the bottom, just before you enter 7oaks, you turn right to Westerham... Along there for a few miles and then right again, following signs for Biggin Hill and Bromley... Up the mighty Westerham Hill - absolute killer - suffered more on there then on the Tourmalet for some reason - past Biggin Hill airport and down into Bromley, Lee, Blackheath and Greenwich.... About 43 miles and a decent ride... You can turn it around and go down Westerham Hill, but that's cheating. As said last week, get my mobile from Smudge and we'll do it one Sunday. I went cycling on Sun and suffered badly after a) not cycling for a month and b) being ill last week...
Will probably go this Sunday morning actually if anyone fancies it and happy to 'cheat' as I'm very unfit at the mo....whisper me here...
I am exploring the idea of cycling into work. Does anyone have any experience of how reliable the TFL website cycle times are?
I looked up my journey from my house in Sidcup to office near Farringdon, and it says 1 hour 25 minutes, its a 14 mile journey. I' guessing this is for an average cyclists and should be possible to shave some time off this?
Journey by train is taking me 1 hour and 10 minutes.
[cite]Posted By: DessieValley[/cite]I am exploring the idea of cycling into work. Does anyone have any experience of how reliable the TFL website cycle times are?
I looked up my journey from my house in Sidcup to office near Farringdon, and it says 1 hour 25 minutes, its a 14 mile journey. I' guessing this is for an average cyclists and should be possible to shave some time off this?
Journey by train is taking me 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Dessie. The TFL journey planner is ok, but not 100% accurate. What they don't take into account, IMO, is traffic level, red lights (because you MUST stop at them. I hate cyclists that don't, but that another debate!) and personal fitness.
I cycle from Chingford to Peckham. It's about 14.5 miles each way. That takes me 50 mins on average. I'm no where near at a decent level of fitness (but getting there!), and I don't cycle like a mad man either.
When I planned my route, I used the RAC route planner and tweaked it from there. i go the most direct route on main roads, but I'd prefer a quieter route that's for sure!
[cite]Posted By: DessieValley[/cite]I am exploring the idea of cycling into work. Does anyone have any experience of how reliable the TFL website cycle times are?
.
Why don't you try cycling it once and work it out for yourself?
[cite]Posted By: DessieValley[/cite]I am exploring the idea of cycling into work. Does anyone have any experience of how reliable the TFL website cycle times are?
.
Why don't you try cycling it once and work it out for yourself?
[cite]Posted By: DessieValley[/cite]I am exploring the idea of cycling into work. Does anyone have any experience of how reliable the TFL website cycle times are?
I looked up my journey from my house in Sidcup to office near Farringdon, and it says 1 hour 25 minutes, its a 14 mile journey. I' guessing this is for an average cyclists and should be possible to shave some time off this?
Journey by train is taking me 1 hour and 10 minutes.
I do Falconwood/Welling area via shootershill to Tower of London 11-12 miles in about an hour or less depending on how energetic I'm feeling, then shower too. I have a light mountain bike with thin wheels so might be faster on a decent rd bike
I cycle once a week. I do Bexleyheath to Whitehall in about 1 hour 20 on a mountain bike - if you have one of those lightweight racing thingies you will do it in a lot less than that........
I either go over shooters hill - or drop down into plumstead and along the lower road.
I've done the commute from Bexleyheath to Mile End a few times now. Can do it in 1hr 10-15mins, dependent on energy levels and wind speed/direction, either like 1905, over Shooters Hill or down the lower road into Greenwich.
Too late for this year with the clocks going forward soon but am seriously looking into giving up my annual season ticket next summer and cycling 3-4 times a week, only getting the train on the days I get to see my daughter.
Oddly, I find shooters hill harder on the kent side despite the london side looking nastier. Also got up to 40mph going down the kent side which was fun..
My garmin GPS recorded my top speed of 35mph coming down the Kent side and 36mph on the London side. I love the climb but am petrified of the descent...dont dare fall off at that speed. I must be the only person coming down with both brakes firmly squeezed in. Its a lovely feeling when you get to the top coming home and you know you havent got to peddle again until just before Blockbuster Video in Welling lol.
I use an old fashioned speedo, after using gps I found it wasn't as accurate as clocking wheel rotations for distance actually cycled (could be wrong on that tho).
Must also add in reply to question about LEJOG
We did it in 15 days 930 miles, mostly unaided (had a van support for one day) and carried paniers and front bag the other 14 days staying in bnb's - see blog below
[cite]Posted By: JohnBoyUK[/cite]My garmin GPS recorded my top speed of 35mph coming down the Kent side and 36mph on the London side. I love the climb but am petrified of the descent...dont dare fall off at that speed. I must be the only person coming down with both brakes firmly squeezed in. Its a lovely feeling when you get to the top coming home and you know you havent got to peddle again until just before Blockbuster Video in Welling lol.
Just a thought Gents, but do you have to concern yourselves with the OB hiding in Thompson's garden centre with a speed gun, while on a push bike?
I don't think they do, unless the bike is fitted with a 'proper ' , graduated speedometer. This cropped up in a news article about Eastbourne's pedestrian promenade recently where OB catch speeding cyclists (limit is 10mph ) with a gun but can't do them because without a speedo the cyclist can't tell how fast they're going: they just get told off. I'm thinking of taking the speedo out of the car!
I do a cycle commute from Forest Hill to Commercial Road, Whitechapel end. I used to go through the Greenwich foot tunnel but I became increasingly pissed off with just about all the cyclists that use it without any consideration for anyone else. I've seen some proper agro down there, tossers riding their bikes rather than walking and then colliding with others, it was only a matter of time before I lost it and smacked someone. After a few months of that I decided to research some other routes across the river, something I thought prudent as the foot tunnel will be closed down for refurbishment soon anyway.
I now cross the river via the Rotherhithe Tunnel which is fantastic! The trip through Deptford/Surrey Quays is pretty crappy, it is the arsehole of London after all, but once you get into the tunnel you can absolutely bomb it through, I've saved 15 minutes and about two miles of my journey to work. Also when I get to the East End I get to use the Cable Street cycle super highway.
Not sure if this is much use to you but as I say, the Greenwich foot tunnel will be closed down for a refurb' and as with just about everything that's happening in London at the moment, it will re-open in time for the 2012 Olympics.
razil I find GPS very accurate on distance riden, whereas revolutions of wheels mildly innacurate - sometimes needs a tweak or the actual physical measurement of distance travelled by one revo. GPS is completely awol when it comes to accurate speed readings, and just purely moronic when it works out overall climbing and descending; sometimes I'll got out and ride 50 miles on the North Downs and know I've done between 1000m to 1300m of climbing yet GPS gives me 3000m???????
On another matter, I just cycled up the highest road in the UK today! It's called the Great Dun Fell, and it goes up to a weather station via a private road so there are very few cars whilst a few sheep. It's not quite Alpine but it's 650 metres of up, to an eventual high of 858 m. Made up for my truely abysmal ride through the Lake District yesterday, not going back to the Lakes for cycling again.
[cite]Posted By: ColinTat[/cite]razil I find GPS very accurate on distance riden, whereas revolutions of wheels mildly innacurate - sometimes needs a tweak or the actual physical measurement of distance travelled by one revo. GPS is completely awol when it comes to accurate speed readings, and just purely moronic when it works out overall climbing and descending; sometimes I'll got out and ride 50 miles on the North Downs and know I've done between 1000m to 1300m of climbing yet GPS gives me 3000m???????
On another matter, I just cycled up the highest road in the UK today! It's called the Great Dun Fell, and it goes up to a weather station via a private road so there are very few cars whilst a few sheep. It's not quite Alpine but it's 650 metres of up, to an eventual high of 858 m. Made up for my truely abysmal ride through the Lake District yesterday, not going back to the Lakes for cycling again.
so if you do lots of climbing does that throw out the distance on gps?
I have gone the other way ......started on road cycling and now moved into off road which I find more exhilerating and more of an all round work out. I usually do 50- 60 miles a week of which 30 will be off road. I reckon every mile off road is equivalent to 2-3 on road.
I spent three days doing the isle of wight off road stuff this year and have really got the buzz. Its something that me and number 1 son do together .( as well as Leeds away this year)
My fitness levels are steadily improving. Singletrack on the MTB get me going more than the roads if I am honest !!
I love mountain biking just find it quite boring in the south east. If I lived in Wales I think I'd be out most weeks on the MB. Never got the MB and road bike divide.
Razil in a quick attempt to explain. A bike computer operates in two dimensional space, as in a revolution of a wheel takes you from a to b distance. GPS is operating in a third dimensional space, wherein it is trying to locate where you are long/lat and what height you are. It takes a multiple of readings say every second. Nowadays civilian devices are not messed with by Selective Availabitlity, that skews readings by up to 100m by a psuedorandom algorithm. There are many things that can skew a GPS readings such as atmospheric pressure, and how it works out the length of time GPS info takes to transmit from device to sattelite. GPS devices will attempt to calculate and rectify errors but generally it does this through comparison of readings; thus an initial reading is not necessarily corrected and it will hold certain innacuracies - particularly height it seems. Over a period of time innacuracies are reduced, so if you cycle for fifty odd miles the distance recorded is quite accurate but in one single second errors in height and speed remain; thus the error in differential height calculated between each point is still used. That's how I understand it and it's open to debate.
On another note VFR, well done to you. I hate walking down the Greenwich foot tunnel on account of people & groups of walking on the wrong side. Lost count of the amount of times when people walking on the wrong side won't get out the way of a little old lady who'll then have to go the long way round and squeeze past, it makes my blood boil. I could never cycle down it daily because of the same with pedestrians and cyclists; surely if you're on the bike and there's no space you dismount for the pedestrians?????
Mainly well done to you VFR for attempting a solution. All too often I do the same thing and come out with the same irascible contempt. Doesn't get you anywhere does it? You did the best thing and I bet you feel better for it every day your whistling through the east end.
[cite]Posted By: Valley_floyd_red[/cite]
I now cross the river via the Rotherhithe Tunnel which is fantastic! The trip through Deptford/Surrey Quays is pretty crappy, it is the arsehole of London after all, but once you get into the tunnel you can absolutely bomb it through, I've saved 15 minutes and about two miles of my journey to work. Also when I get to the East End I get to use the Cable Street cycle super highway.
I use the Rotherhithe coming the other way in the mornings. It's bullet quick through there, but I hate the fact that the pavement is always littered with smashed up wing mirrors or bumpers! Got to watch out for the small man-hole covers. I nearly went straight down one of those recently!
going to put a deposit down on a 2010 fuji track in the next few days. can't wait. ridden fixed at herne hill (which i thoroughly recommened) a few times, but never owned one. well looking forward to bombing around on it.
the next thing is to cycle from glasgow to london, although i don't think that'll be on the fuji.
Just resurecting this thread as finally, finally I've took the plunge and ordered a road bike. With my finances being chopped with my house move, I scaled down my plans and I ended up choosing a Specialized Allez Elite, in a fetching red and white colour scheme. Hopefully I'll be able to pick it up this weekend and take it for a proper spin.
Have been doing the Bexleyheath to Mile End commute pretty much regularly 3-4 times a week since March/April on my MTB and its pretty much not touching the sides now. I've been getting out for some longer rides at weekends where I can but nowhere near as much as I would have liked due to the DIY taking up my time but done a couple of 40s and 50s. I must say, having just discovered the Thames Path, I've been taking the longer route home picking it up at Woolwich and bypassing Thamesmead, Abbey Wood and Belevedere, getting back on the road at Erith, makes such a change from the roads and such a nice relaxed ride to chill out on after a long sweaty day in the office.
The next big thing for me is that I want to complete my first 100 mile ride this year. Then I can seriously think of doing some longer rides but small steps and all that...
Any of you got any big rides planned? I see Charlton Charlie has just finished is annual trip climbing the alps. Cracking effort that.
[quote][cite]Posted By: Valley_floyd_red[/cite]I do a cycle commute from Forest Hill to Commercial Road, Whitechapel end. I used to go through the Greenwich foot tunnel but I became increasingly pissed off with just about all the cyclists that use it without any consideration for anyone else. I've seen some proper agro down there, tossers riding their bikes rather than walking and then colliding with others, it was only a matter of time before I lost it and smacked someone. After a few months of that I decided to research some other routes across the river, something I thought prudent as the foot tunnel will be closed down for refurbishment soon anyway.
I now cross the river via the Rotherhithe Tunnel which is fantastic! The trip through Deptford/Surrey Quays is pretty crappy, it is the arsehole of London after all, but once you get into the tunnel you can absolutely bomb it through, I've saved 15 minutes and about two miles of my journey to work. Also when I get to the East End I get to use the Cable Street cycle super highway.
Not sure if this is much use to you but as I say, the Greenwich foot tunnel will be closed down for a refurb' and as with just about everything that's happening in London at the moment, it will re-open in time for the 2012 Olympics.[/quote]
I used to use the foot tunnel at greenwich and found it the same - changed to using the ferry for my commute from Eltham to West Hampstead. Some extra miles to get fit and a cruise - who could ask for more. When I come back to the UK I'll probablt be doing the same again but from Plumstead. Cycling in London really is a no brainer for commuting.
I just got a cheap bike to amble along the coast for GP recommended health purposes, didn't realise just how unfit I was...
Thigh muscles are just starting to firm up a bit and the beer gut is definitely going down and them old farts on their wheeled zimmers now live in fear of me as I tear up behind them and scare the shite out of them with my ting-a-linging...
My son's are now on to me about doing the Coast to Coast ride from Sunderland to Carlisle, might just give it a go, but then again, I'm too young to die...
Good on you JohnBoyUk - road bike will make your commute much easier...
I have indeed just got back from cycling the Alps (Geneva to Avignon) - took in these Cols in 5 days:
Col de Couz, 626m Col de la Placette, 587m Alpe d'Huez, 1,812m Col de Sarenne, 1,999m Col de Lautaret, 2,058m Col d'Izoard, 2,361m Col de Maure, 1,346m Col du Labouret, 1,240m Col des Tempetes, Mont Ventoux, 1,910m
Bloody hard woork but excellent fun and am now as fit as a fiddle (working on getting Fat Matt back for the summer)...blog on our ride and riders here:
In total we raised about £20k for various charities, of which my £900 odd (plus gift aid) is winging it's way to Demelza...
A couple of us have a regular Sunday run round the lanes near Downe if anyone wants to join and we'll be doing some sportives over the summer too....give me a shout if you'd like to join.
BTW earlier on in this thread I cautioned against getting involved with the Cycle2Work scheme thing.
Just to make you aware, my own employer has recently been contacted by HMRC who have stated categorically that if the bike is sold at the end of the hire period then it shall be at the fair market value and not a penny less or it will be seen and taxed as a benefit in kind. In their estimation this will be around 30% of the initial cost of the bike.
It would seem that HMRC have cottoned on to how employers are advertising the scheme (i.e. as a cheap way of buying a bike) and are clamping down hard.
Comments
This fabled Westerham loop. Is there a map of the route? I'd like to have a go at it one day...
For me, start Greenwich, cycle down through Kidbrooke, then Mottingham (going the 'long way' up the hill past Eltham college), past Warrs and up into and through Chislehurst... I'm not sure what the name of places are after that, but essentially you keeping going straight, following signs for Sevenoaks... You come out of 'town', down a dirty big hill, over the M25 and at the bottom, just before you enter 7oaks, you turn right to Westerham... Along there for a few miles and then right again, following signs for Biggin Hill and Bromley... Up the mighty Westerham Hill - absolute killer - suffered more on there then on the Tourmalet for some reason - past Biggin Hill airport and down into Bromley, Lee, Blackheath and Greenwich.... About 43 miles and a decent ride... You can turn it around and go down Westerham Hill, but that's cheating. As said last week, get my mobile from Smudge and we'll do it one Sunday. I went cycling on Sun and suffered badly after a) not cycling for a month and b) being ill last week...
Will probably go this Sunday morning actually if anyone fancies it and happy to 'cheat' as I'm very unfit at the mo....whisper me here...
Cheers
CC
I looked up my journey from my house in Sidcup to office near Farringdon, and it says 1 hour 25 minutes, its a 14 mile journey. I' guessing this is for an average cyclists and should be possible to shave some time off this?
Journey by train is taking me 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Dessie. The TFL journey planner is ok, but not 100% accurate. What they don't take into account, IMO, is traffic level, red lights (because you MUST stop at them. I hate cyclists that don't, but that another debate!) and personal fitness.
I cycle from Chingford to Peckham. It's about 14.5 miles each way. That takes me 50 mins on average. I'm no where near at a decent level of fitness (but getting there!), and I don't cycle like a mad man either.
When I planned my route, I used the RAC route planner and tweaked it from there. i go the most direct route on main roads, but I'd prefer a quieter route that's for sure!
Hope this helps?
Why don't you try cycling it once and work it out for yourself?
Now this is what I call a constructive comment...
I do Falconwood/Welling area via shootershill to Tower of London 11-12 miles in about an hour or less depending on how energetic I'm feeling, then shower too. I have a light mountain bike with thin wheels so might be faster on a decent rd bike
I either go over shooters hill - or drop down into plumstead and along the lower road.
Shooters hill is a fecker coming home!!
Too late for this year with the clocks going forward soon but am seriously looking into giving up my annual season ticket next summer and cycling 3-4 times a week, only getting the train on the days I get to see my daughter.
Must also add in reply to question about LEJOG
We did it in 15 days 930 miles, mostly unaided (had a van support for one day) and carried paniers and front bag the other 14 days staying in bnb's - see blog below
http://barniesbigride.blogspot.com/
Just a thought Gents, but do you have to concern yourselves with the OB hiding in Thompson's garden centre with a speed gun, while on a push bike?
I now cross the river via the Rotherhithe Tunnel which is fantastic! The trip through Deptford/Surrey Quays is pretty crappy, it is the arsehole of London after all, but once you get into the tunnel you can absolutely bomb it through, I've saved 15 minutes and about two miles of my journey to work. Also when I get to the East End I get to use the Cable Street cycle super highway.
Not sure if this is much use to you but as I say, the Greenwich foot tunnel will be closed down for a refurb' and as with just about everything that's happening in London at the moment, it will re-open in time for the 2012 Olympics.
I manage to include Greenwich Park and Southwark Park (not on way home) on my ride and its a fairly direct route
On another matter, I just cycled up the highest road in the UK today! It's called the Great Dun Fell, and it goes up to a weather station via a private road so there are very few cars whilst a few sheep. It's not quite Alpine but it's 650 metres of up, to an eventual high of 858 m. Made up for my truely abysmal ride through the Lake District yesterday, not going back to the Lakes for cycling again.
so if you do lots of climbing does that throw out the distance on gps?
I spent three days doing the isle of wight off road stuff this year and have really got the buzz. Its something that me and number 1 son do together .( as well as Leeds away this year)
My fitness levels are steadily improving. Singletrack on the MTB get me going more than the roads if I am honest !!
Razil in a quick attempt to explain. A bike computer operates in two dimensional space, as in a revolution of a wheel takes you from a to b distance. GPS is operating in a third dimensional space, wherein it is trying to locate where you are long/lat and what height you are. It takes a multiple of readings say every second. Nowadays civilian devices are not messed with by Selective Availabitlity, that skews readings by up to 100m by a psuedorandom algorithm. There are many things that can skew a GPS readings such as atmospheric pressure, and how it works out the length of time GPS info takes to transmit from device to sattelite. GPS devices will attempt to calculate and rectify errors but generally it does this through comparison of readings; thus an initial reading is not necessarily corrected and it will hold certain innacuracies - particularly height it seems. Over a period of time innacuracies are reduced, so if you cycle for fifty odd miles the distance recorded is quite accurate but in one single second errors in height and speed remain; thus the error in differential height calculated between each point is still used. That's how I understand it and it's open to debate.
Mainly well done to you VFR for attempting a solution. All too often I do the same thing and come out with the same irascible contempt. Doesn't get you anywhere does it? You did the best thing and I bet you feel better for it every day your whistling through the east end.
I use the Rotherhithe coming the other way in the mornings. It's bullet quick through there, but I hate the fact that the pavement is always littered with smashed up wing mirrors or bumpers! Got to watch out for the small man-hole covers. I nearly went straight down one of those recently!
Also, mask or no mask?
the next thing is to cycle from glasgow to london, although i don't think that'll be on the fuji.
Have been doing the Bexleyheath to Mile End commute pretty much regularly 3-4 times a week since March/April on my MTB and its pretty much not touching the sides now. I've been getting out for some longer rides at weekends where I can but nowhere near as much as I would have liked due to the DIY taking up my time but done a couple of 40s and 50s. I must say, having just discovered the Thames Path, I've been taking the longer route home picking it up at Woolwich and bypassing Thamesmead, Abbey Wood and Belevedere, getting back on the road at Erith, makes such a change from the roads and such a nice relaxed ride to chill out on after a long sweaty day in the office.
The next big thing for me is that I want to complete my first 100 mile ride this year. Then I can seriously think of doing some longer rides but small steps and all that...
Any of you got any big rides planned? I see Charlton Charlie has just finished is annual trip climbing the alps. Cracking effort that.
I now cross the river via the Rotherhithe Tunnel which is fantastic! The trip through Deptford/Surrey Quays is pretty crappy, it is the arsehole of London after all, but once you get into the tunnel you can absolutely bomb it through, I've saved 15 minutes and about two miles of my journey to work. Also when I get to the East End I get to use the Cable Street cycle super highway.
Not sure if this is much use to you but as I say, the Greenwich foot tunnel will be closed down for a refurb' and as with just about everything that's happening in London at the moment, it will re-open in time for the 2012 Olympics.[/quote]
I used to use the foot tunnel at greenwich and found it the same - changed to using the ferry for my commute from Eltham to West Hampstead. Some extra miles to get fit and a cruise - who could ask for more. When I come back to the UK I'll probablt be doing the same again but from Plumstead.
Cycling in London really is a no brainer for commuting.
Thigh muscles are just starting to firm up a bit and the beer gut is definitely going down and them old farts on their wheeled zimmers now live in fear of me as I tear up behind them and scare the shite out of them with my ting-a-linging...
My son's are now on to me about doing the Coast to Coast ride from Sunderland to Carlisle, might just give it a go, but then again, I'm too young to die...
I have indeed just got back from cycling the Alps (Geneva to Avignon) - took in these Cols in 5 days:
Col de Couz, 626m
Col de la Placette, 587m
Alpe d'Huez, 1,812m
Col de Sarenne, 1,999m
Col de Lautaret, 2,058m
Col d'Izoard, 2,361m
Col de Maure, 1,346m
Col du Labouret, 1,240m
Col des Tempetes, Mont Ventoux, 1,910m
Bloody hard woork but excellent fun and am now as fit as a fiddle (working on getting Fat Matt back for the summer)...blog on our ride and riders here:
http://lesveloistesgentils.wordpress.com/
In total we raised about £20k for various charities, of which my £900 odd (plus gift aid) is winging it's way to Demelza...
A couple of us have a regular Sunday run round the lanes near Downe if anyone wants to join and we'll be doing some sportives over the summer too....give me a shout if you'd like to join.
Cheers
CC
Might be interested in a run out, but am not up to a high cycling standard! - i.e. I'm happy with 20 mile runs!
Just to make you aware, my own employer has recently been contacted by HMRC who have stated categorically that if the bike is sold at the end of the hire period then it shall be at the fair market value and not a penny less or it will be seen and taxed as a benefit in kind. In their estimation this will be around 30% of the initial cost of the bike.
It would seem that HMRC have cottoned on to how employers are advertising the scheme (i.e. as a cheap way of buying a bike) and are clamping down hard.