Is it worth RIDING into London or Public Transport

[teuma86]

Hi Guys

I live in Surrey (South of London)

I have a conference in Islington coming up.

I was thinking, is it worth riding?
Google maps says
M3 - M25 - M4 - A4, then other less major roads into Islington

Questions
1) Is traffic going to be too bad that a train may be better?
2) I aint driven or riden in main London before, is it worth Train for Safety?
3) Is it true, Bikes DON'T pay Congestion Charge and CAN use Bus lanes?

Any advice would be great

[MinhDinh]

Surrey is quite far, I don't know the roads or motorways you mentioned, but it will take some time if you go through London and ride like a fanny. Filter, filter, filter! I believe I wet from through central ish London once in a car to Hackney ( 4 miles away from Islington) hated it!

No congestion charge.

Not all bus lanes are for bikes, so ALWAYS look at the blue signs.
____________________
Hit the G spot.

[theNam]

Hi,

I commute from Colchester to Canary Wharf and whilst it would be cheaper to ride a bike in (just), it's so much easier to just ride to the station and then snooze/read/listen to music/amuse yourself on the train. Yes it's a pain when they are messed up, but that would also be true if there was an accident on the road and you were stuck in traffic. Also not affected by the weather too much either (apart from getting to the station).

Hope that helps!

[MinhDinh]

A train from Morden to Finsbury Park I believe was hassle free. Probably quicker too.

I never use public transport really, maybe 2 times a year, and trains aren't too bad.

I dislike buses though.
____________________
Hit the G spot.

[teuma86]

Basically my "Public Transport" route would be
Drive 20 mins up the road
Pick up the Waterloo line
Waterloo - Angel (underground)

Public Transport time approx hour and 20 mins (plus driving 20 mins to the station each way)

Weather is going to be a factor (If rain then public transport)

[chris-red]

It depends, you have to park the bike and you have to have somewhere to stow your gear.

If you don't park in a valid spot you will get a ticket.

Riding in London for the first time is an 'experience'. Personally if it was just one day I would probably get the train up.
____________________
Well, you know what they say. If you want to save the world, you have to push a few old ladies down the stairs.
Skudd:- Perhaps she just thinks you are a window licker and is being nice just in case she becomes another Jill Dando.
WANTED:- Fujinon (Fuji) M42 (Screw on) lenses, let me know if you have anything.

[teuma86]

Cheers, there is a car park where I am going. £10 a day (Shocked on car prices for parking)

Pros and cons for me
Biking, No hassle on waiting for public transport (I HATE public transport)
Biking - Get to go out on my bike (always a pro)
Biking - Leave when I want. No hassle of waiting for trains or walking upto the station and getting lost

Cons
Traffic is (from what I heard) busy and crazy
Everybody for themselves attitude
Trying to read a sat nav while concentrating on Dicks on the road
Tyre wear from the Motorways (Trying to balance out cons is not easy lol)

[DrDonnyBrago]

I'd take the train tbh.

London is an overpopulated shitehole of a city; whilst biking has it's benefits, for the sake of one day I could do without the stress of fiddling a satnav, finding parking, dodging pedestrians and trying not to die at the hands of some inattentive cockney cab driver.

[Kris]

Just take the bike you sap.

Plenty of free parking bays in Islington and the ride through London is fine, just leave with plenty of time. Cross the river at Blackfriars Bridge and go straight up from there.

Where's your sense of adventure?
____________________
NSR125RR - ZXR750H1 - ZX9R E1 - GSF600S - GSF600SK3 - VFR400-NC30 - SV1000N - ST1100-R - CBR900RR-R - GSF1200SK5 - GSF600SK1 - VFR1200FA - GSXR1000K2 - ZZR1400 D8F
www.prisonplanet.com

[tatters]

I ride every other day from hampton court palace in surrey to central london, takes about 30-45 minutes straight up the A3 to elephant and castle and from there you can go straight to tower bridge/london bridge/waterloo bridge etc, parking is plenty full and free for bikes apart from westminster were its £1 per day, in fact l,ve never had a problem finding somewere to park my bikes and l,m going to differnt buildings throughout london each day i,m there.

Far cheaper and quicker than taking the train which is offen packed full and is in all quite unpleasnt.
____________________
Past:NRG50,AF1125(x2),NSR125RR,ZZR250,CX500,VFR400,KR1S,ZZR600(x2),CB400N,YZF1000(x2),KH125,Z200,FX400R,CBR954RR(x2)GPZ500S,GT550,VFR750F(x2),RD350N,XR650R,CBR600F,CB250,KDX250,YZF750R,CRM250,400EXC,KLR650,TTR600RE,DR350S,R100GSPD,RGV250,VMAX1200,DL650,KZ750 Present:G650XC,C12,CRF450X,1190ADV

[sickpup]

[Pete.]

[teuma86]

[sickpup]

[Gerrard]

Being an ex dispatch rider I would say go by bike its more fun, but a train would be better if your not sure.
____________________
Honda Blackbird the great all rounder.
Chillin near Malaga.
Marco Simoncelli 58

[Imonster]

[Imonster]

[D O G]

If you have a decent window of time I'd take the bike - it is an experiance, I've done it myself a couple of times from Southampton. It is quite fun.

Biggest issue is navigating in an unfamiliar, and let's be honest, fairly complex, busy city, and finding a free bay anytime after about 830/9am.

Oh, and conveying your work clothes, and securing your bike.

But yeah, it is worth it.

[teuma86]

Cheers for your replies.

For the sake of saving 30 mins or so travel time (which would probs be lost with traffic) I may take the train this time. Its only 1 change on the train and this is a one off conference.

I was also thinking everyone is in a rush to get home Friday night.

but I think I will go for a ride into London for the pure experience some time (non-rush hour) when I have not got time to worry about

[D O G]

Non rush hour riding is for gheys.

There's nothing like a swarm of scoots and bikes nailing it away from the lights altogether, then filtering throught the traffic to the next set.

[spetom]

I've done the london public transport thing enough years, and I've also done the 125s in London.

The only reason I started biking was time saving and cost saving in London.

Its only Westminster you pay a £1 a day or £3.50 for the week.

I did the calculations once comparing 125s and london transport, it is a lot lot cheaper every year to travel with a 125 or scooter around london.

A Zone 1-2 year pass is around £1100, Zone 1-6 £2000.

You can easily buy a CG for £1000 and if you serviced (£100 tops), insured (£100), MOTd (£50) and taxed (£Peanuts) the bike for the year you could sell it for £700-800. So thats overestimated a cost of £550-600 a year for the bike factoring in depreciation, the rest is fuel (doing 90MPG it does not go fast), if you rode the bike just in zones 1-2 you would not use £500 of fuel in a year (it's £10 full tank!), zones 1-6 gives you £1400 to spend on fuel!

You make a killing in savings compared to public transport.

Thats not mentioning the time savings and total freedom you get in London, a 125 is faster than the tube even in bad traffic, there are only a few lines that you have to race against or are difficult to beat in my experience and thats the central and victoria lines.

I've moved up to a CB 500 now, and I get the feeling that it is more expensive than using the tube, but that doesn't account for the fact that I'm often bombing off to Hampshire and Oxforshire so I make a saving with rail tickets as well.

[teuma86]

I have an er-6F, not a 125 and this is a one off trip

[spetom]

[DrDonnyBrago]

[MinhDinh]

London has the best and worse things, but it's better than the whole of Wales.

You have a gay in your rugby team. Oh yes you do! Instant loss.
____________________
Hit the G spot.