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Cookiemonster...
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PostPosted: 21:40 - 16 Oct 2020    Post subject: Travelling around London Reply with quote

Hi everyone, I've always considered moving to London. I was wondering please if I picked a town on the edge of London say Cockfosters randomly looking at the map, how quickly would a bike get me to central London as opposed to public transport (can use any combination of bus, underground, national rail, overground for a particular journey)
I know there are other factors which would influence others' choices but time is the one I'm interested in here.

I know I can use google maps but that's just not accurate at all. If you pick car for example (which is already starting off wrong when want to estimate for a bike) and you choose depart at 09:00 on a Friday it says it may take 40 mins to 1.5 hours depending on conditions which is not a great estimate.
I think people's actual experiences here might give a better idea. especially since light traffic isn't too much of a problem for a bike when you can filter.
Appreciate in advance.
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Whosthedaddy
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PostPosted: 21:45 - 16 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

TBH a scooter would be the best option if not commuting into London on big A roads as I found I'd get caught up in tight spots or stuck unable to filter at times when on a big bike.

You'll soon know little rat runs and alternative routes when traffic gets heavy.

Glad I dont have to so it anymore!
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arry
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PostPosted: 22:51 - 16 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm 22 miles out in Essex and can do it in 45 mins ish but it's not pleasant.

Don't forget gearing up and down as part of commute time.

Why anyone would want to move anywhere near London is beyond me though, especially in Covid world. We're thinking of moving out as workplaces are more accommodating in respect of WFH now.
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MarJay
But it's British!



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PostPosted: 23:03 - 16 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

I commuted into London pre covid, and if it wasn't for the fact that I love my current job, I'd happily never go there ever again.

It's expensive to live, it's claustrophobic, the crime rate is bad and there are very few fun roads.
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hellkat
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PostPosted: 03:11 - 17 Oct 2020    Post subject: Re: Travelling around London Reply with quote

Light traffic?
In London?
Laughing
You can't even guarantee that at 4am on a Tuesday morning.
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Pete.
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PostPosted: 06:46 - 17 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cockfosters to central London you should do in half an hour but it's smack on the great northern rat runs so your chances of getting mashed as a novice are fair to high. It's a bit easier now that the cars and vans aren't allowed to use the bus lanes but they ARE still allowed to turn left which they will whether you're there or not.

Why you so obsessed with London Dick Whittington? I would not go there ever again if I didn't have a well-paying job that I enjoy.
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arry
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PostPosted: 07:03 - 17 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

There's a theme emerging...
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A100man
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PostPosted: 09:14 - 17 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

My brother once fell asleep on the last tube out of town and ended up in Cockfosters. Can t think of any other reason to go there.
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TbirdX
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PostPosted: 09:37 - 17 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Strange old game.

I drive into Londinium a lot. Pre covid, 2 hours to do 25 miles, which is about average. (12mph across london in a car).

When lockdown hit, it was like christmas everyday, could get anywhere in 40-60 minutes from home.

Then we went through some strange twighlight zone transition, whereby traffic steadily got worse and worse, but the centre of London had no people in it. Where the fuck were all these people going??

Now, post lockdown, it's worse than ever as less people want to to get on a germ tube or incubation bus, and so they are in their cars.

I did go in on my bike a bit during summer, when I didn't have to carry all the usual kit I do and it was bliss. But doing it in the pissing rain at zero degrees I'm not so sure about.
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MarJay
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PostPosted: 10:42 - 17 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh yeah... and I commuted from Basingstoke, to White City (which is not *that* central) and on a good day like the Friday before a bank holiday? 50 minutes if I'm lucky, knowing all the back routes and doing M3 A3. On a bad day? Who knows? It's taken me 2 hours before now, and the average is about an hour and 20 minutes. Most of which is the time from the M25 exit to the office.

There are never any clear roads. You have to be on your guard ALL the time, and you can't park anywhere lest your bike get lifted by some balaclava'd scumbags with machetes and angle grinders. Luckily my office has an underground car park.

Going home? 2 hours generally. Sometimes a bit less if I'm lucky, but 2 hours is about the average.
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A100man
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PostPosted: 10:47 - 17 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

MarJay wrote:
Oh yeah... and I commuted from Basingstoke, to White City (which is not *that* central) and on a good day like the Friday before a bank holiday? 50 minutes if I'm lucky, knowing all the back routes and doing M3 A3. On a bad day? Who knows? It's taken me 2 hours before now, and the average is about an hour and 20 minutes. Most of which is the time from the M25 exit to the office.

There are never any clear roads. You have to be on your guard ALL the time, and you can't park anywhere lest your bike get lifted by some balaclava'd scumbags with machetes and angle grinders. Luckily my office has an underground car park.

Going home? 2 hours generally. Sometimes a bit less if I'm lucky, but 2 hours is about the average.


Jeeez four hours out of your day traveling - that's crap. Out of interest how long would the train or car take?
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MarJay
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PostPosted: 10:59 - 17 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

A100man wrote:

Jeeez four hours out of your day traveling - that's crap. Out of interest how long would the train or car take?


When you have a good morning you tend to have a bad afternoon, so it's rarely actually four hours in total, but it is always more than 2 and usually around 3. I usually tried to work from home 2-3 days a week, and I had another office in Chiswick that I tended to go to sometimes. That still took about an hour and ten on the way and an hour and 30 on the way home on average.

The train takes about an hour and a half to two hours due to the slow trains going from Basingstoke, but I also hate people and there is a 17 minute walk at either end too.

Car? Ha! I'd still be going to work now if I went by car. I'd be a skeleton in a 1 series stuck on the North Circular somewhere.
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Robby
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PostPosted: 16:01 - 17 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

It varies depending on what bit on London you live in, what the roads are like, what the public transport is like, and how adept you are at knowing the tradeoffs between the various public transport options.

Also London is a big place, so generalisations don't work that well.

That said, in my experience, which is only going from bits of south London into central, there isn't much in it time-wise between using the bike and using public transport. For me it's 45 minutes into Westminster from north Croydon (technically south London, seeing as I'm just inside the SE postcode). Same on the bike as using train and bus.

Contrary to other posters, I do quite like living in London, but I wouldn't like to live in most of it. I like having a short enough commute and being able to walk to shops. I also like living far enough out of the centre that it's fairly green. I wouldn't want to live in the proper inner city, but I grew up in the countryside so I'm pathologically opposed to the idea of living anywhere where I need to drive to buy milk.
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Andy_Pagin
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PostPosted: 16:50 - 17 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

For me, Enfield HighWay to Gracechurch St. City of London, it takes about an hour and a quarter, including parking at Minories car park and walking the rest of the way. You need to factor in time not actually on the bike, when considering a commute run.
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c_dug
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PostPosted: 18:01 - 17 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

I do Hornchurch to South Kensington in peak traffic every day, 21 miles or thereabouts.

It's about 15-20 minutes to Canary Wharf from home, that's virtually all dual carriageway.

It's about another 15-20 minutes from there to Trafalgar Square, which is bang central London.

It's a further 15 minutes to South Kensington for a total of ~55 minutes or so on an average day.

Probably 15 minutes or so getting changed, and another 5-10 locking and unlocking the bike (combined at both ends).

I can get the district line from home to work with no changes, that's exactly one hour on the train, and call it ~10 minutes total walking time.

Basically there isn't much in it, but the bike is probably a smidge cheaper over the year, is more flexible, more fun, and more reliable.

Fastest ever was leaving at ~5am on a Sunday morning. I did the whole journey in under 30 minutes (more like 25). That was a good few years back now, no speed bumps, no cycle superhighway, no 20 zones, less camera's. I don't think it'd be possible to do that now unless you really didn't give a shite at all about something going wrong along the way.

I actually quite like where I live, but I'd also not choose to live in London if it weren't for the fact my entire life (friends, family, work) are based here.
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Easy-X
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PostPosted: 01:25 - 18 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't think many would want to live in London but... mo money Smile

I whizz up the A3 quite regularly and that's fine all the way to Wandsworth. Basically in the car I'd be 1h30 ~ 2hrs but the bike is consistently <1hr as long as you don't mind filtering like a boss.
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SirFallalot
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PostPosted: 23:19 - 18 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Get a job where you get to work at home Laughing been loving my "roll out of bed" commute for 6 months now.

No idea of cockfosters, but anywhere west of London near the A40 should be good, there is traffic but always easy to filter all the way till Euston / King's Cross / Angel, except for the final bit in-between those.
From Feltham, which is quite bleh far, took me around 50 minutes.
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yen_powell
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PostPosted: 08:47 - 19 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was doing a 100 miles a day, 5 days a week (50 each way) and it was taking me 45 minutes in and an hour home. I was doing the first 40 miles in about half that time going in, once you hit 'population' everything slows down big time.

I have been very lucky, the road between my house and the north circular is usually very fast travelling on a bike, especially since they dual carriagewayed the first 15 miles which replaced the old single track A road. Originally my journey was an hour in and an hour 15 home again, it knocked 15 minutes off my journey each way.

It only takes one iffy pinch point on your journey to wreck the trip. Pinch points can include such things as the Thames being between you and work, or a railway line with limited crossing points. When my mum was ill and I was looking after her I had to travel to work from 10 miles away and it took me nearly as long as to get to work from 50 miles away and that was on a bike. If I'd taken the car I might still be in the queues.

I'm still doing the long commute, but due to the virus I only go in 1 or 2 days a week. The money I have saved has been unbelievable, I have never bought so many nice things for me and my bike in such a short period. I was going to partially retire this year to cut down on my commuting, if my work pattern carries on as it is I don't need to now.
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baritone
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PostPosted: 09:44 - 19 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've worked from home in Twickenham for 11 years so haven't needed to do a daily commute for ages. Previously had 20 years of going into the City every day by public transport - which I'm now pathologically averse to. I still go into town 1-3 times a week (depending on Covid.)

I typically take an 50-60 mins to get into the car park under London Wall from home in heavy traffic. Add another 15 minutes to get to Canary Wharf. Getting into town isn't the trip that bothers me, it can be more demanding getting back. Sometimes, actually very frequently, the A4 Cromwell Road / Talgarth Road is solid, and can be rather a tiring filtering exercise.

Good news is that London drivers are well used to having bikes of all kinds swarm around them so it isn't as hair-raising as some claim - but of course you have to watch out and act with some humility.

All that said - I'm glad I don't have to commute daily by any method!
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A100man
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PostPosted: 10:44 - 19 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

baritone wrote:


I typically take an 50-60 mins to get into the car park under London Wall


I was curious so I googles that - is it really free for bikes? How secure??

I fancy a look around the Barbican as I love a bit of Brutalist!
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baritone
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PostPosted: 11:12 - 19 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, free gratis and for nothing. Railings to chain bikes to if it's not too busy, and plenty of staff walking around. CCTVs. Probably as safe as it gets. It's ticket entry for cars (bikes bypass the gates.)

Agreed about Barbican - as elegant as brutalism got, softened by hanging gardens.
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A100man
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PostPosted: 11:27 - 19 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

baritone wrote:
Yes, free gratis and for nothing. Railings to chain bikes to if it's not too busy, and plenty of staff walking around. CCTVs. Probably as safe as it gets. It's ticket entry for cars (bikes bypass the gates.)

Agreed about Barbican - as elegant as brutalism got, softened by hanging gardens.


Interesting thank you. I also note that the nice Mr Khan will let me ride my highly polluting (yet historic) 1976 GT250 into town without charging me. Am I also right in thinking that thieving scum mostly target scooters?
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Pjay
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PostPosted: 11:28 - 19 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

I used to live in Southgate and would commute into Old Street.
Hated it.

I moved out to Bishops Stortford and could get into Central London really quickly by using the M11/A406/A13 route. For the most part the roads are 50/70 Mph, so you really do make some ground up pretty fast.

Bishops Stortford is a wonderful place to live too, nice town centre, train station on the stansted express line and not stupid house prices.

Fucked if I would move back inside the M25.
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Andy_Pagin
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PostPosted: 16:18 - 19 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

baritone wrote:
Yes, free gratis and for nothing. Railings to chain bikes to if it's not too busy, and plenty of staff walking around. CCTVs. Probably as safe as it gets. It's ticket entry for cars (bikes bypass the gates.)


Minories car park is free too. Security's good. Almost every time I return to my bike a security guard appears magically somewhat like the shopkeeper in 'Mr. Ben'*

* I mean he appears out of nowhere, not that he's a little chubby guy in a Fez who has a dubious interest in helping suited & booted young men indulge in role-play.
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Robby
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PostPosted: 17:21 - 20 Oct 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just don't use the stairs in minories, don't want to wake up the (oddly polite) junkies.
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