This morning's commute and other commuting stories

I find the Loughborough Road Mexican standoff preferable to the alternatives. Sometimes it requires a dismount and short walk, but that's a price I'm prepared to pay to have my morning brightened by the Loughborough lollipop man.

South of Museum, North on Montague, around Russel Square, Bernard, Judd, Cromer, Tonbridge.

Top of Tonbridge is a bike cut through onto Euston Eastbound, though you do have the fairly scrappy Pancras Road to deal with...

new route from walthamstow to the wharf is on cycle paths for the first 5m which is absolute bliss. i've done a lot of other commutes moving around london and i don't think anything can beat this one. takes in olympic and victoria park as well. i could actually do the remaining 2.5m or so down the canal but got no time for that nonsense.

Early morning ride around empty Olympic park, via Hackney Marshes is about as good as it gets in London I reckon. Hopefully when the wetlands are redeveloped there will be good paths to ride as well.

I'm assuming the swarms of flying insects have yet to appear this year.

Head down spin out session towing a moped on the way to work this morning. We reversed positions once I got tired. I think he hasn't yet worked out how far round he can twist his throttle.

FFS. Mentioning it is basically step one of summoning them. You better hope nobody has been studying the Necronomicon.

Necronomicon

The book of dead things that are good to eat ?

It's supposedly the book that you have to read to summon Chtulhu

i will check out the route through the hackney marshes up to walthamstow one of these fine days but been a bit busy and also staying a few nights at friends in leytonstone so just go through the park and i'm there. it actually feels quite unfair that i get to enjoy such a pleasant route for riding in london compared to some of the horrors i hear people having to go through on here.

Smashed it in today, great commute. Left an hour earlier so first commute in proper rush hour for a while. It was great fun: two lines of traffic in both directions stationary and me blasting past them all right down the middle.

Apart from that being suffering from a clusterfuck of bad overtaking, from the bone-headed to the bone-breaking variety, although I did escape unharmed. A trifecta of them all involved me moving from the left across the lane to the right while approaching either a roundabout or traffic light, whereupon despite my position and the coming junction I was overtaken before the driver cutting right back over to the left before I've even completed my manoeuvre. Yesterday I was in the left hand lane, there are three lanes appraoching the big roundabout at the bottom of Gloucester Road in Brissle, I'm moving to the right, about to move into the middle lane when a bus suddenly appears on my shoulder and goes around me before coming back into the lane I was trying to move out of. I duely passed him because he had to stop immediately as the lights were red so I gave a window a satisfying whack, which he really didn't like. Worst of all I got overtaken by a learner on a lesson yesterday, I'm in the right hand side of a right hand lane, the road is divided by chevrons not just a broken white line, there are lorries parked up outside a builder's merchant on the otherside of the road the learner overtook me, going right around me, over the chevrons, into the other lane, then all the way back to the left to stop in front of the red light. Very disappointing the instructor thought that was an acceptable manoeuvre felt like knocking on the window and having a word.

No they are there, you learn to ride with your mouth closed very quickly.

I go Olympic park - Hackney Marshes - Lea Bridge Rd - Argall Estate - Walthamstow. Very little car interaction apart from Lea Bridge.

Still haven't worked out a decent Olympic park loop to ride, nothing seems to quite join up.

nice. almost the same as mine. why don't you go down honour lea av, then join that up with orient way then into argall estate? the stretch along orient way is great as it's literally a 1m time trial uninterrupted.
if you're on the hackney marsh why don't you carry it through up the canal up to spring field park then cut across into walthamstow along copper mill lane?

Do you mean Argyle, not Tonbridge? Googlemaps seems to think so.

Correction, South of Museum, North on Montague, around Russell Square, Bernard, Judd, Cromer, Whidborne, Argyle St.

Top of Argyle St is a bike cut through onto Euston Eastbound.

what she said^

ah just beat me to it.

Stop by for a cuppa @ whidbourne

I've done the Springfield park/Copper mill route. Will check out the Orient Way one, cheers.

I is confused. Why wouldn't you just keep going up Loughborough, to Akerman, Patmos, over Vassall onto Foxley, left onto Cranmer, and then right onto Brixton Rd?
Powering past everyone in relative peace and quiet.

Every single day I consider that, then remember I used to get lost down there and spat out on Camberwell New Road every time.

Loughborough Road can be fine, but I'm guilty as hell of hopping onto the pavement when I don't want to get stuck in the jam(m) (!!!).

Turn left.

Because Akerman and Patmos Roads are as much of a cluster fuck as Loughborough Road, if not more so.

Really?
I don't have that much trouble around there.
Disclaimer: I go to work later.

Real reason is I hate Shakespeare road, would rather avoid it and avoid Brixton.

Shakespeare road is the champs elysée of misery and speed bumps.