This morning's commute and other commuting stories

^ yep, I think that's part of the problem, it's solved one problem, but created another.

It used to be crap going straight onto Clapham Road, where there was a big risk of being hooked by a car turning left across you onto Brixton road. That was bad road design, but also just a lot of driver impatience. There's now that problem if you want to go onto Brixton road, where you risk being swiped by cars wanting to go left. Can't necessarily blame driver impatience so much now though, the bike lane just suddenly dumps a load of cyclists onto the bit of road they're aiming for.

Absolutely. If there's going to be segregation there has to be more thought put into what happens at the beginning/end of that segregation. Look at the other examples on the CS7:

• Oval (northbound) dumps you into a bus stop, where there's often a left indicating bus bearing down on you.

• Southwark Bridge (northbound), where the blue paint generally disappears under a HGV once you're north of the river.

LOLz, only because I've done it myself a number of times.

Why the fuck you need a removable core is beyond me.

You love that bit.

The worst part is the uninitiated not realising that Brixton Road is straight on and Camberwell New Road is a left turn. I've been "shepherded" by non-signalling traffic before and ended up half way towards Camberwell trying to avoid being squished.

People indicating right when they want to go straight on and people turning left without indicating etc.

^ hnnnnnnnnnnng

CS5 is a real step backwards for cyclists although it does provide (some) segregation.

The first set of cycle lane lights going south on Vauxhall Bridge Road are phased to really treat cyclists as second class citizens. They're green for less than 50% of the time the main lights are on, which is frustrating. Motor vehicles can go straight on, but cyclists are stuck, so a couple of motor vehicle can turn left onto John Islip Street.

At the end of the Vauxhall bridge, cyclists have to queue on the pavement to cross over the Albert Embankment. If it gets busy now, with 20-30 cyclists queuing at rush hour, its going to be chaos in the spring/summer. And once you've crossed the first section, there's a really strange bend and another set of lights. Last night there were too many cyclists to get everybody though, and people had to wait on the other side of the road. Crazy!

Once you've got past all of that, through the tunnel thing by the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, which is only as wide as a set of handle bars. Then you've got to queue at another pedestrian crossing to continue onto CS5. None of this I would mind if cyclists had equal green light time, but alas, its on for a very brief period.

And to top it all, as you go southbound along Harleyford Road / A202 southbound, it just stops and dumps you on the wrong side of the road at another pedestrian crossing. Imagine if motorists had to press a button at traffic lights?

It is a fuck up around there heading south - I've found myself jumping off the cycle path once over the bridge heading south onto the road to go through the lights as my route takes me right to Stockwell.

Using the cycle lane is as confusing as anything and seems to be slow as fuck with loads of stop/start

Meanwhile TFL have just sent this to my inbox
*Cycle Superhighway Route 5, which runs from Oval to Pimlico via the Vauxhall gyratory, has now launched. This is part of the Road Modernisation Plan and is one of the ways we reinvest all our income to run and improve your services.

The route provides a more direct journey with a number of innovative safety features including:

• A fully segregated two-way cycle track across, separating cyclists from motor traffic along the route, at signalised junctions and at bus stops
  
• Connections to Cycle Superhighway 8, which runs from Wandsworth to Westminster, at Vauxhall Bridge Road
  
• Wider footways and new and upgraded pedestrian crossings*
  
  

Perhaps its worth emailing TFL with your experience of the new CS5 so that they might realise the errors in their planning.

The final plans for this junction include a 'cycle early start' which solves the left hook problem. They just shouldn't have opened the damn thing yet. I've reported to TFL and LCC and local councillors. Fat lot of good that will likely do...

Perhaps its worth emailing TFL with your experience of the new CS5 so that they might realise the errors in their planning.

I've just emailed Graham Nash, Sponsorship manager - Major Programmes Email address: customerservicesroads@tfl.gov.uk - shall see what happens.

@PQR I've jumped off the cycle path too. However, as its a drop curb, its a bit it and miss whether the traffic is in your favour or not.

I feel your pain. I tighten the valve core with snipe nosed pliers when I buy a batch of new tubes now.

Challenged to a race along Kennington Road this morning. The challenge was too late for any serious racing - approaching the lights by IWM. But the thought was nice.

The Oval cycle lanes are probably now the least enjoyable stretch of my commute.

100% bad design. From all angles.

I come from Lambeth direction and want to go towards Clapham in the evening. The entry from Kennington road onto the segregated bit ends too quickly so that if you take the corner like a normal person in traffic there is no way you will make it onto it.

100% of the time I end up in traffic with cars which I am fine about. It's also too thin.

had that, stopped using Continental inner tubes for that exact reason. Double check now when bulk buying from bike jumbles..

Sore leg. Cycled slowly. Very slowly. Like, sub-200 calories to get to work slowly. Result: not a fucked quad on arrival. Win!

Dickhead cyclist breezes past dangerously close. Swerves a bit at a moped. Moped then punishment passes the cyclist because that makes everything OK. Next set of lights Cyclist breezes through red, Moped and Motorcyclist pull to a halt unnecessarily inside ASL, complain about how all cyclists run red lights while I'm sat next to them enjoying not going anywhere, and then when the lights change they nip off doing more than 30mph in a 20 zone.
I pootle in and next-to-nothing mph and have a lovely time. Things are nice now the temperature is back to where it should be.

while I'm sat next to them enjoying not going anywhere and then when the lights change nip off doing more than 30mph in a 20 zone.

Yes, we get it, you just thought you'd weave your superior speed in there quite inconspicuously. :)

I read it as being the motorcyclist and scooterist who were doing the 30mph rather than @6pt

There did seem to be fewer cyclists than before I left. I thought the cold wasn't going to scare people off this year... mwuahahahahaaaa

You don't say. Check the grammar, though. :)

Looking forward to this cold snap to test out the LMNH Belgium cap I bought last night
Going to be toasty warm

.

Seems fine to me. Breaking the sentence up into phrases it reads

Moped and Motorcyclist
(1) pull to a halt unnecessarily inside ASL,
(2) complain about how all cyclists run red lights while I'm sat next to them enjoying not going anywhere and then
(3) when the lights change nip off doing more than 30mph in a 20 zone.

For it to read like that it needs a comma here:

while I'm sat next to them enjoying not going anywhere, and then when the lights change nip off doing more than 30mph in a 20 zone.

FUCK YOU DELIVEROO.

Actual kangaroos could navigate London better.