Cycle the Underground,overground,wombling free,making a tube map for a poster for me

I posted in the 'tell us about your weekend ride' thread last weekend about my plans to cycle the London Underground network and plot all the gps trails on a single map, and make it into a poster for my wall . I'm as far behind modern tech as Buck Rogers so not sure how I'm going to do this yet, but this thread is to record the rides themselves and the evolution of the map from idea to reality.

So far Freezing77 has pointed me in the direction of Garmin Basecamp for adding multiple gpx tracks in different colours on the same map, and a mate also suggested having a play with scribble maps. I'd quite like to add in photos of the end of line stations too and maybe even a link to this thread, but to be honest I've not played with these much yet as there still seems lot of riding to be done, so the more technical tinkering will come later.

I'm going to copy the first post from last weekend here so its all in one place, this could be the longest TL:DR in history so if you're in a hurry or easily bored jog on by.

Over Chrimbo I decided that I'd like to re-do Harry Beck's famous tube map. Its too easy on the eye and not a true representation of where the stations are in relation to each other. I'm totally useless with the crayons so I shall 'draw' it by GPS tracking each line end to end, cycling to every station along the way. I then plan to upload them all onto one map, have the lines colour co-ordinated like the original, add in all the station names in a much messier fashion, probably in a font that will most people hate, and make it into a poster for my wall.

As it happens its a feck of a long way, lots of lines have seperate branches that I'll have to go down and back in order to 'draw' a continuous line. Some lines I've never even been on and parts of London I've never visited so it will be good for my London geography. My ridewithgps routes have the 11 lines with their 379 station come out at just under 430 miles, not including any or the riding to and from my house and from line to line. The total distance will depend on the order I do it, but I estimate it will be around 500 miles in total. This assumes I don't get killed to death by traffic, overcome with fumes or simply lose the will to live from visiting more train stations than the most nerdy trainspotter. This sounds like more of a summer project but its really mild for January so I thought I'd get cracking yesterday. This would be the biggest test yet of my Tunnocks teacakes scribed sat nav device, but I had an A-Z so as long as I did'nt get lost in the outer limits, ie off map, I'd be fine.

I've never done an audax but I reckon this would be a good audax, in a sort of horrific way. There's loads of control point options and plenty to see. And contrary to what you might think there's plenty of countryside too. I'm amazed I've never even noticed it but the Metrolpolitan line starts in Amersham, which is no word of a lie, north of Watford, which is also on the tube. WTF! How did this happen? I imagine a ye olde London Undergound meeting where a few people called in sick and the office temp wrote up the minutes incorrectly and the whole thing got approved without anyone realising the error.

Day 1- Saturday 18th January
So after 4 hours sleep (urgh) I got up at 5 yesterday and was out of the house at 6. First up was the Victoria line. 6am on Saturday morning at Brixton station is a bit like a scene from Shaun of the Dead, but I managed to escape in one piece.

Going through central London in the early hours is joy, and of all the lines this was probably the one I knew the route from end to end without needing any directions. As it happens I got a bit disconbobulated with the bloody one way system of Tottenham Hale but otherwise it was a good run.

So next up was the longest GPS route line of the lot, the Central line. Luckily it was still early so the drag strip out to Epping was not too busy but I was passed by a few cars along there that were doing well above 100mph.

I know Essex is flat and prone to flooding and with all the rain recently I was a little worried the Essex loop would have lots of flooded sections, but apart from plenty of puddles it was OK. I got carried away enjoying a descent down Bowes hill and went immediately off course before even getting to the 2nd station, and had to do a big loop to get back on track. Immedaitely after the 2nd station station Theydon Bois I missed another turning , grunting up an unneccsarry hill. After 2-3 miles my spider sense is tingling and I know I've gone wrong so decided to check map on phone. No reception, great, thanks for nothing technology. There is no option but to turn around and retrace my wheeltracks and I find my original route. There were a few sections along the A12 which I will try and erase from memory. Its so mild I'm in shorts, I left the house in trousers but was overheating by Green Park so spent nearly 12 hours in shorts in January, which has got to be some sort of record for me. I was getting some funny looks and on my way up Bethnal Green Road a white van man pulled up to tell me to 'put some fucking clothes on, its bloody winter you know' haha. Pfft it was about 9 degrees, positively roasting.

Again the central London bits I know but beyond White City was unknown. Hanger Lane was predictably a clusterfuck, I hooned along the A40 for a bit too which was also the stuff of nightmares. As it was a pretend audax I thought I'd give it an air of authenticity by having a made up control on a garage forecourt.

West Ruislip arrived, and I discovered looks just as shitty as a great many other stations.

So onto the final leg, going to Harrow and Wealdstone for the final Bakerloo line leg back to civilisation.

Looks like my bike has wet itself in that pic.
North West London observations, the roads are shit, people in residential areas absolutely do not look before jumping into the road, honestly the bit around Harrow and Brent I must have had about 4 or 5 incidents of people almost stepping into my front wheel without even a hint of looking. So I am more than a little embarrrassed to discover that after berating the locals for their lack of vision I'm struggling to read my tiny written directions in the onsetting gloom, and it dawns on me that being over 40 I probably need my eyes testing. This is confirmed by struggling to read the index pages of the A-Z. All this means I take numerous wrong turns. Also maybe a funny thing to notice but the street lamps in Brent are quite dim, when I got to around Maida Vale the council must have invested in some swanky deluxe streety lights for the rich people as they were much brighter and I could nearly read the A-Z. I finally roll into Waterloo at 6.20, just over 12 hours after setting off.

I think I managed all of the 90 underground stations on this leg. I was covered in road grime which is a close to a tan as I'm going to get at this time of year. It turns out to be my longest singlespeed distance as including the 'transfers' it came in at 141 miles which I'm pretty pleased with for January. And amazingly despite cycling around London with a front tyre on its last legs I had no punctures. 3 lines down and 8 to go, but they're for another time, today I earned the day off.

Victoria line http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2168039


Central line http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2168037


Bakerloo line http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2168035

Day 2 - Tuesday 21st January

As the weather is due to get colder and wetter and I'm away in Bristol next week, I thought I'd try and get a bit more of this done yesterday. I could'nt face getting up at 5am again so stayed buried under the duvet until 6.30am. After apprehensively pulling back the curtains I was glad to see it was dry, but was a little worried by the total blanket of fog, apart from ice probably the scariest of cycling weather. Wimping out of a ride in January because of a bit of fog when its usually so much worse seemed lame, so I had a stern word with myself and committed to the cause. I had 2 lines planned for the day and first up was to be the Jubilee line. I head out over to Stratford at 7.20am, a place that 10 years ago would have looked better in thick fog,.but thanks to the Limpics there's more to see now, although maybe not on this day

As the Jubliee line goes back and forth across the river way beyond any bridges, I planned to get from North to South on the Woolwich Ferry, then ride up to North Greenwich station, then come back to Canary Wharf on the Skyline cable car, and then back south through the Rotherhithe tunnel. I was a little crest fallen when I arrived at the ferry to see the road blocked with cones and a sign up saying Ferry closed, I guess due to the fog. The foot tunnel it is then, though it does'nt have the same feeling of adventure or resemble going on holiday like the ferry does. I was also a little worried that the gps would crash and make a mess of my plans but despite this I walked through the tunnel, I was the only 1, the other 3 cyclists I saw were all riding. Surely none of them were doing an important project like me so whats their excuse, I gave each of them my sternest dad-esque frown but said nothing, that showed them for sure, how very British.

A quick check at the other side and the gps was still working, good karma I thought, those 3 cyclists must all have had punctures by now mwahaha. I headed onward along the river, looking forward to the cable car as I''d never been on it before. I'm sure the views are good on a clear day, but visibility was so bad I actually spent most of the 'flight' laughing out loud at the comedic lack of views. Feast your eyes upon, well nothing.


Then after the soulless sterile Canary Wharf experience it was through the Rotherhithe tunnel, I've driven it before but never cycled it. Verdict = fumes, lots of them. Probably not wise taking photos on the move but I could keep up with traffic thanks to the 20mph limit so it did'nt feel sketchy.

I got to Stanmore without so much as a wrong turn but was struck with a puncture in Dollis Hill, clearly as punishment for bragging about not having any on Saturday. I was feeling really lethargic, everything seemed more of an effort than usual, maybe I had'nt fully recovered from Saturday. I think this contributed to the fact I forgot to take a photo at Stanmore. Oh well.

At this stage I did consider whether to leave it there for the day but I was already far from home and I've got to do it sometime, so I may aswell get it over with, so it was on with the next leg, the Metropolitan line. As already mentioned I was shocked it goes out as far as Amersham, in fact the next stop Chatham is even further north. So to describe either of these as being part of the Londinium 'Metropolis' is frankly taking the piss. And it did seem odd seeing the underground logo this far out in the sticks, as if someone had been guerilla sign installing.

The section out to Amersham was pretty hilly and draining on a singlespeed and the roads were really greasy, on one short climb after repeated rear wheel slips when out of the saddle I had to dismount and walk, points deducted. I took a wrong turn at a roundabout in Rickmansworth but corrected it and was otherwise on course. I was relieved to get to Amersham, albeit pretty knackered, and I still had 60 miles of the actual Met line to go.

The ride back was a slog, getting to Harrow on the Hill and then having to turn and go all the way to Uxbridge and back was a low point, not helped by the fact its such a boring part of town to ride around and is not very cycle friendly.

I was slow but I made it, but I was spent, I've not been that tired on a ride in ages and I don't think I'll ever be so pleased to see Aldgate ever again. In my exhausted daze I forgot to take a photo in Aldgate. Like Stanmore this grates with me, and at the risk of being OCD I may go and get of photo of in the dark at a later date, but if I do I know I'll have to go and get the Stanmore one too. I got back home at 7pm after 131 miles for the day. It felt like more. I ate a mountain of food and had one beer and was fast asleep by 9pm. I slept right through till 7am this morning, I don't even think I moved in the night, I woke up with a totally rogue left arm. It was my longest sleep in ages so I obviously needed it.

Day 3 January 22nd January

Today was due to be another dry day so I hoped to do some more, but with the exertions of yesterday and to prevent me developing the swollen arse of a baboon, I thought I'd have an easy day of it. So an afternoon start and just two short lines today with a total of 40 flat miles. To start with they don't get any easier than the Waterloo and City line as it has just 2 stops.


Then it was across town to Edgware Road for the Circle line

This was a nice and nearly uneventful line apart from coming within inches of being taken out by a non-indicating U-turning minicab just past the Russian embassy on Bayswater road, I unleashed a tirade of pleasantries at the driver, oh no hang on I did'nt do that, this time my British reserve deserted me.

Not having the 'knowledge' of a cabbie, doing this without a satnav is a bit of a mission. Although my central London knowledge is alright I don't trust myself to not miss any stations and I don't want to do any lines again. Also regular consulting of the A-Z is too time consuming, so to be sure I'm writing most of the route out turn by turn, apart from the dead cert bits. Besides, doing this and consulting maps was what all cyclists did before satnav. So its a long process of planning on ridewithgps and then looking on streetview at any junctions you're not 100% clear about, or for some road markers to indicate points near turn offs. So far my directions have served me pretty well considering the scope for error in such a massive urban and cough rural playground. To give you an idea here's my notes from the lines so far

Each row is a tube line in the order I've done them. As you can see this needs more Tunnocks Tea cakes boxes than I can safely eat without fast onsetting diabetes, and having thrown away the Chrimbo cards a while ago I had to resort to raiding the cupboards and was cutting bits out of the full teabags and muesli boxes just to meet this rides cardboard requirements. (paper is too flimsy and dissolves in any moisture, a lesson I've learnt the hard way in the past)

So 3 days in and I feel I've made a decent dent into this, I've got this far so I'm not stopping now. An achy arse is to be expected after spending all day in the saddle, but perhaps the most alarming physical side effect of the rides so far have been the bogies, sweet Jesus each day I'm excavating enough to start making small squidgy sculptures. I'm sure my lungs have taken a battering too, traffic collisions aside what the life expectancy of a courier I wonder, if they smoked too I think they'd be lucky to get to 50 without developing breathing difficulties.

There are some challenging lines to come, the alpine peaks of the upper Northern line, the sprawling reach of the multi-branch District Line, and probably the one I'm least looking forward to, the one with the most stops and the mind numbing tedium of the wasteland out around Heathrow, the Piccadilly line. These will have a to wait a few weeks until I'm back from Bristol, so I hope we get all the winter out of the way in the next 10 days or so and its nice and mild when I return. I am affording mysef the luxury of not doing this if its pissing it down with rain so if it rains until July so be it.

Victoria line http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2168039
Central line http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2168037
Bakerloo line http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2168035
Jubilee line http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2179359

Metropolitan line http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2179362

Waterloo and City line http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2181152

Circle line http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2181146