The IKEA ride

I like the sound of this, I bloody love Ikea meatballs and cakes. And Cider Äpple.

It's going to be during the day though not on a Thursday night, right?

Yep it will be a full day. Don't worry.

I'm keen if it's a weekend.

It will definitely be a weekend.

Although one should never normally go to IKEA at the weekend.

Wonderful

In, date depending. Cheers for bringing to my attention :)

It's absolutely massive!

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@mashton did promise a full day's ride.

I assumed we would see other Ikea stores too though 😜

For sure!
Plenty of covered bike parking with 'Bug Hotels' attached.
It looks to have loads of stock inside so can't be long till it actually opens.
Much excitement.

Riding through a shed like that shouldn't take too long. :)

Used to be this ...

The roads for these are awful, what's the proposed route to avoid the worst bits right next to the Ikeas? (i.e. the North Circular)

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The roads for these are awful, what's the proposed route to avoid the worst bits right next to the Ikeas? (i.e. the North Circular)

You are right, the route from Wembley to Tottenham is the main concern. I think we go a bit north and try to thread through some of the nice roads up that way.

Any suggestions from North types welcome.

The Croydon to Wembley bit is going to be scenic and as off road as possible, using the River Wandle, River Thames and canals.

Tottenham down to Stratford we have some waterway options as well, I think - down through Walthamstow Marshes and then the River Lee

Stratford to Greenwich will be a straightforward dash down to either the Woolwich ferry or one of the foot tunnels.

Actually I just had a quick look at the Wembley to Tottenham leg and think we might be best served to head to Cricklewood, then sort of round the Heath, to Alexandra palace and then over to Tottenham.

I will try to get a route gpx done soon.

Spaniards will get you into Highgate, my route home from Norths is through Ikea carpark and I normally just head down Jackson’s lane, shepherds to crouch end, middle lane, turnpike, westbury, lordship, lansdowne, then if it’s open again, park Ave, marsh, marigold, Bike path by the A10. If park ave is shut, take leeside.

The next bit to Stratford is easy, towpath it all the way to the gentrified districts of StRatford.

Excellent, very helpful. Thanks!

Right, here's a first stab at a route:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29111493

Lots of off road parts, which will be nice.

The route from Wandsworth to Wembley has not much going for it. If anyone wants to suggest some tweaks, please feel free. Ditto the part from Wembley to Spaniards, although we are quite limited in where to cross the railways.

The IKEA in Stratford is inside Westfield. By all means we should visit, but I haven't included it precisely on the route.

In terms of kit, a lot of this ride will be on towpath surface. It should be doable on 23c for those of you who have not bought into the last five years of cycling, but caveat emptor. I will probably be on 27" 32c tyres, riding fixed. Ride what you want, bring tools, bring what you need.

By the way, getting across the North Circular, into and out of the Wembley IKEA, will involve a foot bridge. I don't know if it has ramps or just stairs.

As for dates, I'm going to tentatively suggest Sunday 3rd March, but will push it back nearer to the time if the weather looks terrible.

Any strong objections to Sunday 3rd March 2019?

I've just remembered that we planned to go over the cable car. I'll amend the route.

I am pondering starting at Croydon and then taking the Wandle river path into town.

My experience of the path is that it is quite narrow at points, not enough to be hazardous but enough that you never really get any speed going, and have to slow down to walking pace for sections. Not an issue, just be prepared for it time-wise

This was looked into for the new Greenwich store at one point also, I know an old courier who consulted for them, don't think it ever went further than that sadly

The Homebase on Bromley rd has a cargo bike for customers!

My experience of the path is that it is quite narrow at points, not enough to be hazardous but enough that you never really get any speed going, and have to slow down to walking pace for sections. Not an issue, just be prepared for it time-wise

Good call. If it is too sluggardly we can bail onto the roads easy enough.