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#1
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london to dover tricky sections
Hi,
I'm new to UK and was a bit frightened by the narrow roads in the south west countryside - are there any tricky narrow sections on the london to dover route? If so how long are they? Asking anyone who's been that way! And btw if any want to camp and come along, want to leave as soon as possible :-D |
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#2
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london to dover tricky sections
chazza wrote:
I'm new to UK and was a bit frightened by the narrow roads in the south west countryside - are there any tricky narrow sections on the london to dover route? If so how long are they? I don't really understand the question, but if you are looking for a route from London to Dover, I could probably help you out. The easiest route would be straight down the A2. Parts of it would be fine - the Meopham to Faversham stretch, where the bulk of the traffic takes the M2, is tolerable. The London-Meopham and Faversham-Dover stretches of the A2 are busy dual carriageway, heavily populated with thundering HGVs. The the long, straight descent down Jubilee Way into Dover itself is thrillingly fast - it should be easy to top 50mph down there. But at least the roads aren't narrow! My alternative route would include some narrow country lanes, but would be my idea of a very pleasant ride. Take your pick... d. |
#3
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london to dover tricky sections
thanks davek! Yes, by narrow sections I mean those winding country
roads with no verges/shoulders that mean instant death! You seem to be more relaxed with them than I am! I am new to the UK (my bike and me are from Australia) but I'm getting the idea that we cant go on the M roads here..ie M40, M3..I see what you mean, that the A2 is wide and safe but the narrow country roads picturesque...which was why i was asking if anyone had done the london to dover journey...and if there were sections of this narrow road without shoulders along the way...and if so how long they were - ie 1 mile, 2 miles or more. I'm feeling I could risk a short section of narrow road in return for the view and doing the whole trip - but i dont want to be stuck on 10 miles of narrow road without any verge or shoulder to escape from cars! There is a map waiting for me post restante at a post office of the route, put out by the tourist bureau - but it doesnt tell you which roads have no room on their sides... sorry to be tedious here but wanted to ensure I explained myself clearly! i dont know where you are, but any who could look over the map with me over coffee or something I could travel a fair way to discuss it. thanks ! Chaz davek wrote: chazza wrote: I'm new to UK and was a bit frightened by the narrow roads in the south west countryside - are there any tricky narrow sections on the london to dover route? If so how long are they? I don't really understand the question, but if you are looking for a route from London to Dover, I could probably help you out. The easiest route would be straight down the A2. Parts of it would be fine - the Meopham to Faversham stretch, where the bulk of the traffic takes the M2, is tolerable. The London-Meopham and Faversham-Dover stretches of the A2 are busy dual carriageway, heavily populated with thundering HGVs. The the long, straight descent down Jubilee Way into Dover itself is thrillingly fast - it should be easy to top 50mph down there. But at least the roads aren't narrow! My alternative route would include some narrow country lanes, but would be my idea of a very pleasant ride. Take your pick... d. |
#4
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london to dover tricky sections
chazza wrote:
Yes, by narrow sections I mean those winding country roads with no verges/shoulders that mean instant death! You seem to be more relaxed with them than I am! Well, I cycle on them regularly and I'm still alive, so I think you are perhaps overstating the element of danger. I am new to the UK (my bike and me are from Australia) but I'm getting the idea that we cant go on the M roads here..ie M40, M3.. M stands for motorway. They are the only class of road on which non-motorised vehicles are always banned, though there are also some stretches of A-road where cycling is prohibited. I see what you mean, that the A2 is wide and safe but the narrow country roads picturesque... The A2 is certainly wide enough, but I wouldn't necessarily call it safe - and parts of it would be /exceedingly/ unpleasant to cycle on, eg the section from Blackheath to Bexley (I'm not sure you are even allowed to cycle on that stretch). and if there were sections of this narrow road without shoulders along the way...and if so how long they were - ie 1 mile, 2 miles or more. It's not good practise to ride on the shoulder. It may be different where you come from, but here they are not designed for that purpose. Apart from anything else, they tend to be strewn with debris, which means you are likely to get frequent p+nct+res - or worse... I'm feeling I could risk a short section of narrow road in return for the view and doing the whole trip - but i dont want to be stuck on 10 miles of narrow road without any verge or shoulder to escape from cars! It seems you have some serious misconceptions about road safety - certainly with respect to riding on British roads. For a start, your safety will largely be determined by /how/ you ride more than /where/ you ride. If you feel the need to get out of the way every time a car approaches, the motorist will have no qualms about squeezing past you at speed with inches to spare. If, however, you assert your entitlement to occupy your fair share of the road, you will effectively force the motorist to wait for a safe place to overtake. Don't allow yourself to be bullied by impatient Mr Toads. I would always stick to the country lanes as much as possible. They may be narrow but there is far less traffic using them - the Canterbury-Dover route (~20 miles) I ride with my club is almost entirely traffic-free until you reach the outskirts of Dover itself. d. |
#5
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london to dover tricky sections
Yep, I'm new at this; so far I dont like riding with clubs (seems to
defeat purpose of riding: only tried it once for a short ride back in Oz) and dont like to know exactly where I'm going either most of the time, so I guess I'll just risk it i know a bit more about it now though thanks to your cool advice! C davek wrote: chazza wrote: Yes, by narrow sections I mean those winding country roads with no verges/shoulders that mean instant death! You seem to be more relaxed with them than I am! Well, I cycle on them regularly and I'm still alive, so I think you are perhaps overstating the element of danger. I am new to the UK (my bike and me are from Australia) but I'm getting the idea that we cant go on the M roads here..ie M40, M3.. M stands for motorway. They are the only class of road on which non-motorised vehicles are always banned, though there are also some stretches of A-road where cycling is prohibited. I see what you mean, that the A2 is wide and safe but the narrow country roads picturesque... The A2 is certainly wide enough, but I wouldn't necessarily call it safe - and parts of it would be /exceedingly/ unpleasant to cycle on, eg the section from Blackheath to Bexley (I'm not sure you are even allowed to cycle on that stretch). and if there were sections of this narrow road without shoulders along the way...and if so how long they were - ie 1 mile, 2 miles or more. It's not good practise to ride on the shoulder. It may be different where you come from, but here they are not designed for that purpose. Apart from anything else, they tend to be strewn with debris, which means you are likely to get frequent p+nct+res - or worse... I'm feeling I could risk a short section of narrow road in return for the view and doing the whole trip - but i dont want to be stuck on 10 miles of narrow road without any verge or shoulder to escape from cars! It seems you have some serious misconceptions about road safety - certainly with respect to riding on British roads. For a start, your safety will largely be determined by /how/ you ride more than /where/ you ride. If you feel the need to get out of the way every time a car approaches, the motorist will have no qualms about squeezing past you at speed with inches to spare. If, however, you assert your entitlement to occupy your fair share of the road, you will effectively force the motorist to wait for a safe place to overtake. Don't allow yourself to be bullied by impatient Mr Toads. I would always stick to the country lanes as much as possible. They may be narrow but there is far less traffic using them - the Canterbury-Dover route (~20 miles) I ride with my club is almost entirely traffic-free until you reach the outskirts of Dover itself. d. |
#6
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london to dover tricky sections
"chazza" wrote in message ups.com... Yep, I'm new at this; so far I dont like riding with clubs (seems to defeat purpose of riding: only tried it once for a short ride back in Oz) and dont like to know exactly where I'm going either most of the time, so I guess I'll just risk it i know a bit more about it now though thanks to your cool advice! C Have a think about joining the CTC. See www.ctc.org.uk and the joining page is at http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=4088 The CTC is *not* about being sporty in the sense a racing club is. Benefits to joining:- FREE £5m third party insurance a bi-monthly cycling magazine and weekly email newsletter an invitation to over 1000 cycling events each year route and touring information technical and product advice cycle-related legal advice discounts on many cycling products access to CTC holidays and tours The CTC has local groups which you can either join in - or not - as you wish - there's no onus to 'join in' activities, it's entirely up to you what you choose to do or not. The CTC local members can be an absolute fount of information on local routes, and the third party insurance + legal advice make the membership fee exceedingly good value. If you'd rather do the necessary by phone... contact details a- Membership Address: CTC, PO Box 510, Unit 8, Isleworth, TW7 6WP Tel: 0870 873 0061 Fax: 0870 873 0065 Email: I'm in the Norfolk group and I often pootle about on various CTC runs, and have met all sorts of people, all sorts of ages, on all sorts of bikes, trikes... and generally have fun :-) Cheers, helen s |
#7
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london to dover tricky sections
thanks helen - route advice sounds great!
wafflycat wrote: "chazza" wrote in message ups.com... Yep, I'm new at this; so far I dont like riding with clubs (seems to defeat purpose of riding: only tried it once for a short ride back in Oz) and dont like to know exactly where I'm going either most of the time, so I guess I'll just risk it i know a bit more about it now though thanks to your cool advice! C Have a think about joining the CTC. See www.ctc.org.uk and the joining page is at http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=4088 The CTC is *not* about being sporty in the sense a racing club is. Benefits to joining:- FREE £5m third party insurance a bi-monthly cycling magazine and weekly email newsletter an invitation to over 1000 cycling events each year route and touring information technical and product advice cycle-related legal advice discounts on many cycling products access to CTC holidays and tours The CTC has local groups which you can either join in - or not - as you wish - there's no onus to 'join in' activities, it's entirely up to you what you choose to do or not. The CTC local members can be an absolute fount of information on local routes, and the third party insurance + legal advice make the membership fee exceedingly good value. If you'd rather do the necessary by phone... contact details a- Membership Address: CTC, PO Box 510, Unit 8, Isleworth, TW7 6WP Tel: 0870 873 0061 Fax: 0870 873 0065 Email: I'm in the Norfolk group and I often pootle about on various CTC runs, and have met all sorts of people, all sorts of ages, on all sorts of bikes, trikes... and generally have fun :-) Cheers, helen s |
#8
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london to dover tricky sections
chazza wrote:
Yep, I'm new at this; so far I dont like riding with clubs (seems to defeat purpose of riding: only tried it once for a short ride back in Oz) and dont like to know exactly where I'm going either most of the time, so I guess I'll just risk it i know a bit more about it now though thanks to your cool advice! It sounds like you lack a bit of confidence when it comes to riding in traffic. Can I suggest that you part with some pennies and purchase the book "Cyclecraft" from the TSO? http://www.tsoshop.co.uk/bookstore.a...=SearchResults It's full of excellent life-preserving advice that will greatly increase the pleasure that you get out of cycling. Tim |
#9
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london to dover tricky sections
in message . com, chazza
') wrote: thanks davek! Yes, by narrow sections I mean those winding country roads with no verges/shoulders that mean instant death! You seem to be more relaxed with them than I am! I am new to the UK (my bike and me are from Australia) but I'm getting the idea that we cant go on the M roads here..ie M40, M3..I see what you mean, that the A2 is wide and safe but the narrow country roads picturesque...which was why i was asking if anyone had done the london to dover journey...and if there were sections of this narrow road without shoulders along the way...and if so how long they were - ie 1 mile, 2 miles or more. I'm feeling I could risk a short section of narrow road in return for the view and doing the whole trip - but i dont want to be stuck on 10 miles of narrow road without any verge or shoulder to escape from cars! I've kept out of this discussion so far because I don't know Kent - I've been there very rarely - and it's much busier than parts of the island with which I'm familiar. But unless Kent is very different from the rest of Britain, you've got diametrically the wrong idea about what's safe to cycle on. Around here, anyway, stick to the little lanes. They're much more pleasant. If something comes up behind you, he can wait until /you/ think it's safe to pass. Don't try and ride along the margin of the road - that's really unsafe. Ride out in the middle of the lane where you control the traffic coming up behind you. -- (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/ I shall continue to be an impossible person so long as those who are now possible remain possible -- Michael Bakunin |
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