West London commute - any suggestions for a safer route?

Hello,

I cycle every day from Perivale (just north of Ealing) to Oxford Circus
and then back again in the evening. In the summer the journey is nice
because I can take the Grand Union Canal towpath all the way to
Paddington. This then leaves me with just 2 miles of central London
traffic which in any case is on side streets.

Now that it is dark in the evening, I can't use the canal and I am
forced to travel along Bayswater Road, Holland Park Avenue, Holland
Park roundabout, Shepherd's Bush, and Uxbridge Road. None of this is
very nice or safe! The roads are busy and the drivers can be irate.
The other day I was cut up by a driver who either hadn't seen me or
thought he would take a chance to overtake the traffic by squeezing in
on the left.

Does anyone travel in this direction? I have studied the map and so
far haven't come up with a decent alternative route. Does anyone know
of a better route, i.e. less traffic, fewer unpredicatble pedestrians,
buses, taxis etc?

Thanks,
Pawel

Now that it is dark in the evening, I can't use the canal and I am
forced to travel along Bayswater Road, Holland Park Avenue, Holland


Get yourself some proper lights and a headlight and a May-West.
10watts of smart light and a cateye 320 backup would not break the bank
and I think that would be plenty of light.

TerryJ

wrote on 02/11/2006 09:59 +0100:
Hello,

I cycle every day from Perivale (just north of Ealing) to Oxford Circus
and then back again in the evening. In the summer the journey is nice
because I can take the Grand Union Canal towpath all the way to
Paddington. This then leaves me with just 2 miles of central London
traffic which in any case is on side streets.

Now that it is dark in the evening, I can't use the canal and I am
forced to travel along Bayswater Road, Holland Park Avenue, Holland
Park roundabout, Shepherd's Bush, and Uxbridge Road. None of this is
very nice or safe! The roads are busy and the drivers can be irate.
The other day I was cut up by a driver who either hadn't seen me or
thought he would take a chance to overtake the traffic by squeezing in
on the left.

Does anyone travel in this direction? I have studied the map and so
far haven't come up with a decent alternative route. Does anyone know
of a better route, i.e. less traffic, fewer unpredicatble pedestrians,
buses, taxis etc?


Try using the LCN and minor roads route planner at
http://www.cyclemaps.net/gaz.asp to give you some options to consider


--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci

But the canal towpath isn't very safe after dark. Remember we're
talking about London here. I don't fancy going down a quiet, unlit
path in London for 30 minutes. I think it's asking for trouble.

Does anyone actually travel in my direction and use a route other than
the one I mentioned?

Pawel


wrote:
Now that it is dark in the evening, I can't use the canal and I am
forced to travel along Bayswater Road, Holland Park Avenue, Holland


Get yourself some proper lights and a headlight and a May-West.
10watts of smart light and a cateye 320 backup would not break the bank
and I think that would be plenty of light.

TerryJ

But the canal towpath isn't very safe after dark. Remember we're
talking about London here. I don't fancy going down a quiet, unlit
path in London for 30 minutes. I think it's asking for trouble.

Does anyone actually travel in my direction and use a route other than
the one I mentioned?

Pawel


wrote:
Now that it is dark in the evening, I can't use the canal and I am
forced to travel along Bayswater Road, Holland Park Avenue, Holland


Get yourself some proper lights and a headlight and a May-West.
10watts of smart light and a cateye 320 backup would not break the bank
and I think that would be plenty of light.

TerryJ

Thanks Tony, that's exactly the sort of thing I was after! I will
print out the suggested route and study my map later!

Pawel


Try using the LCN and minor roads route planner at
http://www.cyclemaps.net/gaz.asp to give you some options to consider


--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci

wrote:
Now that it is dark in the evening, I can't use the canal and I am
forced to travel along Bayswater Road, Holland Park Avenue, Holland
Park roundabout, Shepherd's Bush, and Uxbridge Road. None of this is
very nice or safe!

I did that route for about 2 years and can sympathise, but I never
found a nicer route that wasn't miles longer and involved a whole load
more junctions at which you don't have priority.
The Holland Park Roundabout is a bit scary in the morning, but at least
in the evening rush it is usually virtually stationary so you can just
dodge around the motors. I never had any problem on it by taking the
lane and going pretty fast, my biggest worry was that a mechanical
failure like a chain jam might leave me stranded in the middle.
Bayswater Road is so solid in the evening that you can pretty much
treat the motors as bollards for a slalom down the hill - wheeeeee!
Give it a couple of weeks and you'll get used to it, you'll know what
lanes to take and where the drivers normally pull out without looking.

POHB wrote:
wrote:
Now that it is dark in the evening, I can't use the canal and I am
forced to travel along Bayswater Road, Holland Park Avenue, Holland
Park roundabout, Shepherd's Bush, and Uxbridge Road. None of this is
very nice or safe!

I did that route for about 2 years and can sympathise, but I never
found a nicer route that wasn't miles longer and involved a whole load
more junctions at which you don't have priority.
The Holland Park Roundabout is a bit scary in the morning, but at least
in the evening rush it is usually virtually stationary so you can just
dodge around the motors.

Is that the one with the water thingy in the middle? three lane
roundabout at the end of the A41(M) spur?

I never had any problem on it by taking the
lane and going pretty fast, my biggest worry was that a mechanical
failure like a chain jam might leave me stranded in the middle.
Bayswater Road is so solid in the evening that you can pretty much
treat the motors as bollards for a slalom down the hill - wheeeeee!
Give it a couple of weeks and you'll get used to it, you'll know what
lanes to take and where the drivers normally pull out without looking.

Safety is mostly about perception and confidence. If you are not
confident and are hugging the kerb then it will appear intimidating and
will be more dangerous than a more assertive style. The main obstacle
IMO is the HP roundabout as it is a climb to it from both directions
and you really want some speed to negotiate it happily. Not one for the
timid or unconfident.

...d

David Martin wrote:
Is that the one with the water thingy in the middle? three lane
roundabout at the end of the A41(M) spur?

Yep, that's the one. At the moment it's worse than usual because there
are roadworks. Yesterday, even though the lights were green in my
favour, traffic was still entering the roundabout from the next exit,
presumably because drivers had become impatient. So there was lots of
hooting all round. There is a cycle lane of sorts there so I might use
that from now on.

I never had any problem on it by taking the
lane and going pretty fast, my biggest worry was that a mechanical
failure like a chain jam might leave me stranded in the middle.
Bayswater Road is so solid in the evening that you can pretty much
treat the motors as bollards for a slalom down the hill - wheeeeee!
Give it a couple of weeks and you'll get used to it, you'll know what
lanes to take and where the drivers normally pull out without looking.

Safety is mostly about perception and confidence. If you are not
confident and are hugging the kerb then it will appear intimidating and
will be more dangerous than a more assertive style. The main obstacle
IMO is the HP roundabout as it is a climb to it from both directions
and you really want some speed to negotiate it happily. Not one for the
timid or unconfident.

From my experience you can be very confident until your first accident
;-) I have seen very confident cyclists who zip in between lanes of
traffic without looking behind them. IMO they are stupid (or at least
very naive), not confident. There will come a time when a motorbike or
scooter or another cyclist will run into them as a result.

There are loads of times when I look over my shoulder before overtaking
a bus or parked car/taxi only to find a scooter or other cylists
already overtaking me, some leaving me very little room. I wonder how
many of the other cyclists check over their shoulder before overtaking.
Not that many from my experience. I prefer to slow down and let them
go.

Anyway, other than the traffic and pedestrians, it is polluted, so
doing back streets might be a lot nicer in that respect too.

Pawel

wrote:
There is a cycle lane of sorts there so I might use
that from now on.

Yes but I believe it involves subways and several places where you lose
priority and have to re-enter the traffic at awkward places.
I also particularly like (not) the cycle path across the green, just
after the HP roundabout going West. You have to get into the RH lane
of 4 or 5 lanes and then brake hard to perform a right-angle R turn up
a kerb between railings. You can imagine how much the cars behind you
like that one. At the other side of the green you then wait ages to
cross the road on a toucan and try not to mow down any peds as you
rejoin the road.