Cycling in London can be visceral and cruel. The city is packed with road users who — if they see you at all — see you as an obstacle or target. Bus, lorry, van and taxi drivers might spend all day in the traffic of central London, and all day their hopes of a quick getaway here and a green light there are continually dashed. Why, therefore, should they give an inch to a smug cyclist?
Our strategy to cope is simple, but devilishly so. We have found a way to circumvent much of the fumes, the shouted insults, narrowing gaps and the 20 tonne daydreamers.
The method takes some effort, planning even, but it eventually becomes self-supporting. And the reward is not limited to a peaceful journey, it exposes hidden backstreets. What is this miraculous strategy?
Avoid bus routes.
…
What? That’s it?!
Yes. That’s it. If you take the time and care to avoid bus routes where possible, there’s an exceptional chance you’ll avoid other fast and busy traffic comprised of lorries, vans, taxis and so on. Buses are merely a useful indicator of traffic volume, and so it becomes a fair assumption that roads without buses are quieter.
But buses criss-cross the whole of central London. It must be impossible to avoid them. Well, far from it. It’s just difficult, that’s all. London is full of backstreets, parks, cut-throughs and squares that when linked together provide a buttery path from A to B.
That path takes longer, but it looks like this
You need to combine a little imagination with your knowledge of course. The one way streets and alleyways of Soho are known fair game for the considerate. Elsewhere you may have to hop and off to shimmy through Cockpit Steps, Parkland Walk or the urban delights of Clockwork Orange Banks in Wandsworth.
The free Transport For London Cycle Guides offer a great start to your planning, but the committee-approved routes offer few secrets or useful transgressions.
For those you need inquisitive eyes and hungry handlebars.
Leave earlier, turn corners, take pictures.
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Surely a ‘gaggle of guv’nors’ should be arranged in the smoke when the weather picks up!
Couldn’t agree more Simon. Perhaps in late March with the launch of the club?
Sound advice, I noticed that when last cycling Piccadilly -> Grosvenor Place, ‘there must be a better way’ soon became my mantra.
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