On Thu, 14 May 2009, Alistair Bell wrote:

But with all that said, I'd be tempted to just leave the bike at Hither
Green (or Lewisham) station in the morning. Or just not cycle that day.

I don't understand this idea - which morning? Are you suggesting i should
have cycled there this morning (from Finsbury Park) before work, then got
the train from there to work today, and then back again this evening,
followed by riding back to Finsbury Park tonight? Or that i should stay
the night (which her husband might find sightly surprising), leave it
there tomorrow morning, and then go back for it by train some other time?

tom

--
Nullius in verba

On Thu, 14 May 2009, Tom Crispin wrote:

On Wed, 13 May 2009 23:19:31 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

I want to visit a friend who lives near Hither Green (or thereabouts -
not totally sure what the closest railway station is yet) tomorrow
evening. I'll be going from work, which is (not quite) in the City. It
strikes me as a bit far to cycle, especially as i don't know the area.
So, i want to take the train from London Bridge, and take my bike with
me, so i can cycle from the station to her house, and then from London
Bridge home later on.

I understand that Southeastern don't take trains on London-leaving
trains before 1900, which is fair enough. Does anyone happen to know if
my understanding is correct?

Moreover, is it realistic for me to think i will be able to get on a
train with my bike soon after that? I have this terrible vision of the
evening peak being standing-room-only and not conducive to bikes for
hours on end.

If joining the train at Charing Cross, get on near the front, the bike
won't be a problem. If getting on at London Bridge there will be more
room at the front, but not much! The exit at Hither Green Station is
right at the back of the train.

Humm. I'm finished at work, so i have plenty of time to get to CX before
seven, i suppose, although it seems slightly mad to do so given that i'm
just up the road from LB.

I live minutes from Hither Green. I can suggest two cycling routes,
one largely motor traffic free, and an express route.

The traffic free route will take up to an hour; the express route up
to 40 minutes.

1. From London Bridge pick up the Thames Cycle Route, generally well
signed as NCR4. Follow the route almost all the way to Greenwich. At
Deptford Creek, before crossing the River Ravensbourne, follow NCR21
to Lewisham. At Lewisham follow the cycle route through the Town
Centre to Lewisham Library, then Limes Grove, right College Park, left
Dermody Road, right Eastdown Park, ahead Leahurst Rod, arrive Hither
Green.

2. From London Bridge, follow the A200 [Tooley Street (bus/cycle
lanes), Jamaica Road (bus lanes), Lower Road (bus lanes),

So far, a route i've done - that's how i got the bike home from Decathlon,
at Surrey Quays, where i bought it!

Evelyn Street], then right Deptford Church Street (nasty junction, bus
lanes), ahead Brookmill Road, ahead Thurston Street, left Loampit Vale,
ahead Lewisham High Street (nasty roundabout, bus lane), left Lee High
Road, right Manor Park, right Staplehurst Road, arrive Hither Green.

That looks good. I would normally just do this, but am put off quite a lot
by the fact that i haven't got a map - i just didn't have room in my bag
to pack my A-Z, and that part of London being terra incognita to me, i've
never ordered cycle guides for it (well, not until five minutes ago, but
in horse - stable door terms, that doesn't count).

Actually, i tell a lie - i've just looked at the ancient second-issue
sheet 11, and the route just clips the corner - the bottom left corner is
roundabout Honor Oak Crematorium, which means it covers the route from
Surrey Quays, not to Hither Green station, but to my destination halfway
down Lee High Road. Right, the Wheels of Aluminium, rather than Steel, it
is!

Even though the air is grotesquely humid and i have a suit jacket ...

tom

--
solvilvitur ambulando. copy a diamond shape, recording angel. .. ..

On 14 May, 18:23, Tom Anderson wrote:
On Thu, 14 May 2009, Tom Crispin wrote:
On Wed, 13 May 2009 23:19:31 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

I want to visit a friend who lives near Hither Green (or thereabouts -
not totally sure what the closest railway station is yet) tomorrow
evening. I'll be going from work, which is (not quite) in the City. It
strikes me as a bit far to cycle, especially as i don't know the area.
So, i want to take the train from London Bridge, and take my bike with
me, so i can cycle from the station to her house, and then from London
Bridge home later on.

I understand that Southeastern don't take trains on London-leaving
trains before 1900, which is fair enough. Does anyone happen to know if
my understanding is correct?

Moreover, is it realistic for me to think i will be able to get on a
train with my bike soon after that? I have this terrible vision of the
evening peak being standing-room-only and not conducive to bikes for
hours on end.

If joining the train at Charing Cross, get on near the front, the bike
won't be a problem. *If getting on at London Bridge there will be more
room at the front, but not much! *The exit at Hither Green Station is
right at the back of the train.

Humm. I'm finished at work, so i have plenty of time to get to CX before
seven, i suppose, although it seems slightly mad to do so given that i'm
just up the road from LB.


You must be nearer to Cannon Street than Charing Cross then. It would
work just as well from there, ie the train starting there.

Departures to Hither Green at 1836 (actually a fairly quiet train
because same route as the 1822), 1918, 1922, 1948.

Still, I expect it's all over now.

On Thu, 14 May 2009 18:23:02 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

On Thu, 14 May 2009, Tom Crispin wrote:

On Wed, 13 May 2009 23:19:31 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

I want to visit a friend who lives near Hither Green (or thereabouts -
not totally sure what the closest railway station is yet) tomorrow
evening. I'll be going from work, which is (not quite) in the City. It
strikes me as a bit far to cycle, especially as i don't know the area.
So, i want to take the train from London Bridge, and take my bike with
me, so i can cycle from the station to her house, and then from London
Bridge home later on.

I understand that Southeastern don't take trains on London-leaving
trains before 1900, which is fair enough. Does anyone happen to know if
my understanding is correct?

Moreover, is it realistic for me to think i will be able to get on a
train with my bike soon after that? I have this terrible vision of the
evening peak being standing-room-only and not conducive to bikes for
hours on end.

If joining the train at Charing Cross, get on near the front, the bike
won't be a problem. If getting on at London Bridge there will be more
room at the front, but not much! The exit at Hither Green Station is
right at the back of the train.

Humm. I'm finished at work, so i have plenty of time to get to CX before
seven, i suppose, although it seems slightly mad to do so given that i'm
just up the road from LB.

I live minutes from Hither Green. I can suggest two cycling routes,
one largely motor traffic free, and an express route.

The traffic free route will take up to an hour; the express route up
to 40 minutes.

1. From London Bridge pick up the Thames Cycle Route, generally well
signed as NCR4. Follow the route almost all the way to Greenwich. At
Deptford Creek, before crossing the River Ravensbourne, follow NCR21
to Lewisham. At Lewisham follow the cycle route through the Town
Centre to Lewisham Library, then Limes Grove, right College Park, left
Dermody Road, right Eastdown Park, ahead Leahurst Rod, arrive Hither
Green.

2. From London Bridge, follow the A200 [Tooley Street (bus/cycle
lanes), Jamaica Road (bus lanes), Lower Road (bus lanes),

So far, a route i've done - that's how i got the bike home from Decathlon,
at Surrey Quays, where i bought it!

Evelyn Street], then right Deptford Church Street (nasty junction, bus
lanes), ahead Brookmill Road, ahead Thurston Street, left Loampit Vale,
ahead Lewisham High Street (nasty roundabout, bus lane), left Lee High
Road, right Manor Park, right Staplehurst Road, arrive Hither Green.

That looks good. I would normally just do this, but am put off quite a lot
by the fact that i haven't got a map - i just didn't have room in my bag
to pack my A-Z, and that part of London being terra incognita to me, i've
never ordered cycle guides for it (well, not until five minutes ago, but
in horse - stable door terms, that doesn't count).

Actually, i tell a lie - i've just looked at the ancient second-issue
sheet 11, and the route just clips the corner - the bottom left corner is
roundabout Honor Oak Crematorium, which means it covers the route from
Surrey Quays, not to Hither Green station, but to my destination halfway
down Lee High Road. Right, the Wheels of Aluminium, rather than Steel, it
is!

I will be interested to learn how accurate my estimate of 40 minutes
was.

Even though the air is grotesquely humid and i have a suit jacket ...

tom

On Thu, 14 May 2009 18:00:02 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

On Thu, 14 May 2009, Alistair Bell wrote:

But with all that said, I'd be tempted to just leave the bike at Hither
Green (or Lewisham) station in the morning. Or just not cycle that day.

I don't understand this idea - which morning? Are you suggesting i should
have cycled there this morning (from Finsbury Park) before work, then got
the train from there to work today, and then back again this evening,
followed by riding back to Finsbury Park tonight? Or that i should stay
the night (which her husband might find sightly surprising), leave it
there tomorrow morning, and then go back for it by train some other time?

I've no idea what they were thinking.

It is interesting to note that soon there will be an almost motor
traffic free cycle route from Lewisham to Finsbury Park.

On Thu, 14 May 2009, Tom Crispin wrote:

On Thu, 14 May 2009 18:23:02 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

On Thu, 14 May 2009, Tom Crispin wrote:

2. From London Bridge, follow the A200 [Tooley Street (bus/cycle
lanes), Jamaica Road (bus lanes), Lower Road (bus lanes),

So far, a route i've done - that's how i got the bike home from Decathlon,
at Surrey Quays, where i bought it!

Evelyn Street], then right Deptford Church Street (nasty junction, bus
lanes), ahead Brookmill Road, ahead Thurston Street, left Loampit Vale,
ahead Lewisham High Street (nasty roundabout, bus lane), left Lee High
Road, right Manor Park, right Staplehurst Road, arrive Hither Green.

That looks good. I would normally just do this, but am put off quite a lot
by the fact that i haven't got a map - i just didn't have room in my bag
to pack my A-Z, and that part of London being terra incognita to me, i've
never ordered cycle guides for it (well, not until five minutes ago, but
in horse - stable door terms, that doesn't count).

Actually, i tell a lie - i've just looked at the ancient second-issue
sheet 11, and the route just clips the corner - the bottom left corner is
roundabout Honor Oak Crematorium, which means it covers the route from
Surrey Quays, not to Hither Green station, but to my destination halfway
down Lee High Road. Right, the Wheels of Aluminium, rather than Steel, it
is!

I will be interested to learn how accurate my estimate of 40 minutes
was.

Computer said 35 minutes, and 7.1 miles (i think). It only counts rolling
time; going by what i remember of the time, i probably spent another five
minutes sitting in traffic and looking at the map, so your estimate was
actually extremely accurate. Even though i started somewhere else
(Spitalfields) and finished somewhere else (just of Lee High Road, near
where Manor Park goes off).

Some of the roads had absolutely shocking surfaces - Brookmill Road i
think was the worst.

tom

--
When they finally drop the bomb, the only survivors will be cockroaches
and Marathon Pluses. -- Mark T, uk.rec.cycling

On Thu, 14 May 2009, MIG wrote:

On 14 May, 08:05, Tom Crispin
wrote:

2. *From London Bridge, follow the A200 [Tooley Street (bus/cycle
lanes), Jamaica Road (bus lanes), Lower Road (bus lanes), Evelyn
Street], then right Deptford Church Street (nasty junction, bus lanes),
ahead Brookmill Road, ahead Thurston Street, left Loampit Vale, ahead
Lewisham High Street (nasty roundabout, bus lane), left Lee High Road,
right Manor Park, right Staplehurst Road, arrive Hither Green.- Hide
quoted text -

Route 2 ain't so bad really. Even the apparently terrifying
roundabout at Rotherhithe is surprisingly easy.

Yes, i've been through that a few times and it's nothing special. But then
my commuting route as of a few months ago went through Highbury Corner and
Old Street, so i've very much got my roundabout wings!

The only really horrible bit is trying to turn right into Deptford
Church Street, where you can't get into the right lane.

When i went through it, there was naff all traffic, and i had no trouble,
but i do remember being struck by just how much width of road i had to
cross to get into the right position.

The worst bit, i thought, was where Deptford Church Street crossed New
Cross Road: the road on both sides was too narrow for a car to pass me
safely (or at all, really), there was no ASL, and drivers certainly came
at it with the intention of going much faster than i was able to, so the
departure from the lights was a bit stressful. And the surface! My god!
Have the RAF being dumping their old cluster bombs there or something?

Needless to say, i didn't take this Tooley Street closure seriously
enough, and rode right into it. Away from the actual closure itself, it
was great - there was no traffic, and the road was entirely usable. But at
the closure, to was on the north side of the road, and had to push round
some immense detour. Possibly i would have done better on the south side.

Also, once in Brookmill Road, you can pick up cycle routes through
Lewisham and continue with route 1.

I spotted the signs pointing to those (near the railway bridge?), but
didn't take the risk!

The most educational bit of the ride was getting behind some fairly
petite, slightly dumpy girl who was riding the same way at the top of
Lower Road, idly deciding to make her my pace rider, and then being highly
chastened to find that i had to pedal like the absolute clappers to keep
up with her! I was a bit relieved when i had to stop and look at a map,
and she rapidly vanished into the distance ...

tom

--
When they finally drop the bomb, the only survivors will be cockroaches
and Marathon Pluses. -- Mark T, uk.rec.cycling

On Fri, 15 May 2009 01:35:12 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

On Thu, 14 May 2009, MIG wrote:

On 14 May, 08:05, Tom Crispin
wrote:

2. *From London Bridge, follow the A200 [Tooley Street (bus/cycle
lanes), Jamaica Road (bus lanes), Lower Road (bus lanes), Evelyn
Street], then right Deptford Church Street (nasty junction, bus lanes),
ahead Brookmill Road, ahead Thurston Street, left Loampit Vale, ahead
Lewisham High Street (nasty roundabout, bus lane), left Lee High Road,
right Manor Park, right Staplehurst Road, arrive Hither Green.- Hide
quoted text -

Route 2 ain't so bad really. Even the apparently terrifying
roundabout at Rotherhithe is surprisingly easy.

Yes, i've been through that a few times and it's nothing special. But then
my commuting route as of a few months ago went through Highbury Corner and
Old Street, so i've very much got my roundabout wings!

The only really horrible bit is trying to turn right into Deptford
Church Street, where you can't get into the right lane.

When i went through it, there was naff all traffic, and i had no trouble,
but i do remember being struck by just how much width of road i had to
cross to get into the right position.

The worst bit, i thought, was where Deptford Church Street crossed New
Cross Road: the road on both sides was too narrow for a car to pass me
safely (or at all, really), there was no ASL, and drivers certainly came
at it with the intention of going much faster than i was able to, so the
departure from the lights was a bit stressful. And the surface! My god!
Have the RAF being dumping their old cluster bombs there or something?

Primary position at that crossing is a necessity. I've done it so
many times, I have forgotten how tricky it was first time.

For the past 10 weeks, the A2 southbound has been closed across
Blackheath and traffic diverted onto the A20, Lee High Road. Brookmill
road took much of the A2's traffic. There is an excellent motor
traffic free route from New Cross Road to Lewisham. As always,
however, it takes about 50% longer to ride.

Needless to say, i didn't take this Tooley Street closure seriously
enough, and rode right into it. Away from the actual closure itself, it
was great - there was no traffic, and the road was entirely usable. But at
the closure, to was on the north side of the road, and had to push round
some immense detour. Possibly i would have done better on the south side.

Also, once in Brookmill Road, you can pick up cycle routes through
Lewisham and continue with route 1.

I spotted the signs pointing to those (near the railway bridge?), but
didn't take the risk!

The most educational bit of the ride was getting behind some fairly
petite, slightly dumpy girl who was riding the same way at the top of
Lower Road, idly deciding to make her my pace rider, and then being highly
chastened to find that i had to pedal like the absolute clappers to keep
up with her! I was a bit relieved when i had to stop and look at a map,
and she rapidly vanished into the distance ...

That sounds like Katie, coordinator of Lewisham Cyclists.

On 15 May, 01:19, Tom Anderson wrote:
On Thu, 14 May 2009, Tom Crispin wrote:
On Thu, 14 May 2009 18:23:02 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

On Thu, 14 May 2009, Tom Crispin wrote:

2. *From London Bridge, follow the A200 [Tooley Street (bus/cycle
lanes), Jamaica Road (bus lanes), Lower Road (bus lanes),

So far, a route i've done - that's how i got the bike home from Decathlon,
at Surrey Quays, where i bought it!

Evelyn Street], then right Deptford Church Street (nasty junction, bus
lanes), ahead Brookmill Road, ahead Thurston Street, left Loampit Vale,
ahead Lewisham High Street (nasty roundabout, bus lane), left Lee High
Road, right Manor Park, right Staplehurst Road, arrive Hither Green.

That looks good. I would normally just do this, but am put off quite a lot
by the fact that i haven't got a map - i just didn't have room in my bag
to pack my A-Z, and that part of London being terra incognita to me, i've
never ordered cycle guides for it (well, not until five minutes ago, but
in horse - stable door terms, that doesn't count).

Actually, i tell a lie - i've just looked at the ancient second-issue
sheet 11, and the route just clips the corner - the bottom left corner is
roundabout Honor Oak Crematorium, which means it covers the route from
Surrey Quays, not to Hither Green station, but to my destination halfway
down Lee High Road. Right, the Wheels of Aluminium, rather than Steel, it
is!

I will be interested to learn how accurate my estimate of 40 minutes
was.

Computer said 35 minutes, and 7.1 miles (i think). It only counts rolling
time; going by what i remember of the time, i probably spent another five
minutes sitting in traffic and looking at the map, so your estimate was
actually extremely accurate. Even though i started somewhere else
(Spitalfields) and finished somewhere else (just of Lee High Road, near
where Manor Park goes off).

Some of the roads had absolutely shocking surfaces - Brookmill Road i
think was the worst.

tom

--
When they finally drop the bomb, the only survivors will be cockroaches
and Marathon Pluses. -- Mark T, uk.rec.cycling- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Nearly every road in the area has had sewers done in the last couple
of years. This may explain some of it.

On Fri, 15 May 2009, Tom Crispin wrote:

On Fri, 15 May 2009 01:35:12 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

The worst bit, i thought, was where Deptford Church Street crossed New
Cross Road: the road on both sides was too narrow for a car to pass me
safely (or at all, really), there was no ASL, and drivers certainly
came at it with the intention of going much faster than i was able to,
so the departure from the lights was a bit stressful. And the surface!
My god! Have the RAF being dumping their old cluster bombs there or
something?

Primary position at that crossing is a necessity. I've done it so
many times, I have forgotten how tricky it was first time.

Ah, i'd shamelessly filtered to near the front, and then found that i
couldn't take a secondary position, and chickened out of scooting out in
front of the head of the queue to take primary. In the end i just pedalled
like mad and prayed.

The most educational bit of the ride was getting behind some fairly
petite, slightly dumpy girl who was riding the same way at the top of
Lower Road, idly deciding to make her my pace rider, and then being
highly chastened to find that i had to pedal like the absolute clappers
to keep up with her! I was a bit relieved when i had to stop and look
at a map, and she rapidly vanished into the distance ...

That sounds like Katie, coordinator of Lewisham Cyclists.

Well if it was, don't tell her i called her dumpy.

tom

--
We need a higher electric field, a higher polarisation product, a longer
storage time and more neutrons. -- NEDM