Tim Corrigan blogs on cycling, trips and programming…

This summer I’ve commuted a number of times by bike. It’s approx 20 miles each way into London so it took a while to decide it was a serious proposition and try it. I’m so glad I did – I always arrive at work feeling alert and it’s been great for my fitness and fun learning the ropes of London bike commuting as well.

Below are some notes that you might find helpful if you are considering commuting anywhere in an East/West direction in the region of Egham, Staines, Ashford, Feltham, Twickenham, Richmond, Putney, Battersea or Clapham.

Route finding Tips

To start with I simply used Google maps to give me walking directions from home to work. This route was about as direct as possible whilst avoiding motorways. Since then it has made the commute more interesting to try out variations. Some of these are mapped below, along with some notes which could be useful for anyone commuting from Egham/Windsor/Staines etc. towards central London south of the river.

Points of note

• The A30 and A308 are fast dual carriageways and are worth avoiding. The route round the back of Staines station through Ashford and crossing the A308 is the only way around these without a major detour. As an alternative the A308 does have a path alongside which though not a cycle path is ride-able, if bumpy on road tyres.

• The A316 route north of Richmond has cycle lanes of varying quality along it. This is a little slow but useable, safe and direct. The alternative is straight through Twickenham and Richmond centres.

• Twickenham town centre is actually quite pleasant as it has a big bus lane straight through in the London bound direction and isn’t too bad in the other direction either.

• Richmond town centre is inevitably slow negotiating the queueing traffic but you are through it soon enough.

Test routes on EveryTrail

These show a few variations with me trying out different options:
Egham to Battersea commute 1
Egham to Battersea commute 2

The definitive Egham to Battersea route (this is my current preferred route erring on the side of safety)

View larger version of Egham to Battersea commute 3 at EveryTrail

This year I joined up with Mark Sheppard to ride the British Heart Foundation London to Brighton ride. The ride is 54 miles on road from Clapham Common to Brighton beach and this year had 27,000 official riders.

This ride gave me the motivation to get out my road bike, which has been mostly sat in the shed the last 2 years as I have been concentrating on mountain biking. I got it out a few weeks before-hand and did some training rides on it – it was like a dream to ride again – so quick! I think Mark is pretty tempted to get one for next years London to Brighton.

I’d never taken part in a ride anywhere near this big before and it was awesome seeing so many cyclists.

Tim’s London to Brighton survival tips:

• No need to carry much in the way of drink or food – there are official and unofficial stops all over the place – even people giving away biscuits!
• If you are riding a mountain bike, get some slick tyres and get your bike checked over first.
• If you’ve not ridden this kind of distance before do some training, building up to at least a 30 mile training ride. Rest the few days before though.
• Don’t try to set any time records – with so many riders, getting out of London does take some time and it only take a few riders to get off and walk up a narrow hill to force everyone to walk.
• Save something for Ditchling beacon – it’s tough but do have a go at riding it – it really is all down hill after that and it’s pretty satisying overtaking all those people walking up.