Tim Corrigan blogs on cycling, travelling and programming…

Just back from a 3 day bike trip focusing on riding the Downs Link – a route along a disused railway that connects the North Downs (Guildford) with the South Downs (Brighton). We made it a 3 day ride by adding in some of the Thames and Wey towpaths and some of the south coast cycle route.

Lets start with the trip video:

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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