🚲 It just got very easy to cycle from Covent Garden to Finsbury Park
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- You can cycle from Covent Garden in central London to Finsbury Park in north London, entirely on quiet streets and protected cycle lanes.
The route is 7.8km long (4.9 miles) and makes use of the new Cycleway 50 on Seven Sisters Road, as well as the protected lanes on Gower Street and Tavistock Place, as well as other quiet streets and existing infrastructure.
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You can see a digital map of the route and download a GPS/GPX file to use on whatever device or app you want here:
www.komoot.com...
And you can find a viewer-created and maintained map of all the London Cycle Routes videos here:
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I also highly recommend the Safe Cycle London map for route planning, which is compiled by @SafeCycleLDN on twitter:
www.google.com...
I 100% agree about the Seven Sisters Road cycle lanes. It's clear that Islington were clearly prioritising commuters, which is strange given the drop in commuting after the pandemic. If Islington wants to encourage more people on their bikes, they need to provide viable options for biking locally, and I don't think splitting a cycle lane in two does that at all! I hope they realise the faults of this set up and fix it after the trial ends.
It’s mostly a TfL scheme to be fair rather than Islington but yeah I agree with the point. I think the issue is partly not having the cash for a bigger road design but also being unwilling to repurpose turning lanes or section of bus lane when it gets tight to keep prioritising motor traffic in the general lanes
@@Londoncycleroutes ah ok, makes sense
The whole cycle lane through Holloway to Finsbury Park really ought to be on Tollington Road and Isledon Road. Arguably Seven Sisters Road should be two-way, though I imagine the fact that it’s a major bus corridor probably affected final decisions
Great route, never thought it was that easy!
It wasn’t until C50 opened!
Really informative videos! You’re doing a great service for the people of London in showcasing easy cycle routes.
I used to commute this way pre-covid. Apart from since cycleway 50 didn’t exist I turned left off Hungerford road to follow the old London Cycle Network route 14. It was showing its age and is very wiggly but was low traffic with some clever (if narrow) little cut throughs! That hill was a killer though!
Ah yes I know that route as well! Those LCN routes were quite variable but definitely good in parts
very nice, so different from the 60"s when I lived there...that's progress.
Must have changed a lot!
Didn't know a cycleway 50 was being built. This looks so good. Keep these routes coming and you'll be able to cycle all over London (except Kensington & Chelsea) pretty soon!
Hopefully one day RBKC will get (or be brought) in line!
Living in West Suffolk in the 80s a night out in London involved driving down the M11 and the Seven Sisters Road. It was a traffic nightmare. If someone had predicted it having a cycle lane on it in 40 years time I would have thought they were crazy!
Good to see it's been built despite its shortcomings.
Haha when you put it like that it makes the progress look very impressive!
Good to know! This was much needed in that area, I've seen some horrible near misses
Yeah it’s historically been a bit of a mess
I love this channel ! Would you please consider doing a really easy circular / tour route of central London, taking in the key sites ? I live in Norwich and would like to bring my bike into London for a nice sightseeing cruise around !!
Thank you! I’ve been meaning to to do something like that for a while - a sort of tourist bike ride. Not got around to it yet but good to know some people would find it useful!
@@Londoncycleroutes Exactly that ! Circular (ideally) rides for fitness, fun and the pleasure of cycling safely through this amazing city. Thanks for the reply and considering the idea.
8:39 tiny improvement suggestion! If you turn left here and ride up with the park on your right rather than your left, it's equally quiet but you don't have to swing out and round at the top like you do at 9:02.
It's just a tiny bit more direct, but it's a regular part of my commute so I probably save myself about 40 seconds a week with that 😅
Haha good tip! I did wonder whether that way was better
I used to live in the Finsbury Park area. It’s so nice to see that new cycle lane! I hope they improve it
Yeah fingers crossed they make it two way
I think you declare the next 2 weeks revision weeks where we all have to go back through the collection and warch the older videos we've not looked at before (which is quite fun when you find a bit which has now changed!) You could set us some homework to view a joined up set across London! Have a great holiday, which I hope is somewhere great for cycling.
Haha yes please do peruse the back issues!
I've been using York Way to get between Hungerford and St Pancras as it looked slightly more direct. There's one section southbound without any infrastructure, although the council is doing some upgrades at the junction with Canal Reach. I'll definitely be giving the route via Camden Town a try!
Yeah they’re building upgraded lanes on York Way right now, it should be good when it’s done though doesn’t yet have plans to connect south of King’s Cross - will definitely use it for videos when it’s done
Just found your channel, good work! I've also being doing this route recently. The other cycleway from Finsbury park to Camden goes around the one-way system towards Arsenal.. which also has people going both ways. I agree they both should be two-way.
Yeah they’ve done a really weird job of planning the routes around there haha. I’m sure it works on paper but on the ground it’s quite confusing!
lovely stuff - shakin' stevens
Not my words, Michael
9:05 really cool looking houses/villas?!? On the right there! 👋🏽😮
It’s a great spot, love the buildings
Amy Winehouse lived there
You talked about going uphill. I live in Crouch End. The older I get, the less inclined I am to cycle up steep inclines. Twenty years ago I’d cycle up Highgate Hill, no problem. But I’m heading towards 60 and… no, it’s not happening. Perhaps I should switch to electric assisted?
If I lived somewhere with big hills I’d get an e-assist for sure! No shame at all imo
Black Books on the right at 4:37 📚🍷🤣
Good spot!
I was literally about to leave the same comment and then thought someone must have already mentioned it!
I do my daily commute with my ebike from kings cross area to seven sisters, so here's my takes:
- I never thought about turning left towards Warlters rd at the end of Caledonian road, so I'd always turn left onto Hillmarton and join Parkhurst/seven sisters early. Then I'd be on the bus lane already so there's no great opportunity to join the cycle lane on the right so I always just stay on the left. Truth be told, until now I was convinced that this cycle lane was actually supposed to be taken the other way around. Especially since the one time I took it I was shouted at by random cyclists going in the opposite direction on it - and I'd never taken it when going towards central London as the route gets you to turn left from seven sisters rd just after the railway viaduct.
These days I just avoid the Finsbury Park area altogether by going via Gillespie road instead. Much nicer and quieter.
Really interesting to hear this - I guess it shows that the design really isn’t intuitive at all! Quite funny that you got shouted at by people going the wrong direction?!
I now know why the UK has a lack of white paint road makings, London purchased all the paint!!!
I didn’t realise there was meant to be a shortage!
I don't think the old church on North Villas/Camden Park Road is a recording studio. The non residential bit is split up into three workspaces, not sure what they're currently actually used for. The recording studio called The Church Studios is in Crouch End.
Oh weird, Google maps was showing it as a recording studio at that location. and there’s ’the church studios’ in a big sign above the door - but on closer inspection the sign seems to refer to studio apartments and Google maps is just wrong and seems to think the Crouch End recording studios are there for some reason. My bad thanks for pointing out!
@@Londoncycleroutes I think Google Maps is just basing the results on the confusingly similar names. The churches do look quite similar as well (both mid 19th Century nonconformist London churches) which doesn't help.
@@philwildcroft1764 yeah very weird!
C50 needs a lot of work still!
A lot of the light phasing throughout this video is really frustrating for bikes, such as crossing Bedford Way/Tavistock Square.
Interesting, I’ve not found the lights on Tav place too bad myself (though there are plenty of examples of bad ones across the city!)
8'48" 'It is a bit hilly around here' .... (and please imagine my best Edna Krabapple impression here) "¡HA!" ...... lightweight!!
Would welcome a few suggestions for routes in Brighton & Hove, as we are at the confluence of two valleys (one from the North, one from the Northeast) interspersed with three spurs within the South Downs range, producing several routes involving unavoidable gradients of up to around 1in9 (Ditchling Road), the big drag from The Level (smack bang in the middle of the A23/A270 intersection) towards Woodingdean being 1in11.
We DO have a halfway decent (and well used) cycleway along the seafront.
Haha yes I used to live in Brighton many years ago - mostly just cycled down Lewes Road and the Old Stein, probably wouldn’t have bothered if I’d lived up Elm Grove! (These days I’d buy an e-bike for sure if I ever move back)
@@LondoncycleroutesAah ... then you'll be familiar with Vogue Gyratory. I'd love to say hello to whoever thought THAT is a good piece of road design!
I used to work at Brighton General Hospital (the one atop Elm Grove). I did cycle to/from Central Hove. Route up was via Steine, Eastern Rd., Egremont Place, West Drive, Queens Park Road. The induction loops controlling traffic lights at the bottom of Egremont Place never 'saw' bicycles.
Nice route! Really like how cycling is coming along in London, surprises me every time I visit.
About the motion detectors; in the Netherlands we have similar systems, but they detect with a loop in the road, those work fine. Often they're positioned both at the junction and 10 metres before, so a lot of the times it detects you from a distance and gives you a green, so you never have to stop. The amount of times I was forced to stop in London was a bit disappointing tbh; especially a lot of signalised ped-cycle crossings, which here would just be a zebra path, seeing as speeds are so low that pedestrians just cross.
A loop in the road sounds much better - am not aware of any of those in the UK yet. And yeah the stopping is an issue that needs to be improved I think - especially as you say pedestrian crossings where zebras might be better over the cycle path than signals in many cases where there’s few people crossing
Yes, they use induction loops under the road surface in larger Australian cities too, but they only detect once you have stopped. They work for all bike types including carbon, which is spectacular. Very occasionally you find a light that rarely has bikes and also doesn’t detect bikes. If you report it they claim they can change the sensitivity, and problem is fixed. I find the loops are most sensitive if you ride about 10cm outside the marked loop. I’d love to see a video explaining how they work!!
@@mikewatson1105 Major cycle routes in Christchurch use induction loops at many dedicated ( cycle pedestrian only ) crossings. Usually positioned several metres in advance. It’s not uncommon to experience two lanes of traffic to be coming to a stop as you arrive. Just wonderful it is too. Most other light controlled intersections on a major cycleway do have sensors, but this triggers the left and right turning vehicoe arrows to be red. Meaning you cross on a cycle green light with the straight ahead vehicle traffic as turning traffic waits their turn for the latter half of the phase. . Gives a feeling of equality like no other.
@@RobertFleming-wt1et Cor, envy envy…. I’m going to go and check a couple of traffic light left turns near me in Canberra then get back to you, probably tomorrow. Cheers, Mike
@@RobertFleming-wt1et Hi Robert, we have an interesting difference in Canberra.
Please look up the junction between Clunies Ross Street and Dickson Road in Google Maps. There are traffic lights on this junction with green filters to allow car traffic to enter Dickson Road from either direction. There's also a separated bike/pedestrian path to the east of Cliunies Ross St with push-button lights to allow bikes to cross Dickson Road. The weird thing is that if you press the pedestrian crossing push button on either side to walk/ ride across Dickson Road, the southbound left filter on Clunies Ross St for cars who want to turn left from Clunies Ross St into Dickson Road turns green at the same time the pedestrian crossing lights go green. This means that southbound pedestrians will unknowingly have cars approaching them from behind their right shoulder.
You say that in Christchurch when the pedestrian lights to cross a side road turn green, the side-turning car filters turn OFF.
I say that in Canberra when the pedestrian lights a side road turn green, the side-turning car filters turn ON - on one side anyway.
Have I made a mistake, or have I misunderstood you, or do you think where is something logically unsafe in the light sequence I've just described, or is there any other reason you can think of for this difference?
Thanks a lot, Mike Watson
Does Google maps or citymapper adapt to these new routes as they are built? This is really good content as ever
I’m sure they pick it up but not sure how quickly. I don’t really use the directions myself so haven’t got first hand experience
You could upload something from your holiday. Don't mind if non-cycle route 😉
I’m not sure how much I’ll miss but will probably be a week at least!
can you do it from kingston uni to london center pls
Yep I’m going to do a route from Kingston via the Uni (Kingston hill campus) soon!
@@Londoncycleroutes thanks i asked you only because i am going to be going to Kingston uni next year and hoping to cycle everywhere
So strange having that cycle lane on the right side of the road! Judging by the number of people cycling the wrong way, it's clearly not intuitive at all.
Yeah that’s a v good point I wish I’d made in the video - being one way and on the right hand side together makes it insanely confusing!
Hey Jon - are you aware of any cycle routes from Guildford in the direction of London..?
Well, it’s not quite the sort of route I’d do on a video and it’s probably not a great commuter route but if you want a nice leisure ride you could cycle down the Wey navigations path along the river and then join the Thames path at Walton and in through Kingston. I’ve walked it and it’s lovely. Not really a road bike route (it’s mostly canal tow paths, un surfaced)
Why was the one-way cycle lane made one-way in that direction, rather than the opposite direction?
The other direction runs on Tollington Rd, I guess they wanted it to all go with traffic so it could use the same lights as the cars
you make cycling in ondon aear to be quite easy in the ate 8s I used to send the summers riding a big BMW motorcyce around london as a despatch rider snd my winters in Aircraft hangars doing maintenance and mods on airliners it never occurred to me to be a cycle desatch rider though yhey were sbout it would have reduced the overheads for the same reward though I ran my desatch sy and exenses through my Limited comany books which I used for sircraft contracting. now after a stroke in 2oo4I’m too disabled tnow to use either funding stream stream getting a state pension now I couldn’t afford to run a motorcycle now even if zi could ride itin oo2 I comutrd betewern csmbridge and stsnsted by bicyce it was 6 miles each way. which took me 4 hours I was very fit and being so fit save my ife when I had my dtroke in 2oo4 but I was only cycing 11 miles each way in 4 minutes then ! but the docs at the first hosita I went to said the ONy reasonnI survived was thtough bring do fit from a the cycling I could cyce just using my right hsnsd and srm but I think you reay need both hands snd arms to u down on the bars when cycling up steep hills. so you can it more force through yhe pedas whilst pulling yoursef down on the bars its good feeing the frame fexcas you’re doing yhis. but if I csn rver get my eft srm snd had back I wil go everywhere by bicycle -shain! becsuse cycing is more fun than driving this is at east party why I commuted 6 mirs to stansted if I set of at 06.30 I could get there for 1.30 in time to meet the girst B747-500F st the cargo termins st 1100. the troube is the ast sircraft eft at 22.30. meaning I didn’t get to bed much brfore 03.0 up again at 05.30 to fo it sll again so I was titred but very fit you csn vlsim more money per mile for cycling off tax than you can driving a car! so Zi was wuids in too! ( this was in 2002 taxabe allowances may hsve chsnged since then. it might be worth looking into for all the self emloyed cyclists out there! I was self emloyed mainlyvas a vontract aircraft engineer. I got my B747 vover at britidh airways then doubed my ay by becoming self rmployed as an sircraft contractor engineer us as a limited comany I didn’t have to pay much tax but I saved up ten yhoussnd quid beteween 1999 and z201. it al went wrong in 201 with 9/11. which nearly put girgin out of business the first thing they did was clsr their msnchester engineering base I had just bought a house a huge mortagsge and I eas out of work but I just had to work at stansted for a couple of yesrs to krep u hrnce the cycling between my digs in csmbrridge and stsnsted airport whilst ai had to get an Ammericsn quslification I had rnough ssved up yo pay thr mortgsge snd the course in Long Idsnd! but with a lot of work I survived my mistske was giving into my wife in 2002 a nd returning to msnchester because she didn’t ike me eorking away ftom home tsking a z sixteen thousand oind ay cut didn’t hel my wifes teaching wualification krt us going until I could get a decent contract at ksnvhester on the same rate I had enjoyed at birgin then on the 10 th of May 2004 I had a majorvstroke caused by a blood clot ai had picked up flying ecomomy with Thomas Cook. If I’d known about blood clots and strokes I would have booked business class! snd stiill worked u unti my 60d the brain was eiing but the body wasn’t
stil i have a state endion now so I don’t need to work but I do miss not being able to cycle though!
that’s something to work on!
Sorry to hear about the stroke- hope you’re still managing to get out and about a bit!
Islington way is better
It’s another option!