Getting into London City - Advice please!

Advsplash

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Your advice please folks,

I commute to the Shard (well very close to it) approx 3-4 times a week and I have 2 main route options, M40 or M4.

I'm in a position geographically where I can take the M40 via Oxford or the M4 via Swindon into the City. I currently take the M40 via Oxford and door to door it takes around 2 hours with a good amount of filtering in London, as you'd expect. For clarity I do this on a CB500X not the GSA. The M4 does currently have a 50MPH limit for more miles than I want to mention so I haven't really explored many options off the M4.

I do like the route Via Oxford as it's less motorway miles so less squaring of the rear tyre. I then turn off the A40, go past Hyde Park, Constitution Hill, Buckingham palace, Westminster then towards E&C then up Borough High Street.

Anyway, I'm really after advice when I get into London, I've read the A40, which the M40 merges into is a good way to get into the city, but I'm just wondering if others on here commute and what routes they take. The London end of the A40 can get tight and I'm convinced there are better ways in/out.

Cheers
Splash
 
Evrything when in London will be painful. The amount of roadworks is dragging everything to a standstill. You get a prize if you manage to get over 20mph.

The M4 does currently have a 50MPH limit for more miles than I want to mention

Yes, it is a pain.

so I haven't really explored many options off the M4.

A4. Will take you twice the time anyway sadly.
Or you can take a train at 10x the price of the motorbike commute :D

A40: westway > A501 (towards kings cross) > then you veer off towards Barbican/Farringdon and over towards the Shard. Or you keep going towards old street roundabout and turn south from there.
It really depends on what time of the morning you are commuting in.
Decent amount of filtering on rush hour, but I've done it easily for ages on a GSA, should be very easy on the CB.

The London end of the A40 can get tight

is this a joke, right? :)
 
Hell of a Journey. I don’t think anyone will be able to suggest an ideal route. Personally I would park up well away from the Shard and come In from the south, park up and use the tube for the last leg.
 
Yes, it wouldn't be pleasant, but neither impossible (on a motorbike).
 
Evrything when in London will be painful. The amount of roadworks is dragging everything to a standstill. You get a prize if you manage to get over 20mph.



Yes, it is a pain.



A4. Will take you twice the time anyway sadly.
Or you can take a train at 10x the price of the motorbike commute :D

A40: westway > A501 (towards kings cross) > then you veer off towards Barbican/Farringdon and over towards the Shard. Or you keep going towards old street roundabout and turn south from there.
It really depends on what time of the morning you are commuting in.
Decent amount of filtering on rush hour, but I've done it easily for ages on a GSA, should be very easy on the CB.



is this a joke, right? :)

I was taking the train, annual season cost is around 6k from Hanborough (so not mega stupid compared to some stations but equally a f*ck ton of money for a sh*te service!) but f*ck me was it boring! I actually save an hour a day on the motorbike and I'm muchhhhh happier...!

I'll have a look and try the route you've proposed (Thanks) tomorrow when I have to go back in. I normally leave the house at 0530 and I'm in the office for 0730 I leave around 1600 and back by 1800.

Ref getting tight... perhaps I'm sometimes too cautious (...first child due in July!) but more often than not I can keep up with scooters though not outpace them, I'm more weary on the GSA but I tend not to use it because for me it's a beast!

Don't get me wrong I don't mind the commute, just wanted to tap into others for experience etc... plan to be in London for a little while and don't plan to move any closer!
 
I was taking the train, annual season cost is around 6k from Hanborough (so not mega stupid compared to some stations but equally a f*ck ton of money for a sh*te service!) but f*ck me was it boring! I actually save an hour a day on the motorbike and I'm muchhhhh happier...!

I'm not British and I find the train ticket prices eye watering expensive.
I once went to pick up a car from Swindon. Costed me just something shy of 100 quid to get there, and probably 10 quid of diesel to get back.

Ref getting tight... perhaps I'm sometimes too cautious

I was joking about it, because up to that point it is pretty wide. Gets worse and worse the more you ride towards the Shard. :)

If you are in the office by 7:30 you should be ok and free of the brunt of London peak traffic.
I live relatively central in London (just a tad north of Primrose Hill) and used to commute by motorbike to Leman Street for ages, so I did daily part of the route I suggested. It should be ok.
Painful bits are around Kings Cross and reaching towards Old Street roundabout as City Road can get blocked.
But, generally, on a motorbike you can get around.

I grew up on two wheels in Rome though (Traffic used to be way worse than London. Used to.)... I'm quite used to literally push the bike everywhere I can see a gap...

Once you are around the A501 around Great Portland street, it should take you 30-ish minutes to get to work.
 
I'm not British and I find the train ticket prices eye watering expensive.
I once went to pick up a car from Swindon. Costed me just something shy of 100 quid to get there, and probably 10 quid of diesel to get back.



I was joking about it, because up to that point it is pretty wide. Gets worse and worse the more you ride towards the Shard. :)

If you are in the office by 7:30 you should be ok and free of the brunt of London peak traffic.
I live relatively central in London (on top of Primrose Hill) and used to commute by motorbike to Leman street for ages, so I did daily part of the route I suggested. It should be ok.
Painful bits are around Kings Cross and reaching towards Old Street roundabout as City Road can get blocked.
But, generally, on a motorbike you can get around.

I grew up on two wheels in Rome though (Traffic used to be way worse than London. Used to.)... I'm quite used to literally push the bike everywhere I can see a gap...


Train tickets are eye-watering! Swindon is horrendous too! In many more ways than just train ticket prices, I lived there for long enough to know!

Primrose -> Leman looks pretty horrendous on google maps! Most of the time if the traffic is moving it's fine as plenty of gaps, I struggle with wingmirror height on vans versus handle bars on the CB500 more than anything, the GSA are generally clear of, the CB is at height of - working on a solution!

I'm not used to any traffic living in the back end of no where! :D
 
In many more ways than just train ticket prices

Yes, I noticed that as well :D :D :D

Primrose -> Leman looks pretty horrendous on google maps!

While in Italy, for a couple of years I had a long distance commute on the bike, up the mountains.
I still miss it as it was particularly awesome, even including a long motorway stretch :D :D

roma-spoleto.png


the SS3 bis alternative as well was pretty "juicy"
 
That looks like a fun commute, at least you have mountains! I do the same distance now each way and F8ck me does it get boring!
 
Did I read corrctly that all roads inside the ULEZ are now 20mph speed limit?
 
Yes, and there is a fair amount even outside ULEZ as well.

If you wanna ride through Holloway road "legally" you have to keep a GSA within 2100rpm in second gear :D
 
Hats off to anyone who has to do a commute like that....Not even a million quid a year would entice me to do that.
 
Urgh those 20 limits...I try my best and generally fail... unless I feel sympathetic...

Had a bloody great ride home tonight, took your comments on board er-minio and took every gap possible.. enjoyed the start of the A40 for once! :D :beerjug:
 


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