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Cycle 7.5 miles across central London in this video fly-through

Video cam cyclist hails 'paradigm shift' on London's Cycle Superhighways...

Ever wondered what the whole of the CS2 and CS3 Cycle Superhighways are like to ride? Have a fly-through from the comfort of your armchair thanks to this video showing one rider’s vier of the route.

The user, sw19cam, wrote: “Enjoy this full Parliament to Stratford cycling video (c. 7.5miles)!

It shows many of the excellent sections of the new Cycle Superhighway (and also some of the not so excellent sections).

“For the most part I use the infrastructure on offer, but occasionally use the road where it's safe and empty.”

The user points out that there are “plenty of things to watch out for during the ride”, and invites other viewers to add their own observations.

Having said that, the user notes: “I've almost forgotten the old days of not having this amazing facility - to the point that I've already starting complaining about things like light sequences.  Sure, they are annoying - but the paradigm shift is AMAZING!”

  • 1:25 Cyclist collision with pedestrian at those lights ahead of me
  • 8:03 - van driver quite rightly holding back before proceeding (and on the red light, getting something from the back of his van
  • 8:57 - really poor road surface as you turn right in to the tunnel
  • 10:15 - BMW almost missing the road and almost cycling up the superhighway
  • 12:55 the shocking bad section of CS2 that has no protection (Whitechapel Market)
  • 14:50 - Big Bus London amber gambler, followed by mounting kerb!
  • 20:57 - 'dropped off' at Whitechapel market with no separation.
  • 21:45 - I'm already in the middle of the lane, so choose to take the road rather than the cycle track to cross this junction. This also avoids me being stopped there for a couple of minutes.
  • 23:30 - slower cyclists up ahead, so I check behind and take the road. Within a hundred metres we're all directed on to the road anyway.
  • 27:46 left turning vehicle, sketchily close by cyclist. This is an interesting situation for me, because the priority is slightly unclear.
  • 29:25 - this light always feels an awful long time, with very little left turning traffic.
  • 30:29 - we let a pedestrian go first
  • 30:32 - cyclist who pulled alongside me goes MUCH slower than I expected.
  • 31:35 - Bow Roundabout disappointing, as it regularly does (Where are the temporary cycling provisions?!)
  • 33:28 the infamous Warton Road junction.
  •  

Can you spot any more areas for improvement, or do you ride the route yourself? Let us know in the comments below.

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6 comments

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antigee | 7 years ago
0 likes

you have to be careful what you ask for (victim blaming?) but the segregated lane also segregates the already disengaged drivers brain -  driver is not looking at what is happening 2m to his/her left way over a bit of paving - think the legal situation is the driver is crossing a lane so must give way to traffic in that lane (I live in Aus' now so might be wrong for UK) - what is probably absent is education for drivers - infrastructure like this  needs driver education about where to look - we have some similar stuff here in Melbourne and I've nearly found out the hard way that drivers just aren't looking for fast moving cyclists that are outside the tiny box in front of them 

PS smallest antigee points out that if the car hadn't avoided taking out the cyclist probably would have got  the ped' crossing the side road!

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marionr | 7 years ago
0 likes

27:46 left turning vehicle, sketchily close by cyclist. This is an interesting situation for me, because the priority is slightly unclear.

Who has the priority there? I did not spot any Give way signs on the bike lanes.

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iso2000 | 7 years ago
0 likes

At the beginning of the video when turning left before Westminster bridge why the long wait at the red light? It seems cyclists coming the other way get a green light first. Can't we be trusted not to smash into one another?

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brooksby | 7 years ago
1 like

Are the cycle paths/lanes in that there London that busy all the time? Grief! I don't know if I could cope if my daily commute looked like that.

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bikebot replied to brooksby | 7 years ago
0 likes

brooksby wrote:

Are the cycle paths/lanes in that there London that busy all the time? Grief! I don't know if I could cope if my daily commute looked like that.

It's getting that way. I'm spoilt, in that most of my trips into town are during the day rather than peak times. That said it's been getting busy for sometime, I remember riding up towards Islington last year on a nice spring morning and it was already bloody ludicrous!  That was via EW Torringston/Tavistock route before it was widened.

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HarrogateSpa | 7 years ago
5 likes

It looks to be doing its job to me, and people are cycling on it. I would have thought that commuters account for quite a large percentage of London cyclists, so I don't see a problem with that.

Of course it would be nice if it were wider, but there isn't unlimited space, so a compromise has to be found. It's not ridiculously narrow.

I watched little bits of the video, but 36 minutes is too much. After all, I'm a busy person - Bargain Hunt isn't going to watch itself.

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