London Cycle Infrastructure Safaris, with Ranty Highwayman

The Cycling Embassy of Great Britain will be joining the Ranty Highwayman on cross-London Infrastructure Safaris, on Saturday November 28th, and Sunday, December 13th.

November's ride starts in Waltham Forest’s Orford Road, the rides will head towards Superhighway 2, through the City, along Embankment, and all the way through to Vauxhall and CS5.

The ride in December will start at the Old Town Hall, Stratford - at 10am. Location here.

The full trip is expected to be around 15 miles - with regular stops to check facilities new and old, and of course for lunch and coffee. (Here's an approximate map of the route).

Key features we’re hoping to see:

• Waltham Forest Mini Holland schemes
• Cycle Superhighway 2 (including Bow)
• ‘Hold the left’ at Cambridge Heath Avenue
• Cycle Superhighway 3
• The East-West Superhighway (along the Embankment)
• Cycle Superhighway 5 (Vauxhall Bridge)
• Vauxhall gyratory - Oval
• St George's Circus/Blackfriars Road/Tavistock Place (Depending on time/enegy)

We will ride down to Stratford (which won't be pleasant) to ride along CS2, stopping to look at Bow and then ride to the City stopping at various locations to look at CS2 being remade, including the "hold the left turn" arrangement at Cambridge Heath Avenue.

At the City we shall head down to Royal Mint Street and ride a short section of CS3 to have a look at some of the changes, before retracing our wheels back to the City.

We will then ride through the City to avoid Upper and Lower Thames Street and head towards Embankment to look at the work going on there.

Then it's further along the Thames to Vauxhall Bridge, where we will pick up CS5 to to Oval. This is where the main part of the ride will finish - about 15 miles.

For those feeling energetic and depending on time, we may extend the ride up to Tavistock Place to look at the experimental scheme now running, via the Superhighway schemes at St George's Circus and Blackfriars Road.

Some comments from the Ranty Highwayman - 

People should note that we will be cycling with busy traffic in many places and people will make their own decisions on clothing, helmets and so on. I would strongly recommend lights in case of poor weather or if we are yapping for so long we end up in the dark at the end. 

I am intending for this to be an all-day event and so people will need to decide if to bring lunch with them, but I am aiming to stop, even if it ends up being a supermarket to get a sandwich. 

If anyone is using the trains to get to or from the ride, please check for engineering works and suitability of taking cycles on the trains/ tube. For those attending on the 13th December, we'll have a little fun (but no pressure) and Christmassy hats or cycle decorations will be order of the day. I will also be bringing a little Christmas cheer with me to keep us warm!