How to ride in London

I biked for the first time in London yesterday. Here's how I did it. National Rail restricts bikes on trains during rush hour M-F, but no restriction on weekends. I road to Epsom train station, and loaded my bike into a carriage that contained a 2-bike rack fixture. 45 minutes later, I wheeled the bike off the train in Waterloo, and went through one of the "oversized" platform exits [for people using wheelchairs, pushing baby strollers, etc.] After many false starts, I finally found my way to Exit 3, which gets you to street level without having to deal with stairs. Then I opened up my copy of Transport for London's pamphlet: "Continuing your journey from Waterloo." These maps are available at the exits of all Tube stations, and shows pedestrians how to get oriented to street level, that is, complete the first [or last] mile of any public transportation system. I've been picking them up all week as I find my way around London. In my case, I'm not a pedestrian, but a cyclist, so I have to get away from Waterloo Station then hook into the nearest safe [i.e., low traffic] cycling path. Luckily I have the maps to do that as well: tfl's Local Cycling Guide 7, which covers Waterloo to Greenwich. You get this fullsized and exquisitely detailed map, one of 14 which cover all of London, for free (!) at the tfl information center at Victoria Station. Applause to bike riding London Mayor Boris Johnson for funding this service.

OK, I made it to a street called Upper Round, where I saw the first of the blue National Cycle Network route number signs. I followed NCN route #4 from Waterloo to Greenwich, a ride of only about 5 miles, according various distance signs on the route, that wound through Bankside, into the borough of Southwark. However, the ride feels like a trip back in time. You ride by the entrance to Tower Bridge, and through very historic neighborhoods, e.g., Rotherhite. I clattered on the cobblestones and past the Mayflower pub, where the pilgrim fathers left for the New World in 1620. Views are great across the Thames and back to "the City."

In Greenwich, after I figured out how to get through the gritty neighborhood of Deptford, I chained my bike to a rack outside the University of Greenwich's Dreadnought Library, [great name!] and took a look around Sir Christopher Wren's wonderously symmetrical Old Royal Naval College.

Then I turned around, and retraced my route (lots more wrong turns so I probably rode twice the distance needed) to Waterloo and back to the suburbs.

A bit scary at times, especially with the torrential downpour on the way back but still big fun!