cycling home - London to Fareham - why not A3?

Quoted message said:

Any ideas and why not just the A3 (not that I've seen a single cycle on
it)?

The A3 in many places is effectively a motorway. Apart from being very
unpleasant to cycle on it's also not good for your life expectancy.

You don't say where in London you are but starting from Whitehall and
avoiding the A3 I've generated the following example route on Autoroute.
You should be able to verify it on the internet at www.streetmap.co.uk
or various other mapping sites. It's about 78 miles so 6 to 7 hours
should be quite doable including stops. It will take in some tough hills
though.

When you review this route (which you should, very thoroughly) there are
still some busy roads you might want to plan to avoid such as the A4 and
A316 in West London, but busy though they are they are nothing like the
A3. I'm sure people will comment on other bits of it. You can then work
up your own route sheet, or ink the route onto pages cut out from a
motoring atlas.

Mile Instruction
0 Depart London on A3212 [Whitehall] (North)
0.1 At roundabout, take the FIRST exit onto The Mall
0.7 Turn RIGHT (North-West) onto Local road(s)
0.8 Road name changes to Constitution Hill
1.2 Merge onto Duke of Wellington Place
1.2 Road name changes to Local road(s)
1.3 Bear LEFT (North-West) onto A4 [Knightsbridge]
1.4 Take Ramp onto A4 [Knightsbridge]
5.9 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit onto A316 [Burlington Lane]
8.1 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit onto A316 [Lower Mortlake Road]
8.6 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit onto A316 [Twickenham Road]
9.8 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit onto A316 [Chertsey Road]
12 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit onto A316 [Great Chertsey Road]
13.7 Keep STRAIGHT onto Ramp
13.8 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit onto Ramp
14.1 Merge onto A316 [Country Way]
14.7 At Exit 1, keep LEFT onto Ramp toward A308 / Sunbury / Staines
14.9 At roundabout, take the THIRD exit onto Green Street
15.3 Turn RIGHT (West) onto Nursery Road
15.8 Turn LEFT (South) onto A244 [Upper Halliford Road]
16.4 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit onto A244
16.9 Turn RIGHT (West) onto Gaston Bridge Road
17 Road name changes to Green Lane
17.1 Turn LEFT to stay on Green Lane
17.2 Turn RIGHT (West) onto B3366 [Green Lane]
17.6 Turn LEFT (South) onto Green Lane, then immediately turn LEFT
(South) onto High Street
17.7 Turn LEFT (South) onto B376 [High Street]
17.9 At roundabout, take the THIRD exit onto B375 [Renfree Way]
18.6 Bear LEFT (West) onto B375 [Chertsey Road]
19.3 At roundabout, take the FIRST exit onto B375 [Chertsey Bridge Road]
19.6 Keep STRAIGHT onto B375 [Bridge Road]
19.9 Turn LEFT (South) onto B387 [Weir Road]
20.1 Turn RIGHT (West) onto Stepgates
20.3 Turn LEFT (South-West) onto Free Prae Road
20.5 Turn RIGHT (West) onto A317 [Eastworth Road]
20.8 Turn LEFT (South-West) onto Charles Street, then immediately turn
RIGHT (North-West) onto Station Road
20.9 Turn LEFT (South-West) onto Guildford Street
21 Road name changes to Guildford Road
21 Merge onto A320 [Bell Bridge Road]
21.1 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit onto A320 [Guildford Road]
21.7 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit onto B386 [Holloway Hill]
22.3 Bear LEFT (South-West) onto Stonehill Road
25.1 Bear RIGHT (West) onto Old Chertsey Road
25.3 Keep STRAIGHT onto A319 [Chertsey Road]
26.3 Turn LEFT (South) onto A319 [High Street]
26.4 Bear LEFT (South) onto A3046 [High Street]
26.6 Keep STRAIGHT onto Castle Grove Road
26.9 Road name changes to Guildford Road
27.4 Road name changes to Chobham Road
29 Bear LEFT (South) onto A322 [Bagshot Road]
29.7 Bear RIGHT (South) onto Cemetery Pales
30.6 Road name changes to Local road(s)
30.7 Bear LEFT (South-West) onto Local road(s)
30.9 Bear LEFT (South) onto A324 [Guildford Road]
34.8 Turn RIGHT (West) onto A323 [Guildford Road]
36.4 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit onto A323 [Aldershot Road]
36.8 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit onto Ramp
36.9 Merge onto A331
37.8 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit onto Ramp
38.3 Merge onto A31
39.4 Take Local road(s) (LEFT) onto A31 [Farnham By Pass]
40.8 Turn LEFT (South) onto Weydon Lane
41.7 Bear LEFT (South) onto A325 [Wrecclesham Road]
48.9 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit onto A325 [Petersfield Road]
51 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit onto Local road(s)
51.1 Turn LEFT (South) onto Petersfield Road
52.2 Turn LEFT (South) onto B3006 [Petersfield Road]
52.6 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit onto B3006
53.3 Turn RIGHT (West) onto Hawkley Road
54.1 Turn LEFT (South) onto Local road(s)
55 Turn LEFT (South-East) onto Local road(s)
55.2 Keep STRAIGHT onto Mill Lane
56.5 Turn RIGHT (West) onto Church Road
56.7 Keep STRAIGHT onto Local road(s)
57.7 Road name changes to Ridge Common Lane
58 Turn RIGHT (West) onto A272 [Winchester Road]
58.3 Turn LEFT (South) onto Ramsdean Road
59.8 Turn LEFT (South) onto Local road(s)
59.8 Bear RIGHT (South) onto Local road(s)
59.8 Bear RIGHT (South-West) onto Local road(s)
60.1 Bear RIGHT (West) onto Local road(s)
60.9 Bear LEFT (West) onto Local road(s)
60.9 Bear LEFT (South) onto Local road(s)
61 Turn RIGHT (West) onto Local road(s)
61.5 Turn LEFT (South) onto Local road(s)
62.9 Keep LEFT onto Hyden Farm Lane
64.5 Bear RIGHT (West) onto Local road(s)
65.9 Bear LEFT (South-West) onto Local road(s)
66.4 Road name changes to East Street
66.7 Road name changes to West Street
67 Bear LEFT (South-West) onto B2150
67.5 Keep RIGHT onto Local road(s)
68.4 Bear RIGHT (South) onto Local road(s)
70 Bear LEFT (South) onto Shoot Hill
70.4 Bear RIGHT (South-West) onto Local road(s)
71.1 Turn LEFT (East) onto B2177
71.1 Turn RIGHT (South) onto Local road(s)
71.7 Turn RIGHT (West) onto Local road(s)
72.3 Turn RIGHT (South) onto Boarhunt Road
73.3 Turn LEFT (South) onto Local road(s)
73.5 Bear LEFT (South) onto Local road(s)
73.5 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit onto A27
74.7 Keep LEFT onto Local road(s)
74.8 Merge onto A32 [Gosport Road]
75.3 Keep RIGHT onto B3385 [Newgate Lane]
77 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit onto B3385 [Broom Way]
77.3 Turn LEFT (East) onto Brune Lane
77.7 Arrive Lee on Solent [Brune Lane, Lee on the Solent]

--
Dave...

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi

Having recently got rid of my very old, but lovely, Volvo 480 Turbo,
I'm now thinking how I might get home to visit my parents for
Christmas. They live in Lee-on-Solent, near Portsmouth. Volvo-wise, I'd
just bomb down the A3. I really want to get down there on the bike this
time.

Emma, a worthy trip no doubt! I would suggest avoiding the A3. As already
mentioned, it's a motorway, and you could sort out a great journey but would
take longer.

My experience of cycling next to the A3 is that the cars throw up an awful
amount of crud from the road. These are small bits that get stuck in your
eyes.

Also, it's bloody horrible, and car drivers won't welcome you.

I said:

... you might want to plan to avoid such as the A4 and
A316 in West London, but busy though they are they are nothing like the
A3.

P.S. I regularly ride quite happily on both these roads, but many people
would advise you to avoid them. They do have cycle paths for much of
their length but using these is also a matter of personal choice.

--
Dave...

Dave Kahn said:

8.6 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit onto A316 [Twickenham Road]
9.8 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit onto A316 [Chertsey Road]

Lets make this clear, you will die on this road. This is the elevated
section and driving at the speed limit (50mph) you get very little time to
see and react to cyclists as you round the bends.

The correct route is:

Waterloo-Change Once-Fareham

Steve

Quoted message said:

But I can't find much about total routes on the internet.

I reckon it's going to be 80-90 miles or so somehow.

So, if I set off 7am, I should be able to arrive on the same day ...

In addition to all the other advice, consider a few bale out points to
train stations on the London-Portsmouth line. Then if weather or
stamina is against you on the day you can always ride part way and train
the rest.

--
Tony

"The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the
right."
- Lord Hailsham

in message <[email hidden]>,

(') said:

Any ideas and why not just the A3 (not that I've seen a single cycle on
it)?

I know nothing of this A3 of which you speak. There are some roads which
were once major routes but which, when they become superceded by a
parallel motorway, become quite pleasant. However, on the whole busy
motor roads are not enjoyable to cycle, and you can usually find a
minor-roads alternative which is not significantly longer.

The trick to this is to get route-planning software such as Autoroute,
and then tell it that your speed on main roads is significantly less
than your speed on minor roads. The only problem with this is that
Autoroute does not have an option to avoid hills.

As to whether you can do it, of course you can; but if it's your first
long solo trip I'd (a) take a mobile phone, and (b) have a plan for how
you'd get recovered if you got to the point where it was just no fun any
more.

Also - take plenty of carbohydrate in a form that is convenient and
palatable to you. Drink plenty, eat /before/ you're hungry.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; 99% of browsers can't run ActiveX controls. Unfortunately
;; 99% of users are using the 1% of browsers that can...
[seen on /. 08:04:02]

In article <[email hidden]>,

() said:

Any ideas and why not just the A3 (not that I've seen a single cycle on
it)?

Echo what Dave Kahn said about the A3, I /have/ in the past ridden the
almost the entire length of it (Ripley - London and Guildford -
Portsmouth), but that was when I was young and foolish. Last Sunday's
200 took in a half-mile stretch of it just south of Hindhead and it was
the single most terrifying past of the day...

--
Dave Larrington - <http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/>
My other motto is in Latin.

Steve Peake said:

Dave Kahn said:

8.6 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit onto A316 [Twickenham Road]
9.8 At roundabout, take the SECOND exit onto A316 [Chertsey Road]

Lets make this clear, you will die on this road. This is the elevated
section and driving at the speed limit (50mph) you get very little time to
see and react to cyclists as you round the bends.

I didn't die when I rode on it this morning. I prefer the elevated
section to negotiating the roundabouts underneath and I'm satisfied
that sight lines are adequate for motorists, a few of whom travel
within the speed limit. However, there are quieter alternatives.

Even I wouldn't ride on the A3.

Quoted message said:

The correct route is:

Waterloo-Change Once-Fareham

Emma asks for a cycling route and you send her by train? This is a
newsgroup for cyclists.

--
Dave...

Dave Larrington said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

() said:

Any ideas and why not just the A3 (not that I've seen a single cycle on
it)?

Echo what Dave Kahn said about the A3, I /have/ in the past ridden the
almost the entire length of it (Ripley - London and Guildford -
Portsmouth), but that was when I was young and foolish. Last Sunday's
200 took in a half-mile stretch of it just south of Hindhead and it was
the single most terrifying past of the day...

Ditto. I used to ride it fairly regularly when I was young and foolish.
The most 'entertaining' part was from New Malden to the Hook underpass.
At the time it was a NSL (now a 50). It has fairly narrow lanes, is
unpleasant in a car, and to go on down the A3 from Hook you have to
pull into the middle lane as the nearside veers off. After that it is
not so nasty as there is a hard shoulder as far as Guildford (though
the M25 junction is entertaining).

There are better routes that will be more enjoyable and not placing so
much confidence in the ability of the motorists.

...d

Tony Raven said:

In addition to all the other advice, consider a few bale out points to
train stations on the London-Portsmouth line. Then if weather or
stamina is against you on the day you can always ride part way and train
the rest.

That is good advice, as opposed to Steve's advice to bale out before
she's started. :-(

--
Dave...

dkahn400 said:

Even I wouldn't ride on the A3.

what happened to the idea to put a tunnel under Hindhead so we could
ride over the top inna boyracer free stylee?

Simon Brooke said:

The trick to this is to get route-planning software such as Autoroute,
and then tell it that your speed on main roads is significantly less
than your speed on minor roads. The only problem with this is that
Autoroute does not have an option to avoid hills.

Another problem with Autoroute, and part of the reason I advised Emma
to revise my generated route very carefully, is that some of its minor
roads don't actually exist, at least not quite where Autoroute says
they do. (Ask me how I know).

Also it has a terrible habit of saying things like "bear left for 20
yds, turn right for 10 yds, turn left" when what it means is "just keep
going, you're fine".

--
Dave...

dkahn400 said:

Also it has a terrible habit of saying things like "bear left for 20
yds, turn right for 10 yds, turn left" when what it means is "just keep
going, you're fine".

The early version used to send me up the slip road of a motorway across
the roundabout and back on at some junctions (presumably because it
worked out it was a shorter route!)

--
Tony

"The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the
right."
- Lord Hailsham

Tony Raven said:

The early version used to send me up the slip road of a motorway across
the roundabout and back on at some junctions (presumably because it
worked out it was a shorter route!)

.... or thought it was. On my failed Salcombe to Twickenham attempt this
year it sent me off a main road, had me turn right, turn right again,
then left when I rejoined the main road about 40 yards further along.
:-)

Sometimes the shortcuts it finds are amazing. At other times ...

--
Dave...

Quoted message said:

Hi

Having recently got rid of my very old, but lovely, Volvo 480 Turbo,
I'm now thinking how I might get home to visit my parents for
Christmas. They live in Lee-on-Solent, near Portsmouth. Volvo-wise, I'd
just bomb down the A3. I really want to get down there on the bike this
time.

Can I make it?

I hate to be a damp squid, but I'm not sure that I would recommend that
you choose this time of year for your first attempt at such a long ride.
Being out all day in likely cold and potentially wet conditions, with
limited light, can get a bit tough. Admittedly you are probably never
going to be far from civilisation and/or a train station.

A few years ago, we rode between parents/in-laws and back a couple of
times at Christmas/New Year. About 50-60 miles a day, 3 days each way
was plenty for us - admittedly we were a bit further north, with some
decent hills in the way. But we had been regularly cycling more than
that on single day rides.

James
--
James Annan
see web pages for email
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/julesandjames/home/
http://julesandjames.blogspot.com/

MartinM said:

dkahn400 said:

Even I wouldn't ride on the A3.

what happened to the idea to put a tunnel under Hindhead so we could
ride over the top inna boyracer free stylee?

It is very much still on. But the plan also is to remove the old road
leaving just a "bike track". It does not fill me with joy from a
cycling point of view.

--chris

Chris Gerhard said:

MartinM said:

dkahn400 said:

Even I wouldn't ride on the A3.

what happened to the idea to put a tunnel under Hindhead so we could
ride over the top inna boyracer free stylee?

It is very much still on. But the plan also is to remove the old road
leaving just a "bike track". It does not fill me with joy from a
cycling point of view.

no; bike tracks have a habit of becoming broken Bacardi Breezer bottle
etc Meccas; much like those puncture factory road narrowings with a
bike lane inside them.
I have only ever ridden down the Punchbowl once, at dawn on a 400k;
fantastic. I'm sure the trip would not be so memorable at any other
time.

dkahn400 said:

Tony Raven wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

In addition to all the other advice, consider a few bale out points to
train stations on the London-Portsmouth line. Then if weather or
stamina is against you on the day you can always ride part way and train
the rest.

Quoted message said:

That is good advice, as opposed to Steve's advice to bale out before
she's started. :-(

I don't know the area at all, but is it an option to start off with a
short train journey to get out of the worst of the roads and continue on
nicer roads? It also makes the trip a bit shorter - it sounded as OP was a
bit worried about that as well.

Roos

Roos Eisma said:

dkahn400 said:

Tony Raven wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

In addition to all the other advice, consider a few bale out points to
train stations on the London-Portsmouth line. Then if weather or
stamina is against you on the day you can always ride part way and train
the rest.

Quoted message said:

That is good advice, as opposed to Steve's advice to bale out before
she's started. :-(

I don't know the area at all, but is it an option to start off with a
short train journey to get out of the worst of the roads and continue on
nicer roads? It also makes the trip a bit shorter - it sounded as OP was a
bit worried about that as well.

Deppends where she is starting from. Most of the route out past the M25
is on quiet (but non-flat!) roads to the east. Once past guildford
then you are off my turf but it doesn't look too bad from a route
finding point of view. It isn't flat though so it could be a long day.

It might well be worth aiming for Guildford via
Epsom/Leatherhead/Effingham (you can avoid the worst of the ToSH quite
easily) and then see how you feel. It will be the second half that
will be more interesting from a 'bail out' POV.

Alternatively, hop on the train to Guildford and ride through from
there.

...d