"Tom Anderson" wrote in message
rth.li...
Hello Londonistanis,

I live in Finsbury Park, and am currently working in North
Finchley. I've been getting there by public transport so far, but
now that the weather is going a bit less jungle-like, i would like
to start cycling.

Any thoughts on a route?
Parkland Walk, from Finsbury Park to near Highgate tube station, is
nice: scenic, off road, with gradient designed so that trains can get
up it.

From there I would just go along the A1/A1000. It's direct, and
graded for horse drawn traffic. If you don't have roundabout skills
yet, it might be advisable to briefly turn into a pedestrian where
the A1 (Aylmer Road) takes off from the A1000. That's northbound.
Southbound is ok

For route finding get the free Transport for London bike map - phone
the bus map number 020-7222-1234, or use TfL's web site to order it
www.tfl.gov.uk or pick it up from such places as bike shops,
libraries etc. Map 3 is the map you want. That's generally
excellent, with my only complaint being that it only shows one way
streets if the street is one of their recommended streets [A sign, I
feel, that TfL is trying to divide streets up into a few "bike
routes" and a large number of "not bike routes"]

The A1000 has traffic on it of course (both motorised and non
motorised), but it doesn't take long to get used to people overtaking
you. A continuous stream is less stressful than the occasional
unexpected noise breaking a silence

Get yourself a copy of John Franklin's "Cyclecraft" It's the bible
on riding in among other traffic

Jeremy Parker