Done thousands of road miles on the A8, A80, A82 and A1, what’s the problem?
The problem is that the A3 is not the A8, A80, A82 or the A1. Just because it’s an A road, it doesn’t mean it’s the same thing.
I’ve ridden from Edinburgh to London, used 50 or so A roads and they’re not all the same. The scariest/most stupid thing I did was riding down the hard shoulder on the A14 for a junction. Where that cyclist is on the A3 is arguably more dangerous.
Firstly, that stretch of road is a 50 limit. People don’t do 50 down there. It’s more like 60. If you’re a good cyclist, you can probably average 20mph. That’s still a speed differential of 40mph… on a road that for 99.9% of the time doesn’t have cyclists. How do I know? I commute into London by motorcycle along the A3 and I have never seen a cyclist on there.
It really is like crossing a dual carriage way on foot because the subway is a bit further to walk to.