how bad is central london traffic on a Friday evening?

Not that bad or incredibly bad?

How long would it take to cross London from M25 in Essex (A12, Shenfield) to Slough on a Friday night, starting at 6ish? Compared to the 1hr 34min google maps is suggesting.

Scooping people + bikes up from central London to go to Afan for the weekend, if you're interested why.

Thanks,

Ed

Friday evening? Through central London?

😆

This is a joke, right?

Sadly not. easiest would be for the others to get their bikes on trains and see me in Sluff, but bikes + trains + rush hour = 🙁

What do you mean by central London? Shenfield to Slough in 90 minutes? Double it maybe it'll also depend if it's raining or not.

I'd do anything to avoid the journey, especially if you don't know any ratruns/shortcuts and you're talking about somewhere in the West End/City. Add an hour and a half minimum for the straight journey. It once took me 4 hours to get from Canary Wharf to Reading via central London on a Friday afternoon.

Hmmm. 3 hours minimum from M25 – Hyde Park ish – M25?

Doesn't sound like a great way to spend a Friday evening.

Not too hot on the rat-runs either.

Hmmm.

My boss once insisted on driving us from NW10 to soho for a meal on a friday night. He refused to take the tube, despite it being about a 25 minute journey. It took us over 2 hours!

Chances are you will queue for 30 mins + from Green Man roundabout on A12 to the Blackwall Tunnel/A13. Then you merely have to get across central London!

just wait and go later, you will be three hours behind, but if you attempt it you will still be three hours behind, its just you could have spent the three hours in front of the telly!

Agree with above, just leave at 8, you'll get a clear run, including on the M4.

Yup, either go late or super-early on Sat. morning.

Yep, that's a non-starter! As mentioned above, an early Sat start can be an easy way around it. I've done Afan as a day trip a few times in the summer, leave at around 0730, on the trails around 1000.

If not, leave at 2000 or so as mentioned and you might be OK.

20:00 will still be busy
sat mroning much better ime

id pick the m25 over central london though, madness on a friday

could u leave the car at your mates on thursday and cycle over on friday night, fun and easier and a lot quicker

Had the misfortune to drive to London from Lichfield last Friday
Left Lichfield 16.30
Arrived @ M4, M25 Junction 18.15 110 miles
Arrived in Balham 21.15 around 12 miles

Then to top it off drove from Balham to Cambridge on Sunday Sat Nav took us through the hell that is Greenwich and the Dartford tunnel 3 hours.

Good luck and take a piss bottle and some reading material
Rich

and assuming you can mapread,take a map as well as a satnav.

2.5 hrs to get from central smoke to Slao at that time.

Just forget it, traffic lights every 100m, lots of roads closed with road works at the moment, buses stopping and starting, and if its raining I would say 3hrs at least.
Just this second got back to Guildford from the central London, it took 21/2 hours to get there, only 35 miles.

Took me 3 hours to drive from Islington to Guildford on a mid-week afternoon 👿 London roads are mental mate, don't do it!

If only there were some way that they could get about with their bikes that wouldn't be affected by the traffic…

I suspect you could ride it at that time of day faster than you could drive it.

Go early Saturday morning instead.

Dont' even thingk about it.

Whay don't you just ride?

Yeah, another vote for early Saturday morning.

Cutting straight the way through the middle of London on a Friday night will involve epic amounts of pain.

Even better, get them to catch a post-rush hour train out to yours, and then leave Saturday morning, no messing around in London involved.

I live in Wivenhoe, another hour or so east of Shenfield, so an early start is going to be very early.

to the "why don't you cycle?" people: we're going to Wales. Might be a stretch to cycle there for a weekend’s riding at Afan.

I’m starting in Shenfield. I don’t live or work there, it’s just where I’m getting the car from my girlfriend. The friends I'm picking up are in Central London.

If could get them to ride 20 miles to Slough with their stuff for the weekend, I wouldn’t have to go into London. (trains are out, and I can’t think of anything else)

I could M25 round, come in on the M4, pick them up at some point, then come back out again.

OK, so here’s an actual question: Supposing I come in on the M4, and they cycle out a bit; how far in could I get before it would have been quicker to go through London rather than round it?

Isleworth?

Brentford?

Chiswick?

I'd be coming in on the M4 at 7ish (latest info is a 5pm pick up from Shenfield)

Just leave em’!

If the stupid bastards want to live in London, that’s their choice, why should you have to burn half a tank of fuel and get a bad back just because they want to live in the worst City on Earth…

London is shit and so are Londoners!…. Discuss…

Yeah, cookeaa. Fun those funners. I'll go to Wales to ride around in cirles in teh freezing rain on my own.

That way I can pay for all of the petrol myself.

You're leaving Shenfield at 6ish, so your best case is central London 7ish. Bike restrictions on the trains end 7 or 7:30. They get the earliest train to Slough they're allowed on, arriving around 8 – 8:30ish I guess. You meet them at Slough station having proceeded around London by a less central route. Maybe?

If you're insistant on leaving on Friday night, having them head out on the train to a more useful pick up location would be better.

I'd suggest they headed out somewhere northwest at around 7. It'll take you a little while to swing around the M25 anyway.

If you can push the timings back a bit the tube lines in green here permit bikes after 19:00, perhaps your friends could head towards whichever station in the north-west/west is most convenient for the M25. Maybe Uxbidge?

chiswick roundabout onto the m4 will be very busy at that time but so will all the others as thats the 1st one id go with that, 7pm start if the weathers bad you should be at slough about 9, 9-30pm if good 8,8-30

Tell them to get a Thames Trains service from Slough to Ealing Broadway then get the central line out to Loughton or Epping and pick them up there. 90 mins tops and no worries taking the bikes on the central line in the evening rush hour.

Can they not buy a bike bag each & get the train ?
Got to be easier than driving.
You must be mad.

be warned…coming INTO London on the M4 on a Friday evening is usually v busy too!!

hire bikes at Afan?

If you leave at 9 you will actually get there earlier than if you had left at 6.

Friday night M4? I wouldn't do it unless you're coming in about 8pm.
If you really want to give yourself a headache just go round the North Circular after 8pm, and meet them at, say, Brentford train station, then head out along the A4 up to the Hayes junction on the M4.
Personally I'd leave driving until about 9pm, thats when I leave Chiswick to go anywhere if I have to go on a Friday night.

OK, Thanks all, driving through is stupid, back to the trains, which turn out not to be so inconvenient after all. Slough or Hounslow east.

We may have to take a chance on how many trains they'll have to wait for before they can get their bikes on.

Cheers all, especially tomalsop and BigDummy.

Hounslow East? Ah, happy memories standing on the roof lamella before the copper roof went on………

have your tea first, don't leave until late – its dark anywhere