Originally Posted by
MichaelW
In my experience, central London is OK for cycling because the roads are so congested.
The worst part of the UK for cycling is outer London, into the commuter-belt of SE England, along the M4 corridor westwards. All of the towns seem to be very hostile to cycling.
Really? I've cycled from London to Reading, London to Windsor, London to Southampton, London to Brighton (with a friend, not as part of the well known annual ride), Reading to Cardiff (and all those routes in reverse) and all over southern England. There are some busy main roads that I'd avoid because they're just no fun to ride at all but aside from what I'd call basic sensibilities (like not riding on the A3 when it's three lanes each way with a 70mph limit) most roads seem perfectly OK to me.